PlusCat’s Top 10 Favorite Records of 2009

PlusCatMusic was started in September of this year as a brainchild of Patrick Sharkey and me, John Walker. We have consistently, over the past few months, viewed this project as a work in progress, but are very excited for what we have in store, including further involvement by our friend, David Taintor. We have big dreams and big plans for PlusCat, and 2010 will see a lot of big things. But, for now, we are just having a little fun, talking about what we want to talk about. And, for that, we have made individual Top 10 lists of our favorite records of 2009. Here are our lists, please feel free to leave comments, argue with us, or leave suggestions.

John

To compile this list of (in my opinion) the Best Albums of 2009, I had to be as objective as possible–I wanted to give everything a fair shot. I looked at numerous lists of the year’s releases, as well as about 15 different website’s choices for Top Albums of the Year, and I sat down and listened. What I came up with was a list of ten albums that a) made some kind of splash in 2009 and b) kept me listening from beginning to end.

10. St. Vincent – Actor
9. Chris Morrissey – The Morning World
8. Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
7. Mastodon – Crack the Skye
6. Mos Def – The Ecstatic
5. Arctic Monkeys – Humbug
4. Volcano Choir – Unmap
3. P.O.S. – Never Better
2. Japandroids – Post-Nothing
1. Halloween, Alaska – Champagne Downtown

I also wanted to include two more categories:

Best Reissue:

Sunny Day Real Estate – Diary

Best Soundtrack:

Where The Wild Things Are – Karen O and the Kids

Now, there are a few albums that need a mention, and simply didn’t make the list because I haven’t had enough time with them. But, I am telling you right now. Listen to these three records.

Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
Baroness – The Blue Record
Dan Deacon – Bromst

And that’s it. Trust me, it was no easy chore to make this list (especially because I left out an album by one of my favorites bands in the world), but I am happy with my choices. If you have any comments or want to argue with any choices, we would love to hear your feedback, and I will be back with my picks for the Top 10 Albums of the Decade (and maybe a few other lists, I don’t know, we’ll see.)

-John

Patrick

And now the rest of this post is mine.  My list is a little bit different than John, but we both think that is a good thing and we hope you do too.  Here goes.

10. Paramore - brand new eyes
9. Moneen – The World I Want to Leave Behind
8. Cassino – Kingprince
7. Halloween, Alaska - Champagne Downtown
6. Laarks – An Exhalation of Laarks
5. Kevin Devine - Brothers Blood
4. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything to Nothing
3. Brian Bonz and the Dot Hongs – From Sumi To Japan…
2. Colder in Moscow – Great Speculation
1. personL – The Positives

A few notes on my list:  Paramore? Really? Yes, really.  This album is such a positive direction for this band.  Hayley’s voice is better than ever and the song writing has improved greatly as well.  This album completely surprised me this year, and I felt it deserved a spot on my list.

The rest: Pure brilliance in their own individual ways.  And that’s fucking awesome.

2009 was a fantastic year for music.  After a lackluster 2007 and 2008, we needed this one.  And we got it.

-Patrick

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