Galkin’s Top 115 of 2009, Part 2

Here is part 2 of Galkin’s list.  I know it probably seems sooo behind the times to keep talking about 2009 songs, especially while there is so much new music already out this year (Yeasayer, Hot Chip, Ok Go – dare I even say Ke$ha? – to name a few) but Galkin’s list is easily still my favorite playlist on my iPod right now, and it needs to be completed.  Besides, didn’t you need some new stuff to stream at work?  We’ll get to 2010 soon enough, don’t worry…

85. Eminem – “We Made You”
Much anticipated comeback was good, not great. Good to see he still likes to make fun of people though.

84. The National – “So Far Around The Bend”
On the Dark Was The Night compilation – check it out, seriously

83. Manchester Orchestra – “I’ve Got Friends”
Band that you can distinctly hear maturing over their last 3 albums

82. Muse – “Undisclosed Desires”
Need to see these guys in concert. Will be epic.

81. Say Anything – “Hate Everyone”
One of my favorite bands, but didn’t connect with the new album like previous ones

80. Paramore – “Ignorance”
Hayley Williams is adorable. That is all.

79. Anderson – “Trevor On The Dancefloor”
Fun electronic dance-y song you’ve never heard of from a band you don’t know. It’s my list.

78. Yes Giantess – “Can’t Help It”
Michael Jackson-like sounding lead singer makes me miss MJ…the non-crazy, black version

77. Pony Pony Run Run – “Walking On A Line”
Don’t care for the band name, good thing they make catchy music

76. Classified – “Choose Your Own Adventure 3”
White Canadien rapper, eh? I’m as surprised as you are. Also known as the Steve Nash of rap (may or may not have made that last part up)

75. Jay-Z – “Run This Town”
Excellent chorus by Rihanna along with Kanye kept in check made this a winner

74. Peter Bjorn And John – “Nothing To Worry About”
Including singing kids generally makes things better

73. Shakira – “She Wolf (Villians Remix)”
Heavy breathing also makes things better

72. Taking Back Sunday – “Sink Into Me”
A favorite band from high school still has something left in the tank

71. Flight Of The Conchords – “Carol Brown”
“…hoping that you’ll stick around” – would have enjoyed another season of FOTC

70. Harlem Shakes – “Strictly Game”
Good band that unfortunately broke up…luckily it was after I got to see them live

69. Neon Indian – “Deadbeat Summer”
Trippy.

68. The Sounds – “No One Sleeps When I’m Awake (Viking Remix)”
An already good song, but the additions in the remix put it over the top

67. Norah Jones – “Chasing Pirates”
Classiest song of the year

66. Wale – “90210”
Disappointing live, but still one of the top rappers IMO

65. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Zero”
Spin’s song of the year – not mine, but still really good

64. Simian Mobile Disco – “Audacity Of Huge (Dada Life Guerilla Remix)”
The ones who usually do the remixing get remixed themselves – what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, right?

63. The Big Pink – “Dominos”
Methodically paced and catchy song about girls falling like dominos

62. Glee Cast – “Don’t Stop Believin’”
Best song by a fake Glee club

61. The Bird And The Bee – “Love Letter To Japan”
I feel like The Bird and the Bee are a hidden gem – have always enjoyed their quirky songs.

60. Jay-Z – “DOA”
Electric guitar and soprano sax make this much more than your regular rap song

59. Owl City – “Cave In”
Called Owl City a year and a half ago…you’re welcome

58. Parachute – “Under Control”
Charlottesville/UVA band that is gaining popularity – this should have been a bigger hit

57. Florence And The Machine – “Dog Days Are Over”
Florence’s haunting yet fierce voice make the first track of the album stand out

56. The Drums – “Let’s Go Surfing”
Old school sounding song of the year…think a modern indie Beach Boys

Playing Catch-Up, Part Deux

I’m not sure why it was easier for me to post more frequently when I was more busy, but for some reason it was. There’s a ton to post about, so I’ll get right into it.

• Discovery – LP
  Approachability: High/Medium
  

  So the Discovery (Ra Ra Riot’s Wed Miles and Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij side project) album LP is finally about to come out (July 7th). More importantly, this means that it has finally been leaked to the interwebs.Although clocking in at a disappointingly-short 30 minutes, those 30 minutes are almost certainly going to be in my top 10 albums of 2009. It’s like an indie-r&b-electo-remix-fest. At times they sound like Daft Punk, other times almost like Lil’ Wayne. Definitely a top this year. I can only dream of a Discovery, Ra Ra Riot, Vampire Weekend tour…

  Check out their space for more info:
  http://www.myspace.com/discoverdiscovery

• Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
  Approachability: Low
  

  After RP3′s die hard search for Dirty Projector’s new Bitte Orca album, turns out we found another winner. My personal favorite track is “Stillness Is The Move,” but there’s also a great acoustic tune called “Two Doves,” and a more upbeat jam called “Useful Chamber.” And of course the opening track, “Cannibal Resource,” rocks out more classically.Find all these jams on hypem.com, and obviously the album on iTunes.

  More info on their space:
  http://www.myspace.com/dirtyprojectors

  Finally, they’re coming to The Black Cat in DC later this year. Get ready.

• Pony Pony Run Run
  Approachability: Medium
  

  RP3 also ran into this band when he found their blow-you-away single “Hey You.” If you like your typical electo-pop-rock band, then you’ll love Pony Pony Run Run. Their song “First Date Mullet,” besides having a hilarious name, is quite good.Since hypem is almost entirely remixes of Hey You, go check them out on their space:
  http://www.myspace.com/ponyponyrunrun

• Ronald Jenkees
  Approachability: High
  

  This guy is totally insane, but he’s also so fun to listen to. He plays various keyboards to a pre-made beat in the background, and mixes it up and has fun. I personally think that his stuff on youtube is way better than the album itself, but you may disagree. My favorite song is definitely “Throwing Fire,”but you can hear him do everything from Led Zepplin to Canon in D.You can find all his stuff live on youtube:
  http://www.youtube.com/user/ronaldjenkees?blend=1&ob=4

  And his albums are available on iTunes, and on his website:
  http://www.ronaldjenkees.com/

• Passion Pit & Harlem Shakes Concert
  Approachability: Medium
  (Dance-ability: Super High)

  RP3, Galkin, Julie, and I (among others) went to see Passion Pit last week at The Black Cat in DC. Wow what a show. Cale Parks opened it up – who we all decided would be the best drummer for a cool electro-pop-rock band ever. Pretty good, but kinda tough to watch alone. Amazing drummer though.Harlem Shakes (as you know, one of my favorites) was next in line, and were also great, as expected. They apparently had a bunch of gear stolen the night before in Richmond, so they had to improvise about half their set. I felt kinda bad for them, but they still put a great show – even though half of it was basically performed acoustic. And then finally: Passion Pit.

  The audience was already pretty lively, and by the time they were 2 songs in the whole place was jumping. They played most of my favorites, even though the set was really only about 45 minutes long. My only issue with the whole thing was that the lead singer, Michael Angelakos’s mic was way too low. You could hardly hear most of his vocals. Otherwise, great show.

  And Julie even showed us how to have a dance party when packed up against a bunch of hipsters. Turns out it’s not even that hard!

  You can listen to Passion Pit’s whole set online at NPR:
  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105109499

• And finally, Ra Ra Riot has announced another tour, and they’re headlining at the 930 Club in DC on October 1. I guess I know where I’ll be on October 1st haha.
  http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1127572

I’m still trying to figure out how to get back to posting the actual songs so you can download without Blogger pulling my posts off. I might switch to wordpress or something, we’ll see.

Have a great weekend!
-WJ