1. The Avett Brothers – I And Love And You
2. Needtobreathe – The Outsiders
3. Florence + the Machine – Lungs
4. La Roux – La Roux
5. Muse – The Resistance
6. White Lies – To Lose My Life
7. Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
8. Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey & The GrooGrux King
9. Charlie Mars – Like A Bird, Like A Plane
10. Norah Jones – The Fall
11. The xx – XX
12. Dawes – North Hills
13. David Gray – Draw The Line
14. Gossip – Music For Men
15. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
16. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
17. Silversun Pickups – Swoon
18. Peter Bjorn and John – Living Thing
19. MuteMath – Armistice
20. Laura Marling – Alas I Cannot Swim
21. Vijay Kishore – 13 Rounds
22. Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson – Breakup
23. Monsters Of Folk – Monsters Of Folk
24. Deer Tick – Born On Flag Day
25. Band of Skulls – Baby Doll Face Darling Honey
26. Metric – Fantasies
27. Foreign Born – Person to Person
28. Starsailor – All The Plans
29. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below
30. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
More Albums I like (list will continue to grow):
31. Leopold and His Fiction – Ain’t No Surprise
32. Speck Mountain – Some Sweet Relief
33. J. Tillman – Vacilando Territory Blues
34. Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue
35. White Rabbits – It’s Frightening
36. Hockey – Mind Chaos
37. Chris Isaak – Mr. Lucky
38. Robert Francis – Before Nightfall
39. The Swell Season – Strict Joy
Honorable Mention (albums not available in U.S. yet)
*Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
*Powderfinger – Golden Rule
Guilty Pleasures
*Adam Lambert – For Your Entertainment
*Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
Disclaimer: Obviously some of these bands are not “under the radar”. BUTR’s year end lists are picks of the best albums and best songs of 2009 regardless of how well-known the artist is.
Kami
P.S. Send me your suggestions for albums I missed.
