Best of '09: Top 10 Music Blogs

by Pop Tarts Suck Toasted Post to Twitter

The world of music blogging is a pretty tight knit little world. We all know each other, at least on the internet, we follow each other’s Twitters, we are friends on Facebook and we usually know what the other one is doing each day. It’s a fun little sect to be a part of and so each year I like to include my ten favorite blogs of the year in my year-end run down. Most of you probably read these sites already but for those that don’t add them to your Google Reader right now! Don’t worry there will be more mp3’s and more lists coming so allow me this one Top 10 devoid of them!

10. ‘Sup; It may be better in its print form (magazines, you remember them) but online ‘Sup Magazine has really carved a niche for itself in the last twelve months. With fantastic artist interviews, the best live photography around, and a great ear for new, up-and-coming acts, ‘Sup have distinguished themselves as one of the true tastemakers in the music world. Follow them and you’ll be in on the ground floor of some of the best artists around.

9. Pitchfork; The past few years I have always left Pitchfork off my list for a few reasons. For starters they don’t really want to be known as a music blog, preferring to be listed as a music news site than just some "lowly" weblog. But I’m not doing a list of the best music news sites and Pitchfork has genuinely earned their spot on the list this year. They have entertained us thoroughly with all the original content they produce over on Pitchfork.tv, they got the Best of the Decade ball rolling with one of the most comprehensive lists around, and they have been on point for most of their "Best New Music" selections this year. Kudos Pitchfork, keep up the good work! (P.S.- Ryan, can I have a job now???)

8. MBV; Last year when MBV was launched the novelty of having five of the biggest and best music blogs on one site was a pretty big deal. We still stop by their individual sites on occasion but really there is almost no point any more as MBV has become one of the main sources for music news on the web. They are constantly keeping us up on all the album covers and release dates, linking us to the biggest stories in music right now, and giving us the unique insights of Said the Gramophone and Fluxblog. It’s an impressive collection of information, one I wish I had thought of and could be part of.

7. The Futurist; If you listen to radio on the internet at all the main stop for you is probably already WOXY.com. In case you didn’t know these folks have put together a killer blog of music info, collecting all the fantastic in-studio sessions the radio station does and a ton of other material. Seriously, while you’re listening today browse what they have up over on the blog!

6. Ear Farm; I gotta be honest, I really want to steal the Ear Farm layout and keep it to myself. It’s a thing of beauty especially when compared to my free Blogger template. But Ear Farm is not just about aesthetics, they also do one of the better jobs of rounding up the best music coming from all sorts of different places and styles. Their regular features are beautifully written, their interviews are careful and informative, and they have pretty amazing taste when it comes to bands they cover. Plus, they’re local buddies of mine and that’s a great thing to have when you go to as many shows as we do.

5. The Fader; In print form The Fader is as much about the fashion as they are about the music and they translate that to their website, bringing together both worlds for a stylized take on the music world. They also break more bands than just about anybody else, giving us our first taste of artists like Warpaint and Holiday Shores way before anyone else had ever heard of them.

4. If You Make It; Known mostly for their wonderful "Pink Couch Sessions", If You Make It does their best to keep you watching and keep you listening with some amazing live videos as well. They also write about music and very well at that, but really people wanna see who is gonna play acoustic on the couch next!

3. Daytrotter; For the first time ever Daytrotter is not topping my list of Best Blogs! That’s not to say the site is slipping, it may have had it’s best year ever, it’s just the next two sites have really stepped it up a notch over the past few months. Daytrotter is still the source for a lot of great music, all recorded on their own, setting the standard for the great music blogs. Everyone wants to be like Daytrotter, but few really can. Just remember if you think you have every tune ever made by a band, you don’t until you have their Daytrotter session.

2. Gorilla vs. Bear; Plain and simple there is no music site on the web that will introduce you to more cool, up-and-coming bands than Gorilla vs. Bear introduces us to. Look at their recently posted year end list, almost every one of those fantastic artists was first heard on their own pages. Pitchfork is constantly swiping material from these dudes, and they are one of the few sites that actually gets credited by Pitchfork when they are stolen from. We cannot say enough nice things about Gorilla vs. Bear, they are the real deal and everything we wish we were.

1. NYC Taper; As good as all these other sites are there is no better source for live music on the web than from the good people over at NYC Taper. The site has become legendary thanks to the relentless pursuit of fantastic bootlegs from all over this fair city. It helps that no city has as many great bands passing through or living within it, but the folks behind NYC Taper get out every night and record set after set and then they process and go through each recording. It’s a tiresome process that they do extremely well and for which we are eternally grateful for.

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