The 50 Best Songs of 2009

All right, you know the drill - 50 best songs of 2009, with one song per album (or else there'd be a hell of a lot less diversity here). Open the links in a new tab to find what I think are the best versions of each track on the net. Now let the listage commence:


50.stellastarr* - "Prom Zombie" from Civilized

A good hook is a good hook.

49.Small Black - "Despicable Dogs" from the Small Black EP

Don't care for the "chillwave" label, but whatever you call it, the genre itself is starting to produce some great stuff.

48. The Temper Trap - "Love Lost" from Conditions

They teased us in '08 with "Sweet Disposition", and followed up with equally layered pop like this in '09.

47. Fuck Buttons - "Flight of the Feathered Serpent" from Taro Sport


Braaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm freakin' ouuuuuuuuttttt!!!

46. Wale feat Gucci Mane - "Pretty Girls" from Attention Deficit

I'm not saying it's great to have brag anthems about fucking models, poppin' Cris & lighting money on fire back, but it's kind of nice to have a good one every now and then.

45. Franz Ferdinand - "Ulysses" from Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

While the new album wasn't up to par, at least the first single remains one of the band's catchiest tracks.

44. Neon Indian - "Deadbeat Summer" from Psychic Chasms

Braaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh it's happenin' againnnnnnn!!!

43. k-os - "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman" from Yes!

Canadian cult rapper k-os won a place on this list as soon as I heard his sample.

42. Wave Machines - "Keep the Lights On" from Wave If You're Really There

Wave Machines craft a new kind of disco - a mellow, sweaty, 4 AM as the club closes kind. It's muted, but still melodic.

41. Chiddy Bang - "Kids"

19 year old prodigies from Phillie re-work the year's most overplayed indie anthem- and make it sound brand spankin' new. Can't wait for an official EP.

40. Harlem Shakes - "Sunlight" from Technicolor Health


The NY boys' take on the biblical story of Jacob lacks much of a moral, but is a hell of a lot of fun to dance to. Which is kind of the important thing, I suppose.

39. Metric - "Help I'm Alive" from Fantasies

For whatever reason, Metric didn't break out like similar "veteran indie" act, Phoenix did this year. But if everything they do from here on is as on-point as this, it's easy to imagine that their big moment is right around the corner.

38. Gary Go - "Brooklyn" from Gary Go

Sad, British ex-pat bums around New York, looking into crystal balls & awaiting the apocalypse. Not the sort of thing I generally like, but for some reason this guy pulls it all off.

37. Bat For Lashes - "Daniel" from Two Suns

Whoever Daniel is, I'll bet this song freaks him the fuck out.

36. Royksopp - "Happy Up Here" from Junior

Airy, goofy dance music, which is what these guys have always specialized in.

35. Kid Cudi feat Ratatat & MGMT - "Pursuit of Happiness" from Man on the Moon

Yes, I know there's a music video for it, but considering it butchers the gorgeous, Ratatat-produced intro (and inexplicably features Drake instead of anyone else involved in the song), I'd just assume not link to it.

34. Miike Snow - "Animal" from Miike Snow

Three Nordic dudes who used to write for Britney Spears strike out on their own, to similar toe-tapping effect.

33. Beirut - "My Night With the Prostitute from Marseilles" from March of the Zapotech

I was at Coachella for this, and as much as I enjoy the original, seeing it with live instrumentation added a lot more. Would love to hear a studio edition of the full-band version soon.

32. Mr. Hudson feat Kanye West - "Supernova" from Straight No Chaser

It's been a rough year for Yeezy. But it's nice to be reminded that, when he's not being a media whore, the guy still helps craft some awesome music.

31. Wild Beasts - "All The King's Men" from Two Dancers

A bizarrely unhinged falsetto leads the way through this rollicking slice of primal, yet subdued rock from the British weirdos. And I mean "weirdos" as a compliment.

30. Matt & Kim - "Good Ol' Fashioned Nightmare" from Grand

This track features the couple doing what they do best: booming drums & seriously addictive piano melodies.

29. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - "Young Adult Friction" from The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

Delightful enough to make you enjoy bathing in a big pool of twee.

28. Girls - "Hellhole Ratrace" from Album

Not nearly as depressing as you might think.....especially the video, which feels like the best night out you & your friends have never had


27. Nico Vega - "Beast" from Nico Vega

This is the first & most likely the last time you'll see a link to Last Call With Carson Daley posted here. But it's worth it.

26. White Lies - "Farewell to the Fairground" from To Lose My Life


I didn't love this song til I heard it live; now it's my favorite on the album. Any band worth its salt should be able to perform that trick onstage.

25. The Big Pink - "Dominos" from A Brief History of Love


Their album's most obnoxious track is also, by far, its best. Just listen, and you'll hear what I mean.

24. Discovery - "Orange Shirt" from LP


LP's opening track is also one of the very best. There's no cool time-shifting like on "So Insane", but it kicks some of the richest base ever heard.

23. Here We Go Magic - "Fangela" from Here We Go Magic

It was an unexplected pleasure to hear these guys open for Grizzly Bear this year. They drew in the crowd at a slow, steady pace before whipping them into a froth with this number.

22. Phoenix - "Lasso" from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Not the album's most iconic track, but by far the catchiest.

21. White Rabbits - "Percussion Gun" from It's Frightening

It might be redundant to say this, but these are the coolest drums you'll hear all year.


