Favorites from 2009 (so far)

It took me a while but I finally got around to posting them all.  In no particular order, here are my favorites from 2009, so far…

Phoenix
MP3: “1901
MP3: “Lisztomania

Dan Auerbach
MP3: “When The Night Comes

Grizzly Bear
MP3: “Two Weeks

Wilco
MP3: “Solitaire
MP3: “One Wing
MP3: “I’ll Fight

Quantic and His Combo Barbaro
Amazon: “The Dreaming Mind

Andrew Bird
MP3: “Oh No

Franz Ferdinand
MP3: “No You Girls

Doves
MP3: “Jetstream
MP3: “Kingdom of Rust

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
MP3: “Hysteric

Black Crowes
MP3: “I Ain’t Hiding

White Rabbits
MP3: “Percussion Gun

K’naan
MP3: “Take A Minute

Manchester Orchestra
MP3: “I’ve Got Friends

Mocky
MP3: “Birds Of A Feather

Kutiman
http://thru-you.com/

Black Moth Super Rainbow
MP3: “Born On A Day The Sun Didn’t Rise
MP3: “Twin Of Myself
MP3: “Fields Are Breathing

Animal Collective
MP3: “My Girls

Matt and Kim
MP3: “Daylight

Silversun Pickups
MP3: “Panic Switch

Curumin
MP3: “Compacto
MP3: “Salto No Vacuo Con Joelhada

Emiliani Torrini
MP3: “Me and Armini

Zion I
MP3: “Coastin

Junior Boys
MP3: “Parallel Lines

General Elektriks

MP3: “You Don’t Listen

St Vincent
MP3: “Strangers

Coconut Records
MP3: “Any Fun

Matisyahu
“One Day”

Method Man and Redman
MP3: “A Yo

Tosca
MP3 Link: “Joe Si Ha
MP3: “Fondue

The BPA
MP3: “Toe Jam
MP3: “He’s Frank

Bishop Allen
MP3: “The Ancient Commonsense of Things

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Newer acts:

Band of Skulls
MP3 Link: “Death By Diamonds and Pearls
MP3: “I Know What I Am

Empire of the Sun
MP3: “Walking On A Dream

One eskimO
Link to listen: “Given Up
MP3: “Givin Up (Don Diablo remix)

Nickel Eye
MP3: “Brandy of the Damned featuring Wale (Mark Ronson remix)
MySpace link to listen: “Bonnie and Clyde

Mayer Hawthorne
MP3: “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out

Zee Avi
MP3: “Bitter Heart
MP3: “The Story

Passion Pit
MP3: “Moth’s Wings
MP3 link: “The Reeling
MP3: “Little Secrets

Fight From Above
MP3: “Between The Curves

Vosotros Presents: The Years
MP3 link: “Lose My Number
MP3 link: “Heartbreaker

Daniel Merriweather
MP3: “Change” featuring Wale

The Big Pink
MP3: “Velvet

The Temper Trap
MP3: Sweet Disposition

Thenewno2
MP3 link: “Yomp
MP3 link: “Give You Love
MP3: “Crazy Tuesday

Asa
MP3: “Jailer
MP3: “Subway

The Very Best
MP3: “Warm Heart of Africa

St Motel
MP3: “Dear Dictator

Danny Chaimson
MySpace link to listen: “This Is Life

Hey Champ
MP3: “Cold Dust Girl

Jaydiohead by Minty Fresh Productions
MP3: “Wrong Prayer

Asher Roth feat. Busta Rhymes and New Kingdom
MP3: “Lion’s Roar” produced by Oren Yoel

—-

Mixtapes:

Wale & 9th Wonder - Back To The Feature

TiRonKetchup
Miguel featuring TiRon – “Go”

Weekly Dose (3/28/09)

Bishop Allen is Justin Rice (vocals & keyboards) and Christian Rudder (stringed instruments). Rice and Rudder are both Harvard graduates and they named the band after Bishop Allen Drive in Cambridge, MA.  They formed the band in 2003 and now have a couple of other members in the band (maybe for touring?).  Their sound is similar to Vampire Weekend and, since the members of both bands are Ivy League graduates, I think we could call their brand of music Ivy League rock.
Bishop Allen – The Ancient Common Sense of Things

bishopallen1_____

Cause is a relatively unknown rapper from the Bronx.  He’s clearly got a lot of a talent but using a word like Cause as your name, a word that’s written so much, it might be harder for someone surfing the web to come across Cause.  Unless you know he calls himself New York’s finest – his myspace address is “myspace.com/causenewyorksfinest”.  His track “On The Run” is my favorite.  Cause raps over some kind of Al Green “I’m Glad You’re Mine” type hard hitting drums and the songs got a really catchy hook.  Cause has an odd combination of mainstream, more hardcore hip hop beats and underground tracks on his album but that what I kind of like that about the album.  To be honest, the album itself is not really anything special, but it’s definitely worth a listen.  Cause is someone to watch out for.  Thanks to Ushkow for showing me this one.  Also, whoever designed Cause’s official website is a genius.  The graffiti thing is awesome.
Cause – On The Run


On the Run – CaUsE

l_f7cd339ce13e4eafab13c2d95942fed6_____

I’ve been hearing Anya Marina’s “Vertigo” on KCRW a lot and I’m kind of digging it.  I also like her track “Move You”.  ”Vertigo” has a soft and sweet, kind of playful sound but it’ the kind of song you usually hear on the soundtrack for family movies like Shrek 2.  ”Move You” kind of shows that Marina has a different kind of quality to her music than you would expect if you’ve only heard “Vertigo”.
Anya Marina – Vertigo / Move You


Vertigo – Anya Marina
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Here’s a new Silversun Pickups song called “Panic Switch”.  It’s from the LA based band’s album Swoon, which will be released on April 14th.  I like the sound of this a lot more than I expected so I’m really looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.
Silversun Pickups – Panic Switch

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I know this isn’t new at all but I really like this video for Rob Roy’s “Fur In My Cap”.  Ethan Lader directed/edited it and he made a very creative, funny video that fits the song perfectly.  Thanks to Kenny for sending this one my way.  

Rob Roy – Fur In My Cap

Rob Roy “Fur In My Cap” Director: Ethan Lader from ethandirector on Vimeo.
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This is actually another great soft, sweet track that probably would work really well for a film.  It’s “Hysteric” and it’s from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs new album It’s Blitz (released on March 10).  I haven’t listen to enough of the album yet but I’ve only heard good things so I’m curious to check it all out…  Let me know what you think if you have it.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Hysteric

yeahyeahyeahs_____

Flight of the Conchords is a hilarious TV show and band.  I wasn’t that impressed with the show this season but I liked the music from the New Zealand duo a lot.  Until this season, I never realized how much the songs all capture recognizable pieces of different eras of music.  This season really shows that Bret and Jermaine have become experts at writing that kind of music.  As a side note- a lot of people who love the show haven’t seen the movie Eagle VS Shark (starring Jermaine).  If you’re one of those people, you need to see that movie, it’s great.  

Flight of the Conchords
You Don’t Have To Be A Prostitute / Bret’s Day / Fashion / I’ve Fallen In Love 
I Told You I Was Freekie

Audio Absinthe

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