Top Ten Songs of the Decade
There's not much point in thinking about music too much and even less in trying to explain it ("dancing about architecture" and all that). But I'm a sucker for lists and the feeling of self-importance they nurture and so here are my top ten songs of the decade that was. My criteria was simple: What are the songs I replayed the most? That's pretty much the order they appear in.
Below the jump are my feeble attempts to explain my choices. Or if you're feeling brave, you can just click the following link and let the music speak for itself. (thanks to judyonthenet for introducing me to Grooveshark):
The playlist in full.
1. "Outrage"
Thomas Bangalter
Irreversible (soundtrack) (2002)
I've written and deleted the text in this space so many times in my struggle to find the right thing something to say. I know what "Outrage" sounds like: noise. Six-plus minutes of rhythmic buzzsaw, a single repeated-bass note, and a four-note "melody" that's easy to lose with all the waves of distortion crashing around it. But yes, this has to be the song I've listened to more than any other these last ten years.
It's a kind of meditation music, but it can't help you remove yourself from your pain, instead it forces you to deal with it. You are beside the sin and the sorrow, not above it. The title is understatement: this is all-consuming anger, spawned from the increasing realization of the senselessness of it all and your impotence to do anything about it. But just when you think you can't hold on any longer, the bass goes away, the beat goes away, the room stops swirling. The melody survives. Things still sound grim, but you have not lost yourself. You feel ill, but the sickness reminds you that you are still alive. "Outrage" is as good an analogy for the decade as any. Lots of pain and confusion, but we made it to the other end more or less intact. And that's not nothing.
2. "Short Circuit"
Daft Punk
Discovery (2001)
The first half sounds like a throwback to 80s hiphop beats. Suddenly the track slams on the brakes and strips itself down to a somber synth line and a modest drum beat. And then the song begins to eat itself alive, repeating its simple phrase as it slowly disintegrates into oblivion. From happy nostalgia to somber reflection to self-destruction in under three-and-a-half minutes. A profoundly sad story is being told here.
3. "Touch It/Technologic"
Daft Punk
Alive 2007 (2007)
Gets the number three slot solely for its first 45 seconds and what has to be the most primal reaction to music I've ever had. Want proof? Here's me at Daft Punk's stop at Berkeley in July 2007 reacting to this very moment (I'm on the right). It's the drum/guitar hook from the intro to "Robot Rock" with the addition of voice and a synth note to the offbeat. That's it. And it drove me insane. It was my version of the Dave Chappelle skit where he investigated what kinds of music different races have no control over their reaction to. I guess I could be embarrassed at my reaction, but what can I say? It's what really happened.
4. "F6 GS"
ebz
Rez (soundtrack) (2001)
NOTE: The only version on Grooveshark is a remix. The version that made my list is the one that appears in the game, which you can check out here.
Rez is a terrific video game with a lot of great music in it, but it's this track for the unlockable "lost area", more mellow than anything in the game proper, that stuck with me. This is the track I play at work when I want to be far away from my cube, floating in space, as one with everything in the universe (that isn't trying to kill me). It's a shame the Rez HD "remaster" screwed with the music by inexplicably raising the pitch, seriously damaging the soundtrack in the process.
5. "Walking on a Dream"
Empire of the Sun
Walking on a Dream (2008)
Trent Reznor went to Australia and blogged that this was the song everyone over there was obsessed with at the moment. My brother reads Reznor's blog and checks the song out. I hear the song from the other room and ask what the heck is that? I guess that's how new music gets discovered these days. "Walking on a Dream" sounds like some perfectly preserved piece of the 80s left undiscovered until now. The first time I heard it, I felt like I had already loved it for years.
6. "Beside You in Time"
Nine Inch Nails
With Teeth (2005)
I always thought a killer trailer could be cut to this song. The ominous buzz it opens with, that low, steady percussion that comes in to build almost unbearable tension. Reznor's vocals seem to be girding for the inevitable. And then the beat drops out in the middle for a short breath before returning in anticipation of the explosive climax. Great music for a last stand. Wear your headphones for this one.
7. "Optimistic"
Radiohead
Kid A (2000)
You can try the best you can
You can try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
What do those lyrics look like to you? Empathy? Sarcasm? Despair? Knowing Radiohead, anything other than actual optimism would make sense. Kid A found Radiohead destroying their image as the would-be saviors of modern rock by creating a bleak digital tundra where any traces of humanity are but artifacts of a species long extinct. Not everyone got it at the time. It's not that the glass is only half-full. The truth is that it's been slowly leaking all along. It might already be too late.
8. "Cellphone's Dead"
Beck
The Information (2006)
Futurama taught us that Beck's lyrics are beyond comprehension, even to him (skip to about 8:35), so your guess is as good as mine as to what "Cellphone's Dead" is about. I always liked that title and the idea that this little gadget in virtually everyone's pocket sparks an existential crisis when it ceases function. Even though you're surrounded by humanity and modernity, you feel like an alien as you attempt to comprehend the world immediately in front of you. I doubt that's what Beck was rapping about, but that's what I hear.
9. "Burst Generator"/"A Modern Midnight Conversation"
The Chemical Brothers
We Are the Night (2007)
Yes, number nine is two songs but they go right into each other on the album, so I think of them as one. If "Outrage" is the music of modern dread, this nearly thirteen-minute suite is its hopeful opposite. I imagine the first part as a spiritual journey into the heart of the universe, excited by the possibilities of what might be found. The second half portrays a moment of doubt, but some benevolent force pushes you onward, assuring you that everything is going to be fine. Perhaps if this decade wasn't such a bummer, these two and "Outrage" would've swapped places on my list.
