[Shaun]

i'll pretend i was busy over the weekend (it's just... this place isn't exactly a priority x)

90-81:

Spoiler:

#90 - "The Apple" by VV Brown

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Way back in 2009, VV Brown burst on the pop scene with an excellent, summery album of songs that should've been hits. As it was: only one broke the Top 40 (the magnificent 'Shark in the Water', which hurt me to leave out of this list since it's the song from this century I've played the most, according to Last.FM) Pop charts are a cruel, and often injust mistress. Not to be deterred, Brown came back four years later with a darker aesthetic and a more artistic approach. The highlight was "The Apple", this incredible house-infused track that's full of scorn and power.

#89 - "Work" by Kelly Rowland and Freemasons

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I've already touched upon the incredible work done by production duo Freemasons over the 2000s so I'll instead turn my attention to Rowland. Forever pinned by the media as "in Beyonce's shadow", she still carved out a solid solo career full of many highlights ("Dilemma" with Nelly was a #1 for eons back in... 2002 I think? Plus other hits like "Stole", "Can't Nobody" and "Daylight"). The original release of 'Work' was somewhat understated, but this new lease of life in the remix made it a top ten hit and secured it as one of pop's finest moments - later going on to be a stand-out on the GTA V soundtrack. There've been a plethora of popstars releasing songs called "Work", but I'm sorry Rihanna, Britney, Ciara, Fifth Harmony, The Saturdays and Iggy Azalea... this one takes the cake. And it's not even close.

#88 - "Fluorescent Adolescent" by Arctic Monkeys

Youtube video

There are a few songs from this century where everyone seems to know all of the lyrics in spite of them making very little sense. Up there with Mr. Brightside was this, a #5 single from their second album (and my favourite album of theirs) Favourite Worst Nightmare. The music video makes Joaquin Phoenix's oscar-winning performance look perfectly amateur. "Oh the boy's a slag... the best you ever had"

#87 - "Monster" by Kanye West, Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver

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Picking just the one song from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was an impossible task... because I've got two other hits of his from other records to come and I rate them as my two best Kanye songs. There really could've been any of them... the album is flawless from start to finish. But the song that seemed to make the biggest cultural impact was Monster... and it's an epic of biblical proportions. Rick Ross gets the ball rolling, Jay-Z is sneering and venomous, Bon Iver lends a soulful outro to the whole project... but the star turns are by Ye himself and Nicki Minaj. Whilst Kanye's is still quotable today, it was Minaj who really made a name for herself and dropped one of the most-respected and lauded verses of all time. The whole song can feel like a preamble to her scene-stealing performance, but it's genuinely exhilarating from the second it starts.

#86 - "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" by Eve and Gwen Stefani

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Eve was one of the coolest artists when I was in my early teenage years; someone who the UK never really fully embraced but was huge across the pond. Out of her many hits ("Who's That Girl?", "Tambourine", "4 My People" with Missy Elliott) her most successful was this ridiculously good earworm featuring Gwen Stefani just as she was about to go solo from No Doubt. So good the Grammy's literally invented the "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" category for it.

#85 - "Giving Up The Gun" by Vampire Weekend

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Vampire Weekend are one of my all-time favourite bands thanks to their numerous excellent albums, but it took me until their second - Contra in 2010 - to fully hop aboard the bandwagon. This song and its infectious xylophone hook was pretty much on every night I went to indie bars, and I loved it. The video is odd... an indoor tennis tournament featuring Joe Jonas, Jake Gyllenhaal, RZA and Lil Jon. Okay.

#84 - "Blockbuster Night Part 1" by Run the Jewels

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All of Run the Jewels' albums are perfect, but it was their second that really fired me up and inspired me. It kicks into gear for me with this nightmarish rumination on abuse of power, sexual predators at the top of every industry (a couple of years before the exposure of Harvey Weinstein), and the usual wordplay that just embarrasses the majority of current rap artists.

#83 - "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" by Spiller and Sophie Ellis-Bextor

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I kicked this countdown off with a dance anthem helmed by Ellis-Bextor and here we tackle the song that launched her career. One of the biggest dance records in the UK of all time, it was the subject of a media frenzy because it managed to fend off the #1 spot from a much-anticipating Victoria Beckham. Was the right decision made? Do you hear anyone listening to Out Of Your Mind? (No it was a perfectly fine song but, come on... there was no contest). 'Groovejet' is just effortlessly catchy and groovy and that it's now a part of pop history is... fitting, really.

#82 - "Run Away With Me" by Carly Rae Jepsen

Youtube video

The sax intro that launched a thousand memes. I don't think much needs to be said on TiBB of RAWM... it won the Song of 2015 competition on here and deservedly so. The second that chorus kicks off I still get chills... it's just absolute perfection.

