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I'm bored, so... for anyone who cares, this is the top 10 albums this year according to my sorry ass. Be sure to give them a go, or perish.

10. Jet - Shaka Rock

This is a band with a great oldie sound, and with Shaka Rock they take it to a bit of a newer pace, without loosing awesomeness. Energetic and fun, like Jet is supposed to be. For a band that is well known around the world by now, I gotta say they're keeping it up. It's not just the guys who sing Are You Gonna Be My Girl, they're onto something.


9. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures

Great raw old rock. Exactly what you'd expect from an old true rocker like John Paul Jones, meeting a not that old true rocker like Dave Grohl. Just like with Horehound, I can't say they're breaking any boundaries or making the most original music out there, but it's damn good to listen to some good rock these days.


8. Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11

Among the few (if not only) exports from my fine country, there's these two kids and their acoustic guitars making a lot of noise. Rodrigo Y Gabriela was simply an awesome album that left you wanting more. 11:11 changes the mood a bit, with heavier, faster music, less "Mexican" if you will. Every composition is inspired by a great musician, and they are successful in printing a certain something of the great musician in each. It is, overall, a very original and good album.


7. Dave Matthews Band - Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux Kin

I've never been hugely fond of DMB, but here's an album I can listen through entirely on one sit down. Toning down on the DMB clichés, and with great instrumental compositions, you're bound to feel the energy in this album from the very moment it starts. Winds, percussions, chorals, it just has it all, and it's all darn good.


6. The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love

First time I heard it, I couldn't help to think "Well, it's good, but it's not The Crane Wife". And it's true, because they set the bar way high with TCW. Luckily, that doesn't mean THOL is any bad at all. In fact, it's pretty darn good after a few listens, and the only sin is that, being a bit of a concept album, they repeat riffs and melodies over and over. However, they are all really good, so while it won't surpass The Crane Wife as a whole, it still has memorable pieces and is an album to hear over and over again.


5. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight

I just love when bands break their own boundaries. In this case, Franz Ferdinand went a bit to the electronic side of music, and succeeded. Replacing that raw rock sound for funky keyboards and epic moments has done wonders for Franz Ferdinand, this album feels a bit like a follow-up to the phenomenal Outsiders. Taking leaps, exploring... smart, brave bands do that (unlike Kaiser Chiefs, who pulled a great third album anyway). According to my crazy theories, FF's fourth should be their finest.


4. Eels - Hombre Lobo

First time I heard it, I said "hey, this is pretty good", but never got to finishing it. When I finally heard the whole album, I was simply amazed. Eels is a band with good albums overall, with each one having some amazing songs and the rest being average but good ones. While Hombre Lobo isn't quite the exception, it's an album with such a great average quality, that instead of skipping through the less-than-perfect songs, it's one to listen completely.


3. Wynton Marsalis - He And She

From The Plantation To The Penitentiary was an amazing album, but it took a few gos to get hooked. He and She takes 20 seconds. With 3 times more tracks plus one than the predecessor, this is one album that is impossible not to love. It's just so perfect, and you couldn't expect anything less from such a great musician. Even if jazz isn't your thing, this is an album to try out, since it's fast paced and fun.


2. BeardFish - Destined Solitaire

The album I most expected this year was Beardfish's latest. After giving the previous ones many laps, I was simply anxious for this one, and boy, it delivered! It's not too big a drift in sound, it's not the ground-breaking album of the era, but it's damn good. By far, the catchiest BF album, the kind you'll be humming tunes of during odd moments of the day.


1. Mando Diao - Give Me Fire

This year, Artic Monkeys slowed down the pace with a bit of a reggae feel, Franz Ferdinand took a funky electronic beat, and Wilco pretty much remained the same. Mando Diao was, no doubt, the boldest move this year. After 3 pure rock albums and a bit prog 4th one, they didn't tweak their sound: they completely shifted to an 80s style... and nailed it! People everywhere acclaim Dance With Somebody, but the thing about give Me fire isn't about a song: it's about a feel. The overall feel it delivers, is a whole new Mando Diao, yet not a bit less awesome than the MD we're used to. It may not be a perfect album, not every song is an utter winner, but it is hands down lots of fun as a whole, certain to disappoint no one, and therefore, my take for best album this year.

