Review: Top Tracks Of 2009

Following the NME-Europe review of the best albums of 2009 (click here for the Top 10), and following a little break to savour the New Year's festivities to the full, the time to assess the year's best tracks has arrived.

If deciding the Top 20 albums was an arduous task, picking out the Top 20 tracks is nigh on impossible. Many albums have several great tracks, so the decision was made to choose just one track from any one album to cover as many artists as possible (it was either that or have a Top 192 list, which seemed a little excessive!) So, after great deliberation,  a selection was made which is hopefully a fair reflection of 2009 from a musical point of view, not least from NME-Europe's standpoint.

Videos are featured where possible (the complete video playlist can be viewed on the new NME-Europe YouTube channel) and all tracks are featured on a music player at the end of the post. Alternatively all you can listen to the playlist now available on Spotify (in my humble opinion, the only playlist worth bothering with on there!). Without further ado, then...

20. 'Toe Rag' - The Rifles. This track typifies The Rifles' ability to illustrate their resigned acceptance of daily routine and being stuck in a rut - "Expect nothing changing except the name of the day".



19. 'Young Adult Friction' - The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. This album was a wonderful discovery and when you hear this guitar driven track you understand why.



18. 'Imax Raceway' - Windmill. Mercury Rev revisited. Pure melancholy from one of the last albums NME-Europe had the pleasure of stumbling upon this year.



17. 'Panic Switch' - Silversun Pickups. There is definitely an American sound to this album. This track, which hits hard from the beginning, is a prime example of that sound.



16. 'Omen' - The Prodigy. 'Omen' signals the writing is on the wall with a crunching base beat. Pure Prodigy.



15. 'Gold Guns Girls' - Metric. The relentless drumbeat is certain to be a hit with most.



14. 'Unnatural Selection' - Muse. A 7 minute roller-coaster of a song whose delightful melodies are savagely interrupted by the raunchiest of riffs.

13. 'No Kind Words' - The Maccabees. The pick of the album with its ominous chorus "if you've got no kind words to say, you should say nothing more at all" .



12. 'French Navy' - Camera Obscura. The band's canny ability to make a lyrically sad song sound so feel-good is again on show.



11. 'Little Pieces' - Gomez. An erractic band, who occasionally come up with a little piece of musical magic.

If you want to listen to those ten tracks on Spotify, click here.

And now, the Top 10.

10. 'Marlon J.D.' - Manic Street Preachers. Expresses, yet refines all that was manic during the Richey-era.

9. 'Where Did All The Love Go' - Kasabian.  Bouncy, psychotic psychedelia.



8. 'What She Came For' - Franz Ferdinand. Just as you're beginning to think you've wasted your iPod battery on this album, up pops this track to remind you why you bothered to get excited to begin with.

7. 'We Share The Same Skies' - The Cribs. Check out The Cribs' new-improved formula. Only the ignorant would ignore it.



6. 'It's Not Your Birthday Anymore' - Morrissey. A vocally perfect track from Morrissey, which hits you where it hurts lyrically too.

5. 'What If' - Bombay Bicycle Club. Speaking of hitting where it hurts...

4. 'Islands' - The xx. Is it the combination of Croft and Sim's vocals? Is it the haunting guitar struts? For once, the hype is justified.



3. 'Sweet Disposition' - The Temper Trap. Surely even The Edge must think "why can't I write riffs like that anymore?"



2. 'The Sound Of Sirens' - Overspill Poets. The down-to-earth lyrics (Taylor would make a wonderful stunt double for Michael Stipe) and Kitching's guitars which accompany him simply ask you to play the track again and again and once or twice more for good luck - it's one of those tracks you simply can't get enough of.
 

1. 'Rodamos' - Second. Forget the fact this is in Spanish. It has the beat and the balls to rival any track from 2009.



There you go then, 2009 in 20 tracks. I'm sure most will be surprised at the top 2 choices, but as far as NME-Europe is concerned it shows that you don't have to be Bono to crank out a top tune (hmmm, probably a bad example there judging by U2's last release, still, you get what I mean). Have a listen, see what you think and if you reckon you've got an alternative list then lets hear it, that's what music is all about.

If you're not spotified, have a listen to the tracks here.