2009 was a pretty productive year for music on the whole. Started off with Little Boots being picked as the Sound of 2009 by the BBC, and look where she is now – can see the same happening to Ellie Goulding and Marina & The Diamonds, fortunately/unfortunately. A few strong releases came about, including K’naan’s sophomore album Troubadour, one of my favourites, if not the favourite, of last year. Passion Pit started to get a lot bigger, as did the likes of CuDi, both of whom have blown up over the past year with strong debut releases. Can’t really think of any other amazing albums atm but I thought Nadia Ali’s return album, Embers, was a great record, and I also enjoyed Wale’s debut album, alongside tyDi’s. Progressive house and house in general on the whole got huge, in particular Deadmau5 and the Swedish House Mafia, with the releases of For Lack of a Better Name in the Mau5’s case and the hit Leave The World Behind in the latter’s case.

Anyhow, thought I’d compile a list of my favourite tracks of the last year, rather than albums as I did for 2008. Have done a top 30 rather than 50 as I couldn’t really think of any more other than the ones I already had down, so enjoy. Oh and tbh, 30-10 aren’t in any concise order, just a rough one, only the top 10 really stand out as my favourite of favourites.

30. The All-American Rejects – Gives You Hell // Maybe a surprise to some of you as I don’t tend to list to much rock or whatever, but as mainstream as it is, its a great tune.

29. Enter Shikari – Hectic // Again probably an even bigger surprise but this is worthy, srsly. The main melody is AMAZING, just needs a good remix without the vocals (which are somewhat painful) to get it more acclaimed. Seen some remixes but nothing of note, yet..

28. Wolfgang Gartner – Push & Rise (Original Mix) // Wolfgang is another who had a fantastic 09, this being my favourite pieve by him.

27. Matt & Kim – Daylight (Troublemaker Remix feat. De La Soul) // Troublemaker has done a few good rap remixes, this one in partic being on Fifa 10, showing how big he’s gotten. Great remix.

26. Bad Boy Bill – Falling Anthem // Lovely prog house beat with lovely distinct vocals.

25. Tiga – What You Need (Proxy Remix) // Big year for Proxy, this being my favourite of his works. Mental breakdown!

24. Joy Orbison – Hyph Mngo // Probably my favourite piece of dubstep to date. Not the usual ‘dirtiness’, but instead nice and clean with the sampling of 90’s garage. Joy shall be big this year.

23. Wale – World Tour (feat. Jazmine Sullivan) // I was a big fan of Wale’s long-awaited debut album, this being my favourite from it.

22. Moguai – I.D.Y. (Original Mix) // Huge support from Deadmau5, great electrohouse from Moguai. He should be even bigger this year.

21. tyDi – I Like, You Like // Huge year for the young Aussie, this is an amazing, chilling masterpiece. Fantastic debut album and really starting to rise in the trance world. I’m listening to his album as we speak, perfect relaxation music for 2am

20. Classix feat. Jeppe – I’ll Get You // Summer anthem, nice beat, nice vocals. Very productive year for Classixx.

19. OneRepublic – All The Right Moves (Danger Remix) // One from the tail end of 09, Danger’s done it again! Didn’t think I could ever like OneRep but this is a sick remix.

18. Example – Watch The Sun Come Up / Fred Falke Remix / Blame Remix // Example got more mainstream in 2009, but even so this is a wonderful track. My favourite is probs just the Falke mix, but the Blame one is amazing also. Original ain’t half bad either..

17. The Temper Trap – Sweet Disposition (Axwell & Dirty South Remix) // House’s popularity reached new levels last year and this is exactly why.

16. Gareth Emery – Metropolis // Really starting to prove himself as one of the front-runners in trance; this and Exposure are both fantastic examples of why.

15. Shakira – She Wolf (Villains Original Mix) // I’ve always liked Villains, but this made me love them. So much better than the orig.

14. Designer Drugs – Drop Down // Designer Drugs first came to my attention with their amazing Mariah Carey remix. Further remixes followed but this to me is their first original that really stood out. Another sick breakdown.

13. Chiddy Bang – Kids // Big year for Chiddy Bang also, this being by far the best of their tracks. Becoming known only now, which shows how slow the British public is..

12. Erika Jayne – Give You Everything (Dave Audé Club Mix) // My number 2 track until the very end of ‘09. Amazing vocals, amazing prog house, as simple as it is.

11. Avicii – Bullet (Original Mix) // Avicii is amazing, this sampling is amazing. Didn’t like the guitar initially as it didn’t really blend with his housey sounds imo, but really, it works amazingly.

10. Netsky – Smile // Huge up-and-coming talent in DnB, this track a perfect example of why.

9. Chase & Status – End Credits (feat. Plan B) // Only started listening to this recently but you cannot deny how good it is. Great prod from C&S and Plan B is definitely showing his credentials as an excellent singer.

8. P-Money feat. Vince Harder – Everything // Technically 08 but I don’t really care. Crazy beat with huge vocals. Blame mix is also worth checking out.

7. Calvin Harris – I’m Not Alone // This was in my top 3 or so for most of the year but various things put me off (most namely ripping off Art of Trance). Still, sublime choon!

6. Addeboy vs Cliff – Beep My Beep // They first made their name 3 years ago with their awesome production on some of Adam Tensta’s album, but this original is just AMAZING. Beat owns, vocals are sick, wish they made more stuff. Gorgeous vid too.

5. Passion Pit – Little Secrets / Felix Da Housecat Remix // Heard right at the start of 09, and due to that I half forgot about it. But Felix’s mix from the back end of the year reignited my love for it. For me, its PP’s best track. All-round brilliance

4. Paloma Faith – New York (Tom Middleton Remix) (Laidback Luke Remastered Edit) // Another from right at the end of ‘09. Great edit, unbelievable drop.

3. Deadmau5 – Strobe // 2009 was the year of Mau5’s mainstream coming, and saw the release of FLOABN. Which I didn’t like much, but this track made the album good. This track is just indescribably good, Mau5’s best track by miiiiiles. Chilling yet proggy, just unreal!

2. Bob Sinclar – New New New (Avicii Remix) // Imo, Avicii was the best artist to come out of 09 by a million miles. This remix is my favourite piece by him; euphoric house sounds, typical Avicii piano, and the vocals he uses are amazing (the original is dire). And everybody should be dancin’ to these sounds…

1. Pryda – Melo // Not going to go into detail with this, but just listen. Rivalling as my favourite track of all time. Pure euphoria for 9 minutes, words cannot describe just how good this is. Amazing work my Mr Prydz..