Albums of 2009 - Part I

It's that time of year again, when no self-respecting writer has anything else to do but write reams and reams of lists. With it being the end of a decade, list-mania has gone into overdrive this year and I will be posting my Top 50 of the decade in due course. But for now here's Part I of my favourite albums of 2009, which has been a great, if saturated year for music, as is evident in the amount of potentially good albums I have yet to listen to - Simon Scott, RSD, Jonsi & Alex, FaltyDL, Koushik, Clark, Broadcast and Flaming Lips are among those. Anyway, in ascending order I start with 25-19:

25. Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue (Warp)

I've listened to this album for the past couple of weeks now and I've still yet to work out what genre this album falls under. The best way to describe it would be to imagine Flying Lotus creating an album with a guitar; it's an unorthodox mix of 70s pysch-folk, blunted hip-hop beats and a healthy dose of funk. The underlying lo-fi style of the album enhances the classic feel, but overall this is a brilliant record by an artist not afraid to venture outside his comfort zone.

24. The Field - Yesterday & Today (Kompakt)

Released on the influential Kompakt record label, home to many of todays minimal techno luminaries, The Field's Axel Wilner separates himself uniquely from his peers. Swimming with ambiance, dreamy vocals and trance-esque synths, 'Yesterday & Today' feels much like an album, unlike the general tendency in dance music to simply collect singles within any given time period. Music equally for the nightclub and the armchair, this is a vibrant sampler of how techno can push the envelope.

23. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (Honest Jon's)

Easily the most fun record I have hear all year, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is comprised of eight horn musicians and a drummer from the South Side of Chicago, all of whom bar one are the sons of Kelan Phil Cohran, a jazz musician who played with Sun Ra Arkestra. The result is a funky, uptempo album, with a distinctly hip-hop influence, including some star guests such as Tony Allen, Flea and Damon Albarn.

22. DOOM - Born Like This (Lex)

Being his first studio album for four years, an absolute eternity in his world, the return of Daniel Dumile in any form was enough to bill 'Born Like This' as one of the most anticipated albums of this fruitful year. Dropping the prefix 'MF' from his name, expectations were largely met, with DOOM still full of the wacky, off-kilter rhymes that makes Dumile such an entertaining rapper. Songs end abruptly, choruses are non-existent, but this is DOOM, and he revels in his role as the perennial recluse of hip hop and clearly doesn't fit into the swaggering egotism so rife in his genre.

21. Arctic Monkeys - Humbug (Domino)

Despite the fact I still fail to see the supposed Josh Homme influence, Arctic Monkey's third album was a bold step forward from their previous two. The jagged guitars, infantile lyrics and youthful ferocity were replaced by a decidedly more mature approach, with no abating in Alex Turner's sharp lyricism. It was bold move on their part, considering the strong 'laddish' fanbase they've built, being one of a handful of bands to be welcomed with open arms by fans not generally acquainted with indie music. It may not have the hit singles that gave them their reputation, but 'Humbug' is the most bright and interesting work the Monkeys have produced to date.

20. Mos Def - The Ecstatic (Downtown)

Perhaps it was his extracurricular activities as an actor that diverted his concentration, but despite his strong reputation Mos Def has been a wildly inconsistent musician since his classic album 'Black Star' with cohort Talib Kweli. Fingers have been pointed at label disagreements, but maybe his heart wasn't in it. Thankfully, 'The Ecstatic' put those worries to rest, a strong, focused album that reasserted his position as one of hip hop's greats.

19. Squarepusher - Numbers Lucent (Warp)

Billed as a counterpart to 2008's "Just A Souvenir", this record is in fact the polar opposite: filled with clattering snares, frantic basslines and a hint of jazz fusion, this is a Squarepusher record that doesn't stop for a breather, and features none of the freeform jazz pieces that often slow his albums down.