Sleigh Bells - "Ring Ring". Didn't hear this until late last week, but here's a song better than Sleigh Bells' late-breaking addition to my Best of 2009 list. Loose-fitting indie pop that's been weaned on r&b, that's got the nimblest little groove. "Ring Ring" is breath & snap & jingle, like the office Xmas party that might go late, that goes late, with the girls you weren't sure would come; there they are; hi. It's a winter-ready raspberry jam. [Sleigh Bells' MySpace]

Beyonce - "Halo". A few days ago, I listened to this song as I walked home. First I heard it from a car stopped at a red light, sound coming cloudy through the windows. I heard it and thought yes, slipped my headphones on, chose the song with fingers stinging in the cold. Made private, the song changed. Standing at the intersection, hearing Beyonce on the radio, I had heard a hit: a public ballad, for the whole world to share. These moments later, walking alone - it was an intimate thing. I was staggering a little, because of different things, and "Halo"'s drums were my demolitions. I felt them like two-hundred tomorrows, winking shut. And they were quieter than I expected. [Thanks, Neva / BUY]

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