2009-12-23 - 4:57 p.m.

My Top Ten Favorite Albums of 2009

1 Robyn Hitchcock - Goodnight Oslo

No insects, fish, glass.
Just a guy using his head
to unscrew his heart.

2 I Was Totally Destroying It - Horror Vacui

The guitars cry out
"Do not forget us, youngsters!"
Riff rock still rules all.

3 Brendan Benson - My Old, Familiar Friend

Maybe not his best,
But Brendan's most middling stuff
is still swoon-worthy.

4 Heartless Bastards - The Mountain

No gimmicks, no tricks
No egos, no vanity.
Rock from the heartland.

5 Tommy Keene - In the Late Bright

In Power-Popville,
the mayor is Tommy Keene.
I am the sheriff.

6 Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career

Phil Spector's in jail.
Let the Scottish ladies make
that wall-of-twee sound.

7 Thomas Function - In the Valley of Sickness

Farfisa-driven,
Good-time garagey hijinks,
Like audible beer.

8 Foreign Born - Person to Person

Exuberant boys!
Make a clattering hoo-ha!
and sing with gusto!

9 Half Zaftig - Life Like Luster

The thing I value
more than cleverness or skill
is variety.

10 Erin McKeown - Hundreds of Lions

Brainy and pretty,
An accidental download
that won me over.

Honorable Mention (alpha order):

Aviette - The Way We Met
The Bats - The Guilty Office
The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
British Sea Power - Man Of Aran
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
The Dead Weather - Horehound
The Dodos - Time To Die
Extra Golden - Thank You Very Quickly
Fever Ray - Fever Ray
Rhett Miller - Rhett Miller
Polvo - In Prism
Charles Spearin - The Happiness Project
Holly Beth Vincent - Minnesota-California
Viva Voce - Rose City
The Xx - The Xx