#1. What It's All About

A musical whole should be greater than the sum of its parts. From Gregorian chant to Gregory Isaacs, from Bach to Bacharach, musicians have seized on the powerful auditory effect of combining lines of music to make something beautiful. In the most transcendent pieces, the musical output ceases to feel like a creation and itself assumes the role of creator: the dynamic interplay of the varied and unique parts weaves a tapestry of its own reality, complete with musical truths and lies, rights and wrongs, triumphs and disappointments. You know it when you hear it - and it's something special.

With that fittingly hyperbolic preamble, the time has come to reveal the number one song of the year. Simply put, if you don’t like this song, you’re wrong. Take a Q-tip, soak it in Listerine, clean the poor musical taste out of your ears, and give it another listen. Swedish rockers The Radio Dept. have really outdone themselves on this track, piling layer upon layer of musical brilliance onto "Heaven's on Fire" until it’s in danger of tipping over under the weight of its own awesome. 

#1. The Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire

How do I love this song? Let me count the ways. There’s the simple but flawless rhythm guitar, which really needs to be bottled and distributed to pop-music wannabes around the world. Then the lead guitar – actually two tracks – comes in for the first time around 0:42 with a delicate and supremely melodic motif that resurfaces at opportune moments throughout the track like the musical equivalent of Robert Horry. For the chorus, they’ve traded the toy piano for a real piano, and its rolling chords make for a perfect change of pace without losing any sonic intensity. Finally, in the last minute, another surprise: the horns section, which heralds the arrival of the King of All Singles, long may he reign.

There have been some damn good songs on this countdown, but this was a no-brainer for the #1 spot since I decided to write it. I spend countless hours trying to find good new music. Once in a while, I stumble across a song like this, and the feeling of hearing it for the first time is what it's all about. "Heaven's on Fire" comes in at #1 because whether on the first listen or the 301st, this song still makes me feel like I've discovered something beautiful.