Feel Bad for 2009 - Side A

For the first Feel Bad for You comp of 2010, I asked the forum members of AltCountryTab.ca to submit their favorite tracks from 2009 which other members may not have heard. My ACT peeps submitted a ton of songs, so I split it up into Side A and Side B to keep it a reasonable download size. Side B will be posted next week. The comments on the songs are from the people who submitted them. Guess which one I submitted?

Side A - download the zipped comp for one week only.

1. The Black Hollies - "Everything's Fine"
Softly Towards The Light (2009)
Comments: It tickles the bottom of my power pop feet.

2. Devon Sproule - "Good to Get Out"
¡Don't Hurry for Heaven! (2009)
Comments: Catchiest Song of 2009?

3. Will Stratton - Nineteen.mp3
Buy: No Wonder (2009)
Comment: If you like Mark Kozelek rock songs, you will like this song. Guaranteed. The big surprise on Will Stratton's new album is how awesome the rock songs are on it. His previous album didn't have any rock songs.

4. Stephen Steinbrink - "Overpassing"
Ugly Unknowns (2009)
Comment: One of several killer songs from this album. Just great catchy acoustic indie-pop.

5. Miranda Lambert - "Me and Your Cigarettes"
Revolution (2009)
Comment: Yeah, it’s commercial, but it is also cool and sexy and I like it! I listen to Miranda’s CD the way I used to listen to music…the whole work, all the way through…

6. Soothsayers meet Red Earth Collective - River Effra.mp3
Buy (Tunes UK): One More Reason (2009)
Comment: Some sweet reggae from 2009!

7. Nolan McKelevy - Sign Of The Times.mp3
Buy (CD Baby): A Matter of Time (2009)

8. Mark Lennon - Down The Mountain.mp3
Buy (CD Baby): Down the Mountain (2009)

9. Headlights - "I Don't Mind At All"
Wildlife (2009)

10. K’Naan - “Take a Minute”
Troubadour (2009)
Comment: Brilliant album from an up and coming artist from Toronto via Mogadishu.

11. Lee Harvey Osmond - “Blades of Grass”
Quite Evil (2009)
Comment: Tom Wilson, Josh Finlayson (Skydiggers) and Michael Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) did the majority of the writing on the album's (A Quiet Evil) eight original songs. As for the other two songs, one is a cover (Lou Reed) and the other was penned by Scott Garbe (Parkland). Michael Timmins produced the album. Wilson, Finlayson and Timmins came together in the spring of ’08 while recording another Timmins’ project, The Kennedy Suite, a series of songs dealing with the assassination of JFK. There hasn’t been much love either, south of the border, for Wilson’s other supergroup, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. Blades of Grass is a song of murder and love which fits perfectly on this dark and overlooked album.

12. Star Anna & the Laughing Dogs - “All Her Ghosts”
The Only Thing That Matters (2009)
Comment: Move over falling stars Lucinda Williams and Mary Gauthier, here is Star Anna & the Laughing Dogs. All Her Ghosts is a standout and it’s the last song on this great album.

13. Ducktails - “Beach Point Pleasant”
Daytrotter Session (2009)
Comment: A kinda humorous nouveau techno lounge instrumental.

14. Bonnie 'Prince' Billy -“I Am Goodbye”
Beware (2009)

15. Jeffrey Foucault - "Far From Me"
Shoot the Moon Right Between The Eyes (Sings John Prine) (2009)

16. Adam Hansbrough - Stratus.mp3
Buy (CD Baby): Infestation (2009)
Comment: This is a local St. Louis jazz guitarist -- been playing for years and he's younger than me. Decent cocktail hour music. Mmm... scotchy scotch scotch.

17. Ox - “Burnout”
Burnout EP (2009)

18. Danny Schmidt - “Accidentally Daisies”
Instead the Forest Rose to Sing (2009)
Comment: I like this album a lot, would have made my list last year easy, just too much going on this year.

19. The Ethers - "Years Ago"
Early Winter (2009)

20. Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears - “Get Yo Shit”
Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!! (2009)
Comment: a booty shaker and I'm not normally know to shake it... It has also kinda become my Monday morning almost-to-work song... You know how it is... almost to work, not entire thrilled about it, but then put that on for some toe-tappin', head-bobbin', get to work in a good mood .. yeah...

21. William Elliott Whitmore - "Hell Or High Water"
Animals In The Dark (2009)