* featuring hundreds of songs, artists and bands.

-Best New Releases 2012

- Top Ten Songs 2011

- Top Ten Songs 2010

- 2009 Indie Rock Songs

While the Top 10 playlist highlights the most popular songs, it does not represent all of the terrific music that is published on IRC each week. In fact, there are many great songs that don’t make it on the Top 10 because there are usually more than ten songs posted in a given week. Check out past year’s Top 10 Songs playlists for 2012, 2011 and 2010.

2013 Top 10 Songs

March 26th – April 1st

The Strokes dropped their fifth album, Comedown Machine, to mixed reviews from critics and fans, but IRC listeners nonetheless made their single, “All The Time,” the No. 1 song for the last week of March, beating out the No. 2 single, “Demon to Lean On,” from Wavves‘ new album, Afraid of Heights. The surprise hit of the week was the under the radar indie band Little Green Cars‘ single, “The John Wayne,” which took the No. 3 spot, and has made the band one of the new buzz bands of 2013. Even the second Strokes’ single, “Partners in Crime,” registered a distant No. 4, in terms of the number of streams and downloads, to LGC’s “The John Wayne,” further demonstrating that a relatively unknown indie band on a smaller indie label, armed with a killer single track, can compete with one of the biggest pop rock bands of the past decade for the top of the charts. Taking that truism a step further, at No. 5, an obscure Pittsburgh DIY rock quartet, White Like Fire, came within one ‘vote’ of The Strokes, thanks to single, “Dead People” which was recently featured in the latest installment of 5 DIY Bands To Watch in 2013. The second half of the Top 10 Songs features singles from Wire, Artist of the Week, Nathan Xander, Milk Carton Kids, Depeche Mode and Crime & City Solution.

1. “All the Time” – The Strokes from Comedown Machine (CD)

2. “Demon to Lean On” – Wavves from Afraid of Heights on Mom+Pop/Warner Bros.

3. “The John Wayne” – Little Green Cars from Absolute Zero on Glassnote Records

4. “Partners in Crime” – The Strokes from Comedown Machine

5. “Dead People” – White Like Fire from Lies

6. “Love Bends” – Wire from Change Becomes Us on Pinkflag

7. “Last Day Of The Month” – Nathan Xander from Nathan Xander

8. “The Ash & Clay” – The Milk Carton Kids from The Ash & Clay on Anti- Records

9. “Heaven” – Depeche Mode from Delta Machine (deluxe) on Columbia Records

10. “My Love Takes Me There” – Crime & The City Solution from American Twilight on Mute

March 19th – March 25th

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club secured the No. 1 song for the week of March 19th to March 26th with the single, “Let The Day Begin,” followed at No. 2 by Low‘s “Just Make It Stop,” which only slightly beat out the No. 3 song of the week, “It Starts and Ends With You,” from Suede‘s first album in over a decade. London‘s scruffy young psych rockers, Palma Violets, filled the No. 4 slot for the week thanks to their track, “Best of Friends,” followed at No. 5 by DIY Band to Watch, Ballerina Black‘s single, “Birth of a Felony.” The second half of the Top 10 Songs for the week, in order of No. 6 to No. 10, went to the second single, “Returning” from BRMC‘s new album; DIY Band to Watch Cursed Arrows‘ “Little Girl Blue” at No. 7, followed by The Ocean Blue, Marnie Stern and William Tyler.

1. “Let The Day Begin” – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club from Specter At The Feast on Vagrant Records

2. “Just Make It Stop” – Low from The Invisible Way on Sub Pop

3. “It Starts And Ends With You” - Suede from Bloodsports on Ingrooves/Fontana

4. “Best of Friends” – Palma Violets from 180 on Rough Trade

5. “Birth Of A Felony” – Ballerina Black from Injureless Blå

6. “Returning” – Black Rebel Motorcycle Club from Specter At The Feast

7. “Little Girl Blue” – Cursed Arrows from Sonic Union

8. “Sad Night, Where Is Morning?” – The Ocean Blue from Ultramarine on Korda Records

