Better late than never! The top twenty albums of 2009 as chosen by Klap4music after countless hours of careful statistical analysis and scientific formulas to determine the best music of the year.

20.

Kiss Kiss – The Meek Shall Inherit What’s Left

Eyeball Records

Released: July 7

Kiss Kiss don’t really have any idea what they’re going to be doing from one minute to the next, so it should come as no surprise that The Meek Shall Inherit What’s Left is a delightfully scrambled mess of an album, one that jumps from bouncy indie pop to quirky gypsy folk to outsized 16-minute concept tunes. But somehow everything holds together, making it a wonderfully effective blender of rock music.

19.

M. Ward – Hold Time

Merge Records

Released: February 17

It’s become typical to expect excellence from M. Ward at this stage in career, but even so, Hold Time was a startling consistent example of beautifully refined Americana. His best since Transistor Radio, it’s an album that flows smoothly from one song to the next, a river of songs photographing classic American music as it rolls along.

18.

Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring

Cherrytree Records

Released: October 6

Few bands could do such an abrupt about-face as Noah and the Whale do with their sophomore effort, but the London quintet pull it off in style. The First Days of Spring is the break-up record of the year, but it would be crushingly depressing if not for the vivid, pastoral soundscapes the band have masterfully crafted.

17.

Manic Street Preachers – Journal for Plague Lovers

Columbia

Released: May 18

It always seemed like the Preachers were searching for an identity to call their own after the disappearance of their heart and soul, frontman Richey Edwards. But Journal for Plague Lovers confidently stands tall among great Preacher records of the past, exorcizing Edwards’ ghost with his own lyrics and creating a modern rock record that blows away most of the newer competition, including many of their own previous works.

16.

The Fiery Furnaces – I’m Going Away

Thrill Jockey

Released: July 21

Ever since Blueberry Boat, the Fiery Furnaces seemed to lose their way on latter albums, unable to reconcile the experimental brilliance of that album with the pop charm of Gallowsbird’s Bark, resulting in albums that were wildly uneven and even more challenging. But with their latest, the brother-sister duo has regained that middle ground wonderfully. I’m Going Away is their most accessible album in years, without losing that distinctive oddball charm and slice-of-life lyrics that has defined them.

15.

Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing

Favorite Gentlemen

Released: April 21

Manchester Orchestra’s second album shows them maturing into something every fan of the band was desperately hoping for, the newest poet laureates of emotive indie rock. Singer and lyricist Andy Hull has sharpened his roiling tide of emotions into impassioned pleas and finely tuned angst, resulting in one of the year’s best songs (“I Can Feel A Hot One”) and a record that bodes so, so well for the future.

14.

Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Domino

Released: January 6

It’s no surprise that Merriweather Post Pavilion became so wildly popular in indie circles – without losing any of the weirdness or experimental angles that have defined the band over the past decade, they successfully broadened their pop horizons, resulting in an extremely accessible record that appealed as much to the diehard fan as it did to the wannabe hipster. Perhaps the strangest success story of the year – after all, would anyone listening to Animal Collective in 2000 have predicted this level of success ten years later?

13.

Portugal. The Man – The Satanic Satanist

Equal Vision

Released: July 21

An alt-rock record that never seems to struggle and definitely never wants for a tasty melody or grabbing hook, The Satanic Satanist is Portugal. The Man at their best, a melding of all their previous sounds into a record that could not sound more tossed-off or carefree if it tried. It’s a brilliant trick, one that results in an album that is as light and relaxing as it is refreshing and remarkably accomplished.

12.

Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You

Regal

Released: February 9

While not as unique and defining as her debut, It’s Not Me, It’s You is the perfect pop album, mixing Lily Allen’s sizable amounts of sass and razor-sharp wit with superbly diverse production by Mark Ronson and songs that absolutely kill. Track after track is a potential hit single, perhaps derailed from commercial success only by Allen’s often-blunt lyrics. Then again, that’s what makes Lily such a treat in the whitewashed world of mainstream pop.

11.

