There's a Radio in the Corner, It's Dying to Make a Scene

Given a few more spins and a few less podcasts, I'm sure Tegs & Smush, Passion Pit, Pete Yorn, and The Swell Season could've made this list, but here's my Top 10 Songs Added to my Library in 2009 (again, with the caveat of one song per artist):

10. CSS - Move
I suppose I was a bit late to the game with these iTunes darlings. Regardless, I spent a good chunk of the early part of the year listening to chick-infused dance pop a la Ladyhawke and The Ting Tings, and I probably like this song the most.

9. The Temper Trap - Science of Fear
Like, The Stills' Rooibos last year, I'm a sucker for songs with a sense of urgency.

8. Manchester Orchestra - Shake it Out
No matter what I do, I can't seem to see these guys live (I think I'm ohferfive). Another song with a sense of energy and a great bridge. Probably the best running song of 2009 too.

7. MuteMath - Spotlight
I'm probably fudging a bit here since this song came out on 2008 on the Twilight soundtrack, but it's handclaps will continue long into the new decade.

While we're here, a brief note of thanks to the great drummers of 2009. Thomas Hedlund of Phoenix, Grant Hutchinson of Frightened Rabbit, and Darren King of MuteMath...thanks for making life more fun. Keep up the good work.

6. Kings of Convenience - 24-25
Ahhh. As Luke said, what year was this shot, 1979?

---Now begins the real powerhouse tunes---

5. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Edmonton
Pretty fun little find here after reading about them on some blog about the smaller buzz bands featured at SXSW. Fun fact, they toured the U.S. later in the year in a mid-1990s 4x4 Mazda MPV.

4. Phoenix - Lisztomania
Throw in 1901 here if you want, I won't argue. All I know is when Lisztomania comes on the iPod randomly, I'm smiling.

A timeout to highlight my three favorite live shows this year (a banner year, really, where I saw 9 shows from some of my top live bands over a 6 week period towards the end of the summer):

- Fleetwood Mac (5/28 at Staples Center): still bringing and playing all the hits. A solid way to start off a great 30th birthday weekend.
- Phoenix (6/28 at The Wiltern LG): Too.Many.Hits. A night where I felt I was part of a moment.
- MuteMath (10/10 at Club Nokia): these guys continue to melt faces with their live show. I mean, HONESTLY (!!!).

3. We Were Promised Jetpacks - It's Thunder and It's Lightning
Impossibly young looking, but still...best opener ever. Absolutely killed it. Can't wait to see what they do next.

2. Jars of Clay - Scenic Route
Yeah, ok, I have a bit of a soft spot (mancrush?) on these dudes, but no other band gets me thinking like them. After a challenging album with a theme of examining the darker side of human nature, Jars came back with an 80s pop-infused album centered on community and relationships...and it rocked. While Heart might just be the sound of Jars reaching their potential, Scenic Route is utterly listenable and features such lyrical gems as: "We're just sitting like novels we've picked up but never read through, you think you know my ending, I think I know yours too."

1. Frightened Rabbit - Old, Old Fashioned
My favorite band, album, and greatest find of the year. I can't recommend these guys highly enough.

You Got One? HOLLER!

Once again, I felt like memorializing the best tunes that were added to my musical library in the past year. Here they are, in order, with the caveat that I can choose only one song from any given album. Otherwise, this list would be heavy with Bon Iver, Coldplay, and KOL, probably my top three albums of 2008.

10. Phantom Planet - "Geronimo"

Look, this song is DIRTY…and not in a friendly way. You want proof? Try the lyric "You don't want to make me blush, you want me unconscious." Or, how about: "I scream bloody murder, why don't you call me something dirtier"? Subject matter aside, this song just feels like a Phantom Planet song, which makes for a fun few minutes of listening. One more? Ok: "I can't stop thinking of pummeling you, for a nother full minute or two." Seriously. Dirty.

9. Dave Barnes - "When A Heart Breaks"

8. Mates of State - "My Only Offer"

Both of the albums from which these songs came were pretty indicative of how I felt about a lot of my favorite albums in 2008…on first listen, MEH (underwhelmed, disappointment)…but after a few more listens, INTO it (into it). Barnes' "When a Heart Breaks" (a song about heartbreak, oddly enough) was a winner from day one. This song is emotional, and has a fantastic breakdown and bridge. "My Only Offer" is a solid example of Mates' switch from using the organ to the piano on Re-Arrange Us. It didn't work for me at first, but I've come to love both this album and this song.

