Category: 2009 Indie Songs

The year 2009 was a blockbuster year for indie and alternative music. In fact, there were so many amazing releases, we are still allocating time and resources to make sure you didn’t miss out on some of the best songs and albums of the year, a good chunk of which are pretty hard to find anywhere else.

But first, if you haven’t already, we encourage you to browse through the many playlists of 2009 songs that we’ve already published – including literally hundreds of songs featured in regular mixes, such as Ears to the Music, In Dee Mail and 2009 Indie Songs mixes.

In addition to those existing playlists, we’ll be publishing more songs from 2009 (not already featured on IRC) for at least a few more weeks. The sheer volume of fresh tracks from 2010 are beginning to slowly build up, most of which – so far – have been featured in our Best New Releases of the Week series.

Today’s playlist mix includes notable tracks from 2009 that we didn’t have time to present in 2009, so hopefully the caliber of the music will compensate for the minor annoyance of “looking back.”

“Forgive Me” – Le Loup from Family

“Running Away” – The Perms from Keeps You Up When You’re Down

“Nunya (Beeswax)” – Netherfriends from Calling You Out

“Puzzles” – The Mary Onettes from Islands

“All My Exorcisms” – Beaujolais from Admirations

“Wherever I Run” – The Vision from s/t debut

“She’s a Genius” – Jet from Shaka Rock

“The Number” – Woods from Songs of Shame

“Airport Surroundings” – Loney Dear from Dear John

“Woman Pin Down” – Dan Satch and his Atomic 8 Dance Band from Black Man’s Cry

In our on-going look back at our favorite songs from 2009, we are now on Vol. IV, highlighting singles we posted about in April 2009. To follow all of the installments of this series – there will be 12 in total – you can check out the landing page for Favorite Indie and Alternative Songs of 2009. Enjoy.

“Misfits & Mistakes” – Superchunk from Leaves in the Gutter EP

“Sacred Trickster” – Sonic Youth from The Eternal

“Ithaca” – Deleted Scenes from Birdseed Shirt

“Chug Along” – Trainwreck Riders from The Perch

“Pale Bride” – The Von Bondies from Love, Hate and Then There’s You

“Unfold” – Julie Peel from Near The Sun

“Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up” – The Strange Boys from …And Girls Club

“Inagural Trams” – Super Fury Animals from Dark Days/Light Years

“New Love Grows on Trees” – Peter Doherty from Grace/Wastelands

“The Strangers” – St. Vincent from Actor

“Traps and Traps” – Oceans from Nothing Collapses

“Calculator” – Micachu & The Shapes from Jewellery

“A Boy and His Genius” – Lima Research Society from Don’t Give Up, Don’t Get Down

“Melt Down The Knives” – Sin Fang Bous from Clangour

“Fearless Vampire Killers” – Fearless Vampire Killer

“Lessons” – downdime from Knowing Too Much

“The Sun Goes West” – The Faraway Places from Out of the Rain, the Thunder and Lightning

“From The Hips” – Cursive from Mama, I’m Swollen

“The Letter” – The Veils from Sun Gangs

“On This Day” – Robert Gomez from Pine Sticks & Phosphorus

“Land of Freak” – King Khan and The Shrines from From What Is?!

“Drowning” – Tara Jane O’Neil from A Ways Away

“Starry” – Throcke from Sometimes Not Unpointful
“Do You Hide From Saturday Night” – Litt’lans from Primitive World

“Throwin Away My Money” – Wayne Hancock from Viper of Melody

“Workin’ at Workin'” – Wayne Hancock from Viper of Melody

Volume Three of ours and your favorite songs of 2009 continues with songs that came out or were featured on IRC during March 2009. Some songs that would otherwise be represented are not because their MP3 links expired, but still this is a playlist still full of great tracks.

