Galkin’s Top 115 of 2009, Part 3 (of 4!)

We all really want to finish this list out for a number of reasons (time to move on in earnest to 2010, several of you have told me need to find out what’s next, etc.), but I thought posting the final 55 songs all at once was too much.  Look for the final posting later this week.

Enjoy the rest of the Top 115 list/playlist, and now you have more new stuff to listen to at work!

55. The Asteroids Galaxy Tour – “Around The Bend”
Best song used in an Apple commercial

54. Regina Spektor – “The Calculation”
Distinct voice makes for refreshingly good songs

53. Karen O And The Kids – “All Is Love”
Sweetest song of the year

52. Kid Cudi – “Dat New New (Viking Remix)”
Random song not on the album, but found it on Hypem.com

51. Swimming With Dolphins – “Sunset, 1989”
Synthesizer? Check. Autotune? Check. Still awesome.

50. The Very Best – “Warm Heart Of Africa”
Basically a Vampire Weekend song on someone else’s album

49. Thao And The Get Down Stay Down – “Cool Yourself”
High school friend continues blow up – great live show

48. Miley Cyrus – “Party In The USA”
Guilty pleasure of the year. Don’t hate.

47. Cobra Starship – “Good Girls Go Bad”
Soft spot for both Gabe and Leighton

46. Chiddy Bang – “Truth”
Anything featuring Passion Pit is bound to be catchy

45. La Roux – “Bulletproof (Redial Remix)”
Excellent beat somehow improved by the remix makes this a fun listen

44. Camera Obscura – “French Navy”
Late on the bandwagon, but recently shot up my list. Lead singer’s voice reminds me of Zooey D.

43. Discovery – “Osaka Loop Line”
Best duo side project song of the year

42. Flight Of The Conchords – “Hurt Feelings”
Funny, yet sad…hence, sad clown song of the year

41. The Lonely Island – “Motherlovers”
Could not get enough of this song – Justin and Andy need their own album.

And the incredible video, via hulu (you have to have a [free] account to see the uncensored version btw):
Saturday Night Live: Digital Short: Motherlover (Uncensored)

40. The Hood Internet – “Good Ol Fashion Rump Shaker”
Favorite mashup of the year….and I like my mashups

39. Florence And The Machine – “Kiss With A Fist”
Shortest song on the list, but sure does pack a punch (haha…get it?)

38. Ingrid Michaelson – “Everybody”
With respect to Karen O, Regina, and others – Ingrid is my indie sweetheart of the year

37. Metric – “Sick Muse”
Sound a little like Stars. They more than hold their own, however.

36. Passion Pit – “Little Secrets”
Could have put the entire Manners album on here (and I almost do – keep reading)

35. Snob Scrilla – “Chasing Ghosts”
Sweet drums, good rapping in this random one

34. Weezer – “I Want You To”
While Weezer has gone downhill, they’re still catchy and I still like this song

33. Matt And Kim – “Good Ol Fashion Nightmare”
Biggest, Longest Continuous Smile Award goes to…Kim

32. fun. – “All The Pretty Girls”
Ex-Format member, Nate Ruess, excels with his new band

31. Vampire Weekend – “Horchata”
If the new songs are any indication their sophomore effort coming out in January that came out in January will live up to the large expectations

30. Passion Pit – “Moth’s Wings”
Hello again Passion Pit. Sit down, stay awhile.

29. Chromeo – “Night By Night”
More Canadians on the list make some electrofunk magic with this one

28. Kid Cudi – “Day N Nite”
My most played rap song this year

27. Empire Of The Sun – “Standing On The Shore (Dirty Disco Youth Remix)”
Favorite remix of the year – which is saying something

26. Animal Collective – “Summertime Clothes”
Second best song on the album still beats most everything else

25. Phoenix – “1901”
Ditto

24. Thao And The Get Down Stay Down – “Know Better Learn Faster”
Maybe I’m biased, but song is undeniably good. Expect big things.

23. The Lonely Island – “I’m On A Boat”
Funniest song of the year. Hands down. Previously never thought I would want to own a nautical themed pashmina afghan

And another awesome uncensored video via hulu:
Saturday Night Live: Digital Short: I’m On A Boat (Uncensored)

22. The Thermals – “Now We Can See”
So simple, but so good. Evidence of what an amazing chorus can do for a song.

21. Metric – “Help I’m Alive”
Again from our friends to the north…best Canadian song of the year

20. The Temper Trap – “Sweet Disposition”
Perfectly matched for my favorite movie of the year, (500) Days of Summer.

19. Death Cab For Cutie – “Little Bribes”
Better than “Meet Me On The Equinox” – and not just because of my Twilight bias

18. Yeasayer – “Ambling Alp”
Weird song with an even weirder video (look it up), but I dig it

17. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Heads Will Roll”
Karen O rocks this like no one else can

16. Miike Snow – “Animal”
Best song use in a Gossip Girl episode this year

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

Tripp’s Top 10 Albums of 2009

Between my vacation for the last 10 days, and the fact that we didn’t really get our shit together until the last week of December, I’m still playing catch up a bit.  If you know me, or if you’ve been reading WJM for a bit, I’m sure this doesn’t surprise you.

