The 100 Best Songs of the Decade
Submitted by lbangs on Sat, 12/12/2009 - 18:06
- 15 Bubbling Under the Top 100 (in alphabetical order by artist)
- Alter Ego - Rocker (2005) - There are some great acid house groups out there. This song was a stellar standout.
- Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles (2002) - The big, soaring teen-girl-and-a-piano ballad that worked. You knew there had to be one...
- Fleet Foxes - Your Protector (2008) - One of the songs from the very good album that work best alone, separated from the rest.
- Nelly Furtado - Promiscuous (2006) - Once in a while, an artist sounds better selling out than being noble. She sold her soul to pure pop pleasure; she's better promiscuous than like a bird.
- Gorillaz - Dare (2005) - Damon's post-Blur outfit had several contenders for the list, but this quirky stomper of a song won out.
- The Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control (2006) - So many diva attempts this decade only attained mediocre, but this one pounds and wails, demanding your attention.
- The Hives - Hate to Say I Told You So (2000) - Great throw-away rocker from a band full of 'em.
- Hot Chip - One Pure Thought (2008) - It could have been And I Was a Boy from School. Or Over and Over. Or...
- Madonna - Don't Tell Me (2000) - For a seminal dance-pop artist, she always seems to save her very best for that slow, seeping ballad. Like this one.
- The New Pornographers - The Laws Have Changed (2003) - I know a few people are already tempted to hate me, seeing that this band won't make the top 100. Still, how can you resist that voice, those ba-ba-ba-bas? I can't...
- R.E.M. - Supernatural Superserious (2008) - One of the greatest 80s bands spent most of the decade sucking. This is the lead single from the comeback. Welcome back. We've missed you.
- Santogold - You'll Find a Way (2008) - Almost every song on this album could've been a single. Oddly enough, this one, my favorite, was not.
- Britney Spears - Toxic (2003) - The single non-Spears fans all usually admit to liking when drunk or in need of sleep.
- Weezer - Hash Pipe (2001) - Just a tad better than that one that had the awesome video with theMuppets. Big dumb chords, just like the band's best.
- Amy Winehouse - Rehab (2006) - Motown decades later. I hope she's still alive when I post this.
- WHOOPS!
- I just realized I forgot about a song that belongs on the list. Sorry, world! Feel free to pencil in Rufus Wainwright's California where you see fit...
- Honorable Mention
- Nirvana - You Know You're Right - I just can't bring myself to include it, knowing it was recorded in the mid-90s, but wow, what a great single. Most ghosts don't sound nearly this alive...
- The 100 Best Songs of the Decade
- 100) The Rapture - House of Jealous Lovers (2002) - One of those great stupid-fun punky dance anthems that ruled the dancefloor this decade. You get crazy beats, crazy vocals, and a little crazy cow bell to boot. Lucky.
- 99) Ghostface Killah - Kilo (2006) - Rap ditty is blaxploitation film come alive, plus free educational bits about the metric system...
- 98) Peaches - F*ck the Pain Away (2000) - Every list should have one embarrassing song, so here you are. Electroclash didn’t give us too many great songs, but this one will have you unknowingly singing aloud in public lines you ought not to; you’ve been warned.
- 97) Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken (2006) - In 1984, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions asked if you’re ready to be heartbroken; 22 years later, somebody finally responds with breathless angelic melody.
- 96) Gwen Stefani - Hollaback Girl (2004) - School bands may still not be cool, but Gwen sure gave it a game try. Kids everywhere learned how to spell bananas along with a new four-letter word. It was undeniable.
- 95) Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict a Riot (2004) - Catchy despite talk of getting beat up and all; I almost chose Ruby instead.
- 94) MGMT - Time to Pretend (2007) - Buzzing along while ripping at the lifestyles of the rich and famous; Robin Leach never quite let on how silly everything is, but these kids wink and then some.
- 93) Sonic Youth - Malibu Gas Station (2009) - If not quite up to Sister or Daydream Nation, at least worthy of whatever followed; besides, we just knew these former Madonna coverers had at least a little interest in Britney...
- 92) The Raveonettes - Aly, Walk With Me (2007) - A little Psychocandy for Halloween?
- 91) Pretenders - Boots of Chinese Plastic (2008) - Good to see Hynde jump back from woman-in-rock icon to being a woman who rocks.
- 90) Cat Power - I Don't Blame You (2003) - The indie world needed that emotional nod to artists gone too soon. Cat Power mashes ivory pondering Elliott Smith. Sad.
- 89) Scissor Sisters - Take Your Mama (2004) - Oedipus spent too much time moping, but what if he could swing? Here you go.
- 88) Robyn - Be Mine! (2005) - Go ahead; even my 20-something girlfriend pokes fun at me for this one. Pop just doesn’t come this divine very often.
- 87) The Walkmen - The Rat (2004) - Nervous, indeed; wired, paranoid angst made fun.
- 86) Eminem - Lose Yourself (2002) - He was all over the start of the decade. Yes, the rules say I should choose Stan, but in tribute to a man who knows no rules, I give you this one I like a little better.
- 85) Modest Mouse - Dashboard (2007) - Once they stopped floating on, the heat turned up. Things got a little crazier. Our gain.
