Best of 2009 JamBase Staff List

Kayceman

Albums
1. Alberta Cross - Broken Side of Time
2. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul
3. Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy
4. Mastodon - Crack The Skye
5. Elliott Brood - Mountain Meadows

Shows
1. Them Crooked Vultures | 11/19/09 | Fox Theater Oakland, CA
2. Widespread Panic | 11/13/09 | Fox Theater Oakland, CA (review)
3. The Mars Volta | 08/29/09 | Outside Lands Festival, San Francisco, CA (review)

Dennis Cook

Albums (no particular order)
1. Mastodon - Crack The Skye
2. Akron/Family - Set 'Em Wild, Set 'Em Free
3. Todd Snider - The Excitement Plan
4. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
5. The Black Crowes - Before The Frost...After The Freeze

Shows
1. The Black Crowes | 12.01-12.02 & 12.04-12.06.09 | The Fillmore | SF, CA (review)
2. AC/DC | 09.02.09 | HP Pavilion | San Jose, CA (review)
3. Dr. Dog | 04.16.09 | The Fillmore | San Francisco, CA (review)

Close runners-up: Bruce Springsteen at HP Pavilion (04.01), Mastodon at San Jose Events Center (11.21), Flowmotion at Summer Meltdown (08.15), Tom Jones at Outside Lands (08.28), and Bon Iver/Megafaun at Fillmore (09.22).

Andy Gadiel

Albums (no particular order)
1. Fun - Aim & Ignite
2. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
3. Jerry Garcia Band - Let It Rock - Keystone '75
4. Nathan Moore - Folk Singer
5. Corinne West - The Promise

Shows
1. Phish | 03.08.09 | Hampton Coliseum
2. Big Light and Nathan Moore at JamBase offices | 06.04.09
3. CounterClarkWise | 02.20.09 | Connecticut Yankee | San Francisco, CA

David Rosenheim

Albums
1. Polvo - In Prism
2. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
3. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
4. The Mother Hips - Pacific Dust
5. Bat for Lashes - Two Suns

Shows
1. Sonic Youth | 08.03.09 | The Independent | San Francisco, CA
2. Jenny Lewis | Wanderlust Festival | Lake Tahoe, CA
3. Ben Harper and the Relentless 7 | 02.17.09 | Highline Ballroom | New York, NY

Tanner Wyer

Albums
1. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
2. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
3. Miike Snow - self-titled
4. Mother Hips - Pacific Dust
5. Portugal. The Man - Satanic Satanist

Shows
1. Phish | 07.31.09 | Red Rocks | Morrison, CO
2. Dr. Dog | 10.05.09 | Haunted Brookdale Lodge | Brookdale, CA
3. Hall and Oates | 09.04.09 | Mountain Winery | Saratoga, CA

Mason Blake

Albums
1. The Mother Hips - Pacific Dust
2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. Alberta Cross - Broken Side of Time
4. Passion Pit - Manners
5. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

Shows
1. Go Home (featuring Ben Goldberg, Scott Amendola, Charlie Hunter, Ron Miles) | 02.07.09 | Freight & Salvage | Berkeley, CA
2. Akron/Family | 03.07.09 | Hemlock Tavern | San Francisco, CA
3. All of SXSW, specifically Delta Spirit, Bobby Bare Jr., Mother Hips, Jason Isbell, Dr. Dog, Gary Louris & Mark Olson, Efterklang, M. Ward, Heartless Bastards | March 2009 | Austin, TX

Patty Kaufman

Albums
1. Alberta Cross - Broken Side of Time
2. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
3. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
5. Iron and Wine - Around the Well

Shows
1. Phish | 07.31.09 | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO
2. Bon Iver | 09.22.09 | The Fillmore | San Francisco, CA
3. Monsters of Folk | 10.17.09 | Fox Theatre | Oakland, CA

SuperDee

Runners-up: Umphrey's McGee's Mantis and Lily Allen's It's Not Me, It's You

Shows
1. Phish | 11.24.09 | Wachovia Center | Philadelphia, PA
2. Erykah Badu | Bonnaroo
3. Ryan Adams & The Cardinals | 02.22.09 | Wellmont Theatre | Montclair, NJ

Geoff Harrison

Albums
1. Erin McKeown - Hundreds of Lions
2. Marco Benevento - Me Not Me
3. Cracker - Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey
4. Band of Skulls - Baby Darling Doll Face Honey
5. Brendan Benson - My Old, Familiar Friend

Shows
1. Jeff Beck | 04.09.09 | Irving Plaza | New York, NY
2. The Hold Steady | SXSW | Mohawk | Austin, TX
3. The Roots with Angelo and Living Colour | 08.10.09 | Highline Ballroom | New York, NY

Leah Elton

Shows
1. Dean & Britta (13 Most Beautiful Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests) | 02.03.09 | Palace of Fine Arts | San Francisco, CA.
2. Living Things | 06.08.09 | Slim's | San Francisco, CA
3. Manic Street Preachers | 09.24.09 | The Fillmore | San Francisco, CA

Matt Tice

Albums
1. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
4. Elbow & The BBC Concert Orchestra - The Seldom Seen Kid
5. Fever Ray - self-titled

Shows
1. David Byrne | 06.26.09 | Greek Theatre | Berkeley, CA
2. Elbow | 07.22.09 | The Wiltern | Los Angeles, CA
3. Green Day | 04.08.09 | DNA Lounge | San Francisco, CA

Jennifer Zeghibe

Albums
1. Levon Helm - Electric Dirt
2. Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid
3. J.J. Cale - Roll On

Shows
1. Old Crow Medicine Show | 08.07.09 | Electric Factory | Philadelphia, PA
2. Earl Scruggs | 10.04.09 | Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival | San Francisco, CA
3. Garaj Mahal | 01.07.09 | Yoshi's | San Francisco, CA

Honorable Mention: Greensky Bluegrass | 11.05.09 | Mission Rock | San Francisco, CA

Jamie Piazza – JamBase Web Producer & Designer

Albums
1. Passion Pit - Manners
2. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
3. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
4. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion
5. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Crystal Carlson - JamBase Information Coordinator

Albums (no particular order)
1. Monsters of Folk – self-titled
2. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
3. The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love
4. Umphrey's McGee - Mantis
5. The XX – self-titled

Shows
1. Phish | 03.06.09 | Hampton Coliseum
2. Bon Iver | 09.22.09 | The Fillmore
3. Ween | 08.30.09 | Outside Lands

Continue reading for Best of 2009 lists from JamBase Writers, Friends and Associates...