Half of the year is done for, leaving us with a lot of music! Whether it's been a wonder or dreadful is undecided.. and that's where the Org comes into play.

What have been your favorites from 2009 so far?

EPs



Deradoorian - Mind Raft
Abe Vigoda - Reviver
BLK JKS - Mystery
Deerhunter - Rainwater Casette Exchange

Albums




There's a mess of albums in my collection that haven't been given enough of a listen to detemine their positions quite yet. But these are tops so far.

Music is dead. No one is buying CDs anymore.

here's what's gotten 3.5 or more stars from me on rateyourmusic.com this year

Maxwell - BLACKsummers'night (4)
Various Artists - Dark Was The Night (4.5)
Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted to Sin (3.5)
Bat for Lashes - Two Suns (5)
Super Furry Animals - Dark Days / Light Years (4)
Pet Shop Boys - Yes (3.5)
Depeche Mode - Sounds of the Universe (3.5)
Peaches - I Feel Cream (3.5) -- coulda swore i gave this more. maybe not.
Prince - MPLSOUND (4)
Prince - Lotusflow3r (4.5)
Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (3.5)
Platinum Pied Pipers - Abundance (4)
Melinda Doolittle - Coming Back to You (4)
U2 - No Line on the Horizon (3.5)
Morrissey - Years of Refusal (3.5)
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (4)
Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light (4)
Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP (4.5)


Prince, Bat For Lashes, Dark Was The Night, and Peaches have definitely gotten the most play by me.

Working On A Dream ~Bruce Springsteen
No Line On The Horizon ~U2
The E.N.D. ~Black Eyed Peas

and this isn't from 2009 but i just discovered it

We Started Nothing ~The Ting Tings
[Edited 7/21/09 21:33pm]

errant said:

I like what I've heard from the DWTN comp.. Yeasayer, The Books w. Jose Gonzalez, Dave Sitek, The Dirty Projectors w. David Byrne, the title track.. but haven't listened to whole thing entirely.

Similar cases with Animal Collective and Pet Shop Boys.

I've really fallen behind with Tori.

I've been eyeing that PPP release for awhile..

IshmaelB said:

Then again, all of my purchases have been digital, so maybe you have a point.

InsatiableCream said:

I like all of the singles, but haven't heard the album.

The Calvin Harris remix of "Great DJ"

It's been pretty boring. There's nothing so far that has attained the effortless lyrical brilliance of "Lollipop" or the penetrating revolutionary funk of "In the Ayer" from '08. But Scarlett Johansson's new album is due in September containing duets with that guy who sang a song for the Me, Myself & Irene soundtrack. From what I've heard it is conceptual and will follow a storyline, like Usher's 'Confessions' or NiN's 'Year Zero', so looking forward to it.

errant said:

i LOVE that collection

2009? So far: Horrible.

My personal sooundtrack so far for 2009 would be like this...

1. Colonized Mind - Prince
2. Attention! - Van Hunt
3. Milk & Honey - Goapele
4. My Love - The Dream & Mariah Carey
5. Pretty Wings - Maxwell
6. Valentine - Ryan Leslie
7. Home - Bria
8. Knock You Down - Keri Hilson, Ne-Yo, and Kanye West
9. Boom - Prince
10. Love Like Jazz - Prince
11. Quiet Dog - Mos Def
12. Stop the World - Maxwell (rising quickly!)
13. 4Ever - Prince
14. Sugar - FloRida w/ Wynter (I'm so ashamed - but I heard it while drunk in a club!)
15. Let Me See the Booty - The Dream w/ Lil Jon

I've given up on modern music. It's nothing.

This year I've enjoyed a few songs from Beyonce (Halo, Sweet Dreams), discovered OneRepublic's 2007 album, which was brilliant, discovered Lifehouse's Who We Are album, also brilliant and pretty much just drowned myself in Michael Jackson's music.

U2
Morrissey
Therapy?
Mastodon
Maximo Park
Simple Minds
Manic Street Preachers

For me it's been one of the better years in recent history for music, so far.

I consider it a 'good year' (musically speaking) if it garners at least two gems. For me, 2009 has already done this with U2's "No Line On The Horizon" and Prince's Lotusflow3r set. And while I like the "Lotusflow3r" album more than "MPLSOUND," "Dance 4 Me" is, imho, the best thing he's done in a long, long time.

