My Top 10 songs of 2009 (in no particular order)

I am following in the footsteps of my friend Eric, who posted his top 10 songs of the last 10 years, though I had the idea of doing my top 10 songs of 2009 before he posted his list so I'm not actually a total copycatter (as they used to call you in elementary school!). I thought about doing my top 10 albums, but I tend to post on albums far more often than I do individual songs so I felt a change was in order. This list contains the songs that I have probably listened to most or to which I have continually come back time and time again throughout the last 12 months. Not all of them were released in 2009 and I did not want to include that as a criterion for this list. The barometer for inclusion on this list consisted of how often I played a song as well as the sounds and melodies, more so than lyrics--I am primarily attracted to songs for their melodies and instrumentation and secondarily to lyrical content. Without further ado, here are my top 10 songs of 2009:

1. 'Breathe'--U2 (No Line On The Horizon): This is one of the catchiest rockers that U2 has ever written and certainly put the proverbial boots to 'Get On Your Boots', the first single from this year's No Line On The Horizon. I primarily dug The Edge's guitar sound and Bono's stream-of-consciousness lyrics at the beginning, though I also love the lyric "Every day I die again, and again I'm reborn"--brilliant. Larry Mullen's thumping drum intro doesn't hurt either...

2. 'The Man Who Told Everything'--Doves (Lost Souls): Doves are one of my best discoveries of the last couple years and this song is a lovely, shimmering tune with gorgeous vocals, soaring harmonies, and quietly disturbing lyrics. This whole Lost Souls album is killer...heck, anything by Doves is amazing!

3. 'Nothin''--Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (Raising Sand): This is one of the most haunting songs I've ever heard: heavily distorted guitar (low in the mix), what sounds like a banjo being slowly picked, and Krauss' soaring, mournful fiddle lines over top of it all. The song has very spare production with lots of space--it almost seems to 'breathe'. A stunning achievement off of an equally stunning album.

4. 'The Ghost of Genova Heights'--Stars (In Our Bedroom After The War): This is what happens when dreamscape shoegazer-type sounds meet funk. This chorus, for me, came out of nowhere and it was so catchy that I would find myself literally singing/humming it for hours on end--the falsetto vocals by lead vocalist Torquil Campbell are smokin'! My wife absolutely dug this song as well!

5. 'Till The Sun Turns Black'--Ray LaMontagne (Till The Sun Turns Black): If there was a song that that was bound to get me very teary this year (almost every time I listened to it!) it was this one. Taken from the 2006 album of the same name, it has one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful vocals ever committed to tape, especially as it peaks in the middle and the strings swell...marvelous stuff! This song is perfect, from the string arrangement to the gently strummed acoustic guitar, to the tympani rolls at the song's climax. Intimate and epic at the same time...

6. 'Holding Up The Sky'--Buddy & Julie Miller (Buddy & Julie Miller): This song makes me think of my wife, pure and simple. It's an unabashed love song and perhaps the one that resonates with me the most when I think about my marriage. A simple country-tinged number with lovely harmonies and simple lyrics, I loved it the first time I heard it.

7. 'The Last Recluse'--The Tragically Hip (We Are The Same): One of Canada's most legendary bands came out with a wonderful album this year and this was my favourite track off of said album. There is a really cool organ intro/outro that is essentially unrelated to the main body of the song. El Gordo weaves a lovely story, complete with Canadiana references, and backed by a simple chord progession. I love the vocal melody in this and the deep "ooohhs" in the middle of the song (it was a great audience participation moment when we saw them live!). Some people seem to think The Hip have lost a step, but I could not disagree more!

8. 'Weathervanes (In The Way)'--Jets Overhead (No Nations): Victoria's very own Jets Overhead put out an album that I absolutely and heartily endorse with a 10/10 and I only discovered it about three weeks ago! This ballad is achingly beautiful--Adam Kittredge's falsetto vocals in the chorus are incredible and it is a lovely lyric. Way to make us Victorians proud!

9. 'The Pharaohs'--Neko Case (Middle Cyclone): Neko Case might well be my artist of 2009 in terms of how often I listened to her, especially the albums Fox Confessor Brings The Flood and 2009's Middle Cyclone (complete with what Paste Magazine called the best album cover of the decade!). Heck, I even named my cat Neko! 'The Pharoahs' has my favourite chord progression of the year as well as some of my favourite harmonies--it's an all-around masterpiece of a song! Her voice is sultry and beautiful, the lyric, poignant. Oh Neko (not the cat), how I love thee...

10. Holy, Holy, Holy--Sufjan Stevens (Peace: Songs for Christmas, Vol. V): Though this lilting arrangement of the traditional hymn is found on one of Sufjan Stevens' Christmas EPs, I have been listening to this cut all year long because the hymn is not traditionally associated with the Christmas season. This is a sublime presentation of 'Holy, Holy, Holy', with Stevens' trademark delicate vocals and angelic harmonies (that are bloody hard to sing, let me tell you!) resplendent at every turn. Ever since I first heard him, I have been saying that Sufjan Stevens is a musical genius and this just adds credence to my belief!


Well, that's my 'best of' list for this year. Happy New Year to you all, my faithful readers, and all the best for 2010!