Strangeglue Writer's Best Of 2009: 50-41

Suspended animation, amnesia, coma, locked in a basement, drug-fueled haze, amnesia. There are any number of reasons as to why you might have missed 2009 and require some revision material.

For just such occasions we have the end-of-year-lists, the Cliffs Note to your musical semester, or perhaps the soundtrack to your January and February as you struggle to keep up with all the raves while increasingly downplaying your supposed affection for the Arctic Monkeys and Girls which people promised you were the best bands of all time.

Revealed in five installments of ten albums each, we start at positions 50-41 - here comes the science bit - as we chart the combined charts of all the writers here at Strange Glue. Many diverse opinions (especially of number 50) and a distinct lack of coffee made this a bloody one, but nothing to call Childline about.

As always, the floor is open to you all if there are any serious miscarriages of justice which you which you feel should be rectified in a public forum. Comments are below. Now to begin:

50 Raveonettes - In & Out Of Control

The Raveonettes came back this year with a slicker, cleaner sound than on their previous outing 'Lust Lust Lust' and overall managed to make a success of the new direction.

Admittedly this release lacked some of the rougher experimental edges of the band's previous material but what it gave up in white noise we gained in suave, tuneful guitar riffs.

49 Nils Frahm - Wintermusik Pianist

Nils Frahm is at an interesting juncture. He is able to make our top 50 records of 2009 with a record he made as a Christmas present for friends in 2007 while also impressing with a disc of piano improvisations recorded with the help of Peter Broderick.

Winter Musik is not experimental piano concerned with demonstrating its knowledge of the minimalists, it is abstract storytelling, and Frahm immerses himself so deeply in it that it is easy to forget he is there.

Accompanying his articulate use of icy scales and hibernating chords are blasts of reed organ and the chiming of the celeste, resulting in a compelling short album.

48 Sin Fang Bous - Clangour

For his latest solo project 27-year-old Sindri Már Sigfússon decided to go for the more pronounceable Sin Fang Bous, although we got the hang of saying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (thanks to Dara O'Briain) so we would have probably got it eventually.

A support slot with múm during 2009 will have helped to boost his profile, but Clangour - a hodge-podge of influence ranging from Iron & Wine, Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens and stripped-down garage rock - never fails to gel into a cohesive album more than capable of speaking for itself. Are you listening?

47 There Will Be Fireworks - S/T

Much like Hope of the States' epic masterpiece "The Lost Riots" except for the fact that it sounds nothing like Hope of the States. Still, the same qualities are there: the switches between brash and tender the surrender to cacophonous noise which is tempered by frequent outings into territory so lusciously melodic that there should be a Nobel prize awarded.

Epic, surprising, profound and fuelled by a raw-passion: all albums should have those blueprints.

46 LoveLikeFire - Tear Ourselves Away

LoveLikeFire have produced one of the best pop records of the decade with Tear Ourselves Away. The hooks remind us of the Killers somewhat - but lead singer Ann Yu has a better voice and delivery than Mr. Flowers whilst also remaining ten-times more attractive.

'From A Tower' is easily the standout track, but the future bodes well for this San Francisco quartet, especially if they build upon some of the meatier songs off the record like 'Good Judgement' which is a sprawling anthem, not too dissimilar to the strings off a Mono record.

45 Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains

Another band to appear out of nowhere and swiftly become 'hot property' on the music-market, Cymbals Eat Guitars have become quite the coveted collective in the past twelve months.

Their début long-player Why There Are Mountains is a perfect blend of catchy-riffs and hard-hitting indie-rock antics, easily usurping a host other strugglers in their over-crowded topography.

Innovative, loud and a definite 'head-banger' for the iPod generation, they deserve every inch of acclaim they're still currently receiving.

44 Volcano Choir - Unmap

One part Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and five parts Collections Of Colonies Of Bee's, Volcano Choir is a supergroup mash-up like nobody else.

Utilising Vernon's always-emotive vocalism over COCOB's mathy melodies doesn't necessarily sound like a winner on paper but on CD, there's nothing else quite like it.

43 Arbouretum - Song of the Pearl

Song of the Pearl was eight solid rock songs, weighty and tightly wound like good rope. They also had a spring coiled into them despite the wear and the rich colour taken on by age, an elasticity and a vibrancy that one would not expect to find in the company of Dave Heumann’s seemingly earthbound lyrics.

The brooding perspectives are intoned clearly, sent skyward from a clearing hemmed by the tall trees of existentialism, naturalism and mysticism. It also sounds like four dudes who like jamming, and some of the solo’s come out like condensed Richard Thompson, enough to take the breath away on more than one occasion.

42 Passion Pit - Manners

Hyped beyond belief in the early part of 2009, Passion Pit have a way to go if they are to prove themselves as the real deal.

The Chunk Of Change EP rightly thrust this Massachusetts band to the top of the hype machine, but despite the fact that Manners remains instantly enjoyable, we feel its missing perhaps one more vital ingredient to push it further up our list.

41 Crystal Stilts - Alight Of Night

Swooping in on a gargantuan wave of hype, New York's very own Crystal Stilts managed to surpass every single one of our expectations with their early '09 début Alight Of Night.

Not only did it rumble with a deep, mature passion but it was also one of the most meticulously produced LPs we've heard in a long-time. Aged and pessimistic but sturdy and determined, Crystal Stilts have already become a mighty force to be reckoned with.