Top 500 Songs Of 2009 - #225-#201

#225 Green Day - "Peacemaker" from "21st Century Breakdown"

#224 Gov't Mule - "Broke Down On The Brazos" from "By A Thread"

#223 The Bravery - "Song For Jacob" from "Stir The Blood"

#222 Kid Cudi - "Cudi Zone" from "Man On The Moon"

#221 Pearl Jam - "Johnny Guitar" from "Backspacer" - Eddie Vedder sounds like the Tasmanian Devil at times on this song, but he makes it work.

#220 The Derek Trucks Band - "Get What You Deserve" from "Already Free"

#219 Neko Case - "This Tornado Loves You" from "Middle Cyclone" - Neko Case (also of the New Pornographers) has a beautiful voice and has enjoyed a long and successful career as a solo artist. This is the best song off of her new album.

#218 Bob Mould - "I'm Sorry, Baby, But You Can't Stand In My Light Any More" from "Life And Times" - It's saying a lot, but this might be the most catchy song hook of Bob Mould's career.

#217 The Avett Brothers - "Ill With Want" from "I And Love And You"

#216 Them Crooked Vultures - "Gunman" from "Them Crooked Vultures"

#215 The Fiery Furnaces - "The End Is Near" from "The End Is Near"

#214 Sonic Youth - "Thunderclap For Bobby Pyn" from "The Eternal"

#213 The Sounds - "Midnight Sun" from "Crossing The Rubicon"

#212 Them Crooked Vultures - "Warsaw Or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up" from "Them Crooked Vultures"

#211 The Northwestern - "Telephones" from Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist

#210 The Flaming Lips - "Watching The Planets" from "Embryonic" - The Flaming Lips' "Embryonic" represents a career high point for the band and if not for Muse, it would have been the year's best prog rock album.

#209 The Soulsavers - "Unbalanced Pieces" from "Broken" - Again, take a moment and appreciate Mark Lanegan's amazing vocal abilities.

#208 The Bravery - "Slow Poison" from "Stir The Blood"

#207 Call The Doctor - "For Your Leisure" from Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist - It's surprising I can't find any more of their music considering how great this first song is.

#206 The Temper Trap - "Fools" from "Conditions"

#205 A.C. Newman - "The Changeling (Get Guilty)" from "Get Guilty"

#204 Placebo - "For What It's Worth" from "Battle For The Sun"

#203 A.C. Newman - "The Collected Works" from "Get Guilty" - Another New Pornographers side project, Newman's album put a few songs on my countdown.

#202 Muse - "Undisclosed Desires" from "The Resistance"

#201 Heartless Bastards - "Early In The Morning" from "The Mountain" - "Early In The Morning" is one monster head-banger of a song.

Top 500 Songs Of 2009 - #250-#226

#250 The Temper Trap - "Fader" from "Conditions" - The Temper Trap is best known for their hit song on the "(500) Days Of Summer" Soundtrack, but their entire album is excellent.

#249 Japandroids - "Young Hearts Spark Fire" from "Post-Nothing"

#248 The Avett Brothers - "Incomplete And Insecure" from "I And Love And You" - Take a talented band and let Rick Rubin produce their album and what do you get? One of the best albums of the year and easily the highlight of the Avett Brothers' career.

#247 Rainbow Arabia - "Six Different Ways" from Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist

#246 Pomplamoose - "Beat The House" from "Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist

#245 The Decemberists - "The Queen's Rebuke / The Crossing" from "Hazards Of Love"

#244 Dan Black - "U And Me" from "Un"

#243 Green Day - "The Static Age" from "21st Century Breakdown"

#242 Shirock - "Drag You Down" from "Everything Burns" - Listen to Shirock's latest album and tell me it doesn't sound like a lost U2 album.

#241 Clinical Trials - "Polly Got Away" from Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist - A response song to Nirvana's "Polly", though the style of music is much closer to The Breeders or Hole.

#240 The Mars Volta - "Since We've Been Wrong" from "Octahedron" - The Mars Volta releases their most radio-friendly CD yet, though this was the only hit.

#239 Kid Cudi - "Up Up And Away" from "Man On The Moon"

#238 White Lies - "A Place To Hide" from "To Lose My Life"

#237 Tegan And Sara - "The Cure" from "Sainthood"

#236 Maximo Park - "I Haven't Seen Her In Ages" from "Quicken The Heart"

#235 Lykke Li - "Possibility" from "Twilight: New Moon Soundtrack"

#234 Modest Mouse - "Guilty Cocker Spaniels" from "No One's First And You're Next"

#233 The Cribs - "We Share The Same Skies" from "Ignore The Ignorant"

#232 Built To Spill - "Things Fall Apart" from "There Is No Enemy"

#231 The Drums - "Saddest Summer" from "Summertime!"

