Kowalskiy's Top 20 Albums of 2009!

1. Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer



2. Broken Records - Until The Earth Begins To Part



3. My Latest Novel - Deaths And Entrances



4. Beerjacket - Animosity



5. Fanfarlo - Reservoir



6. The Cinematics - Love And Terror



7. Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band - Outer South



8. King Creosote - Flick The Vs



9. The Twilight Sad - Forget The Night Ahead



10. Red Light Company - Fine Fascination



11. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More



12. The Phantom Band - Checkmate Savage



13. Telekinesis - Telekinesis!



14. We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls



15. The Hidden Cameras - Origin:Orphan



16. Sergeant - Sergeant



17. The Leisure Society - The Sleeper



18. A. C. Newman - Get Guilty



19. Zoey Van Goey - The Cage Was Unlocked All Along



20. Handsome Furs - Face Control

Top 10 of 2009: #1 - Sunset Rubdown

1.
Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

Apollo And The Buffalo And Anna Anna Anna Oh

You Go On Ahead


Quite simply put, this is the best album I've heard all year, so not surprising really that it's made my top spot. "Dragonslayer" is the third full release from Sunset Rubdown, the brainchild of Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Swan Lake..... the list goes on!). Having bought the first two albums "Shut Up I Am Dreaming" and "Random Spirit Lover" purely on the back of the immense Wolf Parade debut "Apologies To The Queen Mary" (incidentally my #1 album of the decade! Perhaps featuring in a future post...) I wasn't completely blown away. So when "Dragonslayer" was released and my OCD tendencies forced me to maintain my Sunset Rubdown collection, I wasn't expecting what I heard - 8 of the best, most memorable songs I've listened to all year!

I was thinking long and hard how to justify choosing my favourite album of the year and in the end I came up with a few things:

1. My iTunes playcount - It's obscene how much I've played this album and that's just on my laptop. There's at least double that on my Zen!
2. The CD is not in the best of condition anymore either!
3. It still pains me greatly that I was out of the country when they toured! Damn PhD!
4. You won't find a better song title than "Apollo And The Buffalo And Anna Anna Anna Oh"!
5. ...and lastly, it's been little under 6 months since I bought it and so far there's no sign of it losing it's appeal.
   

Third time lucky Mr. Krug... and them some!

Top 10 of 2009: #2 - Broken Records

2.
Broken Records - Until The Earth Begins To Part

Slow Parade

If The News Makes You Sad, Don't Watch It


Not content with being the best new Scottish band around, Broken Records are also responsible for the best Scottish album of 2009. "Until The Earth Begins To Part" was the album I was looking forward to most this year after being blown away time and time again by their live shows (Bedlam Theatre was AMAZING!). Needless to say it didn't disappoint.

It is impossible to pick a highlight from the album! So here's the two songs that first got me hooked. Catch them tomorrow night in Edinburgh with support from Withered Hand and Jesus H. Foxx!

Cracking album guys! Great way to mark my 100th post. Cheers!

Let's not forget...

Only the top 2 to go now. Before that, here's a few others albums which I've thought were rather pretty this year. First up is the amazing Sparrow And The Workshop! Be sure to check out their free gig at The Mill Glasgow later on this month!

Next we have The Xcerts. "Nightschool" is one of the best songs I've heard all year.... as I told Mr. Toad! To be honest I completely forgot about Colin MacIntyre when I was making up my Top 20! Apologies Colin!

And last but not least there's the latest from French indie-poppers Phoenix!



Sparrow And The Workshop - Sleight Of Hand/Into The Wild

Last Chance







The Xcerts - In the Cold Wind We Smile

Nightschool






Colin MacIntyre - Island

The Edge Of Nearly







Phoenix - Wolfgamg Amadeus Phoenix

Lisztomania

Only £5 in Fopp!

Top 10 of 2009: #3 - My Latest Novel

3.
My Latest Novel - Deaths And Entrances

All In All In All Is All

I Declare A Ceasefire


2009 really has been a cracking year for albums! So much so that the critically-acclaimed follow up to My Latest Novel's critically-acclaimed debut album is only 3rd! Packed full of great 'orchestral-indie' anthems and more vocal harmonies than you could shake a stick at! I was at the "Deaths And Entrances" album launch night at Stereo earlier this year (a month or so after the release incidentally....weird!) and it was amazing. I loved their first album "Wolves" but even that pales in comparison to this.

King Tuts on the 28th anyone? Great gig to end the year with!

Top 10 of 2009: #4 - Beerjacket

4.
Beerjacket - Animosity

Drum

Screaming Hallelujah


He might only be fourth on my Top 10 albums of 2009 with his amazing "Animosity" but Peter Kelly a.k.a. Beerjacket is by far my best singer/songwriter and best gig (headlining King Tuts...awesome night!) of 2009. Just Peter and his guitar, tambourine and a good deal of foot stomping.... won't find a better album like it this year!

Get gigging again soon Mr. Kelly!

Top 10 of 2009: #5 - Fanfarlo

5.
Fanfarlo - Reservoir

Harold T. Wilkins Or How To Live For A Very Long Time

Finish Line


This is a wee gem of an album from the fantastic Fanfarlo. Had the privilege of seeing them twice in the space of about 12 hours earlier on in the year. First at their amazing (if I try to forget the support band) King Tuts gig and then an acoustic "guerilla" gig in the Glasgow Uni cloisters.... see my dodgy photography below!


