#10 - Emmy the Great - "Absentee" (from First Love)
For a while I was 100% head-over-heels obsessed with this song early this year, around the time I was making a mix for a friend - so I titled the mix "No Stitches" from a line taken from the song. The melody is gorgeous - and though it's strange to count a song about loss among my favorites this year, it's because Emmy completely holds my heart in her hand.
#9 - Atlas Sound - "Walkabout (w/ Noah Lennox)" (from Logos)
Plain and simple, this is a phenomenal song. The groovy little Dovers sample grabs your attention, but really it's the refrain that ensures the song will stick with you - "what did / you want to see / what did you want / to be when you / grew up."
#8 - The Books and Jose Gonzalez - "Cello Song" (from Dark Was the Night)
Dark Was the Night was a great compilation that came out this year that featured a ton of interesting collaborations (and new songs recorded specifically for the album), but the one that made the biggest impression on me had to be "Cello Song." Pairing the delicate blips of The Books with Gonzalez's soft vocals was a genius move, and the song has a sense of hopefulness that makes me want to listen to it over and over again.
#7 - Matt & Kim - "Daylight" (from Grand)
Yes, I fell in love with a song because of a commercial. Grand breezed right by my radar (I've never been a huge fan of Matt & Kim) until the brilliant placement of "Daylight" in a Bacardi Mojito commercial that seemed to be on the TV just the right number of times. The little snippet of song always left me craving more, so before I knew it I was listening to the tune on my own time.
#6 - Le Loup - "Beach Town" (from Family)
This song sounds less like a town on the beach and more like a village under water - lush and layered, like everything on Family (one of my favorite albums of the year), its otherworldly beauty is perfectly balanced by a substantial groove. And just when you think it can't get any better, there's the guitar that takes over the last third of the song, and the waves of vocals that come to sweep you out to sea.
