It doesn't really feel like Christmas without a Festive 50. So, after careful consideration and losing several hours of sleep, I finally managed to narrow down a really long list of favorite tracks to the Top 50 you see below. I'm not saying that these are the absolute best tracks of the year but it's a very good sample of the music I've listened to and enjoyed the most over the last 12 months. As usually, there are some rules that I tried to follow in order to make the final selection. The first one was to include only tracks that were released as singles (in some shape or form) but I have to admit that I broke this rule on a few occasions and I have included a handful of indispensable album tracks that I feel they would have made killer singles (perhaps after reading this post - illusion of grandeur alert! - the relevant artists will realize their mistake and make amends). Anyway, the way things are going it seems likely that in the near future there will be no more albums and all songs will be downloadable digital files for mobile multitasking contraptions, so this singles-only rule starts to feel very 20th century. The second rule (which I did manage to follow) was to include only one track from each artist or band in order to have a wider spectrum of music represented in the Top 50. So, it's safe to assume that several artists in here could have more tracks in this list, but only my favorite from each one made the final cut.
The top spot of our 2009 Top 50 Tracks list goes to "Help I'm Alive", the lead single off Metric's excellent fourth album, the rocking "Fantasies". The song got its first digital release a year ago (on December 23rd, 2008 in Canada and on January 1st, 2009 in the US) and later on it was also released as a good old-fashioned 7" vinyl single. The opening galloping drum beats set the frantic pace of the song as Emily Haines expresses her existential angst in a sweet, desperate voice. As the rhythm shifts gears, the panic builds up and when the Pixies-like guitar kick in you know from the very first listen that you're dealing with a classic song that's going to stay with you for years to come.Cool Music Central's Top 50 songs of the year are the following:
1. Help I’m alive - METRIC
2. So fine - TELEPATHE
3. Daniel - BAT FOR LASHES
4. Zero - YEAH YEAH YEAHS
5. Sacred trickster - SONIC YOUTH
6. Young adult friction - THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
7. Ambling alp - YEASAYER
8. Seven - FEVER RAY
9. My girls - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
10. Die slow - HEALTH
11. In your heart - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
12. Dominoes - THE BIG PINK
13. Stillness is the move - DIRTY PROJECTORS
14. I was born - HIGH PLACES
15. Islands - THE XX
16. Disco - HTRK
17. Hang you from the heavens - THE DEAD WEATHER
18. Death bells - SOULSAVERS
19. Black hearted love - P.J. HARVEY & JOHN PARISH
20. Ulysses - FRANZ FERDINAND
21. 1901 - PHOENIX
22. First communion - GANG GANG DANCE
23. I’m confused - HANDSOME FURS
24. Troubles like mine - GUN OUTFIT
25. Over it - DINOSAUR JR.
26. Sea within a sea - THE HORRORS
27. Departure - CRYSTAL STILTS
28. Feel like taking you home - BRENDAN BENSON
29. People got a lotta nerve - NEKO CASE
30. French navy - CAMERA OBSCURA
31. Rabbit heart (raise it up) - FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE
32. Digital hearts - HOWLING BELLS
33. Got nuffin - SPOON
34. The rake's song - THE DECEMBERISTS
35. Something is squeezing my skull - MORRISSEY
36. Angela - JARVIS COCKER
37. Panic switch - SILVERSUN PICKUPS
38. House of flying daggers - RAEKWON (Feat. GHOSTFACE KILLAH, INSPECTAH DECK, METHOD MAN)
39. Life in marvelous times - MOS DEF
40. Ecstasy - JJ
41. Frost - SALEM
42. Wolf cub - BURIAL & FOUR TET
43. These are my twisted words - RADIOHEAD
44. Bye bye bayou - LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
45. Dancing choose - TV ON THE RADIO
46. Walkabout - ATLAS SOUND (Feat. NOAH LENNOX)
47. The end is near - THE FIERY FURNACES
48. Mykonos - FLEET FOXES
49. Cornerstone - ARCTIC MONKEYS
50. 11th dimension - JULIAN CASABLANCAS
Metric - Help I'm Alive
Listen to our top tracks of 2009 at MySpace Music here.
Meanwhile Dandelion Radio, the internet radio station that continues John Peel's tradition of the annual Festive 50, has just started broadcasting on a daily basis the results of this year's poll. Go here to listen to the complete list and check out below the tracks that make up 2009's Top 10:
1. There are listed buildings - Los Campesinos!
2. Young adult friction - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
3. My girls - Animal Collective
4. Surf solar - Fuck Buttons
5. I'm here to see the clouds of blood - The Chasms
6. I am Grimaldi - Nightingales
7. Whirring - The Joy Formidable
8. Cougar - The Brownies
9. The sea is a good place to think of the future - Los Campesinos!
10. Murder music - Ste McCabe
Los Campesinos! - There Are Listed Buildings
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