Friday, December 16, 2005

Best of the Year in Music ~Singles

Favorite Singles of the Year



Honorable Mentions I'm not really sure if "First Day of My Life" from Bright Eyes is from this year but I have to mention it. I'm completely embarassed about this next one. But I'm driving in a car with friends earlier in the year and we all ended up simultaneously belting along with Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" . My friend than throws up his hands in the devil style and screams [sarcastically] "Kelly Clarkson Rocks!" LMAO. But there you go. It got to us all. Two nostalgia-influenced pics now from two formerly sensational duos: "Breathe" from Erasure and "Move in My Direction" from Bananarama (see the video). Bananarama's Keren and Sarah are always delish. But it's still not the same w/out Siobhan though [sigh]. Speaking of videos. That's how I fell for "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt. I love simple concepts executed perfectly --particularly in video form.

10 "Triumph of a Heart" Björk
The Medulla CD ain't exactly mainstream accessible but it's top 40 compared to her latest: Drawing Restraint (a soundtrack to Matthew Barney's latest video art). This is possibly her best club ready dance track since "Big Time Sensuality".

09 "Combat Baby" Metric
The only featured Free Download of the week on iTunes that I ever became obsessed with. l-o-v-e.

08 "Cool" Gwen Stefani
I cherish endearing recurring motifs in any artists work --Gwen can't stop writing and singing about Tony Kanal, can she?

07 "Destroy Everything You Touch" Ladytron
To quote Rufus Wainwright 'Electroclash is karaoke too'. Not as great as their earlier hit "Seventeen". But few songs are.

06 "Hollaback Girl" Gwen Stefani
The most addictive novelty song of the year. I think at this point Gwen is the only rockstar capable of keeping a particular brand of 80s pop music alive; silly and girlie party songs (like Cyndi's "She Bop" or Madonna's "Material Girl", etc...) because she's got a sense of humor, playful fashion sense, great voice and...well she's the whole package; a perfect pop star.


05 "Mr Brightside" The Killers
I think I'll listen to it again right now. I can't stop.

04 "Lose Control" Missy Elliott
Missy wows every year. How she keeps up the pace is a great mystery but, you know, god bless. Can't wait to see what she comes up with in 2006, 2007, 2008, and on and on and on...

03 "Hope There's Someone" Antony & The Johnsons
The most exciting new voice in music, says me.

02 "Hung Up" Madonna
Every little thing that she says or does. I'm hung up. I'm hung up on her. Can't wait to see what the next video and single is off this disco-lovin' hit CD.

01 "Extraordinary Machine" Fiona Apple
It's not just her inimitable gift with the lyric (best of the year) or the excitement of her long-delayed comeback (yay!). It's her experimental musicianship (valuable assist --obviously--from brilliant rock and film composer Jon Brion) as well. über creative, totally unique, and plain old wonderful. 'She's good at being uncomfortable so she can't stop changing all the time'

10 comments:

par3182 said...

i'm so groovy and down with the young people i've heard exactly two of those songs.

and they were both being played too loudly.

NicksFlickPicks said...

When you left, I lost a part of me/
It's still so hard to believe/
Come back, baby, please, 'cause/
We belong together....

Who else'm I gonna lean on when times get rough?/
Who's gonna talk to me on the phone till the sun comes up?/
Who-OO's gonna take your place?/
There ain't nobody better/
Oh, baby baby, we belong together...

Glenn Dunks said...

btw Nat, "Sorry" is going to be the next Madonna single, and then almost definitely "Get Together". They've even started touting the album on TV as "featuring world wide number 1 'Hung Up' and brand new dance anthem 'Sorry'" while an audio clip plays. I can't wait for the music video. She's performing "Sorry" live at the... Brits? Some European awards in February, so...

And on the matter of Ladytron, I like their "Internation Dateline" track movie. But "Destroy Everything You Touch" and "17" are indeed brilliant.

Glenn Dunks said...

oh, btw, I have 9 of these songs on my iPod and the one I'd never heard of (that, er, metric one) I'm donna d/l now.

Glenn Dunks said...

aah! I hate you Nat! You've gotten me addicted to Metric. I've since downloaded 11 songs of theirs (and I have dial-up so it takes an effort to get them). I'm loving them!

Anonymous said...

With you on so many of those, give or take Missy who I despise in general.

Nice to see you notice Bananarama and Erasure's sterling efforts this year, though both released better singles than the ones you mention in "Look On The Floor (Hypnotic Tango)" and "Here I Go Impossible Again" respectively... Check them out if you haven't already.

Rob

topher clark said...

Hey man. Four of these songs are off of my top ten best of last year as well. Good taste. Have you ever listened to the band Of Montreal? Considering your tastes, you would like them. I have no affiliation with them whatsoever, incidentally.

Listen to "The Repudiated Immortals" or 'Wraith Pinned to the Mist." Pretty damn catchy.

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