That’s right, Russ’s favorite. Not claiming to be an exhaustive list or a definitive list. So don’t tell me it was criminal of me to ignore the latest Jimmy Buffet album. It was downright heroic.

1. Tegan And Sara – Sainthood
2. Avett Brothers – I and Love and You
3. Passion Pit – Manners
4. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
5. Bishop Allen – Grrr…
6. Langhorne Slim – Be Set Free
7. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
8. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
9. Kings Of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence
10. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
11. Boy In Static - Candy Cigarette
12. Metric – Fantasies
13. Nickodemus – Sun People
14. Rodrigo Y Gabriela – 11:11
15. Sufjan Stevens – The BQE
16. The Swimmers – People Are Soft
17. Maserati – Passages
18. Joe Henry – Blood from Stars
19. Bidiniband – Land Is Wild
20. Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below

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!

Hell yeah! The ladies’ new CD, Sainthood, is excellent. Get your mitts on it now. Satan commands you.

Also enjoy this “making off” video,  fun stuff:

Behind the Scenes of Hell from Tegan and Sara

Attention parents of children who like to hop around to good music: Want to spend a fun hour or so with your kiddie and the computer? Well then, fire up the old Dell, close your depressing Quicken screen and check out the fun-packed Pancake Mountain website.

It’s “cleverly disguised as a children’s TV show” that makes fun of our absurd culture, features an awesome puppet (Rufus Leeking) and rocks out with outstanding musical guests who play live while a bunch of cute kids and adults bop around. Musical guests have included: Tegan and Sara, Arcade Fire, Anti-Flag, Ted Leo, Craig Wedren, X, The Evens (Ian MacKaye), Fiery Furnaces, Wolfmother and many many more! Please note: You do not have to have a child to enjoy.

Pancake Mountain Introduction:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE3M6EFldAc[/youtube]

Jenny Lewis On Pancake Mountain:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXSyztgPQi0[/youtube]

The Go! Team perform on Pancake Mountain:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q6sd5z2pRo[/youtube]

Built To Spill Rocking On Pancake Mountain:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLHOwrYdLls[/youtube]

Many more on the PM youtube channel!