November 30, 2009

Best of 2009: The Songs

In our digital day and age, the power of a song has never been greater: a song is a single key tap that can lead into years of spending—from whole album downloads to concert tickets and merchandise—or it can simply be a regrettable 99 cent purchase or more often, free download. Technology has also changed the way we listen to music, with more of an emphasis placed on mixes via iPods and CDs rather than whole albums.

For 2009, I've created two lists: one devoted to songs and another to albums. Many of the songs on this list may belong to excellent records, but they are chosen here because they can also stand alone as wholly conceived works of art. No example is better than my choice for the year's best: the 5:32 pastoral epic "Impressions of the Past" by Megafaun—a song that lazily drifts, grows dark and stormy, and then rips open like a shot of sunlight.

1) Megafaun -"Impressions of the Past" (from Gather, Form and Fly)
2) The Love Language - "Lalita" (from The Love Language)
3) White Denim - "Regina Holding Hands" (from Fits)
4) Brazos - "Day Glo" (from Phosphorescent Blues)
5) A.A. Bondy - "I Can See the Pines are Dancing" (from When The Devil's Loose)
6) Bon Iver - "Blood Bank" (fromBlood Bank EP)
7) Girls - " Hellhole Ratrace" (from Album)
8) Cotton Jones - "Blood Red Sentimental Blues" (from Paranoid Cocoon)
9) The National - "So Far Around The Bend" (from Dark Was The Night)
10) Throw Me The Statue - "Waving At The Shore" (from Creaturesque)
11) Dan Auerbach - "My Last Mistake" (from Keep It Hid)
12) Here We Go Magic - "Tunnelvision" (from Here We Go Magic)
13) Camera Obscura - "French Navy" (from My Maudlin Career)
14) Generationals - "When They Fight, They Fight" (from Con Law)
15) Dirty Projectors - "Stillness Is the Move" (from Bitte Orca)
16) Fanfarlo - "Finish Line" (from Reservoir)
17) JJ - "Things Will Never Be The Same Again" (from JJ N°)
18) YACHT - "Psychic City (Voodoo City)" (from See Mystery Lights)
19) Neon Indian - "Deadbeat Summer" (from Psychic Chasms)
20) Cass McCombs - "You Saved My Life" (from Catacombs)
21) Islands - "Vapours" (from Vapours)
22) Luke Top - "Friends" (from Friends)
23) Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - "Home" (from Up From Below)
24) Washed Out - "Feel It All Around" (from Life of Leisure EP)
25) Lands & Peoples - "Bad Habits" (from Lands & Peoples)
26) Molina and Johnson - "What You Reckon, What You Breathe" (from Molina and Johnson)
27) The Dutchess and the Duke - "Hands" (from Sunset / Sunrise)
28) Richard Hawley - "Don't Get Hung Up In Your Soul" (from Truelove's Gutter)
29) M. Ward - "Rave On" (from Hold Time)
30) Passion Pit - "Little Secrets" (from Manners)

Best of 2009: The Albums
Buy it at Insound!Megafaun

5 comments:

  1. interesting list... the brazos and national songs are pretty amazing

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  2. Great list.I really enjoyed reading about brazos and national songs. Love the blog!

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  3. I impressed for your posting.

    Bathmate

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  4. nice list, i dig it. check out my site some time i think you will like the music...see ya down the road.

    www.harmondrive.com

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  5. Intresting list!

    This is mine;

    1. Corde oblique - Venti di sale
    2. Mahsa Vahdat + Mighty Sam McClain - Imprints
    3. Muse - Upriing
    4. Sevda Alekperzadeh - Ele deme
    5. The Prodigy - Invaders must die / Thunder
    6. Beata Palya - Hold
    7. Oreka Tx - Lauhaska
    8. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu - wiyathul
    9. Wukimon - Holy
    10. Clark - Growls garden
    11. Fat freddys drop - The camel
    12. DuOud - Missy Nuackshott
    13. Kyteman - Sorry
    14. Mara Aranda + Solatge - Els contrabandistes
    15. Kal - Turkish blues

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