Best/Favorites of 2009

Top 5 Concerts
1) Phoenix-Park West, Chicago-6/13/09 - a couple weeks after the "official" release of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, these dashing and smiley Frenchmen destroyed the Park West. It sure helps that Thomas Mars sang "1901," on a table right above me for an encore. Only regret is that I didn't put a thousand dollar bill in his pants for playing such an awesome concert.

2) Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Lollapalooza, Chicago 8/8/09- "We're not even suppose to be here."- Karen O. Replacing the Beastie Boys as Saturday night's headliner, Karen O showed that she was born to headline.

3) The Very Best-Pitchfork Music Festival, Chicago 7/19/09 While folks watched the Flaming Lips do the same ol' thing for 900th time, a select few cut some serious rug over at the Very Best stage to end the weekend in style.

4) My Bloody Valentine-Coachella, Indio,California 4/19/09-Green grass, palm trees, mountains and the sound of 100 airplanes on 50 lawnmowers going off at the same time=Priceless.

5) Cut Copy-Vic Theatre, Chicago, 3/18/09-Favorite album of 2008, seen live in 2009.

Favorite concert moment: The Cure being shut down at Coachella. First they turned off the big screen TV's. Then they turned down the music. Then they cut off everything but the bass. Then everything. But after more than 3 hours the Cure kept on going, the crowd helping them on vocals, and ending with Robert Smith screaming the lyrics to "Grinding Halt." A fitting and epic end. Cure.


Best Thing I Heard Said at a Concert: Morrissey at Coachella "I smell burning flesh." Classic Mozzer.


Best New Artist: The XX. Honorable Mention: Delorean

Favorite Twitter: @Diplo. The man never sleeps. Just tweets. It takes real talent to be able to be so funny with only 140 characters on a consistent and daily basis.

Favorite TV Show: Gossip Girl. Only bad thing about this show is that it's called Gossip Girl. It's kinda difficult being a straight man and starting a conversation with, "Hey, did you watch Gossip Girl, last night?!?" XOXOLOLZ. Bonus points for the music they play during the show and having Sonic Youth on a episode.

Favorite Movie: Che. Ok, so it was officially released at the end of 2008, but I haven't seen a better movie since. Talk about epic. How Benicio Del Toro, and the film in general, did not receive some serious hardware in 2009 is beyond me. I can only begin to wonder why....

That's all for now. Top songs tomorrow, followed by albums on Friday. Stay tuned.