Music Blogs

Music discovery has faced seen a sea change in the last two decades. The advent, and continued evolution of, digital music distribution and promotion has changed the game. Before the Internet, fans discovered music through the radio, television, print media and word of mouth.

Although those forms are still somewhat viable, the ability to listen to music via the Internet before purchasing it has made discovery more convenient and cost effective. Music critics have the added benefit of including music files, videos and/or full-album streams along with their reviews so readers can actually listen to the music as they read a review. This makes the experience infinitely more valuable.

Metacritic.com is a music review aggregator site that averages album review scores across hundreds of critical reviews. For this playlist I looked at current top rated new albums and reissues listed at Metacritic on March 14, 2009. I then selected a single track from each album with a score of 80 or higher and compiled it into this playlist.

If you choose to listen (and I hope you do) you'll be hearing selections from 13 new album releases / reissues that are currently the most critically acclaimed around. It's a fantastic way to scan for something new. The playlist is under an hour long and includes indie rock, hip-hop, R&B, jazz, electronica, alt country and ambient -- so there's something to discover here for almost everyone.

Most Critically Acclaimed Music For March 2009

   1. Stereo (remastered) - Pavement   

   2. In The Flowers-  Animal Collective   

   3. Rockin' That Sh** - The-Dream   

   4. Let It Rattle - P.O.S.   

   5. Pity Dance - DM Stith   

   6. Ostia - Zu   

   7. Uncharted - Joshua Redman   

   8. This Tornado Loves You - Neko Case   

   9. Generosity - Mirah   

   10. 100 Years Ago - Tim Hecker   

   11. Broken - Late Of The Pier   

   12. Fundamental Things - Melinda Doolittle   

   13. Mutiny - William Elliott Whitmore