http://rateyourmusic.com/list/dumbangel/favourite_albums_of_2009/

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Antony & The Johnsons - The Crying Light
Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
Mos Def - The Ecstatic

(not that these next three are the best of the year, but they really deserve more credit)

YACHT - See Mystery Lights
Mulatu Astatke & Heliocentrics - Inspiration Information
DOOM - Born Like This

I've heard the Levon Helm album and it kicks ass if you like rootsy stuff

the best thing he's done since the Band

btw

list in progress

There's a huge gap between Levon Helm and the boss. I'm still waiting for a lot more good albums, but I can't find any...

at RYM, I gave Antony and Levon 4 stars, the others have 3.5 or 3

...and Animal Collective got 2 stars only.

and i forgot to add, for you poast rawk fans:

maudlin of the Well- Part the Second

Embryonic. Maybe my favorite album of this half-decade.

1. The Antlers - Hospice
2. Passion Pit - Manners
3. The xx - xx

Those are three pretty damn good album, with "Hospice" being in the running for one of the best albums of the decade - it's that good. The other two aren't too bad either (hanging around my Top 100 albums list).

Random goodness: M. Ward, Franz Ferdinand, White Denim, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Miranda Lambert, Monsters of Folk, Jay Reatard and the XX.
Random pretty goodness: Animal Collective, Jay-Z, Yo La Tengo, Grizzly Bear, Anni Rossi and Wilco.
Random not that goodness: The Flaming Lips, Wild Beasts, Dirty Projectors, Bruce Springsteen and U2.

I'm sure I'm leaving a few out, but that's what comes off the top of my head.

My faves this year are the albums by these artists. Overall I think this year the albums are really weak compared to the prior two years:

Karen O and the Kids
Sunset Rubdown
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Prodigy
White Lies
Florence and the Machine
Regina Spektor
Thao and the Get Down Stay Down
IDA Maria
Bat For Lashes
M Ward
Camera Obscura
Big Pink
Noisettes