And finally…

#10:
Antichrist
written & directed by Lars Von Trier

#09:
Moon
written by Duncan Jones & Nathan Parker
directed by Duncan Jones

#08:
A Serious Man
written & directed by Joel & Ethan Coen

#07:
Das Weiße Band
written and directed by Michael Haneke

#06:
Fish Tank
written and directed by Andrea Arnold

#05:
Un Prophète
written by Thomas Bidegain & Jacques Audiard
directed by Jacques Audiard

#04:
In The Loop
written by Harold P. Manning & Armando Iannucci
directed by Armando Iannucci

#03:
Inglourious Basterds
written and directed by Quentin Tarrantino

#02:
Bronson
written by Brock Norman Brock & Nicolas Winding Refn
directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

#01:
Humpday
written and directed by Lynn Shelton

As with the gentlemen, it was equally as hard for me to pick just ten performances that I loved.  I’m still hoping to see Mo’Nique in Precious and Penélope Cruz in Broken Embraces as soon as possible, but this list will just have to do without them.

#10:
Paz De La Huerta
The Limits Of Control

#09:
Meryl Streep
Julie & Julia

#08:
Robin Wright-Penn
The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee

#07:
Evan Rachel Wood
Whatever Works

#06:
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Antichrist

#05:
Mélanie Laurent
Inglourious Basterds

#04:
Tarra Riggs
Ballast

#03:
Vinessa Shaw
Two Lovers

#02:
Carey Mulligan
An Education

#01:
Katie Jarvis
Fish Tank

I’ll begin today’s film-centric posts with my favorite acting performances by the guys.  I’m upset that I still haven’t had the chance to see certain movies and missed supposedly life changing performances by actors such as Colin Firth (A Single Man), Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) or even Patton Oswalt (Big Fan).  Still, it was hard to choose just ten performances from 2009, but here they are.

#10:
Sam Rockwell
Moon

#09:
Jeremy Renner
The Hurt Locker

#08:
Michael J. Smith, Sr.
Ballast

#07:
Jesse Eisenberg
Adventureland

#06:
Joaquin Phoenix
Two Lovers

#05:
Peter Capaldi
In The Loop

#04:
Tom Hardy
Bronson

#03:
Tahar Rahim
Un Prophète

#02:
Michael Stuhlbarg
A Serious Man

#01:
Christoph Waltz
Inglourious Basterds

#25:
Royal Bangs:
Let It Beep
(City Slang)

#24:
Beirut/Realpeople:
March Of The Zapotec/Holland EP
(Pompeii Records)

#23:
VEGA:
Well Known Pleasures EP
(Vogue College)

#22:
A.A. Bondy:
When The Devil’s Loose
(Fat Possum)

#21:
Holopaw:
Oh, Glory. Oh, Wilderness.
(Bakery Outlet)

#20:
Junior Boys:
Begone Dull Care
(Domino)

#19:
Scary Mansion:
Make Me Cry
(Talitres Records)

#18:
Justin Townes Earle:
Midnight At The Movies
(Bloodshot Records)

#17:
Magnolia Electric Co.:
Josephine
(Secretly Canadian)

#16:
Rain Machine:
Rain Machine
(Anti-)

#15:
Crystal Antlers:
Tentacles
(Touch & Go)

#14:
Dirty Projectors:
Bitte Orca
(Domino)

#13:
Washed Out:
Life Of Leisure EP
(Mexican Summer)

#12:
Fever Ray:
Fever Ray
(Rabid Records)

#11:
Kid Cudi:
Man On The Moon: The End Of Day
(Universal Motown)

#10:
Here We Go Magic:
Here We Go Magic
(Western Vinyl)

#9:
Yeti Lane:
Yeti Lane
(Clapping Music)

#8:
Nurses:
Apple’s Acre
(Dead Oceans)

#7:
Molina & Johnson:
Molina & Johnson
(Secretly Canadian)

#6:
Bombadil:
Tarpits And Canyonlands
(Ramseur Records)

#5:
Jeremy Jay:
Slow Dance
(K Records)

#4:
Ramona Falls:
Intuit
(Barsuk)

#3:
Blackout Beach:
Skin Of Evil
(Soft Abuse)

#2:
Elvis Perkins In Dearland:
Elvis Perkins In Dearland
(XL Recordings)

#1:
Grizzly Bear:
Veckatimest
(Warp)

And that about wraps up this particular list.  Once again, here are Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed them.  Thanks for playing, folks.

