The 11 Best Songs By The xx

This summer Jamie xx will have us up raving all night with his new album.  It’s already easily one of the best albums of the year but there is still something missing.  I don’t know if it’s the appearance of his xx band mates on a few random songs that makes wish this was a full xx album…or if it’s the appearance of his xx band mates who make me wish this was a full Jamie xx album.  When something leaves us wanting more, it’s only because it’s great.  We don’t wish for excess of mediocrity.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The xx:

  1. Shelter (The xx)
  2. Islands (The xx)
  3. Intro (The xx)
  4. Chained (Co-Exist)
  5. Sunset (Co-Exist)
  6. VCR (The xx)
  7. Crystalised (The xx)
  8. Reunion (Co-Exist)
  9. Night Time (The xx)
  10. Heart Skipped A Beat (The xx)
  11. Hot Like Fire (The xx)

Buy Jamie xx’s new album, In Colour now!!!

 


 

The 111 Albums of 2009

Well, here it is…the annual epic 111 best albums of 2009…as voted on by you.   Usually it’s a close race…but this year, Animal Collective ran away with it.  In fact, the entire top ten was leaps and bounds above the rest.  And…if you have a problem with the list…then blame yourselves…you’re the ones who voted.
 
See ya, next decade!!
 
Here are the 111 Best Albums of 2009:
1.  Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
2.  The xx – xx (Crystalised BBC)
3.  Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
4.  The Antlers – Hospice  (Kettering)
5.  Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (1901 live)
6.  Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (The Bride)
7.  Wilco – Wilco (the Album)
8.  Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz (only $5.00)
9.  Metric – Fantasies (Help Im Alive)
10. Girls – Album
11. St. Vincent – Actor
12. Pearl Jam – Backspacer
13. Japandroids – Post Nothing
14. Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk
15. White Rabbits – It’s Frightening (Percussion Gun daytrotter)
16. Modest Mouse – No One’s First and You’re Next
17. Bob Dylan – Together Through Life
18. Built To Spill – There is No Enemy
19. Silversun Pickups – Swoon
20. Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew
21. Morrissey – Years of Refusal
22. The Dead Weather – Horehound
23. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
24. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
25. Cage The Elephant – Cage The Elephant
26. Regina Spektor – FAR
27. Fanfarlo – Reservoir
28. Various Artists – Dark Was The Night
29. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Beware
30. Passion Pit – Manners
31. Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring
32. Mos Def – The Ecstatic
33. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
34. The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You
35. K’naan – Troubadour
36. Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years
37. M. Ward – Hold Time
38. Sunset Rubdown – Dragon Slayer
39. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
40. Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
41. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport 
42. Samantha Crain – Songs In the Night 
43. David Gray – Draw The Line
44. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
45. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown (Know Your Enemy Colbert Report)
46. The Pains of Being Pure of Heart – POBOH
47. Karen O and the Kids – Where the Wild Things Are
48. Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
49. Devendra Banhart – What Will We Be
50. The Swell Season – Strict Joy
51. Why? – Eskimo Snow
52. Julian Plenti – …is a Skyscraper
53. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains (Cold Spring)
55. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms
56. Mew – No More Stories Are Told Today
57. Fun. – Aim and Ignite
58. The Horrors – Primary Colours
59. Conor Oberst – Outer South
60. Crystal Method – Divided By The Night  (only $5.00)
61. Miike Snow – Miike Snow
62. The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love
63. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
64. Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3.0
65. The Mountain Goats – Life of the World To Come
66. Dan Deacon – Bromst
67. Florence and the Machine – Lungs
68. Weezer – Raditude
69. Mastodon – Crack the Skye
70. Say Anything – Say Anything
71. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below
72. Trail of Dead – Century of Self
73. Paramore – Brand New Eyes
74. Sonic Youth – The Eternal
75. Handsome Furs – Face Control
76. Wavves – Wavves
77. Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light (only $5.00)
78. Maxwell – BLACKsummer’s Night
79. Von Bondies – Love, Hate and Then There’s You
80. Deer Tick – Born On Flag Day (Straight Into A Storm)
81. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
82. Muse – The Resistance
83. The Mars Volta – Octahedron
84. Cut Off Your Hands – You and I
85. Tanya Morgan – Brooklynati
86. Brand New – Daisy
87. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
88. The Black Crowes – Before The Frost…Until the Freeze
89. The Fray – The Fray
90. Roman Candle – Oh Tall Tree In The Ear
91. Band of Skulls – Baby Darling Dollface Honey
92. U2 – No Line on the Horizon
93. Placebo – Battle For the Sun
94. Various Artists – Ghana Special (1968-91)
95. Gogol Bordello – Live from Axis Mundi
96. Flyleaf – Memento Mori (only $5)
97. Taking Back Sunday – New Again
98. Third Eye Blind – Ursa Major (only $5.00)
99. Jack Penate – Everything Is New
100.             Levon Helm – Electric Dirt (only $5)
101.             Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
102.             Dananananaykroyd – Hey everyone!
103.             El Grupa Nueva De Omar Rodriguez Lopez – Cryptomnesia
104.             Raekwon – Only Built For Cuban Linx P2
105.             Wale – Attention Deficit (only $5.00)
106.             Franz Ferdinand – Tonight
107.             Matt & Kim – Grand ($5.00)
108.             Memory Tapes – Seek Magic
109.             Drake – So Far Gone (only $5.00)
110.             Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
111.             Tegan and Sara – Sainthood

The 11 Best Albums of 2009 1-11 (Part 5):

So here it… the best 11 albums of 2009…according to me.

But if you want a voice…then it’s time to vote on your favorite albums. Next week, I will publish a list of the 111 best albums of 2009…according to you…my readers.

If you want to vote…just put your top 20 albums in the comment section anywhere on the blog.

Here are the 11 Best Albums of 2009: 1-11 (Part 5):
1. The xxThe xx
2. Samantha CrainSongs In the Night (Devil’s in Boston)
3. Wilco Wilco (the Album)
4. MorrisseyYears of Refusal
5. The AntlersHospice (Kettering)
6. The Low AnthemOh My God, Charlie Darwin (Ticket Taker)
7. Built To SpillThere is No Enemy
8. The Swell SeasonStrict Joy (Low Rising)
9. Crystal MethodDivided By The Night
10. Metric Fantasies
11. Von BondiesLove, Hate and Then There’s You

The Unknown: the xx & JJ

Two of the hottest bands this late summer are the goth-folk experience known as the xx…and the world-influenced bubble pop of JJ.  Their success is due to the simplified approach to music making…that bigger isn’t necessarily better.  And the brevity of their names is a perfect example of how little you need to do to get your point across.  But they are not the first to try their hand at the double letter naming…in fact there are already a long line of suitors.
The xx:  Stars
Here are the 11 best double letter artists:
1.  B.B. King
2.  LL Cool J
3.  ZZ Top
4.  Dee Dee Ramone (okay…a little cheat)
5.  A. A. Bondy
6.  C.C. Deville (Poison)
7.  GG Allin
8.  TT Quick
9.  AAVV
10.  WW
11.  PP Arnold
Buy debut albums from the xx and JJ now.