It was a tough year musically in the world of hip-hop and r&b, but there were a few gems that separated themselves from the pack of ignorance. Here's a list of sorts of joints I dug this year, as well as the interview with Rakim and some entertaining viral videos to keep you busy for a few minutes. Enjoy and leave a comment!

Top albums (in no particular order):

Finale: A Pipe Dream And A Promise

Tanya Morgan: Brooklynati

Blackroc: Blackroc

The Clipse: Til The Casket Drops

Souls of Mischief: Montezuma's Revenge

Exile: Radio

Skyzoo: The Salvation

Kam Moye: Spitting Image

Jern Eye: Vision

Dam-Funk: Toeachizown

Diamond District: In the Ruff

Ghostface Killah: Ghostdini the Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City

Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...Pt. II

Breakestra: Dusk Till Dawn

M.O.P.: Foundation

Oh No: Dr. NO's Ethiopium

Mos Def: The Ecstatic

14KT: Nowalataz

Mayer Hawthorne: A Strange Arrangement

Maxwell: Black Summer's Night

The Alchemist: Chemical Warfare

J Dilla: Jay Stay Paid

Zion I: The Takeover

DOOM: Born Like This

TD Camp: FTC presents: Face to Face

Royce Da 5.9: Street Hop

Little Dragon: Little Dragon

Top singles from artists or songs without album releases (in no particular order):

Sade: Soldier of Love

Kardinal Offishall: We Gon' Go

Strange Fruit Project: Crash

Jay Electronica: Exhibit C

1-O.A.K.: The Lovecats

Freeway Jake One: Know What I Mean

Royce Da 5'9": Gimme Money

DJ Vinroc ft. JBillion, Spank Pops and 1-O.A.K. Caliway

Jay-Z: Thank You

Kid Kudi: Make Her Say

Last.fm/Presents

Check out the interview I did with the legendary emcee Rakim Allah:

Last.fm/Presents: Rakim interview Pt I:




Last.fm/Presents: Rakim interview Pt II:




A few viral videos for ya:

Prestige Worldwide Tour

The homey Vinroc and Jay-Z's DJ Neil Armstrong are preparing for their mini-tour Prestige Worldwide! If you've seen the movie Step Brothers, you'll get it, if not google it:

Shy Ronnie

I'm not a fan of Saturday Night Live at all, but I can't front, this was pretty funny:

Iron Mic MC battle featuring Eli Porter

An oldie but goodie:

Mistah FAB

Bay Area emcee Mistah FAB offers his commentary during the Warriors-Lakers game:





DJ JS-1 calls out all sellouts. Comedy!

Wu-Tang Lego: Da Mystery of Chessboxin'





Skillz presents: Hip-Hop Confessions

The first of a series of episodes:

D-Nice's True Hip-Hop Stories

This one features Big Daddy Kane. All of these are dope!

See all top ten lists.

Play the Best of 2009 playlist.

Indie-rock dominated my MP3 player this year (Animal Collective, Phoenix, XX, The Horrors). "Fame Monster" Lady Gaga's catchy, Madonna-inspired pop beats made a suprisingly #1 fan out of me. Festivals like Coachella, Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo brought forward some of my all-time childhood favorite bands to rock my world from the likes of Echo the Bunnymen, Jane's Addiction, My Bloody Valentine, and Depeche Mode. And, thankfully, next year is shaping up to be just as equally exciting with new music from indie-rock(and dance) titans Yeasayer, Hot Chip, Spoon, MGMT, Battles, These New Puritans, LCD Soundsystem and the Klaxons (need I say more?). But, for now, I'd like to highlight some of the best albums to date. Every track on this list is an essential must have for any DJ or fan of good music.

Best albums, and the best song on each one

10. The Yeah Yeah Yeah's: It's Blitz "Runaway"

9. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion "My Girls"

8. Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix -"1901"

7. XX xx "Crystalised"

6. Amanda Blank: I Love You "A Love Song"

5. Horrors Primary Colours "Three Decades"

4. Fever Ray: Fever Ray "Seven"

3. Sonic Youth: The Eternal "Antenna"

2. Simian Mobile Disco Temporary Pleasures "Cruel Intentions" feat. Beth Ditto

1. Depeche Mode – Sounds of the Universe "Wrong"

Best album title

No More Stories Are Told Today, I'm Sorry, They Washed Away

Worst album cover

Spiral Stairs: The Real Feel (Matador)

Best album cover

Animal Collective Merriwather Post Pavillion

Band I am surprised I learned to love

Lady Gaga

And, this is why!

