World Cafe 30th Anniversary Playlist: 2009

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of World Cafe, we're looking back and posting playlists from each year of the show. As music has evolved over the years, so have our playlists, which have grown to reflect a much wider range of music than when we first set out.

2009 was a big musical year for really big pop stars. Lady Gaga, whose 2008 release "Poker Face" owned 2009, the Black Eyed Peas owned the summer of '09 with "I Gotta Feeling," and Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 yielded a few massive hits, including "Empire State Of Mind," "Run This Town," and "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" that kept music fans on the dance floor. The party of the year was Miley Cyrus' "Party In The U.S.A."

On the indie and rock side of musical things, releases by St. Vincent, Phoenix, Grizzly Bear, The xx, Neko Case, Wilco, Dirty Projectors and Animal Collective all stood out for their artistic merit. The year also delivered some excellent music discoveries. including albums by Tune-Yards, Bomba Estereo, Sarah Jarosz, Fanfarlo and Lungs, the debut by Florence + The Machine.

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