7. The Stills - "Rooibos / Palm Wine Drinkard"

Apparently most of The Stills' latest album is about global warming (hence the title "Oceans Will Rise"). If that's the case, then "Rooibos" sorta embodies urgency to deal with the climate crisis more than any other song on the album for me. Frantic rhythms, air-raid siren guitars, and non-stop energy…all things that remind me of Al Gore.

6. City & Colour - "Waiting …"

Nothing like a song with a chorus of "We're all just waiting, waiting to die" to get you going, eh? Seriously though, this song is awesome. And my buddy Luke and I can't figure out why. Sure, Dallas Green's voice is unique and fantastic and I've been known to enjoy the acoustic guitar in my days, but really, nothing happens in this song. How is it so good?

While we're here, let's memorialize three concerts that I enjoyed immensely this year…

3. John Mayer, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, July 27, 2008 – Dude was feeling it that night…bouncing around on stage and bringing the energy (maybe cuz he was in the same town as Jen?) The setlist was awesome…acoustic Slow Dancing, Free Fallin', and b.a. covers of Mercy, Crossroads, and Panama.

2. Tegan & Sara with City & Colour, Music Box Theatre, October 18, 2008 – Maybe the surprise show of the year for me. Dallas is great live, and Tegan & Sara are immensely likeable. Also, who knew…"Back in Your Head," quite a closer.

1. The Swell Season with Iron & Wine, SDSU Open Air Theater, October 3, 2008 – Perhaps the best night of the year for me. The sound at this venue is generally perfect, leading to the realization that Sam Beam's voice is really quite beautiful. Meanwhile, the Swell Season blew me away. I highly recommend checking out both of these sets.

5. Dear & The Headlights - "Saintly Rows (Oh Oh)"

So, one night, I load up Drunk Like Bible Times onto my Nano and hit the play button as I walk out my front door to walk my dog, Hapa. Once "Saintly Rows" pops on and the "oh oh"s really kick in, I literally could not stop myself from skipping along to the beat. Music is awesome…even though I'm guessing my neighbors totally think I'm a freak.

4. Coldplay - "Lovers in Japan / Reign of Love"

So apparently I didn't want to like the new Coldplay album. I guess X&Y turned me off to Coldplay so much so that I wasn't even sure I'd give this album a try. Weirdly I didn't even realize this was the case until I was spinning Viva La Vida and found myself kinda upset that I liked the album so much. "Lovers in Japan" was my original favorite, and a standout on an album that remains eminently listenable. Ok, Coldplay, you won me back. So much so that I paid nearly $120/ticket to see you back in November, and now you f'ers hold the title of "most expensive concert I've ever been to" (by, like, a mile). So, um, thanks.

3. Jason Mraz - "Dynamo of Volition" (Live + Acoustic)

Pretty big year for Mraz, who made a decent comeback with his hit "I'm Yours," a song that my roommate listened to literally 40x in one day (easily one of the most absurd stories I heard all year). "I'm Yours" ain't bad, but frankly Jason can keep cranking crap out like that so long as I get to see him doing acoustic versions of fun songs like this one with Toca in tow.

2. Kings of Leon - "Manhattan"

I find myself amazed at some of the crap that KOL gets away with sometimes (see: "Sex On Fire," a breakthrough hit for KOL in the U.S., which is about…good sex). The latest KOL bio says "Manhattan" is "partly about dancing and enjoying life, and partly about Native Americans." Seems like an odd mix. Then again, the bio also uses the word "throbbing" to describe another song, an adjective that is, in my opinion, always a mistake when talking about music (and most things, frankly). At any rate, here's to a KOL song that legitimately makes me happy for a reason other than just general awesomeness (and that has that going for it too).

1. Bon Iver - "Re: Stacks"

Full disclosure: I first heard this song in May during the end of crazy emotional season four finale of House (it was definitely pretty dusty in my living room that evening…and someone was clearly cutting some onions nearby too). Using "Re: Stacks" at the close of this heartbreaking episode was a brilliant choice, as this song just sounds sad. That said, as the closer of an album that deals with pretty intense depths of isolation and desperation ("whatever could it be that has brought me to this loss"), this song is actually quite hopeful. With "Re: Stacks," it actually feels like we're exorcising Justin Vernon's demons along with him, until we too feel the weight of his sadness lifted: "This is not the sound of a new man, or a crispy realization, it's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away." In a year when so many spoke of hope, the subtle optimism of this song makes it my favorite tune of the year by far. Indeed, as Bon says, "everything that happens is from now on."