- 84) Bob Dylan - Sugar Baby (2001) - After snoozing for a few decades, the man woke up and started to make great songs again. What to choose? This one stays with me a little longer than most. “Some of these memories you can learn to live with, and some of them you can't.” Nowadays, he sounds old enough to know.
- 83) Basement Jaxx - Where's Your Head At? (2001) - The video had mad monkeys going crazy playing relentless house/rock insanity. Perfect, then.
- 82) Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma (2008) - Choice cut from album that plays like a greatest hits collection; overeducated lads can indeed produce indie Jamaican-flavored bliss. Check out 74 for a cameo of sorts… Hey, I’m a believer.
- 81) Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (2008) - Guys hitting 50 usually sound tired. This is supercharged, ticked-off, and stomping with rage.
- 80) Miranda Lambert - Gunpowder & Lead (2007) - Best country song of the year. The song Before He Cheats wants to be when it grows up. Did I mention it is from the best country album of the decade? Witness the return of outlaw country, before the genre turned into a teen-pop version of The Eagles.
- 79) Justice vs. Simian - We Are Your Friends (2006) - French duo scored sterling string of electronic dance hits toward the end of the decade. This one makes you feel loved while you boogie. Awww.
- 78) Cursive - The Martyr (2000) - The song flirting with emo you can listen to more than once. Still, you get lines like, “Your tears are only alibis...
- 77) Green Day - Warning (2000) - Punk bands usually should stay away from acoustic guitars, but these guys were always the gold standard for that genre post-80s. I honestly didn’t expect these guys to be around past 1997, much less making some of their best albums yet (American Idiot, Warning, etc.)
- 76) St. Germain - Montego Bay Spleen (2000) - The sound of blissed-out relaxation, mingling chillout electronica with Blue Note jazz. Play the album this is from, Tourist back to back with Aja, and insomniacs doze off. For once, that is not a bad thing.
- 75) Peter Bjorn and John - Nothing to Worry About (2009) - Even better than Young Folks. Yeah, that’s right. How to go from cozy and catchy to booming, chirping, and nuts in two singles.
- 74) Babyshambles - F*ck Forever (demo) (2005) - Don’t ask where I got it, as I don’t remember. The album version is fine, if over-polished. This earlier, rougher mix of the song leaves the spit shine behind, turns up the rude guitars, and rocks. Good lucking nabbing a copy.
- 73) Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor (2005) - Debut single from debut album wildly over-praised in British press; that’s too bad, because it is actually quite fun. Guitar rock returns to the motherland. Again.
- 72) The Dandy Warhols - We Used to Be Friends (2003) - Best song from the band, and even Veronica Mars agrees. First of two songs from that soundtrack on here, if you can believe that. C’mon now, sugar…
- 71) Radiohead - Idioteque (2000) - That defiant electronic heart, showing the life in the band that became Pink Floyd for a generation and then decided to be its Kraftwerk and Autechre too…
- 70) Oasis - Lyla (2005) - Still around from the last time guitar rock hit England, old but managing some crackin’ singles like this ode to a gal. Alas, America gave them no ear this time.
- 69) Hot Hot Heat - Bandages (2002) - Insane, wired, and catchy; one of the first sightings of a major trail rock blazed throughout the decade.
- 68) Bruce Springsteen - Erie Canal (2006) - Yeah, everybody liked every other album by the Boss this decade more, but as often happens, everybody is wrong. Get a group, a jug and washboard, and sing along. Has he ever sounded this loose and *gasp* fun?
- 67) Cold War Kids - We Used to Vacation (2006) - Or Hospital Beds. Not entirely sure why these obvious heirs to U2 didn’t get more of a push, unless it is because Pitchfork found out the lads had an uncool faith and suddenly decided to hate them. Alcoholic desperation and family woes in a rock song pitched for the bleachers? Oh, yeah…
- 66) T.I. & Jay-Z - Swagga Like Us (2008) - Paper Planes wasn’t even off the radio before this turned a sample from it into something else altogether. Who can forget a pregnant M.I.A. dancing along live at the Grammys, only a few hours before she would go into labor?
- 65) The Go! Team - Bottle Rocket (2004) - What if the Spice Girls could rap and had Beck mixing up the background tracks? Oh, and what if they were awesome?
- 64) Blood Meridian - Oh, Oh, Oh (2004) - You’ve not heard it, but when you do, notice how infectious the depression is, down to the way the lady sings behind the chorus, enticing and warning at once. Could nearly fit on the second side of Sticky Fingers.
- 63) The Faders - No Sleep Tonight (2005) - Teen pop/rock for the naughty kids. Dirty fluff that stomps its feet and will not be denied. Also off that Veronica Mars soundtrack, so Hannah Montana, this ain’t.
- 62) Electric Six - Danger! High Voltage (2003) - Dance insanity catchy enough it would be at home on the The B-52’s debut if that yellow album had arrived in 2003 instead of 1979. What? The Taco Bell’s on fire?
- 61) Bon Iver - Creature Fear (2008) - Creepy heartbroken man retreats to cabin in the wood to howl, hunt, and record this spooky album where you can almost hear the dull, dampened echo off of the log cabin’s wall. That’s the legend, at least, and this song makes you believe it, even if you don’t.
