The Top Songs of the Decade

Bump.

I'm half asleep, but Jesus Walks (Kanye) is my No. 1. It's my all-time favorite rap song.

I'm sure I'll have a crappy list at some point, but to me this song is perfect.

 

I can't put into words how much Hey Ya! makes me wanna vomit. All the great stuff Outkast did and that is what people think is their best work.

 

Easily my least favorite of their singles. I'm partial to Elevators (Me and You) but only because it reminds me so much of hanging out in my dorm room with my friends.

Check some of the covers of Hey Ya! There's some good stuff out there...just not Andre's version.

 

Sorry, kind of busy with final exams this week. I don't like the song. I think he says a bunch of shocking things, sets it to some maudlin-sounding sample, and - voila! - Eminem is baring his soul for us! I think that Eminem, along with a couple of other acts like the White Stripes, helped rescue us from the suckitude of the late 1990's. But just feel like I'm being manipulated by "Stan."

 

Like indie music when I hear it but don't listen enough to know many songs.

Don't you think a list titled "The Top Songs of the Decade" should be one of more mass appeal?

 

I'll also add "Stranger In The House" by the Paybacks to my list.

 

Problem is there are very few songs of this decade that would qualify as mass appeal, unless you want to make it a Best of American Idol list.

Interesting that technology---computer downloads, IPods, have really taken us back in time to the single or song dominated--like in the 50s. Music has been diluted on the radio--way, way more options with XM/Sirius, and that's if people are even listening to the radio--many will just plug in the IPod.

Lost is the power of the album, an entire collection of songs. It's too easy to download a single song from an artist and not get the full flavor of an artist's catalog.

Lost is an ability to generate mass appeal impact--because of the radio dilution, because of such a wider array of musical choices so readily available, because MTV isn't MTV anymore. Certainly, the record industry lackies deserve a great deal of blame for not being able to penetrate the public conscience in a deeper and wider way.

It's interesting that you can put together a list like this for this decade and have the majority of the people not recognize the majority of the songs. Do the same list of 50 for the 70s or 80s, and most people would recognize at least 45 of the tunes on there.

 

After much deliberation, I can't seem to come up with a ranking of my favorite songs from the aughts. Instead, just a list. And here we go, really in no particular order at all:

-- The Strokes, Reptilia. I know the sexy choice is to nominate something off "Is This It," and I understand why most perceive that to be one of the top albums of the decade. Rock and roll was in a horrible place around 2000-01. Just awful. Filled with crap like Creed and Nickelback and all this rock-rap bullshit that passed for rock and roll. Or, pretty much anything on a list scheizanic would produce. (Sorry dude, it is what it is.) That's why the Strokes and the White Stripes and bands of their ilk were game changers. There was some acutal thought and innovation in the music. I like most of the stuff off "This Is It," and after the first few songs, "Room on Fire" falters horribly. But "Reptilia" was as close to a perfect song as the Strokes put out. Short bursts of energy, the longing in Julian Casablancas' voice, the droning, melodic bass riff. Tremendous guitar transtions. Just a great, peppy song.

-- Wilco, At Least That's What You Said. This song is a jam. There's at most, 30-40 seconds of vocals, but the improvisation the band comes up with at the end just rocks my world every time I hear it. To go from this slow, melodic start to such a frenzied crescendo ... I thought it was cute/for you to kiss/my purple black eye/even though/I caught it from you/I still think/we're serious.

-- Albert Hammond, Jr., 101. Probably my favorite single off Hammond's two solo records. Just enough of the Strokes mixed with Hammond's voice.

-- Guster, Amsterdam; Guster, Careful. The best one-two punch of songs to open an album that I own. The rest of the record is pretty decent, but these two are phenomenal.

-- MF Doom, Gazzillion Ear. For my money, Doom is the most underrated lyricist in hip-hop. Dirty flow, smart lyrics, tremendous beats. Gazzillion Ear is ambitious, mixing Doom's own stylings with some of the last beats J Dilla ever produced. It's almost like two separate songs. I could fill a list with Doom stuff, but this song really stands out. The rest of the record this was on, Born Like This, is good, but not great.

-- Alicia Keys, Fallin. The haunting piano riff, the yearning in Keys' voice. I fell in love with this song the second I heard it, because it wasn't typical R&B fluff. It had soul.

-- Kanye West, Jesus Walks. The more I listen to "The College Dropout," the more I love it. The record really holds up well, especially this song and "Never Let Me Down," and even "Through the Wire." Best use of samples since the Beastie Boys in their "Paul's Boutique" heyday.

-- OutKast, A Life in the Day of Benjamin Andre ... I think I'm in the minority on this, but I absolutely loved The Love Below. The whole thing. Even "Hey Ya!," though it was far down on my lists of favorites from that record. I respected Andre for trying something different, trying to explore his jazz and fusion influences. This song, though, is just Andre spitting, all freestyle, for a good six minutes, all set to a freaky, hypnotic background beat with a little calypso drum in the background.

-- Belle and Sebastien, Another Sunny Day. As you can tell, I'm a sucker for melodic indie rock.

-- Arcade Fire, Wake Up. This song gets me jacked up. One of the best songs off one of the best albums of the decade.

-- Arcade Fire, Intervention. This is a love-hate song. Some people think it's a little too over the top, but I love the organ in the background.

-- Gnarls Barkley, Smiley Faces. Again, with the organ. Kind of a fun song that reminds you of an old '60s tune.

-- Radiohead, How to Disappear Completely. It was really tough to pick one Kid A track, but this one gets me every time.

-- More to come in a minute ...

 

It's a catchy, cute song with a fun video. It's also completely and utterly disposable. If I may, I think you're backlashing on the people who called it the perfect, Platonic ideal of a pop song, which is completely understandable.

 

YES. What a great song. Feels like it came out of the 80s.

 

Good point. When I listen to XM I jump all over. It's really hard to get a read on the indie songs unless you consistently listen to one or 2 stations.

Let me throw this question out to the indie experts- How do you find and hear about the music that you like?

 

XMU