The 50 Best Songs of 2009

As part of PopMatters’ 20th anniversary, we are revisiting classic features. Travel back in time a decade ago to 2009, when indie rock was in its full ascendency,and hear the songs that soundtracked the era.

                                      
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David Byrne's 'American Utopia' Nears End. Is Broadway Calling?

Will David Byrne transform American Utopia, one of the best shows of 2018, into a Broadway spectacle?

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2018 ACL Music Festival Recap – Friday, Weekend Two

Young bands like Alvvays and Hozier get their chance to shine at ACL, but it's legends like David Byrne and Paul McCartney who dazzle the most.

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David Byrne Rocks San Francisco to Help Manifest an American Utopia

Still one of the boldest artists in the music world, both a new album and tour find David Byrne exploring the concept that music can influence society in a more positive direction.

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INmusic Day 1: Queens of the Stone Age Storm the Island and David Byrne Steals the Show

The 13th edition of Croatia's open-air festival INmusic kicked off with an epic performance from David Byrne and Queens of the Stone Age's thunderous headlining set.

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Rock Heavyweights to Bring Evergreen Hits and New Material to a Sold-Out INmusic Festival

One of Europe's most popular summer festivals will welcome a bevy of rock giants with plenty of new material to show off.

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What It Was Like to Road-trip with David Byrne

David Byrne's American Utopia looks for a spot closer to the center of the American conversation.

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David Byrne Makes an LCD Soundsystem-esque, Disco Freak-Out with "Everybody's Coming to My House" (Singles Going Steady)

On "Everybody's Coming to My House" David Byrne turns out a LCD Soundsystem-esque, disco freak out that, in a parallel universe, could be the theme to the trippiest Bond film ever.

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Counterbalance: Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues

Put away that gun. This party's simple. We're talking about the 1137th most acclaimed album of all time. (That Talking Heads' 1983 commercial smash is this week's Counterbalance. Turn like a wheel inside a wheel.

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Stream of (Music) Consciousness

The 'Marshall McLuhan' message borne by the MP3 revolution is clear: music is endlessly plentiful and entirely disposable. So what's the message of streaming?

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Peter Gabriel: And I'll Scratch Yours

Peter Gabriel waits three years for his back to be scratched, and the wait wasn't necessarily worth it.

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'This Must Be the Place' Shows It’s Never Too Late to Come of Age

This smart, bemusing film explores themes of maturity and redemption.

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The Former Talking Heads Frontman Starts Making Sense in 'How Music Works'

"... it is the music and the lyrics that trigger the emotions within us, rather than the other way around. We don't make the music—it makes us."

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Fall 2012 New Music Playlist

Another listening session with background notes to ease the transition into fall, including new music off highly anticipated releases from indie strongholds Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective along with singles from upcoming releases from Tame Impala and Matt and Kim.

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David Byrne and St. Vincent: Love This Giant

If there’s a lesson to be learned from Love This Giant, it’s that collaboration is the sincerest form of flattery.

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Caetano Veloso & David Byrne: Live at Carnegie Hall

Live at Carnegie Hall may be forgettable, but it’s a harmless and occasionally pleasing aside in the oeuvre of two undeniably necessary artists.

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Counterbalance No. 35: Talking Heads - Remain in Light

Facts all come with points of view, like the fact that Talking Heads’ 1980 Afro-funk opus is the 35th Greatest Album of All Time. Counterbalance gives Remain in Light a listen—don’t you miss it. (Some of you people just about missed it.)

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If By Yes: Salt on Sea Glass

If By Yes is a sort of alternative rock supergroup featuring members from the now defunct That Dog and Cibo Matto, with special guest turns from David Byrne and Wilco guitarist Nels Cline.

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What a Sane Man Will Do in a Mad World: Talking Heads and 'Fear of Music'

In 1979 David Byrne, Brian Eno, and Talking Heads obsessed with grace on the claustrophobic pop indulgences of Fear of Music.

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Delicate Steve: Wondervisions

Delicate Steve 's debut lives up to the eccentric, literate and free-spirited ideals of David Byrne's Luaka Bop label.

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Radio Is Doing Fine... Online

The American radio scene has expanded online with countless offerings for the listening worldwide.

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David Byrne and Fatboy Slim: Here Lies Love

It's not often that a purely musical work can make us see a historical figure in a new light, but Here Lies Love is a fascinating exception.

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Bonnaroo Day 1 (Friday, 12 June 2009)

Words by John Bohannon and Pictures by Karen Dunbar

John Bohannon

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The Brighton Port Authority: I Think We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

The first album from The Brighton Port Authority (aka Fatboy Slim, aka Norman Cook) is pretty stupid. But also pretty fun.

