As scary as this sounds, we’re approaching the end of the decade. Y2K was something like 500 weeks ago. Our media outlets are gearing up for the stereotypical – but often appropriate and interesting – end-of-the-year and end-of-the-decade stories.
There’s already a list of the best 500 songs of the 00’s on Pitchfork.com. As I’m endlessly looking for new music, I’m going to repeat the first 50 of that list here, but I recommend you browse through their version – the commentary is a fun read. Also, I highly recommend their annotated list of the Top 50 Music Videos of the Aughties and I’m going to eventually go back and watch ‘em all. With the decay of MTV, I hadn’t seen almost any of them. It’s fun finding new stuff from this kind of lookback – lists like this fascinate me.
I’ve marked the list up with a “?” if I’d never heard the song before. And I’ll add a “!” or an “x” (after I’ve heard it) as a completely imprecise way to bludgeon out a notion of whether I think it should be that high on the list.
- ! – Bombs Over Baghdad – OutKast
- ?! – All My Friends – LCD Soundsystem
- ! – Paper Planes – M.I.A.
- ! – Crazy In Love – Beyonce
- ?! – One More Time – Daft Punk
- ! – Maps – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- ?! – Get Ur Freak On – Missy Elliot
- ! – Idioteque – Radiohead
- ?x – My Girls – Animal Collective
- ?! – Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) – Arcade Fire
- ! – Crazy – Gnarls Barkley
- ! – Hey Ya – OutKast
- ?x – Losing My Edge – LCD Soundsystem
- ?! – 99 Problems – Jay-Z
- ?! – Heartbeats – The Knife
- ! – House of Jealous Lovers – The Rapture
- ?x – Heartbeat – Annie
- ?x – Blind – Hercules and Love Affair
- ! – Ignition – R. Kelly
- ! – The Rat – The Walkmen
- ! – Since U Been Gone – Kelly Clarkson
- ?x – Someone Great – LCD Soundsystem
- ?! – Digital Love – Daft Punk
- ! – Everything in its Right Place – Radiohead
- ?! – Umbrella – Rihanna
- ?x – My Love – Justin Timberlake
- ?! – Grindin’ – Clipse
- ?! – Hope There’s Someone – Antony and the Johnsons
- ?! – Boy From School – Hot Chip
- ! – Seven Nation Army – White Stripes
- ?! – Big Pimpin – Jay-Z
- ?x – One Thing – Amerie
- ?! – The Way We Get By – Spoon
- ?! – Galang – M.I.A.
- ? – Fireworks – Animal Collective
- ! – Svefn-G-Englar – Sigur Ros
- ?x – Can’t Get You Out of My Head – Kylie Minogue
- ! – What You Know – T.I.
- ! – Float On – Modest Mouse
- ?! – Since I Left You – The Avalanches
- ! – Staring at the Sun – TV on the Radio
- ?x – Atlas – Battles
- ?! – Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You) – UGK (feat. OutKast)
- ! – Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
- ! – Over and Over – Hot Chip
- ?x – With Every Heartbeat – Robyn
- ?!- Archangel – Burial
- ?x – Bro’s – Panda Bear
- ?! – Chicago – Sufjan Stevens
- ?x – Romeo – Basement Jaxx