The 100 Best Songs of 2009

It is probably not a good sign for the music business that the biggest song of the year was released back in 1969. But for some reason, three artists all used Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye by Steam in their songs. Wale started out ’09 sampling it for Chillin’. Then Kristinia DeBarge used it as the chorus for her debut song, the aptly titled Goodbye. Then Jay-Z tried to kill off Auto-Tune with the help of the famous cadence. Despite the overuse of cheesy sports anthems, 2009 was actually a great year for good music (on the flip side, it wasn’t much of a good year for great music) as this was the largest pool of songs, 250 (shoot me an e-mail if you want the full list, I'll send you my speadsheet), which I had to cut down for my Top 100. And here they are and I hope to see everyone back in 2010 (check the bottom of the post for samples of the songs on the Amazon MP3 widget):

1. Use Somebody - Kings of Leon

2. Make Her Say - Kid Cudi, Kanye West, and Common

3. I and Love and You - The Avett Brothers

4. Run This Town - Jay-Z featuring Rihanna & Kanye West

5. You And Me - Dave Matthews Band

6. Sugarfoot - Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears

7. Grapevine Fires - Death Cab for Cutie

8. Funny The Way It Is - Dave Matthews Band

9. Cowboy Casanova - Carrie Underwood

10. Magick - Ryan Adams & the Cardinals

11. Nothing but a Miracle - Diane Birch

12. Pony (It's OK) - Erin McCarley

13. Too Many Rappers - Beastie Boys featuring Nas

14. Who Says - John Mayer

15. You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

16. Staying in Love - Raphael Saadiq

17. Geraldine - Glasvegas

18. A Dustland Fairytale - The Killers

19. Mykonos - Fleet Foxes

20. Even If It Breaks Your Heart - Will Hoge

21. People C'mon - Delta Spirit

22. Notion - Kings of Leon

23. Chillin' - Wale featuring Lady Gaga

24. Melody - Kate Earl

25. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight - U2

26. Fugitive - David Gray

27. Percussion Gun - White Rabbits

28. Chasing Pirates - Norah Jones

29. Under My Bed - Meiko

30. Red Light - David Nail

31. (If You're Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To - Weezer

32. The Fixer - Pearl Jam

33. Fitz and the Dizzyspells - Andrew Bird

34. Wild at Heart - Gloriana

35. 100 Yard Dash - Raphael Saadiq

36. Heartless - The Fray

37. I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week - Mandy Moore

38. Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart - Alicia Keys

39. Just Breathe - Pearl Jam

40. Doesn't Mean Anything - Alicia Keys

41. Gravity - Sara Bareilles

42. Love, Save the Empty - Erin McCarley

43. I Love College - Asher Roth

44. Fire Escape - Diane Birch

45. People Got a Lotta Nerve - Neko Case

46. I Like You so Much Better When You're Naked - Ida Maria

47. Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys

48. The One - Slaughterhouse

49. Furr - Blitzen Trapper

50. The Fear - Lily Allen

51. A Whole Lot Better - Brendan Benson

52. Everybody Knows - John Legend

53. Laughing With - Regina Spektor

54. Beyond Here Lies Nothin' - Bob Dylan

55. Just Ain't Gonna Work Out - Mayer Hawthorne

56. Little Bribes - Death Cab for Cutie

57. Sometime Around Midnight - The Airborne Toxic Event

58. New in Town - Little Boots

59. Goodnight, Travel Well - The Killers

60. Brick by Boring Brick - Paramore

61. Sky - Joshua Radin featuring Meiko

62. I Wanna Rock - Snoop Dogg

63. Hometown Glory - Adele

64. Shining Down - Lupe Fiasco featuring Matthews Santos

65. Bang Bang - K'naan featuring Adam Levine

66. 1901 - Phoenix

67. Chocolate Box - Prince featuring Q-Tip

68. If Rap Gets Jealous - K'naan featuring Kirk Hammett

69. Kinda Like a Big Deal - Clipse featuring Kanye West

70. White Horse - Taylor Swift

71. Radio Radio - Brooke White

72. The Man Who Can't Be Moved - The Script

73. Oscar Wilde - Company of Thieves

74. Swim - Jack's Mannequin

75. Nothing to Worry About - Peter Bjorn and John

76. Show Me What I'm Looking For - Carolina Liar

77. Who'd Have Known - Lily Allen

