Best of 2009 - Guest List - Lauren Flax

As a precursor to our impending year-end list, we've asked some of our favorite artists to select their five favorite releases of 2009. Worldwide DJ sensation Lauren Flax adds her two cents to our year-end "Guest List" series. Flax as DJ has spent the last few years, spinning with or alongside acts like Fischerspooner, Moby, The B-52's, and Yelle. Her picks here are sparse and abstract, not unlike say, minimalist techno? Some picks are spot on, some fantastic, but not 2009, and others are just left to interpretation.

1) Azari & III
2) Burial
3) Telepathe
4) Classic House
5) Brooklyn

Lauren Flax recently released her debut single "You've Changed", featuring Sia on vocals:



FULL YEAR-END COVERAGE HERE

Burial - "Untrue" 96%

If ever I have recommended an album, this is the one to listen in on...Burial's second album "Untrue" has just leapfrogged over the masses to find itself securely etched in my list of the best albums of the year. A throwback to early trip-hop and drum'n'bass, yet eerily dark, beautiful and haunting, "Untrue" gets it right on so many levels it's astonishing. The album embodies dirty scratches, passionate old soul vocals, and menacing synth-pads to enhance the overall tone, playing out like a homemade mix-tape to a scorned, unforgettable lover.

"Untrue" is available now on Hyperdub Records.

-Scot Bowman