Post by MIKEB on Dec 27, 2009 2:09:00 GMT -5
So I have 4 special charts coming up over the course of the next week or so. My best of 2009 album and songs chart and after that, my best of the decade album and song chart. I'll post them in order of importance for me with the least important first.
These are my choices for the best songs of the year. I base them on how much I've listened to these songs on an individual basis, how much I like them and how well I thought they were overall in recorded value as a complete song. It was somewhat difficult to come up with the complete list this year because I found myself listening more to albums overall than songs released this year and I generally try to avoid overcrowding my end-of-year lists with too many songs from one album or artist. Excuse the sometimes awful reasons why I liked the songs. Sometimes you just can't explain it.
50 Rehab - Sittin' At A Bar (The Bartender Song)
I like this song because of it's country-like flair with a light hip-hop beat. Two areas of music that rarely ever mix but I do like the sound of southern hip-hop. Bubba Sparxxx is a name that comes to mind but he's a rapper first with southern influences. This song is more of a country sound with hip-hop influences. There's a version with Hank Williams Jr that I like as well but it doesn't have the rap that the original version has. More or less, this is probably a guilty pleasure over anything for me.
49 OneRepublic - Come Home [featuring Sara Bareilles]
This is a new version of a song from OneRepublic's first album Dreaming Out Loud. This version has a fresher sound and is, of course, made for radio with the inclusion of Sara Bareilles and higher-end production. I like the added touch that Sara's vocals bring to this, giving the song more of a three-dimensional feel. It stands out from the rest of their tracks as being mainly a yearning piano ballad with the desire of one's return.
48 Gavin DeGraw - Lover Be Strong
This song starts out as if an upbeat Sarah McLachlan song. Not really anything spectacular but I do enjoy the chorus. It's also the first song from Gavin that I've really liked since his first album five years ago. While not too heavy in any aspect, I do like the production on this one. It's crisp and light and Gavin returns to what made his first album sound great. He doesn't come off abrasive or forceful so this song just eases from start to finish.
47 Bat For Lashes - Daniel
Daniel has a very 80s feel to it with a modern sounding beat and production that sounds like it was model to sound from the middle of the 80s. Lots of reverb and ambience added to the vocals give it that feel. While this song never really took hold for me overall, it was a nice addition to some playlists on my ipod.
46 Imogen Heap - First Train Home
Imogen's third album came out this year. The first single still stands as the one that I'm most familiar with. It's less immediate than most of the songs from the last record and while still in touch with her electronic side, Immi seems to have gotten more mellow. But this particular song dealing with a breakup and a desire to leave it all behind highly supports the music that helps to describe the feeling of a sudden emotional coma experienced following such negative events. The song ends with a plan in sight but we're left wondering if it's a happy ending. "Got to get out now!"
45 Brandi Carlile - I Will
I remember one of the first times going through Brandi's new album Give Up The Ghost, this track came on and I remember thinking to myself: how could a song like this make the album because it sounds so plain and nothing really stands out about it in comparison to the rest of the album. Basically, a complete filler track. Maybe it was that thinking in itself that made I Will stand out enough for me to take notice that it's among my favourites from the new record. I like the overall simplicity of the music and vocals and the pleasant background vocals in the chorus. The lyrics themselves deal with the prospect of moving on from a failed relationship that was very one-sided but that lessons were learned and from the point of the view of the writer, no regrets were made but the feeling likely isn't mutual.
44 Miley Cyrus - The Climb
A Miley Cyrus song? Who, me? Yeah. I'm sure I complained about this song many a time during the year but I realized maybe a month or two ago that I actually like this song. I think Miley actually has good vocals in this. A certain level of rasp that really suit the song. Lyrically the song isn't impressive and musically, it's pretty typical but sometimes it's the averageness of a song and how singable it is that is a strong point and this is an example of that.
43 Joan Osborne - Cathedrals
I hadn't heard a new song from Joan Osborne since the 90s so I was curious to see how she was sounding these days. This is an epic-sounding piano ballad that is much softer than the few songs I'm familiar with from Joan during her peak in 1995. This song seems to be about the complete lack of completeness and warmth with religious institutions and how unwelcoming they are with large buildings and ideas to respresent them.
42 Tori Amos - Give
Before writing about Tori, I should mention that I'm pretty much only familiar with 2000s Tori Amos aside from a select number of songs from her 90s library. With that revealed: this track is probably the most synthetic sounding song I've heard from her this decade. With most of the last three records being pretty organic and natural sounding, this album, and Give in particular (being the opening track) brings in synths and drum loops in addition to guitars and bass and the result is a pretty eerie sound that reminds me less of the Tori I'm familiar with but is a welcome, fresh sound that I haven't heard from her before. Again, stressing that she may have had more experimentations in production before? I've no idea. I really don't know what I'm talking about.
41 Sondre Lerche - Heartbeat Radio
The first single from Sondre Lerche's fifth studio album deals directly with the lack of variety on radio. Mentioning everything from the length of songs, the automatic playlists, lack of DJs, overuse of reverb and compression, overplay and payola, and remembering that radio used to play good music that wasn't all about the almighty dollar. A pleasant way of personifying the radio industry.
40 Neko Case - People Got A Lotta Nerve
The first thing about this song that I notice is the production. It sounds very 1989, like a Traveling Wilburys song. Americana is a genre of music that doesn't change with the times but changes as it needs to. One of those things that you can always rely on being there and I think Case provides a wonderful addition to that familiar sound with new material. There isn't one characteristic of this song that overpowers anything else and is just simply a nice song.