Best new artist

Miike Snow

Best soundtrack I'm ashamed to love this year

The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack

Best Live Act

The Yeah Yeah Yeah's

Best music video

Matt Kim: Lessons Learned (directed by Taylor Cohen and Otto Arsenault)

Best weird music video

Major Lazer: Keep It Goin' Louder (directed by Eric Wareheim)

Best interviews I abs. had fun doing this year

Depeche Mode

Echo and the Bunnymen

Lady Sov

Major Lazer (aka Diplo and Switch)

Matt Kim

Amanda Blank

It's that time of year again, when music writers, geeks, and fans take a serious and level-headed (or...not) look back at the music of the past year and pick their favorites, trying to make sense of it all--and trying to fit all those songs into a neat Top Ten list. Below are the picks from the editors of MP3.com, with links back to each editor's page where we attempt to explain ourselves.

Anngie's list

Kurt's list

Mike's list

Peter's list

And since the whole point is to actually listen, we've also created an awesome Best Music of 2009 playlist! The image below pops a player that's packed with our picks, check it out!

In a curious turn of events in the world of Grammy nominations, teen superstar Miley Cyrus is out, and Karen O is in. In the category for Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media, turns out Miley's recording of "The Climb" was not actually written for Hannah Montana: The Movie, which is a key rule for this category. So the artist with the next-highest number of votes turned out to be Karen O and the Kids; O's song "All Is Love," from Where the Wild Things Are, now goes up against Paramore's "Decode," Bruce Springsteen's "The Wrestler," A.R. Rahman's "Jai Ho," and Beyonce's "Once in a Lifetime."

O's group Yeah Yeah Yeahs are also nominated in Best Alternative Music Album category for their release It's Blitz! (which you can stream in full on Last.fm).

Read more on this year's Grammy highlights and see full list of nominees.

Sad news to report: Jack Rose, frequently recognized as one of the contemporary music world's finest guitar players, died this past weekend, apparently of a heart attack. He was 38.

The Philadelphia-based Rose got his start in the noise band Pelt, but gained a later reputation as a fingerpicking virtuoso on the 6- and 12-string guitars. He was steeped in ragtime and other prewar sounds, and more or less picked up where giants like John Fahey and Robbie Basho left off. His music was, and is, a mesmerizing mix that's at once endearing and complex, hypnotic and lively, and, in so many ways, enlightening. Call it spiritual or transcendent if you like, or just bask in its joyful sound.

If you're curious for a taste of Jack's music, Arthur Magazine assembled a few key songs and videos. And the comments section of that page is full of some truly heartfelt notes from friends and fans.

Josh Rosenthal of Tompkins Square, who worked with Jack on a handful of recent projects, wrote a lovely remembrance as well.

And Brooklyn Vegan, Spinner, Stereogum, and Pitchfork are among the many music sites who've also chimed in.

Based on all this outpouring, it's clear Rose was extremely well loved and left a significant musical legacy.

Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Kanye West, the Black Eyed Peas, and Lady GaGa topped the list of nominees for the upcoming 52nd Grammy awards. Which isn't much of a surprise, considering they're among the year's best-selling artists. But we all know that surprise isn't what the Grammys are about; they tend to recognize current and ongoing success, rather than go out on a limb to predict the future.

While mainstream artists always dominate, it's still refreshing to see a handful of non-Platinum artists squeezed into the mix. Some of my (Kurt's) personal favorites I'm glad to see mentioned here include Neko Case (nominated for "Best Contemporary Folk Album" as well as "Best Recording Package"), Steve Earle (another "Contemporary Folk" nominee for his album paying tribute to Townes Van Zandt), Loudon Wainwright III (his album "High Wide Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project" gets a "Traditional Folk" nomination), and Levon Helm ("Americana"); I'm also happy to find Jamey Johnson a guy hovering around the fringe of the Nashville mainstream, getting a couple of nods (his song "High Cost of Living" isn't the best track from his album That Lonesome Song, but it's still substantial--and his voice kills it).

Spend some time perusing the full list of nominees and you'll also come across names like Booker T. Jones, Slayer, Anthony Hamilton, MGMT, Willie Nelson, Mavis Staples, India.Arie, Foreign Exchange, and "Best Alternative Music Album" candidates Death Cab for Cutie, Phoenix, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Some of the categories are curious, too, for instance the Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance--which is basically a place to park classic-rock legends (and yes, that's Prince in there alongside Springsteen, Dylan, Fogerty, and Neil Young).

To see what's what, check the full list at Grammy.com.

The award show itself will take placed January 31, 2010 in Los Angeles.

For Cocteau Twins fans who've wondered what ever happened to Elizabeth Fraser--whose warm, warbling, ethereal voice made the band such a standout in the '80s and early '90s--UK newspaper the Guardian has just published an interview with her that is well worth reading.