#230 The Mars Volta - "Cotopaxi" from "Octahedron"

#229 Echo And The Bunnymen - "Life Of 1000 Crimes" from "The Fountain" - They've still got it after all these years.

#228 Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band - "Nikorette" from "Outer South"

#227 Ryan Bingham And The Dead Horses - "Country Roads" from "Roadhouse Sun" - 2009 was a big year for Bingham as "Roadhouse Sun" represents his breakthrough album in the same year that "Crazy Heart" made him the biggest name in alt-country.

#226 Regina Spektor - "The Calculation" from "Far"

Top 500 Songs Of 2009 - #275-#251

#275 Southeast Engine - "Black Gold" from Paste Magazine Sampler

#274 Rhett Miller - "If It's Not Love" from "Rhett Miller"

#273 Pintandwefall - "Bird Of The Birds" from "Hong Kong, Baby" - A very weird track, but a lot of fun and featuring a great hook.

#272 Jay Reatard - "Before I Was Caught" from "Watch Me Fall"

#271 The Antlers - "Epilogue" from "Hospice"

#270 A Place To Bury Strangers - "Deadbeat" from "Exploding Head"

#269 Jeff Bridges - "Brand New Angel" from "Crazy Heart Soundtrack"

#268 Morrissey - "Something Is Squeezing My Skull" from "Years Of Refusal"

#267 The Dirty Projectors And David Byrne - "Knotty Pine" from "Dark Was The Night (Red Hot Compilation)" - The Dirty Projectors had a great year with the success of their breakthrough album, but they also hit a home run with this collaboration with David Byrne from the brilliant "Dark Was The Night" compilation.

#266 Bruce Springsteen - "Outlaw Pete" from "Working On A Dream"

#265 Pearl Jam - "Supersonic" from "Backspacer"

#264 Nine Inch Nails - "Non-Entity" from "NINJA 2009 Tour Sampler" - This song may never appear on a Nine Inch Nails album, so it was very fortunate that they released it as a free download on their website.

#263 Jamie T. - "The Man's Machine" from Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist - I was unable to find Jamie T's 2009 album, but he managed to get two songs onto my list thank's to Blalock's playlists.

#262 Spinnerette - "A Prescripton For Mankind" from "Spinnerette"

#261 Throw Me The Statue - "Waving At The Shore" from "Creaturesque"

#260 Tegan And Sara - "Northshore" from "Sainthood" - "Sainthood" was a big change of style for Tegan and Sara and I think their new sound is a big step forward.

#259 Jemina Pearl - "Undesirable" from "Break It Up"

#258 The Bravery - "Jack-O-Lantern Man" from "Stir The Blood"

#257 Iggy Pop - "Nice To Be Dead" from "Preliminaries" - "Preliminaries" was a weird album for Iggy Pop. While the album was almost entirely jazz music, the best song is the type of song we expect from Iggy, if still slowed down a bit.

#256 Datarock - "True Stories" from "RED"

#255 Green Day - "American Eulogy: A. Mass Hysteria / B. Modern World" from "21st Century Breakdown"

#254 Rhett Miller - "Happy Birthday Don't Die" from "Rhett Miller"

#253 God Help The Girl - "Musician, Please Take Heed" from "God Help The Girl" - Belle And Sebastian's side project produced a lot of great songs that were really remake of old B&S hits, but "Musician, Please Take Heed" is the best of the originals.

#252 Bill Callahan - "Faith / Void" from "Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle" - A deep, dark and depressing ballad, but also one of the most introspective songs I've ever heard.

#251 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - "Young Adult Friction" from "The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart"

Top 500 Songs Of 2009 - #300-#276

#300 Muse - "Guiding Light" from "The Resistance"

#299 The Silversun Pickups - "Substitution" from "Swoon"

#298 Franz Ferdinand - "Bite Hard" from "Tonight"

#297 Fool's Gold - "Surprise Hotel" from "Fool's Gold"

#296 Heartless Bastards - "The Mountain" from "The Mountain"

#295 Passion Pit - "The Reeling" from "Manners"

#294 Ugly Casanova - "Cat Faces" from Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist - The reason this song sounds so much like Modest Mouse... is because it is Modest Mouse, performing under another name.

#293 BrakesBrakesBrakes - "Crush On You" from "Touchdown"

#292 The Dave Matthews Band - "Squirm" from "Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King" - A great song from DMB's best album in a long time.

#291 K'naan - "If Rap Gets Jealous" from "Troubador" - A particularly heavy song from one of rap's rookies of the year, bordering on rap metal.