#10:
Dirty Projectors: “Two Doves”
(from Bitte Orca / Domino)

While the majority of the internet’s Pitchfork devotees cream themselves over Amber Coffman’s stunning Mariah Carey-ish take on “Stillness Is The Move” (and rightfully so), I will always plant my feet firmly in the corner of Dirty Projectors’ “other” female vocalist, Angel Deradoorian.  With a sound that conjures up thoughts of only the best moments in Nico’s all too bizarre solo career outside of The Velvet Underground, “Two Doves” shows off a much gentler side to Brooklyn’s latest superheroes not so evident in any of their current or past discography.  If Wes Anderson hasn’t already secured the rights to this song for whatever he chooses as the follow-up to Fantastic Mr. Fox, then it’s high time Dirty Projectors begin scouting for a brand new publicist.

#9:
BLK JKS: “Lakeside”
(from Mystery EP & After Robots / Secretly Canadian)

Those who’ve written off BLK JKS in one sentence as “Africa’s not so impressive answer to TV On The Radio” only to spend four days perfecting 3000 words on the sheer brilliance of The Antlers’ Hospice (HA!) will probably have trouble finding their way back into my good graces.  ”Lakeside” is a triumphant, haunting song that embraces four separate styles of traditional African music while translating them into a modern, ambient masterpiece.

#8:
St. Vincent: “The Strangers”
(from Actor / 4AD)

I didn’t want to like Actor.  In fact, the only reason I gave it a listen was specifically with the intention to gather information to mock Annie Clark’s newest attempt to latch on to the zombies marching behind the Leslie Feist fanclub banner.  After a few spins of the record, I admitted to a select few that her new music “wasn’t all that bad this time around”.  After hearing her interview and live performance on Sound Opinions, I became an unapologetic fan.  Give me outstanding lyrics like “desperate don’t look good on you, neither does your virtue” or the simple, plaintive “paint the black hole blacker” over heavily-processed Reason beats and the strains of an angelic choir and I’ll always be hooked.

#7:
Grizzly Bear & Victoria Legrand: “Slow Life”
(from The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack / Atlantic Records)

From the moment Ed Droste first teased over his recently deleted Twitter account that Grizzly Bear had recorded a track with the Beach House songstress, there was no doubt in my mind that whatever brainstorms the group arrived at together would be nothing short of tremendous.  Still, I was not prepared for the unmitigated beauty that “Slow Life” pushed over my ear drums upon my first listen.  As if in a state of sublime shock, I made no further efforts to listen to the song a second time for well over a month out of fear that I’d dreamt the entire beatific experience.  This song showcases five musicians at their creative pinnacle and crowns them as some sort of east coast million dollar quintet.

#6:
Akron/Family: “Everyone Is Guilty”
(from Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free / Dead Oceans)

Pretend, for a moment, that you are a member of Akron/Family in 2007. You’ve established yourself as one of the pre-eminent forefathers of the burgeoning “freak-folk” movement of the mid-2000’s and firmly secured a permanent place in the heart of Swans and Angels Of Light mastermind Michel Gira when your chief songwriter and founding band mate decides to up and quit in order to move to a Buddhist Dharma Center somewhere in the midwest. While many bands would crumble in light of a situation like this, Akron/Family buckled down and recorded the finest record in their impressive canon. “Everyone Is Guilty” is the type of song that usually works better on paper and fails miserably in practice. Leaping from one style to the next with little or no preparation, mixing enough frustrating time signatures to confuse even the most studied math rock enthusiasts and employing a wealth of instrumentation that rivals a small orchestra, there is no reason to believe that this song should work on any level whatsoever. Thankfully, it does. And it doesn’t just work in some lighthearted sense of the word, it will fucking floor you.

#5:
Drake: “Best I Ever Had”
(from So Far Gone EP / Universal Motown)

Drake’s probably right when he brags that his “buzz so big, I could probably sell a blank disc.”  In the last week alone, he’s shown up in the new Kid Cudi video, announced a huge remix collaboration with The-Dream and spent the rest of his time working on new tracks with Lil’ Wayne.  At it’s heart, “Best I Ever Had” is kind of a silly, romantic song with a tremendous dirty streak that ambushes you.  Drake doesn’t so much spit rhymes over his tracks, like his frequent collaborator Lil’ Wayne, as much as he wanders in and out of his songs, lazily cramming chunks of words over stuttering beats.  But that’s the thing: without his unique delivery and without the sampler’s-almost-out-of-batteries beat style he employs, this would just be your average, everyday R&B/hip-hop track.  Drake establishes his roots firmly in old school hip-hop while at the same time elevating the genre to a whole new level.