Topics on the table include a rumored Cocteau Twins reunion (not happening: "people get so fucking carried away"), her relationship (long-ago ended) with former bandmate Robin Guthrie, her currently relationship with Massive Attack's drummer Damon Reece, her new single "Moses," Jeff Buckley, the concept of finished or unfinished recordings, and why the world has barely heard her voice over the past 15 years ("I feel sorry for the general public because I hear her singing in the house and it's truly amazing," says Reece).

While the last official Fraser recordings were with Massive Attack (she sang on their 1998 album Mezzanine and hit "Teardrop," and toured with them in 2006), she actually is tip-toeing back into the spotlight with a new single, "Moses," just released on Rough Trade.The single was recorded with Reece and their friend Jake Drake-Brockman, who died this past September. Its release is a tribute to Drake-Brockman.

Read the full interview.

We love Spoon. Who doesn't? And so we're eager to hear the band's upcoming album, Transference, due on January 19, 2010 from Merge (in the US--a day earlier on Anti- in the EU).

But you already knew that. What you may not have known, though, is that the cover (just revealed today) features an image by William Eggleston, the Memphis photographer famed for his groundbreaking color work.



Eggleston's work, by the way, has been featured on rock and roll album covers before--quite a few, in fact. While musicians from Alex Chilton to Primal Scream to Chuck Prophet have all been enamored with his work, the best known Eggleston album cover is easily the image adorning Big Star 's Radio City which dates from 1974, when both Eggleston and Big Star were not well known at all outside their local Memphis scene.

The image adorning Transference is "Sumner, Mississippi (1970)" and was first published in William Eggleston's Guide--a now-famous monograph that accompanied his groundbreaking debut at the Museum of Modern Art in 1976.

The first single from Transference is "Written In Reverse," which you can hear right now at MergeRecords.com. You can also, of course, buy it--and/or advance purchase a vinyl 7" of the song that's set to be released January 5, which will also feature (collector types take note) the non-album B-side "Mean Red Spider."

Though some early leaks forced R. Kelly's latest album to be pushed back a full year, fans will find Untitled was well worth the wait. With two singles already out, Religion and Echo, Kelly's 10th studio album is less thematic than his other recent work, but no less danceable. A host of producers contributed beats to the project, including Jack Splash, Rhyze, and J. Holiday.

Read reviews and watch videos on Street Date or stream tracks from the album on Last.fm.

Can you believe it? David Bowie 's Space Oddity turned 40 this year. Yes, it makes us feel old, too; but the good news is, the album sounds as fresh, exciting, adventurous, and edgy as it did back in 1969 (or, at least, so we imagine). And for those who've only heard the title track, you've got a treat in store.

To celebrate, EMI has reissued the album in a beautiful and bonus-track-packed two-CD edition.The first disc is the original album in full; the second is all bonus material, including demo versions, b-sides, alternative mixes, and other variations of songs from the album. And for those who are counting, eight of the bonus tracks claim to be "previously unreleased" versions.

The album is posted for track-by-track streaming on our sister site Last.fm. To listen, just click the album cover below.

On his new album Sara Smile, country artist Jimmy Wayne brings a mid-'70s Hall and Oates classic to contemporary country listeners. The title song itself is a faithful, fairly straightforward cover version, and while it was never anything close to a country charter even back in those rhinestone-studded times, anyone over 30 can almost certainly hum a few bars.

Though he's still somewhat of a newcomer among country fans, Sara Smile is actually this North Carolina singer's third album, after his self-titled 2003 debut and last year's Do You Believe Me Now. And he's had his share of life experiences, too, including working as a prison guard, where allegedly an inmate helped him get off the ground as a songwriter. (And certainly, a story like that sure doesn't hurt a rising writer's career.)

The title track to Do You Believe Me Now gave him Wayne first Number One hit--which means, there's high hopes pinned on this new album. Give a listen to Sara Smile (click the image below) and see what you think.

On Thursday, November 19, 2009, CBS presented a concert webcast by recording artist John Mayer live from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York.

Click the image below to watch it!

Legendary MC Rakim just released his new album The Seventh Seal--and you can check it up front in this full album stream courtesy of CBS Radio's Street Date.

On top of that, the team at Last.fm sat Rakim down for an exclusive interview, presented below in two parts:

California native Samantha Stollenwerck is worried we are all just a bit too "Oblivious" to the bad stuff we're doing to the environment and the world. So she wrote a song about it--the lead single from her brand new album Carefree . Don't worry, it's not terribly preachy, and has catchy hooks and a laid-back, West Coast vibe that, even as it inspires action, will keep you feeling groovy the whole way through.

