NPR Best Songs/Albums of 2009 So Far

NPR, or national public radio for anyone who needs to learn their acronyms, recently released their top 30 songs and albums of this year. Personally, I love just about everything on these lists and I also have something new to listen to besides Matt Nathanson. Due to the lack of CD of the Week last week there will be two posts; one on Friday as a replacement and the regular Saturday night post.

Top 10 Songs

1. "My Girls" Animal Collective
2. "Two Weeks" Grizzly Bear
3. "Blood Bank" Bon Iver
4. "The Rake's Song" The Decemberists
5. "Lisztomania" Phoenix
6. "Zero" Yeah Yeah Yeahs
7. "This Tornado Loves You" Neko Case
8. "Sleepyhead" Passion Pit
9. "Laughing With" Regina Spektor
10. "The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid" The Decemberists

Also mentioned were: "Help, I'm Alive" Metric (20), "Daniel" Bat For Lashes (13), and "Heads Will Roll" Yeah Yeah Yeahs (17)

Top 10 Albums

1. Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective
2. The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists
3. Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
4. Middle Cyclone by Neko Case
5. Wilco (The Album) by Wilco
6. Noble Beast by Andrew Bird
7. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
8. It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
9. Dark Was The Night by Various Artists
10. Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors

Also mentioned: Far by Regina Spektor (11), Fantasies by Metric (17), and March of the Zapotec by Beirut (28)

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CD of the Week: 11:11

As you may (should) know, I am in love with Regina Spektor, so what better artist to start off my CD of the week series off with. 11:11 is the first album she put out and it's part of a two way tie between Songs as my favorite album of hers.
11:11 is an album with many different dynamics involved; with feel good songs like Flyin', about a girl who learns how to fly (albeit after her teacher comes on to her, gets rejected and throws her out of a window) then to deviously fun songs like Mary Ann, which is about a woman named Mary Ann who "preferred her meat to be freshly butchered".
The music is slow and bluesy with upright bass, like in songs like Wasteland, then upbeat in piano melodies such as Sunshine. Regina's brilliantly eccentric voice gives the songs feeling and is beautifully showcased in the a capella song, I Want to Sing, an ode to a lover.
The lyrics are often like small narratives telling stories of a gossiped about scandal (Love Affair) or the story of a single mother trying to figure out her life (Braille)
My favorite song on this album and one of my top 5 favorite Spektor songs is Back of a Truck.
Her passion in this song is so completely haunting, making the story she tells that much more powerful. The lyrics tell a story that is not completely clear at times, though it's probably meant to be left to the individual's interpretation.
I suggest going out and buying this album, immediately. It's now out of print but you can definitely find it on iTunes or Amazon MP3. I leave you with a video for Back of a Truck.