Happy new year! This is a bit delayed. Well, actually about two weeks delayed. For your reading pleasure (comment and let me know your favorites!): '''Close Calls (in no particular order):''' Volcano Choir - Island IS Third Eye Blind - Bonfire Doves - The Outsiders The Clientele - I Wonder Who We Are Atlas Sound - Criminals The Dutchess and the Duke - Hands Voxtrot - Trepanation Party Pearl Jam - The Fixer The Swell Season - Feeling the Pull Non-09 High Playcount Songs: *Albums denoted with an asterisk *Beirut - The Flying Club Cup *Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter *The Long Winters - Putting the Days to Bed *The Broken West - Now or Heaven Ryan Adams - I See Monsters The Hold Steady - How a Resurrection Really Feels Wolfmother - The Joker and the Thief (this experienced a revival after its awesome use in The Hangover) Kooks - Always Where I Need to Be Airborne Toxic Event - Gasoline Voxtrot - Long Haul Fredrik - Black Fur (also, Alina's Place) The Loose Salute - The Mutineer Sondre Lerche - To Be Surprised *Built to Spill - There is No Enemy '''Top Songs of 2009''' 25.) Ida Maria - Oh My God 24.) Wilco - I'll Fight 23.) Basement Jaxx - Raindrops 22.) Andrew Bird - Not a Robot, But a Ghost 21.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero 20.) White Rabbits - Rudie Fails 19.) PJ Harvey & John Parish - Black Hearted Love [tied in my mind with "Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen"] 18.) Camera Obscura - French Navy 17.) Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks 16.) Neko Case - I'm an Animal 15.) Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension 14.) Magnolia Electric Co. - O! Grace 13.) Bon Iver - Beach Baby 12.) Weezer - (If You're Wondering... 11.) Spoon - Got Nuffin '''10.) Silversun Pickups - There's No Secrets This Year''' A great start to a great album. These guys continue to impress me, and the nimble guitarwork underpinning the second verse gets me every damn time. One that I never seem to get loud enough; I just keep cranking it...and after following "Panic Switch," I decided on the strength of the singles to get the CD. '''9.) Gomez - Airstream Driver''' The only song on this list not from an album I have in full. I'll listen to it one of these days, but this song is just phenomenal. It's simple but pretty perfect in its construction and incessantly catchy. '''8.) Walkmen - In the New Year''' Album was released in winter of '08, but the single dropped in February. Everything that I love about the Walkmen - fuzzy, loud and, in this case, bursting with this unbelievable energy. Nothing beats the start of the first chorus: "I know that it's true, it's gonna be a good year." Hamilton Leithauser saddles genuine enthusiasm and biting sarcasm, and seeing these guys live, I know the redfaced intensity with which he sings. '''7.) Animal Collective - My Girls (slash Summertime Clothes)''' Much like many the assessment of many reviewers, I'll say that this is a relatively perfect song. It floats on this beautiful, building melody, and just as you've gotten accustomed to it, there's a shift in the downbeat when the drums enter - right around 1:25. Fast forward to 2:10 or so and the spacey calypso breaks for Avey Tare's sublime falsetto. Catchy as hell, surprisingly repetitive, but stands up on repeat listens (just ask DJ Meg Ausen). '''6.) Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Doomsday''' This is definitely a product of Bonnaroo, though I would've liked the album regardless. "Doomsday" starts with a sad, lone baritone, blaring out something that sounds like it was written by Stephen Foster (think "Camptown Races"). One by one, other instruments enter. A standup bass. Some whimsical tambourine. The tempo increases dramatically. Elvis begins to sing in his warbly tenor. The song builds and builds and then - a marching band. Elvis's voice soaring over the fanfare of drums, cymbals, horns, everything you could expect from the Penn State pep band, and not so much from an indie singer-songwriter. I saw this live, and honestly, the entire show was one of the most fun I've ever been to - my buddies and I all had huge smiles plastered on our faces for 45 minutes - but this song took the cake. [[image|id=180|width=200|align=left]]'''5.) Miike Snow - Black and Blue''' In keeping with my favoritism for bands from Scandinavia, here's another entry from Sweden (see Fredrik, who're Finnish, and Sondre Lerche above). Discovered these guys about midway through the year, though I had heard of them before, and right from the get go, "Animal" had me hooked. But there's something about "Black and Blue" that's just a little different, a little more engaging. It has the same warm synths from this electronic/dance-y duo, but on top of that, Bloodshy and Avant sing in octaves for the whole song, creating a really cool effect. It's just got so