Yes, yes, I know, everyone's doing it and if you must know why... It's simply because we music lovers get a kick out of browsing through our iTunes library, compiling the best tracks of the past 365 days into a list, and then subjecting them to American Idol-esque scrutiny until we well and truly separate the wheat from the chaff. We get off on it... it makes us feel warm inside. It's nostalgic in the most self indulgent sense of the word, and it's therapy for our souls. There... now you know.
Two thousand and nine has been an excellent year for music. The collapse of the music industry has seen bands and artists that wouldn't normally be given a chance, rise to fame through blogs, internet radio, and relentless self-promotion. This 'Best Of...' is a list of my favourite songs of 2009, as well as songs that were remarkably successful regardless of whether I personally like them or not
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero
New album, 'It's Blitz', and a new direction for indie-rock veterans Yeah Yeah Yeahs saw them infiltrate the mainstream like never before.
MSTRKRFT - Bounce feat. N.O.R.E
All I do is party! Ha-ha-ha-ha... MSTRKRFT dominated the party scene with this anthemic banger.
Eminem - We Made You
Eminem had one of the most under-rated albums of 2009. In an age of electro-fied rap/hip-hop he took it back to the roots with one of his most brutal offerings to date.
Passion Pit - Little Secrets
One of the most talked about bands of 2009... One of the best songs from their debut album 'Manners'.
Dizzee Rascal - Bonkers feat. Armand Van Helden
Arguably 'the' biggest dance track of 2009. It dominated the mainstream but had the Armand Van Helden 'cred'.
Tiga - Shoes
Quirky, sexy dance track from underground electro king Tiga. Such a creepy video...
Miike Snow - Animal
I've been extremely skeptical of Swedish music ever since Abba tarnished it forever and ever, but Miike Snow were definitely one of my favourite bands of 2009.
Brand New - Daisy
One of my favourite bands of all time released yet another emotionally charged, musically dynamic album.
Phoenix - Lisztomania
Another of 2009's most talked about bands, and this has to be one of the hottest tracks of their album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.
Calvin Harris - I'm Not Alone
The golden boy of electro pop completely dominated the UK and Europe this year. This live clip of 'I'm Not Alone' is rediculously epic!
That's it for 'Part I'... More to come!
