Thanks to youtube, music videos may no longer have a place on television but they have been more accessible (and arguably more popular) on the internet. For the past year, artists have further experimented with this unique art form in plenty of effective ways. These are the top 10 Music Videos of 2009.

10. Every Time I Die – Wanderlust

For about four minutes, Keith Buckley walks in on some seriously grotesque yet psychedelic imagery while the rest of the bands rocks out like crazy. Not only was the video pretty cool, but it showed off some of the unbelievable album artwork before it was in stores.

9. Matt and Kim – Lessons Learned

Remember the hilarious shock value of Blink-182′s video of “What’s My Age Again”? Yeah, multiply that by 100. Matt and Kim streak in the middle of Times Square and right at the very last moment, Kim gets hit by a bus. It’s funny as all hell. I just want to know how they were able to get away with this.

8. Manchester Orchestra – I’ve Got Friends

The intentionally aged look gives the video a unique style many don’t see in the music video format. Plus the hilariously bizarre concept starring a guy in a bear suit and haunting apparitions of the band members makes it stand out even more.

7. Animal Collective- My Girls

Freak-folk pioneers, Animal Collective, blew up like crazy this past year thanks to a breakout album and the fantastic indie hit, “My Girls”. The video features grooving silhouettes of the band mixed with a slew of crazy psychedelic visuals. The result is something that feels both retro and slightly futuristic with a slam of hip eye candy. Hipsters love this band for a reason and this video shows why.

6. fun. – All The Pretty Girls

fun. (the side project featuring members of The Format, Anathallo, Steel Train) is arguably the best new band of 2009 and they’ve got a great video to prove it. This hilarious homage to The Beatles that closes with a trio of singing piniatas makes it one music video that’s nothing short of… well… fun.

5. Lady Gaga – Bad Romance

Okay. So she’s weird… really weird. But let’s face it she’s probably the most unique artist in the mainstream music scene. Compared to the other pop princesses, she’s pretty damn good. Her video for her latest single is well, indescribable at times with outrageous outfits, even more outrageous but mind-boggling choreography, a plot that doesn’t really make any sense and a conclusion featuring a pyrotechnic bra and skeletal corpse. Uh…. sure? Yeah it’s out there… really out there, but it’s so weird that in a way, it’s absolutely genius. Not to mention, the visuals are just plain unbelievable at times. It’s been a while since a mainstream artist has freaked anyone out through music video and isn’t that why we like this format in the first place?

4. WHY? – These Hands/January Twenty Something

Jonathan “Yoni” Wolf (aka WHY?) makes some of the most emotionally compelling hip-hop and folk rock around. The video deals with the scenes of a car accident juxtaposed with Wolf’s soothingly evocative voice. The image of the old man with arrows shot all over his back surrounded by fog carrying the boy will forever be ingrained in my mind. Powerful stuff.

3. Mastodon – Oblivion

Mastodon’s latest concept record deals with elements of space and time so what better way to introduce the album than having a music video that takes place in space. The visuals are nothing short of gorgeous with some of the best visual effects I’ve seen in a music video in a long long time and the video deals with the terror, mystery and suspense of being alone in outer space. They say in space no one can hear you scream, but shred? That’s a completely different story.

2. Fall Out Boy – What A Catch, Donnie

Folie A Deux is arguably FOB’s best release since Take This To Your Grave and “What a Catch, Donnie” was one of the best tracks off of their recent (and probably last) album. So when we heard there was going to be a video for this song, we all knew it would be sweep us off our feet. On the surface, its a tale about a ship’s captain (Patrick Stump) befriending and eventually bidding farewell to a seagull. It’s only until the captain sees a boat sinking on the distance when we see what the video is really about. Ultimately, the video is a huge metaphor for the band’s unfortunate hiatus, but by george they went out with a bang. We’ll miss you guys but maybe you can ditch Wentz come the reunion.

