2009 was a thrilling joyride of ‘everything goes’ in terms of music. At the same rate that it became more difficult to eke a living out of music the number of tiny niche scenes exploded over the past twelve months.

The choice is staggering. Latin Dub, Occult Folk, Mexican funeral music, Post Funk, Electro Soca - Every crazy combination of influences you can think of, you can be sure somebody is doing it right now and right here.

Some 80 years of recorded popular music make for one big supermarket of ideas and thanks to digital distribution it’s easier than ever to pick and choose. Artists have always been influenced by what went before them and now it’s no longer purely left to chance what they can hear and what not. A few well-worn copies of Harry Smith’s Anthology Of American Folk Music started the Folk boom of the early 1960’s, some stray European imports kicked off Techno in the Midwest of the US. Funny things happened before the arrival of the internet and the proliferation of cheap audio technology opened up the doors to instant diversity.

Reflecting a dozen micro trends and niches, here is my totally subjective cut at albums and singles that were released in 2009. A few of these styles may be consolidated and recycled by more mainstream artists next year. But, hey, the gap in the number of albums sold between mainstream and underground is getting ever narrower, as Lilly ‘I Am So Not Getting Rich From This Music Lark’ Allen would tell you.

This Top 20 celebrates diversity and sheer bloody mindedness, so no fashionable ‘big’ names here. No La Roux, Little Boots, Lady Gaga and no Florence. Florence and The Machine were one of Tuneraker’s tips for 2009, but where I first saw a Patti Smith kicking at convention I now see another Madonna being groomed for more boring videos and I just don’t find that interesting anymore. The other tips just fizzled out or twiddled their thumbs over the past couple of months. Just goes to show you never know, do you?

Most of the albums in the Top 20 have been reviewed on www.tuneraker.com in the past. Click on the album title to read the review, listen to or download MP3s of album tracks or watch a video by the artists.

The singles are a slightly different ballgame. They are the fruits of an unhealthy vinyl obsession and tested at high volume on the dancefloor. Enjoy.

Top 20 Albums 2009
1. Golden Bloom - Fan The Flames
2. The Dimes - The King Can Drink The Harbour Dry
3. King Midas Sound- Waiting For You
4. Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard - ‘Em Are I
5. Broadcast & The Focus Group - Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age
6. Beirut - March Of The Zapotecs
7. Timber Timbre - Timber Timbre
8. Peasant - On The Ground
9. Moritz von Oswald Trio - Vertical Ascent
10. Helado Negro - Awe Owe
11. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
12. Castanets - Texas Rose The Thaw & The Beast
13. Arthur Russell - The Sleeping Bag Sessions
14. Oxygen Ponies - Harmony Handgrenade
15. The Mighty Stef - 100 Midnights
16. Cryptacize - Mythomania
17. Tara Busch - Pilfershire Lane
18. Franz Ferdinand - Tonight: Franz Ferdinand
19. Rumble Strips - Welcome To The Walk Alone
20. Shannon Stephens - The Breadwinner

Top 20 Singles 2009
1. Debruit - Let’s Post Funk (Civil Music)
2. Joker - Do It (Kapsize)
3. Mark Pritchard & Om’Mas Keith - Wind It Up (Hyperdub)
4. Kode 9 - 2 Far Gone (Hyperdub)
5. Guido - Orchestral Lab (Punchdrunk)
6. Efdemin - Acid Bells, Martyn Remixes (Curle)
7. Major Lazer - Hold The Line (Mad Decent)
8. Various Productions - Trycycle EP (Various)
9. Peter Visti - Late Night Balearic Monster (Eskimo)
10. Ilario Alicante - Living Near Africa EP (Cecille)
11. Akira Kiteshi - Pinball (Black Acre)
12. Rustie - Bad Science (Wireblock)
13. King’s Child - Wareika, Villalobos Mix (Motivbank)
14. Poirier - Run The Riddim EP (Ninja Tune)
15. Ben Klock - Remixes (Ostgut)
16. C.R. Zero - Walk With Me (White)
17. Joker - Digidesign (Hyperdub)
18. Zomby - Tarantula (Hyperdub)
19. Various Productions - Remix EP (Various/VAR19)
20. Martyn - Mega Drive Generation (Hyperdub)