“Middle Cyclone” – Neko Case from Middle Cyclone

“Forgot Love” – Public Radio from Sweet Child

“Dimmer” – Bishop Allen from Grrr…

“Strictly Game” – Harlem Shakes from Technicolor Health

“Lalita” – The Love Language from s/t debut

“The Letter” – The Veils from Sun Gangs

“A Balloon On A Broken String” – The Boy Least Likely To from The Law of the Playground

“Easy” – Deer Tick from Born On Flag Day

“Living Time Like These” – Pinstripe 45s from s/t debut

“Running with the Wasters” – The Takeover UK from Running with the Wasters

“Elegy” – Caroline Weeks from Songs for Edna

“Fun Times at Whiskey Bar” – Caddywhompus from “EPs”

“Feed Me To The Wolves” – Logan Lynn off From Pillar to Post

“La Llorona” – Beirut from March of the Zapotec

“The Hero Is A Graduate” – Mumblin Def Ro from Senor My Friend

“Tree Full of Ghosts” – Hungry Villagers from Little Fingers

“Please Believe Me” – Darrin Kohavi from s/t EP

“Permanent Scar” – O+S from s/t debut

“Long Live The Modern World” – Young Galaxy from Invisible Republic

“They Won’t See” – InBirdsEye from Tres Songs

“We Sing In Time” – The Lonely Forest from We Sing The Body Electric!

“Dirty White Coats” – The Flying Change from Pain is a Reliable Signal

“The Year Without A Summer” – Coltrane Motion from The Year Without A Summer

“I Love The Girls” – The City and Horses from I Don’t Want to Dream

“A Hand At Dusk” – Swan Lake from Enemy Mine

“My Love Explodes” (reissue) – XTC as Dukes of Stratosphere from 25 O’Clock

“Have A Nice Day” – Kinetic Stereokids from Kid Moves

“I Know My Ocean” – The Traditionalist from Season to Season

Earlier this week, we published the first installment of what were ours, and by measurement, your, favorite 2009 songs. The decision was made not to make a 2009 “best of” list because it’s presumptuous, and depends on the definition of what qualifies as “best.” Sales? Social media mentions? MySpace page views? Late night talk show appearances? Google searches? All that and more?

It’s simply too complicated to pick “best” songs, and much easier to pick favorites. So, this series of playlists in coming weeks will feature favorite songs we posted throughout 2009, by the month they were originally posted, not necessarily the official release date. The song order on each playlist is random – no top tens for this series.

Last week, we covered the month or January, today is February’s mix, and thereafter each subsequent month until December. 2009 was a blockbuster year flooded with one amazing indie or alternative music release after another.

In some cases, fantastic songs that were originally posted on IRC, and provided by bands, labels and promotion companies, have since expired and could not be included. February was a fairly thin month, but in upcoming posts covering much of the spring, summer and fall of 2009, there were many terrific releases.

In addition to this 12-part series that will run for the next few weeks, we still have plenty of sweet tracks to share with you in the on-going In Dee Mail Special Edition, featuring great music that was mailed to us by mostly unsigned, or small label, artists and bands from around the world.

February 2009

“Dominos” – The Big Pink from A Brief History of Love

“Everyday” – Vetiver from Tight Knit

“Now We Can See” – The Thermals from Now We Can See

“Explain” – Faunts from Feel Love Thinking Of

“I Want Some More” – Dan Auerbach from Keep It Hid

“Loss of God” – Wolves in the Attic from Electronic Hearts

“Come Back (Now That I’m Here)” – Leopold and His Fiction from Ain’t No Surprise

“Ship” – Throw Me The Statue from Purple Face

“Future Primitive” – Papercuts from You Can Have What You Want

“Flic Knives” – The Understudies from split 7″

“Coast Carolina” – Telekinesis from s/t debut

“Two” – The Antlers from Hospice

“Everything With You” – The Pains of Being Pure At Heart from s/t debut

“I Have Laid in the Darkness of Doubt” – Mazes from s/t debut

“Exposure” – Peasant from On the Ground

See the first installment Favorite Indie and Alternative Songs of 2009, featuring Animal Collective, Bon Iver, Titus Andronicus, In Flight Safety, It Hugs Back, 1900s, New Villager, Strand of Oaks, East Hundred, Friendly Foes, Odawas, Cotton Jones, Cut Off Your Hands, Deastro, AC Newman and Or, The Whale.