- 60) Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks - Real Emotional Trash (2008) - Long guitar track has been likened to the Dead filtered through Pavement. Okay, but it sounds much better than that threatens. The backbone to his brilliant, overlooked album of the same name.
- 59) No Age - Eraser (2008) - Noisy lo-fi punk/pop divided into two and still under three minutes long.
- 58) The Killers - Mr. Brightside (2004) - The best the band’s managed so far, wrapping erotic obsession, copious Costello influence, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (!) into one massive package even folks who hate the outfit often are caught humming…
- 57) Air - Cherry Blossom Girl (2004) - Turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream…
- 56) Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out (2004) - It cranks while it slams, and that squiggly guitar won’t let you go. Who could stay in?
- 55) Art Brut - Formed a Band (2004) - One of the funniest tunes of decade is also one of the most fun. Will these guys ever live up to this debut single? Let’s hope so.
- 54) The Hidden Cameras - Doot Doot Plot (2004) - Somehow, the lyrics manage to fulfill the promise of the title (lots of doot-doots) while name-checking Pol Pot and burrowing into your brain with the seductive strength of a sugar high. Love it. You’ve no choice.
- 53) Kelis - Milkshake (2003) - I prefer malts, but… She lured us all to the yard with the R&B tune mated with a bit of Prince’s weirdness. Heck, he could’ve even written those lyrics, as far as we know…
- 52) Missy Elliott - Get Ur Freak On (2001) - She owned the singles charts of the early decade, each album giving us at least one classic song the world soon was singing. This was the best of an incredible batch.
- 51) The Von Bondies - C'mon C'mon (2004) - Every decade deserves a pure, ravishing rush of guitars, a wicked whirlwind tearing through the speakers and devastating everything within earshot in under two-and-a-half minutes. Here you go; buckle your safety belt.
- 50) Kanye West - Jesus Walks (2004) - You’ll hear a statement of purpose louder than any statement of faith, but this remains the best single from a man who may have done more to shape the sound of the decade than any other soul. The hungry passion before success made him cool.
- 49) Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend (2007) - It hurts my fingers to type that name, given how much she annoys me. A broken clock is correct twice a day, and this lame mallrat loser managed one terrific single you can’t forget, even if she had to rip off The Rubinoos to nail it.
- 48) The Strokes - Hard to Explain (2001) Most “The” bands weaned on new wave boast DNA that can be traced back to this band’s debut. This is the best of that great lot, although New York City Cops almost trumped it. (it is from the original UK version. You know, the one with the much cooler cover.)
- 47) Lily Allen - Smile (2006) - Calypso kisses indie pop, rocketing MySpace phenomenon to fame and fortune. For once, hoopla was deserved. Funny, knowing, and just barely the right side of snarky.
- 46) M.I.A. - Paper Planes (2007) - We knew she was awesome. We just never dreamed the rest of the world would figure it out. Taking The Clash even deeper into the third world, she murdered all and let nobody go.
- 45) Wilco - At Least That's What You Said (2004) - No, not the best album from the hallowed band, but the best tune. They made you turn up the volume so the guitar freak-out blew your eardrums and your amps as well as your mind.
- 44) Primal Scream - Accelerator (2000) - Ever think Nine Inch Nails were okay, but just needed to be a little louder and more assaulting? Search no more. Nobody would’ve guessed this would be the left turn the band would take at full speed; that’s probably why the competition never kept up.
- 43) The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations (2006) - A band on fire and born to run, they did a better Springsteen for the decade than Bruce himself. Thoughtful anthems hammered home with wall of sound and best-bar-band-in-town sensibilities.
- 42) Kelly Clarkson - Since U Been Gone (2004) - Interviews claim she was trying to sound like The Strokes. She failed miserably, but created something even better. High water mark far above anything else she’s managed so far. If you didn’t blare this full volume in your car and sing along at the top of your lungs, you had a very decade than the rest of us did.
- 41) Over the Rhine - What I’ll Remember Most (2003) - Karin Bergquist has a voice made for smoky jazz lounges after hours. That she’s in a band that still is trying to figure out what it is exactly makes everything even better. Some haunting lyrics and a mood not far removed from The Trinity Sessions makes this stick with you.
- 40) Band of Horses - The Funeral (2006) - For their sake, I hope the boys cheer up. For our sake, though…
- 39) The Black Keys - 10 A.M. Automatic (2004) - You probably shouldn’t listen to this tune for the first time cranked up in your car; that out-of-phase saw cut of a guitar in the middle might make you think a airplane is buzzing you North by Northwest style. This duo sounds like an outfit at least three times as huge.
- 38) Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue (2008) - Promising but often too-cute songwriter finally goes supernova, aiming to be the new first lady of the canyon. This campfire title track is slower than most of the album, so don’t stop here...
- 37) Dirty Three - I Offered It Up to the Stars & the Night Sky (2000) - An instrumental track stretching over more than ten minutes. Scared? If not, this cathartic slow-build might prove a better rock-classical hybrid than Prog ever pulled off.