I'll probably dislike that trio boob shadow album by Mariah, but I also know I'll buy it. Even "Mimi" had a nice track or two.
[Edited 7/22/09 6:15am]

Lily Allen - It's Not Me It's You
Pet Shop Boys - Yes
Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted

Hudson said:

Damn, forgot about that one, that album is amazing

fever ray - fever ray





dangermouse & sparklehorse - dark night of the soul





bat for lashes - two suns






antony and the johnsons - the crying light






animal collective - merriweather post pavilion






maxwell - black summer's night part 1






various artists - dark was the night






prince - lotusflower [single disc, retail version]





[Edited 7/22/09 9:32am]

These are my favorites so far... 2009's been a great year.

Abnormally Attracted to Sin - Tori Amos
Fantasies - Metric
Swoon - Silversun Pickups
The Eternal - Sonic Youth
Lotusflow3r - Prince
Actor - St. Vincent
Together Through Life - Bob Dylan
Foot of the Mountain - a-ha
It's Blitz - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King - Dave Matthews Band
Yes - Pet Shop Boys
BLACKsummers'night - Maxwell
Two Suns - Bat for Lashes
No Line on the Horizon - U2
Fork in the Road - Neil Young
Between My Head and the Sky - Yoko Ono
Far - Regina Spektor
Primary Colours - The Horrors
Sara Watkins - Sara Watkins
White Flags of Winter Chimneys - Wendy & Lisa

Relapse - Eminem (only the beats)
Lotusflow3r / MPLSound / Elixer
BLACKsummers'night - Maxwell

Pretty good so far.

Off the top of my head, I've been loving:

Wussy
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Prince (LotusFlower)
Clem Snide
Mos Def
Serengeti
Pet Shop Boys

And I lot more I've liked (Passion Pit, Phenomenal Hand Clap Band, Regina Spektor, Lily Allen, Moby)
[Edited 7/22/09 15:02pm]

WaterInYourBath said:

I know.

WaterInYourBath said:

I know.

Marrk said:

Things are getting worse.

Maxwell
Ben Harper & Relentless 7
Prince

Marrk said:

Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs - Under the Covers Vol. 2

Great, just like the first one. Terrific covers of classic power-pop/rock tunes. Their voices work awesome together and it has a very raw, stripped-down old school rock feel to it. Great stuff, I hope they continue doing these.

errant said:

these have been among my highlights as well

IstenSzek said:

it was late at night, it was hot, the fireflies were out, i was having a few beers. it was the perfect soundtrack.

I didn't purchse any 2009 album so far except Prince's so here are the singles I liked:
Kevin Rudolph-Let It Rock
Lilly Allen-The Fear
TI/Justin-Dead And Gone
The Fray-You Found Me
MGMT-Time To Pretend
Metro Station-Shake It
Annie Lennox-Shining Light
La Roux-In For The Kill
La Roux-Bulletproof
The Pet Shop Boys-Love Etc
Noisettes-Don't Upset The Rhythm
Noisettes-Never Forget You
Depeche Mode-Wrong
Bat For Lashes-Daniel
Soulja Boy Tellem-Kiss Me Thru The Phone
Keri Hilson-Knock You Down
Katy Perry-Waking Up In Vegas
Veronicas-Untouched
Lady Gaga-Paparazzi
Lady Gaga-Love Game
Linkin Park-New Divide
Jordin Sparks-Battlefield
Freemasons/Sophie-Ellis-Bextor-Heartbreak Make Me A Dancer
Gossip-Heavy Cross
Arctic Monkeys-Crying Lighting
Green Day-21 Gurns
Shakira-She Wolf
Jason Aldean-She's Country
Lady Antebellum-I Run To You
Drake-Best I Ever Had
Young Money-Every Girl
Shinedown-Second Chance
Dierls Bentley-Sideways
Nickelback-If Today Was Your Last Day
Florence & The Machine-Rabbit Heart
The Zac Brown Band-Whatever It Is
Cascada-Evacuate The Dancefloor
[Edited 7/24/09 2:48am]