78. A-Yo - Method Man & Redman featuring Saukrates

79. Wavin' Flag - K'naan

80. Life Is Better - Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones

81. Barely in Love - Q-Tip

82. Fly One Time - Ben Harper and Relentless7

83. Why I Am - Dave Matthews Band

84. Daddy's Gone - Glasvegas

85. Crawl - Kings of Leon

86. Uprising - Muse

87. Don't Forget - Demi Lovato

88. Bulletproof - La Roux

89. On Vacation - Aimee Allen

90. Fireflies - Owl City

91. Just Say Yes - Snow Patrol

92. East Jesus Nowhere - Green Day

93. How I Got Over - The Roots

94. I'm Broke - Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

95. Wonderful - Gary Go

96. D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune) - Jay-Z

97. That's Not My Name - The Ting Tings

98. Love Letter to Japan - The Bird and the Bee

99. Get On Your Boots - U2

100. Let's Take a Walk - Raphael Saadiq

The 25 Best Albums of 2009

If you are interested in reading my original review of these albums, check out the link below the album and if you are interested in buying them on iTunes, click on the album link. If you want to buy the physical CD, head over to Scooter McGavin’s Amazon Store (or click on the album cover) where you can order them there:


1. Bible Belt – Diane Birch
Love Makes the Price Good Enough to Wanna Pay

2. Tell ‘em What Your Name Is! – Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears
Where My Horns At, Are You with Me?

3. I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers
If You're Loved by Some One You're Never Rejected

4. Big Whiskey and the Groo-Grux King – Dave Matthews Band
Somebody's Broken Heart Become Your Favorite Song

5. The Fall – Norah Jones
My Mind's Racing from Chasing Pirates

6. Troubadour – K’Naan
I Take Rappers on a Field Trip any Day

7. Amanda Leigh – Mandy Moore
Those Calendar Girls Ain't got Nothing on Me

8. No Line on the Horizon - U2
Let Me in the Sound

9. Kamaal the Abstract – Q-Tip
And Introduce You All to a New Sound to Pound

10. Love, Save the Empty – Erin McCarley
You Hold Your Head up to the Sky; You Say What Kind of Blue Are You

11. Backspacer – Pearl Jam
When Something's Lost, I Wanna Fight to Get it Back Again

12. Kate Earl – Kate Earl
The Music Within Makes Me Whole and a World I Built on My Own

13. LOtUSFLOW3R/MPLSoUND - Prince
Not Reviewed

14. Draw the Line – David Gray
Everyday Is a New Version Of

15. Battle Studies – John Mayer
It's Been a Long Time Since Twenty-Two

16. White Lies for Dark Times – Ben Harper and the Relentless7
The Very Thing that Drives You Can Drive You Insane

17. Far – Regina Spektor
It Was so Easy and the Words Were so Sweet

18. The Element of Freedom – Alicia Keys
I Don't Want to Come Down, Hope My Wings Don't Fail Me Now

19. The Blueprint 3 – Jay-Z
This Ain't for iTunes, This Ain't for Sing-a-Longs

20. Ben Folds Presents: University a Capella!
If There Is a God He Is Laughing at Us and Our Football Team

21. A Little Happiness – Aimee Allen
I'm Dancing with My Records On

22. It’s Not You, it’s Me – Lily Allen
I am a Weapon of Massive Consupmtion

23. 21st Century Breakdown – Green Day
You Know What's Worth Fighting For When it's not Worth Dieing For

24. Relapse – Eminem
You Think That's Bad You Should Hear the Rest of My Album

25. Play On – Carrie Underwood
Gives You Feeling You Don't Want to Fight

We on Award Tour: 2010 Grammy Awards Nominations

Last year’s Grammy Nomination special was a good watch if not overblown with most performances paying tributes to past winners. This year was as lame as lame gets with no nod to the past except Maxwell’s excellent tribute to Michael Jackson. The Black Eyed Peas sucked massively. Sugarland was bland. And who cares about Nick Jonas and the Association? He and his brothers have only been nominated once and his new band as never played live ever. It would have been fine for the Kids Choice Awards, but not something associated with the Grammy’s. Oh and I would call the LL Cool J opening embarrassing, but this is coming from a guy who stars on an NCIS spin-off, nothing gets less credible than that.

