Video - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart "Say No To Love"

As you may know The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart made my favorite album of last year. Well now their back with the single "Say No To Love" and a corresponding video as well.

Top 20 Albums Of 2009

20. Major Lazer - Gun's Don't Kill People - Lazers Do
Although leaning heavily on Dancehall there is a whole history of Jamaican music mixed into Diplo and Switch's debut album under the Major Lazer guise. The party (album) starts out with "Hold The Line" featuring Santigold and never slows down.

19. Baroness - Blue Record
Sometimes you just need to put on something heavy. When that time occurs you could do worst than reaching for this record.

18. Morrissey - Years Of Refusal
If Morrissey, now in his 50's is having to 'throw his arms around Paris because nobody wants his love' what chance do the rest of us have? Now an old pro "Moz" still writes songs like a jilted teenage boy and we wouldn't want it any other way.

17. Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications
It's interesting that after two decades as the lead singer of Pulp and releasing his debut solo album that Jarvis would abandon the "Brit Pop" blueprint he helped create. Instead he put out his most rockin' album ever. Recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini Further Complication as a solid garage rock album that allows Jarvis to partially reinvent himself.

16. Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
This album would make the list based on the stand out track "Daniel" alone but once you let the whole album seep into your brain there is a whole world that Natasha Khan has created for us to explore.

15. The Thermals - Now We Can See
This Kill Rock Stars Debut sees the band sighing a breath of relief after 8 years of the Bush administration and their civic duty to comment on it. This album saw the band pushing more into a power pop rather than pop punk sound that has a lighter and more fun feel.

14. Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns
This is pure indie goodness for those who like Neutral Milk Hotel, Pavement or Bright Eyes.

13. Raekwon - Only Built For Cuban Linx Pt. 2
This is one for those of us who miss the hip hop we had in the 90's. This record fits in with the best of the Wu albums and solo records.

12. Cymbal Eats Guitar - Why There Are Mountains
This one is great for the same reasons as #14, just great classic indie.

11. The Mountain Goats - The Life Of The World To Come
One this record John Darnielle slows things down and tells us some lessons the Bible taught him (sort of). Put on the headphones and listen to every word.

10. Girls - Album
The debut album by Girls is the sounds of a troubled person trying to work it all out. Indulging in drugs and alcohol and sex then waking up the next day to viscous hangover. Oh, to be young!

9. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
The band pulled back on the guitars and put vintage synthesisers in the for front yet it still sounded like them. Zero was one of the best songs of the year but the whole record is worth a listen.

8. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
This album defies any current trend in music be it Lo-Fi, glow-fi or anything else. It still became one of the biggest and best albums of the year based on great songs.

7. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
"My Girls" enough said!

6. Passion Pit - Manners
The debut album by Passion Pit might have been the funnest album of year.

5. Mos Def - The Ecstatic
Skilled MC stops acting and starts giving a shit about rhyming. The Stones Throw beats on this album are so good Mos has to come correct over them.

4. The Big Pink - A Brief History Of Love
This is big music made to be played loud to stadiums full of people. Enjoy them before the rest of the world jumps on the bandwagon.

3. Japondroids - Post Nothing
This duo does more with less. The eight songs on their debut is a sonic assault on your ears.

2. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
You couldn't get away from this album whether you were in a coffee shop, at the barber or just sitting through the commercials during the Daily Show. Good thing it's a great album. These savvy French blokes finally broke through on the back of their best album yet.

1. The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - S/T
The debut album by these Manhattanites is pure pop goodness. Hearkening back to the days of C86, Sarah Records and early days of twee this album hits all the right spots.

Honorable Mentions

St. Vincent - Actor
Real Estate - S/T
The XX - S/T
Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
Cold Cave - Love Comes Close
Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
Neco Case - Middle Cyclone

Favorite Songs Of 2009

Here it is my first end of the year post for 2009. I guess this year I was feeling more poppy and dance oriented stuff form the phoenix's 1901 to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs more synthesised sounds. If I had to guess I would say this had to do with a more positve outlook based on the end of the Bush years and election of Obama.

1) Phoenix - 1901

2) Animal Collective - My Girls

3) Bat For Lashes - Daniel

4) The Big Pink - Dominoes

5) Girls - Hellhole Ratrace

6) Grizzly Bear Two Weeks

7) The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction

8) The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero

9) Passion Pit - The Reeling

10) The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea

11) Mos Def - The Ecstatic

12) Metric - Help I'm Alive

13) Dinosaur Jr. Over It

14) We Were Promised Jetpacks - Ships With Holes Will Sink

15) The Decemberists - The Rake Song

16) Atlas Sound (with Noah Lennox) - Walkabout

17) Manic Street Preachers - Jackie Collins Existential Question Time

18) Raekwon - House Of Flying Daggers

19) The Rural Alberta Advantage - The Deathbridge At Lethbridge

20) The Thermals - Now We Can See

New Pains Of Being Pure At Heart "Young Adult Friction"

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

In the current segment over at pitchforks A>D>D we get one of my favorite new bands The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart performing Everything With You in a bathroom. Good acoustics right?