Top 89 Songs of 2009

1. The Avett Brothers, "I And Love And You"
2. One Eskimo, "Kandi"
3. Animal Collective, "My Girls"
4. Phoenix, "1901"
5. Sea Wolf, "Wicked Blood"
6. Blitzen Trapper, "Black River Killer"
7. Silversun Pickups, "Panic Switch"
8. Wilco, "You And I"
9. Langhorne Slim, "Say Yes"

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10. Grizzly Bear, "Two Weeks"
11. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, "Home"
12. Monsters of Folk, "Say Please"
13. Gomez, "Airstream Driver"
14. Regina Spektor, "Eet"
15. Will Hoge, "Even If It Breaks Your Heart"
16. Portgual. The Man, "People Say"
17. Ben Harper and the Relentless7, "Shimmer and Shine"
18. Company of Thieves, "Oscar Wilde"
19. Rosanne Cash, "Sea Of Heartbreak"
20. Guggenheim Grotto, "Fee Da Da Dee"

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21. Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, "40 Day Dream"
22. The Avett Brothers, "Kick Drum Heart"
23. M. Ward, "Never Had Nobody Like You"
24. K'Naan, "Waving Flag"
25. Charlie Mars, "Listen to the Darkside"
26. Neko Case, "This Tornado Loves You"
27. Brandi Carlile, "Dreams"
28. Erin McKeown, "Santa Cruz"
29. Serena Ryder, "Little Bit of Red"


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30. Guggenheim Grotto, "Her Beautiful Ideas"
31. Elliott Brood, "WIADFY"
32. Fleet Foxes, "Mykonos"
33. 7 Worlds Collide, "Hazel Black"
34. Ingrid Michaelson, "Maybe"
35. Bob Schneider, "40 Dogs"
36. Umphrey's McGee, "Cemetery Walk"
37. Wilco, "Wilco (The Song)"
38. Wilco, "You Never Know"
39. Levon Helm, "When I Go Away"


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40. Imogen Heap, "First Train Home"
41. Rodrigo y Gabriela, "Buster Voodoo"
42. Vandaveer, "Divide and Conquer"
43. Lisa Hannigan, "I Don't Know"
44. Brett Dennen, "Heaven"
45. Brendan Benson, "A Whole Lot Better"
46. Passion Pit, "The Reeling"
47. Neko Case, "People Got a Lotta Nerve"
48. Andrew Bird, "Fitz and the Dizzyspells"
49. Dan Auerbach, "My Last Mistake"


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50. Joshua James, "Coal War"
51. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, "Nikorette"
52. Miike Snow, "Animal"
53. Corey Chisel and the Wandering Sons, "Born Again"
54. Bell X1, "The Great Defector"
55. Chuck Prophet, "Let Freedom Ring"
56. Depeche Mode, "Wrong"
57. Heartless Bastards, "The Mountain"
58. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, "Gunpowder"
59. The Noisettes, "Never Forget You"

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60. Metric, "Help I'm Alive"
61. The Decemberists, "The Rake's Song"
62. Camera Obscura, "French Navy"
63. Bat For Lashes, "Daniel"
64. Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, "Sugarfoot"
65. Vampire Weekend, "Horchata"
66. Tegan and Sara, "Hell"
67. Death Cab for Cutie, "Meet Me on the Equinox"
68. Phish, "Backwards Down the Number Line"
69. Pearl Jam, "The Fixer"


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70. Dave Matthews Band, "Funny The Way It Is"
71. Wye Oak, "For Prayer"
72. Great Northern, "Houses"
73. Cage the Elephant, "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked"
74. Swell Season, "Low Rising"
75. Lily Allen, "The Fear"
76. The Felice Brothers, "Penn Station"
77. Chris Isaak, "We Let Her Down"
78. Jupiter One, "Flaming Arrow"
79. Derek Trucks Band, "Down in the Flood"

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80. The Big Pink, "Dominos"
81. Death Cab for Cutie, "Little Bribes"
82. Sara Watkins, "Long Hot Summer Day"
83. Phoenix, "Lisztomania"
84. Cold War Kids, "Audience"
85. Matisyahu, "One Day"
86. Bruce Springsteen, "Working on a Dream"
87. Monsters of Folk, "Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)"
88. The Dead Weather, "Hang You From The Heavens"
89. Manchester Orchestra, "I've Got Friends"

Heavenly Hot August Jam

Wow! I almost hate to tell you about the Hot August Blues after party at Hightops Backstage Grille last night- you'll be kicking yourself that you missed it!

I can't tell you how happy I am that Old Man Brown opened the festival and served as the house band for the late night shindig. I've been watching Adam and the boys play their jam-based blues and funk to a growing following at bars around Baltimore for a few years now, and they never fail to deliver. But, last night may have been their most shining moment.