39 Carly Rae Jepsen - Tug Of War
This is an odd addition to my Best Of 2009 list but in thinking about it, a favourites list should represent songs I simply enjoy and songs with sentimental value. This is an example of the latter where memories are provided as soon as the first line opens up the song. It's odd how a song I wouldn't normally find myself falling in love with can attach itself to a specific time and bring back that time whenever I hear it. It's bittersweet but pleasant nonetheless.
38 Green Day - Peacemaker
There didn't seem to be many instant classics on the new Green Day album but this was a track that stood out to me immediately. I enjoy the ongoing mexican-influenced sound and layout and it has the maturity that most of their last two albums have had but it's a specific sound that otherwise hasn't been touched on yet with either American Idiot or 21st Century Breakdown. When the rest of the album can get overwelming in some ways, I find Peacemaker to be that nice slice of fresh music in the middle of the record to prepare for side two.
37 Missy Higgins - Where I Stood
Where I Stood was among my most played songs of the year. Not really because it was a song I was obsessed with for a period of time but because I consistently played it throughout most of the year. This song deals with the loss of a relationship and the acceptance that comes with knowing who you broke up with has moved on, meanwhile ensuring you're nearby should you be needed. I think my favourite line comes in the chorus "she will love you more than I could/she who dares to stand where I stood."
36 Hunter Valentine - Break This
A friend of mine introduced me to Hunter Valentine a few years back. Musically, they sound like Tegan and Sara singing rock songs with a pop mindframe. While a straight-up rock song, Break This changes to tempo by half near the end which I do enjoy as it gives it a more distinct feel that sets it apart from so many other songs like it.
35 James Morrison - Nothing Ever Hurt Like You
James has some funk-rhythmic influences on this song which was the fourth single from his second album. His voice is slightly raspy and very much in control, something I realized when hearing his collaboration with Jason Mraz on last year's Details In The Fabric that is further confirmed again on this song. Hearing his vocals next to Jason showed me that Morisson might be one of the better male vocalists of the late 2000s so I have since taken notice to some of his music since then including this song, which I conclude to be my favourite from him so far.
34 The Art Of Time Ensemble with Sarah Slean - Lodestar
What could be better than Sarah Slean covering my favourite Sarah Harmer song? Well, the original of course. But Sarah takes the original Lodestar to a completely different level on this collaboration with the Art of Time Ensemble. Together they released an album of songs written and originally recorded by Canadian artists. The original Lodestar always gave me a certain type of imagery that I could see whenever I heard it while this version gives me the same images, except instead of viewing them as actual scenery, they come to me in the form of extravagant painting, maybe similar to that of a Van Gogh painting of a boat in a lake surrounded by forest at night. The ability to take a song such as Lodestar and completely construct it the way it's done here is incredible because it gives an already full-of-life song a completely different persona. My favourite moment in this song, like the original is right before the final buildup of the song where the cello breaks through in full force. My one qualm however is that the cello doesn't remain as confident and booming for the remainder so it does provide a light sense of disappointment on an otherwise wonderful recording.
33 Pink - It's All Your Fault
Immediately, this song almost sounds like a swedish pop song with the piano hook and melody of the verses but the chorus is rock, more straight up than that of So What... in reading about this song on Wikipedia, it was co-written with Max Martin, who is Swedish, in a studio in Sweden. Coincidence?
32 Chantal Kreviazuk - Say The Word
Chantal's fifth album offers more variety on an album-wide basis than any previous record did. Say The Word is one of the more piano-pop songs that, to me, sound more reminiscent of her first album, 1996's Under These Rocks And Stones. The main difference, of course, is the sound of the production, but the lyrics and singing styles remind me a lot of that, in which Chantal's sound was more of a piano-rock layered with pop production. Of course she's softened up a lot since then but it is nice to hear her return to the sound that I originally fell in love with.
31 Melissa McClelland - Glenrio
Glenrio is a track from Melissa's new album Victoria Day and is probably this album's Passenger 24. Very similar in sound with that western/tavern feeling. Not as full as its predecessor as this one has a slightly lesser tempo and the piano is replaced with electric guitars but is easily a highlight of the new record.
30 Regina Spektor - Laughing With
I like the lyrics to this song that points out how easy it is for people to laugh at God in regular everyday situations but in life-changing times "no one laughs at God." In the chorus, Regina sings about how God has a sense of humour when laughing at a joke or people who insist He hates, as well as laughing at people who thinks He'll give them money if people pray to Him. It's an interesting song that puts an interesting perspective on who we think of when we think about God.
29 Owl City - Fireflies
I don't think this song is spectacular when placed against a lot of other songs I like but just the mere fact that Fireflies was able to hit #1 on the Hot 100 in a musical climate that awards heavily-produced pop music and songs with a dozen writers for vocalists that are known for their many octaves. Here you have an electronic-pop song, with just one writer and is self produced by a guy who just two years ago was recording music in his bedroom. Musically, the song stands out like an alien in a sea of teenagers at the mall and that in itself is a breath of fresh air for mainstream music that relies so heavily on the perfect sound. I think it's good to have an average guy go somewhere with an above-average song once in awhile. Even if it's not your cup of tea.
28 Tracy Chapman - Sing For You
I think Tracy Chapman might be one of the most underrated artists of our time. She's most known for her songs Fast Car and Give Me One Reason and her combination of blues and soul puts her ahead in her field for the last couple of decades. Sing For You is a track from her latest album that is simple and sweet and based around the line "I remember a time when I used to sing for you." Her vocals really carry this song.