Below is Tripp’s Top 10 Albums of 2009. We have some obvious overlap here, but there’s also some really great stuff here that I didn’t list…and he wrote a lot more than I did haha.

Note: I didn’t link to songs directly this time, but a quick search for any of these artists on hypem.com will lead you to what you’re looking for.

Enjoy:

10) jj – jj n° 2

Light, breezy, and intoxicatingly beautiful, jj have created an album that brings to mind a warm, sunlit spring day where the listener has no cares in the world. Yet throughout the nine short songs of Swedish band jj’s first full-length release, a feeling emerges that there is a weight, a gravity to this album that is not reflected by a quick glance or a brief snippet of vocals and instrumentation. Listening to the album in its entirety, focusing on the lyrics (especially in lead songs “things will never be the same again” and “from africa to malaga”) and the technical proficiency (with the Lil Wayne-inspired “ecstasy” leading the way) gives one the full view of an astonishingly complex, brilliant, and simply beautiful work of art.

9) Drummer – Feel Good Together

The most consistent album on this list also doubles as the album least likely to appear on most end-of-year lists. A collection of drummers from other bands (led by Patrick Carney from The Black Keys), Drummer was formed in early 2009 and put out this collection of rock songs which ironically focuses very little on the drums. Instead, guitar hooks and synth backing lead to a set of songs which powers through from start to finish, at no point holding back or letting up. “Mature Fantasy,” the best song on the album, showcases how the drummers-turned-band can change tempo, volume, and emotion on the fly without losing a beat, something they do on every song with remarkable skill.

8 ) Matt & Kim – Grand

The high energy. The slightly off-kilter drumming. The staccato pacing. While not the best album of the year, Grand stands out as the defining sound of 2009. The album that produced the song that produced the Bacardi ad that introduced the world to Matt & Kim goes down as one of the best albums of the year thanks to its recognizable yet entirely unique sound.

7) Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca

The hipster band of the year put out the hipster song of the year (“Stillness is the Move”), and as a result I’ve never wanted to be a hipster more. The sound of this album is unlike anything I’ve heard before, and is fairly well indescribable for someone so new to the hipster scene, so I’ll just say that I love it and leave it at that.

6) fun. – Aim and Ignite

A sweeping, epic pop album that features two of the best songs of the year (“Barlights” and “At Least I’m Not As Sad (As I Used to Be)”). The first of four straight albums I saw performed live this year; this concert was the most fun of the four. Something about fun.’s music just makes the listener smile; the band’s music lives up to the band’s name.

5) Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Home to two of the most popular songs of the year (“1901” and “Lisztomania”), Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix may be the surprise hit album of the year. Perhaps more than any other indie album, this album crossed over into the popular consciousness and got the buzz it deserved among mainstream listeners and critics. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is full of powerful songs that, upon hearing them, won’t be leaving your head anytime soon.

4) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz

Of all the albums on this list, It’s Blitz contains the most songs that could easily be seen as radio singles. Led by Karen O’s amazing voice (which, if you’ve seen her live, is but a part of her awesome stage presence), the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have crafted an album that, pure and simple, rocks from start to finish. While “Zero” was the lead single and has been named the Song of the Year by multiple sources, there are nine other songs which could be considered the album’s best (Hint: there are only nine other songs on the album).

3) Passion Pit – Manners

The most anticipated album of the year for the list-makers here at WJM, and it certainly did not disappoint. Just as good live as it is on your iPod (based on the two times I saw them this year, at least), Manners places the most tracks of any album in my Top 40 Song list with three (“Little Secrets”, “Moth’s Wings”, and “Sleepyhead,” which was accidentally left off the list submitted to WJ). It could easily have been more.

2) Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer

Dragonslayer is an album not likely to be seen on many end-of-year lists, but this album was above all others for me this summer. Over a short 9-track playlist, haunting piano play combines with beautiful drumming and lyrics to make an absolutely astonishing album. There can be no doubt, though, that my love for this album is based mostly on my love of one song: “Dragon’s Lair”, the ten-plus minute long, somewhat-titular track that ends the album. While it’s not the most beautiful song of the year (“Stillness is the Move”) or the most impressive (“My Girls”), “Dragon’s Lair” is the song I most want to introduce to the public consciousness. It reads like a novel in the way it builds to a climax, and is a perfect capper to an album that tells an amazing story. Give the lyrics a listen and be inspired.

1) Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion

Obviously. On January 5^th, less than a week into 2009, Stereogum asked if MPP was the best album of 2009. 51 weeks later, there can be no doubt that the answer is still yes. The most technically proficient, yet beautiful and moving album of the year, MPP redefined music and its possibilities in the future. The construct of “My Girls” is an absolutely amazing feat: a few basic lines, and a few basic hooks, layered on top of each other at different points in the song, shows exactly what music can and should be, from the lyrics to the instrumentation. MPP is clearly the album of the year.