- 36) OutKast - B.O.B. (2000) - Liked Hey Ya! better? I won’t argue much. That was a pop blitzkrieg of sorts. This one actually sounds like a blitzkrieg. For my money, the best song yet from the best rap band since Public Enemy.
- 35) Annie - Chewing Gum (2004) - If you’re the type to still vomit at the mention of ABBA, skip ahead. If Norwegian pop doesn’t sound quite so sickening, this is about as good as it get. You’ll chew, and the flavor will last, and last, and...
- 34) Spoon - The Underdog (2007) - For a year, this band was everywhere, even though people still couldn’t identify them. You probably know this song and don’t even know that you know it. No? Confident guitars with perfect lyrics that don’t always make sense and yet always perfectly do...
- 33) Prince - Cinnamon Girl (2004) - Close your eyes. If it wasn’t for the lyrics obviously written in a post-9/11 world, you’d swear it was 1985 all over. The artist’s comeback has not been a smooth one, but on individual tracks, the Prince reigned. (Yes, purple...)
- 32) Low - Medicine Magazines (2001) - Spooky. Just spooky. And lovely.
- 31) The Fiery Furnaces - Two Fat Feet (2003) - Deeply strange brother/sister duo never settles into a sound for more than a few minutes. Often, they still manage to force a coherency over the madness, not unlike capturing a charging rhino in a butterfly net. This song is the one where the hollow stomp snaps the leash on the guitar and lets all havoc loose.
- 30) Jarvis Cocker - Running the World (2006) - I don’t think he likes the way things are going very much, even if he still keeps a straight face about it. Number thirty isn’t a bad position for a man who wrote possibly the best single of the previous decade. This is on the Children of Men soundtrack (there’s your clue), and it is hidden at the end of his first solo album (you didn’t think that last song was really half an hour long, did you?)
- 29) The Kills - Sour Cherry (2008) - Jerky, rude pop from the latest batch of cool kids. Yeah, I hear it was on Gossip Girl. Relax. You’ll love it anyways...
- 28) Gnarls Barkley - Crazy (2006) - Have you heard this one yet? Try to sniff it out, then. It’ll be worth the effort.
- 27) Yo La Tengo - The Story of Yo La Tango (2006) - Long, hypnotic noise fest with melody galore. Remember when bands always ended their records with one of those? They were seldom nearly as good as this one.
- 26) Neko Case and Her Boyfriends - Twist the Knife (2000) - Sad, lonely saloon song of the decade, belted by one of the best voices around. They don’t write ‘em this good very often, and even when they do, they don’t sing ‘em half as well. Oddly, even as she gets more well known, this song stays pretty buried. Excavate it.
- 25) Portishead - Machine Gun (2008) - If you last checked in around 97, you probably remember this band as one to start up when you want to relax in the wee small hours. You’re in for a surprise. From soothing to challenging, somehow this band just grew more beautiful and compelling as they got more inaccessible. That’s an achievement. This is a highlight from one of the best albums of the decade.
- 24) Dizzee Rascal - Stand Up Tall (2004) - Crazier than Gnarls Barkley, but you won’t care. If you never could get into Nirvana because you had trouble understanding what they were saying, run like mad. Otherwise, pull your socks up and love it. Rap never hit up electo-dance beats and glitches so manically or seductively.
- 23) Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out of My Head (2001) - Remember when she was something of a joke? Yeah, we all had written her off, but she just wasn’t ready for oblivion. One monster pop album and one film cameo later, we never doubted her again. Icy yet warm, cool yet affectionate, this was the best fluff around for years.
- 22) The White Stripes - There's No Home for You Here (2003) - Jack White was the artist of the decade (yeah, you read it right, bub), and this pounding break-up declaration was an over-looked shot of ticked-off brilliance sneaking around a much studied catalog. I don’t think she’s coming back after this one…
- 21) Animal Collective - Summertime Clothes (2009) - Asylum sing-along for all us crazy kids. The park is day-glo, but you know you really want to take a stroll. How can you resist?
- 20) Fountains of Wayne - Stacy's Mom (2003) - The Cars drive into the decade with a killer hook and hilarious lyrics about a teenage crush on a older, lonely lady. This song might have been the omen of how much the music industry was changing, managing to be a huge hit online long before the dead, petrified radio stations caught on to the kooky brilliance. The video was loaded with Fast Times and huge laughs. Really, nobody can resist this one, probably not even Stacy’s mom...
- 19) The National - Mistaken for Strangers (2007) - The National is the answer to that question we’ve all asked, “What would an indie band sound like if Leonard Cohen took it over?” Quietly driven by a persistent beat from a drum played in a very dark, cavernous room, these songs are decadent, doomed, and beautiful. Things fall apart, innocents are corrupted, and on a single like this, it all sounds so much like audio Ophelias, drowning, yet gorgeous. (and the vinyl version sounds even better...)
- 18) TV on the Radio - I Was a Lover (2006) - Every decade gets that great song that sounds like several different creatures stitched together into a awful patchwork monster that somehow works as one beast. From Good Vibrations to Paranoid Android, this impossible creation continues to be a lofty goal for great bands, and somehow, many of them pull it off. This, the first track from the best album of the decade, is one of these Frankensteins, mysteriously incorporating piano breaks, creepy doo wop harmonies, and sudden sheets of noise pouring over everything. You can’t find a bad song on this disc (and the single, Wolf Like Me, was another strong contender), but this strained tale of war, perverted relations, and surreal imagery of nightmare landscapes is a sick, twisted, glorious miracle.
