I’m not trying to justify the four month delay in my year-end coverage, but I’ve always found it slightly disingenuous to talk about the year’s best music in December. A little extra time can provide a lot of perspective, allowing for complete digestion of everything the year had to offer. I probably didn’t need four months to do so but I think you get the point.

So without further delay I present my Top 15 Songs of 2010. Not surprisingly, the list culls a large number of songs from my favorite albums of 2010 (which can be found here), but there are almost an equal number of tracks from albums that didn’t make the list. And it is this latter category of songs that really shines. “Out Go the Lights” might be my favorite Spoon song yet. Joanna Newsom’s “Baby Birch” is epic, gorgeous, and devastating. And the violin on Seabear’s “Cold Summer” practically brings me to tears.

I could go on like this for each song but I think it’s better to let the music do the talking. Trust me when I say they’re all incredible. The playlist below is not ranked in order of preference but instead sequenced in a way I think flows best. Use the links at the end of the post to either stream individual songs or download the entire list.

• 1. Yeasayer – Madder Red
• 2. The National – Sorrow
• 3. Broken Social Scene – Sweetest Kill
• 4. Spoon – Out Go the Lights
• 5. The Walkmen – All My Great Designs
• 6. Joanna Newsom – Baby Birch
• 7. The Love Language – Summer Dust
• 8. Seabear – Cold Summer
• 9. The Tallest Man On Earth – Love Is All
• 10. Surfer Blood – Anchorage
• 11. Titus Andronicus – Theme From “Cheers”
• 12. A Silver Mt. Zion – Kollapz Tradixional (Thee Olde Dirty Flag)
• 13. Kanye West – Runaway
• 14. S. Carey – Broken
• 15. Sharon Van Etten – Love More
• Download entire mix