spin magazines top 20 songs of 2009

for the complete top twenty
20. "Up to Our Nex" Robyn Hitchcock
"The great psych-rock surrealist struggles—in unerringly tuneful fashion—to get over, under, and around the feeling of falling in love. "So rad!" "How sad!" Neither. Both. Beautiful."


19. "Life in Marvelous Times" Mos Def
"Over a triumphant beat, Mos futurizes and postulates a Brooklyn of sidewalk sin and sympathy, then concludes, "We can’t be alive in no time but now."


18. "Raindrops" Basement Jaxx
"Pop music's MDMA moment came and went. This track brings it back—giddier. Go kiss a stranger."


17. "This Tornado Loves You" Neko Case
"Anthropomorphizing meteorological phenomena sounds like the stuff of kids' music; Case's breathy coo puts an end to that idea real fast."


16. "Bulletproof" La Roux
"A perfect pop hook backed by bubbly eight-bit bloops and delivered by a ginger-pomp'd cross between Annie Lennox and a replicant. The superhuman league."


15. "Animal" Miike Snow
"Weird how this synth-pop stunner about predeterminism wiggles into your substratum like it's always been there. Or is that the point?"


14. "Dominos" The Big Pink
"If you're going to compare carnal conquests to falling dominos, you should make it sound bigger than God and catchier than death."


13. "11th Dimension" Julian Casablancas
"Who woulda thunk that the boy king of post-millennial cool would end the decade channeling Laura Branigan? And that it'd feel as natural a fit as Marquee Moon?"


12. "How I Got Over" The Roots
"A satin Latin groove handles the hips while Black Thought's micro-is-macro sociology targets the head. The heart's left with a "Someone has to care" refrain. Here's hoping."


11. "Walkabout" Atlas Sound, feat. Noah Lennox
"Bradford Cox's dreamy excavation of his childhood continues in gloriously refracted fashion, with vocal help from Animal Collective's Panda Bear."


10. "Successful" Drake ft. Trey Songz.
"With two words—“I suppose”—Drake gets into some Gatsby shit. F. Scott’s bling ambivalence never had a hook as seductive as Trey’s golden come-on."


9. "Aeon" Antony and the Johnsons
"A shattering soul aria suggesting that maybe, just maybe, love and pain make sense if you think they last forever."


8. "Daniel" Bat Your Lashes
"That Natasha Khan can make a torch song feel like pure cinema isn’t surprising; that she’s in fact invoking The Karate Kid kind of is."


7. "You Got the Love (The xx Remix)" Florence and the Machine
"A spitfire with a gift for going big and three young masters of the slow burn meet in the middle for a modern classic of baby-making music."


6. "Make Her Say" Kid Cudi, feat. Kanye West & Common
"Flipping "Poker Face" on its kinky ear, these semiconscious MCs trans-muted the year’s guiltiest pleasure into four funky minutes of winking machismo."


5. "Use Somebody" Kings of Leon
"All swaying arms holding lighters—sorry, cellphones—aloft and singing at the top of your lungs, and oh man, this is gonna be the best. Summer. Ever."


4. "My Girls" Animal Collective
"Kaleidoscoping Möbius strips of ecstatic vocal melody with synths that shiver like creation, and an argument for domesticity as the only bliss worth believing in."


3. "Hellhole Ratrace" Girls
"A plaintive rumble that manages to sound desperate and joyous in the same breath. “In Dreams” for a confused time."


2. "1901" Phoenix
"Effervescent, well-appointed radio candy with the refrain "I’ll be anything you ask and more." Since when did the French become so accommodating?"


