As it has been a golden year for singles, I’ve had to expand my list to a Top 100. The vast majority of these tracks were issued as singles (as evidenced by the accompanying cover art on Spotify). As per usual, I only include favourite album tracks if they somehow took on a separate life of their own, outside the context of their parent albums. (It’s a peculiar rule, but it makes sense to me.)
All but twelve of these tracks can be found on this Spotify playlist, in ascending order. What better way to spend the next six and a half hours of your life?
1. The Fear – Lily Allen
2. Bad Romance – Lady GaGa
(Joint winner of my video of the year, along with #23)
3. Remedy – Little Boots
(I danced to this on the fourth plinth at Trafalgar Square, along with #4, #5 and #12)
4. When Love Takes Over – David Guetta ft Kelly Rowland
5. Just Dance – Lady GaGa ft Colby O’Donis
6. You’ve Got The Love (Jamie xx re-work ft The xx) – Florence and the Machine
(N.B. Florence’s original version is a strong candidate for my most hated single of 2009, and her album was my most regretted purchase of the year. Which just goes to show what you can do with a good remix.)
7. Bonkers – Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden
8. Wild Horses – Susan Boyle
(Oh, you can scoff. But for me, this was the standout vocal performance of the year.)
9. I’m Not Alone – Calvin Harris
10. Baby Can’t Stop – Lindstrom & Christabelle
11. Did You See Me Coming? (Unicorn Kid mix) – Pet Shop Boys
12. Bulletproof – La Roux
13. Russian Roulette – Rihanna
14. Aidy’s Girl Is A Computer – Darkstar
15. Raindrops – Basement Jaxx
16. Jetstream (Lindstrom remix) – Doves
17. The Howling – The Phantom Band
18. Love Etc. – Pet Shop Boys
19. Crystalised – The xx
20. Day ‘N’ Nite – Kid Cudi vs Crookers
21. Audacity Of Huge – Simian Mobile Disco
22. Kilometer (Aeroplane ‘Italo 84’ mix) – Sebastien Tellier
(I spent much of January and February obsessing over Aeroplane remixes, but this was the only one with a 2009 release date.)
23. How To Stay Alive – Gong
(Joint winner of my video of the year, along with #2. Please promise me that you’ll watch this in full-screen?)
24. Daniel – Bat For Lashes
25. You Belong With Me – Taylor Swift
26. Lion Hat – Unicorn Kid
27. Umbrella Beach – Owl City
28. My Girls – Animal Collective
29. Stillness Is The Move – Dirty Projectors
30. New In Town – Little Boots
31. Tirsdagsjam – Lindstrom & Prins Thomas
(I once mistyped this as Tirdgasjam. Arf arf.)
32. Love Me Like This (Nonsense Dub) – Floating Points
33. Zero – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
34. This Momentary – Delphic
35. Fireflies – Owl City
(Absolutely baffled by the almost unanimous hipster hate for this one.)
36. Wee Monsters – Unicorn Kid
37. Islands – The xx
38. Folk Song Oblivion – The Phantom Band
39. Omen – The Prodigy
40. Empire State Of Mind – Jay-Z ft Alicia Keys
(Oh God, have I become one of those people who lists token Jay-Z tracks in an effort to pretend that he still “keeps up” with hip hop?)
41. Boom Boom Pow – Black Eyed Peas
42. Tic Toc – Permanent Vacation ft Kathy Diamond
43. Runaway – Grum
44. Ready For The Weekend – Calvin Harris
45. Cannibal Resource – Dirty Projectors
46. Pretty Wings – Maxwell
47. Paparazzi – Lady GaGa
48. Basic Space – The xx
49. A Nightingale – Isolee
(B-side of the year, if there is still any residual meaning in the concept.)
50. From Africa To Malaga – JJ
51. Maybe So, Maybe No – Mayer Hawthorne
52. Moto Moindo – Staff Benda Bilili
53. Rushing To Paradise (Walkin’ These Streets) – House Of House
54. I Gotta Feeling – Black Eyed Peas
55. Not Fair – Lily Allen
56. If You Ever Get Famous – The Duke & The King
57. These Are My Twisted Words – Radiohead
58. Poker Face – Lady GaGa
59. Hooting & Howling – Wild Beasts
60. Embers – Just Jack
61. Arrogance Ignorance And Greed – Show Of Hands
62. Get Fresh – Kid Sister
63. Young Forever – Jay-Z ft Mr Hudson
64. Kingdom Of Rust – Doves
65. In The Morning – Fuzzy Logik ft Egypt
66. Take Me Back – Tinchy Stryder ft Taio Cruz
67. Lisztomania – Phoenix
68. Let’s Go Surfing – Drums
69. Party Hard – Donae’o
70. One Day – The Juan Maclean
71. General – Buraka Som Sistema
72. Chasing Pirates – Norah Jones
73. French Navy – Camera Obscura
74. S’il Fallait Le Faire – Patricia Kaas
75. In For The Kill (+ Skream’s Let’s Get Ravey Remix) – La Roux
76. Number 1 – Tinchy Stryder ft N-Dubz
77. Make It Better – Anoraak
78. Bad Habits – Maxwell
79. Ambling Alp – Yeasayer
80. We Are The People – Empire Of The Sun
81. Story Of A Heart – Benny Andersson Band
82. Never Leave You – Tinchy Stryder ft Amelle
83. Method Of Modern Love – Saint Etienne
84. 1901 – Phoenix
85. 11th Dimension – Julian Casablancas
86. Love Story – Taylor Swift
87. Hyph Mngo – Joy Orbison
88. Animal – Miike Snow
89. Holiday – Dizzee Rascal
90. For Your Lover Give Some Time – Richard Hawley
91. Halo – Beyonce
92. Run This Town – Jay-Z ft Rihanna & Kanye West
93. Heads Will Roll – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
94. Bad Gyal – Ms Dynamite
95. Fire Burning – Sean Kingston
96. T-Shirt (+ Crazy Cousinz Vocal Remix) – Shontelle
97. It’s My Time – Jade Ewen
98. I’ll Keep On Loving You – Walter Jones
99. If I Had A Heart – Fever Ray
100. Restless – Buraka Som Sistema
troubled diva 