Alternative 18 countdown for 2009

I've listed SiriusXm's top 18 requested songs for their Alt radio station 2009. I starred the ones I prefer (one star = good, two stars = great, three stars = buy it right now. Just having dined at Cyrus outside of Napa, I'm going with the Michelin Guide stars rating system :).

As a side note, and even though none of them made it on this list are the Scots. There've been a number of really good Scottish bands to emerge lately and these three I like in particular. The entire Midnight Organ Fight lp from Frightened Rabbit is a well written emotional roller coaster with beautifully haunted arrangements.

Frightened Rabbit - The Modern Leper**
They Promised Us Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices*

GlasVegas - Geraldine*

18. Cage the Elephant - ain't no rest for the wicked*
17. Matt and Kim - daylight*
16. Killers - spaceman
15. Spinnerette - baptized by fire
14. Franz Ferdinand - no you girls
13. The Thermals - now we can see
12. Wild Light - California on my mind**
11. Death Cab For Cutie - grapevine fires**
10. Metric - help I'm alive**
09. Manchester Orchestra - I've got friends*
08. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - heads will roll*
07. The Limousines - very busy people *
06. Kings of Leon - use somebody
05. MGMT - kids***
04. Weezer - I want you to
03. Phoenix - 1901*
02. Silversun Pickups - panic switch*
01. Muse - uprising*

other tasting notes - Ike Reilly must surely be the least known brilliant song writer out there. Hard Luck Stories just came out in 2009 and is fairly good but in the three star category are both "Salesmen and Racists" and "We Belong to the Staggering Evening." I don't know of any other artist who can quite cut to the quick of this beautiful mess we call life.

Also, if you get the chance to see Wilco in concert, don't pass it up. I saw them last minute at Red Rocks outside of Denver this year. Red Rocks is a magical venue anyway, but together with Wilco was out of this world. I believe the encore set was longer than the main set. No one wanted to leave.

Enjoy and happy listening in 2010!