After taking a peek at some top 10 lists, I realized that I don't listen to enough new music anymore. So, I downloaded a bunch of songs and artists that got raves this year and now I"m prepared to present my own top ten song list for your perusal and ridicule.

10. Viva La Vida - Coldplay: I want to hate Coldplay, given that they're really nothing more than a poor man's U2 with the added obnoxiousness of Gwenyth Paltrow, but this really is a good song. I can't help it.

9. White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes: This made everyone's list and it's easy to see why - it's a short & beautiful song that ends just when you're about to get bored with it. Perfect.

8. Trashcan - Delta Spirit: So many of the so-called best songs of the year are folk tinged, so this is piano-driven ass shaker is a nice change of pace.

7. The One - Old 97's: This is such a fun song that casts the band in the role of the bad guys. Like I said before, so many of the year's best songs are kind of depressing, but not this "One".

6. Sexual Eruption - Snoop Dogg: Snoop just kills me (well, not literally). As if the title "Sexual Eruption" wasn't obvious enough, he has to whisper "orgasm" at one point of this song, just to make sure we know what he's talking about. Anyway, this is just a smooth, cool, throwback kind of tune.

5. This Is Not A Test - She & Him: Speaking of throwbacks, this song from actress Zooey Deschanel feels straight out of the '40s. She's a songstress, not a pop star, and that makes all of the difference - in the best possible way.

4. You Found Me - The Fray: My well-known weakness for schmaltzy music basically means that I'm going to heart anything The Fray ever does. Their new single is no exception.

3. Color Of A Lonely Heart Is Blue - Old 97's: One of the many great things about the Old 97's is that a typical album spans the range from country to alt-country to pretty poppy. My favorite song from 2008's "Blame It On Gravity" sits firmly on the country side of the specturm. I love these lyrics:

stars go off like flash pot dots that spark under candle power and stop.
lift up your light cuz you'll never see a night thats blacker
and the weight of it all gets heavier still
time as it crawls a little slower until
scorpios up a leading ol dan to cancer

2. TX - Jentri Colello: Jentri is a Madison, WI-based singer that's poised to make the big time in the next year. She's a little folky and on songs like this one is a bit alt-country too. I could easily have put all 5 of the songs on her debut EP on this list, but that would make me more obnoxious than Coldplay.

1. Creator - Santogold: While pure songs like #2 and #3 on the list above are wonderful in their own way, I really do love distortion and just plain noise in my music. "Creator" has it all. The best description I read called it a "wild mash-up of jazz, house and rock." That sounds about right. All I know is that I can't stop listening to it.

I'd love to hear some more recommendations. What's on your list?