1. All Time Low – Weightless

Let’s face it. A lot of people don’t like All Time Low these days. Some people consider them sell-outs for being covered by MTV. Some people are turned off by the abundance of screaming teenage girls that swoon over Alex Gaskarth. Or frankly, some people just don’t like the punk-pop/powerpop scene. Well, ATL manages to get back at all the haters in the funniest way possible. In their video for their first single for Nothing Personal, the bands makes fun of pretty much everyone and everything from Twitter, to crazed teeny bopper fans and even themselves through bitterly frank statements followed by the ever-so appropriate phrase “Nothing Personal”. Top it off with a ridiculous over-the-top style and hilarious cameos by FOB’s Pete Wentz and Blink’s Mark Hoppus and you have one of the funniest vids in a while. Even if you hate ATL for whatever reasons you have, you can’t help but laugh at their complete mockery of the scene.

It’s been a crazy year: 2009. With 2010 on the horizon let’s look back at the good times (and not so good times) of 2009. We’ll start off this segment with the 10 worst songs of 2009.

Last year “blessed” us with the unwelcome return of truly awful post-grunge and the hard rock. New albums by Nickelback and Buckcherry made us cringe while newcomers like Theory of A Deadman and Saving Abel brought us to our knees begging for mercy. 2009 was the year electronica and rap got its share of beatings with gastly synth-pop top 40 hits, overused auto-tune and little sign of music apocalypse called “crunk-core”. These are the songs that hurt our eardrums and made bands like Nickelback seem tolerable. These are the worst songs of 2009. The following consisted of hours of research and the result of Nerdy Heartbeat on the floor in the fetal position, crying endlessly.

10. Party In Your Bedroom by Cash Cash

The chorus features some guy wearing an insane amount of neon singing with auto-tune, “There’s a party in your bedroom”. Add a disco vibe and I’m pretty sure the suck speaks for itself.

9. Shots by LMFAO

I love 3OH!3. Not because they’re good but because make extremely fun, tongue-in-cheek, catchy music and know it. They know they’re music isn’t meant to be taken seriously and ultimately just want to party and have fun. LMFAO takes that ideology a bit too far; tongue-in-cheek party attitude can wear its welcome and it does quickly with “Shots”. It’s ridiculous and they know it but it’s too the point where they’re just trying way to hard to be silly. Plus, if you use the phrase “panties hit the ground”, you just have to be on this list. Sorry guys.

8. Birthday Sex by Jeremih

GURL YOU KNOW I- I- I- I- BURFDAY SEX! That’s all you need to know.

7. I Love College by Asher Roth

WOAH! This guy is rapping about beer pong? I play beer pong all the time! This guy is rapping about drinking beer and having sex with sorority girls? I drink beer all the time and wish I could have sex with sorority girls! This song is so relatable! It’s the song that blew every college kid’s mind because “IT TOTALLY REFLECTS MY TIME AT COLLEGE RIGHT NOW”. Yeah? Well sorry bros but the song still sucks.

6. Dollhouse by Priscilla Renea

Hey. You know what I’ve never heard before? A sassy young pop princess who is just sick of her boyfriend’s BS and just needs to let him know that’s she’s over him through song. Yeah that’s right. In this day and age, (in case you didn’t know) a woman doesn’t need a man by her side. Is there like some kind of law somewhere that before you become the next big pop act you need to sing a song about how you don’t need your boyfriend anymore? Cause I feel like we get 20 of these songs a year and they all sound the same. Oh wait but she’s different: SHE CAN PLAY GUITAR!! I mean seriously is this whole “my boyfriend doesn’t care” thing really that much of a problem in American society? We get it. You’re an independent woman, you’re man doesn’t appreciate you, you deserve better blah blah blah. Just shut the hell up and break up with him already… or go gay which ever one works better.

5. Everything on Brokencyde’s I’m Not A Fan But The Kid’s Like It

I think we all knew Brokencyde, the kings of “crunkcore” were gonna wind up on this list. But what number? And what song? Well since all Brokencyde songs are pretty much the same with the awkward screaming about getting drunk and banging some girl in a club to horrible crunk beats I thought, why not the whole album? The only reason this is so high is because this band is so bad you can’t help but just laugh at it; that and no one except 14 year old scene kids actually takes this seriously.