Back to the album, if you take the best bits from Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and add a wee bit of English twee (and some Swedishness)... you get the idea! Really cracking stuff and a bargain too!

Top 10 of 2009: #6 - The Cinematics

6.
The Cinematics - Love And Terror

Moving To Berlin

You Can Dance


How long has this been out now? I've still never seen a copy! Much like their debut, it seems Glasgow-based The Cinematics' second offering "Love And Terror" has being criminally overlooked despite some very favourable reviews and a great deal of critical acclaim. Hopefully that will all change now that Scott and the guys are about to start their UK tour.

"Love And Terror" is packed full of dark, hook-laden songs that beg to be listened to. I've been a massive fan for what seems like ages now and I loved "A Strange Education" when it was released although to me it never really captured the energy of their awesome live performances. With "Love And Terror" they've done that in style! Get buying it people!

They are still the best live band in Scotland in my opinion. Details of their tour which kicks off on Saturday in Inverness and ends in Glasgow on the 23rd (can't wait!) are on their MySpace.

Top 10 of 2009: #7 - Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band

7.
Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band - Outer South

Eagle On A Pole

To All The Lights In The Window


Had this Top 10 been chosen three weeks into May I'd have Conor Oberst's latest album, "Outer South", this time with the help of The Mystic Valley Band, as my undisputed #1. The drive to work and back was just long enough to fit in a wee listen to the album each day for well over a week! Unlike his previous 'solo' album this time he shares the vocals lending itself to the album highlight "Eagle On A Pole" (Jason Boesel).

All in all a cracking album, despite what some say ---> Pitchfork.

Top 10 of 2009: #8 - King Creosote

8.
King Creosote - Flick The Vs

No Way She Exists

Coast On By


Pipping The Twilight Sad to 8th place is King Creosote with "Flick The Vs". I only really got into him this year once I'd started this whole blogging malarky, and that in itself has made it worthwhile. The main highlight for me is "Coast On By". That's 3 weeks (and counting...) I've been humming it for now!

As no doubt you've seen on every other blog by now, King Creosote is inviting you to record his new album "My First Bit of Strange in 13 Years" live at Homegame next year. In fact he's insisting... no entry for anyone without a recording device of some description! Tickets for Homegame 2010 (12th-14th March) are on sale over at Fence Records for the bargain price of £75.

If anyone wants their hands on the mp3's recorded at the Halloween Fence thingy, let me know and I'll upload them.

Top 10 of 2009: #9 - The Twilight Sad

9.
The Twilight Sad - Forget The Night Ahead

Made To Disappear

I Became A Prostitute


9th place goes to Kilsyth's The Twilight Sad for their album "Forget The Night Ahead", the follow up to their amazing debut. Had I been doing a Top 10 Songs of 2009 (which I won't be...) then "I Became A Prostitute" would be fighting it out for the top spot. The album is packed full of great songs but with so much to live up to, it doesn't quite top "Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters", but then again, not much can top that!

All that being said, it's still going to be one of the gig-going highlights of my year, seeing it performed at Nice N Sleazy's in a few weeks time.

Top 10 of 2009: #10 - Red Light Company

10.
Red Light Company - Fine Fascination

Meccano

The Alamo


Kicking off the Top 10 is London-based Red Light Company with their outstanding debut album Fine Fascination. A lot of hype surrounded their first couple of singles "With Lights Out" and "Meccano", earning then comparisons with Editors and Arcade Fire. Frontman and founder Richard Frenneaux's songs are indie-pop at its very very best! So much so that it spent the whole of April in my car!

With a second album in the pipeline, the band are offering a free download of "Bahnhoff Zoo" on their website. If this is anything to go by then they're looking good for the 2010 Best-Of list too!

Kowalskiy's Top Albums of 2009: 15 - 11

...and now for 15 to 11. The wordy stuff will start for the top 10!



15.
The Hidden Cameras - Origin:Orphan

In The Na





14.
We Were Promised Jetpacks - These Four Walls

Quiet Little Voices





13.
Telekinesis - Telekinesis!

All Of A Sudden





12.
The Phantom Band - Checkmate Savage

Folk Song Oblivion





11.
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

Little Lion Man

Kowalskiy's Top Albums of 2009: 20 - 16

To kick things off.... here's the countdown from 20 to 16!



20.
Handsome Furs - Face Control

Talking Hotel Arbat Blues





19.
Zoey Van Goey - The Cage Was Unlocked All Along

We Don't Have That Kind Of Bread





18.
A. C. Newman - Get Guilty

The Palace at 4am





17.
The Leisure Society - The Sleeper

The Last Of The Melting Snow





16.
Sergeant - Sergeant

It All Comes Back To Me

Top Album of 2009?

So another amazing year (and decade) for music is almost over! Now that the endless dirge of "Best Of" albums are being released, the time to start the top 10 of 2009 countdown is almost upon us! Some of the front-runners can be seen above..... might just be a few surprises thrown in too!

Watch this space.....