Music: Best of the Aughts – Part II

Here we’re continuing with our analysis and edit of the Pitchfork Top 500 of the 2000s (Aughts). If you missed the first half, catch it here – there are some doozies, if we may say so ourselves.

The beauty of this section of the list is that Pitchfork now provides some commentary for each song.  As tempting as it to copy and paste all of it here, it’s a little verbose and esoteric for the common listener.  Plus it’s probably illegal.  So, onward ho!

• 140. Interpol – “NYC“: When we were younger, Interpol was always one of those bands that we knew we should listen to in order to really immerse ourselves in the up-and-coming music scene.  But with Paul Banks’s machine-like vocals and their lingering dark tone, we couldn’t really get into it.  But “New York Cares”, with its simple, monotonous chords and striking lyrics, is the absolute exception.

• 120. Phoenix – “If I Ever Feel Better“: After their release this year, Phoenix probably has so many songs on this list.  We haven’t even kept count.  But just in honor of their (surprisingly) long existence (since the 90′s), we’re choosing this one.  Though we could easily have here “1901“, “Fences“, “Lisztomania“, and more – all from 2009.

• 115. Dirty Projectors – “Stillness Is the Move“: Wish this one was higher.  You may find yourself wanting to like it, but a little turned off by the eccentricity of the sound, as we first did, but fight through it!  It really is that good.  And if that doesn’t work, maybe give “Cannibal Resource” and its Zeppelinesque hook a try.

• 103. Feist – “Mushaboom“: You know Feist, right?  Of course you do.  This is just as catchy, and even better than her iPod hit “1234“.

• 91. Justice – “D.A.N.C.E.”: Sure, it’s oversaturated airwaves and club speakers in its 2 years of existence, but there’s no denying its appeal.  Though the song has been remixed at least a bajillion times, and the original was over 5 minutes long, this short and to the point cut is our favorite.

• 52. Kanye West – “Flashing Lights“: The man that made me like hip-hop again.

• 41. TV On the Radio – “Staring at the Sun“: TVOTR is a group of multi-talented men, both in the band (genres and influences include rock, electronica, loop sampling, jazz, and dub… depending on the song) and outside (vocalist Tunde Adebimpe had a prominent acting role in Rachel Getting Married and guitarist Dave Sitek is a renowned producer).  “Staring at the Sun” was the first song we’d ever heard from them in 2004, and it’s still the best, despite two great albums since.

• 40. The Avalanches – “Since I Left You“: This one we first heard on a random teenage music shopping spree at the local Borders Bookstore.  Reading the special feature bio, we saw “Australian”, “groundbreaking mixing”, and “sampling” – and when the only thing you understand is that it’s Australian, of course you immediately buy it.  These guys were groundbreaking in the way they created whole songs, hell the whole friggin album, through sampling loops.  One can only fantasize about the size of the record collection they pull from.

• 39. Modest Mouse – “Float On“: So maybe Modest Mouse lost a lot of true fans with the commerical success of “Float On”, but who cares?  No one actually enjoyed the shrieks and wails of their other music, did they?

• 29. Hot Chip – “Boy From School“: Hot Chip is beloved in the media; they’re always critically praised.  We think it’s a little overboard.  These geeky electronic technicians tone down the vocals here and instead let their true skills show.

• 22. LCD Soundsystem – “Someone Great“: 3 songs in the top 25.  Wow.  It’s hard to fathom how any LCD song could be ranked higher than “Someone Great”, but two are, in fact.  Well, we’re boycotting those two, and any linking to this one only.

• 9. Radiohead – “Idioteque“: Taken aback as anyone upon the transition from Radiohead’s “OK Computer” to “Kid A” and “Amnesiac”, we found “Idioteque” a respite from what at first seemed like an album of noise.  Everything just came together, driven by a fast tempo electronica-fueled beat.  Watch the video and recall how weird these guys were are.

• 1. Outkast – “B.O.B.“: Well, argue all you want about the number one spot, but there’s no debating that Outkast was groundbreaking with “Stankonia”.  And it shows here, with “Ms. Jackson” and “Hey Ya” all high on the list.  We liked them all, but perhaps only because of the saturation (aka overplay) factor do we find “B.O.B.” so much more enjoyable these days.

Well, that wraps it up.  Overall, a very enjoyable and educational list by Pitchfork.  But we still find ourselves thinking, “really?  Outkast’s B.O.B. is NUMBER ONE for the DECADE?”  Leave it to Pitchfork to be different for the sake of being different.