sprezzatura.

There were many amazing releases this year from all genres, ranging from well known artists to the obscure.

Below are my top 10 pics for 2009 as well as a quite considerable list of notable runners-up!

Runners Up:
Doves  “Kingdom of Rust”
Bodycode “Immune”
Silversun Pickups  “Swoon”
Muse  “The Resistance”
White Rabbits “It’s Frightening”
Nosaj Thing  “Drift”
DJ Vadim “U Can’t Lurn Imaginashun”
One Eskimo “One Eskimo”
Ingrid Michaelson  “Everybody”
The XX  “xx”
Volcano Choir  “Unmap”
The Antlers  “Hospice”
Dead Weather  “Horehound”
Neon Indian  “Psychic Chasms”
Dead Man’s Bones  “Dead Man’s Bones”
Califone  “All my Friends are Funeral Singers”
Mayer Hawthorne  “A Strange Arrangement”
Monsters of Folk  “Monsters of Folk”
Phoenix  “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”

Click here for last year’s choice music podcasts of 2008.

This year, the seminal independent record label Warp Records celebrates 20 years of releasing cutting-edge electronic music.

In honor of their 20th anniversary I’ve put together a mix highlighting a few favorite tracks.

When creating a mixtape I usually start with a playlist of anywhere from 40-60 songs and shape it down from there. It ‘s always painful to make these edits, but this time was particularly difficult because there are so many important songs that have been released over the years I’m sad to not include.

I wound up with a selection of singles I love – and have meant a lot to me over time – rather than a generalized “best of” list, which can tend to be so subjective.

If you’re also a fan of Warp, don’t forget include your favorites in the comments section!

The link is at the bottom of the post. Enjoy!

//tracklist

Nightmares on Wax “Les Nuits”
Autechre “Nine”
Kenny Larkin “Tedra”
Squarepusher “My Red Hot Car”
Lfo “LFO (Leeds Warehouse mix)”
Aphex Twin “Windowlicker”
Flying Lotus feat. Andreya Triana “Tea Leaf Dancers”
Jamie Lidell – “Multiply”
!!! – “Must Be The Moon”
Grizzly Bear “Two Weeks”

For more:

Warp.net

Warp Records Essentials (eMusic)

Four Must-Have Favorites From Warp Records (Flavorwire)

20 years of Warp Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

“Bad Romance” is Lady GaGa’s first single from The Fame Monster.

On collaborating with director Francis Lawrence on the music video, she explains to MTV that

“I could give him all my weirdest, most psychotic ideas, but it would come across to and be relevant to the public.”

Indeed.

The Cremaster 3 meets bats-in-the-belfry Russian vodka advert gives most “artsy” music videos as of late a run for their money.

I’ve been on the fence about Lady G as cultural device.

I used to believe that she was everything wrong with the music industry.

Now I’m finally starting to realize that the stranger she gets, oddly enough the more relevance she has – and the more I like her.

Perhaps devoid of serious musical talent with lyrics certainly distanced from being poetic, this is artistry folks – however served up.

What do you think? Leave your comments at the top.