The video is posted on our sister site Last.fm --click Samantha's picture below to watch:

Courtesy of our friends at CBS Radio's Street Date you can check out a full album stream of Wyclef Jean and DJ Drama's new album, From The Hut, To The Projects, To The Mansion, and listen to an exclusive performance as well:

"Wyclef hasn't put out a hip hop record in a minute, so it's understandable that he's more than a little excited about this new mixtape project with DJ Drama. And he admits that after the last few years of producing and performing on huge international pop hits, like Shakira's Hips Don't Lie, he had to work to get his flow back. Wyclef stopped by our studio to talk about the new record and to give us a preview."

Click the image below to check it out!

When you write a song that everybody knows--by tune, by title, by chugging guitar riff--that song follows you around the rest of your life. For Chip Taylor, that song is "Wild Thing," which was made famous by the Troggs in 1966. It's the kind of song that, when you hear it, it feels more like it evolved out purely out of a combination of earth, sky, electricity, and the back corner of someone's garage, rather than having been 'written' in the traditional sense. But it was written. By Taylor.

Who also happens to have a famous brother: Jon Voight. Which makes him Angelina Jolie's uncle. Don't tell me you knew that already.

At any rate, Taylor's had a long singer-songwriter career that included more famous songs (most notably "Angel of the Morning"), some awesome country-rock in the '70s ("The Real Thing"), and--after getting sidetracked by a stab at a career as a professional gambler--a return to making music that hovers on the alternative-rock-country-folk side of the fence.

Taylor's latest album is "Yonkers, NY," a low-key collection of stories about his upbringing in that New York town. It's groovy, beautiful, thoughtful, and personal--a trip to another world, and another time, brought to life by a veteran storyteller with an eye for detail and an ear for the sort of melody that keeps us coming back for another spin.

When Yonkers mayor Philip Amicone got wind of the album, he gave Chip something he's probably never gotten before: his own day.

Read the full text declaring Chip Taylor Day below--and while you're reading, you can also listen to the album.

HEREAS: As Mayor of the City of Yonkers, it is with a great sense of pride that I recognize those distinguished Yonkers natives who have risen to the highest levels of personal success and who remain true to their Yonkers' roots, and

WHEREAS: Foremost among these individuals is CHIP TAYLOR, who is recognized this day, in celebration of the release of his newest album, Yonkers, NY, which chronicles his life history, and

WHEREAS: Raised in Yonkers, CHIP TAYLOR, also formally known as James Wesley Voight, began his love affair with music at an early age, and his penchant for the country genre found an outlet in his Archbishop Stepinac High School band, 'Town Country Brothers', and upon graduation, entered the music business, writing and composing pop and rock songs and achieved success with a number of his songs, and

WHEREAS: A prodigious and prolific talent, CHIP TAYLOR's status as one of the most notable songwriters in American music is secure and in recent years has won praise for acclaimed recordings and collaborations and has penned dozens of classics, written in varied voices and styles, most notably Wild Thing and Angel of the Morning, and

WHEREAS: Throughout the course of a successful music career, CHIP TAYLOR released over twenty albums and with the release of his latest recording, Yonkers, NY, he relates the story of his childhood and adolescence, through an eleven song cycle which is filled with warmth and humor, enlivened with spoken reminiscences and packaged with a book of lyrics and vintage photos of the people and places that are their subjects, and

WHEREAS: Family has played an important part of the songwriting process of CHIP TAYLOR and many of the songs on his newest album are a reflection of the warmth and love of family and friends that he experienced during his youth, and

WHEREAS: The City of Yonkers raises its voice in tribute to CHIP TAYLOR and wish him much success with our namesake album.


NOW, THEREFORE I, PHILIP A. AMICONE, Mayor of the City of Yonkers, do hereby proclaim this 28th day of October 2009 to be:

CHIP TAYLOR DAY

in the City of Yonkers, and I call upon all the residents of our City to join with me in congratulating this individual on the release of his newest musical endeavor and to express our gratitude to him for 'putting Yonkers, NY' on the musical map.

Given under my hand and the Seal of the City of Yonkers, New York this 28th day of October 2009.

Young country newcomer Tyler Dean has a song called "Taylor Swift," in which he pines for the superstar singer with lines like "she's cool, tall, beautiful" and "I'd like to take her for a drive." Aside from whatever he meant by that "drive" line it's mostly innocent--well, unless you don't count the fact its title seems calculated specifically to grab attention (uh, OK, if you're reading this then it worked).

The fact he's named his song after her is of course an interesting coincidence, since Swift's first single was titled after another country superstar, "Tim McGraw." As you ponder what that all means, you can pop on the video below (courtesy of our friends at Last.fm