Holy crap, so many great albums were released this year that it was difficult for me to narrow this album down to just 25 picks. Before I start naming my top albums, here's just a list of honorable mentions, all of which probably could have found their way onto my list:

3 Inches Of Blood - Here Waits Thy Doom
Alestorm - Black Sails At Midnight
Arsonists Get All The Girls - Portals
Augury - Fragmentary Evidence
Austrian Death Machine - Double Brutal
Be'lakor - Stone's Reach
Billy Talent - Billy Talent III
Buckethead - Slaughterhouse On The Prairie
Candlemass - Death Magic Doom
Cormorant - Metazoa
Dååth - The Concealers
Dalriada - Arany-Album
Deströyer 666 - Defiance
Dethklok - Dethalbum II
Dream Theater - Black Clouds & Silver Linings
Eluveitie - Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion
Evile - Infected Nations
Exivious - Exivious
Fleshgod Apocalypse - Oracles
Fu Manchu - Signs Of Infinite Power
God Forbid - Earthsblood
Heaven & Hell - The Devil You Know
House Of Broken Promises - Using The Useless
Insomnium - Across The Dark
Kalisia - Cybion
Killswitch Engage - Killswitch Engage
Kong - What It Seems Is What You Get
Lamb Of God - Wrath
Mantic Ritual - Executioner
NOFX - Coaster
OSI - Blood
Revocation - Existence Is Futile
Scale The Summit - Carving Desert Canyons
Scar Symmetry - Dark Matter Dimensions
Skeletonwitch - Breathing The Fire
Skyclad - In The... All Together
Slayer - World Painted Blood
Street Sweeper Social Club - Street Sweeper Social Club
Suidakra - Crógacht
The Company Band - The Company Band
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
Warbringer - Waking Into Nightmares
White Wizzard - High Speed GTO
Wino - Punctuated Equilibrium
Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg

See what I mean? Anyway, without further ado, the list.

25) Mastodon - Crack The Skye: So many people have this album at the top of their lists. I personally liked the album a great deal, but didn't feel that it was up to the quality of their previous work.

24) Katatonia - Night Is The New Day: I'm a bit new to Katatonia, but I really found myself enjoying this album early on. I heard some similarities to Opeth that really helped draw me in.

23) HORSE the band - Desperate Living: HtB can always be relied on for some serious weirdness with their music, and this was no different. I felt it improved upon A Natural Death, although it's not quite as great as The Mechanical Hand was.

22) Obscura - Cosmogenesis: This was the album that really drew into technical death metal, and was one of my favorites of the year. The fretless bass work is fantastic.

21) Rammstein - Liebe Ist Für Alle Da: It had been too long since the last album Rammstein had released an album, and considering the direction the band had taken with their last few albums, I was worried at how this one would come out. As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about. Their best work since Mutter.

20) Koffin Kats - Forever For Hire: As far as I'm concerned, Koffin Kats are the best psychobilly band out there, and they continued to reinforce that opinion with this release.

19) Celldweller - Wish Upon A Blackstar Chapter 01 & 02: The man known as Klayton began releasing his latest album two tracks at a time this year. These first two chapters are excellent and really left me wanting more.

18) Les Claypool - Of Fungi And Foe: Ah, Les Claypool. The mad genius from Primus continues to get weirder with age, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

17) Between the Buried and Me - The Great Misdirect: For a long time I believed BTBAM to be a screamo band based solely on their name; as it turned out, I was completely wrong. And I have never been happier to be proven wrong.

16) KMFDM - Blitz: KMFDM are a bit like the AC/DC of industrial rock... you always know what you're getting with their music, and yet, it's still pretty damn great.

15) TrollfesT - Villanden: In addition to possessing the most patently ridiculous album art, Villanden is a deliriously entertaining blast of bizarre folk metal. Enjoyable from start to finish.

14) Thy Catafalque - Róka Hasa Rádió: I was really surprised at how much this album grew on me, considering my usual opinions on black metal. Then again, Thy Catafalque is not your typical black metal. The highlight for me is the 19 minute, 11 second Molekuláris gépezetek, which digresses into a hypnotic drumbeat with a smattering of saxophone and piano before its final metallic crescendo.

13) Devin Townsend Project - Ki & Addicted: Both of these albums could easily occupy spots on this list, but for the sake of simplicity I'm combining them. Ki's mellow, propulsive guitars are an amazing complement to the bombastic pop-metal riffs of Addicted.

12) Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11: 2009 was the year I learned that acoustic guitars can shred just as hard as electric when played right. This album blew my mind.

11) Megadeth - Endgame: Dave Mustaine may be a dick, but he showed this year that he still remembers Megadeth's thrash roots, and subsequently released his best work since Rust In Peace. Endgame is as great a return to form as Death Magnetic was for Metallica.

10) Supercommuter - Supercommuter: Alright, I like a bit of nerdcore hip-hop now and then, and Optimus Rhyme was probably the cream of the crop until their unfortunate decision to part ways. Take vocalist Wheelie Cyberman, replace the funk rock beats with 8-bit bleeps, and you have a recipe for success.

