Lists are pointless, I know.
They are however, a great reference point for artists that may have flown under your proverbial radar this year, usually providing their most accessible cut and a neat little download listening order. Start at numero uno and work backwards.
Like 2007, this year’s #1 comes from the DFA “hit factory” with Cut Copy also placing twice in the top 20 and The Juan MacLean coming in at #20. Despite writing the most infectious arpeggiated synth line of the year Holy Ghost didn’t make the cut. I wonder if James Murphy and Tim Goldsworthy have a “DFA” button on their mixing desk which encodes music with subliminal messages, namely “must dance, must dance”. Everything they touch is instantly infectious, beautifully layered and thankfully in the era of cheesy laptop producers, organic.
From catwalks to clubs Pitchfork’s #1 was damn near ubiquitous, I remember hearing it seven times in one night earlier this year. And though they were sans-Antony last weekend they more than made up for it by substituting drumsticks with dildos. I overheard more than one shirtless jock whisper “The singer is so fucking boneable dude!” If they only knew…
100 Girls – “Hellhole Ratrace”
99 Final Fantasy – “The Butcher”
98 The Magnetic Fields – “The Nun’s Litany”
97 Buraka Som Sistema (Feat. M.I.A. and DJ Znobia) – “Sound of Kuduro”
96 Empire of the Sun – “Walking on a Dream”
95 Friendly Fires (Feat. Au Revoir Simone) – “Paris (Aeroplane Remix)”
94 WHY? – “Fatalist Palmistry”
93 Atlas Sound – “River Card”
92 Born Ruffians – “I Need a Life (Four Tet Remix)”
91 Jamie Lidell – “All I Wanna Do”
90 Sic Alps – “Message From the Law”
89 Ponytail – “Celebrate the Body Electric (It Came From an Angel)”
88 Low Motion Disco – “Things Are Gonna Get Easier”
87 The Veronicas – “Untouched”
86 Los Campesinos! – “Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks”
85 Osborne – “16th Stage”
84 Beach House – “Gila”
83 Titus Andronicus – “Upon Viewing Brueghel’s ‘Landscape With the Fall of Icarus’”
82 Solange – “Sandcastle Disco”
81 Love Is All – “Wishing Well”
80 The Bug (Feat. Warrior Queen) – “Poison Dart”
79 Ida Maria – “Oh My God”
78 Frightened Rabbit – “The Modern Leper”
77 Telepathe – “I Can’t Stand It”
76 Justice – “DVNO (Radio Edit)”
75 Little Boots – “Stuck on Repeat”
74 Wale – “The Kramer”
73 Goldfrapp – “A&E”
72 Fleet Foxes – “Blue Ridge Mountains”
71 Sigur Rós – “Gobbledigook”
70 Rihanna – “Don’t Stop the Music”
69 Portishead – “The Rip”
68 Four Tet – “Ribbons”
67 Young Jeezy (Feat. Kanye West) – “Put On”
66 Lykke Li – “Dance, Dance, Dance”
65 Max Tundra – “Which Song”
64 The Whitest Boy Alive – “Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix)”
63 The Very Best – “Kamphopo”
62 The Tough Alliance – “Lucky”
61 Q-Tip – “Gettin’ Up”
60 Crystal Castles – “Courtship Dating”
59 The Dodos – “Fools”
58 Annie – “I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me”
57 High Places – “From Stardust to Sentience”
56 Vampire Weekend – “Oxford Comma”
55 Usher (Feat. Young Jeezy) – “Love in This Club”
54 Lykke Li – “Little Bit”
53 Be Your Own Pet – “Becky”
52 Ricardo Villalobos – “Enfants (Chants)”
51 TV on the Radio – “Golden Age”
50 Invisible Conga People – “Cable Dazed”
49 Jay Reatard – “Always Wanting More”
48 Spiritualized – “Soul on Fire”
47 Alphabeat – “Fascination”
46 M83 – “Graveyard Girl”
45 Antony and the Johnsons – “Shake That Devil”
44 Hot Chip – “One Pure Thought”
43 Kelley Polar – “Entropy Reigns (In the Celestial City)”
42 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – “Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!”
41 No Age – “Sleeper Hold”
40 T.I. [ft. Rihanna] – “Live Your Life”
39 Kanye West – “Love Lockdown”
38 TV on the Radio – “DLZ”
37 Big Boi [ft. Raekwon and André 3000] – “Royal Flush”
36 Arthur Russell – “I Couldn’t Say It to Your Face”
35 Shearwater – “The Snow Leopard”
34 Fuck Buttons – “Sweet Love for Planet Earth”
33 Animal Collective – “Street Flash”
32 Crystal Castles – “Untrust Us”
31 Aeroplane [ft. Kathy Diamond] – “Whispers”
30 MGMT – “Time to Pretend”
29 Vampire Weekend – “M79”
28 No Age – “Eraser”
27 T.I. – “No Matter What”
26 The Walkmen – “In the New Year”
25 The Hold Steady – “Constructive Summer”
24 Gang Gang Dance – “House Jam”
23 Beyoncé – “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
22 Santogold – “Lights Out”
21 Hercules and Love Affair – “Hercules’ Theme”
20 The Juan MacLean – “Happy House”
19 Vivian Girls – “Where Do You Run To”
18 Women – “Black Rice”
17 Wiley – “Wearing My Rolex”
16 The Mae Shi – “Run to Your Grave”
15 Amadou and Mariam – “Sabali”
14 Lil Wayne – “A Milli”
13 Kanye West – “Flashing Lights”
12 Cut Copy – “Out There on the Ice”
11 David Byrne and Brian Eno – “Strange Overtones”
10 Estelle [ft. Kanye West] – “American Boy”
09 Portishead – “Machine Gun”
08 Air France – “Collapsing at Your Doorstep”
07 Cut Copy – “Hearts on Fire”
06 Deerhunter – “Nothing Ever Happened”
05 M83 – “Kim & Jessie”
04 Santogold – “L.E.S. Artistes”
03 Hot Chip – “Ready for the Floor”
02 Fleet Foxes – “White Winter Hymnal”
01 Hercules and Love Affair – “Blind”
