#20 Animal Collective - "My Girls"
...Because I'd get my hipster blogging credentials revoked if I didn't put it on here. It's a good song, though I think I prefer the Taken by Trees cover over the original.
#19 Tegan and Sara - "Hell"
Angrier than The Con, T & S's latest album has a bit more rock than pop, and lead off single "Hell" is a good case in point. The girls still do an excellent job recasting new wave for this millennium.
#18 The Prodigy - "Invaders Must Die"
I never expected to hear anything worthwhile from these dudes again. Nothing screams '90s manufactured media hype like the Prodigy. This song isn't cutting edge, but it hits hard and gets one pumped up. Great music for the cross trainer.
#17 Annie - "I Don't Like Your Band"
Annie remains the sweetest mean girl in pop. She's not really pulling punches with this one, and the music is reflectively hard edged as well. P.S. I don't like your band either.
#16 Weezer - "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To"
Why's everybody always picking on Weez? They're never going to write "Across the Sea" again folks, so why not be happy we're getting some nice power pop tunes with goofy lyrics every 18 months or so? 2009 Weezer isn't quite as fresh as the 2008 version, but its a damn sight better than "Beverly Hills." AND I kinda like that one too.
#15 Peter Bjorn and John - "Nothing to Worry About"
A couple years removed from that whistling song find the three lads from Sweden trying something different. If you were to play this song along with "Young Folks", the casual listener wouldn't think they came from the same group. The one thing they have in common? It's hard to get either out of your head.
#14 The Gossip - "Heavy Cross"
Dance punk has definitely run its course, and Gossip is as good a band as any to nail the lid on the genre's coffin. The production is taut and muscular, and Beth Ditto has about the least white voice of any white girl I've heard. If they can't be dance punkers though, what genre for the trio? Old school rhythm and blues queercore? Nah, I think rock and roll will suffice.
#13 Dirty Projectors - "Stillness is the Move"
Bitte Orca is a weird record, but under all the weirdness there remain some pretty great pop songs (see the Solange cover of this joint), and "Stillness" is definitely the pick of the litter. This is what Indie Rock r&b sounds like, if Indie Rockers didn't really know what r&b sounded like. If that makes any sense.
#12 The Avett Brothers - "I and Love and You"
Probably my favorite "discovery" of the year. There's nothing particularly revolutionary about this song, just great musicianship and songwriting. The rest of the album is great too.
#11 Mariah Carey - "Obsessed"
Mariah has used that amazing voice for evil way too often (see about 80% of her ballads), but when she's teamed with a great producer, the results usually shine. The Dream is one of the best R&B songwriters of recent years, and his work on Mariah's 2009 release, including the lead single, has been her best material since the comeback.
#10 Matt and Kim - "Daylight"
The prize for artistic growth goes to Matt and Kim, who expanded their canvas without adding more instrumentation on their second album. "Daylight" slows down their usually manic pace and adds echo chamber atmosphere. It was a great kick off for the album, and a great way to kick off 2009.
#9 White Rabbits - "Percussion Gun"
No doubt the song most fun to see performed live (I wish I could've made it to one of their two TC shows this year), "Percussion Gun" is pretty on the nose with its title. Every instrument is used as percussion, not just those driving tribal drum rolls propelling the song forward.
#8 Paramore - "Brick by Boring Brick"
Paramore should be the biggest rock band in the world. They have the chops and stage presence for it, not to mention awesome singles like this one. I didn't see many live shows in 2009, but the Paramore performance is definitely in my top twenty shows of all time, and this song made a great set closing encore.
#7 BG20 - "Epic Starshine"
I may be biased when it comes to this record, but its still got one of the best choruses of any song I heard this year. Those harmonies between Sleeg and Tryst really sell it. The rest of the album isn't half bad either.
#6 Jay-Z - "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-tune)"
Jay's kinda been phoning it in since his "comeback", so it's nice to hear a little fire in his belly with this pseudo-old school jam. I appreciate the lack of chorus (aside from the out of tune na na na hey goodbye) and the jazzy backing track. Now I just hope we don't need to wait for Blueprint 4 for another decent Jay-Z album.
#5 Spinnerette - "Baptized by Fire"
Brody Dalle's sort of solo project flew below the radar for me till this fall. Both singles off this record are tight, but "Ghetto Love" is unfortunately disqualified due to a single release in 2008. No matter, "Baptized by Fire" is just as good, a nice re-casting of Brody's punk snarl in a new wave context.
#4 Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"
She's the most polarizing artist of the year, but you'd have to have a tin ear not to realize the girl can sing, play and write hits for days. Bad Romance doesn't quite hit the heights of the singles off The Fame, but its a perfectly respectable sophomore year single. I'd say it's Robyn vs. Gaga for the title of Queen of Pop, if not for the fact that no one knows who Robyn is.
#3 The Lonely Island - "Like a Boss"
The most bad ass two minute rap in the history of the world. I still lose it every time Andy says "Hell yeah" at the end.
#2 Black Eyed Peas - "I Gotta Feeling"
The Peas sort of atone for "My Humps" with this one. No one is going to ever accuse them of being serious artists, but Will.I.Am knows how to write an undeniable hook.
#1 Owl City - "Fireflies"
I'll diplomatically say this is slightly derivative of The Postal Service, but as I've told others, if The Postal Service aren't going to bother putting out another album, someone has to pick up the slack. Plus, that chorus sends shivers down my spinal column.
And there it is. A pretty decent year for music, though it always is if you're willing to dig deep for the good stuff. I'll try and get my other end of year lists posted soon. Don't hold me to any dates though. Oh yeah, and welcome officially to my new blog!
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