Our Top 100 Tracks of the Decade lists (see sidebar on the right to peruse them) were epic undertakings. No small amount of poring, sorting, listening, re-listening, second-guessing and indiscriminate ranking went into it, and what came out was wonderful. Was it perfect? Definitely not. First off, Amanda and I didn’t have identical lists, so [Read Full Post...]
One hundred, it turns out, is not a very big number. One or two worthwhile songs from the last decade, I admit, didn’t get the chances they deserved to shine because I had a limit. Omissions were made, and for the following glaring ones, I sincerely apologize. The Grossly Overlooked – I just fucked up, [Read Full Post...]
#1 Wilco – Jesus, Etc. Album: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Year: 2002 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is a big fucking deal. There’s a whole mythology about it, about its pretentiousness, its brilliance, the record label switch Wilco had to pull to even get it released. It used to be considered one of the great indie albums of [Read Full Post...]
#1 Number 1 – Goldfrapp Album: Supernature Year: 2005 It might seem to good to be true, children, that my favorite song of the Aughts could be entitled “Number 1.” But let me put your fears to rest straight off the bat: no, I did not organize the list this way just to be cute. [Read Full Post...]
#2 TV On The Radio – Staring At The Sun Album: Young Liars EP Year: 2003 The first time I ever listened to this track, I was sitting in my dorm room during my sophomore year at Oberlin. I had heard good things about the debut EP from some random band, and decided to give [Read Full Post...]
#2 All My Friends – LCD Soundsystem Album: Sound of Silver Year: 2007 I asked my mother once, shortly after George Harrison passed away, if it made her feel old that the her adolescent icons were starting to die off. She answered, somewhat circuitously, that to her, getting old wasn’t as simple as just being [Read Full Post...]
#3 Back To Black – Amy Winehouse Album: Back to Black Year: 2006 “I go back to black,” means more coming from Amy Winehouse than any other artist, although she says it outright only twice. In the opening verses, it reads (listens?) like a topic sentence and in the bridge, like a…well, like nothing but [Read Full Post...]
#3 Beirut – Elephant Gun Album: Lon Gisland EP Year: 2006 – Zach Condon wrote this song at age twenty. The opening line, “If I was young I’d flee this town”, may seem a bit incongruous coming from the mouth of a babe. Then again, the precocious nature of his musical arrangements should prepare you for [Read Full Post...]
#4 Paper Planes – M.I.A. Album: Kala Year: 2007 I was somewhat surprised to find M.I.A.’s gangsta/dance/rap(??) anthem – I guess anthem is the operative word here – so high on the countdown. I know, I know, I organized it but I have never felt much of a relationship with M.I.A. as an artist. [Read Full Post...]
#4 LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great Album: Sound of Silver Year: 2007 The inception of this track actually comes a full year before Sound of Silver, from eight masterful minutes also known as section “(Iii)” of LCD Soundsystem‘s 45:33. A 2006 continuous mix commissioned by Nike as part of their Original Run Series, 45:33 ebbed and flowed [Read Full Post...]
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