I've compiled my list for the top 18 songs this year. Why 18? Well i've looked at what is supposed to drop and well, nothing really seems to excite me. Hopefully I'm wrong and there will be a huge mix up of my chart. I figured I would leave 2 spots open for fall 2009 songs to be added to my top 20 chart.
Here they are: Each song is linked to an .mp3 which can be right clicked to save as a single file. I've also included a .zip file at the end. It's offsite for legal reasons, but the hosting site is legit so it cool to download. yeah it took time. yeah you should thank me.
18) We Are Your Friends - Justice vs Simian Mobile Disco
Chis Keating from Yeasayer provides vocals to this inanely catchy song. Funky and
fresh, this song doesn't push the boundaries of music, but
it sure was great to blare out of cars
while driving around.
17) D.I.A.L.O. John Vanderslice
This is some of most lyrically driven music i've listen to in a while. Vanderslice is fun and airy with some serious lyrics, a nice combination.
Robot - royksopp (feat. Robyn)
Anything that keeps robin in the limelight is
worth it. Also, the song is about being in love
with a robot. So futuristic Robyn. I love songs that are so dancy, they are better for sitting down and being sexy. This is that song.
15) Osaka Loop Line - Discovery
I never knew songs could be so sparkly, if sparkly at all. A great team up some members of Vampire Weekend and RaRa Riot, the collaboration is quite enjoyable, which I can't say for either band on their own. The song reminds me of what Lost in Translation would have sounded like if Bill Murray was so damn old.
So Phoenix has huge hype, and the album as a whole isn't awesome but has some gems. This song made me pull out my copy of the breakfast club and dance. Can't argue with that kind of importance.
13) Actor out of Work - St. Vincent.
This song never really got the hype it deserved. SImple. Catchy. Yet very interesting and musically fresh. Worth a listen and download.
Metric just knows how to put out great music.
They don't attempt to overtly evolve and overcomplicate. If it's good once, keep the same creative process going and it will stay good. This is simple rock song, pure and awesome.
MEN ARE DJs. Or so says the one man, one woman, one transvestite's band t-shirts. MEN used to be most of Le Tigre, now they are making music that for all I've seen has not broken into mainstream indie at all, and I don't understand why. While this may be their most subdued track, I find it completely compelling to find more from them.
10) Yea Yeah - Matt & Kim (Flosstradamus Remix)
I was going to go with daylight, but after one too many Bacardi commercials, I feel like that's
just gotten tired. Flosstradamus deftly pump this song up. Injecting it with enough dance-y beats to turn this anthemic hipster call into a freaking 'get up and shake your booty' pavlovian whistle.
9) Cosmic Love - Florence and the Machine
I've blogged about Florence and the Machine before on Sonication. This song would easily rise to the top of most list for merely incorporating harp into a pop song. But it's her voice, gee that voice, that is so powerful you can help but take notice.
This band is actually a group of ex producers, most notably the one who was responsible for writing and producing many of Brittany spears's early tracks. Who would of thought you could write that schlop AND fantastic music.
Something about this song is magical. From the first piano cords to the meandering vocals the song is utterly transportive. It's summer, curving around the roundabout streets of paris; it's fall contemplating spring flings gone awry. Multifaceted and lush while not being hard to digest and loose one's self in.
6) Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs 
While It's Blitz!'s Zero was a strong contender, this song really showed a new side of the YYYs. Same strong melody driven hook and drums, but this song really got anyone grooving on the dance floor, not just the hipsters. The 5 billion remixes didn't hurt either.
5) My Girls - Animal Collective
Pure sonic lushness. Twerky, electronic, synched all when listened to closely. Listen to it as a whole and it washes over like a folksy ballad. Flawless. Wouldn't change anything in the song.
4) My Night with the Prostitute Form Marseille - Beirut/Realpeople
It's common knowledge that I think Zach Condon has the sexiest voice ever made. The Realpeople moniker is used to delineate Zach's traditional local, theme-based acoustic music as Beirut from a new more electronic backing. So far its only released an EP, Holland, but GeeZus, I can't wait for more.
80's influences, a mild stalker fetish for the karate kid, some great orchestral and choral arrangements, and the inherent sexiness of Natasha Khan, make this song something beyond special. Even without the other fantastic singles joining it on the album, this song alone cements
Bat for Lashes as musically important trendsetter with some serious longevity.
2) Little Secrets - Passion Pit
After seeing Passion Pit live, their place in my hit list has certainly skyrocketed. Also they are whores to remixes which certainly doesn't hurt my opinion of them. An album of entirely falsetto? YEP! I can dance my ass off to it? YEP! Its musically and lyrically new and interesting? Yes! No wonder Passion Pit made such a big splash in the blogosphere and are so high on my list.
And the 2009 Winner Is:
1) I thought I was going to have to go without new Knife for a while. But Karen Dreijer gave us something newer, darker, and more daring than before. It is pure genius as expected. A lush musical landscape that is simultaneously complexly verdant and sullenly doleful in both styling and lyrical content.
Also try on the more upbeat remixes done by just about everyone for every song on the album. Here's Tiga's take.
Triangle Walks (Tiga's 1-2-3-4 remix)
again, all of them all wrapped up pretty.