Well then.  Our Ten Best Albums of 2009 continues.  We have the best three albums remaining.  In case you missed them, here are Nos. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, and 4.

Ah, Animal Collective.  You're known by many names.  You're the jam band for people who don't like jam bands.  You're a modern Beach Boys.  You're distinctly your own thing; you just sound like you.  Whatever.  It doesn't matter.  Hands down, you're the Band of the Decade.  Let's take a look at your full lengths.  Your discography

• Spirit They've Gone, Spirit They've Vanished (2000)
• Danse Manatee (2001)
• Campfire Songs (2003)
• Here Comes the Indian (2003)
• Sung Tongs (2004, and probably my favorite)
• Feels (2005)
• Strawberry Jam (2007)
• Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009)

is astounding in both quantity and quality.  All eight albums range from somewhere between very good to transcendent.  And that doesn't include any of your other EPs -- like this year's Fall Be Kind EP -- which are equally can't-miss.  What's most interesting, though, is that none of your aforementioned albums sound similar to any of the others.  You're consistently evolving, and it's consistently good.

Merriweather Post Pavilion has easily been Animal Collective's most commercially successful record thus far (peaking at #13 on U.S. charts), and I guess that sort of makes sense.  Aside from the fact that the band has been pimped out for years in critical circles, Merriweather is probably the most accessible sound of A.C.'s oeuvre.  I admit it does seem more poppy, but I think that's off point.  The music is still as idiosyncratic as ever.  Melodies dance, beats thump, and hands clap.  This is Animal Collective in 2009, and this is the band who has engineered the two best songs of the year -- "My Girls" (showcased above) and "What Would I Want? Sky" (showcased below, from the Fall Be Kind EP).  I've been hooked, and I'm still hooked.  And I'm running out of room on board.

Did I mention they're originally from Baltimore?  And I know what you're thinking:  How could the band who's responsible for the two best songs of the year finish third in the Top Albums of 2009?  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Third Best Album of 2009:  Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion