Altsounds — From veterans Sonic Youth to newcomers The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, from Brooklyn’s White Rabbits to Britain’s Bat For Lashes to San Francisco’s Girls to three bands who had exceptional years in 2009, Animal Collect... more info

The Yellow Stereo — Local Natives are an L.A. five piece that have drawn comparisons to Fleet Foxes due to their harmonizing melodies; however, I would think of this band as their rocking cousins, blending their harmonies with some rapid beats and twisting guitar parts.... more info

Guardian Music — At first it seemed like a mere internet prank – now it's in with a real shot. The Facebook campaign to get Rage Against the Machine to Christmas No 1 has been gripping guardian.co.uk/music readers all week. By Wednesday, RATM were ahead by a g... more info

8/1 — 1 - Brett Anderson – Wilderness2 - Patrick Wolf – Bachelor3 - PJ Harvey & John Parish A Woman a Man Walked By4 - Bat For Lashes - Two Suns5 - Antony And The Johnsons - The Crying Light6 - Wild Beasts - Two Dancers7 - Richard Hawley - Tr... more info

Guardian Music — The aim was to engage with contemporary black dance music. The result? Solange Knowles became a big fan!Who else made the top albums of 2009?It has been a great year for intelligent, experimental American pop: Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear and Dirt... more info

Bridging The Atlantic — With attention to flow rather than order of preference, my absolute favourite songs of 2009.1. Happy Up Here - Röyksopp2. 1901 - Phoenix3. Osaka Loop Line - Discovery4. Lovesick Teenagers - Bear in Heaven5. Blood Pt 2 - Buck 65 Remix ft Sufjan Ste... more info

Stereogum — Each year when Pitchfork posts their annual Top 100 Songs Of XXXX you can be sure to find a number of hip-hop and popular radio tracks filtered into the electronic and indie stuff. Makes sense: Those genres and/or sensibilities can result in great... more info

Stereogum — The German ambient pop crew's "Come In," not a Palace Brothers cover, offers an intimate, warmly downcast entreaty over metallic percussion, electronic beats, and strings. Hear it at HypeM. (It's also available on a City Slang 7" b/w Grizzly Bear's "... more info

Allmusic Blog — Appropriately for the final year of the decade, 2009 seemed to be the 2000s in microcosm. Every trend of the past 10 years surfaced over the past 12 months: dance divas with irresistible singles mingled with the electro-pop and art-punk vanguard with... more info

LargeHeartedBoy — Animal Collective's Fall Be Kind EP hits stores tomorrow, and along with an import Grizzly Bear vinyl single, While You Wait for the Others, will be my only new release purchase as I focus on completing my holiday gift... more info