Top Ten Tracks of 2009: One

10. The Lonely Island "Jizz in My Pants"

Unlike their contemporaries in comedy pop, Flight of the Conchords, The Lonely Island ups the ante from simple acoustic tracks to songs that are actually produced. Here, the results are fantastic, as the music’s Eurotrash pastiche adds to the humor, which comes in unlikely places (Justin Timberlake in aisle seven, the “horror film,” etc.) For “Jizz in My Pants,” I can almost forgive The Lonely Island for having to hear “I’m on a Boat” blasting out of every frat section on campus.

09. Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind"

Hometown pride is one of the few themes on The Blueprint 3 that isn’t annoyingly overplayed—everyone loves New York. And evidenced by the familiar keys leaking out of every storefront and taxi that drives by, New York loves this song too. Reciprocity is a beautiful thing. Note to rappers: pick Alicia Keys for the requisite guest spot instead of Weezy.

08. Best Coast "Sun Was High (So Was I)"

And repping the West Best Coast...it’s not lo-fi, it’s 60’s AM pop, in a concise, sunny and perfect two and a half minutes. The content is simple: “The sun was high/And so was I.”  Sounds like summer in a nutshell.

07. Major Lazer. "Call Mi" (Dave Kelly's "Hold the Line" Remix ft. Baby Cham)

Gui Boratto has breathed a lot of life and color into house music. This year, he’s produced an epic beauty to match 2007’s “Beautiful Life,” and it basically mimics the structure of its predecessor: beat builds steadily until it crescendos with a mad fury; bizzare midi sounds run course to a climax where Gui’s wife murmurs some trite lyrics that sound epiphanic; ends with a denouement that sounds like the aural equivalent of an Ecstasy comedown.

04. jj "Things Will Never Be The Same Again"

Any new release by seminal Swedish label Sincerely Yours excites me greatly, and I have yet to be disappointed by one of their offerings. jj is their most evocative artist yet, and “Things Will Never Be the Same Again” beautifully captures the bittersweetness of a mythic summer come to pass. The longing and nostalgia come in spades on the whole album, jj N^o2.

03. The Dream "Love vs. Money"

It’s amusing how bewildered so many feminizing musicians are when their girl leaves them despite all the shiny things they’ve bought her. The Dream actually gets it: “I should have known money couldn’t match love.” More importantly, this song features the sickest beat of the year, showing The Dream had talent to spare after producing “Umbrella” and “Single Ladies.”

02. Japandroids "Young Hearts Spark Fire"

What’s not to like: It’s an endlessly quotable, carpe diem anthem about drinking and dreaming and general youthfulness sung by a rollicking guitar-‘n’-drums duo. The rest of indie rock sounds castrated by comparison. “We’re used to staying up all night/Two hearts beating/Oh yeah/Oh yeah!”...Yeah!

01. Animal Collective "Brothersport"

If one song helped me get through the iciness of winter ‘09 at Duke, this was it. “Brothersport” is a distillation of Animal Collective’s strengths, past and present: Opening harmonies followed by like, 100 bars of noise, followed by the most exultant chorus ever. This is the biggest sing-along of their career, ironic since the lyrics are undecipherable except for something like “Shout it out!”...So that’s what I do.