The Best Songs of 2009

Best Of 2009

While the playlist above says 1-10, it's actually in "Countdown" order, so that the best song is last. Also, it's important to note that KISS is stingy with their on-line finds, so just know that "I'm An Animal" should be on this list too. Let's begin. (song titles link to lyrics / artist links to awesome youtube videos)

10. No One Loves Me & Neither Do I - Them Crooked Vultures
The first of FIVE side-projects on the list. This one is by far the dirtiest. The tale of emotionless people having selfish filthy baseless sex. Full of clever entendres- single, double, and the rare trois entendre, the main draw is the full stoner jam. If you're not convinced at first, stick around to around till the end for the song to really deliver the full fist.

9. I Do Not Hook Up - Kelly Clarkson
I stopped being embarrassed of my love for Kelly a couple of albums ago. And its hard not to agree with me once you realize that she is singing directly to me on this one. Someone who will nurse this poor boy back to health from the mess left by the others before her. Perfect for a victim-card-playing drama queen like myself. Plus, how do you escape that hook?

8. Future In The Past - Chickenfoot
A real "kitchen sink" song. The last track on an awesome album, they really just tackle what the hadn't already on the rest. But like the rest of the album, the song is very cohesive. All parts moving equally. Sammy doesn't over-yelp, Joe doesn't over-shred, etc. It's got a really early '70s vibe, like Mountain or Cream. The track starts off with a near-ripoff of "Thank You" before quickly jumping to a swamp blues riff. Next movement goes into some middle east jungle boogie before ending on a huge arena-rock jam. It's simple- the points are not deep, but I still get the goose bumps.

7. Cornerstone - Arctic Monkeys
A pathetic story really. Rock star gets all the tail in the world and always blows it by asking if he can call them your name. We all have our days of pining and shouldn't be especially proud of it, but Alex Turner has a real way of describing his surroundings that brings a realness to the tale.

6. A Whole Lot Better - Brendan Benson
Simple pop awesomeness. I actually was not impressed with Brendan's album in whole, but this first song sticks in my head in a way that Paul McCartney was always trying to do in Wings, but failed. Plus, I like the indecisiveness of the song's protagonist. "I fell in love with you and out of love with you and back in love with you all in the same day" Exactly. Us crazies gotta stick together.

5. Peacemaker - Green Day
I thought in general, that Green Day's latest album was an attempt to capitalize on the stupid crazy huge (and deserved) success of American Idiot. It's still about youthful alienation and government control. Fine. But it's not as cohesive or hooky and there was just not enough reason to continue down the EXACT same path. Having said that, "Peacemaker" is high water mark in Green Day's creativity. Still tip-tapping on their punk roots but adding what, samba? I'm surprised Ennio Morricone is not a co-writer.

4. 15 - Marilyn Manson
No I'm not kidding. Manson very famously got dumped by Evan Rachel Wood in 2008. A so he makes an album filled with anger and disappointment. Typical. Then- he caps it off by ending with the most depressive thing this side of Joy Division. It's not "childish", but it is completely regressive of a dude with a broken heart. It's when a man really starts to admit that he needs things. Then he gets particularly stalky and dark. It's probably the best song of his career.

3. White Shoes - Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band
No real band on this one, but that's the official album artist. It's hard to say why I love this song so much. I generally like songs that mean specific things to me. This one, with its oblique lyrics and loose folk strumming can take me in a different direction each time I hear it. When Conor returns to the quote, "Anything you wanna do" I get to pretend. Even though I do have that desperation, I get to pretend that I have the commitment to follow through with such a request.

2. Hang You From The Heavens - The Dead Weather
This one is straight up about one of the most awesome drum licks in the history of rock. Jack White rarely misses his mark and this is no exception. Power and thick sticky goo all over this riff. The singer Alison, often left me not believing her on the album. But on this song, even though I really don't like any pain in my pleasure, I'd still let her drag me by the hair anywhere.

1. Aeon - Antony & the Johnsons
If the voice doesn't break your heart while at the same time bringing you a spiritual awakening, then I can't help you. Let's do something differently. Let's take our power back.

Arctic Monkeys - Humbug

For their third studio album, the best of the hooligan Brits actually get a little nutty. Hiring Queens Of The Stone Age leader, and all around freak-out desert tripper, Josh Homme to produce and contribute. About the sessions and his peyote use, Homme said, "...I didn't tell them, so there were just a few days when they were like 'Why are you being so weird?' I didn't think it was weird, I just said the word 'Ham' 4,000 times."

The album kicks off with a bastard of a Nick Cave desert western movie opening credit kinda tune. "My Propeller" even has a vaguely Robert Pollard-esque (read: drug-induced) lyric: "Coax me out my low and have a spin of my propeller"

They further the desert feel for the sound and video of the first single, "Crying Lightning", while I continue to be both baffled and impressed with the lyrics. And the theme keeps repeating itself with "Dangerous Animals", although this time, I become a little annoyed with the letter spelling repetition.

But other than that, I really can't say enough about the lyrics. I'm very much a man of words. And when you cram as many vague ideas into 3-4 minutes spaces as the Monkeys do, you give yourself the opportunity to either, like the Beatles, paint a picture that whether or not you identify with all the pieces, you can still somehow get it. Or you can, like other psychedelic followers, just create a ridiculous fingerpainting mess. "Potion Approaching", which has a riff so Queens-like, I can't believe that Josh didn't co-write it, is a great lyrical example of the former:

Then we fell asleep in the car

Until the bumps woke me up in your grip

And the tide took me to your mouth

And then swept me back down to your palms

The album shows a real progression and I'm glad Josh brought it out. "Pretty Visitors" is the lone track that stays completely true to the Monkeys post-punk roots. All in all a great release that shows musical and songwriting growth. The songs lay a foundation of earnest trippiness while the lyrics show a real imagination towards the romantic. (4 of 5 stars)