Below are my picks for the Top 100 Tracks of 2009. My ultimate measures of worthiness were whether I’d turn up the stereo when the song in question came on and/or whether I enabled the iPod’s ‘Repeat One’ option to listen to the track again and again and again (what I call “InfiniteRepeat™”).
Putting together any list like this means some good tracks are bound be left off. A couple of songs only recently released as singles were initially strong contenders for inclusion, but eventually were set aside for 2010 contention (sorry, John Mayer and Adam Lambert), making room for tunes from the earlier part of the year. And though some of these tracks were technically issued in 2008, it was only this year that they really hit these ears.
These 100 tracks include singles, album tracks, huge hits, and songs that deserved to be as big but weren’t, spanning genres of pop, rock, dance, indie, and hip-hop. Two notes: As weary as the world is of The Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” (I might be ready to hear it again in 2029), the ubiquitous hit earned a spot on the list. And yes, while I still think Miley Cyrus is so very emblematic of what’s wrong with music today, I eventually joined her “Party In the U.S.A.,” powerless to resist its charms.
Popservations’ Top 100 Tracks of 2009
“Sometime Around Midnight” – The Airborne Toxic Event
“The Fear” – Lily Allen
“Maybe California” – Tori Amos
“I Don’t Like Your Band” – Annie
“Crying Lightning” – Arctic Monkeys
“Sink Or Swim” – Bad Lieutenant
“Sweet Dreams” – Beyoncé
“Raindrops” – Basement Jaxx
“Fools – Diane Birch
“I Gotta Feeling” – The Black Eyed Peas
“Warped Sister” – Booker T.
“Gun For A Tongue” – Butterfly Boucher
“Obsessed” – Mariah Carey
“People Got A Lot Of Nerve” – Neko Case
“She Loves Everybody” – Chester French
“Love Sex Magic” – Ciara feat. Justin Timberlake
“My Life Would Suck Without You” – Kelly Clarkson
“I Do Not Hook Up” – Kelly Clarkson
“All I Ever Wanted” – Kelly Clarkson
“Up Up & Away” – Kid Cudi
“Good Girls Go Bad” – Cobra Starship feat. Leighton Meester
“Hot Mess” – Cobra Starship
“You Turned Away” – The Countdown
“Beautiful U R” (Soul Seekerz Mix) – Deborah Cox
“Party In The U.S.A.” – Miley Cyrus
“Goodbye” (Mike Rizzo Funk Generation Mix) – Kristinia DeBarge
“Let’s Get Excited” – Alesha Dixon
“My Sunken Treasure” – The Duke Spirit
“Walking On A Dream” – Empire Of The Sun
“Ghosts” – Fanfarlo
“Sweat (The Drip Drop Song)” (Wideboys House Mix) – Filly
“Cosmic Love” – Florence & The Machine
“I Don’t Need It” – Jamie Foxx
“Time Will Tell” – Frankmusik
“Say Hey (I Love You)” – Michael Franti & Spearhead feat. Cherine Anderson
“No You Girls” – Franz Ferdinand
“Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)” – Freemasons feat. Sophie Ellis-Bextor
“The Loving Kind” – Girls Aloud
“Heavy Cross” – The Gossip
“Houses” – Great Northern
“21 Guns” – Green Day
“When Love Takes Over” – David Guetta feat. Kelly Rowland
“First Train Home” – Imogen Heap
“Million Dollar Bill” – Whitney Houston
“My Secret Friend” – IAMX feat. Imogen Heap
“Friday I’ll Be Over U” – Allison Iraheta
“Make Me” – Janet Jackson
“Empire State Of Mind” – Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys
“Use Somebody” – Kings Of Leon
“Paparazzi” – Lady Gaga
“Bad Romance” – Lady Gaga
“My Delirium” – Ladyhawke
“Bulletproof” – La Roux
“Shining Light” – Annie Lennox
“Heartbreak On Vinyl” – Blake Lewis
“Celebration” – Madonna
“Daylight” – Matt and Kim
“Help, I’m Alive” – Metric
“Epiphany (I’m Leaving)” (Dave Aude Mix) – Chrisette Michele
“Quiet Dog” – Mos Def
“Supernova” – Mr Hudson feat. Kanye West
“Uprising” – Muse
“Don’t Upset The Rhythm (Go Baby Go)” – The Noisettes
“Kandi” – One EskimO
“Young Adult Friction” – The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
“Ghost” – Parachute
“The Reeling” – Passion Pit
“The Fixer” – Pearl Jam
“Waking Up In Vegas” – Katy Perry
“Love etc.” – Pet Shop Boys
“1901” – Phoenix
“Sober” – Pink
“Gimme” – The Pow Wows
“Can You Tell” – Ra Ra Riot
“Last Dance” – The Raveonettes
“The Girl And The Robot” – Röyksopp feat. Robyn
“Everybody” – Rudenko
“Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh” – Say Hi
“Half Asleep” – School Of Seven Bells
“She Wolf” – Shakira
“Panic Switch” – Silversun Pickups
“Would’ve Been The One” (Groove Police Mix) – Solange
“Battlefield” – Jordin Sparks
“Circus” – Britney Spears
“Tell Me It’s Not Over” – Starsailor
“Love Story” – Taylor Swift
“You Belong With Me” – Taylor Swift
“Hell” – Tegan and Sara
“Feel It In My Bones” – Tiesto feat. Tegan and Sara
“Shark In The Water” – V V Brown
“(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” – Weezer
“Invisible” – Wendy and Lisa
“Paranoid” – Kanye West feat. Mr Hudson
“Radio Radio” – Brooke White
“To Lose My Life” – White Lies
“Percussion Gun” – White Rabbits
“California On My Mind” – Wild Light
“Islands” – The xx
“Zero” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
“Heads Will Roll” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
To listen to clips or purchase these tracks (most, anyway), visit the Popservations – Top Tunes of 2009 iMix posted on iTunes. Four tracks on my list aren’t available there; two are UK-only releases (Alesha Dixon and Girls Aloud), while two others (Chrisette Michele and VV Brown) are offered in versions different than above.
Use the Search box in the left-hand column above to read about many of the songs and artists on the list. Regrettably, I didn’t get to all of them this year, but they’re all definitely worth checking out.
Here’s hoping 2010 brings an equally eclectic mix of good tunes!
