Year in review: Songs (1.10)

Finally! The top 10! I honestly never would have thought an Animal Collective song would be my most favorite, but it is undoubtedly, for me, the song of the year. It was the song of the recession. The song of loving, simply. I listened to it while driving, while cooking, while writing. I listened to it in the shower and on the train.

The others in the top ten are equally as played. I'll write more about Neko Case, Telegraph Canyon, Drake, MEN and PobPaH in my best albums write-up. So I'll just write, now, about the others.

Honestly, I love most Mariah Carey singles, and this was no exception. Woman is a genius. And this Jay-z song? Best beat of the year. My love of this song really has less to do with the master rapper than the beat makers.

The switch from long distance love to the alliterative love long distance made all the difference. That phrase is so pretty to me. And I love the Heard it Through the Grapevine sample. I spent a good bit of time in my living room dancing to this song.

Finally, the Akron/Family song is one I loved early and often. It made it on to many mixes of mine this year. I can't really even pin down why, but I like it a lot.


1. Animal Collective - My girls
2. Neko Case - The pharoahs
3. Telegraph Canyon - Reels and wires
4. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young adult friction
5. Mariah Carey - Obsessed
6. MEN - Credit card babies
7. Drake - Say what's real
8. Gossip - Love long distance
9. Jay-z - On to the next one
10. Akron/Family - River

What I did this fall

Before the top 10 songs, an interlude: Here's a montage of what I did this fall.

Fall 2009 from Casey Parks on Vimeo.

Year in review: Songs (11.20)

For No. 11, I put both Black Eyed Peas songs, though I know they're different. I couldn't really choose one and both really sound like summer to me. I wrestled a while, too, with which Neko Case song to put at No. 12. Honestly, I could have put any song (except for one, which will be in the top 10) from that album there. In the end, I looked at which song I had played most. This tied with This Tornado Loves You. This set also includes a song by MEN, which was my favorite concert of the year, as well as by Drake, who was my favorite rapper of the year. Girls may have been one of the most overblogged bands of this year, but this song was totally the end of summer jam. So fun. This set also includes a song by Nurses, a Portland band that produced many great songs this year (See also: Technicolor and Caterpillar Playground, as well as others).


11. Black Eyed Peas - I gotta feeling / Boom boom pow
12. Neko Case - Don't forget me
13. Telegraph Canyon - Shake your fists
14. Glass Ghost - Like a diamond
15. Nurses - Lita
16. The xx - VCR
17. The Raveonettes - Last dance
18. MEN - Off our backs
19. Girls - Lust for life
20. Drake f/ Lykke Li - Little bit

Year in review: Songs (21.30)

The next set of 10 includes a few old favorites (Gossip, Tegan and Sara, Yeah Yeahs, Jay-z) along with a band I've never liked (Animal Collective) until this year. Actually, I did like that song "Did You See the Words" several years ago. Anyway, I'm sure Q will think I'm crazy, but I really liked three or so of their songs this year, including this one. The Tegan and Sara album took a while to grow on me, but this song was one I instantly liked. The Jay-z album is one I liked instantly but liked less as time went on. Still, I wrote many a story this year while listening to this song. Finally, "Sabali" was in rotation on some Internet circles last year, but the proper album didn't come out until this year, so here you have it.

21. Animal Collective - Summertime clothes
22. Jay-z - What we talkin' 'bout
23. Gossip - Four-letter word
24. Rihanna - Hatin' on the club
25. Starfucker - Medicine
26. Tegan and Sara - Someday
27. The Thermals - Now we can see
28. Amadou and Mariam - Sabali
29. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Runaway
30. Andrew Bird - Nomenclature

Year in review: Songs (31.40)

Continuing on, this batch includes one of my favorite bands of the year (Pyramiddd, nee Starfucker, whose 2008 CD is in my most listened to this year) as well as the irresistible dancy coos of The Dream. I only know a handful other songs by Best Coast and Sleigh Bells, and though those are good, too, these were my favorites. As for Julie Doiron, I really debated between this song and "When the breaks get wet," but ultimately I listened to this one more often. All hail, 2009, the year of fuzzy pop. Finally, I don't like much else by Freelance Whales, but this song, the album's opener, really stuck with me from the very time Ryan played it (over and over again) on a late summer trip to the beach. "I limbs have been asleep; we need to get the blood back in them."


31. Starfucker - Boy toy
32. Best Coast - When I'm with you
33. Sleigh Bells - Ring, ring
34. Sonic Youth - Antenna
35. Freelance Whales - Generator (first floor)
36. The Dream - Rockin' that shit
37. An Horse - Camp Out
38. Animal Collective - Brother sport
39. Julie Doiron - Consolation Prize
40. Passion Pit - Sleepyhead

Year in review: Songs (41.50)

I'm no professional music listener, but I do buy an awful lot over the year. Over the next few days, I'll share with you (temporarily free!) my 50 free songs and my 10 (or so) favorite albums of the year. Heavy thanks to Stereogum, which often provided me with free mp3s. Here are the first songs


50. Metric - Help I'm alive
49. Heartless Bastards - Sway
48. The Avett Brothers - January wedding
47. Diamond Rings - All yr songs
46. Andrew Bird - Anonanimal
45. Blind Pilot - The story I heard
44. Rattail - Go Green
43. Grizzly Bear - Two weeks
42. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Contender
41. Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - Know better, learn faster

Year in review: spent

Jupiter hotel, July




I have a pretty silly December tradition of looking back on my favorite purchases of the year. It sounds super capitalist, but I love things, and my lists usually get down to the life I led. This year isn't much different.


so, the list:

1. Kona Dew Deluxe bicycle -- So fast! So light! This made biking so much more fun. I was already commuting daily to work before I bought it, but made it all so much more enjoyable. Thanks to it, I now have leg muscles, and I'm sure to die later (right?)

2. Canon 5D - Like my bicycle, merely an upgrade. But it, too, made all the difference.

3. Half of one night's stay at the Jupiter Hotel -- In July, Oregon temperatures sailed above 105 then stayed that way all week. Most of Portland doesn't have air conditioning. I live on the top floor with few windows, and it was so hot I sat in my room and cried. I hadn't slept in days (despite putting my clothes, wet, into the freezer) when I called Ryan and asked if he wanted to go in on a hotel night with me. We jumped on the bed, drank white wine, told stories and slept -- all night long -- in the blasting air condition.

4. Ticket to Texas, August - I spent the end of summer with my two best guys, drinking too much and spilling all our secrets.

5. Ticket to Hawaii, February - Seriously, paradise.

6. Bike face mask - Last week, it was 12 degrees here. This kept me from dying.

7. Rafts We spent most of the summer on the river, riding out the weekends on two $20 rafts I bought.

8. Ticket to Chicago, April - Sadie, Lizz and I hadn't been reunited in so long. There was funny tension, but at times, it was absolutely perfect.