Let’s clarify, this is my personal top 20 list of 2009. I won’t lie a lot of these albums came out earlier in the decade but as far as albums I’ve discovered in 2009, these are my favourites. Actually, I’ll include the release year next to each album to make it clearer.

20. The Others – Past Futuristic (2004)
Listen To: Who We Be, Come On

19. Sly & The Family Stone – A Whole New Thing (1967)
Listen To: I’ll Be Surprised, Underdog

18. Franz Ferdinand – Tonight (2009)
Listen To: Turn It On, Ulysses, No You Girls

17. Chase & Status – More Than Alot (2008)
Listen To: Music Club, Smash TV

16. Masta Ace – Take A Look Around (1990)
Listen To: Music Man

15. Danny Byrd – Supersized (2008)
Listen To: Red Mist, Feet Won’t Touch The Ground

14. Module – Shatter OST (2009)
Listen To: Kinetic Harvest

13. Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3 (2009)
Listen To: On To The Next One

12. Colossus – West Oaktown (2005)
Listen To: Thrupenny Bits

11. Gang Starr – Daily Operation (1992)
Listen To: Ex To The Next Girl, Flip The Script, BYS

A lot of stuff from the start of the year with Franz, Chase & Status, Danny Byrd and Module. I’d recommend Colossus for anyone who wants some laid back hip hop, and it’s really laid back. Still not sure why Jay-Z scored that high, production is 90% of the appeal. Here’s the final 10…

10. Sufjan Stevens – The BQE (2009)
Kind of disappointing but still worthy of a listen every now and then
Listen To: Movement III

9. Dilated Peoples – The Platform (1999)
One of few albums I’ve since bought on vinyl
Listen To: The Platform, The Shape of Things To Come

8. Ugly Duckling – Audacity (2008)
Not as good as 4 and 2 but still a solid album
Listen To: I Won’t Let It Die, Audacity, Einstein Do It

7. Art Brut – Art Brut Vs. Satan (2009)
More of the same from Argos
Listen To: DC Comics & Chocolate Milkshake, Twist & Shout, Demons Out!

6. Hospital Records – Sick Music (2009)
Anyone who is vaguely interested in DnB should give this a listen.
Listen To: Organic (The Burbs), Paint It Black (Sigma), Balaclava In My System (Nu:Tone)

5. Phantogram – Eyelid Movies (2009)
Mellow experimental music. Not sure how I found this but the drum loops are excellent.
Listen To: Turn It Off, Running From The Cops, You Are The Ocean

4. Ugly Duckling – Taste The Secret (2003)
An interesting concept album that’s more playful any anything serious.
Listen To: Meatshake, Dumb It Down, Rio De Janerio

3. Gang Starr – Hard To Earn (1994)
Anything created by premo is hard to resist.
Listen To: DWYCK, Mostly Tha Voice, Mass Appeal

2. Ugly Duckling – Bang For The Buck (2005)
Easily my most listened to album of the year. More comical hip hop from UD.
Listen To: The Breakdown, Bang For The Buck, Smack

1. Cut Chemist – The Audience’s Listening (2005)
This year I took my J5 obsession to new levels by essentially stalking Cut Chemist.
Listen To: A Peak In Time, 2266 Cambridge, What’s The Altitude?

So there we have it and yes I’m aware that only seven of these came out this year. I guess if I did a list of albums that came out this year (it would be a lot shorter) but the winner would probably be Phantogram. Anyway, until next year…