#4:
Fever Ray: “When I Grow Up”
(from Fever Ray / Rabid Records)

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ain’t got nothin’ on Karin Elisabeth Dreijer Andersson.

#3:
Elvis Perkins In Dearland: “Hours Last Stand”
(from Elvis Perkins In Dearland / XL Recordings)

The one and only perfect religious moment in the entirety of music in the year 2009 occurs deep inside of “Hours Last Stand” when Elvis Perkins sings “midnight, midnight in the cat’s eyes and to the devil, the chicken spirit flies, finally, not so unlike the dove, the hours last stand is in your hands.”  Go find that moment and never let it go.

#2:
Cass McCombs: “You Saved My Life”
(from Catacombs / Domino)

Cass McCombs has always crammed his records with lush instrumentation, filling them to the brim with sound.  While it’s often led to some quite lovely results, his past efforts have never felt completely realized to me, more half finished than anything.  On Catacombs, he’s wisely stripped down his sound and let the effortlessness of his songwriting shine through instead of covering it in a slick sheen of over-arranging.  Somewhere in there, he found the time to pen what should be the ultimate middle school slow dance song, but will most likely be overlooked for some random Adam Lambert ballad.  This is the kind of song that could have inspired John Hughes to write a whole new slate of generation-defining teen movies.  It’s a shame that we’ll never have the opportunity to see what could have been…

#1:
Junior Boys: “Parallel Lines”
(from Begone Dull Care / Domino)

There was almost never any question that this would end being my top song of the year, even as far back as early January.  A somewhat brief story to illustrate: Late one evening towards the beginning of the year, I was driving home after a particularly long and stressful day.  Upon exiting onto the off-ramp closest to my house, a Washington state trooper rolled up along side of me in his shiny, rain-streaked cruiser.  Being a two-lane off-ramp, we mirrored each other all the way towards the traffic light at the end of the ramp.  As we both stopped for the red light, I happened to look to my left in the direction of the trooper and made eye contact.  He then made an undeniable international sign with his hands that could only have meant, “roll down your fucking window, now!”  Not wanting to further agitate a cop that already appeared to be sufficiently pissed, i complied with his hand gesture and quickly rolled down my window.  At this point, I also made the decision to lower the volume of my stereo by a rather large measure as I realized that he might not share in my appreciation of the booming bass that was rattling my car’s speakers.  He yelled one sentence into my open window before he pulled away from the off-ramp, leaving me behind.  The sentence?  ”FUCKING TURN THAT SHIT DOWN OR I TAKE YOU IN!”  The song?  ”Parallel Lines” by Junior Boys.  Ladies and gentleman, the goddamn song of the year…at least, in my somewhat humble, over-stated opinion.

And thus begins part two.  If you missed part one of this list, head back this-a-way.  Not much else to say here right now, so let’s just get on with it…

#20:
Magnolia Electric Co.: “It’s Made Me Cry”
(from It’s Made Me Cry 7” EP / Secretly Canadian)

In a year filled with so many Jason Molina-related releases, it’s hard for me not just to crown him the king of everything and make this list a Top 30 Jason Molina songs of 2009.  ”It’s Made Me Cry” is a rare succinct Magnolia Electric Co. track that clocks in at a scant 1:13.  With many of his past songs stretching out towards the ten minute mark, I feared that he might not be able to pack in the usual depth and emotion of his previous works in such a short amount of time.  Instead I learned one more thing about the man I consider to be the world’s greatest living songwriter: don’t ever fucking doubt him.

#19:
Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse & Julian Casablancas: “Little Girl”
(from Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night Of The Soul / Unreleased)

Where the hell was this song when everyone used LiveJournal?

#18:
The-Dream: “Put It Down”
(from Love vs. Money / Def Jam Recordings)

Toeing that same fine line that’s made R. Kelly a household (or is it jailhouse?) name, The-Dream has either made the sexiest song of the year or the creepiest depending on which day you decide to toss it on the stereo.  You have to hand it to a guy who can rhyme “monster truck”, “shawty, what’s up?”, “white tee on a thug” and “put your mu’fuckin’ hands up” and not just keep it from sounding ridiculous, but make it sound this good.

#17:
Local Natives: “Airplanes”
(from Gorilla Manor / Infectious Records)

Let’s get one thing out of the way here: this track has one of the worst seven second intros that I’ve ever had the displeasure to hear.  Like, bad enough that in this distracted age of the internet and the way-too-easily-deleteable-MP3 file, the Local Natives will be lucky if anyone sticks with this song past the 4 second mark.  However, those who do will be rewarded by one of the better uses of percussion in a year that saw a bombastic overkill of tribalific drums.  From there the song washes over you like you’ve been humming it’s melody all of your life.  But that intro.  Seriously.  Fuck.

