Note: I started the list in 1990, but I cannot find the first three years... and I do not want to go back and just make them up.
best of 2009
1. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart "s/t" (slumberland)
2. David Bazan "Curse Your Branches" (barsuk)
3. Shrinebuilder "Shrinebuilder" (neurot)
4. Passion Pit "Manners" (french kiss/columbia)
5. Tortoise "Beacons of Ancestorship" (thrill jockey)
6. Nomo "Invisible Cities" (ubiquity)
7. Method Man & Redman "Blackout 2" (def jam)
8. Phoenix "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenex" (loyauté/glassnote)
9. Lily Allen "It's Not Me, It's You" (capitol)
10. Rose Melberg "Homemade Ship" (k)
Animal Collective "Merriweather Post Pavilion" (domino)
The Big Pink "A Brief History Of Love" (4ad)
Bill Callahan "Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle" (drag city)
Bricolage "Bricolage" (slumberland)
Girls "Album" (true panther/matador)
Roman Candle "Oh Tall Tree In The Ear" (carnival)
Thee Oh Sees "Help" (in the red)
Yo La Tengo "Popular Songs" (matador)
P.O.S. "Never Better" (rhymesayers)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs "It's Blitz!" (interscope)
1. Primal Scream "Beautiful Future" (wea)
2. Frightened Rabbit "Midnight Organ Fight" (fat cat)
3. Parts And Labor "Receivers" (jagjaguwar)
4. Jamie Lidell "Jim" (warp)
5. Lindstrom "Where You Go I Go" (smalltown)
6. GZA/Genius "Pro-Tools" (babygrande)
7. Mates of State "Re-Arrange Us" (basuk)
8. The Dodos "Visiter" (frenchkiss)
9. No Age "Nouns" (Sub Pop)
10. Hercules and Love Affair "Hercules and Love Affair" (dfa/mute)
Black Mountain "In The Future" (jagjaguwar)
Cool Kids "The Bake Sale" (chocolate industries)
Dutchess & The Duke "She's The Dutches, He's The Duke" (hardly art)
Gutter Twins "Saturnalia" (sup pop)
Harvey Milk "Life... The Best Game In Town" (hydra head)
James "Hey Ma" (mercury)
Lodger "Life Is Sweet" (slumberland)
Q-Tip "The Renaissance" (motown/universal)
Royal We "The Royal We" (domino)
Stereolab "Chemical Chords" (4ad)
1. Band Of Horses "Cease To Begin" (sub pop)
2. Menomena "Friend And Foe" (barsuk)
3. LCD Soundsystem "Sound Of Silver" (dfa / capitol)
4. Bishop Allen "The Broken String" (dead oceans)
5. Wu-Tang Clan "8 Diagrams" (motown / universal)
6. The Broken West "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On" (merge)
7. The Narrator "All That To The Wall" (flameshovel)
8. Justice "Cross" (vice/ed banger)
9. Oh No "Dr. No's Oxperiment" (stones throw)
10. Radiohead "In Rainbows" (self released)
Avette Brothers "Emotionalism" (ramseur)
Battles "Mirrored" (warp)
Budos Band, The "II" (daptone)
Clientele, The "God Save The Clientele" (merge)
Feist "The Reminder" (cherrytree/interscope)
National, The "Boxer" (beggars banquet)
Okkervil River "The Stage Names" (jagjaguwar)
Burial "Untrue" (hyperdub)
Pharoah Monch "Desire" (src/motown)
Stars "In Our Bedroom After The War" (arts & crafts)
1. Belle & Sebastian "The Life Pursuit" (rough trade)
2. Donavon Frankenreiter "Move By Yourself" (lost highway)
3. TV On The Radio "Return To Cookie Mountain" (4ad/interscope)
4. Bonnie "Prince" Billy "The Letting Go" (drag city)
5. The Hold Steady "Boys And Girls In America" (vagrant)
6. Martime "We, The Vehicles" (flameshovel)
7. Kelly Stoltz "Below The Branches" (sub pop)
8. The Sword "Age of Winters" (kemado)
9. So Many Dynamos "Flashlights" (skrocki)
10. Laura Gibson "If You Come To Greet Me" (hush)
Bruce Springsteen "We Shall Overcome" (columbia)
Ghostface Killah "Fishscale" (def jam)
Girl Talk "Night Ripper" (illegal art)
Josh Ritter "The Animal Years" (v2)
Jo Jo "The High Road" (blackground)
Left Alone "Dead American Radio" (hellcat)
M. Ward "Post-War" (merge)
Mission Of Burma "The Obliterati" (matador)
Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 "Ole! Taranula" (yeproc)
Silversun Pickups "Carnavas" (dangerbird)
1. The Magic Numbers "The Magic Numbers" (capitol/heavenly)
2. Nada Surf "The Weight Is A Gift" (barsuk)
3. The Perceptionists "Black Dialogue" (def jux)
4. SF Jazz Collective "SF Jazz Collective" (nonesuch)
5. Josh Rouse "Nashville" (ryko)
6. Stars "Set Yourself On Fire" (arts & crafts)
7. Lyrics Born "Same !@#$ Different Day" (quannum)
8. John Davis "John Davis" (bht)
9. The National "Alligator" (beggars banquet)
10. The Frames "Burn The Map" (anti)
Bloc Party "Silent Alarm" (v2)
Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah "Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah" (self released)
Drunk Horse "In Tongues" (tee pee)
Elbow "Leaders Of The Free World" (v2)
Freakwater "Thinking Of You..." (thrill jockey)
Ida "Heart Like A River" (polyvinyl)
Mariah Carey "The Emancipation Of Mini" (island)
Shannon McNally "Geronimo" (narada)
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings "Naturally" (daptone)
The Game "The Documentary" (interscope)
1. David Byrne "Grown Backwards" (nonesuch)
2. Kings of Leon "Aha Shake Break" (hand me down/rca)
3. Mission of Burma "onoffon" (matador)
4. Helio Sequence "Love And Distance" (sub pop)
5. Destiny's Child "Destiny Fulfilled" (columbia)
6. Silent League "The Orchestra, Sadly, Has Refused" (file13)
7. Kings of Convenience "Riot On An Empty Street"(astralwerks)
8. Mouse on Mars "Radical Connector" (thrill jockey)
9. Secret Machines "Now Here Is Nowhere" (reprise)
10. Gipsy Kings "Roots" (nonesuch)
Arcade Fire "Funeral" (merge)
Alison Krauss And Union Station "Lonely Runs Both Ways" (rounder)
Dogs Die In Hot Cars "Please Describe Yourself" (v2)
Franz Ferdinand "Franz Ferdinand" (domino)
Green Day "American Idiot" (reprise)
Kayne West "The College Dropout" (roc-a-fella)
Luna "Rendezvous" (jetset)
Mountain Goats "We Shall All Be Healed" (4ad)
Richmond Fontaine "Post To Wire" (el cortez)
Washington Social Club "Catching Looks" (badman)
1. Jayhawks "Rainy Day Music" (american/lost highway)
2. The Coral "Magic & Medicine" (delta sonic)
3. Virgil Shaw "Still Falling" (future farmer)
4. Lifesavas "Spirit in Stone" (quannum)
5. Explosions in the Sky "Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place" (temporary residence)
6. Kings of Leon "Youth & Young Man Hood" (rca)
7. Innocence Mission "Befriended" (badman)
8. Dwight Yoakam "Population: Me" (audium)
9. Beyonce "Dangerously In Love" (columbia)
10. Lisa Loeb & Elizabeth Mitchell "Catch the Moon" (artemis)
Elbow "Cast of Thousands" (v2)
Four Tet "Rounds" (domino)
Luke Vibert "YosepH" (warp)
Leona Naess "Leona Naess" (geffen)
Matthew Sweet "Kimi Ga Suki* Raifu" (cutting edge)
South "With The Tides" (kenetic)
The Thrills "So Much For The City" (virgin)
William Elliott Whitmore "Hymns For The Hopeless" (southern)
Wyclef Jean "The Preacher's Son" (j)
Vandermark 5 "Airports for Light / Six for Rollins" (atavistic)
1. Elvis Costello "When I Was Cruel" (island)
2. David S. Ware Quartet "Freedom Suite" (aum fidelity)
3. Neil Halstead "Sleeping on Roads" (4ad)
4. Dixie Chicks "Home" (open wide/columbia)
5. Sonic Youth "Murray Street" (dgc)
6. Laura Cantrell "When The Roses Bloom" (diesel only)
7. Imperial Teen "On" (merge)
8. Nappy Roots "Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz" (atlantic)
9. Reigning Sound "Time Bomb High School" (in the red)
10. Soundtrack "In The Shadows of Motown" (hip-o/motown)
Brendan Benson "Lapalco" (startime)
Decemberists "Castawys and Coutouts" (hush)
DJ Shadow "Private Press" (mo'wax/mca)
Flaming Lips "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" (warner bros.)
