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8. Slow Burning Crimes by East Hundred (Passenger)
9. Sovereignty by Japandroids (Post Nothing)
10. Blood Bank by Bon Iver (EP)
11. Daylight by Matt & Kim (Grand)
12. My Girls by Animal Collective (Merriweather Post Pavilion)

As always with special thanks to PB (”the magician”), BC (the “intern”) and CR (the “guru”) for helping me compile this musical masterpiece:

1. I And Love And You - The Avett Brothers (song of the year – makes me pine for Brooklyn)
2. Home – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (the dialogue near the end was especially engaging and sweet)
3. Before I Start To Cry - Vivian Girls (do you know this band? you should?)
4. The Strangers - St. Vincent (this is vying for one of my favourite albums this year)
5. Is it OK? - Saez (but not as good as this one)
6. Bear - The Antlers (my intern says this is an album about cancer, but I’m pretty sure this is about abortion)
7. Criminals - Atlas Sound (my intern wants you to hear this)
8. Summertime - Girls (my favorite track from a rather solid “Album”)
9. Afterlove - East Hundred (yes – more EH — they are still completely unknown to most)
10. Funeral Singers - Califone (this is great – I would recommend it even if it wasn’t rec’d to me)
11. Hell - Tegan & Sara (go there )
12. Teleforce - Majeure (the intern recommends)
13. See You - Dinosaur Jr (there may be better Dino Jr tracks but this one works here)
14. The Executioner’s Song - Cass McCombs (like the title, not sure I understand the lyrics)
15. You Are The Blood – Sufjan Stevens (Dark was the Night — spend the $ for the album – it goes to charity – fn incredible song)
16. Nightingale / December Song - Sunset Rubdown (this album is top 6 2009 – this song has December in the title)

Hoperfully I have provided you with some new tracks you have not heard before and although you may not love them all… load it up to your ipod and take it for a ride – you may fall in love with some as much as I have…

Enjoy and Happy Holidays.

-Kevin

Photos after the break….

I’ve been surviving the last year on music from 2008. I haven’t spent much time seeking new stuff. I have a staff to do that for me. KBP sorts through the inundating tide of new crap, while TD handles my live appearances. The result is the attached song by Phoenix. They’ve been around for 10 or more years. I just found out about them 2 weeks ago. I saw them live outdoors in Central Park last week. And today I’m ready to tell you that 1901 is the best song of 2009.

These 30 something Parisian rockers put on a damn good show last Friday. Well worth not waiting in any line whatsoever to stand among a thousand or so hipsters in their finest regalia, braving the extraordinarily pleasant weather all to see Phoenix bring the entire crowd completely into sync for this song. They built up to an amazing crescendo (Falling, Falling, Falling…) then walked off stage. They returned for an encore before the crowd could really recover and built right back up into the chorus (Falling, Falling, Falling…). What metaphor applies when you’re outdoors and there is no house to bring down or roof to blow off the place?

Definitely turn this song up when you listen to it. While you’re at it check the entire album (Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix) its well worth a listen, as are some of their older songs.

I also feel that each song has a threshold at which point it will no longer trigger that emotional response that we first elicited out of it, be that excitement, sadness etc. And that threshold is different for each of us and lies somewhere between 1 listen and 1,000. For example, About Today by the National didn’t lose its appeal until after hundreds of times.

Each song also has that ability to transport us back to a specific time and place as well. It’s an amazing thing – music.
One example, is the song attached, which I liked at first and felt it had run its ground but then gained new significance when combined with the images of the new Spike Jonze ” Where the Wild Things Are“.

I mentioned to a friend last night that I would not know what to do with myself were anything to happen to my ipod (the one I bought in 2004 and has recorded every song (pretty much) that I have listened to since then.

We each have different songs that motivate us and within these posts, I will offer mine.