27 Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
The Fleet Foxes have been a critics wet dream for the last year. I haven't quite jumped on that bandwagon, being the pophead that I am but do enjoy the amazing harmonies and recording that their album has. This song is easily a highlight from that that showcases the wonderful musical stylings and vocal harmony the group has...AND it mentions my name.
26 Serena Ryder - Sweeping The Ashes
One of my favourite artists I've discovered over the last couple of years was Serena Ryder. The first track from her third album is one of my favourite songs from her. I just simply really like the melody and Serena's voice. She's at her best here.
25 Norah Jones - Chasing Pirates
Norah Jones' new sound is a huge step away from her last three albums, where she was quickly becoming the queen (or princess?) of smooth jazz. With the first sounds from her fourth record The Fall, Norah goes electric. Her sound can now be classified more as roots alternative (not alternative rock) with a complete drum beat and electric guitars and a chorus that wouldn't sound out of place on a Sheryl Crow record. I did enjoy Norah before but now I think I may have fallen in love.
24 Kings Of Leon - Closer
The newest Kings of Leon album is pretty great. The opening track doesn't hold back on the awesomeness as the epic song begins immediately. As a song it might not hold much weight on its own but I think would fit very well as part of a movie and works amazing as the opening track for the record. You just know what's to follow will be awesome.
23 MGMT - Weekend Wars
I don't know what to really say about this song. I think you'll either like it or you won't. It's psychedelic pop for the new ages and just pure awesome!
22 India.Arie - Therapy [featuring Gramps Morgan]
I like the immediate feel-goodness of this track from the musical introduction and when India.Arie starts singing, you know the lyrics will follow. The entire song is like you're in a room with incense and lots of light and colour. I think the lyrics and music combined together do provide great imagery that does what the song was meant to do.
21 Polly Scattergood - I Hate The Way
This song immediately caught my ear because of the haunting lyrics in the first verse. They almost sound violent over the vague but heavy music that barely silently sits in the background until the second verse when things start to pick up. Polly sounds a lot like Tori Amos in her vocal presentation, but nothing like Regina Spektor (who also sounds like Tori Amos, but in a different way...) Polly lightly incorporates elements of electronica amidst the music that add that extra dimension that differentiates her from her contempararies but her lyrics scream torment while "my doctor said I've got to sing a happy tune."
20 Dragonette - Liar
Dragonette's electropop has advanced a lot since their last record. The confidence that exudes from songs like Liar shows how far they've come. Their lyrics are still on the risque song with this one being about the sexual desires felt toward a man that isn't the one she's with. Trying to deny it in the first verse "Anyway, I'm taken and we're both leaving with who we came." while the ultimate desire to give in doesn't quite surface by the end "Put it out while you still can/You know, you play with fire/You gonna get burned."
19 Jay-Z - D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)
You gotta hand it to Jay-Z, despite being married to one of pop's top women, he hasn't really changed THAT much. A lot of rappers (and rockers) will often soften up if they marry into the pop world. On D.O.A. he makes the attack on how autotune is ruining the musical landscape and that he's not making music to please the masses of radio and record sales but that he's keeping true to what he always has done, make real rap. "Get back to rap, you T-Pain'n too much."
18 Catherine MacLellan - Water In The Ground
Sometimes music is timeless. This song could have come out of a kitchen family gathering any time in the last 50 years and it would still sound the way it does now. Just pure, organic folk music. Catherine is from Summerside, PEI but now lives in Halifax. Sometimes you don't have to look far to find a gem.
17 Pink - Please Don't Leave Me
When I first got the album Funhouse from Pink, this song was my favourite from it. The production and vocals were what caught my attention while the mid-tempo chorus might be one of the best she's done so far. I find sometimes Pink can make abrasive songs that get annoying pretty fast and other times she has good singles that are great but you just get so burnt out on them. This is a song that I've yet to really get sick of so I think that in itself makes it a keeper.
16 Coldplay - Lost [featuring Jay-Z]
I don't know why but it took me months to really get into this song. I find a lot of Coldplay songs are like that for me anyway. I heard the version with Jay-Z and I thought it was pretty awful but when I listened to it a few more times, it actually liked. I think it's Jay-Z's verse that did seal the deal for me as odd as that sounds. It's an unlikely combination but Jay-Z rapping over the haunting music sounds just right.
15 Blue October - The End
The band Blue October have quite a range of subject matter in their songs. They go from the feeling of regretably alienating and dismissing one's mother in Hate Me to a very inspirational song that wouldn't sound out of place on Sesame Street called Jump Rope. This track is the last track from their newest record Approaching Normal that details the final moments of an ex-wife and her new lover as the writer breaks into the house he used to live in and shoots both of them before shooting himself. After each shot, the violins wail that remind me partially of Hannibal Lector's love of classical music as he performs the deeds he's most known for. The final lines of the song: "I cocked the pistol/pulled the trigger/and all I saw was red/I gently stroke her arm as she lies lifeless on her back/Then placed the barrel in my mouth/and all I saw was black."
14 Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire
This was the first song that I heard from Kings of Leon. It's a pretty straight-up rockin' tune and a good introduction to a band that has been around a lot longer than I realized. I should be ashamed?