20. Fever Ray - "If I Had A Heart" from Fever Ray

Do NOT click this link if you're about to go to bed. It's the stuff of nightmares. Literally.

19. Passion Pit - "Little Secrets" from Manners

Is it creepy that the chorus is just a bunch of little kids singing about keeping a grown man's secret? I'll choose to say no.


18. Awesome New Republic - "Dances When" from Hearts

Lots of folks complain that no one does good hooks anymore, so ANR wrote a song that's pretty much ALL hook. Good thing it's a damn good one.

17. Florence & The Machine - "Kiss With a Fist" from Lungs

Unquestionably the least PC song on this list, especially considering a little incident that went down between two pop stars in February. That said, it's also pretty sexy, in all the wrong ways.


16. Surfer Blood - "Swim (To Reach The End)" from the upcoming Astro Coast

These guys are one of the biggest bands to watch out for in 2010, and are leading a pack of Florida-bred rockers who are thankfully shaking up the Brooklyn scene. They've got a serious Blue Album-era Weezer vibe, with a heavy dose of surf rock (duh) to complete the package. Their debut LP comes out early next year.

15. Yeasayer - "Ambling Alp" from the upcoming Odd Blood (video NSFW)

Another highly anticipated album is Yeasayer's sophomore disk, which is already drawing buzz thanks to this little tease. Warning: quick, yet totally full-frontal nudity is in the video, but less the xxx kind, and more the "let's smear mud and be intergalactic hippies" kind.



14. Sleigh Bells - "Crown on the Ground" from the 2HELLWU EP

If there's one band out there who matches Surfer Blood's deafening buzz right now, it's definitely this duo, who somehow, some way, have figured out how to make low-fi fun again. You don't believe me? Watch the clip. And ignore that "Tom" dude. Sadly, I've never ridden a jackhammer before, but I imagine it feels a lot like this song. And that's a compliment.

13. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - "Home" from Up From Below

Everyone who sees this band for the first time falls in love with them by the time they play this song. Everyone without a heart of ice, that is.

12. Lady Gaga - "Dance in the Dark" from The Fame Monster

Like "Paparazzi", this is a track that silences a lot of critics complaining about a lack of substance beneath the new queen of pop's music. Mourning the shattered psyche of tragic public icons (Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and Jonbennett Ramsey, to name a few), yet singing to the same masses that turned some of these people into bipolar recluses in the first place, the song reeks of the dark irony this woman's starting to excel at.

11. Jay-Z feat Alicia Keyes - Empire State of Mind" from The Blueprint III

Ah, memories......that is all.


10. Animal Collective - "Lion in a Coma" from Merriweather Post Pavilion

What a great phrase to describe that unnamed urge people get - only relieved through not just the obvious way, but also by creating, acting, singing, or writing your opinion for people on the internet to see. They were probably high when they though it up.


9. HEALTH - "Die Slow" from Get Color

The NEW best band to emerge from downtown LA's noise rock scene (now that they've starting using melodies) crafts one of the hardest rocking songs heard anywhere in music this year. It's the kind of stuff that would turn Slayer and Metallica fans into full-blown indie nerds within one track. Special Note: if the Fever Ray video gave you nightmares, this one might scar you for life, genius as it is, so I attached an alternate link to a live performance of the song right HERE. Luckily for the squemish, the live clip's pretty nifty in its own right.


8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Skeletons" from It's Blitz!

This one was a showstopper at Coachella, and an album-stopper anytime I play it. It doesn't skip or anything; I just mean that it's really good.


7. The xx - "Islands" from xx

The heart of the album is this ditty, which sounds like almost a reverse drum machine, until the beautiful duet takes over, and takes you somewhere dark and sad, but undeniably romantic. Kind of like the alley behind Mr. Chow's.


6. Grizzly Bear - "While You Wait for the Others" from Veckatimest

If it's not the most epic kiss-off song ever written, it's at least the most dramatic. But I think, by the time the final chorus kicks in, it qualifies for both. That said.....


5. Sunset Rubdown - "Dragon's Lair" from Dragonslayer

.....nobody does EPICCCCNESS!! quite like Spencer Krug. Dragonslayer's full of a lot of vibrant tracks, most notably the haunting "You Go On Ahead", but it's the album closer that once again shows off what this guy (and at this point, the rest of the band) is truly capable of. What's it about? I could answer it for you, but I have a feeling whoever you ask is going to come up with a different response. And that's what makes a near-ten minute opus like this awesome. The fact that the whole thing flies by is no surprise: despite the length, there's nary a wasted minute. The same could be said of Krug himself: watch the clip for a glimpse at why this guy is my favorite person to watch live on the planet. Even if he weren't singing, you feel like the whole song could be conveyed through his face & body language. Then the song ends, and like that, he disappears again.


4. Animal Collective - "What Would I Want? Sky" from the Fall Be KindEP

I was lucky enough to be at the Troubadour the night this performance was shot, and yes, it was pretty much as glorious as it looks. Surprisingly, now that it's finally been put down in the studio, it retains its ridiculously long intro (damn near four minutes!), but ups the pay-off once the verse finally kicks in. The lyrics that follow are probably the most beautiful and uplifting the band has produced yet. PS: leave it to Animal Collective to choose the most random Grateful Dead sample ever. Yes, I know it's actually the first ever, but you gotta admit, it's also pretty random. Not that I'm complaining.