much...swagger. The chorus especially..."Hello my friend, I see you're back again," sounds a bit like it could be in a George Michael song. And that's OK. '''4.) Phoenix - Lisztomania''' Yikes, I don't even want to imagine what my playcount was like for this. It all began with "1901," which I downloaded after seeing it on college radio charts on BDS Radio. Then "Lisztomania" dropped. My God. Everything about it grabs you. And it sets you on your feet. And forces you to move in jubilation. The handclaps, the looped guitar, the acoustic guitar in the second verse (there are some minor 7th chords in there that make me swoon), the chaotic, synth-heavy build in the bridge, and the sweet release right before the final chorus are so epically beautiful, so purely good. And not in the moral sense of "good," but something that people hear and immediately recognize is stunning, unusual and wholly original in its excellence. You know what? I still don't know what he says in the chorus. My version has something like "Think less, but see it grow, like a riot like a riot OHHHH" and so forth. '''3.) Avett Brothers - It Goes On and On''' I have deep affection for these guys. They play relatively understated, pretty folk some of the time - nice banjo arpeggios, piano, soaring three part harmonies - and other times they rock out their unplugged instruments with abandon. This is one of those moments, and, though this album wasn't as strong as their last ('''''Emotionalism'''''), this song is a winner. I can picture how much fun they're having with the song when they trade off verses - check out the harmonies as Scott Avett sings lead on the second verse, in the lines "Violent is the motion in my heart and in my body and miiii-ah-eye-ah-iiiind" - and when Seth Avett howls, or when Seth pounds the piano in a way that you'd think would destroy it. It's passionate, it's real, it's pretty at times and intense at others. It's dynamic and unpredictable, and I love that about their music. '''2.) Monsters of Folk - Losin' Yo Head''' This is a late entry in the year, released in September. I don't always like the idea of supergroups, but this one is damn good. Of the three main songwriters on the album - M. Ward, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes and Jim James of My Morning Jacket - I show some clear favoritism towards My Morning Jacket. I like M. Ward but he's too whispery and country-inflected, Bright Eyes has some interesting tunes but tends to be a) depressive and b) raspy (sorry Conor), while My Morning Jacket is bold, driving, diverse, and hell, they rock. And this song, sung by Jim James, rocks. He does a few quiet numbers as well ("His Master's Voice"), but nothing beats a song about partying. This song uses all of four chords, I believe, but the effect is magical. It's fuzzy and fun, straight out of the 70s, features the guys' three-part harmonies to great effect, and makes playful use of a stop-start pattern at the end of verses. Check it out. [[image|id=181|width=200|align=right]]'''1.) Passion Pit - Folds in Your Hands''' Hands down my favorite new band of the year. My "Fleet Foxes" of 2009 (I guess my next one should be alliterative too?). It began with "Sleepyhead," which impacted even before the release of Manners because it came off an EP. Played it a few times at 24 Hours of Ausen/Powers, didn't think too much more of it. Then I recommended them to my friends at Bonnaroo and said we had to see this show. It was the first night, we had just seen White Rabbits (stellar), it was pouring rain, but we were under a pavilion standing in the sand with a bunch of sweaty dancers. This girl next to me, from North Carolina, struck up a conversation and says "If I know you, and I KNOW you, then you'll love them." I already knew I was in for a treat. They played the album in full, and there's something about Michael Angelakos' voice that just pierces whatever bad mood you may be harboring and obliterates it. At first, you think "Wow, his falsetto is kinda goofy." But a few minutes later, jaw on the floor, you feel like somebody might have slipped you some amphetamines. You just wanna move. And sing. And you don't know the words. But you sing anyways! "Da da daaaa SLEEEPY HEEEEEE-EH-EH-AH-EDD." And then, much to your wondrous surprise, you discover that the rest of the album isn't just good, it's actually quite phenomenal. At first, "Little Secrets" is your favorite song. Then, wait, ok, that one's great but, I really like "To Kingdom Come." Ah, yeah, but "Make Light" is such an incredible start to the whole affair. Alright. Alright wait. "Folds in Your Hands." It has this incredible build, a gripping chorus and synths that make your internal organs jump around in bliss. There it is. The song of the year. To say otherwise would be madness. Note: Writing in the second person for extended periods of time is not recommended.