13 Lady GaGa - Bad Romance
This song came out after I realized the genius that is Lady GaGa so of course I was quick to eat it up. It's so incredibly odd. The radio edit starts off with the nonsense lyrics that even have their own Facebook group. "Ra Ra Ra Ah Ah/Roma Ro Ma Ma/Ga Ga Oh La La." I think it's funny how she incorporates "GaGa" into so many of her songs and it doesn't feel out of place at all. Despite Lady GaGa being mostly a pop singer, and is probably associated as being disposible pop that can't sing well, I still think her vocals sound incredible on this song. She intentionally throws them off in parts of the song, such as in the bridge while belting in the final chorus. The song itself is all for show but if this were 1970, it would be seen as genius.
12 MGMT - Kids
One of the more catchy songs of the year comes from the synth-hook of Kids by MGMT. Combined with the drum beat and it's nearly irresistible.
11 Brandi Carlile - Caroline [featuring Elton John]
I think this song is absolutely adorable! It's the most fast-paced track off of Brandi's new album and it's got a country-tinge to it. I think the drum beat is so cute. Elton John makes a cameo in the second verse and it's nice to hear him without all of the effects that usually accompany his voice. Looking at the credits, I see it's him on the piano as well which makes sense because it's a catchy riff. The song itself seems to be a love song and I'm curious to know if it's written from Brandi's perspective.
10 Amy MacDonald - Mr. Rock & Roll
I think Amy MacDonald is my favourite discovery of the year. She's from Scotland and her music does sound very western European in sound. I can almost see the ocean from the coast of Scotland and Ireland when listening to this song... as weird as that sounds. I believe it lies in the layout of the songs, the instruments and the production. This song is about how two people that would be obviously meant for each other never get the chance earlier in life to meet and by the time they do, they may consider it too late to have that happy ending.
9 Serena Ryder - All For Love
I'd say about 90% of the music I listen to is either on my computer or on my iPod, which goes through to my computer so my iTunes does keep count of what I listen to. This song is my most played song since I formatted my computer last November. I think that has to account for something. It initially wasn't one of my favourite songs from Serena's album until earlier this year. This is just one of those songs that I can put in any playlist and blast the volume when it comes on.
8 MGMT - Time To Pretend
I don't know if it happens to many people but earlier this year, I felt my music taste had become stale. (Hold back on the jokes based on this list. LOL!) So I went out and bought a few albums by bands that I'd never heard any of their songs. One of them was MGMT. I recognized the name but knew nothing about them. I instantly loved this song! The sound was so fresh compared to anything else I had and it made me want to discover more new bands. I did find a few others but nothing that compared to this. I was obsessed with the album and for the entire month of January, this song was probably nearly on repeat. Why? Just because it sounds so different from anything else I've been listening to for years.
So if this has taught me anything it's that it helps to go outside of your comfort zone for some things sometimes. Valuable lesson!
7 Lady GaGa - Paparazzi
Early this year the world was obsessed with Lady GaGa. I didn't see the appeal at all. She seemed like every other female pop singer out there. But when I took the time to listen to this song, I think I realized it. Lady GaGa uses everyday things in pop culture and applies them to other everyday things such as a crush. In this case, she's using the idea of paparazzi to apply to a desire she finds in someone. The beat to this isn't really typical of a pop song and the production isn't really noticeable until you listen to it in headphones and can appreciate the use of stereo mixing.
6 Dave Matthews Band - Time Bomb
I will generally like a song that starts off quiet and sombre and gradually builds until it reaches the musical climax and this is one such song. I've never heard a DMB song that could actually sound like something from a Pearl Jam album. By the time you've reached the guitar solo, you can't go back.
5 Amy MacDonald - This Is The Life
Amy just has that soulful sound in her voice as she opens with this song. Another of my most played songs of the year, I think it's definitely the chorus that drew me in. This is one of those songs that has the complete package. Catchy chorus, attractive 1-2 beat, interesting instrumentation behind the guitars and drums, good vocals. The real deal!
4 Jenn Grant - Parachutes
I like this song because of it's simplistic musical nature but also that it sounds kind of old fashioned. When was the last time you heard a song with casual "oooh bop bop bop" in the background? I've never seen Jenn Grant perform live but I suspect a live performance of this would trump the studio recording.
3 Joel Plaskett - Through And Through And Through
This song is so incredibly awesome because it is completely drowning in don't-give-a-damn confidence. Listening to this, one can tell that Plaskett recorded this because it's awesome on its own and not to please anyone else. He doesn't follow any sort of layout guidelines and brings in awesome female backup vocalists that play a very important part in the song. The horns accompanying the song give it that much more umph. By the last 30 seconds, you can totally feel the excitement that everything so far has gone perfectly while recording so they're just letting loose and jamming to wrap it up. It works so well!
2 Dragonette - Gone Too Far
What makes this song awesome is Martina's vocal stylings, the banjo and the production on Martina's voice. Sometimes I think of it as being recorded on a 5-year-old's recorders because it's so completely maxed out and almost made to sound higher pitched than it's supposed to. The chorus is just so much fun! The entire song is a blast!
1 Dave Matthews Band - Funny The Way It Is
I wasn't sure if I wanted to make this my favourite song of the year but when I thought about it, it made sense. I've grown to love the sound of the Dave Matthews Band over the last year. Before they were just a jamming band but now I love a lot of their older songs while thoroughly enjoying the new album. This song provides a two-sided perspective on a typical day. Good things happening while the flipside offers a negetive experience for someone else. Musically, I do enjoy this song more than any other song that the band has ever released. I love the guitar solo in the middle that follows a wonderful build-up bridge and comes before a great sounding final chorus. I think in some ways, this song is pretty epic. Enough to make it my favourite song of the year!