After a laying down a sweet, horn-kissed groove for a few songs, they got the great Tom Principato to trade leads. A few more friends did a little round-robin instrument swapping and as the rivets started to unfasten, a couple of guitar legends waltzed in and completely blew the roof off!

Imagine this: Jason Isbell and Derek Trucks trading leads on The Meter's "Cissy Strut." ARE YOU KIDDING? Man, (Baltimore Unsigned producer) Nick Jackson and I were inches away from rock and roll greatness and a jam that couldn't be scripted any better. It was in a word: blissful.

Jason told me afterwards that he had never met Derek, but always wanted to.....and was stoked at the chance. The two hung out at Hot August which then led to this impromptu guitar get together. And they both looked like two giddy boys who pulled off the greatest prank in school history.

Trucks, Isbel and Old Man Brown laying it down: as that beer commercial used to say, the one with satisfied dudes sitting around the fire eating their catch, "It doesn't get any better than this."

Mix Tape Thursday, 3/12/09

WTMD listeners take over the airwaves with three-to-five song sets on Thursday.

Submit your own mixtape!

7 a.m. Amanda Torbit

I've seen all of these women in concert and each blew me away like I would never believe, including Bonnie Raitt who I went to see because there was an extra ticket. She totally rocked, what a nice shock.

Patty is my favorite and I just saw her a couple weeks ago at the Meyerhoff and she was by far the best. I never thought I would have a favorite singer because I like so many kinds of music but I'm glad I found Patty and she will remain my favorite forever.

I hope you get as much joy from these women as I do!

• "Words Fell," by Lucinda Williams
  
• "You Got the Silver," by Susan Tedeschi
  
• "Angel from Montgomery," by Bonnie Raitt
• "Forgiveness," by Patty Griffin
  

9 a.m. Laurie Little

We try to support live music and would love more airplay for all of the following bands. Any chance that I can get to share their music with others is chalked up as a good day!

• "Little Black Angels," by Jonah Smith
  
• "Our Love," by Derek Trucks Band
  
• "Magnolia Soul," by Ozomatli
  
• "Heart Can't Tell a Lie," by Los Lonely Boys
• "Barrel House Blues," by Albert Cummings
  

11 a.m. Kevin Burke

Literary and historical inspiration for artists' lyrics.

• "Ramble On," by Led Zeppelin, based on the The Lord of the Rings;
  
• "Riddle in London Town," by State Radio, tells stories of American history;
  
• "The Crane Wife, 1 & 2," by The Decemberists; based on a Japanese folk tale;
  
• "Carolina Drama," by The Raconteurs; Jack White sings about the south as only he can;
• "Franklin's Tower," by The Grateful Dead; More literary connections in one song than many bands put in an entire album.
  

4 p.m. Corey Profit

• "Wonder," (Live) by Colin Meloy
  
• "Imitosis," by Andrew Bird
  
• "Summersong," by The Decemberists
  
• "Beautiful World," by Colin Hay
  
• "Fake Palindromes," by Andrew Bird
  

5 p.m. Grace DeWit

Isn't it all about you, anyway?

• "Bones of You," by Elbow
  
• "Pictures of You," by The Cure
  
• "Thinking of You," by Norah Jones
  
• "Anyone Else But You," by Moldy Peaches
  

6 p.m. Nick Frye

A beautiful girl walks in through the front door of the bar wearing a pair of tapered leg jeans. Her two-tone hair is pulled up in the back and her piercing green eyes are partially covered by her bangs in the front. I stand, unable to move, like a wooden soldier frozen by her enigmatic presence.

I become paranoid and overly aware that I'm just staring. I can't take my eyes off of her. It's as if this is the first day of my life. That's the story of how I met my current girlfriend. Plus, we love all of these bands and songs.

• "Taper Jean Girl," by Kings of Leon
  
• "Bangs," by They Might be Giants
  
• "Wooden Soldiers," by Person L
  
• "Paranoia in B-Flat Major," by The Avett Brothers
• "First Day of My Life," by Bright Eyes
  

John Mayer Rocks / Robbers & Cowards Don't Pass The Hat To The Kids

Saw John Mayer tonight in D.C. and it was great. The man is a great musician and has a great band to back him up. Played a lot of hits and the show was pretty low key. Finished up by covering Cream's version of Crossroads. John mentioned just before, that he would be playing the Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago this weekend. This festival also features guitar gods of the past and present including Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, BB King, Buddy Guy, Derek Trucks, and Robert Randolph. WTMD favorites like Los Lobos and Alison Krauss & Union Station will be there too. Can anybody say All-Star jam?









Got some not so great news as well.

Looks like the Cold War Kid's won't be gracing us with their excellence at Virgin Festival. Aiden won the hard fought out battle between groups including Mute Math, Say Anything and The Higher and CWK. See you at the Patriot Center everybody.

Current Mood: Bummed yet hopeful