My Favourite Songs of 2009... Part One

I managed to fit 21 of my favourite songs released this year into an 80 minute CD. Then I arranged them in subjective order of best to worst, mainly so I could publish them in two parts. Here is part one. Enjoy the links for this and the runners up posted last week while you can, as I will start taking them down to make room for part two.

21. White Rabbits - Percussion Gun

After over a decade with indie-rock staples Spoon, Britt Daniel made his production debut with Brooklyn band White Rabbits. On its opening track Percussion Gun Daniel unleashes some pent up creativity with a thick mix of floor toms, crashing piano and increasingly anxious electric guitar. The quality of the song doesn't extend across the whole album – its number of plays on MySpace eclipses the other nine tracks on the album combined – but standalone it's a powerful, rocking single crossing Austin, Texas indie with Brooklyn shadows.

20. I Heart Hiroshima – Shakeytown

I Heart Hiroshima's twin guitars are rough; both take turns to stab crudely on sophomore The Rip. The main respite to all this coarseness is vocalist Susie Patten who gives contrasting smoothness to the jangled and frantic music. Among walls of riffs and needlework guitar notes pop melodies occasionally sprout and none were catchier than lead single Shakeytown. It's an exhibition of the band at their best: one guitar playing fuzzy rock chords while the other picks the best notes out in an overlapping melody. From an album that you think is yelling at you to begin with, but might make you feel like yelling along by the end.

19. Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes

I wont go into the hype surrounding this catchy album. A lot of people have said a enough nice things about Animal Collective. Also, it features a guy called "Panda Bear" singing which is basically too 2009 to ignore, especially when I live close enough to Adelaide Zoo to hear the monkeys every morning.

18. Miike Snow – Animal

The duo who are responsible for the production of one of the world's finest pieces of music – the beat to Britney Spear's Toxic – along with a bevy of other pop throw-away for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue and Madonna released their first personal album in 2009 as Miike Snow. Faced with coming up with their own lyrics and meanings for the first time, the Swedes provided a bit of Scandinavian class and flavour to the MGMT style electro-pop of yesteryear. Lead single Animal ticks boxes for synthy, smooth and catchy.

17. P.O.S. – Let It Rattle

When Barack Obama was elected President in the twilight of 2008 it was embraced by a many African-American artists as an major change towards a positive direction. Minnesota rapper P.O.S. took the devil's advocate position – as any rapper who begins their music career as a power questioning punk rocker might do. Let It Rattle explores a multitude of issues, from presidential to poverty, touching on issues some which I can't pretend to empathise with. However the emotion and specifically anger is more universal, and this raging rant over chopped punk riffs draws you in. When the big drums come in they can call you to a cause no matter how disconnected you might be from it.

16. Gossip – Heavy Cross

Gossip follow up the success of Standing in the Way of Control with another energetic, diva driven single. Heavy Cross contains scratching punk guitars and disco synths buried in a funky beat with dance floor drums. Beth Ditto's vocals are large, soulful and hit the right ranges to carry this song beginning to end as a pop-punk-disco classic.

15. Mumford & Sons – The Cave

After radio played Little Lion Man about a million times it was The Cave that showed this band was more than a catchy chorus over a banjo gimmick. What makes Mumford's voice and his band most effective is the total lack of restraint with which they throws himself into each performance. Despair is palpable, trumpets braze, and the double-bass and acoustic guitars build gloomy canvases. Conversely, no band today can feature a banjo so prominently and still take themselves totally seriously. Which is why they're successful: enough pop sensibility keep emotions engaging as well as catchy as hell. This band may be responsible for making a whole generation of kids grow up wanting to play the banjo.

14. Delorean - Seasun

From Mediterranean facing Barcelona come Delorean, who seem to strive to be a more indie Cut Copy, and at the same time live a little closer to Ibiza. Seasun is a beachfaring, warm night elixir like so much indie electro-pop is, but it's so euphoric and good it stands above. It has the perfect mix of gooey synths, smooth edges and a warm, pleasant guitar line. It makes you wish you were always having a summer night this good.

13. The Lonely Island feat. T-Pain – I'm On a Boat

Not only piss-funny but also produced well enough to justify re-listens once the zing starts to go from the lines (if it ever will). Beyond the immature gags and over the top profanity is a track that lands some pretty sweet blows, beating on Americanism and mainstream hip-hop, in an ironic way.. seeing it's made by three white Americans with the help of T-Pain.

12. Florence and the Machine – Cosmic Love

Florence Welch has one of the biggest and best voices to come out of 2009. On debut album Lungs she crams it into many songs but Cosmic Love is the first one which seems able accommodate it completely. Set up with harps and keys she sings of forsaken love like she is first bemoaning, and then yelling out into the reaches of space. With massive drums and building guitar riff this is a song that shows no sign of building to a happy ending, instead with echoey layers of voice overdubs she shows off her lungs in a gripping and emotive crescendo. Beautiful and powerful, it's one of those songs to give you chills.