9) Animals as Leaders - Animals As Leaders: Tosin Abasi managed to make an instrumental metal album that doesn't really sound like anything I've ever heard, brilliantly showing just what a guitarist is capable.

8) Metroid Metal - Varia Suite: Seeing as Powerglove didn't get an album out this year, I had to find my fix of video game metal elsewhere. Fortunately, Metroid Metal was more than up to the task, transforming the music of the Metroid games into some sublimely brilliant instrumental metal.

7) Amorphis - Skyforger: Amorphis' last three albums now have been consistently brilliant, with fantastic vocals, evocative lyrics, and beautifully heavy music. Truly an incredible album.

6) Baroness - Blue Record: As great as Baroness' previous work was, I felt that there was a certain unevenness that kept me from really enjoying them. Blue Record took care of that.

5) Diablo Swing Orchestra - Sing Along Songs For The Damned And Delirious: It's not often that you find an artist that truly does something original in music, but DSO do just that by mashing metal, jazz, swing, opera, and electronic into one amazing package. This album is unlike anything you have ever heard, and it's an incredible ride from start to finish.

4) Priestess - Prior To The Fire: Priestess got some much-deserved recognition when their song 'Lay Down' was included on Guitar Hero, but their last album, while solid, was not great. Prior To The Fire completely and totally blows away anything they've done and elevates stoner rock to a new level.

3) Ensiferum - From Afar: Ensiferum have long been recognized as one of the premier bands in folk metal, with a flair for epic songs, and they continue to separate themselves from the pack on From Afar. Not only do they have the two 10+ minute epic 'Heathen Stone' tracks, but they actually incorporate some Ennio Morricone-style western sounds and a shredding banjo solo on 'Stone Cold Metal' and make it work. Phenomenal.

2) Clutch - Strange Cousins From The West: I was almost certain that this album would be number one on my list this year, simply because it's Clutch. They consistently manage to release incredible blues/stoner rock and yet seem fresh, and like a fine wine they only get better with age.

1) Gorod - Process Of A New Decline: This album came out of nowhere and completely ripped my face off. Obscura may have really gotten me a taste of tech-death, but Gorod made me realize just what could be done within the genre. In spite of the dizzying tempo changes, ridiculous guitar leads, and light-speed drumming, I discovered that the riffs were memorable and that there were moments where the band actually slowed things down just a bit and settled into a groove. I never thought that technical death metal could be described as catchy... and yet, Gorod manages to achieve just that. Unbelievable.

1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
5. ?
6. Broken - Soulsavers
7. 11.11 - Rodrigo y Gabriela
8. The Crying Light - Antony and the Johnsons
9. Backspacer - Pearl Jam
10. Veckatimist - Grizzly Bear

Inexplicably, someone forgot to make the top 5 albums this year! None of the albums I heard this year are of the standard of the top 5 from any of the last few years...

Me baso en lo que lanzaron desde septiembre del 2008 hasta ahorita y por el numero de scrobbles que hice xD

Los artistas
1. Perfume2. Capsule3. Madonna4. 浜崎あゆみ5. ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION6. Rodrigo y Gabriela7. BoA8. Green Day
9. The Mars Volta10. PlaceboLos álbums1. Perfume - ⊿ (59)

2. Aira Mitsuki - COPY (34)

3. タニザワトモフミ - きみにとどけ (32)

4. Various Artists - BEAUTIFUL TECHNO

5. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You

6. BoA - BEST&USA

7. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown

8. The xx - The xx

9. Fischerspooner - Entertainment

10. The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

Las rolas1. タニザワトモフミ – きみにとどけ 2. Perfume – Dream Fighter3. Madonna – Celebration4. The Freemasons - Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer) w/ Sophie Ellis-Bextor5. Aira Mitsuki – チャイナ・ディスコティカ (Substance remix) 6. Capsule - more more more7. Lily allen - The Fear8. ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION – 藤沢ルーザー9. 東方神起 – ウィーアー！10. BoA – EnergeticRevelaciones del año
タニザワトモフミ (tanizawa tomofumi).- Lo poco que se de este cantante de j-pop es que hizo el tema de entrada del anime shojo "Kimi ni todoke", por ende es el titulo traducido al romaji :DThe xx.- esta banda tiene un estilo único, me agradó la suavidad con la que se pueden oir los tracks de su primer disco, de paso fue la recomendación doble, ya sea por un grupo de last y la revista de conozca más.
Lady GaGa.- Hay mucho de que mencionar, lo mas intrigante fue "el bat" integrado xDDAira Mitsuki.- Esta idol del j-tek, se inicio junto con el boom de la electronica de nakata a lado de su productor Oonishii y todos los temas que hace son ritimicas y pegajosas :DOtras menciones:
Tommy heavenly6 - PAPERMOON (mejor tema J-rock Femenil)
Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11 (mejor álbum gypsy)
Natalia Lafourcade - Hu Hu Hu Mejor álbum alternativo en español
中島美嘉 - VOICE (mejor álbum j-pop)
Diana Krall - Quiet Nights (mejor álbum Vocal Jazz)
The Antlers - Hospice (mejor álbum Indie)
相対性理論 (theory of relativity) - ハイファイ新書 (Hi-Fi Anatomia) <---- (Mejor album j-indie, nominado al artista más escondido de la red)
谷本貴義 - Dragon Soul (Mejor tema anime)
DragonForce - Ultra Beatdown (mejor album power metal)
Justice - A Cross The Universe (mejor álbum en vivo)