3. Dirty Projectors - "Stillness is the Move" from Bitte Orca

I had no clue what to make of this track when I first heard it, completely out of context from Bitte Orce, and in many ways, I still don't. It just has one of those sounds one finds it hard to believe someone pulled from thin air to create. Dave Longstreth is probably one of the few who actually could, and yet he hands the song over to Amber Coffman, whose delicate voice could have wilted under the demands of the song (and for whatever reason, often appears to in youtube clips of their live act; thus the link to the weirdo music video instead), but instead, on the record, rises to the occasion in genuinely surprising ways. "Useful Chamber" might well be the album's climax, and the place where all of Longstreth's ideas best convene, but with "Stillness is the Move", he exercises restraint, which in this case, goes a long way. By the end of the song, you feel as though you haven't just heard great pop music, but something that might just change pop music entirely.


2. The Dead Weather - "Treat Me Like Your Mother" from Horehound

Horehound might be an album that peaks way too early, but thankfully, that peak is the size of Mt. Everest. No one rocked harder this year than the Dead Weather does on this track. Aside from HEALTH, no one even came close. In addition to being a genuine thrasher, however, there's subversive gender bending at work too, not just in the lyrics, but also in the vocal mixing. At many points in the song, you have no idea if it's Jack White, Allison Mosshart, or some melted combo of both screeching to the high heavens. As if these two needed any more badass points, the accompanying video (at the link) is also the coolest one released in 2009. By the time it finally becomes an R-rated Road Runner cartoon (not to give anything away), you're too giddy to do anything but go along for the ride. Maybe what's most thrilling about the track is the evidence that, after a decade of establishing himself, Jack White is still capable of surprising us- and apparently, himself as well.


1. The Horrors - "Sea Within A Sea" from Primary Colours

At the heart of their new album, The Horrors craft an eight minute masterpiece that starts with steady percussion and simple guitar strumming, ripped straight from the beat era, before both are drowned out by a growing fog of distortion. Without the intro, Faris Badwan's opening lyrics about walking alone "on wicked stone" might carry all the impact of a 15 year old goth girl scribbling into a journal. But with the sinister haze of the full band enveloping him, it's all mighty convincing. If the song stayed there for another seven minutes, it would remain an incredibly fun, bass-driven garage oddity. But jagged guitar spasms eventually overtake the bass and vocals until the song explodes at the midway point, sounding like a mini-apocalypse. And once the dust settles, the synthesizer finally kicks in. That might not sound like a glorious finale on paper, but the way Tomethy Furse plays it, especially in context, you'd think you were hearing the instrument for the first time. Once the rest of the band follows Furse's lead, they create a sound so pure, the first time I heard the song, I wanted it to last an hour. In truth, it only lasts another two minutes, so all I could do was hit repeat, and start the whole thing over again. At that moment, I was fairly certain I'd just heard the best song of 2009. Eight months and countless plays later, I know it is. For all their newfound maturity, The Horrors are still a band that revels in parlor tricks, many of which can be found in spades on "Sea Within A Sea". But when tricks are this damn effective, they cease to be tricks, and instead feel like pure magic. By the way, if turn off the lights, click the link, fullscreen the video, and prepare accordingly, you'll feel like you're riding Space Mountain. Just a friendly FYI.

The 30 Best Albums of 2009, Part Two

14. Discovery - LP

A left field side-project from Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij & Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles eschews guitars in favor of ragged synths & shifting time scales. Like most experiments, it's not entirely successful (the "I Want You Back" cover, which spread quickly after a certain tragedy occurred this year, is an oddly glorious trainwreck), but when it scores, it scores big. More than anything, it's a great vehicle to show that Batmanglij and Miles, whose respective bands have two of the most recognizable sounds in indie rock today, are fully capable of breaking their own molds. And that isn't just good news for the future of their Discovery project, but also for Vampire Weekend (already proven by some of their recent bizarre leaks) & Ra Ra Riot.



13. Passion Pit - Manners

Passion Pit's 2009 played like Vampire Weekend's 2008, but in fast forward: by the time their first LP came out (nine months after the Chunk of Change EP), the critical masses were already over the band; and thus awaited the release with pitchforks and torches. Now, reading lots of sites' end of year lists, it would appear folks have given it a second listen. And good on them, because Manners is one hell of a splashy debut. Sure, it's dominated by a more commercial sound than the bonkers teaser track "Sleepyhead" seemed to promise, but no matter. If songs like "Little Secret" and "Moth's Wings" don't get your foot tapping, then I'm not sure what will. And if you're still not sold, see these guys in person: not only is their live act criminally underrated, but it'll give you a brand new appreciation for the music itself.


12. Fever Ray - "Fever Ray"

As half of one of the best electronic acts of all time, Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson had a lot to live up to when she decided to fly solo (brother Olof's been busy traveling the jungle & writing an opera), but her stunning debut simply re-affirms her genius. The songs bear a decent resemblance to her & Olaf's old material, to be sure, but there's also a brand new energy at work: on tracks like "Seven", Andersson's never sounded more playful, and on the stunning opener, "If I Had A Heart", she's never sounded starker-or more maternal. All in all, however, the album's a hell of a lot more than a snack between Knife albums. It's got a soul, and a quiet brilliance, all of its own.


11. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Like I said, 2009 was filled with some pretty fantastic surprises, like the French pop-rockers finally breaking into the mainstream here. The fact that Wolfgang happens to be the band's best album probably helped. The production's propulsive and layered, and the songs are simple but insanely catchy. True, now that they're big shots, "1901" is scoring car commercials, and "Lisztomania" is getting played on every teen soap known to man, but in a way, isn't that kind of awesome?



10. Awesome New Republic - Hearts

This Miami band's been flying under the radar for a while now, and it's no surprise why: "indie pop" is kind of a difficult genre to sell. Getting creative, ANR released most of their first "label" LP for free in two halves, calling them Rational Geographic: Vol 1 and Vol 2, over the course of a few months. After gauging the response, they jumped back into the studio to polish off many of the tracks and add a couple new ones, til they had finally cooked up Hearts. The end result is one of the most exciting pop records in recent memory, cohesively stringing together disco, rock and new wave-sometimes all on the same track. It's a tricky feat, but damned if the boys don't pull it off. While the band's been a duo throughout all of its early, unsigned years, they've added Jorge Rubiera into the mix as drummer, and they seem to click as a trio in an awfully convincing way. So what's keeping them off Top 40 radio? No idea, especially when actress/aspiring pop tart Leighton Meester garnered positive buzz with her take on the album's raciest track, "Birthday" (a track that singer Michael John Hancock clearly wrote for sale to a woman, but proudly sings on the album himself, without swapping gender roles, to grand effect). Even if Hearts never reaches the audience it deserves, expect the band to eventually succeed, whether on a grand stage or behind the scenes, writing & producing for the next generation of Britneys & Justins . I'm not saying the aspirations are there, but if the latter is indeed what happens, don't be surprised if Top 40 radio is suddenly much more awesome in a few years.



09.Florence & The Machine - Lungs

Most aptly titled album of the year. Florence Welch has the kind of voice that you don't hear every day. When I heard her cover of Cold War Kids' "Hospital Beds", that much was clear, but when I got the rest of the album, it was a happy surprise to learn she can write some equally staggering songs. Once opening track "Dog Days Are Over" kicks into high gear, it's like going over the first hump of a rollercoaster, and Welch doesn't disappoint once for the rest of the ride. Parts of the album drift into the hazy Brit angst that's become well-worn territory this year, but Welch's voice keeps the whole affair afloat during these patches, and launches it into the air whenever percussion and guitars kick the synths out of the picture.



08.Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below

For a band that's become popular largely due to their live show, Up From Below is one hell of a studio recording, successfully capturing a large part of what's made their live act so electric. Obviously, live is still the preferred way to experience these songs, but it's shocking how little has been lost in translation. Credit the decision to keep the recordings as raw as possible, with even studio banter intact, for keeping the magic there. The songs capture the spirit of a folk jam without ever devolving into pot-fueled nonsense, and end up sounding kind of timeless, much like a certain Canadian ensemble band that they've often been compared to. Is there gimmickry at work here? Obviously yes, but when gimmicks are this fun, you can't feel guilty for getting hooked. Whether Alex Ebert (Mr. Sharpe's altar ego) actually speaks in flower-child riddles in his off time, or whether Ebert & supporting vocalist Jade Castrinos are really as head-over-heels in love as their songs suggest is beside the point: the theatricality feeds the songs to the point where performance and truth co-exist. And when you listen to the album from beginning to end, it's near impossible not to get sucked in. In a year filled with brilliant deconstruction, Up From Below is a damn fine counter-argument for the power of catharsis.


07.Sunset Rubdown - "Dragonslayer"

Spencer Krug's never referred to Sunset Rubdown as a side-project, and if anyone still wondered why, "Dragonslayer" was the final word in the conversation. As per usual for the band, the album bursts at the seams with ideas so large they almost break the songs. This time, however, there's big musicality to match the big ideas getting thrown around, and the vocal interplay between Krug and Camilla Wynne Ingr is downright seamless. In the past, Krug's used Sunset Rubdown as an excuse to get extra dense in his lyricism (which for him is never necessary), but here he opens up a bit, still throwing around nonsense about Icarus in the blood, eating butterflies and conga lines, but somehow it all makes sense in context, or at least lends itself to being easily interpreted by different listeners. There's a lot of darkness here, again per usual for Krug, but what's scariest of all is the distinct impression that the guy's only improving as a songwriter. If his true masterpiece has yet to be made, however, count Dragonslayer in the upper echelon of stuff that's tiding us over til then. And apparently, we shouldn't confuse Sunset Rubdown with a side-project ever again.


06.Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

Three albums in, you get the feeling that this band's just getting warmed up. When Yeah Yeah Yeahs emerged from New York's reset button rock scene at the turn of the century, not many could have guessed how much the band's sound would transform. Now, at decade's end, they've arguably planted a taller flag on the landscape than any of their NYC compatriots. Much of their success can obviously be awarded to Karen O, who's turned out to be a frontwoman for the ages, but without the direction of Nick Zinner and the innovation of Brian Chase, O would be stranded. The three members compliment each other perfectly, and the aural risks they've taken with each album since their first EP have paid dividends, proving the band can surprise its fans at every turn, without ever betraying them. It's Blitz is their most refined work yet, and could certainly qualify as their "best" as well (though considering the radically different sounds of each album, that might be a tough debate). The songs are rich and sparse at the same time, and O's voice has a sudden maturity that carries a decade of experience. Most of all, it feels like the band has turned a corner, and now has so much more room to play. Can't wait to get surprised all over again the next time around.