4. Just Got Paid, Let’s Get Laid by Millionaires

For years, I’ve wondered why domestic violence and other horrible things exist. Now I know…

RIYL: Jeffree Star, getting every STD imaginable, being God’s mistake

3. Hotel Room Service by Pitbull

Pitbull’s first hit this year (see I Know You Want Me) was horrible but it was saved by a nice house hook. This on the other hand not only has a horrible beat but Pitbull’s voice is even worse than ever (if that’s possible). But we haven’t even touched the bad from this song yet. For starters it rips off some unbelievable rap tunes (TI’s Whatever You Like, Jay-Z’s I Just Wanna Love U) that Pitbull pretty much wishes he could sing. Lastly, the lyrics sound like they came from some awkward closet virgin frat boy’s wet dream. When it’s played at the club, all the “players” howl the song like it’s their anthem, “YOU GOIN UNDRESS ME”. Then hit the floor looking for girls cause they know this is the song that will get them laid (It doesn’t). Perhaps they like all the dirty imagery to pump them up in some sort of pathetic defense mechanism that they MIGHT get laid or maybe they just like it cause they enjoy crappy music. NOTE: Enjoy the video above because this will NEVER happen to you.

RIYL: Flo Rida, tone def singing, not getting laid, awkwardly grinding your junk against some girl’s butt unknowingly going nowhere with her, YO BRO THIS SONG GETS DEM PANTIES DROPPIN

2. Tik Tok by Ke$ha

“Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy”. And soooo it begins…. The epic journey of a skanky club rat ready for another day of clubbing it up as if the life of a club rat should ACTUALLY be celebrated through song (or whatever this is). The sound is Lady Gaga getting every STD imaginable from the Millionaires, resulting in an annoying valley girl sound pseduo-rap with phenomenal lyrics like: “Now, the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got swagger but we kick em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger. Im talking about – everybody getting crunk, boys trying to touch my junk, junk gonna smack him if he getting too drunk.” I’m no feminist but somewhere Susan B. Anthony is rolling around in her grave like crazy. The mildly catchy chorus (or catchy by default) prevents it from being number 1.

RIYL: Millionaires, clubbing, being a skank, feeling like P Diddy

1. Booty Dew by GS Boyz

We can give the obvious reason why this song is number one by saying its basically THE SAME SONG the GS Boyz released last year (see Stanky Legg) which in itself gives it the dubious honor but frankly there is just so much more that makes this song the worst of 09. After giving four whole minutes to explain how to do the “Booty Dew” I still have no idea what this dance is. Maybe it’s because I’m a skinny irish white boy from Long Island OR maybe it’s because it’s four minutes of five horribly amateur rappers screaming over each other. The choruses consist of them just howling catchphrases and the verses make absolutely no sense. What is a booty dew anyway? Cause if it’s the dew that comes off of a rear end, then that doesn’t sound appealing at all. And I don’t even want to talk about “Obama’s” appearance in the video. I want to say these guys will fall off the face of the earth come 2010 but we said the same thing about Soulja Boy.

RIYL: Soulja Boy, Hurricane Chris, horrible dances, making black people look bad, DO THA STANKY LEGGGGGGGG

Dishonorable Mentions:

Ice Cream Paint Job by Dorrough

You’re A Jerk by New Boyz

Party In the USA by Miley Cyrus

Goodbye by Kristinia DeBarge

Hawkbot by Forever the Sickest Kids

Fire Burning by Sean Kingston

2012

The Day After Tomorrow…. err… I mean 2012, is Hollywood’s effort to take advantage of the world possibly ending because the Mayans stopped wasting their time on a calendar. I think it’s safe to say that if you see one disaster movie you’ve seen them all except THIS ONE is warning. This WILL happen. Not only have scientists CONFIRMED it but now they’re making a MOVIE based on this upcoming disaster. The end IS OBVIOUSLY near.

RIYL: The Day After Tomorrow, Armageddon, every disaster film ever, John Cusack, being gullible, dumb conspiracies, explosions.

Pirate Radio

Okay. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, it’s about radio and it’s directed by the same guy who did Love Actually. I see no flaws. Please see this instead of NO SRSLY GUYS THE WORLD WILL END IN 2012.

