My Favorite Songs of 2009

Every year since the beginning of time (or, 2007 and 2008), I’ve compiled a list of my favorite songs that I bought on iTunes that year. I purchased 126 songs in 2009. These are my favorites.

My top 4 are the first four, and the rest are in no particular order. The Heartless Bastards is my band of the year.

  1. Song in D (Mock Orange)
  2. Velvet (The Big Pink)
  3. Fumble (Architecture in Helsinki)
  4. Into the Open (Heartless Bastards)
  5. I’m Your Boogie Man (KC & The Sunshine Band)
  6. Joker and the Thief (Wolfmother)
  7. Right Round (Flo Rida)
  8. When the Levee Breaks (Led Zeppelin)
  9. All My Friends (LCD Soundsystem)
  10. I Gotta Feeling (Black Eyed Peas)
  11. I Don’t Want to Let You Go (Weezer)
  12. Home (Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros)
  13. Sweet Disposition (The Temper Trap)
  14. Daylight (Matt & Kim)
  15. Empty (Ray LaMontagne)
  16. Ragged Wood (Fleet Foxes)
  17. Gray (Heartless Bastards)
  18. Came a Long Way (Heartless Bastards)

What were your favorite songs of 2009? The vast majority of my songs are recommended to me or are from commercials, movies, and TV shows.

11 thoughts on “My Favorite Songs of 2009”

  1. Out of your list, I agree that Song in D (Mock Orange) is number one. I really like it! And I’m already addicted to Sleepyhead (Passion Pit).

    Reply
  2. I’m excited to check out “Song in D” after I finish this post, as I discovered Mock Orange some five years ago (I recall “Payroll” being my favorite) but then never came across anything further from them.

    I also like seing “Sweet Disposition” on there. Having missed seeing “(500) Days of Summer”, I didn’t catch the song on its soundtrack, but thankfully hunted the track down after hearing it on the radio early last month. As my sister pointed out, it’s a bit on the repetitive or simplistic side, but, boy, those ethereal vocals sure set a cool mood.

    One song that I’ll offer with a fair chance of making your 2010 list: “Oscar Wilde” by Company of Thieves. They’re a Chicago-based band, so I’m hoping they make it to St. Louis sometime in the near future.

    Reply
    • Ha ha…the song itself isn’t great. But it plays during the spectacularly crude closing sequence of The Hangover, so it made it’s mark on me. I can’t help but dance to it, and it’s perfect for working out. It also helped keep me awake during my drive back to St. Louis the other day.

      Reply
  3. My favorites from your list are #12 and #16. I’m excited that some else actually knows who Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros is! I keep introducing my friends. I saw Heartless Bastards open for Wilco in Cincinnati this summer but am not super familiar with their music.

    Also in my Best of ’09 music list (several actually from 2009, some old but new to me):

    1901, Fences, Lasso, Lisztomania- Phoenix
    Effigy, Anoanimal- Andrew Bird
    Two Weeks- Grizzly Bear
    If It’s True- Yo La Tengo
    Trani- Kings of Leon (possibly biased by seeing it live)
    Neighborhood #2- Arcade Fire
    She’s Losing It- Belle and Sebastian

    Wilco is one of my favorite bands but, unfortunately, their ’09 album was not a favorite of mine.

    Reply
    • Oo…I love a good list. I haven’t heard of several of those bands, but I love Kings of Leon and Arcade Fire like my own children (altogether, I think that’s like 13 children, all of whom are very talented musically).

      Thanks for the recommendations–I look forward to checking them out on iTunes when I get home today.

      Reply
    • Okay, I’ve downloaded many of those songs. My early favorite is Lisztomania, but I like a number of them. We have similar taste in music, I think. Feel free to suggest songs to me anytime.

      Oh, and Wilco: I like their work but am simply daunted by the number of songs they have. Could you suggest three of your favorites? I especially like songs that build momentum.

      Reply
      • Naming my favorite three is a tall order! How about five? 🙂 I would check out:

        Hummingbird (A Ghost is Born)
        Impossible Germany (Sky Blue Sky)
        Wishful Thinking (Kicking Television; well, originally from A Ghost is Born but I like the version on the live album better)
        Spiders (Kidsmoke) (A Ghost is Born)
        Jesus, Etc. (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot)

        Let me know what you think!

        Reply

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