- 17) The Shins - Kissing the Lipless (2003) - Everybody pelts me and demands New Slang, but I’ve claimed this the better tune since I first heard it, and you know I’m not backing down now. A few jabs of electric guitar working as unexpected exclamation marks break up the tortured, ticked-off vocals into stinging sentences that break skin. Somebody’s been betrayed or left behind, and he’s not keen to hide his bitter resentment or anger. It is short, and it is one of the least typical songs the band has released, but oddly enough, it is also the group’s best. Now put the fruit down...
- 16) Elvis Costello & The Imposters - Bedlam (2004) - Some of Costello’s best songs in years are on the too-often over-looked The Delivery Man (Country Darkness is another), but this warped tale of political displacement, religion, slaughter, and insanity kicks up a mighty rumpus you can’t avoid. The original Bedlam was a lunatic asylum in Bethlehem, and those images of Mary and Joseph are entirely intended in this tale of Holy Land havoc and lonely estrangement. That steady drum forces the song along, but that quicksilver synth is interwoven throughout like a strand of acidic strychnine, sizzling thin as it pulls the chaos together and stitches it into a burnt leather charcoal etching of a frantic, desperate escape from a situation far too far gone to understand any longer.
- 15) PJ Harvey - Good Fortune (2000) - Those guitars are the sounds of the first few steps of a grand escape, as Polly Jean sings of tossing her bad fortune away for good. She's off with a lover, running through an alluring New York that glistens and gleams in the dark. It won’t last, she knows that, but the narcotic thrill of the elusion is worth the reckoning that waits in another day. That exhilarating rush of freedom is a persistent subtext in the history rock, and not very many have drawn it to the surface as tempting as here. For an artist who grew famous screaming open-throated and raw, PJ is subdued here, letting loose this cool electric current course through the midnight landscape like heroin through a network of neon blue veins. Run away with her.
- 14) Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) (2004) - This album was perhaps the first time a band tried to capture the open-armed anthems-for-the-ages glory of early U2 without actually trying to sound just like early U2. Combining some of their favorite Pet Sounds with a post-punk sensibility and those all-important choral tendencies, this ever morphing outfit from Canada managed an intimacy that somehow filled stadiums. Wide-eyed and passionate, they created the decade’s ultimate indie blockbuster, a small album that reached millions, a horribly kept secret you felt like you still managed to cover over. Chopping this into songs is like Solomon’s solution, but this song works well alone, capturing most of the band’s triumphant virtues in few magical moments.
- 13) Jay-Z - 99 Problems (2003) - Can the best AC/DC song of the decade also be the best hip hop song of the decade. Here you go.
- 12) Maximo Park - Apply Some Pressure (2005) - Audio adolescence, somehow encompassing the uncertain paranoid romantic obsessions of youth you never really shake off, that angst you hate with all your heart and long for until you die. This not only captures that frightened love and lovely lust, but also the delicious confusion and helium expectations that often ride shotgun to such erotic preoccupations. That it strains all this through the music of my own adolescence, of course, is purely coincidental...
- 11) Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You (2008) - Why would they? The rest of us, however - we’re fair game. Forget the gender melt of the verses; I don’t hear how anybody cannot love this wild whirl of longing love, 60s dance party boogie, slinky funky guitar, groovy bass digs, post-new wave keyboards, and cheerleader count offs. Juiced, punky, and hyped impossibly high through the net and various cool outlets, this miraculously blew away all expectations. These Floridian kids have cooked up the fun dance monolith of the decade. You’d be a freaking fool to pretend you can resist, so get a clue, run out there, and dance, dance, dance!
- 10) Solex - Low Kick and Hard Bop (2001) - It is too easy to compare her to Beck, but on first listen, you can’t blame anybody for doing so. This kooky collage just shouldn’t work - a ploinky bass, wailing harmonica straight outta Chicago circa 1953, that shuffling drum loop, yelled female vocals over a more relaxed, even comical male line Velvet-style, that bizarre, tender bridge, the cacophonous noise of it all. Solex, though, is a pro at layering these disparate elements into something that strangely works, and on this tune, the final result is one heady, addictive brew. It strikes you as a bit strange at first taste, but a few pulls, and you just can’t stop drinking and drinking...