RIYL: Philip Seymour Hoffman, British stuff, radio, thinking censorship sucks, pretending you connect with the 60s movement, not seeing 2012

Fantastic Mr. Fox

You have no idea how good I want this to be. Fantastic Mr. Fox was one of my favorite books as a kid and Wes Anderson is one of my favorite directors. The stop-motion animation has been hit or miss with everyone as of now but it has very strong potential to be a hip family film for both kids and adults, unlike Where the Wild Things Are which was more of a nostalgic trip for teens/adults.

RIYL: Roald Dahl, Wes Anderson, stop-motion animation, families who want smart movies, hipsters who want childhood nostalgia, … furry fandom?

The Blind Side

“You’re changing that boy’s life!” “No. He’s changing mine.”

…Okay, so the film has one of the most cheesy cliched lines ever but in harsh economic times, we NEED a movie like this (especially during the Christmas season). Based on the trailer, Quinton Aaron looks like he’ll be giving a hell of a performance and pretty much make anyone who sees cry/cheer. And hey, if anything, it’ll definitely much a much better movie than…

RIYL: Movies that are “Based on a True Story”, Sandra Bullock, FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!, crying, being inspired, rags to ritches tales, not seeing…

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Ohhhhhhhhh mannnnnnn… The second installment of the insanely popular book series/the insanely popular fan-fiction/a cult of delusional, possibly psychotic teenage girls/Stephanie Meyer’s erotic fantasies will hit theaters November 20th. That day, high school/college girls will have aneurysms, Buffy fans will still be pissed and confused boyfriends will wonder why girls find a really pale dude who sparkles attractive. Just when you thought the series couldn’t get more ridiculous, the trailer has revealed a suicidal Bella who jumps off a cliff, pool boys who turn into wolves, an awkward attempt to create some kind of Vampire mythology and Edward Cullen fighting like Neo from The Matrix. I don’t get it…

RIYL: Twilight, “super-hot” guys who fight over Stephanie Meyer — er I mean Bella, bad special effects, Vampires that glitter, pool boys, being lonely and romantically awkward for the rest of your life, Mary Sue, reading at a 4th grade level.

Planet 51

From TriStar, the same guys who gave us District 9, comes another Alien movie that… doesn’t look nearly as good. Basically instead of aliens coming to us, we come to them and act like there’s an invasion. What follows is a reverse ET. Oh and it stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Yeah….

RIYL: Aliens, The Rock, overly obvious references to better alien movies, …Shrek?

Ninja Assassin

Do I REALLY need to explain to you why this looks awesome. Cause I think the title gives it away.

RIYL: Ninjas, badass movies, man stuff, more ninjas, violence, hoping the Wachowski brothers don’t make another disappointing movie, NINJAS!!!!!!!

No.

RIYL: Wild Hogs.

The Dangerous Summer

One of the biggest up and coming acts this year, their debut Reach for the Sun is filled with gloriously beautiful guitar lines, introspectively personal lyrics and overall pop-punk perfection.

RIYL: The Starting Line, Valencia

Fireworks

They have “a sound with enough pop quality to keep your little sister’s attention, and enough edge to rid them of ‘guilty pleasure’ status.” Many consider them to be one of the best new punk bands to break into the scene this year and after one listen of their album All I Have To Offer Is My Own Confusion, it’s pretty easy to understand why. Plus, with their extremely enthusiastic live shows, Fireworks will pretty much have something for everyone looking to have a good time at Warped.

RIYL: old Fall Out Boy, New Found Glory

Set Your Goals

2009 was the year pop-punk resurged back into its roots with bands like This Time Next Year, Four Year Strong and of course, one of the bands leading the movement, Set Your Goals. With their aggressive hooks, positive attitude, amazing live sets and this year’s fantastic release, This Will Be The Death Of Us, 2009 is becoming a fantastic year for SYG and frankly would be a perfect heavy-hitter for Warped’s line-up.

Family Force 5

As Kevin Lyman, Warped Tour founder, awkwardly stated in an interview, “some kids at Warped just want to dance their faces off” (whatever that means). Jokes aside, whether you like it or not, catchier and poppier at Warped is here to say, it’s what the kids listen to. But frankly some of this music can be good, damn good. Family Force 5 are an alternative christian rock band with hip hop and electronic dance music elements mixed together with an over-the-top tongue in cheek attitude. Quite simply, their catchy hooks and silly antics make them one of the best mainstream rap-rock artists out there and frankly, FF5 is the band every “neon band” wish they could be (if they weren’t terrible). Most importantly, FF5 boasts an insane live show that features a giant drum machine dubbed “The Family Force 5000″, ridiculous Power Ranger-inspired outfits and some guy who calls himself “Xanadu” with an epic beard and a silver jumpsuit freestyle dancing on stage (don’t ask).

