All done

Thanks to all of my readers for their support in 2009. Unfortunately, I will not be reprising the site for 2010. I'm going to take a break from reviews and just listen to music for a change.

If you still want to know what I'm listening to, you're welcome to follow me on Twitter and on last.fm. And who knows, maybe I'll post a review or two on my other site, Moment Slice. And of course, you can follow my philosophical endeavors on Sentient Developments.

Again, thanks for making Best Albums of 2009 such a success.

Best albums of the decade

The top ten:

1. Sigur Ros: Ágætis Byrjun

2. Tool: Lateralus

3. Radiohead: Kid A

4. Modest Mouse: Moon and Antarctica

5. Arcade Fire: Funeral

6. Interpol: Turn On the Bright Lights

7. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

8. Boards of Canada: Geogaddi

9. Neko Case: Blacklisted

10. Coldplay: Parachutes

11-25:

11. Broken Social Scene: You Forgot It in People
12. The Mars Volta: De-Loused in the Comatorium
13. Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
14. Isis: Oceanic
15. Panda Bear: Person Pitch
16. Sufjan Stevens: Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lake State
17. The New Pornographers: Mass Romantic
18. The Shins: Oh, Inverted World
19. White Stripes: Elephant
20. Queens of the Stone Age: Songs for the Deaf
21. Opeth: Blackwater Park
22. Amy Winehouse: Back to Black
23. Godspeed You Black Emperor!: Lift Your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven
24. Fleet Foxes: Ragged Wood
25. LCD Sound System: Sound of Silver

Honorable mention (listed alphabetically):

• A Perfect Circle: Mer De Noms
• Aimee Mann: Lost in Space
• Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2
• Amon Tobin: Supermodified
• Amon Tobin: Out From Out Where
• And So I Watch You From Afar: ...And So I Watch You From Afar
• And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: Source Tags & Codes
• Animal Collective: Here Comes the Indian
• Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavillion
• Antlers: Hospice
• Antony & the Johnsons: I Am A Bird Now
• Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
• Art Brut: Bang Bang Rock And Roll
• Atlas Sound: Logos
• Audioslave: Out of Exile
• Band of Horses: Everything All the Time
• Battle of Mice: Day of Nights
• Battles: Mirrored
• Beck : Sea Change
• Beta Band: Heroes to Zeros
• Bjork: Vespertine
• Bloc Party: Silent Alarm
• Blonde Redhead: 23
• Bon Iver: For Emma Forever Ago
• Built to Spill: You in Reverse
• Caribou: Andorra
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah : Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
• Clinic: Internal Wrangler
• Coldplay: A Rush of Blood to the Head
• Deathcab For Cutie: Transatlanticism
• Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity
• Deftones: White Pony
• DJ Shadow: The Private Press
• Doves: Lost Souls
• Doves: The Last Broadcast
• Evpatoria Report: Golevka
• Explosions in the Sky: The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place
• Feist: Let it Die
• Gnarls Barkley: St. Elsewhere
• God is an Astronaut: The End of the Beginning
• Gojira: The Way of All Flesh
• Gorillaz: Demon Days
• Grizzly Bear: Yellow House
• Iron & Wine: The Creek Drank the Cradle
• Iron & Wine: Our Endless Numbered Days
• Isis: In the Absence of Truth
• Japandroids: Post-Nothing
• Jesu: Conqueror
• Joanna Newsom: The Milk-Eyed Mender
• Justice: Cross
• Kaiser Chiefs : Employment
• Koop: Waltz for Koop
• M83: Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts
• Mastodon: Leviathan
• Meshuggah: ObZen
• Meshuggah: Nothing
• MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
• MIA: Arular
• MIA: Kala
• Microphones: The Glow, Pt. 2
• Modest Mouse: Good News for People Who Like Bad News
• Mogwai: Happy Songs for Happy People
• My Morning Jacket: At Dawn
• Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
• Neurosis: Given to the Rising
• Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus
• Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
• Porcupine Tree: Fear of a Blank Planet
• Porcupine Tree: In Abstentia
• Portishead: Third
• Queens of the Stone Age: R
• Radiohead: In Rainbows
• Radiohead: Amnesiac
• Rage Against the Machine: Renegades
• Red Hot Chili Peppers: By the Way
• Red Sparowes: Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun
• Royksopp: Melody A.M.
• Sigur Ros: ()
• Spoon: Girls Can Tell
• Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
• Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
• Supergrass: Life on Other Planets
• System of a Down: Toxicity
• The Dears: No Cities Left
• The Decemberists: The Crane Wife
• The Dresden Dolls: The Dresden Dolls
• The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat
• The Gathering: If_Then_Else
• The Most Serene Republic: Population
• The National: Boxer
• The New Pornographers: Electric Version
• The New Pornographers: Twin Cinema
• The Ocean: Precambrian
• The Shins: Chutes Too Narrow
• The Streets: Original Pirate Material
• The Strokes: Is This It?
• Thievery Corporation: The Mirror Conspiracy
• Ulrich Schnauss : A Strangely Isolated Place
• Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend
• White Stripes: White Blood Cells
• Wilco: A Ghost is Born
• Wolf Parade: At Mount Zoomer

