Chris Todd: Top 20 of 2009

With 2009 done and dusted, Clash writer Chris Todd takes a personal trip back through his favourite songs of the year.

1. Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow

Such minimalism shouldn’t make for such a great track but it does. Just the right amount of auto tune for a retro sound a’la Zapp rather than every Tom, Dick and Harry using it to mask a lack of singing ability, a video reminiscent of Tron which matches the music perfectly and just as you think nothing was happening, a gargantuan trance riff and lyrics about shitting on leprechauns making the whole thing a thrilling exercise. Stoopid fresh as they used to say.

2. Miss Kittin & Hacker – 1000 Dreams

From the follow up to one of the first classic albums of the new ‘electro’ scene at the start of the decade comes the follow up at the end of the same decade and features this pop masterstroke. This highlight from that album is an overly dramatic piece of European pop music which crosses the melancholy of Tracey Thorn and Robyn with glacial Kraftwerk riffs and a decent slice of Depeche Mode influenced doom. Sublime.

3. O Children – Dead Disco Dancer/Dead Eyed Lover

Debut single from your favourite new band of 2010. London based four piece O Children appeared from the ashes of Bono Must Die as a fully formed indie band with nods to The Birthday Party, Joy Division, Killing Joke and The Cramps. The A-side was Ian Curtis joining Bauhaus whilst the flip merged 'Love Like Blood ' with anthemic indie pop. Both tracks are easily the finest indie you heard from this side of the pond this year.

4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero

Everyone has written everything that needs to be written about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs great excursion into electronic rock so I won’t, just a sizzling indie anthem dripping in New York cool.

5. Black Eyed Peas - Meet Me Halfway

All of a sudden everyone loves Black Eyed Peas and with this tune, with good reason. Featuring a vocal from Fergie which could only be described as overly dramatic… in a good way, Will.I.Am shows off his new found production prowess on a tune that could easily have been produced by Xenomania and as for sampling Cyndia Lauper’s ‘Time after time’ and ‘Maps’ by Yeah Yeah Yeahs – genius.

6. The Horrors – Sea Within A Sea

Again, done to death, so to summarise. Amazing transformation from dodgy 1st album to 2nd. The words Krautrock, Suede, The Chameleons. Production by Geoff Barrow and this seven minute epic which starts off muted and ends as gloriously uplifting as a malnourished East London band who never see daylight could be. Brilliant.

7. Groove Armada - I Won’t Kneel

Groove Armada have been quietly turning from a dodgy big beat band endorsed by Marks & Spencers and horrid chill out compilations to ice cool electro producers. 2007’s ‘Soundboy Rock’ was the start of their reinvention featuring this decade’s finest pop song; ‘Song for Mutya’. Forward to late 2009 with this and they’re fusing 80’s influenced electro with pop waifs such as Stevie Nicks and Kate Bush with beautiful results.

8. The Big Pink – Velvet

Remember My Bloody Valentine reforming back in 2007? They played shows, they promised new material and they also announced how they were to re-issue remastered copies of their two classic albums; ‘Isn’t Anything’ and ‘Loveless’? Well, they did the shows, then some more and since then nothing, no new material and despite the remasters landing on torrent sites, the albums haven’t been re-released due to a rumour of Kevin Shield’s spending years on writing the cover notes. Well, forget that now, this track alone makes the predicted delay for MBV to do ANYTHING not seem that long. Do we need their new material when their influence is used to such shimmering effect on songs such as this?

9. Filthy Dukes – Poison The Ivy

Great album, awful live. This track is one of many highlights the album by on these Kill em All DJ’s and again fuses 80s pop with 2009 electronics making something very familiar but new at the same time.

10. Beyonce - Sweet Dreams

Sasha Fierce comes up trumps again as she does for only one track from each album and this was one of her best even beating ‘Crazy in Love’ as her finest track. The sexy retro 80s funk baseline was perfectly timed as it resonated with a public inexplicably mourning the inevitable death of Michael Jackson.

