30. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Makes the list for "The Stillness is the Move" alone.

29. Au Revoir Simone - Still Night, Still Light

Who's gonna hate on a band named after a PeeWee's Big Adventure line?

28. St. Vincent - Actor

"Marrow" and "Actor Out Of Work" are two of my favorite singles this year.

27. Junior Boys - Begone Dull Care

Not quite as awesome as "So This is Goodbye" but that doesn't mean its not awesome.

26. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

Look, theres only so many songs named "Daniel" that I actually enjoy...

25. Washed Out - Life Of Leisure

Six really solid tracks.

24. Twilight Sad - Forget the Night Ahead

Excellent rock music from Scotland. "I Became a Prostitute" would be somewhere in my top 10 singles list if I made one.

23. Fever Ray - Fever Ray

A really great solo effort from The Knife's Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson. 

22. Oh No - Dr. No’s Ethiopium

Hip-hop finally cracks the chart at 22.

21. UGK - UGK 4 Life

Pour out a 40 for Pimp C's posthumous album.

20. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport

Crazy experimental electronic stuff that works for me.

19. Doom - Born Like This

One of my favorite MC's (with nearly as many alter-ego's as rhymes) releases a great disk under a new variation on his original moniker.

18. Annie - Don't Stop

[iTunes only: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/id336032474]

What is it about Norwegian pop music that I love so much?

17. Mastodon - Crack the Skye

My favorite metal band follows up the near perfect Blood Mountain with another great effort. 

16. Moderat - Moderat

Modeselektor + Apparat = Good

15. Future of the Left - Travels With Myself And Another

Former McLuskyers bring the hard rock on their sophmore album.

14. The Thermals - Now We Can See

[iTunes only: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/id307826496]

Indie pop/punk so catchy I can't help but sign along with every song.

13. The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa

Esau Mwamwaya/Radioclit team up for a brilliant mix of hip-hop, pop, dance and world beats.

12. Cool Kids - Gone Fishing (Mixtape)

[Download it: http://whenfishridebicycles.com/]

If it weren't for the incessant self-referential Don Cannon samples this album would be even more magnificant.

11. Phase One - White Collar Crime (Mixtape)

[Download it: Google]

Really great mix of hip-hop and indie artists.

10. Matt and Kim - Grand

SO. FUCKING. CATCHY.

9. Discovery - LP

Weird that two guys from two bands I don't care much about could make such a weirdly interesting album of R&B style laptop music.

8. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Rarely does weirdly experimental indie rock work for me, but Animal Collective really grew on me in '09.

7. Dan Deacon - Bromst

Oh man do I love Dan Deacon. Everything about him. Especially this album.

6. jj - Nº 2

[iTunes only: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/id320418787]

Really really beautiful pop music from some mysterious folks in Sweden. Nominee for worst cover art of the year though.

5. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

This one's gonna be on everyone's top ten this year.

4. The xx - xx

One of those debuts that came out of left field for me. Quality.

3. Passion Pit - Manners

Fresh and interesting blend of electronic/pop/dance.

2. Mos Def - The Ecstatic

Mos Def does is better than anybody in hip-hop this year.

1. Japandroids - Post Nothing

This album embodies everything I love about rock music. Raw, youthful, energetic... just two dudes banging out music about the shit they love. Can't stop singing along.