9. “Year of the Glad” - Marnie Stern from The Chronicles of Marnia on Kill Rock Stars

10. “Cadillac Desert” – William Tyler from Impossible Truth on Merge Records

March 12th – March 18th

After a lengthy hiatus, rock legend David Bowie released his first album in nearly a decade on March 12th. The lead single, “The Stars (Are Out Tonight),” from Bowie’s album, The Next Day, easily captured the No. 1 spot for the week, followed at No. 2 by Pickwick‘s new single, “Window Sill.” Registering at the No. 3 position was the single, “Hit The Waves,” from Swedish indie pop band, The Mary Onettes. The lead single, “Cut Me Some Slack,” from David Grohl‘s soundtrack for the terrific rock documentary, Sound City – Reel to Real, took the No. 4 spot for the week. The song features Paul McCartney, as well as Grohl’s former Nirvana band mates, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear.

Sound City is a new documentary about the legendary recording studio of the same name located in southern California San Fernando Valley. The studio is where some of rock’s best albums ever were recorded, including Nirvana’s Nevermind; Fleetwood Mac‘s Rumors; Neil Young‘s After The Goldrush; Blind Melon‘s self-title debut; Weezer‘s Pinkerton; Tom Petty’s Wild Flowers; Red Hot Chilli Pepper‘s One Red Hot Minute; Johnny Cash‘s Unchained and many others (see the full list of Sound City recordings). Rounding out the first half of the Top 10 is the lead single, “I, Narcoleptic,” from the new-to-us band We Scare Nightmares. The second half of the Top 10 includes songs No. 6 to No. 10, in order, from artists such as Sam Alper, Tape Deck Mountain, Shy Mirrors (Artist of the Week), Wonderflu, and finally, another single from the Shy Mirrors profile – “Face Paint” – closes out this week’s Top 10.

1. “The Stars (Are Out Tonight)” – David Bowie from The Next Day (deluxe CD edition)

2. “Window Sill” - Pickwick from Can’t Talk Medicine

3. “Hit the Waves” - The Mary Onettes from Hit the Waves on Labrador Records

4. “Cut Me Some Slack” – Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic, Pat Smear from Sound City – Real to Reel (CD version) on Roswell/RCA

5. “I, Narcoleptic” – We Scare Nightmares from Chase or Attack

6. “Moves So Fast” – Sam Alper from single

7. “Kellies” – Tape Deck Mountain from Slow Salvation on Lefse Records

8. “Rips” - Shy Mirrors from Negative Collector

9. “Fine Now” – Wonderflu from No End in Sight

10. “Face Paint” – Shy Mirrors from Sailed Blanks

March 5th – March 11th

It wasn’t a surprise at all that indie psych-rock powerhouse Youth Lagoon captured the No. 1 song of the week (via the Best New Music Releases, Week of April 10th) for the lead track, “Dropla,” off of Trevor Powers‘ much anticipated, and well received, sophomore album, Wondorous Bughouse, which was also our album of the week. The latest single, “Good Friends,” from Cloud Cult‘s latest album came in at a distant No. 2, and was almost tied with the No. 3 single of the week, “See Me On My Way,” by the new-to-us, and promising, band Superhuman Happiness. A band that IRC was one of the first to profile a couple of years ago, Hey Marseilles, scored the No. 4 spot with the single “Bright Stars Burning,” followed at No. 5 by the thoroughly remarkable track, “Nightfall,” by the band Hollis Brown.

The second half of the Top 10 Songs playlist for this week includes, in order of No. 6 to No. 10, singles by Bill Baird, Helado Negro, Cy Dune, John Murry, and Water Liars, who will actually be sharing the stage with a recent Artist of the Week, NYC DIY singer/songwriter, Nathan Xander, in an upcoming concert. Xander, who has previously opened for bands like Delta Spirit, Prussia, and Tuneyards, won over many IRC listeners with his well crafted folk rock songs. We first featured Water Liars (formerly Phantom Limb) in February of 2012.

