The Very Best (ft. Ezra Koenig) - "Warm Heart of Africa"

I posted this song back in June, but I couldn't resist posting the video, because it's an instant smile.

Song of the Day: Happy Birthday - "Girls FM"

The Mountain Goats - "Psalms 40:2"

Powerful stuff. I was hanging on every word. This song is off of their new album, The Life of the World to Come. (via Pitchfork's 'Cemetery Gates' series)

Song of the Day: Ramona Falls - "Melectric"

recommended by @ilovelumpy

The Tinder Box - "No More Weeping"

More South Dakota love, with The Tinder Box.

Song of the Day: Dum Dum Girls - "Jail La La"

M.I.A. - "There's Space For Ol Dat I See"

This got me pretty excited for the forthcoming LP that's due out this summer.

Song of the Day: Dinosaur Feathers - "Vendela Vida"

Brother Earth - "Sunny Side of the Street"

Short, but neat.

Song of the Day: Eels - "Little Bird"

Animal Collective - "Brothersport"

Easter on 'shrooms.

Song of the Day: Bensard Lakes - "Albatross"

fun. - "All the Pretty Girls"

I'm not sure how fun. slipped under my radar, but I'm glad @adamkarnopp let me know of their existence, as I am a fan of the now defunct The Format.

Song of the Day: Frightened Rabbit - "Nothing Like You"

Islands - "No You Don't"

... with a magical appearance by Michael Cera.

Song of the Day: The Middle East - "Blood"

Ten Centuries - "Fallen Trees"

Thanks to @MFRian

Song of the Day: Rogue Wave - "Good Morning"

Welcome to the Cinema - "Adrien Brody"

More from the Brookings, SD quintet here.

Song of the Day: Broken Bells - "The High Road"

Broken Bells consists of artist-producer Danger Mouse (billed by his real name, Brian Burton) and James Mercer, the lead vocalist and guitarist for The Shins.

My 15 Favorite Albums of 2009

Just like my 50 favorite tracks, this selection wasn't a scientific process, but rather the selection of the albums from 2009 that I listened to the most - front-to-back, back-to-front, on shuffle, or perhaps on repeat my entire journey home for Thanksgiving.

The positioning is also loosely justified (although my #1 choice was indeed my favorite album of 2009). Why 15, you might ask? Because many of the other albums I had in heavy rotation this year were actually released in 2008 (a list for another time, perhaps). When I started pondering this list, it just so happened that 15 was the closest round-number that resembled a suitable and bona fide list (like I said, it's not a scientific process).

I invite you to leave your favorite albums of 2009 in the comment section, because sharing new and favorite music is what this blog is all about.

(15) Bowerbirds - "Upper Air"

Northern Lights





(14) Modest Mouse - "No One's First and You're Next"

Autumn Beds




(13) The xx - "xx"

Basic Space





(12) Bear In Heaven - "Beast Rest Forth Mouth"

Lovesick Teenagers




(11) Monsters of Folk - "Monsters of Folk"

Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)





(10) The Decemberists - "The Hazards of Love"

The Hazards of Love 4




(9) Dan Auerbach - "Keep It Hid"

When the Night Comes





(8) Matt & Kim - "Grand"

Daylight





(7) Cymbals Eat Guitars - "Why There Are Mountains"

...And the Hazy Sea




(6) The Low Anthem - "Oh My God, Charlie Darwin"

To Ohio




(5) Grizzly Bear - "Veckatimest"

Two Weeks





(4) Phoenix - "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"

Lisztomania





(3) Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - "Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros"

Home




(2) Dirty Projectors - "Bitte Orca"

No Intention





(1) Animal Collective - "Merriweather Post Pavilion"

Lion In A Coma

My 50 Favorite Tracks of 2009

I decided to bring some closure to the first year of Me. My World. by posting my 50 favorite tracks from 2009. This was, by no means, a scientific process and the positioning, 1-50, is loosely justified. The most difficult part of this process was having to leave many great tracks off of the list.

To add this playlist to your profile, click here.

Steve Mason - "All Come Down"

Song of the Day: Or, The Whale - "Rusty Gold"

Woodsman - "Sunglass"

Song of the Day: Tape Deck Mountain - "A Cool Thing"

The Maneken - "Magic Force"

Just a little electro-pop from the Ukraine. More from the Kieviens (is this what people from Kiev are called?) here.

Song of the Day: Quail Lungs - "Dumb Dadadum"
... makes me want to restart me side-project: Albatross Kidney.

Foreign Born - "Early Warnings"

Song of the Day: The Soft Pack - "C'mon"

I'm not a betting man ...

Ok, well, I'm not usually a betting man, but I couldn't turn down the wager made over Twitter on Sunday. Scott Hale aka @sjhalestorm offered up a blog post to a Vikings' fan if the Vikings beat his Bengals. And if the Vikings lost, I risked having to blog about the Bengals on my day off. I was feeling pretty confident that after last weeks' debockle in the desert that my Vikings would rebound at home against the AFC-North leading Bengals, so I took him up on his offer.

Jared Allen talks about the Vikings' victory over the Bengals.

Since a 30-10 Vikings' win put me on the right end of this bet, head over to Social Storm and see how Scott determined that your brand should be like my Vikings.

Munich - "Into the Rain"

Song of the Day: Firekites - "Same Suburb, Different Park"

Clavius Crates ft. Silas Green - "Classically Trained"

You don't need millions to make a music video. Simple, entertaining and effective.

Song of the Day: Seasick Steve - "My Home (Blue Eyes)"
Interesting write-up from Songs to Save.

'mas music, please

If you're thinking about giving your loved ones a shiny new album for Christmas, check out some of these recommendations from former NBA player and ESPN.com's Paul Shirley (@paulthenshirtley).