The Hype Machine's 2009 Music Blog Zeitgeist

Finally!!! Best 'Best of...' ever! Be sure to check out the "50 Albums" page for full album plays.

Tweed's Best of 2009

I made a 2 disc "Best of 2009" compilation for my fellow music fans (hence the 1-18 track numbers). This playlist contains my picks for both the best artists and best songs of 2009. Enjoy!

DISC I
1. Girls - Lust for Life
2. Phoenix - 1901
3. M. Ward - Never Had Nobody Like You
4. Blakroc - Ain't Nothing Like You
5. Miike Snow - Animal
6. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead
7. Silversun Pickups - Substitution
8. Wilco - You Never Know
9. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
10. Modest Mouse - Satellite Skin
11. Mos Def - Auditorium
12. Wolfmother - Sundial
13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero
14. The Big Pink - Dominos
15. Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire
16. Pearl Jam - The Fixer
17. Morrissey - Something Is Squeezing My Skull
18. The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid

DISC II
1. Dirty Projectors - Cannibal Resource
2. Atlas Sound - Walkabout (w/Noah Lennox)
3. Discovery - Orange Shirt
4. Jay-Z - Empire State Of Mind (Ft. Alicia Keys)
5. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction
6. Sonic Youth - Antenna
7. Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
8. Raekwon - House Of Flying Daggers
9. Dinosaur Jr. - Pieces
10. Brand New - At The Bottom
11. St. Vincent - Actor Out Of Work
12. Monsters Of Folk - Say Please
13. Bon Iver - Blood Bank
14. The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition
15. The xx - Islands
16. Dan Auerbach - Heartbroken, In Disrepair
17. The Antlers - Bear
18. Animal Collective - My Girls

Tweed's Top 5 Albums 2009:

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Brand New - Daisy

Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

Last.fm - Best of 2009

Last.fm compiled this list based on listener scrobbles, so these artists really are "the hottest & most popular" of the year.  The end result is a pretty organic and unbiased list, yet because of this, it's considerably "poppy".  Still a few gems within this one from Last.fm.  However, much like the SPIN list, you must scroll through each artist one by one.  After viewing so many "Best of..." lists, I'm over it by now.

Excerpt from Last.fm on how this list was created: 
"We compiled the list by looking at scrobbles for albums released between 1st October 2008 and 16th November 2009. We took out live albums, greatest hits collections, EP’s and singles before pulling them together into the lean, mean format you see before your eyes.
We’ve also looked up the top tracks, month-by-month scrobbles and event attendance for every artist in the Top 40, so you can see how you fit in with the global artist listens.

So sit back, turn the volume up to 11, and get ready to salute the Top 40 artists of 2009 based on your scrobbles."

oh and... 

scrobble: skrob·bul (ˈskrɒbəll)

[verb] To automatically add the tracks you play to your Last.fm profile with a piece of software called a Scrobbler

1. If I'm not scrobbling the music I hear, it doesn't count!

Check it out here:

SPIN - The 40 Best Albums of 2009

This list is pretty annoying to navigate.  They don't list the albums with multiple ranks on one page, which means you have to cycle through each album one by one.  Not cool SPIN, not cool.  However, they do redeem themselves somewhat by offering mp3s of the entire album for your listening pleasure.

SPIN's top 5:

01. Animal Collective | Merriweather Post Pavilion

02. Yeah Yeah Yeahs | It's Blitz!

03. Phoenix | Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

04. Grizzly Bear | Veckatimest

05. Girls | Album

Check out the complete "list" here:

Pitchfork - The Year In Music

Pitchfork's Top 5 Albums of 2009:

01 Animal Collective | Merriweather Post Pavilion

02 Dirty Projectors | Bitte Orca

03 The xx | xx

04 The Flaming Lips | Embryonic

05 Raekwon | Only Built 4 Cuban Linx pt II

 Check out the complete list here:

Pitchfork's Top 10 Tracks of 2009:

01 Animal Collective | My Girls

02 Dirty Projectors | Stillness Is The Move

03 Phoenix | 1901

04 Bat For Lashes | Daniel

05 Grizzly Bear | Two Weeks

06 Yeah Yeah Yeahs | Zero

07 Big Boi [ft. Gucci Mane] | Shine Blockas

08 Phoenix | Lisztomania

09 Girls | Lust For Life 

10 Washed Out | Feel It All Around  

Check out the complete list here:

Metacritic - The 30 Best-Reviewed Albums of the Year

Although 2009 is not quite over, I felt it was a good time to post Metacritic's "30 Best-Reviewed Albums of the Year".  I really like Metacritic's way of reviewing because they compile numerous  reviews from various reputable publications and assign 1 average metascore.  Metacritic's mathemtical approach is something I feel creates a seemingly unbiased and honest review.  Anyhow, here are my "agree withs" from this list.   Definitely check these out!

Live At Reading by Nirvana

Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II by Raekwon

Hospice by The Antlers

Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear

Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors

Electric Dirt by Levon Helm

xx by The xx

Post-Nothing by Japandroids

Check out the full list here:

Rolling Stone's 100 Best Albums and Songs of the Decade

I love this time of year.  Not only for the holiday cheer and whatnot, but for all of these "Best of..." compilations.  They give music fans the opportunity to look back and reflect on what artists have given us this past year or, in this case, decade.  I also like to see what I may have missed out on.  Now, obviously there are going to be fanatical opinion based discrepancies with these lists, but after running through each of Rolling Stone's "100 Best" lists, I personally feel they represent some of the better and more memorable releases from various contemporary artists.  I will be posting more and more "Best of" lists in the coming weeks, but I figured I'd kick it all off with the reputable legend, Rolling Stone.

100 Best Songs of the Decade

100 Best Albums of the Decade