#16:
Yeti Lane: “Lonesome George”
(from Yeti Lane / Clapping Music)

I’m not sure how these three gentleman, formerly of Cyann & Ben, got from the sound of their previous group to the sound employed by Yeti Lane, but every day I’m tempted to write each of them an overly-ecstatic, handwritten letter thanking them for making whatever happened…um, happen.  Not that there was a single thing wrong with Cyann & Ben…it’s just….have you heard this song?  Good god, that looping guitar hook alone should be enough to inspire at least 15 kids a day to start indie pop bands.

#15:
Bon Iver: “Blood Bank”
(from Blood Bank EP / Jagjaguwar)

The narrative behind Justin Vernon’s debut record as Bon Iver was so deeply ingrained into the sound of the music on that album caused me some worry that any departure from that particular arrangement might not benefit any new music he recorded.  Somehow, he recorded four songs that sound like they were written behind an even larger wall of snow, even deeper out in the woods and immersed in a more powerful sense of loss.  ”Blood Bank” doesn’t just rival the songs from For Emma, Forever Ago, it surpasses them and confirms that we should have many, many great years of Justin Vernon music to come.

#14:
Fabolous: “Throw It In The Bag”
(from Loso’s Way / Def Jam Recordings)

I can’t lie.  I heard this song on Halloween and thought that maybe it was some sort of Halloween-based hip-hop song.  You get it?  Just throw it in the bag?  You know…candy and shit?  After quickly picturing an attempt to shove white Mercedes Benz CLs and Louis Vitton merchandise into one of those old McDonald’s McBoo pumpkin candy carriers, I let such foolish thoughts go and reveled in the decadence of this track.  Over a disturbingly tight Christopher “Tricky” Stewart beat, Fabo utters the line we all wish we could: “Fuck the price on the tag, just throw it in the bag.”

#13:
Holiday Shores: “Phones Don’t Feud”
(from Columbus’d The Whim / Twosyllable Records)

People have long argued that Animal Collective is basically the sound of The Beach Boys experimenting with some sort of fantastic drug.  The biggest problem with that statement is that almost all of the members of The Beach Boys WERE consistently whacked out on some combination of drugs.  I only know three things for sure about Holiday Shores.  One, they hail from Tallahassee, Florida.  Two, their album, Columbus’d The Whim, sports one of the more creative turns of phrase.  And three, THIS is what The Beach Boys would sound like had they been granted an all-access pass to the drugs of today.  Laid back, effortless, lazy guitar riffs with a healthy aggregation of poolside vocal wails.  Can I just add that I’m really, really tired of hearing about Animal Collective?  Shit, and I’m a fan.

#12:
Grizzly Bear: “All We Ask”
(from Veckatimest / Warp)

Occasionally, I wonder if anyone else on the planet has the same dilemma with Grizzly Bear that I do.  I often get to the point of 1960’s teenage girl John Lennon or Paul McCartney arguments with myself over Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen.  If I’m being honest, I almost always end up hanging around Ed’s side of the fence, but I’d always been an unapologetic Lennon enthusiast until about five years ago when I took the long and winding road (see what I did there?) to Paul’s side, so obviously things can change.  ”All We Ask” offers the best of both of these insanely talented songwriter/vocalists in an utterly stunning display of beauty that few others can currently match.

#11:
Toro Y Moi: “Blessa”
(from Blessa 7” / Carpark Records)

Remember when you first discovered that one dial on your parents’ car radio that switched the balance back and forth between the left and right speakers?  Remember how much fun it was to make a song bounce back and forth between the right and left?    If you didn’t watch it, you could spend all afternoon annoying the shit out of everyone within earshot.  Put on a Beatles record for a few minutes and there’s a good chance you could send someone into a fit that would require a visit to some sort of mental facility.  Chaz Bundick (aka Toro Y Moi) has chosen to never forget that sweet, innocent part of his youth and “Blessa” is that much better of a song for it.  (I realize that what I just wrote had very little to do with the actual song, but by now, I think you’re starting to get the point: I really fucking dig these songs.)

This year’s best of lists start with what is always the hardest one for me to compile.  After going through all the records, EPs, singles, etc. I was left with 186 songs that made me flip my shit in 2009 and a scorned galley of songs just waiting in the wings for…something.  Eventually, I painfully boiled that group down to 30, the first ten of which I present to you today.  You can listen to each one by clicking the little, red sideways triangle next to each song title.  Here we go.

