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#3 – Röyksopp – Junior

Röyksopp has quickly become one of my favorite bands and as not only this year but this decade comes to a close, I definitely look at them as defining these past ten years for me. Their first album, which contained the infectious “Remind Me” single seen on the Geico caveman commercials proved to deftly strike a harmonious balance between the electronica-cation of pop music and the mellow grooves of bands like Air and Zero 7. Their next album, The Understanding, treaded far more upbeat waters. The collaborative duo behind Röyksopp claimed Junior to be a hybrid of the previous two albums, but save for two tracks, it’s mostly a continuation of The Understanding formula. Not that that’s a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. The opening single, “Happy Up Here”, “The Girl and the Robot”, and “Tricky Tricky” are all addictive dance hits that will get even the whitest white boy moving to their beats. “Vision One” opens with a pretty keyboard intro and rhythmic drum tap before moving into the vocals. …

Some of these are highly personal selections, some are critical. There's a lot I haven't heard... maybe I will, maybe I won't. At the end of the day, this is me in list form. What a decade of music.

TOP 25 ALBUMS FROM 2000-2009

25. Fantasy Black Channel - Late of the Pier
24. Seven Swans - Sufjan Stevens
23. Revolution in Me - Siobhan Donaghy
22. Hopes and Fears - Keane
21. Folklore - Nelly Furtado
20. Lycanthropy - Patrick Wolf
19. Bright Like Neon Love - Cut Copy
18. Junior - Röyksopp
17. Aaliyah - Aaliyah
16. Chemistry - Girls Aloud
15. Rated R - Rihanna
14. Black Cherry - Goldfrapp
13. Confessions on a Dance Floor - Madonna
12. Overpowered - Róisín Murphy
11. Ghosts - Siobhan Donaghy

10. The Tension And The Spark - Darren Hayes
09. Funeral - Arcade Fire
08. Anniemal - Annie
07. American Life - Madonna
06. Lungs - Florence + the Machine

05. White Lilies Island - Natalie Imbruglia
04. Arular - M.I.A.
03. …

25. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You
24. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career
23. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
22. Dan Deacon - Bromst
21. Shakira - She Wolf
20. Paloma Faith - Do You Want the Truth or Something Beautiful?
19. The Veronicas - Hook Me Up
18. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
17. Datarock - Red
16. Fever Ray - Fever Ray
15. Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
14. Jack Peñate - Everything Is New
13. The xx - xx
12. Annie - Don't Stop (and All Night EP)
11. Vienna Teng - Inland Territory

10. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
These French indiepop personages have been around for a fair few years, but 2009 seemed to be when they finally broke-through and hit the hype lists big time. And with good reason. The title makes sense when you get to the majestic Love Like a Sunset, the epically-constructed two-track centrepiece which uses computer bleeps and growling guitars to build into a delicate, powerful percussion piece, with a vocal and guitar finale which is hard to come down from. …

No scrobbling from a mp3 player was counted...

1. Live Alone, 38 plays
2. I'm Not Calling You a Liar, 32 plays
2. You've Got the Love, 32 plays
2. Cosmic Love, 32 plays
2. My Boy Builds Coffins, 32 plays
2. Bricks and Mortar, 32 plays
2. Katherine Kiss Me, 32 plays
8. Papillon, 31 plays
8. Kiss With a Fist, 31 plays
8. Turn It On, 31 plays
8. Bite Hard, 31 plays
8. Blinding, 31 plays
13. Walk the Fleet Road, 30 plays
13. Twilight Omens, 30 plays
13. Send Him Away, 30 plays
13. Dog Days Are Over, 30 plays
13. Howl, 30 plays
13. Between Two Lungs, 30 plays
13. Hurricane Drunk, 30 plays
20. The Big Exit, 29 plays
20. Drumming Song, 29 plays
20. Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up), 29 plays
23. Dreamscape, 28 plays
23. You Don't Know Love, 28 plays
23. What She Came For, 28 plays
23. Space And Time, 28 plays
27. Fantasy, 27 plays
27. In This Light and on This Evening, 27 plays
…

It's that time of year again. I've always loved keeping track of my own top musical acts and tracks, and I'm so glad I have last.fm to make it easy.

As in years past, I'm also listing the top track(s) and top album(s) for each artist in my top 50, and the position those tracks and albums attained in my charts for 2009. If you see some tracks with the same position number (likewise for albums), it's because they were tied for that position.

As usual, I listened to a mix of new and old music in 2009. Some of it was new to me, but released a few years ago. Some of it was released this year. And there are always some favorite oldies on my charts.

The past two years, Fefe Dobson was my top artist. This year, she's not even in the top 5. I decided to give Sunday Love a break and listen to some other stuff. Which artists topped Fefe this year? Which artists earned the top spots on my 2009 artist, album, and track charts? Read on to find out!

#50: Amy Macdonald 146 plays
Top track: Let's Start A Band track #183
…

This year, particularly in music, was an odd year for me. The first half of the year was dominated by electronic music, whether it be electro-rock, airy dream-pop tunes, or retro lo-fi synth-pop. I finally attended the Ultra Music Festival after years of wishing that I could go. The festival was a great time and Miami is a fantastic city. The second half of the year involved a major shift to indie rock, freak folk, shoegaze, and post rock. While I still listened to electronic-influenced music, it was mostly combined with indie elements. This shift was likely a result of getting a radio playlist show on Indiespot on Metaphoric (check out my main page for information), which has me consistently looking for brand new alternative and indie tunes and artists. Fun times…but without further ado, here is my 2009 Year in Review.

To make the top albums list somewhat easier for myself, I’m going to split my list into an overall top list and a more electronic-focused list. It seems to be the only way I can manage to figure this out. …

1.Stillness Is the Move - Dirty Projectors
2.Dog Days Are Over - Florence And The Machine
3.Lisztomania - Phoenix
4.French Navy - Camera Obscura
5.Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear
6.Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
7.Walkabout (feat. Noah Lennox) - Atlas Sound
8.The Girl and the Robot - Röyksopp
9.1901 - Phoenix
10. Method Of Modern Love (Richard X Join Our Clique Mix) - Saint Etienne

11.Ambling Alp - Yeasayer
12.Crystalised - The XX
13.Sweet Disposition - The Temper Trap
14.Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) - Florence And The Machine
15.Useful Chamber - Dirty Projectors
16.While You Wait for the Others - Grizzly Bear
17.Tightrope - Yeasayer
18.First Time High (Reconstructionist Remix of "An Eluardian Instance") - Of Montreal
19.Vision One - Röyksopp
20.Coast of Carolina - Telekinesis!
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21.Lust For Life - Girls
22.Ready for the Weekend- Calvin Harris
23.One Hand Holding - The Maccabees
…