The Top 50 Songs of 2009

A few weeks ago, I got together with my good friends Matt Rothstien and Sam Walker and we came up with our collective top 25 songs of last year (how weird is that? it's already last year). After all agreeing that #1 was definitely Animal Collective, we then each picked one draft-style.

A week or so later, Matt and I were recovering from New Years Eve together when we decided to round out the last 25 in the same format.

I really thought that I had a pretty good grasp on all the great new releases that came out in 2009, but sitting down with my friends proved to me that I really didn't have it together at all. I found out about so many new bands that have since become new favorites of mine, including Yeasayer (whose new album will most certainly be reviewed here in the next few weeks), Florence and the Machine, Phonenix, St Vincent (who I now have an insane celebrity crush on) and the mash-up insanity of The Hood Internet, just to name a few. Doing this directly influenced the creation of this blog, because I realized that as varied as my music tastes are, my friends actually have me beat. And that's an incredible thing.

So here it is. Joyful Noise's Top 50 songs of 2009. Agree? Totally hate it? Let us know.

1. My Girls – Animal Collective
2. Dog Days Are Over- Florence and the Machine
3. Two Weeks- Grizzly Bear
4. So Insane – Discovery
5. Coffee- Motel Motel
6. Anonanimal – Andrew Bird
7. Heaven – Midnight Masses
8. Jimmy Dove- Blind Man’s Colour
9. Born on the Day the Sun Didn’t Rise – Black Moth Super Rainbow
10. Wetter and Jeffer- The Hood Internet
11. Let’s Go Surfing- The Drums
12. Everyone is Guilty- Akron/Family
13. Ambling Alp- Yeasayer
14. Loved Up- Korallreven
15. Useful Chamber- Dirty Projectors
16. Summertime Clothes- Animal Collective
17. Beach Town- Le Loup
18. Laundry Room- The Avett Brothers
19. Havin’ My Baby- Think About Life
20. The Whale Song- Modest Mouse
21. Treat Me Like Your Mother- The Dead Weather
22. You’ll See It- Washed Out
23. Mtn. Song- Evening Hymns
24. Small Deaths- Dodos
25. Empire State of Mind- Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys
26. Impressions of the Past – Megafaun
27. Floating Vibes – Surfer Blood
28. On the Vista (ft. Mos Def) – Blackroc
29. Knotty Pine – Dirty Projectors and David Byrne
30. Ain’t No Friend of Mine – Mason Jennings
31. Love Like A Sunset (Animal Collective Remix – Deakin’s Jam) – Phoenix
32. Angelika – Devendra Banhart
33. Warm Heart of Africa (ft. Ezra Koenig) – The Very Best
34. In This Light and On This Evening – Editors
35. Cold Outside (ft. Ghostface Killah) – Raekwon
36. Moth’s Wings – Passion Pit
37. Daylight – Matt & Kim
38. Actor Out Of Work – St. Vincent
39. Bicycle – Memory Tapes
40. The Rain – The Swell Season
41. What Would I Want? Sky – Animal Collective
42. The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid – The Decemberists
43. Seasun – Delorean
44. While You Wait For The Others – Grizzly Bear
45. Lust For Life – Girls
46. Woods – Bon Iver
47. 11th Dimension – Julian Casablancas
48. Dear God – Monsters of Folk
49. Deadbeat Summer – Neon Indian
50. Happy Endings – The Wearings
(I hope that this one isn't too narcissistic of me. I had one pick left and this was, honestly, one of my favorite songs of the year. I certainly can't put my band next to anyone on this list, but it's like a parent being proud of their child. Or something like that.)