#30:
Fires Of Rome: “Dawn Lament”
(from You Kingdom You / The: Hours)

The most aggravating part about “Dawn Lament” is that it’s a pretty fucking horrible representation of the rest of Fires Of Rome’s You Kingdom You.  Go ahead, try and make it past the third track on that record, I triple-dog dare you.  On a positive note, this is easily one of the finest leadoff tracks of the year.  If after one listen you don’t have at least five hooks from this song roaming around in your head for days, you obviously were not listening carefully enough.

#29:
DOOM: “That’s That”
(from Born Like This / Lex Records)

With lines like “Trees is free, please leave a key, these meager fleas, he’s the breeze and she’s the bee’s knees, fo sheez” and “DOOM rock your grandma like Kumbaya” flowing over the best RZA beat that the RZA never produced, what else do you need?

#28:
Best Coast: “That’s The Way Boys Are”
(from Sun Was High (So Was I) 7” / Art Fag Recordings)

This lo-fi shit got a bit out of control this year which ultimately led to some fantastic cassettes and seven inches, but invariably spawned some truly deplorable ones.  Thankfully, Bethany Cosentino appears to have done the homework on exactly which Phil Spector records she should take to heart.

#27:
The Black Heart Procession: “When You Finish Me”
(from Six / Temporary Residence)

Though it would be nearly impossible to make words like “If you miss me, don’t say a word, don’t waste your time, don’t expect me, just get rid of me, just drain me, don’t look for me, don’t touch me, don’t come visit me, don’t say a word” sound anything but despondent, when Pall Jenkins sings them he sounds downright bereaved.  Oh yeah, if you aren’t completely sure about who The Black Heart Procession are, they’re the band whose name will always be listed next to the names of members of Modest Mouse, Three Mile Pilot and Ugly Cassanova in the “Also A Member Of” section.  A fucking crime, for sure.

#26:
Bosque Brown: “This Town”
(from Baby / Burnt Toast Vinyl)

Since that first Regina Spektor record appeared, the stock of female, piano-driven power pop has risen dramatically.  What separates Mara Lee Miller from the dearth of Chan Marshallists flooding iTunes is that Texas swagger in her voice, the crackly sound of her recordings and this exceptional song.  Show me a better song about a small town from 2009 and I’ll mail you a fancy piece of paper with the words “YOU’RE WRONG” typed neatly in the center.

#25:
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros: “Home”
(from Up From Below / Vagrant Records)

There are two things about Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros that still throw me off.  First, that I discovered the band in an issue of Wired magazine.  Second, that’s the guy from Ima Robot?  No fucking way.  ”Home” is a remarkably fun song.  Don’t believe me?  Has your band ever had this much goddamn fun playing on Letterman?

Didn’t think so.

#24:
White Rabbits: “Percussion Gun”
(from It’s Frightening / TBD Records)

Despite the fact that White Rabbits appear to have stolen Jonny Greenwood’s guitar tone from Hail To The Thief and Thom Yorke’s sneering vocal delivery, it seems to have succeeded in inking them a deal with the same label that distributed Radiohead’s In Rainbows.  Throw in two drummers, handclaps, a sick bass line and a rolling piano lead and you have an incredibly exciting opener in “Percussion Gun”.  Months after first hearing it, the way the word “know” is snarled during “I know which way to run” still sends shivers up my spine.

#23:
Rain Machine: “New Last Name”
(from Rain Machine / ANTI-)

I don’t know Kyp Malone personally at all.  Listening to “New Last Name” makes me wish that I did, if only so that I don’t feel so awkward invading this private confessional of a song.  You and your friends can spout off all day about the daringness of Lady Gaga and her ensuing anointment as the next Madonna, but few artists have the guts to put everything inside of them right out on the table the way that Kyp does.  Naked, for everyone to see.

#22:
Washed Out: “Feel It All Around (Toro Y Moi Remix)”
(from Feel It All Around Single / Pure Groove)

Call it chill-wave.  Call it glo-fi.  Call It no-fi.  Who cares?  This is one amazing downtempo artist remixing another amazing downtempo artist and knocking it out of the fucking park.

#21:
Laura Gibson: “Spirited”
(from Beasts Of Seasons / HUSH)

Right after Laura Gibson sings “When the seasons settle in our lungs, they’ll harden us, they’ll cover us in crows, but cannot wash the laughter from our tongues” a huge guitar riff boils up from underneath the song.  She sings so sweetly and delicately that every time I arrive at that transition, I fear that it’s going to rip her apart.  Please don’t hurt Laura.