Favorite New (to me) Artists 2009

This year I was lucky to get turned on to a lot of new music. A lot! Both live -- I saw over 180 different bands this year and more than 40% of them were musicians I had never heard or seen before -- as well as on CD from great recs from friends and the web. And most of it was really great. So, I'm passing these on as recommendations to you.

Some of these have been around for a while and are just new to me, or stuff I was aware of and finally got to check out this year. I've marked each with "l" for a band I've seen/rec live and/or "cd" for studio stuff worth checking out. The lack of one or the other most likely means I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Links provided to any reviews, etc. written during the year, otherwise it's up to you and Google to find out more, it's worth it, I assure you.

Without further ado, my favorite "finds" of 2009 in some sort of order. Should be something for everyone in there...

1. Portugal the Man (l/cd)
   
2. El Ten Eleven (l)
   
3. The Black Hollies (l/cd)
   
4. White Denim (l/cd)
   
5. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band (cd)
   
6. Janelle Monae (l)
7. Black Joe Lewis (cd)
   
8. Surprise Me Mr Davis (l)
9. Hymns (l)
10. Phenomenal Handclap Band (cd)
    
11. Jonah Smith (l/cd)
12. NOMO (l)
    
13. Forro in the Dark (l)
    
14. Miike Snow (cd)
    
15. Brazos (l)
    
16. Land of Talk (l)
    
17. Ben Sollee (l)
    
18. Vandaveer (l/cd)
    
19. These United States (l)
20. Jessica Lea Mayfield (l/cd)
    
21. Alela Diane (l)
    

So, who am I missing? Pass along your favorites so I don't feel like such an old, out-of-it loser next time an opening act blows me away.