Songs I Discovered in 2009, Part VI

These songs are the ABSOLUTE best songs I have come across in the last couple of months. I GUARANTEE they're all worth downloading, and for each artist featured, there are many more songs to check out. Don't get bogged down by the sheer volume of artists though - each one is different from the rest, so variety is the spice of this playlist. On a somewhat related note, there are a couple things that, while available on iTunes, I'd prefer to own factory copies of with original packaging. If anyone is considering a Christmas present for me, may I recommend either the 20th anniversary deluxe edition Bleach by Nirvana or Warp Records' three 20th anniversary compilations, Chosen, Recreated and Unheard.

1. "Baby Boomer" - Monsters of Folk; as close as I come to country

2. "Ça plane pour moi" - Nouvelle Vague; my favorite cover '80s cover band does a reggae version as opposed to their usual bossa nova

3. "Diary (feat. Marsha Ambrosius)" - Wale; never thought I'd hear rap over the Amelie movie score

4. "Feel It All Around" - Washed Out; we're barely to winter but next summer's best slow jam is already here

5. "Groove Me" - King Floyd; somehow I missing this on my "R&B/Soul BBQ" playlist

6. "Hearing Damage" - Thom Yorke; at first I wanted to ignore the New Moon soundtrack but then I heard about the Lykke Li contribution and this one from the lead singer of Radiohead

7. "High Flyin'" - Nick Colionne; I heard this on my boss' smooth jazz radio station, which I'm normally against, but sometimes they do something of slight interest

8. "Honey" - Bobby Goldsboro; made me want to get better on the guitar, just so I can play this to my wife's chagrin

9. "I Beg Your Pardon" - Kon Kan; an absolute forgotten synthpop gem (for fans of Information Society)

10. "Look Into the Heart Now" - Clark; this is acieeeeeeed!

11. "Love Will Come" - Maps; like a lost new wave 12" remix, but brand new

12. "A Man Without Love" - Englebert Humperdinck; from the "Tony Soprano singing" movie, Romance & Cigarettes

13. "Mrs. Cold" - Kings of Convenience come up with the best album titles, like Declaration of Dependence and Quiet Is the New Loud

14. "Party in the U.S.A." - Miley Cyrus; so there I am, watching a boxing match with a bunch of border patrol agents (friends of a friend), and this comes on and "I put my hands up" - not really, but one of the guys with kids was able to tell me who was singing

15. "Quarantined" - Atlas Sound; lead singer of Deerhunter

16. "There's a Kind of Hush" - Herman's Hermits; my most recent "drive-in music" rediscovery

17. "This Is Home" - Bad Lieutenant; lead singer of New Order doing what sounds a missing track from the new Echo & the Bunnymen album (which could've benefitted from this)

18. "This Is It" - Kenny Loggins; no, not the song from the Michael Jackson documentary, but it almost sounds like it could be Michael Jackson in some places

19. "Your Love" - The Outfield; '80s one-hit wonder

20. "11th Dimension" - Julian Casablancas; lead singer of The Strokes gets all Andrew W.K.