- 9) U2 - Beautiful Day (2000) - Let’s face it. We cherish this band even when they frustrate us. We relish this group that has managed to keep all four of its original members for around 9) U2 - Beautiful Day (2000) - Let’s face it. We cherish this band even when they frustrate us. We relish this group that has managed to keep all four of its original members for around three decades now, but when we’re honest, we confess this has been the weakest decade for them yet. There hasn’t been an end-to-end masterpiece on the level of Achtung Baby, War, or The Joshua Tree, and for once, the crew’s best work has been the result of water-treading instead of innovating. Still, nobody should ever dismiss this band - if they don't reach the heights of those dics, remember those three albums are some of the best rock has kicked out, and the heart of U2 seems engaged rather than tired, still passionate rather than doing it all for the dough like most long-lived units. Want proof? This single, the lead song from their finest album of the decade, can give any U2 single from any era a run for its money. With evocative verses exploding into a hyperdriven chorus that can blow the seats out of a stadium and a classic bridge that brings it all home with more poetic potency than you might expect, this song scores. Not many bands can manage an anthem nearly this good, and certainly few that just passed the twenty-year mark.three decades now, but when we’re honest, we confess this has been the weakest decade for them yet. There hasn’t been an end-to-end masterpiece on the level of Achtung Baby, War, or The Joshua Tree, and for once, the crew’s best work has been the result of water-treading instead of innovating. Still, nobody should ever dismiss this band - if they don't reach the heights of those dics, remember those three albums are some of the best rock has kicked out, and the heart of U2 seems engaged rather than tired, still passionate rather than doing it all for the dough like most long-lived units. Want proof? This single, the lead song from their finest album of the decade, can give any U2 single from any era a run for its money. With evocative verses exploding into a hyperdriven chorus that can blow the seats out of a stadium and a classic bridge that brings it all home with more poetic potency than you might expect, this song scores. Not many bands can manage an anthem nearly this good, and certainly few that just passed the twenty-year mark.
- 8) Interpol - PDA (2002) - Stealing the sound of a great artist isn’t always a bad thing, especially if you have a song up your sleeve that could land on the legend’s best of. Just ask Tom Petty. Time will tell if Interpol will ever escape the constant comparisons to former glories, but for this long, paranoid spiral of a tune, nobody cares. It is all here, the steady, low voice chanting the cynical lines about alienation and doom, the inescapable, inevitable bass line, the sudden shift of a chorus temporarily lifting the gloom only to eventually add another layer of film over the grimy window. The tension builds as the coil compacts impossibly tight. Nervy, spastic, monochromatic gloom hasn't sounded this great since 1981.
- 7) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Miles Away (2001) - This song isn’t just about a racing car, it is a racing car. The verses idle with potential, humming a slow, steady pace, until the scarf hits the pavement and that chorus hits the floor, shooting a series or revving guitars into red overdrive and and hurtling the craft like a mad racer heading for a brick wall. Karen O huffs, puffs, snarls, and whines, matching the engine for speed and fiery fury, all danger and sex. It is gone in under two and a half minutes, but this is a wild, shameless tear through the backroads of lofi punk, setting the road ablaze like a burning phoenix of riot grrrl wonder, larger and more dangerous than ever. Yes, fame awaited, especially after that haunting ballad, Maps, but this band never, I mean never, approached this hellbent shot of auto-delight tucked away on their debut EP.
- 6) Wussy - What’s-His-Name (2007) - The tale is a gothic backwoods tangled mess of love, obsession, and infidelity. See, the couple loves each other, but both are having an affair and blames it on the fact the other person is cheating and therefore no longer loves. Obviously, a smoking crash must lie at the end, but nobody can let off the gas. It is a nutso situation, and the fuzzy mush of acoustic and electric guitars sounds perfectly suited to the psycho situation. The male could sing lead for a number of underground 90s alt.country outfits, but that lady’s voice is to die for. Forget those American Idol posers, this is what timeless singing is all about. Hear her raw, whisky purr twice and hear it forever. In fact, that’s this song; it is one addictive tangle of all sorts of stuffs that are bad for you; try it a few times, and you’ll likely be hooked for life. It is even on iTunes now (finally). C’mon, try it. You know you wanna…
- 5) Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day (2005) - He is a boy getting involved with a young girl dying from bone cancer. Yeah, go ahead and roll your eyes, but then listen to the song. This stuff sucks because ninety-nine percent of it is a sheet of syrupy slop cheaply slung around aiming for easy tears. This one isn't - it is a quiet, honest secret full of confession, confusion, and challenged faith - and as a result, you cry every time it plays...
- 4) Paul Westerberg - Crackle & Drag (original take) (2003) - Nobody bothered to tell Westerberg that songs about Sylvia Plath’s suicide are supposed to be slow, solemn affairs, and we can all be happy for that lapse. Taking the title from her poem Edge, Westerberg methodically sets about the details of the grim incident while the music behind him flails about with a lo-fi glory the musician hasn’t attained since his blessed days leading The Replacements. Yes, there’s another version on the album, one closer to that quiet tune so many probably think his subject matter deserves, but this sad, furious, and confused gnarled blaze of a song tears through the murk and the muck with the blast and blaze of a hell-bound fireball. If that ain’t rock and roll…
- 3) Joseph Arthur - The Real You (2000) - Harrowing is a terribly over-used word in criticism, but really, nothing else quite works here. You only hear a spooky, sparse drum set, an acoustic guitar, a vocal so close the singer must nearly have the microphone in his mouth, and a song. That song, though, is a devastating tale of loss, pain, and the adamant realization that you’ve nothing left. It is the sound of complete despair, of a life so stripped bare it despises everybody who is lucky enough to be average, of that denied craving so rare yet so universal. It is guilt, it is longing, it is hopelessness. You’ll often hear writers sniff at modern production, claiming that a good song only needs a singer and a little melody. That’s not necessarily true, but this song will make you a believer for five and a half minutes.
