My year according to iTunes playcounts (with no cheating)

I thought I would try to break down what I listened to this year for songs that more or less came out in 2009.  What I am saying is some songs will have been released in 2009, some will have been live or bootlegs in 2009, some will have been re-released and some were demos for upcoming 2010 albums.  But let’s be clear, these all came to me in 2009, were basically recorded/released in 2009 and were listened to in 2009.   This is also from my iTunes library and is NOT doctored in any way to try and justify any “best of list” I made or an attempt to put enough hip bands to seem cooler than I am (I’m not that cool).

You will notice some albums seem to get a lot of plays and it might be they were top of my list and I simply pressed play before sorting so they simply got played more.  I sort my library from “date added” so if I got your album and nothing else fairly close, you got a lot of listens – this doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, but might reveal why some artists got heavy listens while not technically making my #1 album of the year, etc.  This also doesn’t include what I would listen to at work but does include most commute plays as my iPod should update my number of plays once I reconnect to my computer.  **If anyone knows a Last.fm script that you can manipulate by year, let me know!**

So here is the list, no mp3 links for them, it is more about seeing what somebody *really* listens to as opposed to what they say they listen to.  I think I stole this idea from Tart at Love Shack, Baby as she did something like this recently (see here).

My most listened to tracks of the year from the year and of the year!

1. I Shall Cross This River / The Black Atlantic / Reverence for Fallen Trees
2. Dirty Water / Doby Watson / Twenty Two
3. Twenty Two / Doby Watson / Twenty Two
4. Reverence for Fallen Trees / The Black Atlantic / Reverence for Fallen Trees
5. In The Drugs (Low Cover) / J. Tillman / unreleased
6. He Rode Off / Huck Notari / Very Long Dream
7. If I Had a Boat (mix 56) / James Vincent McMorrow / demo, “Early In The Morning” due 2010
8. Ruby And Lou / Richmond Fontaine / We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River
9. This Old House / Matt Epp / Safe Or Free
10. Selfish Guns / The Wheat Pool / Hauntario
11. Goodbye My Love, Goodbye / Haruko / Wild Geese
12. Northeast Kingdom / Sarah Winchester / The Northeast Kingdom Demos
13. Dance On My Skin / Mi And L’au / Good Morning Jokers
14. A Resignation / concept: bravery / The Trouble With Pretending
15. Harmless Sparks / David Bazan / Curse Your Branches
16. Colors Of Sun / Doby Watson / Doby Watson
17. Idaho / Gregory Alan Isakov / This Empty Northern Hemisphere
18. Going Home / The Maldives / Listen To The Thunder
19. William Henry Miller Pt.1 / Meursault / Nothing Broke EP
20. Raft / Sarah Winchester / The Northeast Kingdom Demos
21. Walked-on Wood / The Black Atlantic / Reverence for Fallen Trees
22. Age Of Man / J. Tillman / Year In The Kingdom
23. Speak With The Dead / White Pines / A Face Made of Wood EP
24. Pummel / Doby Watson / Twenty Two
25. Belated Promise Ring / Iron & Wine / Around The Well
26. Wild Honey (demo) / J. Tillman / final version found on the 7″ single “Wild Honey Never Stolen”
27. Up In The Building / Mi And L’au / Good Morning Jokers
28. Words Mean More / Gregory Alan Isakov / This Empty Northern Hemisphere
29. Old Black Dodge / Sean Rowe / Magic
30. Howling Light / J. Tillman / Year In The Kingdom
31. There Is No Good In Me / J. Tillman / Year In The Kingdom
32. Marked In The Valley / J. Tillman / Year In The Kingdom
33. Miss Me / Joe Purdy / Last Clock On The Wall
34. Emerging / The Mountain Goats & John Vanderslice / Moon Colony Bloodbath
35. Proximity / Oweihops / Viburnum
36. Funeral Song / Laura Gibson / Beasts Of Seasons
37. Can’t Know / The Weather Station / The Line
38. My Proud Mountains / J. Tillman / Introducing Townes Van Zandt Via The Great Unknown
39. Follow You Down To The Red Oak Tree / James Vincent McMorrow / Early In The Morning
40. All Thoughts Are Prey To Some Beast / Bill Callahan / Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle

~~~

Well that was 2009 – so I wonder what will dominate next year…my iTunes awaits.  Till then, have a few “yearly” tracks to ponder.

“This Year” – Lanterns on the Lake
“The Lost Year” – Andrew Rose Gregory
“A New Year (Song for Ryan)” – Sam Lowry
“New Years (Third Floor Session)” – Ohbijou

~Smansmith