Editors' Picks

Best Songs Of 2009: Tracks 31-50

Our top 50 songs of the year!

Every time we do this, it truly does restore our faith in music, not only because of the sheer scope and range of great music being created today but in the increasingly global nature of its' origins. Hot pockets of musical magic range from Portland, Oregon to Gothenburg, Sweden to Mali, West Africa.

While great music has never known borders, technology is allowing it's spread to happen faster and faster every day with collaboration taking place  irregardless of geography or language. What really blew us away this year was the surprising number of standouts from debut albums (which we have denoted with a **)... new bands and side projects came barreling out of the gates with astounding talent and polish.

As always, don't get too hung up on the order...we  like lists as much as the next blogger but we are all about the flow and some songs may move up or down slightly because we like the way they flow into the next. (You'll see this when we release the full playlist on New Year's Eve!)

Til then, here are tracks 50-31...


...This list reflects the musical hand wringing of Chelsea Girl, DJ Losaida, CoreyDu, KC Tinnitus, BBublick and JenCad with encouragement from MusicFile friends and followers around the world. Thanks!

50. "Moth's Wings" by Passion Pit from Manners**. Cambridge, Ma.

Soar. Dance. Love. Lust. Passion Pit proves 2008's EP Chunks Of Change was no fluke. We love the sheer BIGNESS of this track.

49. "Sweet Disposition" by Temper Trap from Conditions**. Melbourne, Austrailia.

This is a ginormous, radio ready, rock anthem that still manages to feel indie. Cue the car ads.

48. "Animal" by Miike Snow from Miike Snow**. Stockholm, Sweden.

Miike with two ii's is actually a trio. Electronic pop from the guys who've helped Britney, Madonna and Kylie. Just don't hold that against them.

47. "Devil Town" by The Builders and The Butchers from Salvation Is A Deep Dark Well. Portland, Oregon

Sounding like Colin Meloy of The Decemberists' evil twin, Portland produces a band that proves Folk doesn't have to be nice... or literary. Nature will serve quite nicely as angry campfire fodder.

46. "You've Got The Love" by Florence & The Machine from Lungs**. London, UK.

THE breakout voice of 2009 and the catchiest cover of Candi Staton evah.

45. "Sabali" by Amadou & Mariam from Welcome To Mali. Mali, West Africa/Paris, France.

Damon Albarn produces the song that finally gets this blind duo the accolades they deserve and coins a new musical term in the process: Afromantic!

44. "I Wonder Where You Are" by The Clientele from Bonfires On The Heath. London, UK.

Shimmering, poetic, British pop that makes me want to pull out my old Zombies records.

43. "Breakin' The Chains Of Love" by Fitz and The Tantrums from Songs For a Breakup, Vol 1. **. Los Angeles, Ca.

Forget Amy Winehouse. This is the best neo-soul song of the decade.

42. "Change Of Heart" by El Perro Del Mar from Love Is Not Pop. Gothenburg, Sweden.

Slow dancing under a mirror ball. Again, and again and again. Damn, all this great Swedish pop.

41. "Lisztomania" by Phoenix from Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Paris, France.

Pinching themselves all the way from SNL to the Grammys. This song is secretly what I wished Vampire Weekend sounded like.

40. "The Ancient Commonsense Of Things" by Bishop Allen from Grrr.... Brooklyn, NY.

The simplest details of life,rendered brilliantly in a 3 minute song.

39. "Gotta Cheer Up" by Cotton Jones from Paranoid Cacoon**. Cumberland, Maryland.

Like Mazzy Star moved to a small southern town. Brilliantly hazy and lazy. Where's my hammock?

38. "Heartbroken In Disrepair" by Dan Auerbach from Keep It Hid**. Akron, Ohio.

When one Black Key is enough. Wow! THE blues song of the year.

37. "California On My Mind (explicit)" by Wild Light from Adult Nights**. Amherst, New Hampshire.

Fuck California! A kickass song that sounds like The Thrills grew some gonads.

36. "One Red Thread" by Blind Pilot from 3 Rounds And A Song**. Portland, Oregon.

This is the song that 'mix-tapes' are made of. Delirious.

35. "My Girls" by Animal Collective from Merriweather Post Pavillion. New York, NY.

Like some fabulously curated mess of deconstructed Beach Boys. Paste Magazine's Bart Blasengame  said it best: (My Girls} is a musical chigger that burrows deep and won't leave.

34. "Cello Song" by The Books feat. Jose Gonzalez from Dark Was The Night (Red Hot Compilation). New York and Gothenburg.

Nick Drake is up in heaven smiling. Might be the coolest cover of the decade.

33. "Cool Yourself" by Thao With The Get Down Stay Down from Know Better Learn Faster. San Francisco, Ca.

Exasperated love never sounded like such a party.

32. "Fangela" by Here We go Magic from Here We Go Magic**. Brooklyn, NY.

Luke Temple's side project shimmered it's way up out of the basement and rocked my lo-fi world with this track. It sounds like I played it a 1000 times because I did.

31. "James" by Camera Obscura from My Maudlin Career. Glascow, Scotland.

Snoozy, woozy, delirious Scottish pop to die for.