You’ve probably already come across oodles of “best music” lists of 2009. No list is right or wrong (theoretically) , and they vary between the big media music sites and the popular blogs.  The songs we have chosen are not strictly our favorites, but are often also the same songs all of you have responded to the most (and why we started the Top Ten of the Week series) throughout the year. The Favorite Indie and Alternative Songs of 2009 series will be a 12-part series.

To avoid the madness of categorizing songs from “the top down,” or “best to good,” we’ve decided to break up the list into 12 playlist, starting with January 2009 based on the date we posted the songs, not necessarily the actual release date.

In addition, we’ll be posting – for some time to come – 2009 songs and albums that we “missed” or forgot about, as well as the continuing In Dee Mail Special Edition 2009 series. There is no great pressure to automatically stop posting notable 2009 songs because a lot of people are still searching for 2009 music, which is fairly typical – we’ve found over the years – in the first two months of a new year.

After that, 2009 will inevitably give way to a spike of interest, and releases, of 2010 music. We already have a bunch of new 2010 in the pipeline (especially each Tuesday for new releases), with occasional flashbacks to other years in music history for special playlists and mixes (like the Ears To The Music or The Great Unknowns series).

You may also want to browse through the archives for 2009 – and before then – during which time you’re likely to discover music you really like – even love – that you otherwise would never know about, or remember to seek out. More than half of the music we feature on IRC is from talented unsigned and relatively unknown artists and bands, but we’re not going to turn away from great music that fits into what some might call “mainstream indie” and alternative rock (i.e., Animal Collective, Radiohead, Vampire Weekend).

These playlist mixes are not necessarily represented of all of our favorite songs of 2009; some of the MP3 links provided by labels, bands and others have since expired, and so have not been included in this compendium of 2009 music. And, of course, we have lots of great 2010 music to share with you in coming months, and throughout the year. If 2010 is as good as 2009 for indie and alternative music new releases, it’ll be a busy year.

Let’s get started with songs originally posted in January of 2009.

January 2009

“My Girls” – Animal Collective from Merriweather Post Pavilion

“Titus Andronicus” –Titus Andronicus from The Airing of Grievances

“Blood Bank” – Bon Iver from Blood Bank EP

“Actors” – In-Flight Safety from We Are an Empire, My Dear

“Work Day” – It Hugs Back from Inside Your Guitar

“The Box” – 1900s from Kicks

“Rich Doors” – New Villager from Rich Doors 7″

“End in Flames” – Strand of Oaks from Leave Ruin

“Slow Burning Crimes” – East Hundred from Passengers

“Get Yr Sh*t Together” – Friendly Foes from Born Radical

“Harmless Lover’s Discourse” – Odawas from The Blue Depths

“Blood Red Sentimental Blues” – Cotton Jones from Paranoid Cocoon

“Turn Cold” – Cut Off Your Hands from You & I

“The Shaded Forests” – Deastro from Moondagger

“Submarines of Stockholm” – A.C. Newman from Get Guilty

“Call and Response” – Or, The Whale from Light Poles and Pines

Don’t forget: We will still post songs from 2009 that we either didn’t have time to post or have just learned about, most of them will be assembled in the on-going In Dee Mail Special Edition, Singer/Songwriter, One Man Bands and other such playlists in the next couple of months, as well as new 2010 music as it comes in.

Volume Two of this series will be published next week and cover favorite songs posted in February of 2009.

Summer still lingers in the musical meanderings of one of today’s best new indie releases. The long-awaited debut LP from New Jersey ‘buzz’ band Real Estate is out today, and for those who received an advance copy last month, we can tell you that it’s one of the best indie rock debuts of 2009. That’s saying a lot in a year in which there have been so many impressive debuts. Band members Martin Courtney, Matthew Mondanile, Etienne Pierre Duguay and Alex Bleeker got the ears of music bloggers and others as far back as last March during Austin’s South by Southwest conference, and they haven’t let go since.

