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

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Mixtapes:

Wale & 9th Wonder - Back To The Feature

TiRonKetchup
Miguel featuring TiRon – “Go”

Weekly Dose (3/9/09)

Kutiman Mixes YouTube <—–Click that.  It’s amazing.  It’s the brand new project from Kutiman and, to date, it’s one of the greatest things that exists on the internet.  I know it’s a bold statement, and I stand by it… one of the greatest things.  He takes random YouTube clibs of people playing different instruments, or people doing things that create different sounds, and he cuts them up, and restructures them for a new, single song- and there are 7 songs.  He samples YouTube to create his own brand of funky, soulful beats.  It must have taken a very long time since he samples between 10-20 youtube videos for each song.  A little personal history on Kutiman (this kind of ties it all together for me)- I bought his debut, self titled album back in 2007 and I loved it.  It’s extremely funky and soulful and draws on hip hop, rock, and world music which creates a very mature, passionate overall sound.  That’s why I was surprised to learn that Ophir “Kutiman” Kutiel was born in Jerusalem in 1982.  He was 25 and his music sounded like it was made by someone who’s been making music for decades collaborating with people from all over the world.  After this new project, all i can say is- what a talent.  What a modern, musical genius.

up-kutiman_1

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Don’t know much about this track.  Haven’t really researched it at all.  Found it, loved it, wanted to share it.  It’s Nickel Eye featuring Wale- the Mark Ronson remix of “Brandy of the Damned”.  And it’s pretty “damned” good if you ask me.
Nickel Eye – Brandy of the Damned Feat. Wale (Mark Ronson Remix)

nickel-eye

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Redman and Method Man are coming out with a new album.  Awesome.  I still play 1999’s Blackout and I think it would have to be in my top 20 best albums in hip hop.  So when I heard these two tracks I haven’t heard before, I got a little excited about it all.  They’ve always managed to combine hardcore style with goofy lyrics and the music is cool, fun, and has some serious mainstream appeal.  At least it did.  I’m not so sure Redman and Method Man’s new album will do that well but not because of the songs alone.  It’s more because of the fact that they are old news in a world that’s overwhelmed with new acts everyday.  Check out the new tracks.
Redman and Method Man – A Yo / Broken Language

method-man-redman-how-high-001

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I feel pretty bad that the last song is a Kid Cudi song and I’m not really going to talk about Kid Cudi.  I picked this song to talk about Kanye West because Kanye bugs me.  But he is a great producer and there’s no doubt about that.  I just wish he would always let great emcees rap over his beats instead of saving the best beats for himself.  I don’t think he’s a good emcee and he tries way too hard to be a rockstar for me to really like him.  Kanye produced this new Kid Cudi track, “Sky Might Fall”.  Kanye’s beat is only ok, but what’s great about it is that it’s sound really captures the style of the music of this decade- the 00’s.  The sixties, seventies, eighties- when you think of the sound of music from each decade, certain songs stand out more than others.  It’s similar to what happens with art and artists who become popular- and I hope I don’t get too into this for you- certain artists really capture something unique about a culture and time and they’re work becomes relevant and, in time, valuable.  Seriously though, Kanye is a b.
Kid Cudi – Sky Might Fall

kidcudi-01-big

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