Favorite Albums This Year:
Cracker - Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey Cracker was one my favorite bands in college. In the 90's they released some of the best albums of the decade. Catchy songs with quirky subjects. In the 00's, they seemed to have lost their direction...until this album.

The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love Proof that the album isn't dead. This one was meant to be listened to in one sitting. I included a song in my mix below, but to get the full effect, you should listen to the album.

The Best Songs of 2009

Download zip of all songs | Preview Songs in iTunes

1.	Phoenix Lisztomania
2.	Matt & Kim Daylight
3.	Idlewild Younger Than America
4.	The Decemberists The Rake's Song
5.	Wilco You and I
6.	the dodos Small Deaths
7.	Manchester Orchestra I've Got Friends
8.	Sonic Youth Anti-Orgasm
9.	Yeah Yeah Yeahs Dull Life
10.	Ra Ra Riot Ghost Under Rocks
11.	Tegan & Sara Hell
12.	Neko Case People Got A Lotta Nerve
13.	A.C. Newman Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer
14.	Cracker Turn On Tune In Drop Out With Me
15.	Roman Candle Why Modern Radio Is A-Ok
16.	Metric Satellite Mind
17.	Animal Collective Brothersport
18.	Thao with the Get Down Stay Down Know Better Learn Faster
19.	Passion Pit To Kingdom Come

The downloads were only for a limited time... so those links are down

Almost 10 years ago, I digitized my music collection.

I used to have cases and cases of CDs on display in my room in college. I only knew a couple of people who had more music than I did.

Technology has changed all of that. After I digitized everything, those CDs went into a box, where they stayed until I sold them all online earlier this year.

It was another great year in music. I continue to discover great new artists. Almost half of my favorite songs from the year were from artists that were either new or new to me.

As I’ve blogged about before, I’m a huge music fan, so I was looking forward to the American launch of Spotify

Check out my current July 2011 playlist here.

I have a pretty voracious appetite for music. Financially, renting music makes way more sense for me than buying it. I listen to music pretty much all day at work using MOG. I like to listen through the new releases on Tuesdays, picking out albums to add to my playlist for the month.

Now that I have a few days use out of Spotify, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the two services.

Not a lot of releases today, a deluxe version of U2’s magnum opus Achtung Baby and a new EP from The Decemberists.

I’m really enjoying this new track from Field Music on Stereogum.

Their back catalog is worth a listen if you haven’t heard them before.

Field Music – I Keep Thinking About a New Thing

I keep a running list of my favorite tracks from the year. In December I’ll cull that down into 20 tracks to come up with my definitive top tracks, but for now, it’s at 85. Listen on Spotify.

The Indie Rock Playlist is one of the ways I discover new music every month.

It’s usually posted as a torrent and is mirrored on Usenet. Since I no longer use iTunes or deal with managing mp3 files, I like having a Spotify version.

A couple of months back I started creating a Spotify version. Again, I love Spotify because if I find a track I like, I immediately add the whole album to my heavy rotation playlist.

Only about 60% of the tracks on the list are on Spotify, but it’s better than nothing.

Spotify Playist: Indie/Rock Playlist November 2011 You can find a tracklisting over at The Color Awesome