Street's Albums of 2009

The-Dream: Love vs. Money

By anyone's standards, 2009 was the year of The-Dream. You may not have heard the name, but you've definitely heard the handiwork: This pudgy, pint-sized pop genius was behind every hit from Beyonce to Mariah and Jamie Foxx to Justin Bieber (if you haven't yet heard the pre-pubescent squawking of "One Time," you will soon). The-Dream's been so ubiquitous that his own solo album was ignored - which is a shame, as "Love vs. Money" was easily my favorite record of the year. So much more than your bog-standard R&B slush, "Love vs. Money" is an exquisitely detailed, boldly visionary work - it's pop-as-opera (popera?), and it's brilliant. From the ecstatic, MJ-channeling sugar rush of "Walking on the Moon" to the borderline-apocalyptic rage of the title track, mainstream music doesn't get any bolder or better than this.

-Adam Tanaka

Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

If there's one album that defined summer 2009, it was Phoenix' "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix." In absolutely stunning fashion, the French indie-rockers crafted breezy, lighthearted, near-perfect pop music that gave teenagers across the world the perfect soundtrack to their summer nights. The album was strong from start to finish, but the first two tracks - "Lisztomania" and "1901" - were masterful, blending tight guitar riffs with well-written lyrics to create veritable musical anthems. The simple fact that the band wrote an homage to a long-dead Hungarian composer - and it was actually catchy - puts it on a higher plane. "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" was quirky without being niche, a breath of fresh air during a time when music badly needed one.

-Kiran Gollakota

Lily Allen: It's Not Me, It's You

If the title isn't proof enough that Lily Allen is still out to get whoever and whatever is upsetting her, then perhaps "Fuck You," aimed at a certain former U.S. president, or "Not Fair," targeted at a lover with problems in the bedroom, will get the point across better. The British pop singer's sophomore album is loaded with her signature lewd lyrical zingers, but it is broader in range than her debut, both musically (look for danceability, synth-pop influences and a country vibe on a song or two) and lyrically (religion, materialism, drugs, sex, parents ... you name it). You'll probably see her in the tabloids before New Year's, but don't let the last two weeks of 2009 go by without hearing from Lily herself on this angry, witty and brutally honest album.

-Sara Wallace

Wale: Attention Deficit

Like most fine things in life, hip-hop has both aged like vintage wine and started tasting like shit. In the last 20 years, the impeccable wit of Biggie and 2pac has been reduced to rhyming "blonde-dyke" with "Klondike." But, to hip-hop's credit, the beats have gotten hotter, and rappers are no longer limited to just looping samples of Queen. There is one artist today who embodies the two trajectories of hip-hop to near perfection, and that is Jay-Z. But as much as I appreciate production and gratuitous Chris Martin cameos, I still listen to lyrics - call me a sentimentalist if you want. Wale's new album, wrought with meticulous rhymes set to beats from a who's who of contemporary producers, finally marries the gangster to the Gaga. Goodbye "Blueprint 3," hello "Attention Deficit": Like your finest can of '08 Keystone Light, Wale is always smooth, never bitter.

-Lisa Han

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The Decemberists: The Hazards of Love

"The Hazards of Love," the Decemberists' fifth album to date, is not for everyone. It's not even their best work (I'm partial to "Castaways and Cutouts"). That said, "Hazards" is a damn impressive concept album. The 17-song suite traces the fantastical, macabre love story of a girl named Margaret and her dealings with a shape-shifter, a forest queen and some utterly chilling fairytale treachery woven throughout. Because all the songs flow together so splendidly, there's no standout hit (except perhaps "The Rake's Song"), but look out for the stunning cameo from Shara Worden ("My Brightest Diamond") as the Queen of the Taiga. Anyone who has written off the Decemberists as overly pretentious bookworms with an unusual passion for Victorian ghost stories probably won't be swayed by this album, but for the rest of you, it's worth more than a cursory listen.

-Raleigh Allison

Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2

Any rapper can talk about his own impending death; Raekwon asks to be buried in Africa with "whips and spears / and rough diamonds out of Syria." Any rapper can talk about the harshness of ghetto life; Ghostface tells us about the "2 year old strangled to death / with a ‘Love Daddy' shirt on." It's attention to detail that separates Raekwon and the rest of the Wu-Tang Clan from their mediocre competition, and "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. 2," with its vivid crime stories and intricate rhyme schemes, is the product of writers who care about the power of words above all else. Not that the beats aren't terrific, too.

-Raj Ranade