As their ‘buzz band’ status – an admittedly overused term, but which is quite fitting of the band’s warm, hazy sound – increased with the temperatures throughout the summer months, Real Estate began to draw big crowds wherever they performed, and were were one of the most talked, and blogged, about bands at last month’s CMJ ‘fest’ in New York City. Music lovers and others sought them out to soak up some of Real Estate’s summeresque sounds; a blend of carefully baked, ethereal psychedelic pop mixed with a constant slow flow of folky vibes, booming drums, muted, unassuming vocals and ambient electric guitar jams.

The band’s themes and lyrics combine the dreary monotony of castaway suburban life (“Suburban Beverage,” “The Mall,” etc.) with endless aquatic references (“Pool Swimmers,” “Let’s Rock the Beach,” “Green River,” and so on), tie-dyed harmonies, glo-fi reverberations and lazy, understated melodies.

“Beach Comber” – Real Estate from s/t debut (2009)

It is no surprise that Real Estate have been frequently compared to The Clean, The Beach Boys, Galaxie 500 and Jersey’s own The Feelies. Real Estate may be dumped on by some indie lo-fi purists (yes, a contradiction in terms), but hey, Jersey is used to being dumped on. (Real Estate remind us much of Blind Man’s Colour, a trippy Florida psych pop duo we featured earlier this year as a band to watch, and who were quickly signed to Kanine Records only weeks later).

“Fake Blues” – Real Estate from s/t debut via Stereogum (2009)

“Green River” – Real Estate from s/t debut (2009)

Bonus: “Beach Point Pleasant” – Ducktails (the moniker of band member Mondanile’s musical side project)

Other new releases today include the much anticipated debut from the indie rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures – featuring Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones – plus a B-side leak of an upcoming Arctic Monkeys‘ EP, and bands we think you should hear, including Globes on Remote, Bloodsugars, A Grave with No Name; The Chairs; Mark Matos & Os Beaches and 10 great songs from recent LP and EP releases that you may have missed, but we think you’ll enjoy.

“New Fang” – Them Crooked Vultures from s/t debut (2009)

“Fright Lined Dining Room” – Arctic Monkeys from Cornerstone EP (2009)

“D.T. Lipps” – Globes on Remote from The Woo Hoo Hoo (2009)
Double-shot: “Space Camp” – Globes on Remote from The Woo Hoo Hoo (2009)

“The Light at the End of the Tunnel” – Bloodsugars from I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On (2009)

“Open Water” – A Grave With No Name from Mountain Debris (2009)

“Charlotte Pipe” – The Chairs from Nine Ways (2009)

“High Priest of the Mission” – Mark Matos & Os Beaches from Words of the Knife (2009)
Double-shot: “Hired Hand” – Mark Matos & Os Beaches from Words of the Knife (2009)

Random Recent Releases You May Have Missed But Should Probably Hear:

“Terminally Chill” – Neon Indian from Psychic Chasms (2009)

“Day Glo” – Brazos from Phosphorescent Blues (2009)

“Free Energy” – Free Energy from s/t debut (2009)

“In Steps” – Letting Up Despite Great Faults from s/t debut (2009)

“The Sun Ain’t Shining No More” – The Asteroids Galaxy Tour from s/t debut (2009)

“The Economic Chastisement” – Kinch from The Economic Chastisement EP (2009)

“Tunnelvision” – Here We Go Magic from s/t debut (2009)

“Cold Floors” – The Steps from Take It All In (2009)

“Wohlwill” – Friska Viljor from New Beginnings (2009)

“Invisible Forces” – The Fresh and Onlys from Grey-Eyed Girls (2009)

What do you think of these songs? Use the comments link below, Facebook, Twitter or whatever social network you prefer to interact with thousands of music lovers, band members and music professionals every day from around the world.