Mos Def – The Ecstatic

Downtown

Released: June 9

This could very well be the comeback record of the year, and would easily have been the rap record of the year if it were any other year. Alas, 2009 was a special year in music, and The Ecstatic is no exception. Mos Def sounds rejuvenated, more centered in than he has in years, and the record’s confident tone and relentlessly ingenious beats and rhymes follow in turn.

10.

The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love

Capitol Records

Released: March 24

There’s been better Decemberists records, and there’s certainly been better concept records over the course of history, but The Hazards of Love is perfect at what it sets out to do: embody the Decemberists’ literary and musical ambitions in one giant song cycle. It’s the ultimate progression of the band’s sound, taking their penchant for wordy songs and long-winded stories and expanding it over the course of an entire album. It’s what the Decemberists were destined for, and in that respect it’s a fine piece of work. And while the story is a little half-baked, the songs are as epic and well done as ever, driving the story and resulting in some of the best instrumental work the band has ever put down.

9.

Taken By Trees – East of Eden

Rough Trade

Released: September 8

Journeying to the East to find oneself has become as much of a cliché as any over the past few decades, as has recording one’s experiences there. Luckily for former Concretes’ frontwoman Victoria Bergsman, she seems to have sublimated all those Eastern influences into her own sound rather than just throwing in a few foreign instruments and styles onto her shiny brand of Swedish indie-pop. It’s a record that is almost impossible to place, the convergence of sounds and Bergsman’s own haunting vocals resulting in a mystical, almost timeless album, one just at home in the foothills of Pakistan as it is in the indie blogosphere.

8.

Neko Case – Middle Cyclone

ANTI-

Released: March 3

While Middle Cyclone doesn’t quite approach the classic status of Case’s last record, the transcendent Fox Confessor Brings The Flood, it takes only three-and-a-half minutes to foresee it possibly attaining that stature. While the musicianship is top-notch and runs the gamut from smoky folk to woodsy Americana and straight-ahead rock, the focus remains, as always, on Case’s inimitable vocals. Opener “This Tornado Loves You” is proof of this and more, Case’s distinctive pipes highlighting a stormy mess of a song, one that revels in the passion of destruction as much as it does in love and longing.

7.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!

Interscope

Released: March 9

It’s Blitz! is perhaps the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ most complete record yet, one that runs the gamut of emotions and moods from the exhilarating opener “Zero” to the frighteningly effective, lullaby-esque closer “Little Shadow.” No longer can the Yeah Yeah Yeahs be accused of being just another one-dimensional New York garage rock band – from synth-filled new wave to mellow alt-rock to haunting ballads, It’s Blitz! is a multifaceted album that reveals more and more upon each successive listen. It shows a startling amount of growth for a band long relegated to one-hit wonder status, and gives hope that, yes, there is life after “Maps.”

6.

Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk

Shangri-La Music

Released: September 22

It didn’t come as a surprise that a collaboration between Conor Oberst, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, M. Ward, and uber-producer Mike Mogis would be entertaining; what was a surprise, however, was just how good and refined Monsters of Folk ended up being, more the product of a long-time band than a supergroup thrown together for shits and gigs. It’s a minor miracle that the foursome are able to integrate all their own influences and ideas so seamlessly into the final product, a time capsule of classic Americana that manages to stand on its own, rather than the hodgepodge of styles one would expect. Best of all, that final product is the best example of pure, unadulterated American rock ‘n roll to come out all year.

5.

Japandroids – Post-Nothing

Polyvinyl

Released: August 4

Post-Nothing is best taken straight, no chaser, with zero preconceptions or any hint of in-depth critical analysis upon first listen. All fuzzed-out guitars, straight-out-of-the-garage drums and vocals that, frankly, don’t give a damn, it’s the sound of youth and youth’s emotions at their most free, uncaged from any hint of adult restraint. It’s a record full of anthems and undeniably vital, practically bursting with life, energy, lust, you name it: and not ashamed of any of it.

4.