And of course there were the award nominations which may have been the worst collection of artists ever assembled for a Grammy telecast. When they read Song of the Year, if it weren’t for the inclusion of Maxwell, I would have thought it was a VMA nomination. And Record of the Year was even worse because it was the same nominees with the Black Eyed Peas switched out for Maxwell. Best New Artist was conspicuously absent from the show, but I understood why when I saw the actual nominees. Below are some of the major categories and my thoughts (for all 109 categories, including one that has Michael J. Fox, Richard Dreyfuss, Jimmy Carter and Carrie Fisher battling it out, head over to Grammy.com):

Record of the Year
Halo - Beyonce
I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
Poker Face - Lady Gaga
You Belong With Me - Taylor Swift

Who Will Win: Halo
Who Should Win: Use Somebody

I have a feeling (no crappy song reference intended) that Beyonce is going to go home with more than a few Grammy’s this year (she leads the nominations with ten; but keep in mind there are an absurd amount of R&B categories), they have loved her in the past and with the amount of nominations she garnered, they still do. So what is the dude who wrote the song basically reproduced the same song for Kelly Clarkson and Leona Lewis. Of course, keep in mind the Joe Satriani stealing Viva la Vida won this award last year. Hopefully Use Somebody wins because it was truly the best song of the last twelve months.


Album of the Year
I Am...Sasha Fierce - Beyonce
The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas
The Fame - Lady Gaga
Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King - Dave Matthews Band
Fearless - Taylor Swift

Who Will Win: I Am...Sasha Fierce
Who Should Win: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

Remember the good old days when the Grammy’s were considered too old, when Herbie Hancock was beating out Kanye West, Amy Winehouse (or as Ringo Starr says, Amy White House) and Foo Fighters? Now they look like as if MTV were doing the nominations. With any luck everyone else splits the youth vote and the Dave Matthews Band. But then again, the Grammy’s didn’t even bother to put LeRoi Moore in the In Memoriam section last year so I won’t hold my breath.


Best Rock Album
Black Ice - AC/DC
Live From Madison Square Garden - Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood
21st Century Breakdown - Green Day
Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King - Dave Matthews Band
No Line on the Horizon - U2

Who Will Win: No Line on the Horizon
Who Should Win: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King

Conventional wisdom would say that since the Dave Matthews Band was nominated over U2 for Album of the Year they would beat them here, but I wouldn’t be surprised that people vote for U2 here since they weren’t nominated for the big one. Keep in mind U2 nor Green Day, who both have won the award recently, were not nominated for Record of the Year, but Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas were. Really, when was the last U2 record not nominated for that award?


Song of the Year
Poker Face - Lady Gaga & RedOne
Pretty Wings - Hod David & Musze (Maxwell)
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) - Thaddis Harrell, Beyonce Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart
Use Somebody - Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill & Nathan Followill (Kings of Leon)
You Belong With Me - Liz Rose & Taylor Swift

Who Will Win: Pretty Wings
Who Should Win: Use Somebody

Keep in mind that this is a songwriting award. Poker Face was nominated for a songwriting award. Just let that soak in for a moment. I should be taking this time to laugh at Single Ladies being nominated for a songwriting award, but Poker Face is an even bigger joke to be nominated for a songwriting award.


Best New Artist
Zac Brown Band
Keri Wilson
MGMT
Silversun Pickups
The Ting Tings

Who Will Win: Who Knows
Who Should Win: Who Cares

Now I understand why this category wasn’t announced live. And to think, one of these artist can pick up an award previously won by Milli Vanilli. And so what if Silversun Pickups released their second album this year or that Keri Hilson (note that the misspelling of her name was a cut and paste, not my mistake) was been in the biz since 2001.


Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas
We Weren't Born to Follow - Bon Jovi
Never Say Never - The Fray
Sara Smile - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Kids – MGMT

Who Will Win: I Gotta Feeling
Who Should Win: Sara Smile

Yes, that was a song from 1975 being nominated, that is just how bad music was this year.


Best Rap Album
Universal Mind Control - Common
Relapse – Eminem
R.O.O.T.S. - Flo Rida
The Ecstatic - Mos Def
The Renaissance - Q-Tip

Who Will Win: Relapse
Who Should Win: The Renaissance

I doubt he wins, but it is nice to see Q-Tip nominate. Hopefully he does go on another Award Tour. Too bad Kamaal the Abstract didn’t get one too.

I Want My Music Television vol. LXV

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


You and Me – Dave Matthews Band



Ask me on the right day and I say this is my favorite Dave Matthews Band song off their latest album. And this video just looks cool with all the additions to the band as the song progresses.


How I Got Over – The Roots



When The Roots signed on to be Jimmy Fallon’s house band that we would get less music from the band. But maybe being tied to one place means more albums with How I Got Over coming later this year. Speaking of The Roots night job, one byproduct is some awesome collaborations including the recent one where they backed Christopher Cross and Michael McDonald. I think I can die in peace now.


I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers



I best summed up this song from The Avett Brothers when I reviewed the album yesterday (see If You’re Loved by Somebody You’re Never Rejected), “with all due respect to Jay-Z and Mos Def, I and Love and You is the best ode to Brooklyn since the Beastie Boys refused to sleep until they got there.” You can also the song for free over at Spinner.com.


Life Is Better – Q-Tip and Norah Jones



When did Norah Jones become the go to hook singer for rappers? An odd composition from Q-Tip with just one verse that just name drops his favorite rappers that doesn’t even start until a minute and a half of Jones crooning. I like it though.

I Want My Music Television vol. LXIII

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Run this Town – Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West



A better song than D.O.A. but Jay-Z is continuing the obscure movie theme to the video off The Blueprint 3 and Run This Town has a The Warriors by way of Mad Max feel to it but with more face covering with Rihanna coming off as a Mortal Kombat character ion the beginning.


The Fixer – Pearl Jam



I never understood why Pearl Jam gave up making videos after their first album because they did were performance pieces anyways (sans Jeremy) and that is just what this is but with extreme close ups courtesy of Cameron Crowe.


Why I Am – Dave Matthews Band



Just the Dave Matthews Band doing what they do best: perform live.


Sabotage – Kristinia DeBarge



Considering her last name and being produced by Babyface, the first couple singles from Kristinia DeBarge have been disappointing and adding to that, how can you do a video for a song called Sabotage and not feature someone named Cochise?

Of course the original Sabotage is up for the Best Video to Never Win a Moonman which got me thinking, what actually beat Sabotage. It lost to Cryin’ by Aerosmith (can’t complain too much as Alicia Silverstone owned MTV in the mid-nineties) with Heart Shaped Box and Everybody Hurts also in the running. Compare that to this year that features Lady Gaga, Britney Spears naked, Kanye West singing, Beyoncé in a leotard and Eminem dressing up like Bret Michaels. Um, yeah, I think the children are officially no longer the future.

I Want My Music Television vol. LIII

There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Funny the Way It Is - Dave Matthews Band

Somewhat reminiscent of their last video Eh Hee with Dave Matthews getting abused with the camera doing weird speed effects. Well, at least the song is great. A Dustland Fairytale - The Killers Nothing more unintentionally funny then when The Killers try to go for an epic video. But all I could think when watching it is the Enrique Iglesias video Hero (with Mickey Rourke and Jennifer Love Hewitt). Crack a Bottle – Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent Crack a Bottle was really the only party song on Relapse, but leave it to Eminem to make a video that is as creepy as the rest of the album. Under My Bed – Meiko Meikohad me at ninjas hiding under her bed. And holy Abe Lincoln sighting!

