First Quarter Playback

• DOWNLOAD | Kelly Clarkson “Don’t Let Me Stop You” All I Ever Wanted

Is it too early for a list? Only if you’re the first to do it. Otherwise, you’re technically late.

Seriously, though, this list is fairly meaningless as lists go: I thought it would be fun to go through my library and see what songs have struck a chord with me so far this year. The longevity of my fascination with them is dubious, as always, but I’m genuinely surprised by the quality of music I’ve heard in the first quarter of 2009. All of these songs, in one way or another, made me stop what I was doing to truly listen: I remember hearing “Turnin’ Me On” for the first time at Target, and literally screaming, “Oh snap!” when the beat kicked in. I spent an entire month trying to find a Marmaduke Duke MP3 after hearing “Kid Gloves” for the first time on XFM. I basically froze, glossy-eyed at my computer, when I heard Phil Oakey’s voice on a Pet Shop Boys track. I played Longwave’s “Eyes Like Headlights” for my friend Brian one afternoon, and his reaction was similar to mine: “That’s my new favorite band,” he said. “What’s my new favorite band’s name again?”

So these are my fifteen favorite songs of 2009 so far, in a loosely particular order:

ROD THOMAS “You Get Goodbyes” (Self Raising)
PET SHOP BOYS “This Used To Be The Future” (feat. Philip Oakey) (Astralwerks)
KELLY CLARKSON “Don’t Let Me Stop You” (J/Sony BMG)
LONGWAVE “Eyes Like Headlights” (Original Signal)
MARIA TAYLOR “Time Lapse Lifeline” (Nettwerk)
MARMADUKE DUKE “Kid Gloves” (14th Floor)
KERI HILSON “Turnin’ Me On” (feat. Lil Wayne) (Mosley Music/Interscope)
RÖYKSOPP “The Girl and the Robot” (feat. Robyn) (Astralwerks)
MILTON JACKSON “Cycles” (Freerange)
JESSE ROSE “Miss Taker” (feat. David E. Sugar) (Dubsided)
PHOENIX “Countdown” (Sick For The Big Sun) (V2)
FRED EVERYTHING “Stay” (feat. Tim Fuller) (Lawnchair Generals Mix) (Om)
FICTION FAMILY “Not Sure” (ATO)
ERRORS “Salut! France” (Rock Action)
TELEFON TEL AVIV “The Birds” (Bpitchcontrol)

I’ll also take the opportunity to post this Kelly Clarkson song — which one might argue is both the most useless and most necessary MP3 post ever. It would be awesome if Ted Leo could cover this song too, but he probably won’t so somebody’s gotta go to bat for this girl. I’ll take the heat.

Photo: Panda Dance