05.The xx -xx

It's safe to say the xx came out of the blue this year: four (now three) humble-looking young folks from London make an album full of subdued duets, surrounded with drum machines and Chris Isaak-inspired guitar riffs. This is the kind of genius that can only happen by accident. And while xx could never be accused of being a diverse album, it evokes a pure mood better than any piece of music in recent memory. It's dark without being depressing, and sexy without being vulgar. In fact, I'm not gonna say the xx brought sexy back to rock (though that was kind of my way of saying it without incurring the guilt of saying it), but they definitely reminded the world that an old fashioned love-makin' record can be a glorious thing. It might be too early to tell if these guys are a one-trick pony, or are gonna have a long career of equally innovative LPs, but you'd be a fool not to stick around & find out.


04.The Horrors - Primary Colours

It's safe to say this wasn't the sophomore album anyone expected, and to be honest, equally safe to say not many thought this band had it in them. With Primary Colours, The Horrors keep one foot in the garage rock they've emerged from, but also forge ahead into some dark, shoegazy craziness that occasionally sounds like a new genre all together. The opening riffs on "Scarlet Fields" sound like someone's feeding a guitar through a circus grinder, and the sing-songy "I Can't Control Myself" is both dapper and savage, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both performing at once. Switching up the band's arrangement may have helped push these inspired moments out into the open: Rhys Webb's thrown his keyboard out the door and switched to bass. Former bassist Tomethy Furse now plays synthesizer, and it's easy to hear it's his true calling: some of the sounds he creates on this thing are, for lack of a better term, just mind-boggling. If there's a place in music for a "Jimi Hendrix of the synth", Furse definitely qualifies. Joesph Spurgeon's drumming is equally skilled, and propels the songs forward with a sinister grace. It's kind of crazy that this is all the way down at #4 for me this year, but if nothing else, it goes to show how great 2009 was for thrilling new sounds. If we have more bands like the Horrors, who are able to chuck all their old ideas out the window for bold ventures like Primary Colours, and execute them with similar precision, the next decade should be an exciting time to have ears.


03.Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Even though much of Grizzly Bear's astronomically hyped new album had leaked or been played live before the year even began, the final product was still kind of a sucker punch. "Two Weeks" was suddenly all about percussion, "Cheerleader" made brilliant use of its choral back-up singers, and "I Live With You" had demonic rage underneath its squeaky-clean '50s elevator music production. It's a rich record that throws back to the Beach Boys & even the Beatles while forging ahead with the band's own identity. If there's a disappointment with the album, it may be that it didn't make the band the household names many predicted it would, but I think there's a sizable chunk of listeners who'll just never plug into the band. I can't even explain why, but despite fairly straightforward songwriting, they seem to be an acquired taste. That said, for those of us who love the band, Veckatimest wasn't just a re-affirmation, it took things to a whole new level.


02.Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

When this came out in January, some folks predicted the most anticlimactic year for music in recent memory, since nothing was gonna top it. Thankfully, they were wrong, but that doesn't change the fact that Merriweather is one hell of an achievement, and the album these guys seemed destined to make. Parring down the band to three members this time around (there's an open door policy), and clearly putting Noah "Panda Bear" Lennox in the driver's seat for the music's new direction (or at least getting heavily inspired by "Comfy in Nautica" for the music's new direction) gives this album a focus that none of their previous LPs have had, which is a necessary anchor, considering their music's never been out on more of a limb than it is here. It's become pretty popular to refer to AC as our generation's Grateful Dead recently, but, with all due respect to Mr. Garcia & company, that does this music a disservice. In concert, the band certainly plays like an electronic jam band, but there's so much musicality here, and such solid structure, that the songs can stand on their own.


1. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

"Still counting on cannibal resource", coos Dave Longstreth on the album's opening track, "I think you're more than a terrified witness, behind the arbitrary line". Now if that's not a nice idea (however grotesquely phrased) to leave 2009 with, then I'm not sure what is. Hope permeates every note of the album, as if Longstreth and his hand-picked band are marching through the woods, confident they're about to reach the other side. And over the course of nine gorgeously inventive tracks, they proceed to take the rest of us there with them. From the constantly shifting rhythm of "Temecula Sunrise", which feels like getting sucked into a whirlpool, to the rock-becomes-R&B bridge of "Stillness is the Move", and beyond the gonzo explosion of "Useful Chamber", Bitte Orca always keeps you on your toes, but never assaults you with its ideas. It stretches the listener's imagination, and blazes new trails that David Byrne, Longstreth's new mentor, can be proud of. Dirty Projectors have always been an experimental outfit (check out their last LP- a deconstructed cover of Black Flag's Damaged if you want proof), but this is the first year they've felt like a proper band with a mission and a set line-up, and that can only spell great things for the future of music. I'm counting the days til they play Disney Hall in February, and until then, Bitte Orca will probably enjoy at least two spins a week. I can't imagine getting sick of it.

The 30 Best Albums of 2009, Part One

I'm back for December because it's just that time of the year. And because I have an obsessive compulsive desire to make lists of things that I like. And because I know other folks have an obsessive compulsive desire to read said lists and disagree. That's the power of the internet! Let's get into it with #30 - #15 (just cause it's more fun to get over the hump). The final 14 should be up by the end of the week, with my picks for the top 50 songs to follow. Enjoy:

30.The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Terrible band name, good album.