1. “Dropla” – Youth Lagoon from Wondrous Bughouse on Fat Possum

2. “Good Friend” – Cloud Cult from Love on Earthology Records

3. “See Me On My Way” – Superhuman Happiness from Hands on The Royal Potato Family

4. “Bright Stars Burning” – Hey Marseilles from Lines We Trace on Onto Entertainment/Thirty Tigers

5. “Nightfall” – Hollis Brown from Ride on the Train on Alive Records

6. “Spring Break of the Soul” – Bill Baird from Spring Break of The Soul on Pau Wau Records

7. “Dance Ghost” – Helado Negro from Invisible Life on Asthmatic Kitty

8. “Where the Wild Things” – Cy Dune from No Recognize on Family Tree Records // Cassette Burger Records

9. “The Ballad of The Pajama Kid” – John Murry from The Graceless Age on Evangeline Recording Co.

10. “Linens” – Water Liars from Wyoming on Big Legal Mess

Feb. 26th – March 4th

Atoms For Peace, the musical side project of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, scored the first No. 1 song for March 2013 with the track “Default,” followed at a close No. 2 by Shout Out Louds‘ single “Blue Ice.” Johnny Marr, long-time guitarist for the post punk legends, The Smiths, scored the No. 3 single of the week on IRC with the track “Upstarts,” from Marr’s impressive debut solo album. In the No. 4 spot was the great track, “Illusions,” from the Shout Out Louds‘ Optica, giving the band two top five tracks for the week, followed by The Mavericks‘ latest single at No. 5 to round out the top half of the Top 10 Songs for the week of February 26th to March 4th. The bottom half of the Top 10 Songs playlist features, in order of No. 6 to No. 10, singles from Ivan & Alyosha, Deathfix, Gold Fields, another Johnny Marr single, and Doldrums.

In case you were wondering why the Top 10 Songs playlists start on Tuesday’s, that’s because in the United States and Canada, Tuesday is traditionally the day of the week when new albums are officially released. While singles from albums are often released, or leaked, weeks in advance of the official release day for the album from which they originate, our Top 10 Songs playlists are based on the week of the official album release, and most importantly, according to how many times the lead single(s) from those albums are streamed and downloaded by IRC listeners, which we figure out by analyzing web statistics and other reports.

1. “Default” – Atoms For Peace from AMOK on XL Recordings (CD)

2. “Blue Ice” – Shout Out Louds from Optica (MP3 album)

3. “Upstarts” – Johnny Marr from The Messenger (CD)

4. “Illusions” – Shout Out Louds from Optica (MP3 album)

5. “Come Unto Me” – The Mavericks from In Time

6. “On My Way” – Ivan & Alyosha from All the Times We Had on Dualtone Records

7. “Transmissions” – Deathfix from Deathfix on Dischord

8. “Dark Again” – Gold Fields from Black Sun on Astralwerks

9. “The Right Thing Right” – Johnny Marr from The Messenger (CD)

10. “Anomaly” – Doldrums from Lesser Evil on Arbutus Records

Feb. 19th – Feb. 25th

The No. 1 song for the last full week of February was Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds‘ single “Jubilee Street,” which not surprisingly only beat out by a couple of ‘votes’ the No. 2 song of the week, “Careless” by Beach Fossils, and followed closely at No. 3 by “Everybody Knows” by The Stone Foxes, a fantastic unsigned band (as many obviously agreed) featured in the popular Top New DIY and Small Label Releases post. The latest single, “While I’m Alive,” from STRFKR’s new album scored the No. 4 spot, followed by the excellent single, “Lakeside Trust,” from one our favorite bands to watch in 2013, Brave Baby. at No. 5 (from the Hearts & Plugs sampler) to round out the top half of the Top 10 Songs for the week of Feb. 19th – Feb. 25th.  The second half of the Top 10 includes tracks, in order of ranking, from Apparat, APRIL (DIY), Mitzi, Iceage and Stilleto Red (DIY).

