via//chicago

2009 Year in Review III: The Singles

And now, we continue with via//chicago's top 100 singles of the year. When possible, I've linked to YouTube videos for each of the songs so you can check them out for yourself.

100. "Black Heart Inertia" - Incubus
99. "I Do Not Hook Up" - Kelly Clarkson
98. "Wrong" - Depeche Mode
97. "Meet Me on the Equinox" - Death Cab For Cutie
96. "Oblivion" - Mastodon
95. "I've Got Friends" - Manchester Orchestra
94. "Sex Bomb" - Spinnerette
93. "So Human" - Lady Sovereign
92. "Kinda Like A Big Deal" - Clipse f. Kanye West
91. "Kind of a Girl" - Tinted Windows
90. "Aeon" - Antony & The Johnsons
89. "Halo" - Beyonce
88. "Say Please" - Monsters of Folk
87. "I'm On a Boat" - The Lonely Island f. T-Pain
86. "Hard Times" - Patrick Wolf
85. "Hellhole Ratrace" - Girls
84. "Cornerstone" - Arctic Monkeys
83. "People Got A Lotta Nerve" - Neko Case
82. "Satellite Skin" - Modest Mouse
81. "Ulysses" - Franz Ferdinand
80. "Ignorance" - Paramore
79. "Sweat It Out" - The-Dream
78. "A Dustland Fairytale" - The Killers
77. "A Song for a Son" - The Smashing Pumpkins
76. "The Fear" - Lily Allen
75. " The Hope that House Built" - Future of the Left
74. "Murder in the Dark" - Hatcham Social
73. "Hyph Mngo" - Joy Orbison
72. "Genesis 30: 3" - The Mountain Goats
71. "Crying Lightning" - Arctic Monkeys
70. "Two Weeks" - Grizzly Bear
69. "Casa Bey" - Mos Def
68. "11th Dimension" - Julian Casablancas
67. "Amazing" - Kanye West f. Young Jeezy
66. "No You Girls" - Franz Ferdinand
65. "Paris (Aeroplane Remix)" - Friendly Fires f. Au Revoir Simone
64. "Farewell to the Fairground" - White Lies
63. "Mykonos" - Fleet Foxes
62. "Flowers & Football Tops" - Glasvegas
61. "Black River Killer" - Blitzen Trapper
60. "Infinity Milk" - Dananananaykroyd
59. "The Reeling" - Passion Pit
58. "Young Adult Friction" - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
57. "Rockin' That Thang" - The-Dream
56. "Surf Solar" - Fuck Buttons
55. "Laura" - Girls
54. "Walkabout" - Atlas Sound f. Noah Lennox
53. "Don't Upset the Rhythm (Go Baby Go)" - The Noisettes
52. "Brother Sport" - Animal Collective
51. "Speechless" - Lady Gaga
50. "If I Had a Heart" - Fever Ray
49. "All is Love" - Karen O and the Kids
48. "Divinations" - Mastodon
47. "It Ain't Gonna Save Me" - Jay Reatard
46. "Inaugural Trams" - Super Furry Animals
45. "These Are My Twisted Words" - Radiohead
44. "Baby Can't Stop (Aeroplane Remix)" - Lindstrom & Christabelle
43. "In for the Kill" - La Roux
42. "Make Her Say" - Kid Cudi f. Kanye West & Common
41. "Dead Flowers" - Miranda Lambert
40. "Suburban Beverage" - Real Estate
39. "If U Seek Amy" - Britney Spears
38. "So Good" - Electrik Red
37. "Basic Space" - The xx
36. "Young Hearts Spark Fire" - Japandroids
35. "Best I Ever Had" - Drake
34. "Panic Switch" - Silversun Pickups
33. "While You Wait for the Others" - Grizzly Bear
32. "The Fixer" - Pearl Jam
31. "Pretty Wings" - Maxwell
30. "Islands" - The xx
29. "Here to Fall" - Yo La Tengo
28. "9X Outta 10" - DJ Quik & Kurupt
27. "Gimme Sympathy" - Metric
26. "Hold the Line" - Major Lazer f. Mr. Lex & Santigold
25. "Sea within a Sea" - The Horrors
24. "Got Nuffin" - Spoon
23. "Higher Than the Stars" - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
22. "Sometime Around Midnight" - The Airborne Toxic Event
21. "Heads Will Roll" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
20. "Bulletproof" - La Roux
19. "Dominos" - The Big Pink
18. "House of Flying Daggers" - Raekwon f. Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah & Method Man
17. "Feel It All Around" - Washed Out
16. "Obsessed" - Mariah Carey
15. "You Belong With Me" - Taylor Swift
14. "My Love" - The-Dream f. Mariah Carey
13. "Love Story" - Taylor Swift
12. "Daniel" - Bat For Lashes
11. "Dead and Gone" - T.I. f. Justin Timberlake

10. "Crystalized" - The xx
Such a perfect debut single for these London kids, stark and sweet and set us up perfectly for what the full-length was going to sound like. Very few bands manage to nail their sound right off the bat, but the xx certainly managed to do so. Haunting and beautiful.

9. "Run This Town" - Jay-Z f. Rihanna & Kanye West
Two surprisingly strong verses from Jigga, a funny turn from Kanye in a year that found him mostly humorless, and a killer hook from Rihanna heralded the return of one of the biggest rappers on the planet to mainstream radio. One of the few songs this summer that I didn't get sick of hearing.

8. "Bad Romance" - Lady Gaga
This is the song that finally allowed me to "get" Gaga, something I'd failed to do on each of her previous singles. I think this is when her talents finally caught up to her image and her reach, making this an engaging single with a hook impossible to avoid.

7. "Zero" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Really this whole album is full of huge pop hooks, but I think this is absolutely the biggest of them all. When the chorus bursts out you can't help but be moved. The turns this band continues to make amaze me, can't wait to see what is on deck.

6. "Empire State of Mind" - Jay-Z f. Alicia Keys
Stephen Colbert joked that this song should replace "New York, New York" as the official anthem of the Big Apple, and I can't really say that I disagree. This is exactly what an anthem should sound like - huge, inspiring, and soaring. Jay-Z sounds great, but this wouldn't work at all if it weren't for Keys' absolutely nailing the hook.

5. "Lisztomania" - Phoenix
This track hits like a missile, perfectly crafted to zero in on pop sensibility and then obliterating your other senses until your only response is to react with exuberant joy. One of the two perfect pop songs Phoenix blessed us with this year.

4. "Stillness is the Move" - Dirty Projectors
Who knew one of the greatest R&B tracks from the year would come from a Brooklyn indie rock band? An undeniable hook anchored by some of the finest instrumental work of the year. Indie isn't quite irrelevant just yet, huh?

3. "Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)" - Kid Cudi f. MGMT & Ratatat
This was certainly one of the more unexpected thrills of the year and completely surprising that this combination works so amazingly well. I think 85% of this song's success is thanks to MGMT's hook, but Cudi ably steps his game up to match the gift.

2. "1901" - Phoenix
And this is what pop music should be - joyous, exuberant, and undeniable. I will never understand why this didn't catch on even more than it did. I hate to pull out the old cliche, but in a just world this would have been as massive as "Since U Been Gone".

1. "My Girls" - Animal Collective
As massive and universal as "1901" was, sometimes great pop can be intimate and insular, such as the case with this beautiful track that captured me way back in January and never let go. Such a sweet sentiment might have melted like so much processed cheese in less capable hands, but Animal Collective sell the song with everything they've got. This song hits on a very personal level and, surprisingly, very little of that has to do with the lyrics.