The latest installment of the New Indie Releases playlist series presents a dozen hand-picked songs from a diverse selection of artists and bands that are either making a name for themselves, or reaffirming their relevance in a very saturated music market.

Chapel Hill, North Carolina has been the home base for bands like Ben Folds Five, Archers of Loaf, Doleful Lions, Polvo, Southern Culture on the Skids, among others. But perhaps the best “newest” export from Chapel Hill, the band Roman Candle, has delivered an indie rock-alt country/folk masterpiece with the release of their third LP, Oh Tall Tree in the Ear. The LP is chock full of memorable songs, brilliant lyrics, magnificent musicianship and stellar vocal delivery.

Following Roman Candle is a terrific new single “Day Glo” from Austin‘s progressive folk pop band Brazos. The band kicks off a dozen-plus city tour with spastic indie rock trio White Demin, and fellow Austinites, tomorrow night in Austin.

The next song, “Suicide Blues,” from the Omaha band Brimstone Howl, offers up refreshingly ballsy guitar rock delivered in a punk (think Ramones) meets blues (think Velvet Underground) style heavy with attitude and determination. In 2006, the band had a mini-hit with the single Blood on the Rocks, Bones in the River, which was recorded and mixed by Jay Reatard. The following year, the band released their second LP, Guts of Steel, produced by The Black Keys‘ Dan Auerbach. Brimstone Howl’s newest LP will drop next month.

Plus, check out new music from Josh Rouse’s new album that will drop in February 2010; a new demo from Say Hi; a cool hip hop track from Big Boi and guests; a remastered Nirvana classic; fresh grooves from Memory Tapes; a Sean Bones tune we missed earlier this year; and last, but not least, The Subjects return with the single “Winter Vacation” off their latest LP release.

“They Say” – Roman Candle from Oh Tall Tree in the Ear (2009)
Double-shot: “Modern Radio Is OK” – Roman Candle from Oh Tall Tree in the Ear (2009)
Flashback: “Winterlight” – Roman Candle from The Wee Hours Revue (2006)

“Day Glo” – Brazos, new single (2009)

“Suicide Blues” – Brimstone Howl from Big Deal. What’s He Done Lately? (2009)

“Valencia” – Josh Rouse from El Turista (2009)

“November Was White, December was Grey” – Say Hi, demo leak (2009)

“Shine Blockas” – Big Boi w/Sir Lucious Leftfoot and Gucci Mane, single (2009)

“About A Girl” (remastered) – Nirvana from Bleach double-CD reissue (2009)

“Bicycle” – Memory Tapes from Seek Magic (2009)

“Dancehall” – Sean Bones from Rings (2009)

“Winter Vacation” – The Subjects from New Soft Shoe (2009)

The latest batch of new songs from recent indie albums that you might enjoy, or have already been enjoying, includes The Big Pink, Windmill, Volcano Choir, Julian Plenti, New Roman Times, Japandroids, Joshua James, Sissy Wish, Owen and more.

“Dominos” – The Big Pink from A Brief History of Love (2009)

“Ellen Save Our Energy” – Windmill from Epcot Starfield (2009)

“Island, IS” – Volcano Choir from Unmap (2009)

“The Fun That We Have” – Julian Plenti from Julian Plenti Is…Skyscraper (2009)

“Smoke in Your Disguise” – New Roman Times from On The Sleeve (2009)

“Young Hearts Spark Fire” – Japandroids from Post-Nothing (2009)

“Coal War” – Joshua James from Build Me This (2009)

“Meet and Greet” – Slaraffenland from We’re on Your Side (2009)

“DWTS” – Sissy Wish from Beauties Never Die (2009)

“Flirted with You All My Life” – Vic Chestnut from At the Cut (2009)

“Good Friends, Bat Habits” – Owen from New Leaves (2009)

“It’s Not Enough” – Salim Nourallah from Constellation (2009)

“Domino” – Spiral Beach from The Only Real Thing (2009)

What better way to kick-off a playlist of new indie rock songs then with a fresh track from the irresistibly dark rock duo the Raveonettes. “Last Dance” is seductive new demo from the Danish rockers upcoming October release, In And Out Of Control.

