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The addition of Pop Matters's Best of 2009 album list to our ultimate, definitive Best Of the Best Ofs delivered, as seems to be almost obligatory, yet another garland for Merriweather Post Pavillion. Has there been an album in recent years that has been quite so universally regarded as the album of the year?

Pop Matters also delivered a bit of a fillup for The Dirty Projectors, up from 20 to just outside the top 10, and pushed Grizzly Bear higher into the group vying for the runners-up spot.

And there was a small boost for the meagre showing for metal and rap in the list, with Mastodon and Raekwon both appearing for the first time.

Raekwon is one of those standout anomolies when the Best Of ratings are compared to the ADM cumulative review scores, possibly because it appeared too late in the year to have embedded itself in the wider consciousness.

Similarly, the reviews for Dave Rawlings Machine's bluegrass debut would indicate it is one of the strongest in the roots field of 2009 - and it's still in the ADM current releases top 10 - but it has barely registered in the Best Of rankings.