Top Tunes 2009

Some tracks I’ve liked a lot this year, in no particular order:

Voxtrot — The Start of Something

This is at least three years old, but I bought the Kids At The Club compilation this year and this is the first track. I could, and have, play it over and over again. Also, listen and download the MP3 free at Last.fm.

Carl Sagan — A Glorious Dawn

I wrote about this in October, and you can get the free MP3 here.

The Deirdres — Milk is Politics

I heard this at the end of 2008, but never mind; I didn’t do a list last year and I played this a lot in 2009 too. Twee young folk xylophone nonsense. The Deirdres on Myspace.

Cassie — Me and You (Cabide DJ mix)

Another one I heard in 2008 but which I kept playing. To hear it you’ll have to go to Cabide DJ’s download page and click “Montagem Cassie - Me And You Cabide Dj” to download the free MP3. I tried a couple of other tracks and they’re also crazy sample cut-up Brazilian DJ madness. I love music that sounds broken. Originally heard on the Mudd Up! podcast.

Camera Obscura — Honey in the Sun

Hard to decide which track to choose from My Maudlin Career (on Spotify), with French Navy (on YouTube) a close second. I love the horns.

 Emmy the Great — Canopies and Drapes

(Or Canopies and Grapes in some places.) I could pick almost any track from First Love (hear it all at Last.fm or on Spotify). I’d heard most of them in previous years, but the album’s release means I can use any of them again this year. Seeing her live in store at Pure Groove was a good point of the year.

 DJ Earworm — United States of Pop 2008

I didn’t know most of these tracks (like I don’t know most of the ones in 2009’s version) but I love a good mashup and this sounds fantastic. Amazing. Download the free MP3 at DJ Earworm’s site.

Durrty Goodz — Switching Songs pt 2

I’m not pretending to be into whatever kind of music this is (Grime? Garage? No idea) but I love this. The speed, the changes in rhythm, the excitement, the relentlessness. I should find more of whatever it is.

God Help the Girl — Act of the Apostle

I’m melting. Wow. It’s hard to choose a particular track from their album (self-titled, on Spotify) as it’s all wonderful. Seeing them at the 100 Club, from which that video’s taken, was one of the life-affirming high points of the year. Also try, at YouTube, not live, God Help the Girl and I’ll Have To Dance With Cassie.

 Pocketbooks — Footsteps

Like Los Campesinos’ You! Me! Dancing!, Pocketbooks’ Cross the Line has been gently fighting its way onto my end-of-year lists for consecutive years. So here’s a different track from a band who I’ve probably now seen live more than any other, more by accident than design to be honest, but I do very much like them. Their album, Flight Paths, came out this year, isn’t on Spotify, but you can buy it from their site or hear more at MySpace.

Pomplamoose - Single Ladies

Seems to be a big hit on the web (I came across it via Kottke) and justifiably so. A lovely cover of an awesome pop song. You can download it for free, plus other tunes, on MySpace.

So, there we go, the hour’s deadline is coming round and we’re done for 2009. It appears that my recent musical loves are either tuneful, sickeningly twee indie-pop or crazy, speedy, mashed-up oddness.

Other things I’ve listened to this year include: the excellent Dandelion Radio; various old NME compilation cassettes (Pogo a Go Go!, Jive Wire, Mad Mix II and Ace Case (and see the comments on that post for links to loads more on Divshare)); and a load of old techno which has, sadly, completely disappeared. Oh, and in the summer I played this mix quite a bit, so save it up for a few months and give it a spin in summer 2010.