Miike Snow – Miike Snow

Downtown

Released: June 9

It’s a far cry from “Toxic,” but Bloodshy & Avant’s new side project (with singer Andrew Wyatt) is deliciously unfettered pop in its own way. Perhaps the best-produced album of the year, it flits from Vampire Weekend-esque indie (“Animal”) to gorgeous atmospherics (“Silvia”) to fantastically filthy electro-pop (“Black & Blue”) to haunting ballads (“Faker”), with the ease of a musical chameleon with a liking for keyboards. It’s an instant party starter, but at its heart it’s something more, an album built on a pop foundation but with multiple layers, a heart that values superior songwriting and grade-A production to shallow sentiments and mindless hooks.

3.

Raekwon – Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… Pt. II

EMI

Released: September 8

Raekwon’s latest is a shining reaffirmation of Wu-Tang dominance over the rap game; RZA’s production is his best work in years, the various guest spots all seem placed to perfection, speaking more to their lyrical abilities and personalities than any “oh, hey, look who we got to guest on this track” bullshit. Every spot here means something, and, more than that, every spot here frames and support the leader, the rapper whose flow and style defines this album and makes it a new rap classic. Raekwon is clearly at the top of his game here, delivering a conceptual story that wallows in the dirt and grime of New York and comes out reinvigorated in the end. The Wu are far from dead – indeed, this might be the strongest they’ve been all decade.

2.

Florence and the Machine – Lungs

Island

Released: July 6

The Voice is a major reason for this album’s success, but it’s not the only one. Just as importantly, the talented backing band does an excellent job transcribing Florence Welch’s uniquely powerful voice and haunting tone into the music. Lungs is an album as versatile as its namesake, from the thumping bombast of “Drumming Song” to the bluesy “Kiss With A Fist” to the ethereal buildup to “Between Two Lungs.” But that Voice! – from fierce to grieving to lusty, Welch is the driving force behind Lungs, one that at times seems to be like a force of nature, whirling from high to low with equal passion and equal ease. The debut of the year, and a very exciting one for the future.

1.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

V2 Records

Released: May 26

When I first heard this record it certainly didn’t stand out to me as a potential Album of the Year candidate. And it still didn’t stand out after the second, third, or a dozen listens, but over the course of the summer the little things began to strike me as special, revealing a record full of layers I had previously dismissed in the guise of “just another dance-rock record.” It is a dance-rock record, and an exceptional one at that, but it’s the painstaking attention to detail, the relentlessly innovative beats and polished drumming, the appealingly earnest way these Frenchmen take English rock ‘n roll and make it their own, all these things and more that catapult Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix into a realm of its own. It’s the way the band breaks it down and then the multi-tracked harmonic guitar flies in over the end of “Lisztomania;” it’s the way “1901’s” chorus zooms in and out on the bass like a pneumatic hammer of pop as the synths take skyward; it’s the way the “Love Like A Sunset” suite resolves itself so beautifully in a haze of major-key watercolors; it’s the way singer Thomas Mars’ bares all in the heartbreaking shimmer of “Rome.” More than anything else, it’s a dance record that isn’t afraid to celebrate its own flaws, rejoicing in its ability to take a shallow genre and make something lasting, one that speaks as much to a person’s emotions as it does their feet. Here’s to my record of the year.

Taken By Trees – East of Eden

Rough Trade 2009

Rating: 8/10

Whether it is for spiritual, artistic, or less, ahem, savory reasons, the East has always been a musical mecca for soul-searching bands. From the Beatles experiment with Indian music to Pete Doherty’s brief (and ultimately failed) excursion to Thailand to get clean, the Eastern world has, for all globalization has done since the ‘60s, retained an exciting mystique and a wealth of cultural traditions that many musicians have found impossible to ignore. Few, however, have found their tours as treacherous as Victoria Bergsman, former singer of Swedish pop band the Concretes. Accosted by ultra-religious locals as soon as she arrived in rural Pakistan, the single Bergsman improvised, pretending her sound engineer was her husband so that they could travel around the country without further problems. Given Bergsman’s penchant for delicately intricate indie pop, one might expect such a tension-filled trip would have thrown a wrench in the proverbial songwriting gears, but East of Eden comes off as an impossibly relaxed, genuinely constructed album that meshes East and West improbably well.