1. "Zero"Yeah Yeah Yeahs
"With her gift for sod-off squawking and tear-streaked realness, Karen O was born to lead the frisky rock revolt that the aughts never earned. So here, with a regal hip check, she strides off by her lonesome, resplendent synth riff all aquiver, cooing, "Get your leather on," as we gambol on the grave of 2009’s tragic, orgiastic flimflam."

special delivery from BOD & the Advisors!

check it! two new posts to get you through this coming week. good luck with finals! can honestly not wait til it is winter quarter and our adventure realllly begins.

click forward to experience some tantalizing treats from BOD and the Advisors :)

fall finals. blow off some steam!

so you have been sitting at that desk, or couch, or table in kerckhoff for farrrr too long! these are some songs to allow you to blow off some steam and release a little of that pent up energy! or maybe just get a bit into the holiday spirit...


annie augustine outreach:
Love Actually is definitely the best Christmas movie ever. I watch it a million times every break and I just love this song, even though it's completely ridiculous!


george ratkovitch career events:


angela scales advisor:


aly yarris:
these people are literally insane, i would die to have these skills. guhhhh im just obsessed.


gloria ko advisor:


cassi porter blue and gold week:
my FAVORITE Christmas song to just sing like crazy too when i need to blow off some steam :)


amber bissell marketing and communication:


erika drazen internal:


suz park senior class cabinent:


johana fiserova president:


meghan gieber dinners for twelve strangers:
his song is good motivation for doing well on finals and for life in general! plus the music video is bomb. love megs

fall finals. study time.

i mean really, how many times can you listen to your same "studytime" playlist? here is some music to freshen up your playlist and probably ensure straight As this quarter... or something like that :)

annie augustine outreach:
I know it's cliche, but I'm obsessed with Empire State of Mind and especially Jay-Z and Alicia Key's live performance at the MTV Music Awards. They're both so incredibly talented and Jay-Z is just a classy, old school, bad ass kinda gangsta! Whenever I need some serious study motivation I watch this performance. He's just so legite strollin' backstage like that! Plus, I spent a lot of time in NYC this summer and the city has a special place in my heart...the lights seriously will inspire you!


amber bissell marketing and communications:


george ratkovich career events:


aly yarris spring sing... duh:


angela scales advisor:


gloria ko advisor:


cassi porter blue and gold week:
or basically ANY Rascal Flatts song... their playlist on my iPod is ALWAYS on while studying :)



erika drazen internal:
I'm a nerd, I know, it's from Lord of the Rings.


suz park senior class cabinet:


johana fiserova president:

fall week 10. happy holidays!

happy holidays spring sing! i had no idea going into this year that i would be so blessed with such a fun and wonderful committee. you guys rock my world and i am so glad we kicked off the holiday season together tonight.

aly: here is judy garland "have yourself a merry little christmas" from meet me in st. louis.


i grew up in San Diego's version of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. the ultimate was when I got to high school and finally was in a Rockette in the Kickline... here is a really bad video of the real Rockettes!


maiah:


yan: not exactly Christmasy but I just watched (500) Days of Summer this wknd and this song's great! Reminds me of falling in love again.


felicia: because its the only song that my tone-deaf self can sing to!


kevin: I think this one's pretty self-explanatory. But i love singing the guy's part since it's so low. Anyone wanna sing the girl's part?


kelsey: I wanted the Frank Sinatra version but found this funny one instead ahahha


courtney:its super cliche and totally 90s but im obsessed and it makes me feel in love and so christmasy and its also in love actually which is like up there in best movies ever. and yea. its so bomb and happy and gleeful and merry. i love it.

and lina! I bet errbody is going to pick this, because it is SO christmas and department store sales.... mariah carey! I can't everr hear it without wanting to sing along...and buy an ugly sweater on sale.


leah: used to sing this all the time when i was little-my grandma would play the piano. I even auditioned for a play with this song : ) So it reminds me of childhood and the winter months


guest appearance: heather manske alumni relations career events! she thinks it speaks for itself...


nancy: sorry for the weird Home Alone background, but it's one of the few renditions of this song that I like. In middle school I used to sing in the choir and we'd always have a Christmas concert and this was always my favorite song to sing :)