[Editor's Note: Over the past couple of weeks, I've been presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we end the journey and take an in-depth look at song No. 1 on the list--and, please, feel free to click after the jump for a free download of the track. Also after the jump, check out songs No. 40-2 in the Top 40 list that will update as it grows...]

No. 1: Telegraph Canyon -- "Shake Your Fist"

Jill Johnson

Telegraph Canyon runs through sound-check before its chilling Bass Hall performance earlier this year.

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[Editor's Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 2 on the list--and, please, feel free to click after the jump for a free download of the track. Lastly, please keep checking back to see how the list pans out. Also after the jump, check out songs No. 40-26 in the Top 40 list that will update as it grows...]

No. 2: Teenage Cool Kids -- "Foreign Lands"

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[Editor's Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 3 on the list--and, please, feel free to click after the jump for a free download of the track. Lastly, please keep checking back to see how the list pans out. Also after the jump, check out songs No. 40-26 in the Top 40 list that will update as it grows...]

No. 3: St. Vincent -- "Marrow"

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Dallas native Annie Clark's second full-length release under her stage name of St. Vincent is, in many ways, a lesson in dualities--most prominently in the fact that her twisted lyrics are covered up by the soothing coo with which she sings them.

Yet there's another duality at play here as well--namely, the fact that few would peg Clark, what with her cherubic good looks and all, as the stereotypical guitar heroine. But on Actor's second single, "Marrow," Clark puts her guitar chops on blast, more than staking her claim as a guitar goddess.

Plus, y'know, it's a phenomenal song to boot.

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[Editor's Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 4 on the list--and, please, feel free to click after the jump for a free download of the track. Lastly, please keep checking back to see how the list pans out. Also after the jump, check out songs No. 40-26 in the Top 40 list that will update as it grows...]

No. 4: Sore Losers -- "Bizarre Celebrations (Fizzy Dino Pop Remix)"

Fizzy Dino Pop and Sore Losers

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Start with an enjoyable enough hipster hop ditty from local duo Sore Losers. Then toss out the beat, rearrange the verses and infuse it with Fizzy Dino Pop's growing Japanese-pop influence and undeniable aesthetic.

The result? Pure party genius.

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[Editor's Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 5 on the list--and, please, feel free to click after the jump for a free download of the track. Lastly, please keep checking back to see how the list pans out. Also after the jump, check out songs No. 40-26 in the Top 40 list that will update as it grows...]

No. 5: VEGA -- "No Reasons"

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[Editor's Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 6 on the list--and, please, feel free to click after the jump for a free download of the track. Lastly, please keep checking back to see how the list pans out. Also after the jump, check out songs No. 40-26 in the Top 40 list that will update as it grows...]

No. 6: RTB2 -- "When Hammer Hits Stone"

Elysse Holder

Ryan Thomas Becker and Grady Don Sandlin

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[Editor's Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 7 on the list--and, please, feel free to click after the jump for a free download of the track. Lastly, please keep checking back to see how the list pans out. Also after the jump, check out songs No. 40-26 in the Top 40 list that will update as it grows...]

No. 7: Dorrough -- "Ice Cream Paint Job"

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[Editor's Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 8 on the list--and, please, feel free to click after the jump for a free download of the track. Lastly, please keep checking back to see how the list pans out. Also after the jump, check out songs No. 40-26 in the Top 40 list that will update as it grows...]

No. 8: Bosque Brown -- "This Town"

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In person, Mara Lee Miller looks like a wallflower, a shy, small-town girl a little bit afraid from the spotlight. Then she steps behind a microphone, her fellow members of Bosque Brown standing behind her.

And she starts singing. And out pours that voice. And everyone within earshot melts.

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[Editor's Note: Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be presenting my favorite local songs of the year, counting down from No. 25 to No. 1, one track a day. Today we take an in-depth look at song No. 9 on the list--and, please, feel free to click after the jump for a free download of the track. Lastly, please keep checking back to see how the list pans out. Also after the jump, check out songs No. 40-26 in the Top 40 list that will update as it grows...]

No. 9: Neon Indian -- "Deadbeat Summer"

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[Editor's Note: In this week's paper, you'll see my picks for the best DFW albums of 2009. Unfortunately, because of space concerns in print, some of the column was cut. So I've decided to print the whole thing here in full. Check it out. Argue away. Do your thing. And check some of our writers' picks for national album of the year, too. Lastly, be sure keep checking back on our on-going best DFW songs of 2009 list as it continues to grow...]

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Not to get all nostalgic, but 2009 really was a fantastic year in Dallas-Fort Worth music.

There are various reasons why and, last week, we handled the news-side of it all--the hip-hop (good and bad), the reunions (big and small), the venues (open and closed) and the influence (local and national). This week's a little closer to the heart, actually. This week really matters. Because, well, the music mattered around here in 2009.

Really--I'm not blowing smoke. This year saw almost an embarrassment of riches around here; paring this, my list of picks for the best records from the region in 2009, down to just 10 proved a painstaking task. It was a deep year, for sure. A bunch of area products even earned national attention. That's not why they're on this list--but, hey, that extra attention's a good thing anyway. A few of the records on this list could use some of that shine. All of these records deserve it, really. It'd be a shame if more people didn't listen to 'em.

Yes, I mean you.

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