Many an album recorded in foreign environments has come off as patronizing or a fraud, taking only the merest of cultural touchstones or instruments and calling it fusion when it is more often a parody. Even for all the hoopla regarding the Beatles’ stay in India, Eastern styles were really apparent only on a few of their efforts. East of Eden, then, is a rarity, an album that from start to finish immerses itself in the Pakistani culture but retains that quintessentially Swedish pop edge that Bergsman long ago mastered. It’s an exciting and, at first listen, a perplexing sort of record. Few familiar with the Concretes or the last Taken By Trees record will know how to reconcile Bergman’s soft vocals with sitar flourishes and male backing vocals wailing in traditional Pakistani tongues. But as this deceptively short album gently unwinds its way through the mountains and villages of the countryside, it’s clear that Bergsman remains just as comfortable behind these alien textures as she does behind a piano and multi-layered harmonies.

Opening track “To Lose Someone” sets the template for what’s to come, opening with a light acoustic guitar melody before a swell of instrumentation surfaces, subtle tablas and dhol working off the rhythm while a flute sighs in the background. Bergsman’s vocals remain restrained throughout the track and the rest of the album, creating a tangible but not overpowering atmosphere of exotic locales and the kind of images normally reserved for National Geographic articles. Most of all, it’s delightfully understated – nothing here is forced, and when the haunting wailing of a guest vocalist closes out the song in intriguing fashion, it comes off as undeniably genuine rather than an opportunistic genre theft.

Tender and exquisitely emotive with even the barest whisper, Bergsman is of course the thread that holds everything together. Fans of her earlier work won’t be surprised to see her do quiet here, but they might be shocked at how effortlessly her vocals, which run the gamut from standard indie-pop love tales to a Herman Hesse poem sung entirely in Swedish, fit into this worldly tapestry. Amidst tribal percussion and a bansuri flute on “Watch The Waves” Bergsman’s ethereal pipes combine nicely with the tune’s dreamy tone. Her declaration to “hold you for a hundred years / take away your greatest fears” on the sprightly “Day By Day,” meanwhile, transforms it into a sort of “Young Folks” for the Eastern crowd, with its village dance drum line and poppy woodwind refrain.

When Bergsman strays too far from her roots, like on the drone-y, ambient Swedish-language closer “Bekannelse,” (that aforementioned Hesse poem), it’s too easy for her personality to get lost in the shuffle. Indeed, “Wapas Karna,” the ill-advised field recording of a traditional Sufi folk song performed entirely by untrained locals, suffers mightily from zero contribution by the Swedish chanteuse. But when Bergsman is on, East of Eden produces some otherworldly gems, from “Watch The Waves” to the expertly produced sonic threads of “The Greyest Love of All,” where a slippery sitar line, flutes, and Bergsman’s soothing vocals collude in a mesmerizing display of musical cross-pollination, and a damn fine pop song at that. And that’s not even mentioning the spot-on backing vocals of Animal Collective’s Noah Lennox (no stranger to weird out-of-country experiments) on the lovely ode “Anna,” nor the superb cover of that band’s “My Girls” (here retitled, of course, “My Boys”). With traditional Sufi instrumentation, all buzzing harmonium and lacking even a hint of electronic noise, the song is a revelation, a hypnotic 180-degree shift in direction that reinvents one of 2009’s best songs and makes it perhaps more relevant than ever in the context of East of Eden’s origins.

It’s tough to compare how this stacks up to Bergsman’s previous work or that of any other similar artist, as Bergsman has not so much gone in a new direction as totally teleported herself and her listeners to an entirely new world. Few can make such an out-of-left-field experiment work and, better yet, not come off as unbearably pretentious doing it. East of Eden is not a perfect record, and it will definitely not be for everyone. But for those who put the time into it, who revel in the gossamer musical layers that, more than anything else, joyously create an atmosphere to get lost in, it’s a simultaneously beguiling and dazzling experience.

Taken By Trees – “My Boys”

See larger image East of Eden (Audio CD) List Price: $14.98 USD New From: $9.77 In Stock Used from: $5.25 In Stock Release date September 8, 2009.