in 140 characters or less
20. The XX
XX (XL)
One of the best man and woman duets of all time. Their voices mesh together like delicious PB+J. Songs to groove or snooze to.
19. Consider the Thief
Signs and Wonders (Self-released)
Locally bred, brilliantly produced post-rock album that plays well in its entirety. Healthy dose of clever programming. Great vocal work.
18. Tides of Man
Empire Theory (Rise)
Soaring vocals, layers of swirling guitar riffs, solid rhythms. Almost enough to make Claudio Sanchez of Coheed and Cambria jealous.
17. Japandroids
Post-Nothing (Unfamiliar)
“Garage rock” is apparently what happens when production savvy meets a couple of punk kids intent on loosening up your bowels. A guitar tone dream date.
16. Liturgy
Renihilation (20 Buck Spin)
Black metal in its purest form, but spiritual ecstasy rises forth from its buzzing guitars, crashing cymbals and despondent growls.
15. A-trak
Infinity (Thrive)
A relentless hour of cheap thrills and kick/snare/hollas from one of Montreal’s most prodigious mashers.
14. Bright Light Fever
Meat Market EP (Self-released)
Five delicious tracks of foot tapping, head nodding, energetic rock brewed in Sacramento. Sing along, dance and have fun. RIP BLF.
13. Real Estate
Real Estate (Woodsist)
Clouds never quite break for this sunny-day guitar narrative; summer with a caveat, in a Jersey basement.
12. Dredg
The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion (Ohlone)
Follow Dredg as they take you on an exuberant journey through 18 tracks of melt your face bliss blended like your favorite film score.
11. Thrice
Beggars (Vagrant)
A raw, stripped down Thrice go back to the basics: guitars, bass, drums, keys, vocals. Groovy, almost bluesy at times. Refreshing offering.
10. Ganglians
Monster Head Room (Woodsist)
Grooving surf-rock riffs and supple vocal harmonies, it’s the record that encompassed Midtown life.
09. Passion Pit
Manners (Columbia/DMZ)
A happy indie electronic album with some of the most high pitch singing out there this year. Yet still makes you want to turn it up to 11.
08. Sunn O)))
Monoliths and Dimensions (Southern Lord)
Manages to segue from immense drone riffs to jazz-like passages without a stutter. 4 songs, almost 60 minutes, 4,000 tons of despair.
07. John Mayer
Battle Studies (Sony)
He took a step away from the blues-driven Continuum, but perfected the pop-rock song like it hasn’t been done since Fleetwood Mac in the ’70s.
06. Dan Deacon
Bromst (Carpark)
Deacon preaches the way forward with volcanic drums and fuzzy, twisted melodies—electronic music in its grandest, most sincere composition.
05. San Kazakgascar
Idle Ships (Lather)
A psych trip led by a snake charmer through a hipster bazaar in search of your hash dealer.
04. The Mars Volta
Octahedron (Warner Brothers)
RodrÃÂguez-López and Bixler-Zavala prove once again that they are the masters of creating weird, yet somehow easy listening albums.
03. Tegan and Sara
Sainthood (Sire)
The Canadian twins continue to bleed their romantic struggles into indie rock jams with substance, dueling vocals and sing-along melodies.
02. Baroness
Blue Record (Relapse)
Boulder-heavy but like an opera in its composition. A rare album that demands, through brute force, that it be listened to in its entirety.
01. Phoenix
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (V2)
Sublimely perfect and addictive gooey indie pop goodness. 2009’s album most likely to make people at your party say, “That’s my song!”
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