- 2) Editors - Bullets (version 1) (2005) - There's a terrific tension pulled tautly throughout this song. The music is an ominous, electric rush, rarely letting up as it shifts from anticipation to full-on assault. The lyrics follow suit, with lines like, “If something has to give, then it always will,” and, “You don't need this disease,” coming off as both dire warnings and adrenaline-laced surges of exhilaration. A change is a-gonna' come, ready or not. You could do without, but you're going to buckle down a seatbelt and ride the wild rails any way. Some folks claim this is a straight-up Joy Division or Echo & the Bunnymen copy, but that cheap assessment misses the unique way this band mixes the fomenting excitement with the foreboding, the intruding explosion of life with the festering doom. Hearing the lashing guitars are the aural equivalent of standing in a wicked thunderstorm - dangerous, destructive, and utterly invigorating. (Whatever you do, do not download this from iTunes, which only has a lame re-recording (even on the album!). Amazon has the correct version.)
- 1) LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great (2007) - Somehow, this song started as a Nike-commissioned instrumental meant to be background music for joggers. Through a strange twist, James Murphy realized the music was hinting at an emotional depth not realized in a gym. Reworking the 46-minute collage into a song less than seven minutes long, he also added vocals. Those words came out completely different than any motivational workout hooey. Instead, they hovered around life and loss. By the time this appeared as a track on Sound of Silver, the original sound was still there, including the strong echoes of Bowie’s Berlin days, but the song was completely transformed. An early morning phone call tells the narrator of a death, perhaps of an ex-lover, and the news is crushing. The deceased is somebody the narrator talks about often and admiringly (“You’re smaller than my wife imagined / Surprised you were human.”). The funeral commemorating such horrible news has the audacity to be on a beautiful day. Life goes on. That is the narrative in a nutshell, but the teeth that dig deep is how this captures the sorrow that life does indeed go on, despite such a huge hole in everything. Nothing stops, little changes, but someone great is gone, and the world will never be quite as bright or as delicious again. You’ve little choice but to survive it, to carry on in a universe that is now missing one of its most beautiful colors. For an electronic punk who made his reputation with ingeniously funny bursts of bratty dance rock, this startling shot of grown up mortality is stunning. It is heart-breaking and unshakeable, and anybody who has suffered such a blow instantly relates to the resonating pain, the eternal dulling of life. It is a perfect song for a post-9/11 world and the perfect song for those who grieve and cannot quite completely heal. It may or may not also be the perfect song for the decade, but it was easily the best.
Author Comments:
A few introductory notes...
I've made no attempt to be inclusive, varied, or cool. These are simply the songs I think are the best from the 2000s. No doubt, there are masterpieces out there I didn't hear; alas...
I did wimp out in one sense. There is only one song per artist on this list. I bent the rule once for a collaboration, but that's it. Only one each from White Stripes, Sufjan, Wilco, Radiohead, etc...
I won't pretend to be on top of the jazz world of the last ten years. I love the genre, but I spend most of my time there in the past. So, no jazz below.
Man, I love the way this list has gone so far! You totally nailed the best Animal Collective song, the best songs off Third and Acid Tongue, and even included the terrific "The Underdog"! Actually, speaking of Spoon, have you seen Metacritic's list of the most critically acclaimed artists of the decade? So crazy to see Spoon at #1, but I guess it makes sense, they did create four consistently terrific albums this decade. I don't know why they were ignored from Uncut's decade wrap-up and snubbed from Rolling Stone's song list and top 50 albums, but I'm very glad to see them here. No fear of the underdog, indeed.
I think with the inclusion of Avril Lavigne and "Since U Been Gone," you may be much more into angry girl pop than I am. Bet you never thought you'd hear someone say that to you. :-)
Also, much as I like "At Least That's What You Said," I would've definitely picked something from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and I would have thought Abbattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus over Lazarus (I'm kind of obsessed with "Hiding All Away").
You gave me a lot of good leads here too. I should look into Annie, I don't know her music at all. Also, I should pick up some Jarvis Cocker solo work at some point. Are you referring to "Common People" as the best single of the 90s?
And wow, Art Brut! I don't know them that well, but "Good Weekend" was playing pretty much constantly on the indie rock radio station the summer when I was living in L.A. Fun stuff.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Excited to see the top 20!
Thank you! After spending so much silly time on this, it is very heartening to know somebody is reading it!
Let's see...
As much as I love Machine Gun, would you believe I originally had The Rip? A listen to both before posting corrected my error...
I agree somewhat about your Wilco comment - A Ghost is Born wasn't the band's best album of the decade - but as a single song, I think I do like this one best, although I am a sucker for Reservations.
I should probably listen to that Cave set again. I liked it, but Lazarus blew me away, for some reason. We Call Upon the Author was another strong contender.
I did indeed mean Common People - good catch!
You have to hear Formed a Band. You'll love it.
Thanks! I've just posted another update!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Oh, you better believe I'm reading it. In fact I've had a prediction since the second-to-last update as to what #1 will be, but I don't want to say it yet because it might spoil the fun. I'll tell you if I was right though.
I should really listen to Return to Cookie Mountain more; I must confess that while I do like it, I've never quite gotten into it as much as most people. Funny thing is, the sole exception to that is "I Was a Lover." I LOVE that song.
