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15. Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse, James Mercer – “Insane Lullaby”
This is the best song on Dark Night of the Soul, an album put together by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, which will never see the light of day due to a legal dispute with EMI. Like most of this album, “Insane Lullaby” is a dense, moody track, but it’s perfectly complimented by The Shins’ James Mercer, who could never be dense or moody.

14. Hayden – “Let’s Break Up”
Canadian folk singer/songwriter Hayden has always been a 75% guy for me – he’s good, but his music has never been my reason to get up in the morning. That’s all changed with “Let’s Break Up”, which is easily the catchiest tune I’ve heard from this majestic northerner. Its strength lies in the blunt honesty of its lyrics, highlighting a bitter breakup – “when I came home the road washed me to your shore / but the key was not where we once left it before / so I walked around ’till some clown came out of your door / this is war” – but with a touch of humor.

13. Sufjan Stevens – “You Are The Blood”
This cover of a 2004 Castanets song pushes the original 4 minutes into 10+ minutes of epic, ever-interesting movements that only Sufjan Stevens could orchestrate. The brilliant thing is that he expands on the original track effortlessly, without ever stepping on any Castanets toes.

12. Karen O And The Kids – “All Is Love”
Kids’ song of the year. My wife and I have been playing some toddler-friendly music in the mornings, considering we have a baby kicking it over here lately. Karen O’s soundtrack to Where the Wild Things Are is an energetic, fun album, and this is the best track on that album.

11. David Bazan – “Hard To Be”
I didn’t much care for this album, but you’ve gotta respect the 6+ minute opener “Hard To Be” for its incredible buildup and thoughtful lyrics. Honestly, this track sums up the whole David Bazan experience – wet drums and synth from his project Headphones, bitterly honest lyrics similar to his first solo EP and early Pedro the Lion albums, and crisp production thanks to TW Walsh’s knob work. Lyrically, it covers the same ground that every song on Curse Your Branches covers – doubting God and drinking booze – but it has some of the album’s best, thought-provoking moments all in one track.

10. The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Edmonton”
TRAA’s second-to-last track is by far their strongest, with its simple dual-drum melody and undeniably catchy singalong ending. It has all the right elements to make it a stripped-down classic.

9. Fanfarlo – “I’m A Pilot”
Fanfarlo got a bad rap this year for being TOO similar to contemporaries The Arcade Fire and Beirut, but I find that comforting. There’s a nice feeling of deja vu when listening to “I’m A Pilot”, which for all intents and purposes is an amalgamation of three songs from The Arcade Fire’s Funeral, but when it finds its own voice (particularly during the “it’s all I believe in” line/melody), it strikes just the right chord.

8. Animal Collective – “My Girls”
“My Girls” is the song that made the indie rock internet implode earlier this year, and for good reason – its earnest lyrics and transcendent buildup are nothing to shake a stick at. Singer Panda Bear may be most respected for his solo work, but his contributions to this track have cemented his indie rock god status in just six minutes.

7. The xx – “Crystalised”
The xx figured out how to use their instruments just enough to drive their melodies home, and that’s worthy of a salute. This is a song best suited on a late-night trip to an all-night library, if there was such a thing; it’s haunting, catchy, and inoffensive, and it slowly wraps you in a warm melodic blanket. You know, like the ones Grandmama used to knit.

6. Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is The Move”
Dear lord, what is this? Avant-garde hip-hop? Indie R&B? I don’t know, nor do I care – it’s smart enough to make Beyonce run for cover, and that’s good enough for me.

5. Volcano Choir – “Island, Is”
Volcano Choir consists of two great musical projects – singer/songwriter Bon Iver (I almost wrote Bon Jovi right then instead) and instrumental post-rockers Collections of Colonies of Bees – and “Island, Is” is them hitting their stride.

4. Bill Callahan – “Jim Cain”
Bill Callahan’s “Jim Cain” moves with such an assurance that it’s impossible to not respect this man. But it’s not just the perfect pacing that sets “Jim Cain” apart from the rest of the songs on Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle. it’s what he does with it. Like many of his songs, this one is mostly reflective (“I used to be darker, then I got lighter, then I got dark again”), but the exiting lyric sums up Mr. Bill’s life in a simple, affecting way: “In case things go poorly and I not return / Remember the good things I’ve done / Done me in”).

3. The National – “So Far Around The Bend”
The second song on this list from the Dark Was The Night compilation, this one finds The National in their prime; “So Far Around The Bend” is an incredible band safely resting on the sound they’ve perfected, and it’s the smartest statement I’ve ever heard from them. What makes it great is that it’s about someone’s self-destruction (“Take a bath and get high through an apple / Wanted to cry but you can’t when your laughing / Nobody knows where you are living”) while providing one of their most upbeat-sounding songs ever. I also have to mention that there’s a Pavement namedrop, too. You win.

2. Here We Go Magic – “Fangela”
Luke Temple has moved from slightly psychedelic folk music to slightly folky psychedelic music in just a few years, and “Fangela” from his new project Here We Go Magic may very well be his perfect culmination of many years’ hard work. I’ve heard this song every which way but sideways – the demo version, album version, in-studio performance, and straight-up live, and it works every time. Those handclaps. Perfect.

1. Phoenix – “1901″
What the what? How is it that an indie rock band made a pop anthem, using indie rock instrumentation and songwriting? It seems an oxymoron, but it works – all the way down to the fizzled-out synth layers. Basically, this is a song that the 14-year-old version of my 18-year-old sister would love just as much as me. And how do I feel about that? Pretty damn good, actually.