Okay, not better, but hopefully a bit different than most lists out there. 2009 was not my favorite year for music or for Jennifer Garner/Matthew McConaughey romcoms, but we’ll save that hot-button topic for another day. For the most part, the belles of the blog ball left this cranky old fella yawning, not fawning — either too twee or too quirky or just too lifeless, take your pick — but I won’t harp on that. I’m here to offer you only sparkling gems and I promise not to mention any of the listless turds of ’09 like Monsters of Folk, Wilco and Kings of Leon, I swear, not a peep about them. Here’s the goodness in no particular order.

Click song link to download. Click arrow to play. Click CD title to buy.

Malcolm Middleton – “Subset Of The World”
CD: Waxing Gibbous

Tegan and Sara - “Hell”
CD: Sainthood

The Lawrence Arms – “The Slowest Drink At the Saddest Bar on the Snowiest Day in the Greatest City”
CD: Buttsweat and Tears

Propagandhi – “Night Letters”
CD: Supporting Caste

Sky Larkin – “Molten”
CD: The Golden Spike

Kevin McAdams – “A Different Kind of Love Song”
CD: “It’s My Time to Lose My Mind”

Obits – “Pine On”
CD: “Good Friends, Bad Habits”

Owen – “Good Friends, Bad Habits”
CD: New Leaves

Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man”
CD: Sigh No More

Chris Wollard And The Ship Thieves – “All the Things You Know”
CD: Chris Wollard & the Ship Thieves

Tortoise – “Prepare Your Coffin”
CD: Beacons Of Ancestorship

No Age – “You’re a Target”
CD: Losing Feeling

Ted Leo – “Even Heroes Have To Die”
CD: The Brutalist Bricks (March, 2010)

The Bomb – “The Kids”
CD: Speed Is Everything

Paint It Black – “Bliss”
CD: Amnesia

O Pioneers!!! – “The Architect of Disney World”
CD: Neon Creeps

Frank Turner – “The Road”
CD: Poetry of the Deed

Maserati - “Monoliths”
CD: Passages

We Were Promised Jetpacks – “Quiet Little Voices”
CD: These Four Walls

Mystery of Two – “Repeat It”
CD: Mystery of Two

Mission of Burma – “1, 2, 3, Partyy!”
CD: The Sound the Speed the Light

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – “Bells of Creation”
CD: The Century of Self

Bonus Videos!

Hell from Tegan and Sara

Sky Larkin – Molten

Tortoise – Prepare Your Coffin from Thrill Jockey Records

Owen – good friends, bad habits from Hobbledehoy Record Co

Munford & Sons – ‘Little lion man’ from Ben Magahy

We Were Promised Jetpacks – Quiet Little Voices from WWPJ

Guest: Jon Solomon of WPRB.

Topics: Jon Solomon’s Annual 24-Hour Holiday Radio Show, Reunited Bands (Good Ones), Tegan and Sara Love, Albert Brooks & Comedy Minus One, Old Comedy Records, Gallagher Too, Macho Man Randy Savage & Top-notch Wrestling Music, Professional Radio Voices, Remembering Jerry Fuchs, Horrible All Star Tributes.

Playlist: Tegan and Sara, White Rabbits, Kurt Vile, Obits and Maserati

Preview: “Have you ever been in a fight with another radio guy?” and “I like radio… and basketball… and watching Dr. Who.”

Play Now: http://www.usedwigs.com/pod/podcast69.mp3

iTunes: Download, Listen and Subscribe

Website: www.usedwigsradio.com

Related Links: View here!

Massive Marionettes! The Big Picture photo blog never disappoints. Enjoy these larger-than-life photos of France’s Royal de Luxe street theatre company celebratining the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The show featured “two massive marionettes, the Big Giant, a deep-sea diver, and his niece, the Little Giantess.”

Jazz Up Your Wall: The Jim Flora website  is offering three hand-printed 2010 calendars.

Stay With It, Fun Payoff: Roland Emmerich’s 2012 With the Special Effects Removed.

Patton Podding: Took a long drive down to Delaware recently to visit the Dogfish Head Beer HQ for a little race and I loaded up my iPod with some time-passing podcasts. (FYI, Milton DE is a little over 2 hours from Philly at 5am in the morn.)  I listened to the Todd Glass podcast “Comedy and Everything Else…” for the first time and I enjoyed it. Check out this exceptional episode with the great Patton Oswalt as he tells some great war stories about being a comedian and gives solid advice to the the new crop of funny people like, “You have no excuse to not succeed!”

Make My Logo Bigger! And while you’re at it, get me some White Space Eliminator.

Baby Cage! And 30 other Dumb Inventions of The 50s and 60s.

Yakov 2.0: RussianPaul is all aTwitter and he makes some excellent points:

“dogs are mean yes i know it. in Russia we say it ‘do not be mean to friends or bears will foop in your boots and eat your hands together’.”

“have you seen the Mr. Phil show? it is so dumb and he is yelling at people and saying how they need to be fixed! he should wear a hat.”

“beef hunglers are for making you happy after hard days. you can frye them when listening to GORKY PARK for extra ecxiting times! volga boatm.”

Fanatictastic! Big Phoot

Art: Phoning It In: David Hockney’s iPhone Passion

Food Gawker: Vegetarian

Need New Music? Follow @FreebieMP3 for free, legal MP3s from Mission of Burma, Glorytellers, Of Montreal, Aimee Mann, Strung Out & more.

Scarier Than Birthers? Really?: 10 insane doomsday cults that still exist

It’s a Graveyard Smash: Get your paws on some Monster Mash Putty!