The Good: Free Music Friday (Levi's Pioneer Sessions)

I haven't bought a pair of Levi's in about 15 years. Nothing against the company...just wear a lot of shorts. So this isn't some shameless whoring out to a big corporation. Not that there's anything wrong with some shameless whoring. I'll be more than happy to take cash from any corporation to hock their product. That said...not sure what this series of music session has to do with Levi's jeans. Are the artists wearing Levi's? Who knows. The collection rocks and that's all that matters.

13 currents artists cover 13 classic artists. And it's a solid selection on both ends. The Kills do a crunchy cover of Velvet Underground. Passion Pit do a minimalist cover of Smashing Pumpkins. Raphael Saadiq nails a cover the Spinners' classic "It's a Shame." The Shins give Squeeze's "Goodbye Girl" a coffee shop make-over. And She & Him ressurect a classic take on Rick Nelson's legendary "Fools Rush In."

These along with The swell Season, Dirty Projectors, and Nas...among others are alll FREEE!

Yes free. Just go to their page. Download. And enjoy.

Have a good weekend.

Check it out now at www.levispioneersessions.com

The 111 Best Albums of 2009

Well, here it is...the annual epic 111 best albums of 2009...as voted on by you. Usually it's a close race...but this year, Animal Collective ran away with it. In fact, the entire top ten was leaps and bounds above the rest. And...if you have a problem with the list...then blame yourselves...you're the ones who voted.

See ya, next decade!!

Here are the 111 Best Albums of 2009:

1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
2. The xx - xx (Crystalised BBC)
3. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
4. The Antlers - Hospice (Kettering)
5. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (1901 live)
6. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (The Bride)
7. Wilco - Wilco (the Album)
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz (only $5.00)
9. Metric - Fantasies (Help Im Alive)
10. Girls – Album
11. St. Vincent – Actor
12. Pearl Jam – Backspacer
13. Japandroids – Post Nothing
14. Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk
15. White Rabbits - It's Frightening (Percussion Gun daytrotter)
16. Modest Mouse – No One’s First and You’re Next
17. Bob Dylan – Together Through Life
18. Built To Spill - There is No Enemy
19. Silversun Pickups – Swoon
20. Lisa Hannigan – Sea Sew
21. Morrissey - Years of Refusal
22. The Dead Weather – Horehound
23. Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
24. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
25. Cage The Elephant – Cage The Elephant
26. Regina Spektor - FAR
27. Fanfarlo – Reservoir
28. Various Artists – Dark Was The Night
29. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Beware
30. Passion Pit – Manners
31. Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring
32. Mos Def – The Ecstatic
33. The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
34. The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You
35. K’naan – Troubadour
36. Super Furry Animals – Dark Days/Light Years
37. M. Ward – Hold Time
38. Sunset Rubdown – Dragon Slayer
39. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
40. Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures
41. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
42. Samantha Crain - Songs In the Night
43. David Gray – Draw The Line
44. Fever Ray – Fever Ray
45. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown (Know Your Enemy Colbert Report)
46. The Pains of Being Pure of Heart – POBOH
47. Karen O and the Kids – Where the Wild Things Are
48. Dave Matthews Band – Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King
49. Devendra Banhart – What Will We Be
50. The Swell Season - Strict Joy
51. Why? – Eskimo Snow
52. Julian Plenti - …is a Skyscraper
53. Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains (Cold Spring)
54. The Low Anthem - Oh My God, Charlie Darwin (Ticket Taker)
55. Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms
56. Mew – No More Stories Are Told Today
57. Fun. – Aim and Ignite
58. The Horrors – Primary Colours
59. Conor Oberst – Outer South
60. Crystal Method - Divided By The Night (only $5.00)
61. Miike Snow – Miike Snow
62. The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love
63. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
64. Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3.0
65. The Mountain Goats – Life of the World To Come
66. Dan Deacon – Bromst
67. Florence and the Machine – Lungs
68. Weezer – Raditude
69. Mastodon – Crack the Skye
70. Say Anything – Say Anything
71. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below
72. Trail of Dead – Century of Self
73. Paramore – Brand New Eyes
74. Sonic Youth – The Eternal
75. Handsome Furs – Face Control
76. Wavves – Wavves
77. Antony and the Johnsons – The Crying Light (only $5.00)
78. Maxwell – BLACKsummer’s Night
79. Von Bondies - Love, Hate and Then There's You
80. Deer Tick - Born On Flag Day (Straight Into A Storm)
81. Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
82. Muse – The Resistance
83. The Mars Volta – Octahedron
84. Cut Off Your Hands – You and I
85. Tanya Morgan – Brooklynati
86. Brand New – Daisy
87. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing
88. The Black Crowes - Before The Frost...Until the Freeze
89. The Fray – The Fray
90. Roman Candle – Oh Tall Tree In The Ear
91. Band of Skulls - Baby Darling Dollface Honey
92. U2 – No Line on the Horizon
93. Placebo – Battle For the Sun
94. Various Artists – Ghana Special (1968-91)
95. Gogol Bordello – Live from Axis Mundi
96. Flyleaf – Memento Mori (only $5)
97. Taking Back Sunday – New Again
98. Third Eye Blind – Ursa Major (only $5.00)
99. Jack Penate – Everything Is New
100. Levon Helm – Electric Dirt (only $5)
101. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
102. Dananananaykroyd – Hey everyone!
103. El Grupa Nueva De Omar Rodriguez Lopez – Cryptomnesia
104. Raekwon – Only Built For Cuban Linx P2
105. Wale – Attention Deficit (only $5.00)
106. Franz Ferdinand – Tonight
107. Matt & Kim – Grand ($5.00)
108. Memory Tapes – Seek Magic
109. Drake – So Far Gone (only $5.00)
110. Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
111. Tegan and Sara – Sainthood

