Oh, it’s the most wonderful time of the year -the arrival of countless best-of-the-year album lists on the Internet. And in magazines if you are still into that sort of thing. We at Make Believe Melodies aren’t remotely above the rest of the blog-sty and present to you our (OK, mine) 25 favorite albums of 2009. Seeing as this is a blog about Japanese music and, uhhhh, none of my top 25 are from Japan, I’ve decided to not draw this out and just list ’em with a few video links thrown in. Besides, this list looks exactly like a hundred other lists already floating around cyberspace and in a year’s time my opinion will probably be totally different.
(For the record though, a few Japanese albums would have made it onto my top 50 albums of the year list if I had the patience to hash that out. They are: Hosome’s Jakamashi Jazz, Perfume’s Triangle and √thumm’s Coton. Look for a review of that last one in the immediate future. That’s right…no holiday for us, which makes this even less of a big deal.)
Make Belive Melodie’s Favorite 25 Albums Of 2009
25. Real Estate Real Estate (“Pool Swimmers“)
24. Taken By Trees East Of Eden (“Watch The Waves“)
23. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (“Young Adult Friction“)
22. Japandroids Post-Nothing (“Wet Hair“)
21. Asobi Seksu Hush (“Me & Mary“)
20. The Horrors Primary Colours (“Who Can Say“)
19. Dananananaykroyd Hey Everyone! (“Infinity Milk“)
18. Playboy Tre Liquor Store Mascot Mixtape (MySpace)
17. Emeralds What Happened
16. The Antlers Hospice (“Two“)
15. Thao With The Get Down Stay Down Know Better Learn Faster (“Know Better Learn Faster“)
14. Neon Indian Psychic Chasms (“Deadbeat Summer“)
13. Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion (“My Girls“)
12. Girls Album (“Lust For Life“)
11. Fuck Buttons Tarot Sport (“Surf Solar“)
10. jj jj n° 2
“My Love”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTd-fkx9u1w&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]
9. Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca
“Stillness Is The Move”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMPF6lpM0XM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]
8. The-Dream Love Vs. Money
“Love Vs. Money”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmiE-_3RRB0&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]
7. Bill Callahan Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
“Jim Cain”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv7nJXQoqFo&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]
6. Sunset Rubdown Dragonslayer
“Idiot Heart”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnnuGZ3QKgM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]
5. The xx xx
“Basic Space”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHZVGqqf3gg&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]
4. St. Vincent Actor
“Actor Out Of Work”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZW9NYX6JZA&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]
3. A Sunny Day In Glasgow Ashes Grammar (MySpace)
2. Phoenix Wolfang Amadaeus Phoenix
“1901”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4MXFOMpVIw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]
1. Grizzly Bear Veckatimest
“Two Weeks”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjecYugTbIQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0]