Number One!  After being a month and a half past deadline, our Ten Best Albums of 2009 concludes.  In case you missed them, here are Nos. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2.

I'm posting three songs from the Dirty Projector's Bitte Orca instead of the usual two because there's absolutely no way for me to encapsulate the sound of the album in two songs, so I'm taking three.  Here's the first:

Man, that's just so freakin' cool!  It's hard to get super excited about music these days just because there's so much of it.  It's the disappointing con of an Internet music age full of pros.  We have free access to virtually all the new music (and all the reviews) that's released nowadays, which is great if you're a consumer.  You hear (and read about) a lot of stuff.  But it sort of numbs you; a lot of stuff isn't that interesting, so if you keep listening (and reading), you have a natural tendency to criticize an album rather than laud it.  The arena is oversaturated, and you can't help but be cynical towards newer stuff.

And then that happens.  You hear Bitte Orca, your hair gets blown back, you snap out of it, and you fall madly in love.  Man, that's just awesome, awesome stuff.  (You're liking this analysis, aren't you?)  The nonlinearity of the melodies, the angelic backing harmonies, the cracked falsettos, the calculated disorder.  It's successfully avant garde without sounding pretentious, and it is hypnotic.  It's why you keep seeking out new things; it's different, and carefully sculpted, and just awesome cool fun.  Yes, awesome cool fun.  I'll leave you with one more.  To those of you still reading this list, thanks very much.  I hope you've enjoyed it.  Hopefully we can keep a little music pumping through these pages in the future.

The Best Album of 2009:  Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca

Top two!  Our Ten Best Albums of 2009 continues.  Yes, it's almost time to unveil the best albums of 2010, but we're still plowing ahead with the '09s.  (Too soon to use the word "plowing," considering we're approaching seven feet of snow this winter here in Baltimore?  Probably.  I apologize.)  In case you missed them, here are Nos. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3.

Last March, during the Spring Break of my senior year of college, I took a cross country road trip.  I went by myself, driving 3,500 miles in an eight-day span, visiting friends and family along the southeastern portion of the great U.S. of A.  The majority of the 50+ hours of driving was spent in cruise control, windows rolled down, with the music blaring.  Without question it was the greatest vacation of my life -- solitude, open countryside, wonderful friends, and this opening song to start each day's worth of driving:

I can't think of anything more perfect.  Maybe it's the train track beat.  Maybe it's the raw power of Neko Case's voice.  Whatever it is, it's perfect.  And the rest of Middle Cyclone is just as perfect.  It's a bit of Americana, and it matches up with the countryside I was exploring.  Some true country music for people who don't like the stuff played on country music radio.  It's catchy and thoughtful and full of energy.  And Case's voice is awesome.  It's a trumpet, truly an instrument unto itself.

Look, I'm clearly having a hard time separating my personal experiences from this album.  I am my father's son -- female singer-songwriters will always fundamentally be most compelling to me.  Especially red-haired angels carrying swords perched atop muscle cars.  Especially when I've got 50+ hours and 3,500 miles to myself.

Second Best Album of 2009:  Neko Case, Middle Cyclone

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