1. “Meme Si (What You’re Made Of)”, Lucie Silvas & Gregory Lemarchal. I must’ve listened to this 30 times in the first week of discovering it, and a week later I’m still listening around twice a day. Obsession doesn’t even begin to cut it. “You’re not in love this time – but it’s all right”.

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2. “Dear You”, Josh Aeur. Oddly, this reminds me of “Hey There Delilah”. As classic as the Plain White T’s song? Probably not, but it’s held good for me through months of re-listens and I firmly believe it will become a classic.

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3. “Hazy”, Rosi Golan feat. William Fitzsimmons. A stellar little gem resonant with tenderness. “Without you, things go hazy”

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4. “From Sarah with Love”, Sarah Connor. One of those iconic love songs that comes along every once in a while and perfectly captures a certain mood/situation. Helped Canadian songstress Sarah Connor on her road to stardom.

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5. “Poison & Wine”, The Civil Wars. Wait for the chorus, and fall with the same mad crash that I did. Then listen every day for at least two weeks. “I don’t love you, but I always will”.

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6. “The Saltwater Room”, Owl City. Obviously. Even non-music aficionados eventually heard this one. It took so many re-listens for me to get tired of it.

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7. “If”, Charlotte Gainsbourg feat. Etienne Daho(or is the other way around?). This one’s probably just me – I love Charlotte Gainsbourg and have a weakness for duets and songs that are a mix of French and English.

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8. “Kathleen”, Josh Ritter. Kind of like “Dear You”‘s lesser cousin – it has the same epic feel, but it’s quieter, reaches for less. Nevertheless amazing.

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9. “Be Mine”, Robyn. The second this Swedish pop sensation’s throaty vocals kick in on the song’s opening line- “it’s a good thing tears never fall in the pouring rain”, you know you’re in good hands. A thread of bitterness/anger keeps it from sliding over into emo territory.

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10. “Back Broke”, The Swell Season. I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t disappointed overall with their new album, but even so it was hard picking just one song out of it to go on this list. I went with this one because it has the same driving wistfulness and sense of loss and risk as “Low Rising”, but warrants, for some reason, more re-listening.

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Charlotte Gainsbourg- IRM, due out January 25th, 2010 (read a review here)

Aqualung-Magnetic North, due out March 30th(tentatively)

Cary Brothers – untitled new album, due out April (!!! there are no amount of words to express my unadulterated glee over this)

Hana Pestle – This Way, early 2010

And while we’re at it, The Swell Season’s new album Strict Joy is already out(it’s a sign of my complete removal from Real Life that I have actually not listened to this yet) but here’s their amazing video edited by Sam Beam(!!) of Iron and Wine.

CD Wishlist:

Memory Man, Aqualung

Strange and Beautiful, Aqualung

Remember, Big Bang

Pride and Prejudice OST, Dario Marianelli

The Eagles, Eagles

Vol 5 – Pieces, Part One, Epik High

One Cell in the Sea, A Fine Frenzy

Colorful Sensibility, FT Island

How to Save a Life, The Fray

5:55, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Ordinary Dreamers, Group 1 Crew

Hale, Hale

Take it to the Limit, Hinder

We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, Jason Mraz

Real Life, Joan as Police Woman

Kenter Canyon, Joey Ryan

Awake, Josh Groban

Hopes and Fears, Keane

Breakaway, Kelly Clarkson

Strong Tower, Kutless

Spirit, Leona Lewis

Absolution, Muse

Soulo, Nick Lachey

Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna

The Execution of All Things, Rilo Kiley

European, Sambassadeur

Move in Close, Sara Beth

The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, Sarah Brightman

The Essential Simon and Garfunkel, Discs 1 &2

Eyes Open, Snow Patrol

One Fell Swoop, The Spill Canvas

Solitude Standing, Suzanne Vega

The November Diaries, Weaklazyliar

Make Believe, Weezer