#290 Japandroids - "Sovereignty" from "Post-Nothing"

#289 Metric - "Stadium Love" from "Fantasies"

#288 Jarvis Cocker - "Further Complications" from "Further Complications" - The former lead singer of Pulp continues to crank out angry and sarcastic singer-songwriter albums.

#287 Music Go Music - "Light Of Love" from "Expressions"

#286 Jay Farrar And Benjamin Gibbard - "One Fast Move Or I'm Gone" from "One Fast Move Or I'm Gone"

#285 Wheels On Fire - "I'm Turning Into You" from "Get Famous!"

#284 Art Brut - "Demons Out!" from "Art Brut Vs. Satan" - Art Brut's angry rant about how stupid the public's taste in music is.

#283 Neko Case - "People Got A Lotta Nerve" from "Middle Cyclone"

#282 Owl City - "Fireflies" from "Ocean Eyes" - Cheesy, but a good hook and a few clever lyrics.

#281 The Eels - "Lilac Breeze" from "Hombre Lobo"

#280 Wilco - "You And I" from "Wilco (The Album)"

#279 U2 - "Magnificent" from "No Line On The Horizon" - Bono once again dips into the well of sarcastic jabs at his public profile.

#278 The Like - "You Belong To Me" from "War Child - Heroes Vol. 1" - The best cover song on the "War Child" album. Supposedly, it's an old Elvis Costello song, but I'm pretty sure it dates back further than that.

#277 Rhett Miller - "I Need To Know Where I Stand" from "Rhett Miller" - It will always remain a mystery why Rhett Miller and the Old 97's never enjoyed crossover success. It would be one thing if they wrote radio-unfriendly songs, but Miller's always been extremely skilled at hooks and choruses.

#276 The Raveonettes - "Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)" from "In And Out Of Control"

Top 500 Songs Of 2009 - #325-#301

#325 Neko Case - "Don't Forget Me" from "Middle Cyclone"

#324 Young Money - "She Is Gone" from "We Are Young Money"

#323 Green Day - "Murder City" from "21st Century Breakdown"

#322 Spinnerette - "Baptized By Fire" from "Spinnerette"

#321 The Boy Least Likely To - "When Life Gives Me Lemons I Make Lemonade" from "The Law Of The Playground" - The goofiest artist on the countdown, but good lyrics are good lyrics.

#320 Marie Digby - "Overboard" from "Breathing Underwater" - Marie Digby released possibly the best pop album of 2009 and "Overboard" is one of the best songs on it.

#319 Monsters Of Folk - "Losin' Yo Head" from "Monsters Of Folk"

#318 Jemina Pearl - "After Hours" from "Break It Up"

#317 Passion Pit - "Little Secrets" from "Manners" - This one probably should have been higher, but that's how it works out sometimes.

#316 The Sounds - "Lost In Love" from "Crossing The Rubicon"

#315 Wilco - "I'll Fight" from "Wilco (The Album)"

#314 The Bravery - "Adored" from "Stir The Blood" - If you told me five years ago that The Bravery would become one of the best indie rock bands I would have told you that you were crazy, but it's true.

#313 Portugal The Man - "People Say" from "The Satanic Satanist"

#312 Odawas - "Secrets Of The Fall" from "The Blue Depths" - The closest to Pink Floyd I've heard any contemporary act get in recent years. Eat your heart out, Porcupine Tree.

#311 The Derek Trucks Band - "Down In The Flood" from "Already Free"

#310 Ryan Bingham And The Dead Horses - "Day Is Done" from "Roadhouse Sun"

#309 The Manchester Orchestra - "Shake It Out" from "Mean Everything To Nothing"

#308 James Yuill - "No Surprise" from Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist

#307 The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Shame And Fortune" from "It's Blitz!"

#306 The Rifles - "Sometimes" from "The Great Escape"

#305 Samantha Crain And The Midnight Shivers - "Rising Sun" from "Songs In The Night"

#304 N.A.S.A. - "Gifted" from "The Spirit Of Apollo" - The song that finally brings together the duo that everyone's been waiting for: Kanye West and Lykke Li!

#303 The Gossip - "Heavy Cross" from "Music For Men"

#302 Monsters Of Folk - "Man Named Truth" from "Monsters Of Folk"

#301 John Rich - "Shuttin' Down Detroit" from "Son Of A Preacher Man" - I'm not a big fan of Big And Rich, but this is one hell of a brilliant song, and also the perfect song for the current economic situation.

Top 500 Songs Of 2009 - #350-#326

#350 30 Seconds To Mars - "This Is War" from "This Is War"

#349 Jeff Bridges - "Hold On You" from "Crazy Heart Soundtrack" - The "Crazy Heart" Soundtrack is the best soundtrack from a fake artist since "Walk Hard" and Jeff Bridges is a great outlaw country singer.