Maximo Park is a new one on me. I'll have to explore.
Excellent call on the Black Kids tune, a song I actually heard first through Listology Secret Santa (thanks, dgeiser13!). What an amazing track. You got Arcade Fire and The Shins right too (New Slang is great, but Kissing the Lipless is definitely superior), and yeah, terrific list so far!
I'm willing to bet your guess for the top slot is dead-on.... :)
You know, you commented during my lunch hour, and I spent most of my lunch hour thinking about how I didn't quite nail what I was trying to get at with the Apply Some Pressure review...
I find Cookie just grows and grows with each spin. I'll probably work up an album list at some point (because I haven't tortured myself enough working on the film and song lists!), but it will be at the top along with four or five very close competitors.
(Try to guess number two also!)
Again, thank you very much, AJ!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Oh, ya know what? I listened to Return to Cookie Mountain last night and I realized I was actually confusing it with Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes. I never really got into the earlier album, but I do actually like Return to Cookie Mountain quite a bit, although aside from "I Was a Lover," I still don't love it quite as much as you. Still, a great album. It didn't quite make the best albums list that I'm posting soon, but it came close.
I'm still anticipating your list, even without my loved Cookie! ;)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Were you right? I suspect so...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Yep, I was right on #1 at least! My guesses for the top 3 were:
3. something from Come on Feel the Illinoise
2. The Real You
1. Someone Great
So, not far off!
Terrific reviews here, by the way. You really nail what makes "Someone Great" so terrifically heartbreaking. I love hearing you review something as brief as a song because it really lets you hone in on details.
Do you know the Mountain Goats, by the way? I discovered them relatively recently, but they've certainly put forth a good amount of music I've loved from this decade.
I should be off, but I'm already excited for the sequel to this list in ten years. Hope you have a great decade!
Wow, you were very close. I'm impressed!
Thank you. I dreaded the Someone Great review. These large lists always go the same route for me; they start off fun, but as I proceed, I feel the weight of the previous reviews and a desire to top them. Add to that the desire to do better on works I love more, and by the time I reach the top ten, I am nearly nuts! So...
...it is especially nice to hear you liked that last review! :)
I'm seeing loads of typos I need to fix and a few entries I'd like to rewrite, but I'm pretty happy with the list.
I continue buying more and more individual tracks from The Mountain Goats while hardly realizing it, so I guess I like them quite a bit! I almost have the whole of Tallahassee. I need to buy The Sunset Tree and to spin it.
Thanks again! Between this list, the movie list, and the album list on another site (for which I wisely decided not to write reviews!), I'm a bit pooped on these epic rankings. I may need ten years...
So, when do we see your decade lists, or have I missed them? ;)
Have a terrific decade!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
A best song list might be too difficult for me, I think, or at least one that (like yours) really attempts to find the diamonds in the rough, the rare masterpiece from a generally mediocre or even crappy artist or album. Not that I'm saying I agree with choice #49. :-) "No Children" from Tallahassee would be high up there though, as would a great number of your choices, particularly "Someone Great" and "Rebellion (Lies)" which would both likely be in the top 5.
I might make a best albums list. The Sunset Tree will be on it.
My top films list is up, although I'm still going to edit it a bit. I just rewatched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and felt that it might just deserve to be on there.
What else? I've read embarrassingly few books this decade; I'm too unfamiliar with the decade's great paintings; and my list of top U.S. presidents this decade was just too depressing. So that's really all I can tell you.
P.S. In addition to the Mountain Goats, I thought of another band I don't think I've ever heard you talk about. Have you heard the new Dirty Projectors' album? I've been mildly obsessed with it lately.
I'd love to see an album list from you. I think you caught my disorganized one I threw out at Facebook...
The top two albums on my must-get list are the latest from Dirty Projectors and XX...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Yeah, I think I'll throw one together. As much as I like Merriweather Post Pavilion, I think Bitte Orca actually outdoes Animal Collective at their own game of intricate freak-pop soundscapes. The Projectors are definitely catchier and, I think, more interesting. You may not get as much mileage out of it, of course.
I hope soon to find out! :)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
GREAT list, really interesting reading. Love your comments on each song as well. Much appreciated, will be having a look at plenty of this material, cheers mate.
Thank you!
It took awhile to pull all this together, so I appreciate your comment! Thanks!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
So I randomly just noticed that on the Wikipedia page for "I Don't Blame You," it says that Chan Marshall has refused to tell any interviewers who the song's dedicatee is, and in fact said that she has only told one person who it's about. However, you say it's about Elliott Smith... sooo are you that one person?
Well, reading dates seems to indicate it wasn't Smith, leaving me puzzled as to where I read that or how much of my mind I've actually left...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Oh yeah, wow, that album came out like eight months before he died. Maybe you were confusing it with Late by Ben Folds or Ripchord by Rilo Kiley? (and probably others)
I doubt it. I'm 90% sure I read that some place, but I'm 10% willing to admit I may simply have made it up... :)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Maybe it's time to confront the disturbing reality we've refused to face, which is that Chan Marshall is a precog.
Chan is an X-Men name if ever there was one...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs