Let's get this into one place.

Already posted:
Mid-Fi's Year End List
dinosaur rock
comps: tentoze - noddin0ff - Slosh

I bought very few records this year (well, new releases anyway) but a couple of them were very transcendent. Tops by some distance was Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest. I gave a lot of spins last year to a tape compilation of some of their earlier work that I put together but this surpasses anything I expected. I know 3LB felt the same way but I don't know how many other folks heard this one. It's got some achingly beautiful moments... delicate vocal harmonies, dense arrangements, but it also rocks. "Two Weeks" is pure bubble-gum bliss, while deeper cuts like "While You Wait For the Others" and "Foreground" have a structure that's complex in a way that's rewarding both immediately and upon many repeat listens. Between these guys and Animal Collective, Brian Wilson should be proud of his acolytes.

Let's see, what other 2009 releases did I pick up?

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - maybe this year's record for all peoples.
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion - I like it, but not as much as last year's Panda Bear solo record
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - s/t - best rock record of 1989
Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
The Swell Season - Strict Joy
Jonathan Richman - ¿A Que Venimos Sino a Caer?
Brother Ali - Us
Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Part II
Ghostface - Ghostdini The Wizard of Poetry In Emerald City
Lightning Bolt - Earthly Delights
Brute Heart - Brass Beads
Nellie McKay - Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day

Maybe that's it?

~Rae