Following the wildly popular Raveonettes is a pleasantly surprising new track featuring the indie bands Why? and Themselves. Having already heard Why’s newest album, Eskimo Snow, a number of times, this song is a great warm-up track for anyone interested in getting a sample of what Eskimo Snow tastes like. Joining on the track are the duo Themselves Doseone and Jel.

Next is a band that has been gaining a lot of momentum for all the right reasons in the past year. And they are also a nice antidote to the somewhat tarnished rep Sarah Palin has put on their hometown of Wasilia, Alaska. After a number of spins, Portugal The Man‘s new album, The Satanic Satanist, is clearly one of the best new releases of the summer. One of the standout tracks on the album is “People Say” (listen below). Another cool song is “Work All Day” (see acoustic video version).

Portland, Oregon’s Blitzen Trapper has just dropped six previously unreleased songs recorded during the production of their brilliant 2008 album, Furr. The songs on the new Black River Killer EP are further evidence of why the band has a growing following of fans in the past year or so. Included in this playlist is the title track from the EP, which is apparently a reworked version from last year.

Paper Route‘s album, Absense, is turning out to be one of the highlight debut LPs of 2009; so if you like the song, “Last Time,” included in this playlist, you’re probably going to love the album. It’s that good.

Up next, These United States‘ hot-off-the-press, “I Want You To Keep Everything”, is a single track from their new album – the third album in 18 months – Everything Touches Everything released earlier this week on United Interests.

Norway’s electro-rockers Datarock is back with an energy-charged new song “True Stories” from their new album, Red, on Nettwerk Records. It’s the band’s second full length release following their 2005 debut album, Datarock, Datarock, which became a huge hit in the geek-chic scene and made Datarock one of the best bands to emerge from Norway in recent years.

Also in this playlist is a new song by Jemina Pearl featuring Iggy Pop on back-up vocals, plus fresh tunes from Langhorne Slim, The Shaky Hands, Coathangers and Alan Semerdjian and Golden Boots.

“Last Dance”– The Raveonettes from In And Out of Control (2009)
Compare to: “Aly,Walk With Me” – The Raveonettes from Lust Lust Lust (2008)

“Canada” – Why? and Themselves (2009)

“People Say” – Portugal. The Man from The Satanic Satanist (2009)

“Last Time” – Paper Route from Absense (2009)

“I Want You to Keep Everything” – These United States from Everything Touches Everything (2009)

“True Stories” – Datarock from Red (2009)

“I Hate People (with Iggy Pop)” – Jemina Pearl from Break It Up (2009)

“I Love You But Goodbye” – Langhorne Slim from Be Set Free (2009)

“Allison and the Ancient Eyes” – The Shaky Hands from Let It Die (2009)

“Toomerhead” – Coathangers from Scramble (2009)

“Your Love” – Alan Semerdjian from The Big Beauty (2009)

“Love Is In The Air” – Golden Boots from Park Van Summer Sampler (2009)

If you liked this playlist, click through the following popular stories and playlists published on IRC this summer and find out about some of the best rock of 2009.

– Popular new songs from Radiohead, Grand Archives, Free Energy, Cymbal Eat Guitars and many others.

– Free music from talented musicians and bands spotlighted recently on IRC, including Thunder Power, Low Water, Alberto Arcangeli, Mellow Down Easy, The Soft Hills, Black Them Boots and Blindfold. All relative unknowns that together offer a stunning and eclectic collection of new music.

– The amazingly infectious and brilliant music of LA composer Paul Bassenbacher and his musical side-project Opus Orange. Altogether, five songs that were truly among the summer’s most satisfying ‘discoveries’ for IRC.