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

Interviews: Music: Nickodemus, Comedy: Bert Rotundo of Generation Awesome

Topics: UsedWigs Live Recap, The Fleeting Fame of Megan Fox, Golf Ruins Everything, LARPing, Todd Gets Angry at Magazines, Pavement, Doug Benson’s “I Love Movies,” iPhone ToyCamera, iPhone Pano and Paste Magazine.

Playlist: Kevin McAdams, Oppenheimer, Nickodemus, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks

Preview: “Giant forearm tattoos? They’re so out.”

Play Now: http://www.usedwigs.com/pod/podcast63.mp3

iTunes: Download

Your Clients Stink! Every last one of of ‘em! Here’s another very bad client video.

Don’t End Up Here: Someday Twitter will be populated with informative, fun and  self-deprecating tweets ONLY (oh, and the occasional website plug, of course).  Until then, this new website must exist: “Where self-important tweets get the recognition they deserve”: http://tweetingtoohard.com

Design: Love me a logo with a surprising little visual twist: Why these Popular Logos take the Cake

Cheese Rolling is X-treme: Who knew?

Super Powers Activate! Two of my most favorite living humans, Dave Hill and Walter Schreifels, joined  forces this past weekend to play some explosive and devastating rock music (Walt’s new solo stuff and older stuff from Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand, Rival Schools, and Walking Concert) in Philly (Khyber) and Boston (Who cares). Read recap from Dave here: Rocking The Eastern Seaboard.

Go Conan Go! Very excited for the Conan O’Brien Tonight Show! Only watched the Leno version a couple times and was amazed just how incredibly unfunny the show was, especially since Leno is a funny stand-up. That’s what pandering to the LCD gets you. Tsk tsk.

Anyway, Conan will keep the absurd edge, especially since he’s got ol’ Andy back… and hopefully Triumph… and Frankenstein… and the Slip Nuts… and the bear in the diaper that plays with himself…  and a lot more of this…

Lens: The New York Times Launches Full-Screen Photo Blog

“After more than a year in development, The New York Times launched a large-format photo blog Monday to showcase photojournalism projects. Lens, as the new blog is called, joins a growing field of sites that showcase photo projects that might not be able to find a home in print.” (via PDN)

Putting on Your Dancing Shoes! And listen to the “Earliest-Known Recording”!

Off the Wall: Enjoy some astonishing 3D murals painted on the sides of buildings by a trompe l’oeil artist, John Pugh.

The World’s Most Expensive and Complex Medical Device! Inside The Cancer-Cell Smasher

Blind Item: Did a local Philly Comedian bomb in the future? WTF?

We Were Promised Jetpacks: A killer band name for a killer band. Loving the big raw sound, sweeping hooks and the booming Glaswegian accent in full force.

Fun Time: Guaranteed!

Phrase of The Day: Cubicle Graveyard

Free MP3: Jay Farrar and Son Volt just makes life better.  Download:  “Down To The Wire” (via muzzleofbees)