The best albums of 2009

Okay, we're done. I now present to you the best albums of 2009:

[9.2] Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion

[9.1] And So I Watch You From Afar: And So I Watch You From Afar

[9.0] Japandroids: Post Nothing

[8.9] The Antlers: Hospice

[8.9] Atlas Sound: Logos

And the rest:

• [8.8] Neko Case: Middle Cyclone
• [8.8] Isis: Wavering Radiant
• [8.8] Fever Ray: Fever Ray
• [8.7] Wild Beasts: Two Dancers
• [8.7] Tortoise: Beacons of Ancestorship
• [8.7] Russian Circles: Geneva
• [8.7] Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II
• [8.7] Metric: Fantasies
• [8.7] Mastodon: Crack the Skye
• [8.7] Cymbals Eat Guitars: Why There Are Mountains
• [8.6] Various: Dark Was the Night
• [8.6] The Veils: Sun Gangs
• [8.6] Sun O))): Monoliths and Dimensions
• [8.6] Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest
• [8.5] PJ Harvey and John Parish: A Woman a Man Walked By
• [8.5] maudlin of the Well: Part the Second
• [8.5] Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca
• [8.5] Converge: Axe to Fall
• [8.5] Bill Callahan: Sometimes I Wish We Were Eagles
• [8.5] Bibio: Ambivalance Avenue
• [8.5] Baroness: Blue Record
• [8.5] Art Brut: Art Brus Vs. Satan
• [8.5] Absu: Absu
• [8.4] The Very Best: Warm Heart of Africa
• [8.4] Pyramids: Pyramids with Nadja
• [8.4] Mew: No More Stories Are Told Today...
• [8.4] jj: jj n° 2
• [8.4] Heartless Bastards: The Mountain
• [8.4] Dinosaur Jr.: Farm
• [8.4] Dan Deacon: Bromst
• [8.4] Built to Spill: There Is No Enemy
• [8.4] Bat for Lashes: Two Suns
• [8.3] YACHT: See Mystery Lights
• [8.3] The Horrors: Primary Colours
• [8.3] Pelican: What We All Come to Need
• [8.3] Obituary: The Darkest Day
• [8.3] Mos Def: The Ecstatic
• [8.3] Girls: Album
• [8.3] Caspian: Tertia
• [8.3] Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career
• [8.3] Bloodhorse: Horizoner
• [8.3] Antony and the Johnsons: The Crying Light
• [8.2] The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
• [8.2] Sonic Youth: The Eternal
• [8.2] Modest Mouse: No One's First and You're Next
• [8.2] Kylesa: Static Tensions
• [8.2] Handsome Furs: Face Control
• [8.2] Black Crowes: Before the Frost/Until the Freeze
• [8.1] Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz!
• [8.1] Tombs: Winterhours
• [8.1] Morrissey: Years of Refusal
• [8.1] Manic Street Preachers: Journal for Plague Lovers
• [8.1] Lightning Dust: Infinite Light
• [8.1] DOOM: Born Like This
• [8.1] DM Stith: Heavy Ghost
• [8.1] And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: Century of Self
• [8.0] The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
• [8.0] Loney, Dear: Dear John
• [8.0] Katatonia: Night is the New Day
• [8.0] Alice in Chains: Black Gives Way to Blue
• [7.9] The xx: The xx
• [7.9] Röyksopp: Junior