29.The Big Pink - A Brief History of Love

Ditto #30.



28.Wale - Attention Deficit

Hip-hop had another year of overall creative drought (Dirty Money, anyone?), but the DC MC rose above to deliver a solid debut, making good on the promise of his widely circulated mixtapes.



27.Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

Natasha Khan was first out the gate in '09 with the "dark, mysterious vamp singing over synths and stuff" sub-genre that's quickly spread like wildfire. She was also one of the few who could pull it all off & make it sound natural.



26. Girls - Album

I caught these guys at The Bootleg early this summer, before the wave of hype spread across the blogs. Good thing too, as I was able to enjoy the songs on their own merits. They're not anything revolutionary, like some folks might want you to believe, but they write some damn catchy (and referencial) songs that can engage you & tell a great story.



25.Wild Beasts - Two Dancers

These guys are really British, and really weird. And can write one hell of a melody.


24.The Dead Weather - Horehound

Jack White's latest experiment is darker & funkier than anything else he's produced, and while the debut loses steam as it goes on, the first half hints at some serious greatness to come, should these guys stick together for a few more albums. More excuses to showcase Alison Mosshart are always appreciated, too.



23.Beirut - March of the Zapotec/Real People

When Zack Condon wants to shake things up, he doesn't mess around. For his newest venture, Condon creates a double album - one half produced in Mexico City with a local marching band at his fingers, and the other marking his first foray into electronic sound. Neither appears to be a legit direction for his Beirut project, but they both serve as pretty nifty ways for him to flex his musical muscles.


22.Matt & Kim - Grand

A lot of folks wrote the hipster husband and wife band off as a novelty after their first album. They won't make the same mistake after listening to the duo's sophomore effort, which is packed with the kind of hooks that get stuck in your head for weeks, not to mention songwriting that suggests they've got a lot more tricks up their sleeves.


21.White Rabbits - It's Frightening

Those initially listening just to get a small Walkmen fix found a lot more than they bargained for with the Missouri boys' second album. Yes, they kind of sound like Hamilton & crew on a few of the tracks (considering both bands toured together, it's only natural that a few things rubbed off), but they're very much their own band too, as proven with the relentless drumming employed on half the album, and the quiet focus employed on the other half. Give it a listen; these guys are undoubtedly ones to watch.


20.HEALTH - Get Color

Count the LA noise rockers among the few to escape the Lo-Fi black hole that swallowed so many in '09. Instead of settling for the same bag of tricks performed for the same five folks at The Smell, they pushed forward; strengthening the electronic edge of their sound & letting shoe-gazey vocals take a backseat to some seriously creative instrumentation. The new music is darker, harsher and infinitely more propulsive than anything they had done before might suggest. Count me as one of the folks who didn't get their initial appeal; in many ways, this record was the nicest surprise of the year. Hopefully, opening for NIN on their farewell tour will open up even more doors for these guys in the future; it's the perfect fanbase for them to capitalize on.


19.Nico Vega - Nico Vega

After much prodding from my friends, I finally checked these guys out live this year, and promptly fell in love. There's nothing here that hasn't been explored before, but when you perform this hard, you don't need to innovate much. Only warning I have to give is that, regardless of how much you like the album, SEE THIS BAND LIVE. For real. It's a fun album, but this is one of those cases where the music lives to be played right in your face. Oh, and Aja Volkman is a freaking animal.


18.White Lies - To Lose My Life

And this, surely, is the point where purists might check out. I'm all right with that, cause the truth is a killer mainstream rock album, that for whatever reason hasn't yet been discovered by the mainstream. If you skim the tracks, you might be quick to accuse these guys of being the latest young band cursed with Ian Curtis syndrome. Fact is, they've got more in common with bands like Tears for Fears and The Cult than Joy Division (whose status as "cool influence" died the moment She Wants Revenge came into being). They're a fun throwback to the Gothic Brit rock of the mid-80s, married with thoroughly modern production and songwriting, and as witnessed by myself, are the real deal when it comes to live performance. Just don't take them too seriously.


17. Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster

And now for the few cool folks still reading, the exit's still open. But in all seriousness, thank god for Lady Gaga, especially in a year filled with Jason DeRullo, David Guetta, Jeremih and (most fearfully) a new Black Eyed Peas album. Pop may be stuck in a hollow sewer of tastelessness, but at least we've got someone with a little ambition out there. Turning The Fame Monster from a couple of add-on tracks intended to repackage her debut into a full blown sophomore album might be 2009's canniest trick. It firmly established Gaga as more than a flash in the pan, and began building her into a Madonna-like icon. But the theatrics would be nothing if there weren't substance to back it up, and thankfully, Monster's got that to spare, providing some insanely catchy songs that may or may not be fucking with you for choosing to listen to them in the first place. It now seems evident that the woman was always here to stay; she just had to convince the rest of the world first. Mission accomplished.


16. Harlem Shakes - Technicolor Health
While their name might justifiably roll a few eyeballs, these (very) white boys from NYC (though not from Harlem) have some serious talent, pairing folksy vocals with off-kilter guitars and fast paced rhythms. All in all though, it feels like they're just getting started.