10. "City of Blinding Lights"
U2
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)
Had to throw them in somewhere. I only really liked one of their three albums this decade and this was the standout track from it. Another brilliant arena-sized sermon from the last great ministers of rock.
Below the jump are my feeble attempts to explain my choices. Or if you're feeling brave, you can just click the following link and let the music speak for itself. (thanks to judyonthenet for introducing me to Grooveshark):
The playlist in full.
1. "Outrage"
Thomas Bangalter
Irreversible (soundtrack) (2002)
I've written and deleted the text in this space so many times in my struggle to find the right thing something to say. I know what "Outrage" sounds like: noise. Six-plus minutes of rhythmic buzzsaw, a single repeated-bass note, and a four-note "melody" that's easy to lose with all the waves of distortion crashing around it. But yes, this has to be the song I've listened to more than any other these last ten years.
It's a kind of meditation music, but it can't help you remove yourself from your pain, instead it forces you to deal with it. You are beside the sin and the sorrow, not above it. The title is understatement: this is all-consuming anger, spawned from the increasing realization of the senselessness of it all and your impotence to do anything about it. But just when you think you can't hold on any longer, the bass goes away, the beat goes away, the room stops swirling. The melody survives. Things still sound grim, but you have not lost yourself. You feel ill, but the sickness reminds you that you are still alive. "Outrage" is as good an analogy for the decade as any. Lots of pain and confusion, but we made it to the other end more or less intact. And that's not nothing.
2. "Short Circuit"
Daft Punk
Discovery (2001)
The first half sounds like a throwback to 80s hiphop beats. Suddenly the track slams on the brakes and strips itself down to a somber synth line and a modest drum beat. And then the song begins to eat itself alive, repeating its simple phrase as it slowly disintegrates into oblivion. From happy nostalgia to somber reflection to self-destruction in under three-and-a-half minutes. A profoundly sad story is being told here.
3. "Touch It/Technologic"
Daft Punk
Alive 2007 (2007)
Gets the number three slot solely for its first 45 seconds and what has to be the most primal reaction to music I've ever had. Want proof? Here's me at Daft Punk's stop at Berkeley in July 2007 reacting to this very moment (I'm on the right). It's the drum/guitar hook from the intro to "Robot Rock" with the addition of voice and a synth note to the offbeat. That's it. And it drove me insane. It was my version of the Dave Chappelle skit where he investigated what kinds of music different races have no control over their reaction to. I guess I could be embarrassed at my reaction, but what can I say? It's what really happened.
4. "F6 GS"
ebz
Rez (soundtrack) (2001)
NOTE: The only version on Grooveshark is a remix. The version that made my list is the one that appears in the game, which you can check out here.
Rez is a terrific video game with a lot of great music in it, but it's this track for the unlockable "lost area", more mellow than anything in the game proper, that stuck with me. This is the track I play at work when I want to be far away from my cube, floating in space, as one with everything in the universe (that isn't trying to kill me). It's a shame the Rez HD "remaster" screwed with the music by inexplicably raising the pitch, seriously damaging the soundtrack in the process.
5. "Walking on a Dream"
Empire of the Sun
Walking on a Dream (2008)
Trent Reznor went to Australia and blogged that this was the song everyone over there was obsessed with at the moment. My brother reads Reznor's blog and checks the song out. I hear the song from the other room and ask what the heck is that? I guess that's how new music gets discovered these days. "Walking on a Dream" sounds like some perfectly preserved piece of the 80s left undiscovered until now. The first time I heard it, I felt like I had already loved it for years.
6. "Beside You in Time"
Nine Inch Nails
With Teeth (2005)
I always thought a killer trailer could be cut to this song. The ominous buzz it opens with, that low, steady percussion that comes in to build almost unbearable tension. Reznor's vocals seem to be girding for the inevitable. And then the beat drops out in the middle for a short breath before returning in anticipation of the explosive climax. Great music for a last stand. Wear your headphones for this one.
7. "Optimistic"
Radiohead
Kid A (2000)
You can try the best you can
You can try the best you can
The best you can is good enough
What do those lyrics look like to you? Empathy? Sarcasm? Despair? Knowing Radiohead, anything other than actual optimism would make sense. Kid A found Radiohead destroying their image as the would-be saviors of modern rock by creating a bleak digital tundra where any traces of humanity are but artifacts of a species long extinct. Not everyone got it at the time. It's not that the glass is only half-full. The truth is that it's been slowly leaking all along. It might already be too late.
8. "Cellphone's Dead"
Beck
The Information (2006)
Futurama taught us that Beck's lyrics are beyond comprehension, even to him (skip to about 8:35), so your guess is as good as mine as to what "Cellphone's Dead" is about. I always liked that title and the idea that this little gadget in virtually everyone's pocket sparks an existential crisis when it ceases function. Even though you're surrounded by humanity and modernity, you feel like an alien as you attempt to comprehend the world immediately in front of you. I doubt that's what Beck was rapping about, but that's what I hear.
9. "Burst Generator"/"A Modern Midnight Conversation"
The Chemical Brothers
We Are the Night (2007)
Yes, number nine is two songs but they go right into each other on the album, so I think of them as one. If "Outrage" is the music of modern dread, this nearly thirteen-minute suite is its hopeful opposite. I imagine the first part as a spiritual journey into the heart of the universe, excited by the possibilities of what might be found. The second half portrays a moment of doubt, but some benevolent force pushes you onward, assuring you that everything is going to be fine. Perhaps if this decade wasn't such a bummer, these two and "Outrage" would've swapped places on my list.
10. "City of Blinding Lights"
U2
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)
Had to throw them in somewhere. I only really liked one of their three albums this decade and this was the standout track from it. Another brilliant arena-sized sermon from the last great ministers of rock.