11. Ladyhawke – Back Of The Van

Originally released in 2008, Pip Brown’s Ladyhawke album has lurked around the UK album chart for most of 2009 with good reason. The album has a feeling the great albums of the 80s did where there isn’t a dud amongst them, a feat made even more impressive with the fact the album as an art form is close to being killed off. The 80’s influence of her work is emblazoned proudly on her sleeve and this lover lorn track has you remembering long lost female singer song writers such as Pat Benatar and Sharon O’Neill. And with Christina Aguilera bizarrely covering her ‘My Delirium' track for her next album (produced by Ladytron!), the future for Pip is one of immense excitement

12. Oasis – Falling down (Amorphous Androgynous mix part 4)

As the Oasis machine spluttered its long awaited final breath, they released what is Noel Gallagher’s best track since ‘Champagne Supernova’. His poetic musings are taken from the original and splattered across a gargantuan 24 minute remix by Amorphous Androgynous (a.k.a. Future Sound of London), the best section being the final part where all remnants of Oasis are stripped away and replaced with late 60s Stax style funk and psychedelic sitars and resung by a woman with the lungs of Shirley Bassey. Truly innovative.

13. Peaches – I Feel Cream

Title track from the original Lady Gaga’s fifth album has Peaches heavily breathing over filthy beats provided by Drums of Death. Sleazy, low down and dirty proving Peaches oozes more sex appeal than any mechanical Madonna-be ever could.

14. The Raveonettes – Bang!

Four albums in and Danish duo The Raveonettes continue to be a fringe act in the UK despite regular moments of brilliance. Featuring their usual blend of 50’s doo wop, 60’s girl bands and 80’s Mary Chain fuzz; the lead track from their recently released ‘In and Out of Control' album is a delectable pop song with a refrain oddly reminiscent of The Archies novelty hit of the late 60’s, ‘Sugar Sugar’.

15. Dizzee Rascal & Armand Van Helden – Bonkers

Dizzee finally achieved the commercial recognition he’s craved for so many years in 2009 with this track, the second of three number one hits in a row. To achieve his new found status as the king of UK hip hop he has piggy backed onto the talent of Calvin Harris for two of those tracks but it was this track where the grim of Dizzee and the grit of Van Helden came together to make a track you won’t be able to resist shaking a leg to.

16. Phenomenal Handclap Band - 15 to 20

More New Yorkers and more effortless cool. This eight piece from Williamsburg burst onto the scene this spring and with this track they had an instant indie anthem. Fusing wah wah 70’s funk with uber-cool female vocals and a hint of psychedelia pitches them as a modern day Tom Tom Club.

17. Kasabian - Fire

With a new found sophistication which belittles their thuggish reputation (granted, it’s their fans, not them), Kasabian reacted well to their third album being produced by hip hop luminary Dan the Automator and this first single plucked from it was Kasabian at the height of their powers. The Country and Western feel of old Clint Eastwood films augmented the drowsy vibes of The Doors gave Kasabian that long sought after critical acclaim they searched for years.

18. Doves – House Of Mirrors

Doves were suddenly poised to make that great breakthrough after their Mancunian counterparts Elbow won last year’s Mercury Music Prize. People have conveniently forgotten however that it was Doves who were achieving top five hits and major slots at Glastonbury just a few years ago and have consistently sold bucket loads of albums, probably more than Elbow and definitely better. The Elbow connection is as lazy to write as it is to think. Over four albums Doves have proved to be the best band out of Manchester since The Smiths and this scathing track is the highlight from their latest album.

19. Metronomy – Not Made For Love (Alala remix)

Ignore the original and skip to this this superior remix which transforms a non-descript noodle into an epic piece of mid 80's Pet Shop Boys resplendent in all their pomp and glory.

20. Eddie Current Supression Ring – Which Way To Go

When you hear sounds reminiscent of The Fall rehearsing next to The Libertines it could only come from the UK which makes the fact these guys hail from Melbourne even more surprising. From their ‘Primary Colours’ album of 2008 (yeah, everyone’s at it with that title), they finally made a stir over in the UK this summer and it’s easy to establish why when they make such a red raw gritty garage rock sound.