“Jubilee Street” – Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds from Push The Sky Away

“Careless” – Beach Fossils from Clash The Truth

“Everybody Knows” – The Stone Foxes from Small Fires

“While I’m Alive” – STRFKR from Miracle Mile on Polyvinyl

“Lakeside Trust” – Brave Baby from Hearts & Plugs Sampler, Volume 2 – Feb. 1st

“A Violent Sky” – Apparat from Krieg und Frieden (Music for Theatre) on Mute

“The Rise And Fall Of A Beautiful Bird” – APRIL from The Rise and Fall Of A Beautiful Bird 7″

“All I Heard” – Mitzi from Truly Alive on Future Classic

“Coalition” – Iceage from You’re Nothing on Matador

“Her Love Is A Lie” – Stiletto Red from Her Love Is A Lie

Feb. 12th – Feb. 18th

This week’s No. 1 song, not surprisingly, was “My Number” from Foals‘ third album, Holy Fire.  The No. 2 song of the week went to a band not many people have heard of, Veronica Falls‘ single, “Teenage,” from their new album, Waiting for Something to Happen , followed at No. 3 by the second single presented in Best New Music Releases for the week of February 12th from Holy Fire, the track, “Inhaler.” Another favorite indie band over the years, The Little Ones, took the No. 4 spot of the week with their latest single, “Forro,” from the album The Dawn Sang Along on Branches Recording Collective.

The increasingly popular in the States band, northern England’s, The Virginmary‘s released their debut album this week, even though they formed in 2006. The single from the album, “Dressed to Kill” ended up at No. 5 to round out the top half of this week’s Top 10. Artist Millionyoung‘s latest single, “Lovin’” took the No. 6 spot, followed by songs No. 7 through No. 10, in order: The March Divide‘s “Jose Cuervo’s;” Aina Haina’s “I Wouldn’t Le Me In If I Were You;” Pissed Jean‘s “Cathouse;” and PVT‘s “Shiver.” Other posts this week that didn’t have tracks that made the Top 10, but would if this was a Top 20 playlist, include Recent DIY Releases (discover some great new bands) and Band of the Week: Scotland’s PAWS (excellent band and tracks).

“My Number” – Foals from Holy Fire on Warner Bros.

“Teenage” - Veronica Falls from Waiting for Something to Happen on Slumberland Records

“Inhaler” – Foals from Holy Fire on Warner Bros

“Forro” – The Little Ones from The Dawn Sang Along on Branches Recording Collective

“Jose Cuervo” – The March Divide from Music for Film on Dead Letter Records

“I Wouldn’t Let Me In If I Were You” – Aina Haina from Aina Haina EP on Badman Recording Co.

“Cathouse” – Pissed Jeans from Honeys on Sub Pop

“Shiver” - PVT from Homosapien on Felte

Feb. 5th – Feb. 11

The first full week of releases for the month of February kicks off with songs from the Best New Releases for the week of Feb. 5th, starting with the No. 1 track, “New Alphabet” from the Eels‘ newest album, Wonderful, Glorious, followed closely behind by Guards‘ latest single, “Silver Lining,” at No. 2, and the No. 3 track of the week, “The Woodpile,” by Frightened Rabbit‘s excellent album, Pedestrian Verse. The dope grooves of Thao and The Get Down Stay Down shine through in the No. 4 song of the week, “Holy Roller,” followed by the single from The Spinto Band, “Shake It Off,” to round out the top five of this week’s Top 10. The second half of the top ten list kicks off with the Band of the Week, The Motel Beds‘ track “Smoke Your Homework.” The response to The Motel Beds profile from listeners was enthusiastic, including over 130 ‘Likes’ via Facebook. If you haven’t heard them yet, we strongly encourage you to do so. The No. 7 to No. 10 tracks, in order, were Jim James‘ “A New Life;” Night Beds‘ “Wanted You in August;” Airstrip‘s “Pleasure Center,” and Matt Pond‘s “Love To Get Used,” to wrap up the Top 10 Songs for the week.