RIYL: 3OH!3, Alien Ant Farm

Other Bands I Would Love To See:

Alkaline Trio

The Gaslight Anthem

This Time Next Year

Fight Fair

New Found Glory

Against Me!

Say Anything

Motion City Soundtrack

This Providence

The Morning Of

In honor of Halloween, I decided to write about something within the horror genre. I was going to do a countdown and list a bunch of horror films you already know rock OR talk about a little gem that pleasantly surprised me. And that gem is called The Borrowers.

I’m a sucker for cheesy, bad, Straight-to-DVD horror films. One’s with horrible visual effects and even worse acting. My friend and I rented this film with the hopes of a ridiculous title like The Burrowers, it had to be promising in all the wrong ways. We popped it in and minutes later we were pretty disappointed. It wasn’t horrible, in fact it was pretty darn good.

The Burrowers is written and directed by JT Petty, best known for writing the acclaimed video game Splinter Cell. It tells the story of a Wild West rescue party in search of a missing family that mysteriously vanished. Initially, the group points the finger at the local Native Americans however some members of the party begin to realize that something else might be responsible for the disappearances.

For starters, the idea of a western horror film is intriguing in itself. It’s hard to think of any film that combines these two genres and even harder to think of one that is this good. The premise of being alone in the deserted wild wild west with an unknown force stalking you is a fairly terrifying concept in itself and once you realize who the real enemies are and what they do to their prey, even more chills arise.

The cinematography is nothing short of beautiful and while the visual effects are fairly mediocre, they’re much more impressive the atypical pseduo-CGI seen in straight-to-DVD horror films. As far as complaints, I didn’t know what to think of the ending, whether I should appreciate what it was trying to do or hate it for its sudden closure. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic low-budget horror film that is an interesting blend of western and horror.

If you have no other films to watch this Halloween weekend be sure to check this out.

I’m a sucker for folk punk. Being a fan of both genres and seeing the combination of the two result in truly beautiful music gives me the goose-bumps. From Against Me! to Fake Problems to Defiance, Ohio, it just never disappoints me. So when I discovered that Chuck Ragan, the former frontman of Hot Water Music, started a folk rock solo career, I was stoked. Cold Country is Chuck Ragan’s sophomore release and it is definitely one of my favorite albums to be released this year.

“For Goodness Sake” and “Glory” have fantastic choruses that prove the folk punk/alternative country scene is a force to be reckoned with. Both have catchy yet beautiful choruses that are perfect for sing-alongs.

“Don’t Say A Word” and “Ole Diesel” are serene, peaceful and showcase Ragan’s perfectly raspy voice.

All in all this album is perfect for strolling down town on autumn afternoons. It has a tone and attitude very few albums have these days. It’s both aggressive and passionate yet gentle and tranquil. If he keeps this up, Chuck Ragan has potential of being one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of our generation.

Download: For Goodness Sake, Glory, Ole Diesel

Recommended If You Like: Sundowner, Tom Gabel, Fake Problems

MTVU is basically MTV’s cool, non-douchebag little brother that’s programed on almost every college campus. Their annual Woodie Awards highlight up and coming artists in the college music scene. Previous winners included Motion City Soundtrack, Paramore, Gnarles Barkley, mewithoutyou and Death Cab for Cutie. For this years nominees, besides the frat boy potential one hit wonder (Asher Roth), its a fantastic list. Here are the nominees:

Woodie Of The Year

Asher Roth

Kings of Leon

Drake

MGMT

Silversun Pickups

Nerdy Heartbeat’s Pick: MGMT

Best Video Woodie

Matt and Kim – Lessons Learned

The Dead Weather – Treat Me Like Your Mother

Death Cab for Cutie – Grapevine Fires

Anjulie – Boom

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll

Kid Cudi – Day N’ Nite

Nerdy Heartbeat’s Pick: Matt and Kim – Lessons Learned

Breaking Woodie

Grizzly Bear

Never Shout Never

Wale

La Roux

Friendly Fires

Passion Pit

Nerdy Heartbeat’s Pick: Passion Pit

Left Field Woodie

Amanda Blank

Janelle Monae

Major Lazer

Jay Reatard

Tech N9ne

Nerdy Hearbeat’s Pick: Amanda Blank

Perfoming Woodie

Green Day

Pheonix

3OH!3

Animal Collective

P.O.S.