Somebody's Broken Heart Become Your Favorite Song

After four albums that didn’t stray very far from their signature sound all produced by Steve Lillywhite (for the sake of this argument, I am including The Lillywhite Session, which would later become Busted Stuff, in this group), this decade, the Dave Matthews Band has teamed up with a new producer for each new album leading to a deviation in their sound. In 2001 they brought in Glen Ballard for Everyday that was very pop oriented. For 2005’s Stand Up they teamed up with Dr. Dre collaborator Mark Batson for a funkier album. For their last studio album of the decade (presumably) Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, they signed up Rob Cavallo, best known for his work with Green Day, as producer leading to some of the heavier work that band has done since Halloween.

But the biggest change for the band since their last album was the death of founding member LeRoi Moore who died during pre-production. Moore opens the album that is named after him but it is unsure on which other tracks where he plays or if it is his stand in on the saxophone Jeff Coffin of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Also joining the band on the album for the first time Rashawn Ross on, who has been touring with the band in recent years, trumpet and for the first time since Before These Crowded longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds adds some electric guitar.

Aside from the extra rock vibe Cavallo brought, recording the album in New Orleans definitely brings out some Cajun flavor in which you can spot before you even press play just by looking at the cover of the album. But that still holds true as the opening with Moore’s sax highlighted with just some drums to accompany it on Grux. As the gut of the album starts with Shake Me Like a Monkey, Rosson’s brass extends that vibe, but it is Cavallo that gets Carter Beauford to bang on his drums maybe harder than he ever has and Matthews gruff voice that makes the track into a rock song.

In what seems to be a tradition for every album, there in another song where Matthews likes to get his freak on and this album Matthews gets over affectionate on Spaceman (certainly not to be confused by the recent The Killers song as DMB’s title character is just trying to get laid). Other highlights on the album and the epic Squirm, a song that just screams to be heard done by the band live. Then there is Alligator Pie that sounds like a leftover from Stand Up, but still is better than most songs on that set and is Matthews at his best incoherent. And it isn’t all rock, Baby Blue may be the sweetest song the band ever recorded.

Though we don’t know the extent of Moore’s involvement in the album, his presence is felt throughout the album. Matthews claims he is still dancing with the GrooGrux King and will see in heaven or hell when his time is up on Why I Am. And it could be deduce that the line from Funny the Way it Is, “Somebody’s heart is broken and it becomes your favorite song” is about Matthews and his fans when it comes to this album. While You & Me is a fitting end to the album that is in full that was a tribute to their fellow comrade.

Song to Download - Spaceman

Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.

Love, You Drive Me to Distraction

Tomorrow sees the release of the first Dave Matthews Band album in four years and Hulu is celebrating by bringing you a streaming concert starting at 8:00 tonight. I am on the other hand is celebrating by induction another one of their albums into the Scooter Hall of Fame, their third time in. This time around the album at the height of their popularity, Crash, gets the honor.

Most of that popularity culls from the smash single Crash into Me which has disturbing been the soundtrack first dance at a few weddings I have attended of my peers. Of course most of the public mistook the ode to a stalker as some sort of love letter. That is not to say there isn’t any truly romantic songs on Crash as the twelve plus minutes where #41 bleeds into Say Goodbye should help anyone get into the mood and even provides you with a good suggestion starter in, “tomorrow, let’s go back to being friends.”

#41 not only is the romantic high on the album, it is the musical high where each five members are given equal moments to shine on the track. The bridge between the two songs even shows that not only is LeRoi Moore is proficient on all four types of saxophones, but he can even bring out a flute when needed.

Crash showed that they could appeal equally to the pop crowd as well as those drawn into the jam band quality. Aside from Crash into Me, So Much to Say and Too Much were quicker and more accessible to the masses than most on the major label debut. On the other hand, songs Two Step and Lie in Our Graves were sprawling epics that even become grander at their live shows usually going well over ten minutes. The disk also featured crowd favorite Tripping Billies that dated back to their independent releases.

If it is 9:00 or later on the east coast, you can watch the previously mentioned Dave Matthews Band concert below.