SOCKETS BEST OF 2009: Cole Goins

I asked a few friends, bands, and all around awesome people to list some of their favorite things from this past year. This list isn't exclusively music related, but anything that had a profound impact on the year.

Cole Goins made an amazing Fringe Era mix a few weeks back. Since his tastes are pretty stellar, I asked him to send me a round up of his favorite stuff from 2009 and I can't agree more with most of this list:

(This list skews a bit more heavily to the end of the year, since that's what I currently remember the best. I'm definitely leaving out a ton of stuff, but maybe you'll enjoy these things too...)

-Theo Angell live set @ WFMU: I've been playing this one a lot lately. Intricate songwriting and weirdo acoustics. Be sure to browse around the Free Music Archive if you haven't already — musical gems like this abound.
-R Kelly - "I'm a Flirt (Go Go Remix)": Infinite Repeat.
-Dirpy: Convert that R Kelly go go remix into an mp3!
-Psiklops: Raphael Lyon aka Mudbody posted a link to download this "Hypnotic Dark Cinema Event" on his Facebook page a while back. Utterly bizarre and engulfing.
-Hulu/OVguide: I might not have cable, but I do have the Internet. Special hat tip to OVguide for directing me to sites where I could watch the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Brilliant.
-Mantles - "Don't Lie": This video takes footage from the movie Paper Moon and dubs in the best single off the Mantles' fantastic debut full-length. Can't stop playing this one.
-Andrew WK and Dâm-Funk's Twitter feeds: Positive vibes, yall.
-Boomkat's 14 Tracks: Seriously, sign up for this weekly collection of fourteen tracks revolving around a particular theme. Very well curated and the source of many discoveries for me this year.
-Diamond District album for free download: Sure, it was the clean version, but this was still one of the best records of the year, given out for free. Link is now dead, but you can still try and track down the official LP release.
-Live Royal Trux: Massive jams from Royal Trux's heyday. I also bought Drag City's reissue of Twin Infinitives on double LP this year, which was very satisfying.
-Awkward Family Photos, Look at this Fucking Hipster, FML, Texts From Last Night, etc... AKA how I wasted my time at work this year.
-Addendum: Artists/Releases I've discovered from reading year-end lists:
* Peaking Lights - Imaginary Falcon (Night People)
* Bill Orcutt - A New Way to Pay Old Debts (Palilalia)
* Johann Johannsson - And in the Endless Pause There Came the Sound of Bees (NTOV)
* Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (Honest Jon's)
* Talk Normal - Sugarland (Rare Book Room)
* Invasion vs. Shackleton - Wizards of Dub 12" (This is Music)
* Harappian Night Recordings - The Glorious Gongs of Hainuwele (Bo'weavil)
* DJ Quik and Kurupt - BlaQKout (Mad Science)
* Zola Jesus - The Spoils (Sacred Bones)
* Tapes - Hissing Theatricals (Jahtari)