Her new album IRM, a collaboration with Beck, while pretty great, also reveals a sad truth: that, as evident from at least a couple of tracks, Beck has written more quality Air songs than Air themselves have in the past five years.

It occurred to me that I’ve probably listened to this song more than any other song this past year.

This is a long-time family favorite around my house:

David Holmes - I Heard Wonders

Movies:

1. Wendy and Lucy

This came out last year, but I saw it in ’09 and no other movie affected me as much.

2. Coraline

3. Adventureland

4. Ponyo

5. House of the Devil

6. Up

7. Drag Me To Hell

I’ve slacked off on movie viewing this year.  Still need to see:  Antichrist, Avatar, The Girlfriend Experience, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Humpday, District 9, A Serious Man, Where the Wild Things Are, Precious, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, The White Ribbon

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Music :

1. Papercuts, You Can Have What You Want

Songwriter Jill Sobule said this year, “I think today, instead of everyone being famous for 15 minutes, everyone will be famous for 15 people.”  Papercuts have toured with some of the most acclaimed and popular indie bands around – Grizzly Bear, Beach House, Camera Obscura – yet even modest popularity eludes them.  There’s pleasure in liking things nobody else knows about, of course, but that’s not why this is my favorite album of the year.  It’s the music.  I’ll take this over any of the bands I previously mentioned, some of which have showed up on multiple best-of-09 lists while this album has been largely forgotten.  Guess I’m one of the lucky fifteen.

Instead of listing other albums I liked this year, I’m doing individual tracks:

Annie:  ”I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me,” “I Don’t Like Your Band,” “Songs Remind Me of You”

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart:  ”Ramona,” “The Tenure Itch”

Washed Out: “New Theory”

Atlas Sound: “An Orchid,” “Sheila,” “Criminals”

Deerhunter: “Disappearing Ink”

The Hidden Cameras: “He Falls to Me,” “Colour of a Man”

Here We Go Magic:  ”Fangela,” “Tunnelvision”

Cass McCombs: “Dreams-Come-True-Girl,” “Don’t Vote”

Grizzly Bear: “Two Weeks,”  ”Cheerleader”

Animal Collective: “Summertime Clothes”

Air: “Bee a Bee”

The Flaming Lips: “Watching the Planets”

Girls: “Lust for Life,” “Hellhole Ratrace”

Camera Obscura: “James”

Phoenix: “Lisztomania”

Vitalic: “Poison Lips”

Black Moth Super Rainbow: “Tooth Decay”

Jarvis Cocker: “Pilchard”

Books:

All I read is old stuff, though I did enjoy Dennis Cooper’s Ugly Man.