• [7.9] Neon Indian: Psychic Chasms
• [7.9] Dananananaykroyd: Hey Everyone
• [7.9] Bear in Heaven: Beast Rest Forth Mouth
• [7.9] Andrew Bird: Noble Beast
• [7.8] The Phantom Band: Checkmate Savage
• [7.8] The Dead Weather: Horehound
• [7.8] Swan Lake: Enemy Mine
• [7.8] St. Vincent: Actor
• [7.8] M. Ward: Hold Time
• [7.8] Jonsi and Alex: Riceboy Sleeps
• [7.8] Future of the Left: Travels With Myself and Another
• [7.8] Doves: Kingdom of Rust
• [7.8] Arctic Monkeys: Humbug
• [7.7] Them Crooked Vultures: Them Crooked Vultures
• [7.7] The Derek Trucks Band: Already Free
• [7.7] The Decemberists: The Hazards of Love
• [7.7] Slayer: World Painted Blood
• [7.7] Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
• [7.7] Monsters of Folk: Monsters of Folk
• [7.6] The Soundtrack of Our Lives: Communion
• [7.6] The Mars Volta: Octahedron
• [7.6] Soap&Skin: Lovetune for Vacuum
• [7.6] Patrick Watson: Wooden Arms
• [7.6] Omar Rodriguez-Lopez: Old Money
• [7.6] Irepress: Sol Eye See I
• [7.6 The Arusha Accord: The Echo Verses
• [7.5] The Most Serene Republic: ...And the Ever Expanding Universe
• [7.5] Nile: Those Whom the Gods Detest
• [7.5] Duncan Sheik: Whisper House
• [7.5] Cursive: Mama, I'm Swollen
• [7.4] The Fiery Furnaces: I'm Going Away
• [7.4] Sufjan Stevens: The BQE
• [7.4] Porcupine Tree: The Incident
• [7.4] Passion Pit: Manners
• [7.4] Papercuts: You Can Have What You Want
• [7.4] Au Revoir Simone: Still Night, Still Light
• [7.4] A Storm of Light/Nadja: Primitive North
• [7.3] Wavves: Wavves
• [7.3] Sian Alice Group: Troubled, Shaken, Etc.
• [7.3] Múm: Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know
• [7.3] Moderat: Moderat
• [7.3] Great Lake Swimmers: Lost Channels
• [7.3] Behemoth: Evangelion
• [7.2] White Rabbits: It's Frightening
• [7.2] My Dying Bride: The Lies I Sire
• [7.2] Mirah: (A)spera
• [7.2] Matt & Kim: Grand
• [7.2] If These Trees Could Talk: Above the Earth, Below the Sky
• [7.2] Every Time I Die: New Junk Aesthetic
• [7.1] Om: God is Good
• [7.1] Health: Get Color
• [7.1] Bon Iver: Bloodbank [EP]
• [7.0] The Black Dahlia Murder: Deflorate
• [7.0] A.C. Newman: Get Guilty

Best metal albums of 2009

1. Isis: Wavering Radiant

2. Mastodon: Crack the Skye

3. Sun O))): Monoliths and Dimensions

4. Converge: Axe to Fall

5. Baroness: Blue Record

The rest:

6. Absu: Absu
7. Pyramids: Pyramids with Nadja
8. Obituary: The Darkest Day
9. Bloodhorse: Horizoner
10. Kylesa: Static Tensions
11. Tombs: Winterhours
12. Katatonia: Night is the New Day
13. Slayer: World Painted Blood
14. Irepress: Sol Eye See I
15. The Arusha Accord: The Echo Verses
16. Nile: Those Whom the Gods Detest
17. A Storm of Light/Nadja: Primitive North
18. Behemoth: Evangelion
19. My Dying Bride: The Lies I Sire
20. Every Time I Die: New Junk Aesthetic
21. The Black Dahlia Murder: Deflorate