The 111 Best Albums of the 00s (100-111)

With very few new releases of note coming out these next few weeks...I'm jumping the gun and heading into the uber list that every blogger has been waiting for since blogging was invented. Yes...that's right. It's the best of the decade...and this will be the first decade where bloggers get to weigh in on the count. Even though there's "Nevermind" or "OK Computer" this decade...there was a much stronger middle. Even chipping the list down to 111...I've left well over a 100 albums of equal quality and importance sitting on the sidelines.

And even though we have a solid 4 months of releases coming, there's no telling whether these albums will truly be the best of the decade for at least another few years. I mean what's left Jay-Z? Detox? Strong contenders...but in all honestly...only time can tell.

Here are the 111 Best Albums of the 00s (100-111):

100. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free (2004)
- Mike Skinner's concept rap album was clever, inventive and unlike anything we'd heard....and have yet to hear. (It Was Supposed to Be So Easy)

101. Madvillain - Madvillany (2004)
- One of MF Doom's many monikers found the hip-hop rapper/producer re-inventing what a song should or could be. (Fancy Clown)

102. TV on the Radio - Dear Science (2008)
- Last year's newest offering from this dynamic group didn't have the impact of their previous release (spoiler) but it still pushed the boundaries of where music could go.

103. Common - Be (2005)
- For years, Common was known as the rapper with a conscious. Content at being just underground. But on this release...he merged his smart style with bigger production and created genre-bending classic.

104. Modest Mouse - Good News For People who Love Bad News (2004)
- Isaac Brock and crew dump their artistic side and shoot for commercial success. In doing so, they become the last of the Seattle greats. (Bukowski)

105. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca (2009)
- Still a bit early to figure how mighty this album is...but its praise hasn't slowed yet.

106. Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of the Bewilderbeast (2000)
- Though Damon Gough's career has been uneven over this decade, his first offering is still a solid offering, paving the way to the freak folk bands to follow. (The Shining)

107. Radiohead - Hail To The Thief (2003)
- The Head's anti-Bush album did very little to stop him from being re-elected, or invading Iraq...but it did provide us with some great music. (There There)

108. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (2006)
- CYHSY is the first of the next generation in rock bands. Their success is laid at the feet of the bloggers who spread the praise of their debut album to their readers. They are the first true success story of the blogger-age...and it's a damn fine album to boot. (Yellow Country Teeth)

109. Sufjan Stevens - Illnoise (2005)
- Soulful folk backed by orchestras? Who could have thought that would sound good? One man made it work.

110. Brian Wilson - Smile (2004)
- A hard album to list here. Not that it's not a fantastic album...but does it really belong in the 00s? It was a hard call...there's never a bad time for Beach Boys bliss...but it edges in for purely not getting it fair shot years ago.

111. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - The Last DJ (2002)
- Though it was panned by critics...had minimal sales...and barely any radio play, TP's inditement of the radio/music industry now sounds like an eerie premonition of the decade that would come. Bashing the DJ-less radio playlists, rock stars created from game shows, and soaring ticket prices that milk kids of their last dime, The Last DJ sounds less like a prediction and more like a warning. Too bad no one heeded it. (The Last DJ)

Buy These albums now at Best of the 00s.