These are my choices for the best songs of the year. I base them on how much I've listened to these songs on an individual basis, how much I like them and how well I thought they were overall in recorded value as a complete song. It was somewhat difficult to come up with the complete list this year because I found myself listening more to albums overall than songs released this year and I generally try to avoid overcrowding my end-of-year lists with too many songs from one album or artist. Excuse the sometimes awful reasons why I liked the songs. Sometimes you just can't explain it.
50 Rehab - Sittin' At A Bar (The Bartender Song)
I like this song because of it's country-like flair with a light hip-hop beat. Two areas of music that rarely ever mix but I do like the sound of southern hip-hop. Bubba Sparxxx is a name that comes to mind but he's a rapper first with southern influences. This song is more of a country sound with hip-hop influences. There's a version with Hank Williams Jr that I like as well but it doesn't have the rap that the original version has. More or less, this is probably a guilty pleasure over anything for me.
49 OneRepublic - Come Home [featuring Sara Bareilles]
This is a new version of a song from OneRepublic's first album Dreaming Out Loud. This version has a fresher sound and is, of course, made for radio with the inclusion of Sara Bareilles and higher-end production. I like the added touch that Sara's vocals bring to this, giving the song more of a three-dimensional feel. It stands out from the rest of their tracks as being mainly a yearning piano ballad with the desire of one's return.
48 Gavin DeGraw - Lover Be Strong
This song starts out as if an upbeat Sarah McLachlan song. Not really anything spectacular but I do enjoy the chorus. It's also the first song from Gavin that I've really liked since his first album five years ago. While not too heavy in any aspect, I do like the production on this one. It's crisp and light and Gavin returns to what made his first album sound great. He doesn't come off abrasive or forceful so this song just eases from start to finish.
47 Bat For Lashes - Daniel
Daniel has a very 80s feel to it with a modern sounding beat and production that sounds like it was model to sound from the middle of the 80s. Lots of reverb and ambience added to the vocals give it that feel. While this song never really took hold for me overall, it was a nice addition to some playlists on my ipod.
46 Imogen Heap - First Train Home
Imogen's third album came out this year. The first single still stands as the one that I'm most familiar with. It's less immediate than most of the songs from the last record and while still in touch with her electronic side, Immi seems to have gotten more mellow. But this particular song dealing with a breakup and a desire to leave it all behind highly supports the music that helps to describe the feeling of a sudden emotional coma experienced following such negative events. The song ends with a plan in sight but we're left wondering if it's a happy ending. "Got to get out now!"
45 Brandi Carlile - I Will
I remember one of the first times going through Brandi's new album Give Up The Ghost, this track came on and I remember thinking to myself: how could a song like this make the album because it sounds so plain and nothing really stands out about it in comparison to the rest of the album. Basically, a complete filler track. Maybe it was that thinking in itself that made I Will stand out enough for me to take notice that it's among my favourites from the new record. I like the overall simplicity of the music and vocals and the pleasant background vocals in the chorus. The lyrics themselves deal with the prospect of moving on from a failed relationship that was very one-sided but that lessons were learned and from the point of the view of the writer, no regrets were made but the feeling likely isn't mutual.
44 Miley Cyrus - The Climb
A Miley Cyrus song? Who, me? Yeah. I'm sure I complained about this song many a time during the year but I realized maybe a month or two ago that I actually like this song. I think Miley actually has good vocals in this. A certain level of rasp that really suit the song. Lyrically the song isn't impressive and musically, it's pretty typical but sometimes it's the averageness of a song and how singable it is that is a strong point and this is an example of that.
43 Joan Osborne - Cathedrals
I hadn't heard a new song from Joan Osborne since the 90s so I was curious to see how she was sounding these days. This is an epic-sounding piano ballad that is much softer than the few songs I'm familiar with from Joan during her peak in 1995. This song seems to be about the complete lack of completeness and warmth with religious institutions and how unwelcoming they are with large buildings and ideas to respresent them.
42 Tori Amos - Give
Before writing about Tori, I should mention that I'm pretty much only familiar with 2000s Tori Amos aside from a select number of songs from her 90s library. With that revealed: this track is probably the most synthetic sounding song I've heard from her this decade. With most of the last three records being pretty organic and natural sounding, this album, and Give in particular (being the opening track) brings in synths and drum loops in addition to guitars and bass and the result is a pretty eerie sound that reminds me less of the Tori I'm familiar with but is a welcome, fresh sound that I haven't heard from her before. Again, stressing that she may have had more experimentations in production before? I've no idea. I really don't know what I'm talking about.
41 Sondre Lerche - Heartbeat Radio
The first single from Sondre Lerche's fifth studio album deals directly with the lack of variety on radio. Mentioning everything from the length of songs, the automatic playlists, lack of DJs, overuse of reverb and compression, overplay and payola, and remembering that radio used to play good music that wasn't all about the almighty dollar. A pleasant way of personifying the radio industry.
40 Neko Case - People Got A Lotta Nerve
The first thing about this song that I notice is the production. It sounds very 1989, like a Traveling Wilburys song. Americana is a genre of music that doesn't change with the times but changes as it needs to. One of those things that you can always rely on being there and I think Case provides a wonderful addition to that familiar sound with new material. There isn't one characteristic of this song that overpowers anything else and is just simply a nice song.
