Best Albums of 2009 - No. 8

8. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

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This album is about more than advertising track placements and celebrity fan (Jay-Z and Beyonce) endorsements. I first heard Two Weeks through GvsB, who posted a rip of Grizzly Bear's live performance on the Letterman show (mp3 below). Since then, that particular track has been hard to avoid, but I know it has been an excellent advert in itself for the album. A little bit folk, a little bit indie, we have another album that is difficult to categorise succinctly, probably due to the lack of overriding trademark image (no big hair, no skinny jeans, no beards) or gimmick (not recorded in a log cabin, not a supergroup).

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Veckatimest is another sunny, summertime album, but one that drifts over you with a light touch, rather than many of the Beach Boys tribute bands we have seen of late, where 'SUMMER!' is rammed down your neck, whether you like it or not.

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I'll leave you with that Two Weeks (Live) mp3 and the video for my current favourite track from the album...

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Two Weeks (Live on Letterman) mp3

Best Albums of 2009 - No. 9

9. Jamie T - Kings & Queens

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Every track on Kings & Queens has an energy and excitement to it (even the acoustic track Jilly Armeen, my current favourite). Many reviewers have spent time trying to categorise Jamie T's music; pop, ska, punk, rap, indie... but to me, this just sounds like someone who loves music and isn't thinking too much about what his target demographic is. Singles 'Sticks n Stones' and 'Chaka Demus' have been two of my favourite pop tracks of 2009, and the recently released Man Machine is arguaby the standout track of Jamie T's career to date.

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Jilly Armeen - Audio

Best Albums of 2009 - No. 10

10. Mos Def - The Ecstatic

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Another avant-garde release from Mos Def, featuring soul, funk, bollywood samples, a Slick Rick feature and production by J Dilla, Chad of The Neptunes, Madlib and Oh No.

Up-tempo lead singles 'Casa Bey' and 'Quiet Dog Bite Hard' set the tone for what was to be a genre-straddling effort with no mention of cars, watches or money, but one that was resolutely Hip Hop.

Unfortunatley for Mos, the high point was arguably the Slick Rick verse on 'Audotorium', which was a story told from the perspective of a US soldier in Iraq, conversing with the locals via the medium of rap. Sounds silly, but isn't. In all, easily the best major label Hip Hop album of the year.

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Mos Def - Supermagic (Video)

Best Albums of 2009 - No. 11

11. Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

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Kasabian's third long-player topped the album chart this year, propelled by genuine hit singles with a psychedelic pop edge.

'Underdog', the Doors-a-like 'Fire' and 'Where Did All The Love Go?' got an awful lot of radio play.

From the album cover and the sounds on the disc, to the clothes and haircuts, Kasabian morphed into something more than the swaggering lad rockers that they started out as.

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Kasabian - Underdog mp3

Empires' Top 500 Movies Ever

I think they must mean 'films'.

Click HERE to see the list, as voted for by their readers, from 500 down.
Incredibly. Anchorman is not No. 1