Paste's 25 Best Albums of 2009

25.

Thomas Function - In the Valley of Sickness
October 13, 2009
Critic Score
60
2 reviews

23.

March 31, 2009
Critic Score
80
35 reviews

The trio hasn’t quite put together an album of complete heart-stoppers just yet, but Blitz charts them in the right direction.

22.

October 20, 2009
Critic Score
70
23 reviews

21.

June 30, 2009
Critic Score
75
33 reviews

The album is full of thoughtful, artfully crafted lyrics wrapped in memorable hooks that should stand the test of time. What’s missing is the experimentation that was Wilco’s hallmark until Sky Blue Sky.

20.

Wild Light - Adult Nights
March 3, 2009
Critic Score
67
5 reviews

19.

March 24, 2009
Critic Score
81
25 reviews

Amidst blistering tritone riffs and arpeggiated chords is a group keener to explore sonic harmony than crank the distortion. Crack the Skye is an epic trek across the space-time continuum, entirely on Mastodon’s terms.

18.

October 13, 2009
Critic Score
76
33 reviews
It's a wonderfully weird parade of sonic delights: an arresting consummation of the Lips' two-and-a-half decade career.

17.

March 3, 2009
Critic Score
82
27 reviews

16.

May 19, 2009
Critic Score
76
29 reviews

Not every song is perfect, but perfection is boring. What we need in these weary times—and what Passion Pit brings—is exuberance. Manners delivers the elusive feeling that everything will be alright. Or, just maybe, that everything already is.

14.

June 9, 2009
Critic Score
86
38 reviews

One of the most singularly engrossing albums likely to be released this year, a triumph in sustained creative restlessness.

13.

September 22, 2009
Critic Score
75
31 reviews
Rather than make a staid, serious statement album, the foursome keeps things loose and low-key, content to sound like postmillennial Traveling Wilburys but generally just being themselves.

12.

April 21, 2009
Critic Score
76
30 reviews
It’s an infectious album that blooms repeatedly throughout, unfolding in muted, endearing aural hues; simultaneously sad and celebratory, and always charming.

11.

May 26, 2009
Critic Score
86
38 reviews

Veckatimest sounds like the final product of a meticulous and exacting evolutionary process—one that has added depth and color to their swooning chamber pop arrangements, crispness to their intricate rhythms and intensity to their careful performances.

10.

Frank Turner - Poetry of the Deed
September 8, 2009
Critic Score
68
8 reviews

9.

March 3, 2009
Critic Score
78
27 reviews
Less of a departure and more of a confirmation and deepening of everything she’s been exploring over the last 10 years, Case has never sounded quite so compelling as a storyteller, unleashing the full range of her humor, defiance, and despair.

8.

May 26, 2009
Critic Score
81
30 reviews
The album's lyrics don’t always make sense, but then again, English isn’t their first language, and words aren’t the point here, the danceable beats and moody ambience are.

4.

June 9, 2009
Critic Score
78
17 reviews
Whether soft or loud, these 12 songs are exquisite.

2.

January 6, 2009
Critic Score
92
37 reviews

This is the new indie ethos: Don’t think; dance.

1.

September 29, 2009
Critic Score
74
18 reviews
They've constructed something beautiful.
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