In alphabetical order by artist

01. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug
02. Eels - Hombre Lobo
03. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight
04. Haunts - Haunts*
05. Kagrra, - Shu
06. Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
07. Me My Head - Survival In No Mans Land
08. Muse - The Resistance
09. Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11
10. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures

* Haunts re-realeased under Universal Recordings Spain in 2009. Original release 2008.

Sunday 15th November 2009
Tegan and Sara and Astronautalis
HMV Picture House

Sun 15 Nov – Tegan and Sara, Astronautalis


Thursday 26th November 2009
Rodrigo y Gabriela and Wallis Bird
O2 Academy Glasgow

Thu 26 Nov – Rodrigo y Gabriela, Wallis Bird


What a month of live music considering it was only two gigs. There is nothing else I can say except IMMENSE!!!

10. Fleshgod Apocalypse - Oracles


Location: Rome, Italy
Category: Technical Death Metal
http://www.myspace.com/fleshgodapocalypse

9. Cobalt - Gin


Location: Greeley, Colorado, USA
Category: Black Metal
http://www.myspace.com/stinktown666

8. Kylesa - Static Tensions


Unknown Awareness

Location: Savannah, Georgia, USA
Category: Sludge Metal

7. Deströyer 666 - Defiance


Weapons of Conquest

Location: Melbourne, Australia
Category: Blackened Thrash Metal

6. Nile - Those Whom The Gods Detest


Permitting The Noble Dead To Descend To The Underworld

Location: Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Category: Death Metal

5. Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11


Buster Voodoo

Location: Dublin, Ireland
Category: Acoustic guitar / virtuoso

4. Code - Resplendent Grotesque


Smother The Crones

Location: Oslo, Norway
Category: Avant Garde Black Metal

3. Ulcerate - Everything is Fire


Caecus

Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Category: Death Metal

2. Isis - Wavering Radiant


Hall of the Dead

Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Category: Sludge Metal

1. Mastodon - Crack The Skye


Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Category: Progressive Metal
http://www.myspace.com/mastodon

20. Jet - Shaka Rock

Released 21/8/2009
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19. British Sea Power - Man Of Aran

Released 17/5/2009
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18. Easy Star All-Stars - Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band

Released 14/4/2009
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17. Girls - Album

Released 22/9/2009
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16. Elvis Costello - Secret, Profane and Sugarcane

Released 2/6/2009
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15. Buckethead - Slaughterhouse On the Prairie

Released 30/1/2009
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14. Nirvana - Live at Reading

Released 3/11/2009
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13. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - The Live Anthology

Released 24/11/2009
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12. Q-Tip - Kamaal The Abstract

Released 14/9/2009
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11. Jake Shimabukuro - Live

Released 14/4/2009
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10. Depeche Mode - Sounds Of The Universe

Released 21/4/2009
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9. Rancid - Let The Dominoes Fall

Released 2/6/2009
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8. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures

Released 16/11/2009
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7. Phish - Joy

Released 8/9/2009
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6. Silversun Pickups - Swoon

Released 14/4/2009
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5. Diana Krall - Quiet Nights

Released 31/3/2009
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4. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

Released 22/6/2009
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3. Tinted Windows - Tinted Windows

Released 21/4/2009
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2. Foo Fighters - Greatest Hits

Released 2/11/2009
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1. Sonic Youth - The Eternal

Released 3/6/2009
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Honourable mentions
- Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
- La Roux - La Roux
- Fu Manchu - Signs of Infinite Power
- Method Man, Redman - Blackout! 2
- Madeleine Peyroux - Bare Bones
- The xx - xx
- Rodrigo y Gabriela - 11:11
- Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
- Gerry Mulligan - Blues In Time
- Zero 7 - Yeah Ghost

Created using OnDistantShores's Album Of The Year journal generator.