39 Carly Rae Jepsen - Tug Of War
This is an odd addition to my Best Of 2009 list but in thinking about it, a favourites list should represent songs I simply enjoy and songs with sentimental value. This is an example of the latter where memories are provided as soon as the first line opens up the song. It's odd how a song I wouldn't normally find myself falling in love with can attach itself to a specific time and bring back that time whenever I hear it. It's bittersweet but pleasant nonetheless.
38 Green Day - Peacemaker
There didn't seem to be many instant classics on the new Green Day album but this was a track that stood out to me immediately. I enjoy the ongoing mexican-influenced sound and layout and it has the maturity that most of their last two albums have had but it's a specific sound that otherwise hasn't been touched on yet with either American Idiot or 21st Century Breakdown. When the rest of the album can get overwelming in some ways, I find Peacemaker to be that nice slice of fresh music in the middle of the record to prepare for side two.
37 Missy Higgins - Where I Stood
Where I Stood was among my most played songs of the year. Not really because it was a song I was obsessed with for a period of time but because I consistently played it throughout most of the year. This song deals with the loss of a relationship and the acceptance that comes with knowing who you broke up with has moved on, meanwhile ensuring you're nearby should you be needed. I think my favourite line comes in the chorus "she will love you more than I could/she who dares to stand where I stood."
36 Hunter Valentine - Break This
A friend of mine introduced me to Hunter Valentine a few years back. Musically, they sound like Tegan and Sara singing rock songs with a pop mindframe. While a straight-up rock song, Break This changes to tempo by half near the end which I do enjoy as it gives it a more distinct feel that sets it apart from so many other songs like it.
35 James Morrison - Nothing Ever Hurt Like You
James has some funk-rhythmic influences on this song which was the fourth single from his second album. His voice is slightly raspy and very much in control, something I realized when hearing his collaboration with Jason Mraz on last year's Details In The Fabric that is further confirmed again on this song. Hearing his vocals next to Jason showed me that Morisson might be one of the better male vocalists of the late 2000s so I have since taken notice to some of his music since then including this song, which I conclude to be my favourite from him so far.
34 The Art Of Time Ensemble with Sarah Slean - Lodestar
What could be better than Sarah Slean covering my favourite Sarah Harmer song? Well, the original of course. But Sarah takes the original Lodestar to a completely different level on this collaboration with the Art of Time Ensemble. Together they released an album of songs written and originally recorded by Canadian artists. The original Lodestar always gave me a certain type of imagery that I could see whenever I heard it while this version gives me the same images, except instead of viewing them as actual scenery, they come to me in the form of extravagant painting, maybe similar to that of a Van Gogh painting of a boat in a lake surrounded by forest at night. The ability to take a song such as Lodestar and completely construct it the way it's done here is incredible because it gives an already full-of-life song a completely different persona. My favourite moment in this song, like the original is right before the final buildup of the song where the cello breaks through in full force. My one qualm however is that the cello doesn't remain as confident and booming for the remainder so it does provide a light sense of disappointment on an otherwise wonderful recording.
33 Pink - It's All Your Fault
Immediately, this song almost sounds like a swedish pop song with the piano hook and melody of the verses but the chorus is rock, more straight up than that of So What... in reading about this song on Wikipedia, it was co-written with Max Martin, who is Swedish, in a studio in Sweden. Coincidence?
32 Chantal Kreviazuk - Say The Word
Chantal's fifth album offers more variety on an album-wide basis than any previous record did. Say The Word is one of the more piano-pop songs that, to me, sound more reminiscent of her first album, 1996's Under These Rocks And Stones. The main difference, of course, is the sound of the production, but the lyrics and singing styles remind me a lot of that, in which Chantal's sound was more of a piano-rock layered with pop production. Of course she's softened up a lot since then but it is nice to hear her return to the sound that I originally fell in love with.
31 Melissa McClelland - Glenrio
Glenrio is a track from Melissa's new album Victoria Day and is probably this album's Passenger 24. Very similar in sound with that western/tavern feeling. Not as full as its predecessor as this one has a slightly lesser tempo and the piano is replaced with electric guitars but is easily a highlight of the new record.
30 Regina Spektor - Laughing With
I like the lyrics to this song that points out how easy it is for people to laugh at God in regular everyday situations but in life-changing times "no one laughs at God." In the chorus, Regina sings about how God has a sense of humour when laughing at a joke or people who insist He hates, as well as laughing at people who thinks He'll give them money if people pray to Him. It's an interesting song that puts an interesting perspective on who we think of when we think about God.
29 Owl City - Fireflies
I don't think this song is spectacular when placed against a lot of other songs I like but just the mere fact that Fireflies was able to hit #1 on the Hot 100 in a musical climate that awards heavily-produced pop music and songs with a dozen writers for vocalists that are known for their many octaves. Here you have an electronic-pop song, with just one writer and is self produced by a guy who just two years ago was recording music in his bedroom. Musically, the song stands out like an alien in a sea of teenagers at the mall and that in itself is a breath of fresh air for mainstream music that relies so heavily on the perfect sound. I think it's good to have an average guy go somewhere with an above-average song once in awhile. Even if it's not your cup of tea.
28 Tracy Chapman - Sing For You
I think Tracy Chapman might be one of the most underrated artists of our time. She's most known for her songs Fast Car and Give Me One Reason and her combination of blues and soul puts her ahead in her field for the last couple of decades. Sing For You is a track from her latest album that is simple and sweet and based around the line "I remember a time when I used to sing for you." Her vocals really carry this song.