Iron & Wine "The Creek Drank the Craddle" (sub pop)
Panthers "Are You Down" (troubleman)
Rjd2 "Deadringer" (definitive jux)
Roman Candle "Says Pop" (outlook)
Roots "Phrenology" (okplayer/mca)
V/A "History of Garage & Frat Bands in Memphis, Vol. 2" (shangri-la)
1. The Shins "Oh, Inverted World" (sub pop)
2. Joe Henry "Scar" (mammoth)
3. The Greenhornes "The Greenhornes" (telstar)
4. DJ Z-Trip & DJ P "Uneasy Listening, Volume 1" (self released)
5. Danielson Famile "Fetch The Compass Kids" (secretly canadian)
6. Poets of Rhythm "Discern Define" (quannum)
7. Pink "M!ssundastood" (arista)
8. Philadelphia Experiment "Philadelphia Experiment" (rope-a-dope)
9. Actionslacks "The Scene's Out Of Sight" (self starter)
10. Yesterdays New Quintet "Angels Without Edges" (stones throw)
Beachwood Sparks "Once We Were Trees" (sub pop)
The Detroit Cobras "Life, Love And Leaving" (sftri)
His Name Is Alive "Someday My Blues Will Cover The Earth" (4ad)
James “Pleased To Meet You” (mercury)
Karl Denson "Dance Lesson #2" (blue note)
Low “Things We Lost In the Fire” (kranky)
Reigning Sound “Break Up Break Down” (sftri)
Silver Scooter "The Blue Law" (peek-a-boo)
Soundtrack of Our Lives “Behind the Music” (telegram)
Wu-Tang Clan “Iron Flag” (loud)
1. Grandaddy "The Sophtware Slump" (v2/will)
2. Cutthroats "Cutthroats 9" (man's ruin)
3. Jurassic-5 "Quality Control" (interscope)
4. Emmylou Harris "Red Dirt Girl" (nonesuch)
5. Jet Black Crayon "Low Frequency Speaker Test" (function 8)
6. Vandermark 5 "Burn The Incline" (atavistic)
7. Dieselhed "Chico And The Flute" (bong load)
8. Cave-In "Jupiter" (hydra head)
9. White Stripes "De Stijil" (sftri)
10. Quasimoto "The Unseen" (stones throw)
Hot Snakes "Automatic Midnight" (sftri)
Ida "You Will Find Me" (tigerstyle)
Lucinda Williams "Essence" (lost highway)
Moonie Susuki "People Get Ready" (estrus)
New Pornographers "Mass Romantic" (mint/blue curtain)
Reggie & The Full Effect "Promotional Copy" (vagrant/h&v)
Soundtrack "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (lost highway)
Steve Earl "Trancendental Blues" (artemis)
Tabil Kweli & Hitek "Reflection Eternal" (rawkus)
Yo La Tengo "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out" (matador)
1. Virgil Shaw "Quad Cities" (boxkite)
2. Couch "Fantasy" (kitty-yo)
3. Blackalicious "A2GEP" (mo wax / quannum projects)
4. XTC "Apple Venus, Vol. 1" (idea / tvt)
5. Original Harmony Ridge Creek Dippers "Zola & the Tulip Tree" (creek dipper)
6. Promise Ring "Very Emergency" (jade tree)
7. Vibes "With Drawn" (knitting factory)
8. Neurosis "Times of Grace" (relapse)
9. Smog “Knock Knock” (drag city)
10. Rubberoom "Archetichnology" (3-2-1 / indus)
Chemical Brothers “Surrender” (astralwerks)
Dismemberment Plan “Emergency & I” (desoto)
Dolly Parton “The Grass Is Blue” (sugar hill)
Faith Hill “Breathe” (warner bros.)
