With no grave but the stage (Pat’s favourite songs of 2009)
It’s that time of the year again.
Part of me wants to sight and stop right now. Every year nerds like me put together “best of” lists at the end of a year and pretend like anyone gives a damn. I’ve been vacillating on whether or not it’s really worth the time this year and I think I’m doing it more out of tradition than anything. There’s just so much I still haven’t listened to enough yet I know it likely isn’t entirely representative. Maybe I’ll put out an amendment list at the end of January or February if anything changes, but I’ll let you know.
Anyway, to start things off I’m putting forward a couple of mix tapes’ worth of my favourite songs of 2009.
The first disc is entitled “The Worst CD of 2009.” That is a representative title. It is entirely influenced by the last four months of my life, in which I’ve been attempting to cope with the fact that I got dumped after seven years. I listened to a lot of sad songs after that happened and at some point I started to notice there was a lot of them from this year. After a couple more months I started noticing that a lot of them resonated very strongly with me, almost like they were written about my situation. Hell, one song even talks about a relationship that ends after seven years. What you’ll get in this download is a revised tracklisting that deviates pretty heavily from the original line-up I first put together. I gave that mix to a couple of people and they said it was depressing and almost made them want to kill themselves. So I revised it a bit, put a few upbeat songs at the beginning instead of starting off with the most depressing song on there and that seemed to take the edge off a bit. I think it takes some of the power away, but its probably for the best. I don’t want anyone to drive into an overpass while listening to it.
There’s also a rising action in the last three songs that helps to bring the listener out of the darkness gradually; the Why? track represents a growing sense of self, the Matheson cut is one of the most tender and genuine love songs ever, and O Pioneers!!! close out with a track (originally written about here) that really helped me remember that there are things out there besides misery and self-pity.
Get it here: the Worst CD of 2009
1. the Lawrence Arms - the Slowest Drink In The Saddest Bar On The Snowiest Day In the Greatest City
2. Hayden - Let’s Break Up
3. Cory Branan - the Corner
4. Chuck Ragan - Rotterdam
5. the City Streets - Jane Gallagher
6. Jill Barber - Old Flame
7. the Wheat Pool - Nervous Bird
8. Austin Lucas - Go West
9. Mike Hale - Lives Like Mine
10. Chad Price - This War
11. the Wheat Pool - Selfish Gun
12. Drag the River - Jeff Black Song
13. Dojo Workhorse - Laval Street
14. Why? - Eskimo Snow
15. Jesse Matheson - We Don’t Have To Go Home
16. O Pioneers!!! - Put On A RRRRecord
The second is much more upbeat: “the Opposite of the Worst CD Of 2009.” It has a lot of rock and roll and some punk nonsense on it and isn’t thematically built in any way. Its just a catchy effing mix.
Download it here: the Opposite Of The Worst CD of 2009
1. Library Voices - the Book of Love (Magnetic Fields cover)
2. Neko Case - This Tornado Loves You
3. Girls - Lust For Life
4. Two Hours Traffic - Painted Halo
5. Phoenix - 1901
6. the Danks - 374
7. the Dudes - Mr. Someone Else
8. Propagandhi - Dear Coach’s Corner
9. Strike Anywhere - Omega Footprint
10. Dan Auerbach - Mean Monsoon
11. Laura Stevenson & the Cans - It Ceases To Be “Whining” If You’re Still “Shitting Blood” (Bomb The Music Industry! cover)
12. Attack In Black - I’m A Rock
13. Metric - Gimme Sympathy
14. Hawks and Doves - I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover)
15. the Wheat Pool - Italy
16. Deep Dark Woods - All The Money I Had Is Gone
17. Cory Branan - Walk Around
18. Said The Whale - Out On The Shield
19. the Rest - Walk On Water (Auspicious Beginnings)
20. the Bronx - Quinceniera
21. Flight of the Conchords - Carol Browne
22. Bob Mould - Life and Times
23. Polar Bear Club - Chasing Hamburg
Both come with a document that contains a track listing, album and label information, and links for purchasing. Use them!
And yeah. I’ll be back sooner or later with a more thorough run-down of which LPs are worth your time in 2009.
