10. coliseum “house with a curse”

9. band of horses “infinite arms”

8. broken bells “broken bells”

7. new pornographers “together”

6. stars “the five ghosts”

5. murder by death “good morning, magpie”

4. the sword “warp riders”

3. superchunk “majesty shredding”

2. robyn “body talk”

1. apples in stereo “travelers in space and time”

EPs

5. fort worth “what’s that in your mouth”

4. next life “resurrection”

3. kid is qual “40″+”

2. forgetters “forgetters”

1. now, now “neighbors”

best of mix possibly coming soon.

1 brand new song

2 somewhat improved versions of songs that were already posted

and 2 older demos, including the original version of holiday pants

1. the battle of pancake forge, a song i wrote for a game on my friend nick’s website

2. savior of syrup, blood of thine enemies, which may also relate to the game somehow (and which needs a few tweaks here and there…)

and 3. happy ocean stage, which isn’t for anything in particular, but it did make me want to sail around in Wind Waker, thus the title…

i give you: holiday pants (final boss stage version 2.1)

witness:

somehow, this hasn’t scared away all our customers…

super mario bros crossover (click link to play)

(a flash game that allows you to play the original super mario bros with mega man, link, samus, simon belmont, and bill rizer. mind blowing-ly awesome.)

Jay Pavlina, thank you for making this!

watch it (sadly, it’s not playable, but still well worth your time if you’re a huge dork that loves NES games and Dr. Horrible’s sing-along blog) here.

i’ll take your word for it

spongebob cake wreck #1: cyclops blob thing

spongebob cake wreck #2: if you’re feeling sinister

(photo taken in 2008…)

apparently so…

THE 20 BEST ALBUMS, 2000-2009, LISTED MORE OR LESS CHRONOLOGICALLY.

Four Cornered Night, Jets to Brazil

jtb’s best album, ten years later i still listen to this all the time – almost as much as Dear You.

In The Valley Of Dying Stars, Superdrag

I’m glad he’s happy now, but Superdrag was at their best when John Davis was at his worst.

Know By Heart, American Analog Set

I only wish old iPod screens were a little bigger, so this band wouldn’t show up  as “American Anal…”

Control, Pedro The Lion

The fictional story of a dysfunctional marriage that ends in murder, this is by far David Bazaan’s best work.

Let Go, Nada Surf

If you’d told me in 1996 that Nada Surf would have an entry on this list, I’d have been horrified, as though you’d told me that in the next 15 years i’d develop a keen interest in watching televised golf. I now find High/Low mostly listenable, but nothing the band has done before or since comes close to this album.

Perfecting Loneliness, Jets To Brazil

jtb’s second best album is still good enough for this list; if only “rocket boy” was about five minutes shorter, this’d be as good as Four Cornered Night.

The Execution Of All Things, Rilo Kiley

My favorite Rilo Kiley songs are on More Adventurous, but so are some of my least favorite Rilo Kiley songs. Just keep your power gloves off her, man.

Wood/Water, The Promise Ring

I’ll always have a soft spot for Very Emergency, but this is the Promise Ring album I keep coming back to.

Deloused In The Comatorium, The Mars Volta

Runner up for Worst Album Title on this list, Deloused was the first “heavy” record I had listened to since my teenage obsession with Metallica. Sadly, the mars volta has never delivered anything else as good as this.

Promise Of Love, American Analog Set

Not many bands get more than one entry on this list, but I love the American Analog Set. A lot.

Reconstruction Site, The Weakerthans

(more on this one later)

The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place, Explosions In The Sky

“Post Rock” is a terrible name for a musical genre, but due to its continued use, it brings to mind a specific style. Explosions are my favorite band in this style, and “First Breath After Coma” is easily the best 9 minutes of space-y guitar ever.

Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV volume one: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness, Coheed And Cambria

1. The “story” is some of the worst science fiction nonsense in existence. I was much happier before I read the lyrics.

2. Track 8, “wake up,” is god-awful. At three and a half minutes (out of 71), that makes this album 95.1% awesome.

3. The Best Album With The Worst Name, ever.*

*similarly, The Connnie Dungs are The Best Band With The Worst Name, and The Tortillas You Wanted are The Worst Band With The Best Name.

Dead Mountain Mouth, Genghis Tron

Most people would hate this. I can see why. But the beauty is in the ugliness.

In Bocca Al Lupo, Murder By Death

I’m not generally a “lyrics person” (see Coheed and Cambria). But Murder By Death tell haunting stories over great music.

Peregrine, The Appleseed Cast

I like all the Appleseed Cast’s albums (from mare vitalis on), but peregrine is the best synthesis of their song driven work  and the more experimental stuff on the Low Level Owls.

The Red Album, Weezer Baroness

Who likes bands that sound like the soundtrack to the NES Contra? Me. Somebody’s gotta defeat the evil Red Falcon…

Get Better, Lemuria

The only full-length by my favorite active band, of course it’s on here.

(Inside) Waiting For The Time To Be Right, The Brother Kite

In 2006, The Brother Kite released Waiting For The Time To Be Right. In 2008, as a bonus for buying the vinyl edition, they included this: a remixed version of the album, stripped down to the minimal elements of the songs. The original is an above average indie rock album, but this is unbelievable. The closest thing to an indie rock Pet Sounds there’s ever likely to be.

Axe To Fall, Converge

Live, Converge is probably the best band I’ve ever seen. But before Axe To Fall, only a few songs on their albums held my attention the way the live show did. This hardly left my cd player the last months of 2009.

BONUS CATEGORIES

BEST BAND:

The Weakerthans

Though they only released 3 albums and a handful of miscellaneous tracks, everything the Weakerthans did from Left and Leaving to Reunion Tour was great. No other band active for the better part of the decade was that consistent.

WORST BAND:

Weezer

The Blue Album and Pinkerton are two of my all-time favorite albums by any band, but Weezer should never have re-united without Matt Sharp. They started out reasonably well with The Green Album (and a handful of accompanying b-sides), but it was all downhill from there. Maladroit was mediocre, Make Believe had only one good song (“haunt you every day”) and one of the worst songs of the Ever (“the joker beverly hills”), and I couldn’t even get through The Red Album. One of my favorite bands spent an entire decade trying to make me regret ever liking them.

BEST ALBUM THAT COULD HAVE BEEN:

Futures, Jimmy Eat World

Jimmy Eat World started recording this album with Mark Tromino (he produced Clarity and Bleed American), but abandoned the sessions in favor of working with Gil Norton. The finished product was a big success for the band, with several hit singles, but the original version would have been so much better, albeit less radio friendly. The worst song on the official release (“night drive”) started out as one of the best Jimmy Eat World songs, and if wordpress didn’t want $20 for the privilege of uploading audio, i’d prove it to you. And if anyone has a copy of this where “Lying Dressed” doesn’t skip, i’d like to get ahold of it.