New Alphabet” – Eels from Wonderful, Glorious

“Silver Lining” – Guards from In Guards We Trust

“The Woodpile” – Frightened Rabbit from Pedestrian Verse

“Holy Roller” – Thao and the Get Down Stay Down from We The Common

“Shake It Off” – The Spinto Band from Cool Cocoon

“Smoke Your Homework” – The Motel Beds from Dumb Gold

“A New Life” – Jim James from Regions of Light and Sound of God

“Wanted You in August” – Night Beds from Country Sleep

“Pleasure Center” – Airstrip from Willing on Holidays

“Love To Get Used” – Matt Pond from The Lives Inside The Lines In Your Hand

Jan. 29th – Feb. 4th

Among competitor from other bands for the No. 1 Song of the week, it was indie artist Lost Animal that captured the No. 1 songs spot for the week of Jan. 29th, followed at No. 2 by the newest single, “Closer,” from Tegan & Sara, with Local Natives‘ “Breakers” at No. 3. Filling out the top half of this week’s Top 10, according to your streams and downloads, were the No. 4 and No. 5 songs of the week by Yellow Red Sparks and Golden Bloom. The lower half of the top ten feature singles The Ruby Suns, Indians, The History of Apple Pie, La Big Vic and Mice Parade.

“Say No to Thugs” – Lost Animal from Ex Tropical on Hardly Art

“Closer” – Tegan and Sara from Heartthrob

“Breakers” – Local Natives from Hummingbird on Frenchkiss

“Monster Misdemeanors” – Yellow Red Sparks from Yellow Red Sparks

“Flying Mountain” – Golden Bloom from No Day Like Today

“Kingfisher Call Me” – The Ruby Suns from Christopher on Sub Pop

“I Am Haunted” – Indians from Somewhere Else on 4AD

“See You” – The History of Apple Pie from Out of View on Marshall Teller Records

“Avenue B” – La Big Vic from Cold War on Underwater Peoples

“This River Has A Tidevz” – Mice Parade from Candela on Fat Cat Records

Jan. 22nd – Jan. 28th

This week’s No. 1 song was a surprise, but also not a surprise. The track, “Weight of Love,” by the relatively unknown band, Gliss, is one of our favorite songs of the new year from a band that we’d never heard of before, so that’s why it was a surprise, but not a surprise that IRC listeners – through their streams and downloads – made it the No. 1 track of the week. Another reason it was a surprise was that, besides not being a well-known band, we intentionally placed it further down the Best New Releases for the Week of Jan. 22nd post just to see how it would fare, because if it had been one of the first group of five songs among the singles for the week, it would be a bit harder when examining the web stats to tell if were popular as a result of it’s position on the page or a glowing endorsement. If you haven’t heard the album “Weight of Love,” we strongly encourage buying a copy. Ty Segall turns it up with Mikal Cronin on the track “I Wear Black” from the duo’s new collaborative release, Reverse Shark Attack, on the No. 2 song of the week, followed at No. 3 by Nightlands. Great songs from The Joy Formidable and DRGN King took the No. 4 and No. 5 songs to round out the first half of the Top 10 of the week.

“Weight of Love” – Gliss from Langsom on Modern Outsider Records

“I Wear Black” – Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin from Reverse Shark Attack on In The Red

“So Far So Long” – Nightlands from Oak Island on Secretly Canadian

“This Ladder Is Ours” – The Joy Formidable from Wolf’s Law on Atlantic

“Wild Night” – DRGN King from Paragraph Nights on Bar None

“Youth Without Youth” – Metric from Synthetica on Metric Music International
via MusicisArt.ws

“Try” (feat. Toro Y Moi) -Nosaj Thing from Home on Timetable Records via Innovative Leisure

