In no particular order, here are my favorite 18 tracks that came out this past year. Why 18? Because that’s how many came to mind when I sat down to think about it.
1. Lady Gaga: Paparazzi
I don’t know if I’ve totally jumped on the Lady Gaga bandwagon, but this song is pretty awesome. The verse is essentially one big five chord and the chorus is amazingly catchy (and sounds exactly like the chorus from Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” only sped up and better).
2. Metric: Help I’m Alive
There are two versions of this song floating around: a full band version and a piano and vocal version. Both are really great. I’ve listened to it over and over and I’m still not tired of it.
3 and 4. Taylor Swift: You Belong to Me and Love Story
If you are going to ever listen to Taylor Swift ever, you should listen to these two songs. They are both equally awesome, and this is because they are essentially the same song. The chord progressions between the two are nearly identical and they both have killer production work. Also, on “Love Story” she manages to turn the word “real” into two syllables which for some reason I find completely charming.
5. Beyonce: Single Ladies
I don’t want to like this song, but I do.
6. Mexican Institute of Sound: Sinfonia Agridulce
I just heard this song a couple weeks ago. It’s a cover of the Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” sung in Spanish and with mariachi trumpets. Plus the song begins mid-way through the chord progression which is completely disorienting and awesome.
7 and 8. Animal Collective: My Girls and Brother Sport
So Animal Collective’s album seems to clearly be all the critics favorite of the year, and these are the two best songs on the album. I’ve already mentioned them here before so that’s all I have to say.
9. Flaming Lips: See the Leaves
The song is good, and the organ coda at the end is even better.
10. Bon Iver: Woods
It took me a long time to like Bon Iver, and this is the song that made it happen. It wasn’t until I heard this one that I could go back and appreciate his earlier album.
11. Vampire Weekend: White Sky
I guess this song wasn’t technically released in 2009, but it hit the internet at sometime in December and it is by far the best of the new Vampire Weekend songs that have been circulating in the last couple months. It sounds like Graceland era Paul Simon (even more than VW usually does).
12. Cursive: From the Hips
I’ve never really been a fan of Cursive. I don’t dislike them, but I’ve never been super excited by them either. Except for this song. I cannot figure out what it is about this song that makes me like it. Still, I think I would like it better if it was slow and mellow the whole way through rather than getting all intense half way through.
13. Jay Reatard: It Ain’t Gonna Save Me
The first song of his last full length album. Probably not as good as anything on Blood Visions, but way more up beat.
14. Charlotte Gainsbourg: Heaven Can Wait
The first single off of Gainsbourg’s new Beck produced album (and also features guest vocals from Beck). The song is good, but the last two bars of the chorus are fantastic. Also, they put out an amazingly cool video for the song.
Charlotte Gainsbourg – Heaven Can Wait from Charlotte Gainsbourg on Vimeo.
15 and 16. Dirty Projectors: Knotty Pine and Two Doves
Knotty Pine was the Projectors/David Byrne collaboration that came out on the Dark Was the Night compilation. Two Doves is the slow ballad off of Bitte Orca and sounds exactly like those Jackson Brown songs that Nico did only with a weirder melody.
17. Treasure Mammal: Bromance
Treasure Mammal is my friend Abe (who I just went into the studio with last week) and this might be my favorite song he’s ever done. It’s brilliant. You can hear it and see a video for it here.
18. Grizzly Bear: Two Weeks
Just like it took Bon Iver’s “Woods” to allow me to appreciate his earlier work, I needed to hear “Two Weeks” to be able to appreciate Grizzly Bear. This song has the best drums I heard all year long.
That’s it. Stay tuned for my favorite albums of the year.
