My songs of 2009
I was inspired to put together a playlist of songs from 2009 that I like, because of the awful NME 2009 Spotify playlist that I caught my girlfriend listening to.
I loathe NME, a magazine that applies a high-school popularity contest to the music business, being at once sycophantic to the trendy kids they’ve labelled “cool” and bullies towards the mainstream kids. They champion an unknown artist until they become popular in the mainstream at which point they suddenly disown them. They are masters of hype, and are responsible for the careers of numerous one hit wonders, who have not the talent to last.
Part of the challenge was to see if I could come up with enough new music that I like, to prove to myself it’s not quite the musical apocalypse a cynic like me might insist. And I succeeded.
This isn’t all music I spent 2009 listening to, I didn’t even know of half these songs until starting the playlist in 2010. My primary source was our office Spotify playlist selected by people much more in the know than I. And thanks to the genius of Spotify I was able to search for and listen to hundreds of songs to pick out my favourites.
Sweet Disposition by Temper Trap was a real anthem of the year, originally championed at work by Matt, I took a while to get it into it, then fell in love.I heard the tracks from Bombay Bicycle Club, Silversun Pickups and Biffy Clyro through work, and listened to their albums off the back of them, but wasn’t nearly as impressed.
I’d previously written off Muse, thinking their best work was behind them, but their album The Resistance proved me wrong. As a previous owner of Phoenix and Royksopp albums, it’s embarassing it took me so long to listen to what proved to be some of the catchiest songs of the year.
Long time favourites of mine Gomez and Athlete both had enjoyable albums, but neither coming close to matching their respective magnum opi “How We Operate” and “Tourist”. I took a long time to come round to Phil’s way of thinking about Mumford and Sons, but “Little Lion Man” proved too good to deny, asking has the word “fuck” ever been used so beautifully to convey emotion in a song before?
I cheated by including Ladyhawke and her songs from 2008, but for me they were firmly in 2009 at Latitude festival. The Arctic Monkeys underwhelmed me by not redelivering on the awesome riffs of their last album, but “Crying Lightning” was good enough to make the cut.
And finally I decided to include a song that destroys any notion that I might have “cool” music taste. Because I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” immensely catchy.
I listened to a lot of music that didn’t make the playlist, most of which was too forgettable to remember. For example, I tried but couldn’t get excited about Them Crooked Vultures. I surely missed something, so please let me know what other songs I should have included, and which ones you don’t think deserve their place.
To listen to my playlist Two Thousand And Rhyme click here, here and here.
The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition
Phoenix – Lisztomania
Bombay Bicycle Club – What If
Metric – Gold Guns Girls
Biffy Clyro – Mountains
Mumford & Sons – Little Lion Man
Gomez – Mix
Ladyhawke – My Delirium
Phoenix – 1901
Basement Jaxx – Raindrops
Röyksopp – Vision One
Muse – Uprising
30 Seconds to Mars – Kings and Queens
Bat For Lashes – Daniel
Metric – Help I’m Alive
Ladyhawke – Paris Is Burning
Röyksopp – The Girl And The Robot
Laura Marling – Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)
Mumford & Sons – The Cave
Athlete – The Getaway
The Temper Trap – Science Of Fear
Jay-Z + Alicia Keys – Empire State Of Mind
Kasabian – Underdog
Arctic Monkeys – Crying Lightning
Silversun Pickups – Growing Old Is Getting Old
Taylor Swift – Love Story
