The “Miscellaneous” Mixes: The Best of 2009

Holy hell! Cousin Matt has finally completed his Best of 2009 mix. Well, okay, he actually finished it a few weeks ago, but I’ve been so tied up with my LOST recaps that it’s eating into my “music” time. My apologies. With that, here’s Cousin Matt’s intro to 2009:

So here we are, back for another installment of music they won’t play at a NASCAR event. For those who’ve been following the Best Ofs for a while, you’ll notice some common themes. Yes, I’m predictable when it comes to certain bands/sounds/jokes/puns. But I’m sure you’ll find some new stuff. And maybe some surprises.

For instance, my Album of the Year might have you scratching your head. It surprised me, too. It’s just one of those random bands that I stumbled upon. There’s barely even any info online for them. Some of you might notice that they take their name from a Guided by Voices song. This is either a good or a bad thing for you. You make the call.

As for my Song of the Year – Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion appeared on lots of Best Ofs. In many cases, as #1. The reason I bring this up is because I didn’t pick a song from that album. I did like it (though not as much as their previous, Strawberry Jam). But to me, their best song – and the best song – was from the EP (Fall Be Kind) they released a few months after Merriweather. As a sidenote, the song I would’ve chosen from Merriweather is “In the Flowers”.

Okay, enough rambling. Until next time…enjoy!

Top 12 Albums of 2009:

#12 – Songs for Tuesdays by Summer Cats
#11 – Conditions by The Temper Trap
#10 – Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
#9 – Birdseed Shirt by Deleted Scenes
#8 – Middle Cyclone by Neko Case
#7 – Dragonslayer by Sunset Rubdown
#6 – Hospice by The Antlers
#5 – Technicolor Health by Harlem Shakes
#4 – Now We Can See by The Thermals
#3 – Fortress Round My Heart by Ida Maria
#2 – I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers
#1 – The Healing Power of Injury by Smothered In Hugs

To be perfectly honest, I’ve not yet given Cousin Matt’s mix the time it deserves. I’ve been listening to and downloading so much new music of late that I’ve been overwhelmed, not to mention all the podcasts I’ve been listening to. (And by the way, that’s a post I’ll be working on in the near future: just a list of the podcasts I subscribe to, ranging from comedy to music to movies to, of course, LOST.) Still, based on going through it a couple of times, I’d certainly give it the thumbs up.

In comparing Cousin Matt’s mixes to my 2009 mixes, Green, Yellow and Red, it would appear we six songs in common (Woods’ “Rain On,” Real Estate’s “Snow Days,” Metric’s “Stadium Love,” Heartless Bastards’ “The Mountain Song,” We Were Promised Jetpacks’ “Quiet Little Voices” and Grizzly Bear’s “While You Wait For the Others”). Other common bands include The Antlers, The Thermals, Florence and The Machine, Harlem Shakes, Smothered In Hugs, Ida Maria, The Avett Brothers and Animal Collective. Oddly, I had Deer Tick’s “Easy” all queued up and ready to go for my mix, but yanked it at the last minute. Additionally, I just made a mix a couple weeks ago with Best Coast’s “When I’m With You,” a song that A) I had no idea was on Matt’s mix at the time; and B) I wasn’t familiar with when I made my 2009 mix, as it definitely would have been on there. It’s downright fantastic.

And for the record, I had zero doubt in my mind that Smothered In Hugs’ The Healing Power of Injury would be Matt’s pick for Album of the Year. Of anything he mentioned to me all year long, SIH came up more than any other band. I liked the album, but wasn’t blown away by it. Sorry, Cousin Matt.

As is always the case with Cousin Matt’s year-end mixes, this is a “countdown” as opposed to a compilation. (Again, Track 1, in this case, is his 41^st favorite song of the year.)

The Best of 2009 front cover.

The Best of 2009 back cover.

The Best of 2009 (Disc 1):

1. Apostle of Hustle – “Soul Unwind”
2. Deer Tick – “Easy”
3. Atlas Sound – “Walkabout”
4. Best Coast – “When I’m With You”
5. Future of the Left – “Throwing Bricks at Trains”
6. Maximo Park – “The Kids Are Sick Again”
7. Woods – “Rain On”
8. Let’s Wrestle – “I’m In Love With Destruction”
9. Baby Teeth – “Let It Roll”
10. The Drums – “I Felt Stupid”
11. Coconut Records – “Wires”
12. Real Estate – “Snow Days”
13. Devendra Banhart – “Angelika”
14. The Antlers – “Two”
15. Royal Bangs – “War Bells”
16. Metric – “Stadium Love”
17. Micachu – “Just In Case”
18. We//Are//Animal – “1268”
19. Free Energy – “Free Energy”
20. The Thermals – “I Let It Go” (After the “intro,” here’s a nice “unplugged” version.)
21. Heartless Bastards – “The Mountain”

The Best of 2009 (Disc 2):

1. Deleted Scenes – “City That Never Wakes Up”
2. Spider Bags – “Que Viva El Rocanroll”
3. Phoenix – “1901”
4. Voxtrot – “Berlin, Without Return…”
5. Pete and The Pirates – “Jennifer”
6. BOAT – “We Want It! We Want It!”
7. Passion Pit – “To Kingdom Come”
8. The Temper Trap – “Down River”
9. Florence and The Machine – “Dog Days Are Over”
10. Sunset Rubdown – “You Go On Ahead [Trumpet Trumpet II]”
11. Neko Case – “This Tornado Loves You”
12. Sin Fang Bous – “The Jubilee Choruses”
13. Summer Cats – “In June”
14. Harlem Shakes – “Sunlight”
15. Smothered In Hugs – “Even Brothers”
16. We Were Promised Jetpacks – “Quiet Little Voices”
17. Ida Maria – “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked”
18. The Avett Brothers – “It Goes On and On”
19. Grizzly Bear – “While You Wait For the Others”
20. Animal Collective – “What Would I Want? Sky”

And so, friends, that’ll do it. From this point on, the majority of mixes on this site will be brand new mixes or other random ones that I’ll attempt to track down. Hope you’ve enjoyed all the Best Ofs… to this point. It’s always a pleasure.

Until next time, have at it, you vultures!

BD