Due to some technical difficulties and yesterday being Christmas and all, the final Top 10 Albums of 2009 lists as determined by Loud Loop Press editors and contributors will be posted today, December 26, and tomorrow, December 27. Then beginning December 28 through January 1, we’ll up the ante by posting Top 10 Albums of 2000-2009 lists once again determined by our esteemed writers. Also, expect things to get back to normal next week with regular news updates and Daily Diversions. Today, contributor Andy Kondrat brings us some leftover Christmas cheer with his list for the Top 10 albums of 2009.

1. Future of the Left – Travels With Myself and Another
The Mclusky comparisons and laments can officially end. When Future of the Left came out with their debut album Curses, much was made of the fact that 2/3 of Mclusky had gone on to create another band filled with jagged riffs and acerbic lyrics. However, with Travels With Myself and Another, FOTL has created an album that demands that the listener take it for its own merit. And from the barn-burning opener “Arming Eritrea” to the closing rocktastic that is “Lapsed Catholics,” Travels is filled with moments that make you think, “Holy fuck, these guys can tear shit up.” And even with titles like “You Need Satan More Than He Needs You,” FOTL is more than clever lyrics. The music is deceptively complex for how much it rocks.

2. Antlers – Hospice
When I really like an album, I’ll find myself scanning to it on my iPod almost without thinking for weeks on end. However, Hospice is different. I scan to it on my iPod, and then have to ask myself, “How sad do I feel like being for the next half hour?” And even if the answer is, “Not very,” I still play the album. I don’t know what to say about this record aside from the fact that, plain and simple, it’s objectively amazing. I don’t know how you could listen to this record and not be blown away by the story unfolding, both in the tragic lyrics as well as the sweepingly epic yet startling intimate music. One of the few times I’ll say “you must listen to this…it will devastate you.”

3. Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer
The first of two Wolf Parade side projects on the top ten, this one being just one of Spencer Krug’s numerous side projects. Dragonslayer is probably one of the few albums I own that clocks in at over 45 minutes that I complain is over too soon. Comprising only eight songs, the record weaves a lush and intricate tapestry that’s very easy to be consumed by. It’s as if, after the last Sunset Rubdown album, Random Spirit Lover, the band decided, “Okay, now for the new one, let’s keep only the most awesome parts of that album, and then add in parts that are even awesomer.” Surprisingly accessible for how much stuff is going on, Dragonslayer is a majestic album that isn’t weighed down by the density of itself.

4. Motorcycles Are Everywhere – 1983
The best album you haven’t heard this year. Put out independently at motorcyclesareeverywhere.org, this electronic/rock/wave/post-whatever album explores dystopia and media voyeurism in a style that cribs from all sorts of genres without sounding exactly like any of them. Meticulously recorded and produced, even though the music is purposefully detached at times, you can hear the excitement and energy that went into creating the album as you listen to it. Oh, and by the way, the album is available as a free download. I don’t see how you’re not at the site, now, downloading it, and then rocking out.

5. Handsome Furs – Face Control
The second Wolf Parade side projects to crack the top ten list this year, we all wish songs like those on Face Control would have made their way onto the last (and somewhat disappointing) Wolf Parade record. On the face of it, Handsome Furs are a simple project: guitar, vocals, and a synth machine that produces beats and some sounds. And, truth be told, that’s just about what it is. However, Face Control is filled with music and lyrics that are earnest, intense, and honest. Singer Dan Boeckner’s delivery makes you believe everything he sings is important, and the music drives forward so relentlessly that it’s a perfect soundtrack for those lyrics. And, my goodness, “All We Want, Baby, Is Everything.” It’s probably not even the best song on the album, but it should have been the anthem for 2009.

6. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
It’s hard to make electro-instrumental-rockish type music interesting, even more so two albums in a row. Yet Fuck Buttons has managed to somehow combine the brutality of post-hardcore noise with really pretty and delicate synth to create an album that is able to surpass their already amazing debut Street Horrrsing. Sure, at least one track is a direct rip-off of one of their earlier songs, but the Fuck Buttons have streamlined their approach to noise, keeping more control over the noise they create. And, once again, they start their album with a 10-minute song that will slowly but surely make you go crazy with joy as it builds and builds.

7. R.E.M. – Live at the Olympia: 39 Songs
I really resisted giving a coveted top ten spot to a live album, but the more I listen to this record, the more I’m sure that R.E.M. might even deserve to be higher than number seven. Recorded over five shows in Dublin while working on Accelerate, these live performances were really thought of as rehearsals for the band, and as such the band pull some really amazing tricks out of its sleeve. Missing from the playlist are standbys and crowd favorites like “Man on the Moon” or “Losing My Religion,” but instead we get some amazing takes of “Pretty Persuasion,” “Circus Envy,” “New Test Leper,” and a number of other songs that would make any diehard R.E.M. fan a little drunk with happiness. Not to say this isn’t a collection for everyone: if you wrote off R.E.M. as being that too-serious band with shitty songs like “Shiny Happy People” or “Nightswimming,” this album might help you change your mind.

8. Beirut – Realpeople Holland
Beirut is usually thought of as a one-trick pony, but that trick is really fucking good. However, on the second disc of the March of the Zapotec/Realpeople Holland double EP, bandleader Zach Condon takes away the lush arrangements of his other work, strips away all extraneous instruments, and sticks mainly to a keyboard. Only five songs long, the album is able to pack quite a few punches, and the opener, “My Night With a Prostitute in Marseilles,” is basically a good enough song that Condon could have released it by itself and could have made a name as one of today’s best songwriters. And now we know, Beirut has more than one trick, and the band still sounds fantastic.

9. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Entries nine and ten on this year’s list are interesting, in that neither band is really doing anything new, nor pushing in genre boundaries. But they both take what’s already out there, and hone in on what’s great about the music they love. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart love The Jesus and Mary Chain, they love The Smiths, they love Belle and Sebastian, they love being happy. And their self-titled record combines all of that into one gleeful mess of fun. Though the middle of the album sometimes becomes somewhat non-distinct as the band doesn’t quite provide the hooks they should, the album as a whole is a burst of energy and fresh air that could only be provided by a band that unironically wants to pay tribute to the music they can’t get enough of. Listening to the album, you can tell they love playing it, and that fact makes it all the more enjoyable to listen to.

10. Japandroids – Post-Nothing
Japandroids also aren’t doing anything groundbreaking on their first album, Post-Nothing, but this Canadian duo is just a big fucking ball of energy. Perfectly capturing the angst of being young, restless, and desperate, the band’s lyrics are simple and to the point, with a wall of sound cranked up in order to overwhelm them. At only eight songs, the record is over before it has a chance to wear out its welcome, and over the course of 35 minutes, Japandroids expend all the energy they can, pour their hearts out, and rock your brain. I don’t know if these guys will be around forever, but this debut is incredibly solid for a young band. Hopefully they’ll grow a little bit, creating their own sound, but this record reminds me of what loud rock ought to be.