Top 20 Songs of 2009: What Have We Learned?

During 2009, we learned that the music industry is even more confusing and ridiculous than it was at the start of the decade. The Internet is definitely in the driver’s seat when it comes to dictating the popular masses' musical temperature, and therefore everyone should just get wise to that and let us, THE BLOGGERS OF THE WORLD, predict the musical future. Of course, if I were left in charge of the musical future I'd completely eradicate Lady Gaga and Beyonce with a single keystroke, but that's just me.

Anyway, the top 20 songs of 2009. Here we go.

20. Friendly Fires "Kiss of Life"
Who’s responsible: An English band described on Wikipedia as “dance-punk”. Painful reminders of 2001 coming back to us…
What’s going on here: It sounds a bit strange during the verses, but just wait for the chorus to kick in and all you’ll be singing is “kiiiiss of liiiiiiife”. Trust us. It will happen.
Why it’s the number 20 song of 2009: All right, let’s be honest…we ran out of other songs to put in the list. But it is a good song. Just not good enough to rank any higher in the list. But hey, as they say, it’s an honor just to be nominated bla bla bla.



19. A Camp "Stronger Than Jesus"
Who’s responsible: Nina Persson of The Cardigans’ little side band.
What’s going on here: It’s a bit soft-rock (often a phrase that makes our iTunes quake with fear), but in this particular case it’s quite lovely.
Why it’s the number 19 song of 2009: Because anything involving Nina Persson deserves inclusion on our countdowns.



18. Passion Pit "The Reeling"
Who’s responsible: Passion Pit, who have the best album of 2009, mind you.
What’s going on here: They sing about being dissatisfied with life, which can apply to practically every person in the world right now. So really they’re the voice of a generation, etc.
Why it’s the number 18 song of 2009: Because they set modern disillusionment to a nice electro beat. Kudos.



17. Freemasons featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor "Heartbreak (Make Me A Dancer)"
Who’s responsible: Freemasons, who produced the best song off Kylie’s last album, and Sophie, whose unsuccessful last album was a major pop injustice.
What’s going on here: Freemasons release their usual brand of overblown club music, and Sophie adds her usual brand of “I’m completely devoid of any emotion” vocals. All in all, business as usual for all parties involved.
Why it’s the number 17 song of 2009: Because heartbreak certainly does provide a good dance tune.



16. Shakira "She Wolf"
Who’s responsible: Some warbling Colombian whose hips claim to be truthful.
What’s going on here: Shakira’s gone ELECTRRRRRRO (that was supposed to signify a rolling “r”). It’s about having a she wolf in your closet, which is kind of frightening, and it closes out with some strings ripped from a Boney M record.
Why it’s the number 16 song of 2009: Because any song that can include a lyric about lycanthropy is immediately one of the top 20 songs of its given year.



15. Arctic Monkeys “Crying Lightning”
Who’s responsible: The most-hyped British band in decades that sort of went away for a couple of years.
What’s going on here: It’s a bit rough-n-tough but that’s exactly what we love about these lads, so march on, as we say.
Why it’s the number 15 song of 2009: Because it’s certainly better than “Poker Face”.



14. The Bird and the Bee "Love Letter to Japan"
Who’s responsible: You may remember this duo for a great song they had a few years back called “Fucking Boyfriend”.
What’s going on here: This one is even better than “Fucking Boyfriend”.
Why it’s the number 14 song of 2009: Just listen to the chorus and tell us that doesn't scream "number 14 song".



13. Annie “Anthonio”
Who’s responsible: Annie, the Norwegian pixie who saved pop.
What’s going on here: Annie went away on holiday for the summer, she met a guy named Anthonio, they had some sex, and at the end of the whole thing OOPS she has his baby.
Why it’s the number 13 song of 2009: The first 20 seconds are BRILLIANT. BRILLIANT. The reset of the song is a not as brilliant, but nonetheless brilliantly throbbing piece of Italo-disco.



12. Metric “Sick Muse”
Who’s responsible: They gave us “Combat Baby”, “Monster Hospital”, “Succexy”, “Poster of a Girl”…need we go on?
What’s going on here: Emily Haines is warding off Cupid, it’s got the beats-per-minute of a proper dance track, and once it breaks into the chorus GOOD GOD HEAVEN IS OPENING ITS GATES.
Why it’s the number 12 song of 2009: Well another Metric song makes the list higher up, but “Sick Muse” was our first proper introduction to their Fantasies album which is one of the year’s greatest albums, and that’s reason enough to make it number 12.



11. Girls Aloud "Untouchable"
Who’s responsible: The best pop group of the decade.
What’s going on here: Forty stories tall, going through wind and rain, swimming with the sharks – that’s one heck of a relationship if you ask us. Oh and it also contains one incredible lyric about beautiful robots dancing alone.
Why it’s the number 11 song of 2009: For one, we became obsessed with it when their Out of Control album came out last autumn, but the fact that it was released as a single earlier this year made it eligible for 2009. Still, we’ve been listening to this at obsessive levels for over twelve months now.



10. Mini Viva "Left My Heart in Tokyo"
Who’s responsible: Mini Viva, two girls who got sucked into the Xenomania hit factory with rather splendid results.
What’s going on here: They got jiggy with a Japanese guy, and apparently they also keep it tight because they know we really like that. While the vocals could be a bit natty, it’s a cheeky and clever Euro-disco concoction that bears multiple listens.
Why it’s the number 10 song of 2009: We feel bad for Xenomania, who clearly need to have some outlet for their talents while Girls Aloud are on hiatus.



