Fikak! Best of 2009!

Musically, 2009 has been all over the place (in a good way). Lot's of really good acts, new & old, releasing records; lots of genre-less bands and (deserving) straight-up pop/rock bands breaking through at the same time. Bands giving away music and selling lots of records after doing so. Exciting stuff.

2009 has also resulted in Fikak! picking up another contributer (welcome, Kyle). So we've stepped up our game a bit: two "best of" lists a piece (Albums and Tracks). Enjoy, and feel free to rip them apart or leave your own list behind. Here's to 2009:

Ryan's Top 25 Albums of 2009

25. The Clientele Bonfires on the Heath

24. Julian Casablancas Phrazes for the Young

23. Imogen Heap Ellipse

22. Built to Spill There is No Enemy

21. Neon Indian Psychic Chasms

20. The Wooden Birds Magnolia

19. Delorean Ayrton Senna

18. The Very Best Warm Heart of Africa

17. Loney, Dear Dear John

16. The Raveonettes In and Out of Control

15. Real Estate Real Estate

14. The Appleseed Cast Sagarmatha

13. Junior Boys Begone Dull Care

12. New Ruins We Make Our Own Bad Luck

11. Bon Iver/Volcano Choir Blood Bank/Unmap

10. Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion

9. The xx xx

8. Memory Tapes Seek Magic

7. Discovery LP

6. Jeremy Enigk OK Bear

5. Mercury Program Chez Viking

4. Grizzly Bear Veckatimest

3. Phoenix Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

2. Passion Pit Manners

1. Atlas Sound Logos

Kyle's Top 25 Albums of 2009

25. Baroness Blue Record

24. Built to Spill There is No Enemy

23. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

22. Jeremy Enigk OK Bear

21. Russian Circles Geneva

20. Silversun Pickups Swoon

19. DD/MM/YYYY Black Square

18. P.O.S. Never Better

17. Disappearer The Clearing

16. Modest Mouse No One's First and Your Next

15. Pissed Jeans King of Jeans

14. Bon Iver Blood Bank

13. Dirty Projectors Bitte Orca

12. Lymbyc Systym Shutter Release

11. Jesu Opiate Sun ep

10. The Dodos Time to Die

9. Japandroids Post-Nothing

8. Real Estate Real Estate

7. Animal Collective Merriweather Post Pavilion

6. Billy Mahonie BM

5. Mercury Program Chez Viking

4. Pelican What We All Come to Need

3. Holopaw Oh, Glory. Oh, Wilderness.

2. New Ruins We Make Our Own Bad Luck

1. Califone All My Friends Are Funeral Singers

Ryan's Top 25 Tracks of 2009

25. "Happy Up Here" Röyksopp

24. "Heavens to Purgatory" The Most Serene Republic

23. "People Got a Lotta Nerve" Neko Case

22. "Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer" A.C. Newman

21. "Can You Discover?" Discovery

20. "Airport Surroundings" Loney, Dear

19. "11th Dimension" Julian Casablancas

18. "Into the Mirror" Minus the Bear

17. "Plain Material" Memory Tapes

16. "Years" New Ruins

15. "Chez Viking" Mercury Program

14. "Moths Wings" Passion Pit

13. "Blood Bank" Bon Iver

12. "Mind Idea" Jeremy Enigk

11. "Island, IS" Volcano Choir

10. "Hazel" Junior Boys

9. "Walkabout" Atlas Sound (w/ Noah Lennox)

8. "Two Weeks" Grizzly Bear

7. "Stillness is the Move" Dirty Projectors

6. "So Far Around the Bend" The National

5. "Suicide" The Raveonettes

4. "Little Secrets" Passion Pit

3. "My Girls" Animal Collective

2. "So Insane" Discovery

1. "1901" Phoenix

Kyle's Top 25 Tracks of 2009

25. "Crying Lightning" Arctic Monkeys
24. "Substitution" Silversun Pickups
23. "The Sweetest Curse" Baroness
22. "Purexed" P.O.S.
21. "Day N Night" Kid Cudi
20. "So Insane" Discovery
19. "Military Madness" (Graham Nash Cover) Woods
18. "Woods" Bon Iver
17. "Be My Girl" Smith Westerns
16. "Trichromatic" Lymbyc Systym
15. "Other Ones" New Ruins
14. "Kind of Like a Big Deal" Clipse
13. "Crystalised" The xx
12. "False Jesii, Pt. 2" Pissed Jeans
11. "Rockers East Vancouver" Japandroids
10. "Island, IS" Volcano Choir
9. "Pool Swimmers" Real Estate
8. "The Art Teacher and the Little Stallion" Holopaw
7. "Bottle Breaks" Billy Mahonie
6. "Ephemeral" Pelican
5. "Deflated" Jesu
4. "Stillness is the Move" Dirty Projectors
3. "My Girls" Animal Collective
2. "Whale Song" Modest Mouse
1. "Bunuel" Califone