Reggie & the Full Effect “Greatest Hits 1984-1987” (second nature)
Roots “Things Fall Apart” (mca)
Lustre King "Shoot The Messenger" (southern)
Tight Bros from Way Back When “Strut” (kill rock stars)
Vandermark 5 “Simpatico” (atavistic)
Wilco “Summer Teeth” (warner bros.)
1. Black Heart Procession "1" (headhunter-cargo)
2. Godspeed You Black Emperor! "F#A#(Infinity)" (kranky)
3. Mojave 3 "Out Of Tune" (4ad)
4. Quasi "Featuring Birds" (up)
5. Willie Nelson "Teatro" (island)
6. DJs Z-Trip & Radar "Soundsessions Vol. 2" (future primitive)
7. Jets to Brazil "Orange Rhyming Dictionary" (jade tree)
8. Joan of Arc "How Memory Works" (jade tree)
9. Pedro The Lion "It's Hard To Find A Friend" (made in mexico)
10. Dwight Yoakam "A Long Way Home" (reprise)
Beck "Mutations" (dgc)
Billy Bragg & Wilco "Mermaid Avenue" (elektra)
Freakwater "Springtime" (thrill jockey)
Jonny Chan & the New Dynasty Six "So, You Want Action" (dionysus)
Notwist "Shrink" (zero hour)
Lauryn Hill "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (columbia)
Medeski, Martin & Wood "Combustication" (blue note)
Plush "More You Becomes You" (drag city)
Queens of the Stone Age "S/T" (loose groove)
Superdrag "Headtrip In Every Key" (elektra)
1. Optiganally Yours "Spotlight On" (headhunter/cargo)
2. Irving Claw Trio "Utek Pahato Mogai" (road cone)
3. Radiohead "OK Computer" (capitol)
4. Karp "Self-Titled" (k)
5. Joan of Arc "Portable Model Of" (jade tree)
6. Joe Henderson "Porgy And Bess" (verve)
7. Birddog "The Tack House, The Valley, The Liquor..." (sugar free)
8. Antedeluvian Rocking Horse "Music For The Odd Occasion" (seeland)
9. John Fahey "City of Refuge" (tim kerr)
10. Pond "Rock Collection" (work)
Belle And Sebastian "If You're Feeling Sinister" (jeepster)
Buena Vista Social Club "Buena Vista Social Club" (nonesuch)
Built to Spill "Perfect From Now On" (warner bros.)
Death Cab For Cutie "Songs About Airplanes" (barsuk/elsinor)
DJ Krush "Milight" (mo'wax)
Elliott Smith "Either/Or" (kill rock stars)
Old 97's "Too Far To Care" (elektra)
Get Up Kids "Four Minute Mile" (doghouse)
Promise Ring "Nothing Feels Good" (jade tree)
Spiritualized "Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space" (arista)
1. DJ Shadow "Entroducing..." (mo'wax)
2. Fugees "The Score" (ruff house/columbia)
3. Peechees "Do the Math" (kill rock stars)
4. Weezer "Pinkerton" (dgc)
5. Modest Mouse "This Is A Long Drive For Someone..."(up)
6. Heatmiser "Mic City Sons" (caroline)
7. Fu Manchu "In Search Of..." (mammoth)
8. Beck "Odelay" (bong load/geffen)
9. Sleater-Kinney "Call The Doctor" (chainsaw)
10. Stereolab "Emperor Tomato Ketchup" (elektra)
Babe the Blue Ox "People" (rca)
Imperial Teen "Seasick" (slash/london)
Jimmy Eat World "Static Prevails" (capitol)
Neutral Milk Hotel "On Avery Island" (merge)
Promise Ring "30 Degrees Everywhere" (jade tree)
Red House Painters "Songs for a Blue Guitar" (supreme/island)
Roots "illadelph Halflife" (dgc)
Thumbnail "Red! Dead!" (headhunter/cargo)
Tortoise "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" (thrill jockey)
Tullycraft "Old Traditions, New Standards" (harriet)
1. Heavy Vegetable "Frisbie" (cargo)
2. Ben Lee "Grandpaw Would" (grand royal)
3. 6ths "Wasp's Nest" (london)
4. Bjork "Post" (elektra)
5. Rocket from the Crypt "Hot Charity" (perfect sounds)
6. Thirty Ought Six "Hag Seed" (mute)
7. Pond "Practice of Joy Before Death" (sub pop)
8. Pulp "Different Class" (island)
9. Charlie Hunter "Bing Bing Bing" (blue note)
10. Roots "Do You Want More?!!!??!" (dgc)
Archers of Loaf "Vee Vee" (alias)
Chemical Brothers "Exit Planet Dust" (astralwerks)
Elliott Smith "Elliott Smith" (kill rock stars)
Fugazi "Red Medicine" (discord)
Mercury Rev "See You On The Other Side" (work)
Muffs "Blonder and Blonder" (reprise)
Oasis "(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?" (epic)
Quicksand "Manic Compression" (island)
Radiohead "The Bends" (capitol)
Supergrass "I Should Coco" (capitol)
1. Nirvana "MTV Unplugged" (dgc)
2. Green Day "Dookie" (reprise)
3. Drive Like Jehu "Yank Crime" (interscope)
4. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion "Orange" (matador)
5. Sunny Day Real Estate "Diary" (sub pop)
6. Luna "Bewitched" (elektra)
7. Weezer "Weezer" (dgc)
8. Wedding Present "Watusi" (island)
9. Palace Brothers "Days in the Wakes" (drag city)
10. Portishead "Dummy" (go!)
Beck "One Foot in the Grave" (k)
Bikini Kill "Pussywhipped" (kill rock stars)
Blur "Park Life" (food/sbk)
Guided By Voices "Bee Thousand" (scat)
Heatmiser "Cop & Speeder" (frontier)
Mono Men "Sin and Tonic" (estrus)
Pavement "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" (matador)
Sea and the Cake "Sea and the Cake" (thrill jockey)
Shellac "At Action Park" (touch & go)
Tortoise "Tortoise" (thrill jockey)
1. Nirvana "In Utero" (dgc)
2. Unrest "Perfect Teeth" (4ad/teen beat)
3. James "Laid" (mercury)
4. Breeders "Last Splash" (4ad/elektra)
5. Swervedriver "Mezcal Head" (a&m)
6. Digable Planets "Reachin'" (capitol)
7. Flaming Lips "Transmissions from the Satellite Heart" (warner bros.)
8. Urge Overkill "Saturation" (dgc)
9. Tribe Called Quest "Midnight Marauders" (jive)
10. Slowdive "Souvlaki" (sbk)
Bjork "Debut" (elektra)
Goo Goo Dolls "Superstar Car Wash" (warner bros.)
Huggy Bear "Taking the Rough with the Smooch" (kill rock stars)
Mazzy Star "So Tonight That I Might See" (capitol)
Redd Kross "Phase Shifter" (mercury)
Spinanes "Manos" (sub pop)
Stereolab "Transient Random-Noise Bursts With Announcements" (elektra)
Tsunami "Deep End" (simple machines)
Uncle Tupelo "Anodyne" (sire)
Wu Tang Clan "Enter The Wu Tang Clan" (rca)
1. Pavement "Slanted & Enchanted" (matador)
2. Luna "Luna Park" (elektra)
3. Dr. Dre "Chronic" (death row/interscope)
4. James "Seven" (mercury)
5. Rocket from the Crypt "Circa:Now" (cargo)
6. Beastie Boys "Check Your Head" (capitol)
7. Yo La Tengo "May I Sing With Me" (alias)
8. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds "Henry's Dream"(mute)
9. Screaming Trees "Sweet Oblivion" (epic)
10. Disposable Heroes "Hypocricy is the Greatest Luxury" (4th & Broadway)
Arrested Development "3 Years, 5 Months, 2 Days..." (chrysalis)
Beat Happening "You Turn Me On" (sub pop)
Buffalo Tom "Let Me Come Over" (beggars banquet)
Charlatans UK "Between 10th & 11th" (beggars banquet)
Helmet "Meantime" (interscope)
Jesus Lizard "Liar" (touch & go)
Meat Beat Manifesto "Satyricon" (mute/elektra)
Nine Inch Nails "Broken/Fixed EPs" (interscope)
Ride "Going Blank Again" (sire)
Spiritualized "Lazer Guided Melodies" (dedicated)