#348 Phish - "Joy" from "Joy" - I hate obsessive Phish fans, but a great song is a great song.

#347 The Drums - "Don't Be A Jerk, Jonny" from "Summertime!" - Cross The Smiths with The Ramones and you get the Drums. You'll probably be hearing more from them in the future.

#346 The Flaming Lips - "Powerless" from "Embryonic"

#345 Matisyahu - "One Day" from "Light"

#344 Brendan Benson - "A Whole Lot Better" from "My Old, Familiar Friend"

#343 Death Cab For Cutie - "I Was Once A Loyal Lover" from "The Open Door"

#342 Brand New - "In A Jar" from "Daisy" - I've never heard emo sound so Nirvana-ish as the most recent Brand New album.

#341 The Arctic Monkeys - "Pretty Visitors" from "Humbug"

#340 Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band - "To All The Lights In The Windows" from "Outer South"

#339 Wolfmother - "Caroline" from "Cosmic Egg"

#338 The Raveonettes - "Bang!" from "In And Out Of Control"

#337 The Generationals - "When They Fight, They Fight" from "Con Law"

#336 Street Sweeper Social Club - "The Squeeze" from "Street Sweeper Social Club" - Guitar legend Tom Morello teams up with his latest Zach substitute, Boots Riley (of the Coup) to form Street Sweeper Social Club. It's doubtful that they'll last long as each artist has their own bands to focus on, but so far, so good.

#335 Them Crooked Vultures - "Bandoliers" from "Them Crooked Vultures"

#334 Beck - "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" from "War Child - Heroes Vol. 1" - Beck's funky cover of the Bob Dylan classic is one of the best covers of the year and a highlight of "War Child".

#333 Jemina Pearl - "Selfish Heart" from "Break It Up"

#332 BrakesBrakesBrakes - "Don't Take Me To Space (Man)" from "Touchdown"

#331 Wheat - "El Sincero" from Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist

#330 The New York Dolls - "Lonely So Long" from "Cause I Sez So"

#329 The Drums - "Let's Go Surfing" from "Summertime!"

#328 K'naan - "I Come Prepared" from "Troubador"

#327 Team William - "You Look Familiar" from Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist

#326 The High Strung - "Standing At The Door Of Self-Discovery" from "Ode To The Inverse Of The Dude"

Top 500 Songs Of 2009 - #375-#351

#375 Mary J. Blige - "The One" from "Stronger With Each Tear"

#374 Clipse - "Kinda Like A Big Deal" from "Till The Casket Drops"

#373 Grand Duchy - "Come On Over To My House" from "Petits Fours" - Frank Black's annual contribution to my list.

#372 Juliette Lewis - "All Is For God" from "Terra Incognito"

#371 Slayer - "Playing With Dolls" from "World Painted Blood"

#370 Conor Oberst - "NYC - Gone, Gone" from Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist

#369 Jarvis Cocker - "Caucasian Blues" from "Further Complications"

#368 Slaughterhouse - "The One" from "Slaughterhouse" - Slaughterhouse is a rap supergroup that flew under the radar in 2009.

#367 Metric - "Gimme Sympathy" from "Fantasies"

#366 Sonic Youth - "Poison Arrow" from "The Eternal"

#365 Megadeth - "Dialectic Chaos" from "Endgame" - The second of two instrumental songs on the countdown.

#364 Allison Iraheta - "Trouble Is" from "Just Like You" - The highest ranking song on the countdown from an American Idol veteran.

#363 The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - "A Teenager In Love" from "The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart"

#362 Fastball - "The Malcontent (The Modern World)" from "Little White Lies"

#361 The New Pornographers - "Hey, Snow White" from "Dark Was The Night (Red Hot Compilation)"

#360 Thom Yorke - "All For The Best" from Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist - If it wasn't for Blalock's playlist, I might never have found this song because it hasn't been on any album to my knowledge.

#359 The Doves - "The Outsiders" from "Kingdom Of Rust"

#358 Sonic Youth - "Leaky Lifeboat (For Gregory Corso)" from "The Eternal"

#357 Rhett Miller - "Like Love" from "Rhett Miller"

#356 Spinnerette - "All Babes Are Wolves" from "Spinnerette"

#355 La Roux - "Quicksand" from "La Roux"

#354 Modest Mouse - "History Sticks To Your Feet" from "No One's First And You're Next"

#353 Orianthi - "Highly Strung" from "Believe" - The highest ranking of the two instrumental songs on the countdown.

#352 Spinnerette - "A Spectral Suspension" from "Spinnerette"

#351 The Von Bondies - "Earthquake" from "Love Hate And Then There's You"