2009 - GREAT Year for Music!

Music has always been an essential part of nourishment for me each day. Whether I’m getting ready in the morning, practicing yoga, working, driving in my car, cooking in the kitchen, etc.…I’m always listening to music. What I’m listening to sets the tone of my day and since I listen to such good stuff, it really helps me enjoy each day that much more!

2009 was such an amazing year for music!!! I am excited for 2010 and all of the new albums to come, but I’m worried it won’t be able to beat it!! I CANNOT stop listening to Yeasayer's long anticipated sophomore album, Odd Blood, that officially releases in February 2010, so we are already off to a great start! We’ll have to just wait and see (hear, rather).

Below are some of the best albums of 2009 (in my opinion). I starred a few of my favorite songs on some albums. I wish I could go more into detail for each album/artist but we'd be here all day!!

Top Albums of 2009

- Regina Spektor – Far

*Two Birds *Dance Of The 80’s

- The Swell Season – Strict Joy

- Devendra Banhart – What Will We Be

*First Song for B *16^th & Valencia Roxy Music

- Real Estate – Real Estate

- Boozoo Bajou – Grains

*Flickers *Big Nicks

- Mos Def – The Ecstatic

*Auditorim *Quiet Dog Bite Hard

- Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest

*Ready, Able *Foreground

- Wilco – (The Album)

- Atlas Sound – Logos

*Walkabout *Quick Canal

- The Black Crowes – Before the Frost…Until the Freeze

* Aimless Peacock

- Muse – The Resistance

- Metric – Fantasies

*Gold Gun Girls

- Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

- Bat for Lashes – Two Suns

- Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk

*Temazcal *Man Named Truth

Of course, I can’t leave out the beautiful compilation album, Dark was the Night, as well as the new Yo La Tengo, Animal Collective, Iron & Wine, Bon Iver, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The Antlers new albums of 2009. There were SO many good ones!!!

I had an awesome LIVE run of shows throughout 2009 too, seeing artists such as Andrew Bird, Ani DiFranco, Ravi & Anoushka Shankar, Ray Lamontagne, Monsters of Folk, Thievery Corporation, TV on the Radio, Fleet Foxes, The Black Crowes, The National, Coldplay, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and of course the return of PHISH!!! There is something about sharing a room with hundreds (or sometimes even thousands) of people who share the same love for a particular artist/band. The energy that collects in the room is so fulfilling and inspiring! I will be seeing my first concert of 2010 this Tuesday at Radio City Music Hall for The Swell Season. I am SO psyched!

Photographs: Top = The BEST concert(s) I saw of 2009...Fleet Foxes!!!! Middle = Terra and I in Boston, the night before Phish's Summer Tour opener at Fenway Park, one of the BEST Phish shows I've ever been to! See how excited we are?! Bottom = My last concert of the year, Phish at MSG! Terra and I danced our tooshies off! Another one of my favorite Phish shows EVER!

Did I miss any from 2009? Please share below!!!

Keep it fresh!
- Lauren