b3science counts down our choice top 20 albums of 2009! the top 40 tracks of the year drop tomorrow. dr. oz is straight PSYCHED!!

1. Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Mos Def - History (Feat. Talib Kweli)
Mos Def on b3sci
buy the The Ecstatic LP

2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It’s Blitz!
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero
Yeah Yeah Yeahs on b3sci
buy the It’s Blitz! LP

3. Electric Wire Hustle - Every Waking Hour
Electric Wire Hustle - Chaser
Electric Wire Hustle on b3sci
buy the Every Waking Hour LP

4. A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head
A Place to Bury Strangers - In Your Heart
A Place to Bury Strangers on b3sci
buy the Exploding Head LP

5. The Raveonettes - In and Out of Control
The Raveonettes - Gone Forever
The Raveonettes on b3sci
buy the In and Out of Control LP

6. Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Kasabian - Vlad The Impaler
Kasabian on b3sci
buy the West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum LP

7. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day
Kid Cudi - Hyyerr (Feat. Chip Tha Ripper)
Kid Cudi on b3sci
buy the Man on the Moon: The End of Day LP

8. Florence and the Machine - Lungs
Florence and the Machine - My Boy Builds Coffins (demo)
Florence and the Machine on b3sci
buy the Lungs LP

9. The xx - The xx
The xx - Night Time
buy the The xx LP

10. The Temper Trap - Conditions
The Temper Trap - Fader
The Temper Trap on b3sci
buy the Conditions LP

11. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II
Raekwon - Ason Jones
Raekwon on b3sci
buy the Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II LP

12. Moby - Wait for Me
Moby - A Seated Night
Moby on b3sci
buy the Wait for Me LP

13. Jack Penate - Everything is New
Jack Penate - Everything is New
Jack Penate on b3sci
buy the Everything is New LP

14. Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe
Depeche Mode - In Sympathy
Depeche Mode on b3sci
buy the Sounds of the Universe LP

15. The Obits - I Blame You
The Obits - Pine On
The Obits on b3sci
buy the I Blame You LP

16. The Cribs - Ignore the Ignorant
The Cribs - We Share the Same Skies
The Cribs on b3sci
buy the Ignore the Ignorant EP

17. Gliss - Devotion Implosion
Gliss - Beauty
Gliss on b3sci
buy the Devotion Implosion

18. Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangment
Mayer Hawthorne - Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’
Mayer Hawthorne on b3sci
buy the A Strange Arrangement LP

19. The Maccabees - Wall of Arms
The Maccabees - Love You Better
The Maccabees on bsci
buy the Wall of Arms LP

20. The Kid Daytona - Come Fly With Me
The Kid Daytona - The Engine
The Kid Daytona on b3sci
download the Come Fly With Me LP for free

honorable mentions:

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
K-os – Yes!
J Dilla – Jay Stay Paid
Reigning Sound – Love and Curses
Tim Hecker – An Imaginary Country
14kt – Nowalataz
Muse - The Resistance
Brittany Bosco – Spectrum
Gucci Mane – The State vs. Radric Davis
Lily Allen - It’s Not Me, It’s You
U2 - No Line On The Horizon
Horrors - Primary Colours
The Stevenson Ranch Davidians – Life and Death
Glasvegas - Glasvegas
A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Ashes Grammar

“Mistake” evinces Moby at one of the more vulnerable creative points in his career. Both the song’s composition and delivery attributes communicate a refreshing honesty and personal-ness. Wait For Me, Moby’s latest full length, marks a return to the more down tempo melancholic aesthetic characteristic of his earlier commercially successful releases. And while, his output to date has been defined by consistently solid records, Wait for Me is by far our favorite Moby project. Mixer Ken Thomas (Sigur Ros, M83, Bowie and many more) clearly adds to some of the more exciting atmospheric moments on the LP.

In addition to directing the vid for another WfM favorite, “Shot in the Back of the Head”, David Lynch inspired much of the creative direction for Wait for Me. In an April 2009 post on his website, Moby wrote:

“I started working on the album about a year ago, and the creative impetus behind the record was hearing a David Lynch speech at BAFTA, in the UK. David was talking about creativity, and to paraphrase, about how creativity in and of itself, and without market pressures, is fine and good. It seems as if too often an artists or musicians or writers creative output is judged by how well it accommodates the marketplace, and how much market share it commands and how much money it generates. In making this record I wanted to focus on making something that I loved, without really being concerned about how it might be received by the marketplace. As a result it’s a quieter and more melodic and more mournful and more personal record than some of the records I’ve made in the past.”

Moby - Mistake

buy it here
myspace

rating: 8.5

Moby - “A Seated Night”

gorgeous.

buy

rating: 8.7

Moby - Shot in the Back of the Head

lead single off the forthcoming “wait for me” lp. love love love the guitar on this.

rating: 8.0