27 Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal
The Fleet Foxes have been a critics wet dream for the last year. I haven't quite jumped on that bandwagon, being the pophead that I am but do enjoy the amazing harmonies and recording that their album has. This song is easily a highlight from that that showcases the wonderful musical stylings and vocal harmony the group has...AND it mentions my name.
26 Serena Ryder - Sweeping The Ashes
One of my favourite artists I've discovered over the last couple of years was Serena Ryder. The first track from her third album is one of my favourite songs from her. I just simply really like the melody and Serena's voice. She's at her best here.
25 Norah Jones - Chasing Pirates
Norah Jones' new sound is a huge step away from her last three albums, where she was quickly becoming the queen (or princess?) of smooth jazz. With the first sounds from her fourth record The Fall, Norah goes electric. Her sound can now be classified more as roots alternative (not alternative rock) with a complete drum beat and electric guitars and a chorus that wouldn't sound out of place on a Sheryl Crow record. I did enjoy Norah before but now I think I may have fallen in love.
24 Kings Of Leon - Closer
The newest Kings of Leon album is pretty great. The opening track doesn't hold back on the awesomeness as the epic song begins immediately. As a song it might not hold much weight on its own but I think would fit very well as part of a movie and works amazing as the opening track for the record. You just know what's to follow will be awesome.
23 MGMT - Weekend Wars
I don't know what to really say about this song. I think you'll either like it or you won't. It's psychedelic pop for the new ages and just pure awesome!
22 India.Arie - Therapy [featuring Gramps Morgan]
I like the immediate feel-goodness of this track from the musical introduction and when India.Arie starts singing, you know the lyrics will follow. The entire song is like you're in a room with incense and lots of light and colour. I think the lyrics and music combined together do provide great imagery that does what the song was meant to do.
21 Polly Scattergood - I Hate The Way
This song immediately caught my ear because of the haunting lyrics in the first verse. They almost sound violent over the vague but heavy music that barely silently sits in the background until the second verse when things start to pick up. Polly sounds a lot like Tori Amos in her vocal presentation, but nothing like Regina Spektor (who also sounds like Tori Amos, but in a different way...) Polly lightly incorporates elements of electronica amidst the music that add that extra dimension that differentiates her from her contempararies but her lyrics scream torment while "my doctor said I've got to sing a happy tune."
20 Dragonette - Liar
Dragonette's electropop has advanced a lot since their last record. The confidence that exudes from songs like Liar shows how far they've come. Their lyrics are still on the risque song with this one being about the sexual desires felt toward a man that isn't the one she's with. Trying to deny it in the first verse "Anyway, I'm taken and we're both leaving with who we came." while the ultimate desire to give in doesn't quite surface by the end "Put it out while you still can/You know, you play with fire/You gonna get burned."
19 Jay-Z - D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)
You gotta hand it to Jay-Z, despite being married to one of pop's top women, he hasn't really changed THAT much. A lot of rappers (and rockers) will often soften up if they marry into the pop world. On D.O.A. he makes the attack on how autotune is ruining the musical landscape and that he's not making music to please the masses of radio and record sales but that he's keeping true to what he always has done, make real rap. "Get back to rap, you T-Pain'n too much."
18 Catherine MacLellan - Water In The Ground
Sometimes music is timeless. This song could have come out of a kitchen family gathering any time in the last 50 years and it would still sound the way it does now. Just pure, organic folk music. Catherine is from Summerside, PEI but now lives in Halifax. Sometimes you don't have to look far to find a gem.
17 Pink - Please Don't Leave Me
When I first got the album Funhouse from Pink, this song was my favourite from it. The production and vocals were what caught my attention while the mid-tempo chorus might be one of the best she's done so far. I find sometimes Pink can make abrasive songs that get annoying pretty fast and other times she has good singles that are great but you just get so burnt out on them. This is a song that I've yet to really get sick of so I think that in itself makes it a keeper.
16 Coldplay - Lost [featuring Jay-Z]
I don't know why but it took me months to really get into this song. I find a lot of Coldplay songs are like that for me anyway. I heard the version with Jay-Z and I thought it was pretty awful but when I listened to it a few more times, it actually liked. I think it's Jay-Z's verse that did seal the deal for me as odd as that sounds. It's an unlikely combination but Jay-Z rapping over the haunting music sounds just right.
15 Blue October - The End
The band Blue October have quite a range of subject matter in their songs. They go from the feeling of regretably alienating and dismissing one's mother in Hate Me to a very inspirational song that wouldn't sound out of place on Sesame Street called Jump Rope. This track is the last track from their newest record Approaching Normal that details the final moments of an ex-wife and her new lover as the writer breaks into the house he used to live in and shoots both of them before shooting himself. After each shot, the violins wail that remind me partially of Hannibal Lector's love of classical music as he performs the deeds he's most known for. The final lines of the song: "I cocked the pistol/pulled the trigger/and all I saw was red/I gently stroke her arm as she lies lifeless on her back/Then placed the barrel in my mouth/and all I saw was black."
14 Kings Of Leon - Sex On Fire
This was the first song that I heard from Kings of Leon. It's a pretty straight-up rockin' tune and a good introduction to a band that has been around a lot longer than I realized. I should be ashamed?
