Best Mix of 2009
THE BEST SONGS THAT YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD IN 2009
These are songs that I have been listening to a lot this year. If you got this, you’re one of my close friends or part of my family. The purpose of this mix is to introduce a lot of my close friends and family to some new music that they may not have heard of. Also, I just wanted to jot down some reasons about why I love certain songs. If you care to read about some of these songs, please do. If you don’t…well, your CD will turn into a Bloodhound Gang Greatest Hits CD in 7 seconds.
Key Note: Make a playlist in iTunes and place all of these songs in it. They should appear in proper order. Then burn a CD of it or place the playlist on your iPod, etc. Whala!
Here’s the link to download the songs: http://www.filedropper.com/bestmixever
30 Seconds To Mars – Kings and Queens
Ya, I just had to start the mix off with an eagle cry. That’s how American I am. No, this song is pure rock. I’ve never really been into 30 Seconds to Mars, but one of our radio reps at the label played this for me a few months ago (they’re on Virgin) and I loved it the first time I heard it. It’s produced by Flood who did some production work with U2. Can you tell? The first time you listen to this, you better listen to it loud from a big sound system. The louder the better.
Passion Pit – Moth’s Wings
I don’t really know what this song is about because I can rarely understand what the singer is saying but it’s a song to listen to when you’re doing an everyday task like typing something out, playing a video game, or running. It’ll make you feel like you’re doing something epic.
Bon Iver – Re: Stacks
What’s amazing to me is this guy’s story. I wanted to completely write him off at first because he sings in falsetto for the entire record & some of the songs are produced in a nonsensical way like a deaf person had some production credits. BUT this song is greatness. See, he moved to the mountains to get over mononucleosis. I’m sure it was a lonely experience, but I can picture him sitting on a porch writing this song & I wish that it was me doing that every time I hear it.
The Rescues – Crazy Ever After
I saw these guys and girls play early this year at a radio conference. I only listened to them because I saw that Rob Giles was in the band, whom I happen to have also seen randomly at Hotel Café in Los Angeles one time. He’s killer, so I sat up front and watched the Rescues play a few songs. They have nice, creative harmonies that made it really easy to sit through to say the least. If you want to check out Rob Giles, get the song “Tamborine.” It’s great. If you like it, get his whole CD…you won’t be disappointed.
Safetysuit – Annie
If I could get away with putting 3 Safetysuit songs on this mix, I would. I’m aware that I probably like them more than the average bear….or person for that matter, but it’s one of my favorite CD’s of 2009. This is a great song, but there are only a couple of songs that I don’t care for on the entire album.
Needtobreathe – Haley
If you haven’t seen this band live, you need to. That being said, Haley is not a new song but it’s always been one of my favorites of theirs and the last tour we did with them reminded me of that.
Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors – Fire & Dynamite
This is basically a Ryan Adams song, which is why I love it. The line “You are a novel in a sea of magazines” is perfect to me. PS – I call dibs as the first person that gets to ask out Ellie Holcomb should her and & Drew’s marriage not work out.
Priscilla Ahn – A Good Day (Morning Song)
This girl reminds me of Imogen Heap or the artist who I like more as Frou Frou. It’s kind of like Priscilla Ahn:Frou Frou::Owl City:Postal Service. How about EXACTLY like that…Postal Service and Frou Frou are both less popular side projects also. Perfect. How ‘bout that? Anyways, it’s a great song if you feel like driving with headphones on or waking up to sunlight bursting through your open blinds.
Griffinhouse – The Guy That Says Goodbye To You Is Out Of His Mind
I jam this song all of the time. Griffin is a great writer but what I love most about Griffinhouse is the guitarist, Clint. He’s a freakin great dude who I had some great conversations with. I thought that this song was an anthem for me for a while, but then I realized that I was wrong. I talked quite a bit with Clint about his marriage, being on the road, and just learning things about yourself and others. It’s a future anthem…we’ll put it that way.
Landon Pigg – Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop
A girl introduced me to this song and I almost let this girl ruin the song for me, but just kind of decided that wasn’t happening. It’s a good one & if he ever writes a song that has completely opposite lyrics that I can dedicate to said girl, I’ll like it even more.
The 88 – No One Here
So I just heard this song the other day on a show, which I will not name because I feel like it’d ruin the song. This song is a gem. I have yet to listen to the rest of The 88’s music, but if it’s anything like this song, I’m sold. This is just a good situational song. Think of yourself in a certain specific situation. It works. If it doesn’t, it’s your fault and your fault alone.
Graham Nash – Simple Man
This is just a classic song. Graham Nash of Crosby, Stills, and Nash wrote a song that happens to be the epitome of a simple folk song. It’s brilliant. The lyrics are genius. The recording is full of character. The piano in the beginning of the song sounds like it’s 50 yards away and just gets closer and closer. I just wish this song were 9 minutes longer.
Pavement – Spit On A Stranger
I also just found this song a couple of days ago. I watched the goofy youtube video of the song that I found, which happens to be a video of the band members just being themselves. It made me like the band a lot more. They are just a bunch of middle-aged nerds that make good music that happens to come to mind, as opposed to writing hits.
Steve Moakler – Cinderella
We played a show with Steve Moakler a while back in Nashville. I had never heard of him before that. He sounds like a mix between Matt Wertz and Andy Osenga to me. This is a pretty cool song. I really like the line “If these are closing statements, I will pry them open and bring dying chances back to life.” However, the next song is the sleeper of the year. Read please:
Sigur Ros – Ara Batur
If I could eat Sigur Ros, I would eat it every meal for the rest of my life. If I could somehow get away with wearing headphones while I experience my entire life, I would listen to Sigur Ros. They make some of the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard in my entire existence. This song is just one of many favorites of theirs. Listen to it all the way through once. Then, the next time you listen to it: put on headphones, turn it up really loud, & let your imagination go wild at 4:30. Close your eyes; you can picture it. This is what it’s going to sound like when you slowly walk up to the pearly gates of heaven, stand there in awe, the gates open, and you walk the streets of gold to this angelic anthem.
Manchester Orchestra – I Can Feel A Hot One
Ok, so I was torn between which Manchester Orchestra song to use. I wanted to use a song called “The River” but it’s almost 12 minutes long. This song is equally as cool though. The lyrics are really poetic in both songs. It’s both a depressing and beautiful song at the same time.
Flickerstick – Blue
This song made the mix because it reminds me of when I was a freshman at UNT, 6 years ago. I would walk around that huge campus wearing my HUGE headphones and jam this whole Flickerstick CD as loud as possible. It didn’t get old to me, it fit that phase, and I didn’t give a crap what anyone thought about me. I was just doing whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It was a pretty awesome, impulsive, freeing lifestyle. That’s what this CD reminds me of. The song really doesn’t have anything to do with that except for the fact that I listened to it a ton back then.
