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...

Succumbing, but not on the 'book. And unable, natch, to stop at 50.

Rush
Marillion
John Prine
Arlo Guthrie
John Mellencamp
Billy Joel
Ray Charles
Sonny Rollins x2
Los Lobos x3
The National x3
Los Super Seven
Jane's Addiction
Jesus and Mary Chain
Philip Glass
Al Jarreau
Pat Metheny
Henry Rollins
Soundgarden
Ice Cube
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Pearl Jam
Ministry
Frank Morgan x2
The Books x2
Los Cubanos Postizos x2
Marc Ribot
Broken Social Scene x2
The Shins
Arcade Fire
Son Volt
Bob Mould x2
Wilco x2
Chris Lightcap Quintet x2
Tony Malaby Trio 
Craig Taborn Quartet
Steve Turre Shell Choir
James Carter Quartet x3
McCoy Tyner
Geri Allen
Buckwheat Zydeco
Robert Cray
George Winston
Johnny Mathis
Carl Perkins
Tim Berne's Big Satan
Ken Vandermark
Dave Brubek x2
Eliane Elias
Beans
Tortoise
Apostle of Hustle
Mark Kozelek
Bang on a Can All-Stars x2
Moxy Früvous
Norah Jones
Christopher O'Reilly doing Radiohead
Sufjan Stevens
Butch Morris Conduction
Honeyboy Edwards
Clogs
Bell Orchestre
Varnaline
Spoon
Juana Molina
Brian Wilson
Buddy Guy
Dave Matthews Band
Jeff Buckley
Morphine x2
Sugar
Jimmy Page
Santana
Los Van Van
The Iguanas
The Radiators
The Black Keys
The Pogues
Joe Jackson x2
sfSoundGroup
kd lang
The Orchid
Alejandro Escovedo
Guy Clark
The Cult
Metallica
Bruce Cockburn
The Jayhawks
R.E.M.
Throwing Muses
Richard Thompson x2
Bruce Springsteen
Bo Diddley
The Decemberists x2
Max Roach
Nick Brignola
Cubanismo
Vinx
Stars
Animal Collective
The Hold Steady x2
Cesaria Evora
Jim Hall
Califone x2
Ramblin' Jack Elliott
David Broza
Etta James
Joshua Redman
The Evens
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Jon McDonald
Bela Fleck
Lyle Lovett x2
Mike Seeger
Warsaw Village Band
Leon Russell
George Shearing
Joe Pass
Joe Williams
Diane Schuur
Emily Haines
John Trudell
--- updated 2009-10
Akron/Family
Mose Allison
Jandek
The Stills
Metric
Do Make Say Think

"Summertime Clothes" by Animal Collective, on their new record Merriweather Post Pavillion. It's hard to imagine that these guys could write a cliche pop song, but I'll be damned if it doesn't make me all magically happy, singing the Panda Bear harmonies at the top of my lungs every time I hear it.

It's only January, but if there's going to be a better song released in 2009, it'll have to be super bettery better.

Maybe the test of a record that really grabs me is how many multiples of ten it lasts the "at least once per day" test. This was a year with several 1s, but not really any 2s. Which makes it a down year, but that's okay... there was a lot of good new stuff to listen to in 2008. There were also several records that just never quite kicked in for me.

New records I liked a lot in 2008:

• To Survive, Joan as Police Woman
• In Ear Park, Department of Eagles
• Un Dia, Juana Molina
• We Brave Bee Stings and All, Thao Nguyen
• Fleet Foxes
• Dear Science, TV on the Radio
• Retribution Gospel Choir
• Everything that Happens, Byrne and Eno
• Med Sud ..., Sigur Ros
• The Renaissance, Q-Tip
• Provisions, Giant Sand

Old records I liked a lot for the first time, for whatever reason, in 2008:

• Go Home, Art Ensemble of Chicago
• Dublin Blues, Guy Clark
• For Emma, Bon Iver (it came out in 2007, right? i just heard it this year)
• Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen
• Adobe, Tony Malaby

New records I didn't like that much in 2008, even though there are several reasons one might presume I would have liked them quite a fair bit actually:

• Stay Positive, The Hold Steady
• Vivian Girls
• Microcastle, Deerhunter
• Nouns, No Age
• Rip it Off, Times New Viking
• At Mount Zoomer, Wolf Parade
• April, Sun Kil Moon
• Volume One, She and Him
• The Stand Ins, Okkervil River
• Field Manual, Chris Walla
• Receivers, Parts & Labor

New records I might like but haven't really heard enough of yet in 2008, and plan to hear more of, but just haven't yet, and I'm fixin' to correct that, honest:

• Dig Lazarus Dig, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and the Exclamation Points
• Third, Portishead
• A Thousand Shark's Teeth, My Brightest Diamond
• Break Up the Concrete, The Pretenders
• There's Me and There's You, Matthew Herbert Big Band
• Real Animal, Alejandro Escovedo

We didn't go to very many shows this year, but of the ones we did see, Guy Clark performing on the mall was a highlight. Not because it was over-the-top great or anything, but because of just how damned good he is. It was ridiculously hot, he was wearing a cast and was in obvious pain, but he worked through all the favorites the crowd called for, graciously, and sounded great throughout. Not to mention his impeccable songwriting and playing to begin with.

You spoke, I listened. It's

...to be honest, that was probably going to be it from the beginning. Though I was also thinking Crowded House, and the votes were pretty well equal. This way, though, I won't have to ask you again for at least 5-8 more records.