“Used To Think” – Pillowfight from Pillowfight on Bulk Recordings / EMI

“Beta Love” – Ra Ra Riot from Beta Love on Barsuk

“Say That” – Toro Y Moi from Anything in Return on Carpark

Jan. 15th – Jan. 21st

This week’s Best New Releases of new albums, EPs and singles clearly demonstrates that the holiday season is over, and people are getting back to their routines (whether that’s good, not so good or makes no difference to you) since the number, and name-recognition, of new releases is picking up from most of December (scroll below to view December 2012 Top 10 playlists or click here), which is traditionally a low month for new releases, as are the first couple of weeks of January. The No. 1 song for the second week of January was “Across The Sky” from The Capsules‘ album Northern Lights and Southern Skies, which beat out Yo La Tengo‘s latest single, “Ohm” from the band’s 13th studio album, Fade, that officially dropped this week. The No. 3 song of the week, “Strange Fruit,” is the lead single from England’s Shaun Hencher, the former frontman of Lovvers, and now the founder of his new musical project dubbed Virals. The 70′s influenced indie pop band Free Energy scored the No. 4 spot for “Girls Want Rock,” the title track of their sophomore album. At No. 5 for the week is the latest acoustic classic song from The Head and the Heart titled “Josh McBride.” The lower half of the Top 10 includes songs from Marching Band, Pickwick featuring Sharon Van Etten, Parquet Courts, Christopher Owens, and Mystical Weapons.

“Across The Sky” – The Capsules from Northern Lights and Southern Skies on Vespera Records

“Ohm” – Yo La Tengo from Fade on Matador

“Strange Fruit” - Virals from Strange Fruit EP on Zoo Music

“Girls Want Rock” – Free Energy from Love Sign on Free Energy Music

“Josh McBride” – The Head And The Heart from Josh McBride/Honey Come Home on Electric Records

“And I’ve Never Seen Anything” – Marching Band from And I’ve Never Seen Anything Like That EP

“Lady Luck” (feat. Sharon Van Etten) – Pickwick from Covers EP

“Borrowed Time” – Parquet Courts from Light Up Gold on What’s Your Rupture?

“Here We Go” – Christopher Owens from Lysandre on Fat Possum

“Mechanical Mammoth” - Mystical Weapons from Mystical Weapons on Chimera Music

Jan. 8th – Jan. 14th

The first Top 10 Songs playlist of 2013 spawned IRC’s first No. 1 Song of the year – Pere Ubu’s single, “Free White” off the band’s new album, Lady From Shangai. Interesting result considering the band have been together for 40 years, but that’s the single (and it’s a damn good song) that IRC listeners streamed and downloaded the most for the week of all the other singles posted. The No. 2 song of the week was Wooden Hand’s “Southern Colorado Song.” So, it’s good news for Fire Records since both artists are on their small label. Yet, it would be all DIY artists and bands that would dominate the first Top 10 Songs playlist of 2013 – at No. 3 is DIY singer/songwriter Alex Vans‘ “Good Enough,” followed at No. 4 by unsigned band The Agreeables.  The No. 5 song, “The Restless and the Wicked” (not to be confused with Cage The Elephant‘s “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked”) is from the relatively unknown singer/songwriter Colin Davis.

Next, the DIY band Ceremonies self-titled album produced the No. 6 song of the week with “Promises.” All of the singles in this first top ten weekly top playlist of 2013 originated from the Best New Releases and Top DIY Releases posts for the week of Jan. 8th to 14th. Each post contains more information, and in some cases, more songs, about the bands that made the top ten, and those that came close, but not close enough.

“Free White” – Pere Ubu from Lady From Shangai on Fire Records

“Southern Colorado Song” - Wooden Wand from Blood Oaths Of The New Blues on Fire Records

“Good Enough” – Alex Vans from DJ Booth (self-released)

“I’d Fly Away” – The Agreeables from Bonus Tracks

“The Restless and The Wicked” – Colin Davis from The Restless and The Wicked EP

The Future Is Not What It Used to Be” – Youthband from single

“Promises” – Ceremonies from Ceremonies

“Distort The Air” – We’re No Heroes from We’re No Heroes EP

“Speed Of Life” – Luck & Senses from Speed Of Life

“Getting To My Head” – Dead Recipe from Dead Recipe