Albums that missed the cut

I present to you now the bridesmaids of 2009 -- a list of albums that failed to make the Best Albums of 2009 list. Some of these are quite good and worth a listen:

• 3: Revisions
• Between the Buried and Me: The Great Misdirect
• Black Moth Super Rainbow: Eating Us
• Brendan Benson: My Old, Familiar Friend
• Cass Macombs: Catacombs
• Delorean: Ayrton Senna EP
• Destroy Destroy Destroy: Battle Sluts
  
• Dethklok: Dethalbum II
• Devendra Banhart: What Will We Be
• Dream Theater: Black Clouds & Silver Linings
  
• Discovery: LP
• Dredg: The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion
• fun.: Aim and Ignite
• Ghostface Killah: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City
  
• Imogen Heap: Ellipse
• It Hugs Back: Inside Your Guitar
  
• Jeniferever: Spring Tides
• Jesu: Opiate Sun
• Lamb of God: Wrath
• Marianne Faithfull: Easy Come Easy Go
  
• Muse: The Resistance
• Paramore: Brand New Eyes
• Patrick Wolf: The Bachelor
• Peter Bjorn and John: Living Thing
• Phosphorescent: To Willie
• Psapp: The Camel's Back
• Rain Machine: Rain Machine
• Riverside: Anno Domini High Definition
• Robyn Hitchcock: Goodnight Oslo
• School of Seven Bells: Alpinisms
• Shadows Fall: Retribution
• Sondre Lerche: Heartbeat Radio
• Suffocation: Blood Oath
• Tegan and Sara: Sainthood
• The Big Pink: A Brief History of Love
• The Gourds: Haymaker
  
• The Swell Season: Strict Joy
• The Temper Trap: Conditions
• Thermals: Now We Can See
  
• Tommy Keene: In the Late Bright
• Volcano Choir: Unmap
• Wilco: Wilco the Album
• Woe of Tyrants: Kingdom of Might
  
• Wolfmother: Cosmic Egg
  

Sufjan Stevens: The BQE

Artist: Sufjan Stevens
Album: The BQE
Date Released: October 20, 2009
Genre: classical crossover, classical, post-rock
Rating: 7.4

Neon Indian: Psychic Chasms

Artist: Neon Indian
Album: Psychic Chasms
Date Released: October 13, 2009
Genre: indie electronic, electronic, alt-rock
Rating: 7.9

Jonsi and Alex: Riceboy Sleeps

Artist: Jonsi and Alex
Album: Riceboy Sleeps
Date Released: July 21, 2009
Genre: post-rock, experimental rock
Rating: 7.8

Pelican: What We All Come to Need

Artist: Pelican
Album: What We All Come to Need
Date Released: October 27, 2009
Genre: post-rock, post-metal, instrumental rock
Rating: 8.3

Moderat: Moderat

Artist: Moderat
Album: Moderat
Date Released: April 21, 2009
Genre: electronic, experimental techno, techno
Rating: 7.3

Kylesa: Static Tensions

Artist: Kylesa
Album: Static Tensions
Date Released: March 17, 2009
Genre: metal, alternative metal, indie metal, sludge metal
Rating: 8.2

Katatonia: Night is the New Day

Artist: Katatonia
Album: Night is the New Day
Date Released: November 10, 2009
Genre: metal, death metal, alternative metal
Rating: 8.0

Every Time I Die: New Junk Aesthetic

Artist: Every Time I Die
Album: New Junk Aesthetic
Date Released: September 15, 2009
Genre: metal, alternative metal, indie metal, screamo, metalcore
Rating: 7.2

Converge: Axe to Fall

Artist: Converge
Album: Axe to Fall
Date Released: October 20, 2009
Genre: metal, punk metal, metalcore, hardcore punk
Rating: 8.5

The Black Dahlia Murder: Deflorate

Artist: The Black Dahlia Murder
Album: Deflorate
Date Released: September 15, 2009
Genre: metal, death metal, metalcore, deathcore
Rating: 7.0