Strap on your neglected Chuck Taylors and sharpen your pencils (and your cynicism) as we take a trip down memory lane and explore the decade’s greatest tracks…
As is customary at the turn of the decade, music nerds attempt to quantify/rank how “great” the songs of the previous ten years was based on a crude amalgam of cultural impact, longevity and musical merit. Long lists are drawn up, scratched out, discarded, argued about and scrutinized. Then when all the forgotten gems and breakout hits are revisited and reevaluated we’re left with debate-inducing fodder for the music adoring masses. Yummy.
Below are but three examples of such lists from Pitchfork, Pretty Much Amazing and Gorilla Vs. Bear. The following lists stand as testament to the eclecticism of this decade’s most celebrated works while proving that neck breaking Southern fried Hip-Hop will stand the test of time if it carries a social message. It’s also interesting to note that Pitchfork’s top track of 2009 has already been decided. Fuck yeah.
What were your top ten tracks of the last decade? Let us know in the comments.
PITCHFORK’S TOP 20 OF 500
Check out the rest of the list here.
1. Outkast “B.O.B.”
2. LCD Soundsystem “All My Friends”
3. M.I.A. [ft. Bun B and Rich Boy] “Paper Planes (Diplo Remix)”
4. Beyoncé [ft. Jay-Z] “Crazy in Love”
5. Daft Punk “One More Time”
6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps”
7. Missy Elliott “Get Ur Freak On”
8. Radiohead “Idioteque”
9. Animal Collective “My Girls”
10. Arcade Fire “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”
11. Gnarls Barkley “Crazy”
12. OutKast “Hey Ya!”
13. LCD Soundsystem “Losing My Edge”
14. Jay-Z “99 Problems”
15. The Knife “Heartbeats”
16. The Rapture “House of Jealous Lovers”
17. Annie “Heartbeat”
18. Hercules and Love Affair “Blind”
19. R. Kelly “Ignition (Remix)”
20. The Walkmen “The Rat”
PRETTY MUCH AMAZING’S TOP 20 OF 120
Check out the rest of the list here.
1. LCD Soundsystem “All My Friends”
2. Radiohead “Idioteque”
3. Outkast “B.O.B.”
4. The Killers “All These Things That I’ve Done”
5. The Arcade Fire “Neighborhood #2 (Laika)”
6. TV On The Radio “Wolf Like Me”
7. Panda Bear “Comfy In Nautica”
8. Roisin Murphy “Ramalama (Bang Bang)”
9. Britney Spears “Toxic”
10. Arctic Monkeys “Leave Before The Lights Come On”
11. Spoon “The Way We Get By”
12. The Strokes “Barely Legal”
13. Kanye West “Jesus Walks”
14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps”
15. Animal Collective “Peacebone”
16. The Knife “Heartbeats”
17. Hercules and Love Affair “Blind”
18. Daft Punk “One More Time”
19. Beyonce “Crazy In Love”
20. The Arcade Fire “Intervention”
GORILLA VS. BEAR’S TOP 20 OF 40
Chedck out the rest of the list here.
1. Panda Bear “Bro’s”
2. Outkast “B.O.B.”
3. The Knife “Heartbeats”
4. UGK feat. Outkast “International Players Anthem”
5. The Walkmen “The Rat”
6. Animal Collective “My Girls”
7. White Denim “Let’s Talk About It”
8. Radiohead “Idioteque”
9. Grouper “Heavy Water/I’d Rather Be Sleeping”
10. Clipse “Grindin”
11. Jay-Z “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)”
12. Outkast “Hey Ya”
13. The Shivers “Beauty”
14. The Strokes “Hard To Explain”
15. Cat Power “He War”
16. Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps”
17. Justin Timberlake “Rock Your Body”
18. R Kelly “Trapped In The Closet”
19. T.I. “What You Know”
20. Panda Bear “Good Girl/Carrots”
Via Sophie Hirst
Title Image by Dimitrious Kambouris via Getty
