so i guess what i'm trying to say is that this will ultimately just amount to a list of songs from the year 2009. placed in no particular order. of some possible importance. some may be musically and melodically complex. some may be barely more than the human voice. some may be from new genres. some may be from bent genres. some may be plain 'ol radio pop. they will all be songs i like. i hope you like them, too. i'll include some writing where appropriate, in case you're curious as to why i've included them or what i think of them.
NOTE: all songs with one colon (":") between the artist name and song name will be links to youtube or another site with the song available for download. all songs with two colons ("::") between the artist name and song name will be download links, meaning you right click or control click to download.
- wow. what to say about this one. not my favorite from the album (that would be "temecula sunrise"), but upon first listen you really hear a band that couldn't care less about what it's "supposed" to sound like, and that's all the better for it.
- this song just won't quit. my favorite thing about this song is that on first listen everything sounds so strange and foreign, but by the third or fourth listen it seems like this song was always there. just waiting to be plucked from the ether. putting into blips and words the most basic desire of every good man throughout human history: to provide for those he loves.
- sludgiest bass line of the year builds into an agressively perfect release.
- haunting.
- this one caught me by surprise, because i genuinely disliked their first album. but this is some sort of smiths meets strokes meets...well, meets the horrors, i suppose. and it's beautiful.
- this type of straightforward "guy and acoustic guitar" stuff doesn't much interest me these days. but this song is precious. feels like simon & garfunkel at their most bittersweet.
- not sure what it is that makes this song perfect. the percussion is amazing. the lyrics so literal. the harmonies beautiful, but not as meticulous as say, fleet foxes or grizzly bear. just great music.
- sometimes it's better not to say anything at all.
- just as with grizzly bear and anco, it's tough to pick just one song when the whole album is so impressive. but this is the track that started it all. i had always been impressed at the level of craftsmanship in phoenix's songs as well as surprised at the general amount of critical and general underappreciation that had marked their career before this album. so when this song came out, i never expected that a few months later i would be hearing it over the p.a.s in grocery stores and shopping malls. "from a mess to the masses," i suppose.
- i remember when i first heard "sleepyhead." found it in a quiet corner of the internet on the now defunct blog "goodweatherforairstrikes." found it before stereogum and pitchfork and cellphone companies and whoever else. not to say "i found them first." but rather that it was nice to know that the joy i was experiencing over and over again as i played the song was unencumbered by the copious amounts of hype that seem omnipresent on the internet for any promising new act nowadays. so, naturally, as said hype started to flood the blogosphere for this band's impending debut effort, i started to worry that i had set my expectations too high. until i heard this song.
- just what i wish american dance music was like. huge synths, people moving in unison, hands in the air, sweat everywhere. people dancing with each other, as opposed to on each other. like this.
- a song that almost makes me cry. just so much power in that voice. and those drums. knocks the wind right out of you.
- the man continually outdoes himself. he makes me feel bad for other songwriters.
- all his songs sound like dreams i've had. and the prolificacy with which he writes songs makes me think that that might be more than coincidence. dreamweaver.
- i'm more of a pub kinda guy, but if i heard this song (or any song off their fantastic debut) coming out of a club, i would be much more inclined to dip inside.
- makes me wish i was 18 and single. it's comforting to know that one hundred years from now, teenage boys will still be writing songs in an effort to win the hearts of teenage girls. or at least to get them naked.
- many many blog years ago, when i had first read about panda bear's breakout album person pitch, but before i had listened to the music, this is sort of what i imagined/hoped it sounded like. bliss.
- hoping this album does for beach house what wolfgang did for phoenix.
- in my opinion, one of the most overhyped artists of the year. but this song is brimming with all the life and yearning that the first years out of school bring. sounds like a beach boys demo sung and played by a skate punk. in a good way.
- aesthetically, lyrics, instrumentation, arrangement and production have never gone together so flawlessly. at least not in this year.
- well, maybe those things have gone together as flawlessly in one other song. this song. this one tugs on the soul like only an antony song can.
- unhindered postadolescent optimism.
- a song by a boy for a girl. simple. timeless.
- a song by a girl for a boy. with this song norah outcatpowered cat power. impressive.
- i prefer to see dan with the black keys, but this song just can't be denied.
- the best 80s song written in 09.
- i fell in love with her music this year. she was always on my radar, but something happened when i heard this song for the first time. like lounge music that you could never lounge to.
- maybe more than any other modern song i've ever heard, this song puts me somewhere that i've never been. whereas kurt vile songs feel like dreams i've already had, this song feels like an uncomfortably bizarre dream i've yet to have, but is surely on its way.
- my girl turned me onto four tet and burial sometime last year, but i wonder if she could have been as excited as i was when i first heard this collaboration. it's amazing to hear such delicate restraint when locked into a groove that deep.
- it's either lofty ambition or blind adoration that would cause a band to attempt a recorded cover of an icon like bruce, especially when most of what the boss does can't be improved upon. but i think even bruce himself would get a kick out of this one.
- african pop has never been appropriated more appropriately.
- yeasayer just doing what they do best: lifting spirits and freaking out.
- another super overrated band. but this song is a knockout. listening to this song is like watching a john hughes film.
- sorry, gang. i don't know what to say about this one. it's just a great pop song. i love parties. i love usa. i love this song. i got earwormed. hard.
- one of my favorite things mike skinner has ever done. released for free via mike's twitter, here's to hoping it will appear on his next (and final) streets album. "now that things are costing nothing, is any of it good? come and love me read my nothings, blogging with the flood." how painfully appropriate.
so there you have it, gang. i'm quite sure i'm leaving out lots of good stuff so feel free to chime in with your recommendations in the comments section, and if anything new comes to my attention i'll throw it up here.
3 comments:
Yessssssssss... such perfect descriptions. I genuinely enjoyed reading this and agreed with most of it!
Brown Bear,
Pleae consult with me the next time you feel compelled to pimp Hannah Montana on this blog. God knows I fall harder than most for catchy pop songs, but I vehemently disagree with this one's inclusion on your "BEST Songs of 2009 list".
~Vanilla Cub
AMANDA: you're the nicest! anything i left off?
KLOB: as usual, there's always an issue with you. i dislike miley as much, if not more, than most people, but that song just cannot be denied. plus it's about the usa. so if you don't like it you're probably a commie or a terrorist.
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