a.m.p.m.'s Best of 2009

Like Marc, my initial 'best of' playlist for 2009 was big enough for two albums (and then some). After painstakingly cutting selections to narrow it down to a sub-80 minute collection, here's what I came up with. I think it works pretty well in the order presented, but that's just personal taste. Click on the artist for the MySpace page, the track name for the mp3.

1. jj - things will never be the same again

2. Japandroids - Sovereignty

3. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction

4. Wild Beasts - This Is Our Lot

5. Lightning Dust - Wondering What Everyone Knows

6. Bibio - Lovers Carvings

7. Mew - Beach

8. St. Vincent - The Strangers

9. Julian Casablancas - Glass

10. The xx - Crystalised

11. The Very Best - Kamphopo

12. Girls - Lust For Life

13. The Antlers - Sylvia

14. Mos Def - Priority

15. Animal Collective - My Girls

16. Fever Ray - Seven

17. The Cribs - Cheat On Me

18. Grizzly Bear - While You Wait for the Others

19. Phoenix - Armistice

20. Handsome Furs - Radio Kaliningrad

21. The Rural Alberta Advantage - In the Summertime

Grab the whole thing here as a zip file.

I'll post the runners-up as a separate mix shortly.

Let's Pretend It's Friday Five

A few tracks I've been listening to lately:

Bibio's album Ambivalence Avenue is one of my summer favourites. Remember Badly Drawn Boy? This track is like that, but better.

Bibio - Lovers Carvings

Slow Club's much-anticipated album Yeah, So was released on Moshi Moshi earlier this month. It's really good.

Slow Club - Trophy Room

Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig finally teams up with Esau Mwamwaya for his project The Very Best - how amazing is this album going to be?

The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa

You can take the boy out of Canada but you can't take Canadiana out of the boy. I'm a huge fan of the Tragically Hip's more recent work; it seems they've really hit their stride since In Violet Light and new album We Are The Same is incredible.

The Tragically Hip - The Last Recluse

You'd be forgiven for assuming that three white Australian dudes would create god-awful hip hop. Hilltop Hoods are happy to prove everyone wrong. State of the Art was released last month and it's actually very, very good.

Hilltop Hoods - Still Standing