Yesterday we hit you off with our first half of the year’s best “Extended Plays” or EPs (as we all know them). These are releases often too long to be considered singles and too short to be full length albums. EPs tend to get forgotten when it comes time for year-end-lists, but as eloquently mentioned yesterday…going into the next decade we’ll probably start seeing the EP becoming the release of choice for savvy bands looking to keep their name in people’s heads and music in their ears. And with our attention spans stretched to the max, that may work out best for everyone involved.  – My Pal the Crook

For the Best EPs of 2009 #20-11, Click Here!

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10) Black Math - Counterfeit Unrealities [Self-Released]

An  unexpected step up from an already great band: just as dark as you’d expect, but with prettier, more nuanced instrumentation and an unmistakeable Siouxsie vibe that feels way more sophisticated than the band’s previous efforts.

Free Download of the Counterfeit Unrealities EP (Click Here)

Original Bloglin review (Click Here)

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9) White Shit – Sculpted Beef [PPM]

This sure doesn’t play like an EP even though it’s under 15 minutes in length. Featuring members of KARP, Monorchid, Melvins & Big Business Sculpted Beef sludgey punk anthems pack in more bang for the buck in their short time than most LPs. This is on some straight up classic C/Z records and Sub Pop pacific-northwest type ish.

Original Bloglin review (Click Here)

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8) Dum Dum Girls – Yours Alone [Captured Tracks]

Though they self-released a small run EP (with two of the same tracks) last year, It wasn’t until this super-short and raucously sweet EP that Dum Dum Girls’ retro twee came careening onto our collective radars. And its noisy jangle-pop does exactly what an EP should: leaves you desperate for more.

Original Bloglin review (Click Here)

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7) The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Higher Than Stars [Slumberland]

A close-to-perfect extension of the band’s debut, featuring four new tracks and stunningly good remix from Saint Etienne. Essential for Pains fans and old-school indie-pop/shoegaze obsessives alike.

Original Bloglin review (Click Here)

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6) Blessure Grave – Learn to Love the Rope [Captured Tracks]

Darker than dark jams from the San Diego nouveau-goths responsible for some of the most exciting releases of 2009. Bauhaus meets Play Group meets Joy Division meets holy shit, this band is awesome.

Original Bloglin review (Click Here)

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5) Suckers – S/T [IAMSOUND]

The pysch-pop wave hits its stride with this EP’s artful appropriation of everything from the Beach Boys to Peter Gabriel and David Byrne. Quirky, yes, but never annoying—it’s just weird enough to make the immediately catchy tracks even catchier.

Original Bloglin review (Click Here)

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4) No Age – Losing Feeling [Sub Pop]

A 14-minute shotgun blast of the band’s signature shimmer-noise. No Age doesn’t branch out here, but distilling their teenage wasteland into such tiny confines makes it 100% more intense…and more completely addictive.

Original Bloglin review (Click Here)

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3) Boredoms – Super Roots 10 [Commons]

This 10th release in the Super Roots series isn’t just the best of the bunch…it’s maybe the best thing the band has done in ages. A return to the Boredoms’ fun, carefree early days with tons of nuance and a perfect piecing together of disparate elements (i.e. exactly what the band does best).

Original Bloglin review (Click Here)

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2) The Mayfair Set - Young One [Captured Tracks]

Mike Sniper of Blank Dogs and Kristen Gundred of Dum Dum Girls collaborate on some ghostly, fuzzed out tracks that stand out among the members’ respective bands and the burgeoning lo-fi scene as a whole. Dreamy, haunted and layered with a lush vocal back-and-forth, this is seriously one of the most essential releases of the year.

Original Bloglin review (Click Here)

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1) Washed Out - Life of Leisure [Mexican Summer]

To quote My Pal The Crook: “You’ve just been out Johnny-Jeweled, Johnny Jewel.” Washed Out ditches the typically detached mechanics of synth-pop production for a series of compositions that are just as warm and enveloping as they are catchy. The result is a totally perfect bedroom dance record that channels Moroder…if Moroder replaced his dystopia with white-sand beach at twilight.

Original Bloglin review (Click Here)

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If you would like any upcoming release in 2010 to be considered for review by the Bloglin, please either email a link to digital files to bloglin@mishkanyc.com OR mail a Vinyl, Tape or CD copy to Mishka NYC c/o The Bloglin, 350 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11222.