Amber's Mid-Year List

My list of favorites keeps shape-shifting but here's my list of top 10 songs as of yesterday afternoon:

Top 10 2009 Songs, at June 28th

1. Sabali, by Amadou & Mariam

2. My Night with the Prostitute from Marseille, by Beirut

3. We are The People, by Empire of the Sun

4. My Girls, by Animal Collective

5. Comme des Enfants, by Coeur de Pirate

6. This Tornado Loves You, by Neko Case

7. Witching Hour, by Goddamn Electric Bill

8. Until We Bleed, by Kleerup

9. Two Weeks, by Grizzly Bear

10. Walking on a Dream, by Empire of the Sun

It's too early in the year to list albums, but there are three that are guaranteed space on my top 10:

- Middle Cyclone, by Neko Case

- Walking on a Dream, by Empire of the Sun

- Merriweather Post Pavilion, by Animal Collective

Half-Way List

I just had a root canal today. To help celebrate, I'm sharing with you my half year list of favorite albums and songs. Thus far, I've found that it's been much more of a "song" year than an "album" year. Coming up with the below list of albums was rather difficult since there haven't been a standout crop of cohesive, straight front-to-back good albums. I will say that I have really enjoyed some of the singles and songs found on a number of the albums listed and not. Most likely the result of iTunes and the single song download phase we're in. I would like to note, that I reserve the right to completely change my mind about some of these, here, choices by year's end.

Enjoy - (Novocaine and Nitrous Not Included):

Artist - Album/Song

ALBUMS

1. Discovery - LP
2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
3. White Rabbits - It's Frightening
4. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
5. Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs - It's Blitz!
6. Grizzley Bear - Veckatimest
7. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast
8. Woods - Song of Shame
9. Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications
10. J Dilla - Jay Stay Paid

SONGS

1. Discovery - "So Insane"
2. Empire of the Sun - "Walking on a Dream"
3. Glasvegas - "Geraldine" (I know, technically this came out last year, but I didn't hear it till this year, so live with it).
4. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah's - "Zero"
5. Phoenix - "1901"
6. White Rabbits - "Lionesse" (The next best thing to Spoon)
7. Franz Ferdinand - "No You Girls"
8. Grizzley Bear - "Two Weeks"
9. Late Of the Pier - "Space and The Woods"
10. Dirty Projectors - "Two Doves" (The first in the pretty song portion of the list)
11. Andrew Bird - "Fitz & Dizzyspells" (The second)
12. Mono - "Follow the Map" (The third)
13. Matt & Kim - "Daylight" (A great little bouncy number. Nice to listen to while walking in the city)
14. Royksopp - "The Girl And the Robot"
15. Mos Def - "Supermagic"
16. Passion Pit - Moth Wings
17. The Bird and the Bee - "Love Letter to Japan" (sugary, syrupy, pop)
18. The Pains of Being Young At Heart - "Young Adult Fiction"
19. Handsome Furs - "Evangaline" (Makes me miss Wolf Parade)
20. Kurt Vile - "Freeway" (The Fourth and last of the pretty songs)
21. MSTRKRFT - "1000 Cigarettes"
22. Peaches - "Talk To Me"
23. The Dream - "Put It Down" (This song is really quite funny, not intentionally, I don't think)
24. Method Man and Redman - "Four Minutes To Lockdown"
25. Asher Roth - "Lark On My Go-Kart" (Yeah, it's frat-ty. He's probably not that good, but he's local and I like the beat)

There you have it. Hope everyone is doing well and is having a nice relaxing summer.