15.Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind

Yes, it's just a five song EP. And yes, one of the five songs is just kind of there. But when the heart of your album consists of an awesome, one-two suckerpunch like "What Would I Want? Sky" and "Bleed", you've created a damn good piece of music, regardless of how many tracks you've got. Created from the aftermath of Merriweather's new sound, this could have been a quick cash in for the band, but the final product has a life of its own, and best of all, features the most confident singing ever heard from the boys. Should they look to start stripping away their production for their next album (which is a fairly logical step), it's good to know they've got the pipes & the backbone to pull it off.

If You Want to Destroy My Sweater.....

So me and Jane broke up. Turns out she was never the girl she led me to believe she was, and was probably plotting against me the entire time we were together, just to break my heart, cause she was bored. Of course, she didn't put it that way when she left, but had to resort to pathetic excuses instead. She mentioned that I couldn't stop hitting on her friend.....let's call her....Amy (remember, not her real name. I need to give my friends some anonymity ;P). She said she thought it was inappropriate how I always kissed Amy hello whenever I saw her, apparently forgetting that that's how I just greet people sometimes. She also thought it was "insensitive and weird" when me & Amy decided to see "Where the Wild Things Are" at midnight Thurs night without her. But it was the Arclight, and reserving more than 2 seats at a time is expensive. When we went to reserve another the next day, the seats next to us had sold out. I guess I was just foolish for thinking a true partner would understand that...... :(. Oh well.

See, Amy was now my friend too, and more than that, I realized we had more in common than me and Jane did on some issues.....not in a romantic way! But we've both been HUGE, hardcore fans of Maureece Sindack all our lives, and have both read the entire "Wild Things" series multiple times, so it was only logical that our first priority would be to see it with each other. On the subject of the film, we both thought it was the best movie ever. Of course, I related to it best, if only because it reminds me so much of my own life: much like Max, I've felt unloved very often in my life. Through no fault of my own. I never start drama, but it always manages to find me, and when it does, people seem to get angry & cut me out of their lives for no reason. The wild things in the film in many ways symbolize this drama.....except that in real life, drama doesn't crack jokes and come with a cute, smiling face. It's faceless, and it always wants more of me. Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs crafted some wonderful songs for the film, and in the interest of combating all the h8rs out there, I've chosen to post a song that deals with LOVE, not petty drama.

Karen O & The Kids - "All is Love".



Jane's moving out, since I guess just cause we're broken up we apparently can't be roommates. I was prepared for this to totally suck, but it turns out Amy's lease is up next month anyway, so she's moving in instead. All of her friends are against her doing this, because they think it means we're gonna start dating, but that shows how much they know.

Also, Jane has masterfully turned them against her now FORMER friend, Amy, like a conductor tunes his orchestra. So in the spirit of summing up the shit show of my last relationship with such a PETTY, inconsiderate hungry tiger, here's Lady Gaga, with a brand new single off the re-release of "The Fame" (Now titled "The Fame Monster", possibly in a nod to my ex-gf):

Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"

In many ways, Lady Gaga resembles Amy: she's brilliant, great in bed, fearless and filled with desire to change the world. They both are also a couple notches below "conventionally attractive", but that's ok. The supermodel look has never been my thing anyway :). Anyway, I was gonna write more, but Amy needs help moving in (she's gonna sleep on the couch for a week or so til Jane finds a new place). That might seem super awk to some folks, but we're gonna try & be mature about it. Til then, here's one more song dedicated to Jane, which has been in rotation on my i-pod all summer, but finally rings true for me:

The Big Pink - "Dominoes"

Show Me All the Blueprints....

First off, I wanna thank Royce for letting me take over his blog. This site has been a great resource for music, and I plan to keep that resource going......but you should know off the bat that I've lived a fuller life than him, and come to this site with a suitcase full of baggage, yet baggage full of insight. So without further ado, Formatia trans sicere educatorum! ("Enter All Ye Who Seek Knowledge".......what's hilarious is that only two people will get that reference! And they know who they are ;) )

First up today is a track from the New Moon album, which marries some of the best artists in music today to one of the greatest stories of our time. Of course, I may just be biased, if only because the Twilight saga so closely resembles my life: My current gf, whom we'll just call "Jane" for the purposes of this blog, is very much like Edward. Not just because she resembles him, but because almost everyone is against us being together. My old group of friends, much like the werewolves of the film, had an instant hatred of "Jane"(again, not her real name ;) ) & forbade me from ever seeing her. They never actually spoke those words, and I never actually told them me & Jane were dating for the first few weeks, but I knew that was the ultimatum they gave to me in their minds. Meanwhile, Jane's friends were much like the Volturi: I'd hear them hiss to her that I was not for her, but no one could stop our hearts. We came together, world be damned, and one month later, decided to move in together. That may seem rash to some people, but the heart knows when something shall last forever.

Grizzly Bear has teamed up with Victoria from Beach House (also their current opening act), putting her on vocals, to craft a track that speaks to eternal love everywhere. It is also appropriate that this is my favorite song from the album, since if you combine the bands' names, you get Grizzly House, which accurately describes the mood in my apartment when I told my roommates I'd be moving in with Jane. Their dusty language of "lease agreements" only re-inforced that I was no longer a part of their gray world, but was, instead, a child in her world. And that child now has so much to learn.

Grizzly Bear feat Victoria Legrand - "Slow Life"(zShare)

As time went forward, I found that everyone was so against my affair with Jane, that they began to cut me out of their lives. One of my old friends.......let's call him.....Pete (again, not his real name, but it's the one all of you will know him by unless you're really close with me ;P) tried to call me a couple of times to "hang out". I obviously knew that by "hang out" he meant try and judge my life choices, including Jane, whom I know he has a terrible vendetta against, so I never called him back.