9. Sia "You've Changed"
Who’s responsible: Sia Furler of Australia, who sang on a couple of Zero 7 hits and is dating one of the girls from Le Tigre.
What’s going on here: Sia expresses her surprise at an ex-flame’s reformed ways, all set to a glorious disco backdrop. It’s also a hundred times better than the previous version she did with Lauren Flax.
Why it’s the number 9 song of 2009: She got damn lucky that a song that just leaked a few weeks ago from an album that’s not even released yet is one of the top 10 songs of the year. So clearly it had to be just that good.



8. Dragonette "Pick Up the Phone"
Who’s responsible: Dragonette, who made one of 2007’s finest pop albums that ended up going completely unnoticed by the general public.
What’s going on here: While not as naughty or swaggering as previous singles like “I Get Around” and “Take It Like a Man”, “Pick Up the Phone” is a warm, blissful pop anthem. Which is a nice contrast to listening to sleazy sex music.
Why it’s the number 8 song of 2009: Because it’s the type of song that deserves to get played at top volumes on the happiest day of your life.



7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Heads Will Roll"
Who’s responsible: Karen O, Nick Zinner and Brian Chase, a.k.a. the best rock band in America.
What’s going on here: The band went electronic on their latest album, and though it was a bit jarring at first, there’s no denying that “Heads Will Roll”, among others, are among the finest in the group’s entire catalogue.
Why it’s the number 7 song of 2009: Because it made “off with your head!” a bona-fide call to the dancefloor.



6. Saint Etienne "Method of Modern Love"
Who’s responsible: Saint Etienne, who’ve been making great indie-dance records for nearly 20 years now.
What’s going on with it: It sounds like a hybrid of Kylie Minogue’s “The One” and Girls Aloud’s “Call The Shots”, and that’s quite a spectacular thing for these ears to come by.
Why it’s the number 6 song of 2009: The “oh-whoa-whoa-whoa” bit in the chorus immediately ensured it would make the top 10 on our end of the year list. Number 6 is just where it happened to fall.



5. La Roux "In For the Kill"
Who’s responsible: La Roux, a one man-one woman electronic act (sort of like Goldfrapp) who make electropop music in a very deliberately ‘80s way (not really like Goldfrapp).
What’s going on with it: Once you get past Ellie Jackson’s somewhat grating vocal, it’s absurdly catchy and one of the finest pop tunes to emerge in the last five years. It’s so close to perfection, they can almost taste the kill. Which is from a Girls Aloud song. Which sort of fits this song because it’s called “In For the Kill”. Which we realize doesn’t exactly make sense.
Why it’s the number 5 song of 2009: Because it definitely deserves to be in the top 5.



4. Phoenix "1901"
Who’s responsible: Phoenix, who hail from the same part of France as Daft Punk and Air. Except they’re a bit more rock than Daft Punk and Air. Oh, and the lead singer is Sofia Coppola’s babydaddy.
What’s going on with it: Despite being “a bit more rock” than Daft Punk and Air, “1901” is filled with plenty of lovely electronics. It’s also the sort of stylish, slightly pretentious indie track that we occasionally love to flaunt here at Mp3s and Cookies. So sue us.
Why it’s the number 4 song of 2009: You heard it in those car commercials a hundred times this year. So why not?



3. Metric "Gimme Sympathy"
Who’s responsible: Refer to number 12 on this list.
What’s going on with it: “Gimme Sympathy” has got synths, it’s got guitars, and it’s got one of the must exuberant, shimmering choruses we’ve heard all year. Do we really know what the song’s about? No. Does it matter? No.
Why it’s the number 3 song of 2009: Because it wasn’t quite as good as the top 2 songs of 2009, but certainly better than the 17 other songs on this list.



2. Royksopp featuring Robyn "The Girl And the Robot"
Who's responsible: Royksopp, basically the hippest of a gaggle of Norwegian electronic whizzes, and Robyn, basically the hippest of a gaggle of Swedish electronic warblers.
What's going on with it: It's demented, it's ominous in a completely cheesy, ripped-from-the-soundtrack-of-an-'80s-scifi-flick way, and it's about a girl who stalks a robot. What else could you possibly want in a modern pop record?
Why it's the number 2 song of 2009: Given our society's obsession with iPods, iPhones (no, this isn't a plug for Apple products), “The Girl And the Robot” is, we suppose, a fairly appropriate anthem for this generation.



1. Pet Shop Boys "Love etc"
Who's responsible: Pet Shop Boys, who've been making great British pop records for 20+ years, and Xenomania, who've been making great British pop records for Girls Aloud for 8+ years.
What's going on with it: It's a pristine electronic tune that calls for bedroom listening rather than trouncing around in your local gay bar. It's decorated with plucking keyboards and a call-and-response chorus. Our only gripe is that the title "Love etc" does not actually appear anywhere in the lyrics...now that would have been a rhyming challenge we'd love to see someone tackle.
Why it's the number 1 song of 2009: Well it was a tough draw between the top two other songs on this list, but we think this is just the sort of "anthem" we need in our recession era, etc...or should we say, love etc.?



And there you have it. On to 2010, shall we?