One Big Library.

This was a very good year for new music. Here are some of my favorites:

Allen Toussaint, The Bright Mississippi. We saw him at the Silver Spring jazz festival. If you were ever looking for a record to use to introduce a non-jazz fan to jazz, this could be it: it's immediately accessible, it's dripping with talent and experience and emotion and That Feel, it references and looks back to tradition while keeping a forward-moving vibe, and above all else Allen Toussaint's playing has this incredible measured-groove touch that I can't get enough of. Do yourself a favor and go get this.

Beirut, March of the Zapotec. Didn't see him. In the past I haven't liked his music much, but I love this part of his 2009 record and have listened to it constantly. This happens once in a while -- I don't like Bright Eyes but I loved "I'm Wide Awake". There's something about the arrangements and vibe and how his voice fits into it all that makes me think I've been missing something.

"La Llorona" New Official Beirut Video from Owen Cook on Vimeo.

Califone, All My Friends are Funeral Singers. I love everything this band does. We saw them at the Rock and Roll Hotel, and it was a terrific show. I just can't believe there weren't more than 100 or so people there. If you get a chance to see them, don't miss it.

califone - funeral singers from Califone on Vimeo.

Do Make Say Think, Other Truths. Saw them at Rock and Roll Hotel, another great show. I couldn't find any videos from this record but here's one of a favorite song from an earlier record, 'You, You're a History in Rust.'

No. 4 Do Make Say Think - "A With Living" from Retread Sessions on Vimeo.

One of the best things about the DMST show was that the opening acts were basically the same musicians in different configurations. One of these configurations was a set of performances of music/recordings from Charles Spearin's Happiness Project. Do yourself a favor and open that link up in another tab, stop reading this, and go check that out. You'll be glad you did.

Grizzly Bear, Veckatimest. Call me a fanboy, I can take it. Hell, ask my family, one of my favorite impressions to do is Michael McDonald, and they released a remixed track with him (!). Check out this video of Grizzly Bear (sans our friend the Doobie Brother) playing in a cab.

Metric, Fantasies. I like every record they put out more than the one before. I saw them in Ottawa at the civic center on a stage, which, essentially, is a hockey rink. I don't understand why they aren't the biggest pop band in the world. Maybe it's better we keep them our big little secret. The kids of the friends I attended the show with mishear the line and chant "everybody just wanna play the wii, play the wii, play the wii", maybe somebody should tell Emily.

METRIC - Sick Muse - OFFICIAL VIDEO from Metric Music on Vimeo.

Neko Case, Middle Cyclone. I liked her earlier records okay but went a little nuts over this one. Still can't get enough of it.

St. Vincent, Actor. I first heard/saw her in a take-away show but was a bit disappointed by the production choices on the first record. I love her sound stripped down with just a guitar. This came out and grabbed me from the first "paint the black hole blacker" backing vocal and I've been hooked since, elaborate arrangements and all. It also made me hear the previous release with new ears, and I like it a lot more now too. Still, love that tight feel of just her and her guitar.

St. Vincent Tour Videos // 01 from Alan Del Rio Ortiz on Vimeo.

Those are my favorite full records of 2009.

I also really liked Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion, particularly "Summertime Clothes" and though it's cliche to say it, "My Girls". The video does the song justice.

Animal Collective "My Girls" from Chad von Nau on Vimeo.

I liked the new Akron/Family, "Set 'em Wild, Set 'em Free" a lot, too, particularly "River". We saw them at the Rock and Roll Hotel, another great show there.

KEXP Session 16.1 - AKRON/FAMILY from More Dust Than Digital on Vimeo.

We live just 5-6 blocks from Rock and Roll Hotel, this tiny little place so many of my favorite bands play. We also saw Apostle of Hustle there, which was a great show with only maybe 40 people in the crowd. They put out a new record this year but I somehow never did hear it. If I did, though, it might be more prominent on this list since I like the earlier ones so much.

I like the latest Dirty Projectors record a lot, too, but none of it as much as the track they did with David Byrne on the Dark Was the Night charity compilation, "Knotty Pine".

Some artists I like a lot came out with new records that never quite stuck for me. A.C. Newman, M. Ward, the Dodos come to mind. I'll give them all another shot, though. The new Fiery Furnaces convinced me that I will just never like them.

There were a few year-old records I listened to a lot more in 2009 that seem worth mentioning again: Joan as Police Woman's 'To Survive', Juana Molina's 'Un Dia', and Deerhunter's 'Microcastle' all stuck in my ear repeatedly.

The National (#1) and Spoon (#6) didn't release records this year, but they are both at the top of my last.fm charts for 2009. Good money's betting on their new records to be my favorites for 2010, easy.

I spend a ton of money on music all the time, and I also download a ton of music all the time for free. Usually I find a way to spend money a "legit way" on artists I spend the most time with, either by buying their records or seeing their shows or, preferably, going to their shows and buying their records from them at their shows. Sometimes I look back and see that I haven't spent a single dime on my very favorite stuff, and this year I want to correct that.

I have never "purchased" a Neko Case or St. Vincent record, nor paid to see either of them perform. I might see St. Vincent in a few weeks, but I might miss her. In any case I don't like not supporting artists as directly as I can.

So: the first five people living in the US or Canada who read this and write me privately (not in the comments! use my email address, i'll use my inbox to judge who's first) with their snail mail address will get a copy of the new St. Vincent or Neko Case records sent to them by me, purchased from the most obviously preferred sales venue available on the artists' own promotional websites. Say which record you prefer. Limit one per person, and I'll do three of one, two of the other, so if you're the fourth person to ask for one you'll be out of luck.

...still you're surprised, 'prised, 'prised, when I eat ya...