13 Lady GaGa - Bad Romance
This song came out after I realized the genius that is Lady GaGa so of course I was quick to eat it up. It's so incredibly odd. The radio edit starts off with the nonsense lyrics that even have their own Facebook group. "Ra Ra Ra Ah Ah/Roma Ro Ma Ma/Ga Ga Oh La La." I think it's funny how she incorporates "GaGa" into so many of her songs and it doesn't feel out of place at all. Despite Lady GaGa being mostly a pop singer, and is probably associated as being disposible pop that can't sing well, I still think her vocals sound incredible on this song. She intentionally throws them off in parts of the song, such as in the bridge while belting in the final chorus. The song itself is all for show but if this were 1970, it would be seen as genius.
12 MGMT - Kids
One of the more catchy songs of the year comes from the synth-hook of Kids by MGMT. Combined with the drum beat and it's nearly irresistible.
11 Brandi Carlile - Caroline [featuring Elton John]
I think this song is absolutely adorable! It's the most fast-paced track off of Brandi's new album and it's got a country-tinge to it. I think the drum beat is so cute. Elton John makes a cameo in the second verse and it's nice to hear him without all of the effects that usually accompany his voice. Looking at the credits, I see it's him on the piano as well which makes sense because it's a catchy riff. The song itself seems to be a love song and I'm curious to know if it's written from Brandi's perspective.
10 Amy MacDonald - Mr. Rock & Roll
I think Amy MacDonald is my favourite discovery of the year. She's from Scotland and her music does sound very western European in sound. I can almost see the ocean from the coast of Scotland and Ireland when listening to this song... as weird as that sounds. I believe it lies in the layout of the songs, the instruments and the production. This song is about how two people that would be obviously meant for each other never get the chance earlier in life to meet and by the time they do, they may consider it too late to have that happy ending.
9 Serena Ryder - All For Love
I'd say about 90% of the music I listen to is either on my computer or on my iPod, which goes through to my computer so my iTunes does keep count of what I listen to. This song is my most played song since I formatted my computer last November. I think that has to account for something. It initially wasn't one of my favourite songs from Serena's album until earlier this year. This is just one of those songs that I can put in any playlist and blast the volume when it comes on.
8 MGMT - Time To Pretend
I don't know if it happens to many people but earlier this year, I felt my music taste had become stale. (Hold back on the jokes based on this list. LOL!) So I went out and bought a few albums by bands that I'd never heard any of their songs. One of them was MGMT. I recognized the name but knew nothing about them. I instantly loved this song! The sound was so fresh compared to anything else I had and it made me want to discover more new bands. I did find a few others but nothing that compared to this. I was obsessed with the album and for the entire month of January, this song was probably nearly on repeat. Why? Just because it sounds so different from anything else I've been listening to for years.
So if this has taught me anything it's that it helps to go outside of your comfort zone for some things sometimes. Valuable lesson!
7 Lady GaGa - Paparazzi
Early this year the world was obsessed with Lady GaGa. I didn't see the appeal at all. She seemed like every other female pop singer out there. But when I took the time to listen to this song, I think I realized it. Lady GaGa uses everyday things in pop culture and applies them to other everyday things such as a crush. In this case, she's using the idea of paparazzi to apply to a desire she finds in someone. The beat to this isn't really typical of a pop song and the production isn't really noticeable until you listen to it in headphones and can appreciate the use of stereo mixing.
6 Dave Matthews Band - Time Bomb
I will generally like a song that starts off quiet and sombre and gradually builds until it reaches the musical climax and this is one such song. I've never heard a DMB song that could actually sound like something from a Pearl Jam album. By the time you've reached the guitar solo, you can't go back.
5 Amy MacDonald - This Is The Life
Amy just has that soulful sound in her voice as she opens with this song. Another of my most played songs of the year, I think it's definitely the chorus that drew me in. This is one of those songs that has the complete package. Catchy chorus, attractive 1-2 beat, interesting instrumentation behind the guitars and drums, good vocals. The real deal!
4 Jenn Grant - Parachutes
I like this song because of it's simplistic musical nature but also that it sounds kind of old fashioned. When was the last time you heard a song with casual "oooh bop bop bop" in the background? I've never seen Jenn Grant perform live but I suspect a live performance of this would trump the studio recording.
3 Joel Plaskett - Through And Through And Through
This song is so incredibly awesome because it is completely drowning in don't-give-a-damn confidence. Listening to this, one can tell that Plaskett recorded this because it's awesome on its own and not to please anyone else. He doesn't follow any sort of layout guidelines and brings in awesome female backup vocalists that play a very important part in the song. The horns accompanying the song give it that much more umph. By the last 30 seconds, you can totally feel the excitement that everything so far has gone perfectly while recording so they're just letting loose and jamming to wrap it up. It works so well!
2 Dragonette - Gone Too Far
What makes this song awesome is Martina's vocal stylings, the banjo and the production on Martina's voice. Sometimes I think of it as being recorded on a 5-year-old's recorders because it's so completely maxed out and almost made to sound higher pitched than it's supposed to. The chorus is just so much fun! The entire song is a blast!
1 Dave Matthews Band - Funny The Way It Is
I wasn't sure if I wanted to make this my favourite song of the year but when I thought about it, it made sense. I've grown to love the sound of the Dave Matthews Band over the last year. Before they were just a jamming band but now I love a lot of their older songs while thoroughly enjoying the new album. This song provides a two-sided perspective on a typical day. Good things happening while the flipside offers a negetive experience for someone else. Musically, I do enjoy this song more than any other song that the band has ever released. I love the guitar solo in the middle that follows a wonderful build-up bridge and comes before a great sounding final chorus. I think in some ways, this song is pretty epic. Enough to make it my favourite song of the year!