Nerdy Hearbeat’s Pick: 3OH!3

Good Woodie

John Legend – Show Me Campaign

Wyclef Jean – Yéle Haiti

Kenna – PlayPumps

Jamie Tworkowski – To Write Love On Her Arms

Ra Ra Riot - John Ryan Pike Memorial Foundation

Alica Keys – Keep a Child Alive

Nerdy Heartbeat’s Pick: Jamie Tworkowski – To Write Love On Her Arms

You’ve probably heard a lot about Spike Jonze’s (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) live-action adaptation of the children’s book Where the Wild Things Are.  You probably heard that back in 2008, Warner Bros planned to re-shoot the entire film because Jonze’s vision was deemed “too terrifying”. You also probably saw the trailer earlier this year with wonder. You also probably knew that the author, Maurice Sendak, was extremely proud of the adaptation and pretty much considered it to be a completely unique experience. Well, the film has hit theaters and everyone is wondering: Does it live up to all the hype? Well, yes.

Where the Wild Things Are tells the story of Max (Max Records), adventurous and curious at best, bratty and out of control at worst. While fighting with his mother, he runs away and imagines himself in a new world inhabited by the Wild Things. They crown him the king of their world and as the commercials say, the wild rumpus begins.

Before I begin raving, let me state with honesty that it isn’t for everyone, especially young children. Wild Things is in the same field as a film like Up in which it doesn’t talk down to younger audiences regarding fairly serious subjects. With this in mind, the tone of the film is very dark at times and kids may be wondering why the Wild Things are so emotional. Additionally, there isn’t exactly a concrete plot, so those expecting an exciting event film may be disappointed.

However, these flaws are subjective. Many of the things people don’t like about the film might be some things other people like. Negative aspects aside, there are many obvious statements about Wild Things. A. It’s absolutely gorgeous, from the Wild Things themselves, to the outstanding cinematography and set pieces. It simply will win you over with its visuals and, unsurprisingly, its to die for in IMAX. B. The acting is impeccable. Max Records is one of the only real actors through a major portion of the film and he keeps the whole narrative going smoothly. Additionally, all of the voice actors give an incredible amount of character to each Wild Thing making them all stand out whether they’re friendly, hostile or funny. C. The score (done by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is eccentric, fun and sometimes is the backbone for the entire film). It’s hands down the best original music for a movie since Slumdog Millionaire.

This could’ve easily been a mediocre to bad children’s film ridden with narrative cliches, dumbed down writing and immature humor. Instead, Warner Bros and Spike Jonze made the daring move to make a more mature film that frankly is more nostalgic for adults than entertaining for kids. This however, is not a bad thing in any sense. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why this is one of the year’s best. While some may think the tone is too dark or sad or the narrative is too uneventful, Where the Wild Things Are is a beautiful, uncompromising and charming work.

Or this…

…on you facebook/mypsace/whatever. Or have politics that are THAT black and white that you honestly believe the presdient will make the country “evil” soley based on the fact that they have opposing beliefs as you LEAVE THIS COUNTRY PLANET!

It was annoying when people compared Bush to Hitler and called him a fascist and it’s even more annoying now with Obama. The man hasn’t even been in office for a year and people are already nitpicking him… not all Presidents will follow your strict set of beliefs. Deal with it and grow up.

PS- I love how all the people who are blindly hating are probably the same people 4 years ago who went, “Well if you don’t like Bush then you hate America! And if you hate America then why don’t you leave?” Well guess what neo-cons? If you hate Obama, you too hate America. So if you REALLY can’t tolerate the fact that there’s a President that won’t ass kiss to whatever you believe in go to Canada and leave us sane, rational Americans alone.

/rant