Music Monday - Top albums of 2009 (part 1)

I probably say this every year, but 2009 was a great year for music releases.  I was constantly obsessed with a variety of different albums, and regularly flip-flopped on my favorite album of the year.  And frankly, I'm still not sure I got it right.  I'm sure my choice will change another five or six times before January first, but over the next two Mondays I'd like to give a rundown of my top 20 albums of 2009.  The order's probably not perfect, but it's as close to a set-in-stone list as I can come up with.  Without further adieu, here are album numbers 20 through 11 of my 2009 favorites, in reverse order:

20b.  Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care
To be honest, I'm still not even sure if I like this album (how's that for a sales pitch), but there's something mesmerizing about it.  It's a little repetitive, but worth the work for the song, er, "Work."

20a.  Deadmau5 - For Lack of a Better Name
I somehow left this album off my initial list, and never would have forgiven myself (I mean, he did make my Halloween weekend).  Yeah, it resulted in a chickenshit tie for number 20, but it's my list, dammit.  Anyway...Deadmau5' most recent effort is a lot different than his previous work, but it's a great display of the DJ's versatility.

19.  Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light
Very sexy stuff from some very sexy ladies.  This spot should have been reserved for Regina Spektor and/or Imogen Heap, but their albums just didn't do it for me.

18.  Silversun Pickups - Swoon
A perfect example of what rock is supposed to sound like from the LA based band.

17.  Owl City - Ocean Eyes
I'm the 1,983,797th person to say it, but Owl City is the closest thing we've had to the Postal Service since the Postal Service.  I'd love to rank them higher, but it's probably a bad sign when my favorite song on an album (by a wide margin) is a remix.

16.  Moby - Wait for Me
Simply beautiful.  A complete departure from his upbeat 2008 effort.  Probably wins my coveted 2009 award for "best music to get it on to" (narrowly beating out Wolfmother's Cosmic Egg--or not).

15.  Mika - The Boy Who Knew Too Much
Undeployed has already given Mika his props, so it should give you an idea about what a strong year in music '09 was if I can only rank his latest at 15.

14.  The XX - XX
I would love to rank this album higher, but I have the nagging feeling it's an album of two fantastic songs ("Crystalised" and "Islands", in case you're wondering), and a lot of filler.  A less than spectacular live show didn't help their cause.

13.  La Roux - S/T
Nothing groundbreaking here, but definitely worth listening to--a lot.  Also, bonus points because "who's better, La Roux or Ladyhawke" makes such a great debate...assuming you know who they are and have too much time on your hands.  Here's Undeployed's lengthier take on the album.

12.  Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream
Contains several of my favorite songs of the year, and to be honest, I still don't know how it ended up this low (probably the biggest error of the list).  It didn't even make my Christmas newsletter's top 10.  I apologize.

11.  Matt and Kim - Grand
So simple, yet so fun.  There's something mesmerizing about a girl beating the hell out of a stripped down drum set.  I need a cigarette.

Check back next Monday for Undeployed's top 10 albums of the year, and find out who took home the crown for top album of the year.  I'm sure you're giddy with anticipation.