Australian newcomers Temper Trap (whom Royce profiled last year with their breakout "Sweet Disposition"), have concocted a track that best captures what happened next with me & my friends. I saw Pete again a few weeks later while he was running errands, and he only said hi to me & asked how I was when I saw him. I couldn't believe it. This friend whom I'd been pushing away for the last few weeks was only mildly glad to see me. Scratch that. He might as well have completely ignored me, so let's just say he completely ignored me. If he couldn't decipher my un-returned calls as a sign that underneath everything, I actually valued his friendship above all else, then it's his fault. But it's okay. If this experience taught me anything, it's that Pete and other friends like him didn't pass the test. They were clearly never my real friends. So I'll cry over their lost love, all right, but it'll be tears of joy......then no tears at all. By the way, the Temper Trap plays the Roxy on Wed night. Should be a good show to attend with the Jane in YOUR life!

The Temper Trap - "Love Lost"(zShare)

So that pretty much wraps up my first edition of Shark Party. In the coming time ahead, I hope to keep you all informed on the workings of my life, and more importantly, hope to keep giving you the music I score my life by. Here's a fun remix to enjoy in the meantime! Namaarie.........


......Horatio

Don Diablo vs. Phoenix vs. Jay-Z - "99 Fences"(zShare)

Passing the torch......

Hey guys; Royce here. So I've been really busy working as LA editor for Greenshoelace.com the last few months, but fear not if you're jones-ing for a new music fix. My friend Horatio, whose writing skill far surpasses my own anyway, is going to be taking over the Shark Party reigns. He's working on his first post as we speak, and I can't wait to see what he's got cooking for you guys. I'll probably come back in a few months to do another massive, end of year list, but until then, I leave you in his very capable hands. Thanks for listening, and come on over to Greenshoelace to get a whole different kind of experience.

-Royce

A Change Is A-Comin'

OK, so now that this shit happened twice within one month, it's become clear that the site has outgrown the model I was using. Good news, since now we're like, totally popular, but bad news cause it's gonna be a pain in the ass to restructure the downloads. Anyways.....all that means to you right now is you have to click the zShare link to preview & download songs til my fileden gets unfrozen.

On ANOTHER note, I've got a new job, working as the LA Editor for Green Shoelace, which promises to become a multi-layered online music resource, but currently acts as a collection of the best concerts in the city, week to week. So come here to listen to great new bands, then go there to see them live. Sign up for the newsletter while you're at it, so you don't even have to click the site to get up to date (you lazy fuck). Anyway, in the words of the great Paula Abdul, "I'm just here for the music", so let's move on.....

-----------------Song of the Week--------------------------


Florence and the Machine - "Dog Days Are Over" (zShare link)





Florence & The Machine first hit this site with a beautiful cover of Cold War Kids' "Hospital Beds", and now finally return with the lead track off their/her (I always get confused by these semi-one person bands) new EP. It's a stunning debut, and hopefully a taste of what's to come from the full length album. And with a voice like that, expect to hear a lot more of Florence in the years to come.

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The Horrors - "Scarlet Fields" (zShare link)


So Florence has a fucking awesome voice. This we knew......now onto the surprises. First up comes a completely out-of-left field contender for Album of the Year: The Horror's Primary Colors. I remember seeing the band a few years ago at MisShapes in NY (Don't judge me.....but yes, I spent many a week at the party that can now be identified as Ground Zero for the hipster movement...sorry guys), and they didn't seem anything special to me; just another Loveleigh-approved buzz act with some cabaret elements thrown in for good measure. I'd heard rumblings they'd switched up their style to a more interesting, shoe-gazey style, but considering they were playing against that genre's pioneers at Coachella (My Bloody Valentine....my rant on that is buried below), I missed seeing them. Now that I've finally heard the album, I can safely say I can't wait to get another chance. With the gimmickry toned down to a merely amusing level, not to mention flat-out brilliant song arrangements, this might be the best shock of '09. If you're a fan of MBV, Catharine Wheel, Jesus & Mary Chain, or even Joy Division, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It's the work of devout fans, but make no mistake, it's the real deal. If you have the stamina, check out the epic highlight, "Sea Within A Sea"'s video below. And if you're unconvinced by the 4 min mark, just keep listening.....





And to check out a slightly more compact example of the band's newfound genius (not to mention some great, "how the fuck did they get that sound?" homemade guitars, check out "Scarlet Fields" up above.

Cobra Starship feat Leighton Meester - "Good Girls Gone Bad" (zShare link)

And finally, we come to the second surprise. Cobra Starship is no stranger to the guilty pleasure game - hell, they formed as an indie supergroup in a contest to create music for "Snakes On A Plane". But they may have outdone themselves by recruiting the hottest girl on television (and aspiring singer, natch) Leighton Meester. The actress' voice is clearly put through the Katy Perry-o-matic sound filter, but you're still left thinking she might have as good a career as many of the current pop-tarts, partially thanks to the killer hooks Gabe gives her to sing. And if Passion Pit's "Little Secret" will be the song playing at every Echo Park bbq this summer, this little ditty might be equally inescapable at dance floors from h.wood to MyHouse (not to mention my house, literally). Don't even fucking lie: you'll be listening to this way too many times.