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David Byrne and Brian Eno: Everything That Happens Will Happen Today

Two of pop's elder statesmen give you a big musical hug. You're welcome.

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David Byrne

The choreographed spectacle was almost like watching a long artistic music video or a postmodern ballet with exceptionally good music.

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David Byrne: The Knee Plays

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Os Mutantes: Mutantes Live

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Forro in the Dark: Asa Branca

None of the mixes are bad, none are exceptionally good, they're just sort of there.

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David Byrne

PopMatters' Lyra Pappin grills David Byrne in an attempt to understand why "I don't have to prove that I am creative!"

Lyra Pappin

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David Byrne

Tyler Wilcox

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As part of PopMatters’ 20th anniversary, we are revisiting classic features. Travel back in time a decade ago to 2009, when indie rock was in its full ascendency,and hear the songs that soundtracked the era.

Will David Byrne transform American Utopia, one of the best shows of 2018, into a Broadway spectacle?

Austin City Limits gave its attendees more than the cost of their wristbands, from top-notch musical acts to deeply unhealthy but extremely satisfying food.

Young bands like Alvvays and Hozier get their chance to shine at ACL, but it's legends like David Byrne and Paul McCartney who dazzle the most.

Still one of the boldest artists in the music world, both a new album and tour find David Byrne exploring the concept that music can influence society in a more positive direction.

The 13th edition of Croatia's open-air festival INmusic kicked off with an epic performance from David Byrne and Queens of the Stone Age's thunderous headlining set.

One of Europe's most popular summer festivals will welcome a bevy of rock giants with plenty of new material to show off.

David Byrne's American Utopia looks for a spot closer to the center of the American conversation.

On "Everybody's Coming to My House" David Byrne turns out a LCD Soundsystem-esque, disco freak out that, in a parallel universe, could be the theme to the trippiest Bond film ever.

These are multiple works of genre history and works tackling important issues of race, class, and gender. All challenge dominant narratives of music.

Put away that gun. This party's simple. We're talking about the 1137th most acclaimed album of all time. (That Talking Heads' 1983 commercial smash is this week's Counterbalance. Turn like a wheel inside a wheel.

The 'Marshall McLuhan' message borne by the MP3 revolution is clear: music is endlessly plentiful and entirely disposable. So what's the message of streaming?

Peter Gabriel waits three years for his back to be scratched, and the wait wasn't necessarily worth it.

This smart, bemusing film explores themes of maturity and redemption.

"... it is the music and the lyrics that trigger the emotions within us, rather than the other way around. We don't make the music—it makes us."

Another listening session with background notes to ease the transition into fall, including new music off highly anticipated releases from indie strongholds Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective along with singles from upcoming releases from Tame Impala and Matt and Kim.

If there’s a lesson to be learned from Love This Giant, it’s that collaboration is the sincerest form of flattery.

Live at Carnegie Hall may be forgettable, but it’s a harmless and occasionally pleasing aside in the oeuvre of two undeniably necessary artists.

Facts all come with points of view, like the fact that Talking Heads’ 1980 Afro-funk opus is the 35th Greatest Album of All Time. Counterbalance gives Remain in Light a listen—don’t you miss it. (Some of you people just about missed it.)

If By Yes is a sort of alternative rock supergroup featuring members from the now defunct That Dog and Cibo Matto, with special guest turns from David Byrne and Wilco guitarist Nels Cline.

In 1979 David Byrne, Brian Eno, and Talking Heads obsessed with grace on the claustrophobic pop indulgences of Fear of Music.

Delicate Steve 's debut lives up to the eccentric, literate and free-spirited ideals of David Byrne's Luaka Bop label.

The American radio scene has expanded online with countless offerings for the listening worldwide.

It's not often that a purely musical work can make us see a historical figure in a new light, but Here Lies Love is a fascinating exception.

Words by John Bohannon and Pictures by Karen Dunbar

The first album from The Brighton Port Authority (aka Fatboy Slim, aka Norman Cook) is pretty stupid. But also pretty fun.

Two of pop's elder statesmen give you a big musical hug. You're welcome.

The choreographed spectacle was almost like watching a long artistic music video or a postmodern ballet with exceptionally good music.

Nonesuch reissues famous score by David Byrne, featuring the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and written for a section of Robert Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning (not really) the CIVIL WarS.

A lot of good movies are still missing from DVD. Here is a list of 25 that PopMatters feels have been unceremoniously left to simply fade away.

Nearly 40 years after the Brazilian psychedelic rock band helped spearhead the Tropicalista movement, Os Mutantes return with this double-live celebration.

None of the mixes are bad, none are exceptionally good, they're just sort of there.

PopMatters' Lyra Pappin grills David Byrne in an attempt to understand why "I don't have to prove that I am creative!"