#81 - "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" by U2

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The Irish legends had a string of hits well into the latter end of the 2000s before finally buggering off and leaving us (and our iTunes libraries) alone. But before they became irritating... actually no that's a lie, Bono was hated well by 2005 when this song was released... they were dropping wonderful singles left right and centre. This hit #1 and whilst, on the surface, it isn't any more remarkable than other 2000s hits of theirs like Vertigo, City of Blinding Lights or Elevation, it was something that I had on heavy rotation around the time that my dad and brother died and I guess I felt some sort of catharsis in the track. "And it's you when I look in the mirror," indeed. The song was written for Bono's father, who died of cancer in 2001.

[Babayaro.]

Enjoying reading these reviews

[Babayaro.]

Also, had never heard that U2 song, so thanks for that. Love it

[Ammi]

...OMG..VV Brown, I haven’t listened to her in forever.....

[Shaun]

i've confirmed my top 20 now, that was nice (i've just been eliminating 10 songs from the list at a time on a whim until now x)

80-71:

Spoiler:

#80 - "Halo" by Beyoncé

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There could be a ton of arguments made as to why this isn't Beyoncé's best song, and I would be happy to agree with a lot of them, but when I pored over this decision I couldn't stop coming back to the resolution that Halo is the song in her discography that I played the most, that I have the most memories of friends with, and seemed to truly be a cultural shift in her career. It's the song that she encores concerts and festivals with; it's the song that fans took and ran with. A phenomenal vocal, a lyric of utter devotion and almost worship... there isn't a better allegory for Beyoncé's cult-following and long may they practice their craft ALSO... Niamh parodied it to be about a potato, and that was nice.

#79 - "Don't Call Me Baby" by Madison Avenue

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This is another case of "well it charted in 2000 so I assumed it would count, but it was actually ****ing released in 1999 but it's too late now, Shaun, because you've eliminated 180~ other songs ahead of it". ****ing nightmare! ANYWAY. Australian house duo had a one-hit wonder back in 2000 with this sample of the irresistable bassline from McFadden & Whitehead's Ain't No Stopping Us Now. It reached #1 in the UK all the way back in May 2000, and has been on heavy rotation for clubs and wedding parties ever since. Like all great house classics, it's bold, feminine and unapologetic, and was embraced by the gays.

#78 - "Millionaire" by Kelis and André 3000

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I'd certainly been aware of her other hits that preceded this one (kids at school continually screaming "I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW" but that was mostly because I was bullied x (jk x)) but Millionaire was the one that converted me into a Kelis stan. Outkast's André 3000 features and kicks off the single phenomenally with his inimitable cartoonish delivery, and Kelis plays with lyrics rhythmically (I am rich, to he is rich, to she is rich, to we is rich ) but the reason it still turns me into a dancing maniac to this day is that instrumental... the rattling, buzzing and beeping is just so, so good.

#77 - "Some Girls" by Rachel Stevens

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Richard X was responsible for a whole lot of phenomenal pop music around the first half of the 2000s; he produced hits for Sugababes, Liberty X, M.I.A., Annie, Will Young and Alesha Dixon. My favourite work of his though was this throwaway third single off Rachel Stevens' debut album. She'd already made an impression with the fantastic Sweet Dreams My LA Ex (originally written for Britney Spears, apparently!) and so it didn't seem thinkable that a second or third single would match it; Some Girls did, literally. Both singles hit #2 on the UK singles chart. The song is definitely more than a little inspired by Goldfrapp's Strict Machine but it's its clever wordplay, tales of seedy music industry men and their "promise I'd get to the top" that set it apart. Few singers could make a song about giving label managers blowjobs ("the champagne makes it taste so much better") and get away with releasing it for Comic/Sport Relief.

#76 - "Seventeen" by Sharon Van Etten

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I named this my top song of 2019, meaning it's the most recent single to make the cut here. Van Etten is someone I'd ignored for a long time whilst bouncing away, presumably, to Rachel Stevens... but that Remind Me Tomorrow album was a shock to my system. So beautifully written, and full of bittersweet nostalgia like on this. A song about reflecting on your teenage years with a mixture of fondness and desperation to go back is pretty much the one overarching theme from putting this countdown together, so the song feels mad appropriate

#75 - "Read My Mind" by The Killers

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2006's Sam's Town is probably the album I've listened to the most this century. Whilst it's certainly not the best album, it's something I and my friends grew up on, and I remember singing this song a lot with some of them and pretending that I definitely did not have a crush on frontman Brandon Flowers because I was obviously straight. The Killers were - and probably still are - huge for a reason: they had a fantastic grip on turning electronic-rock and nonsensical lyrics into stadium-fillers, and whilst they had bigger hits than this ("Mr. Brightside", "Human", "All These Things I've Done", "Somebody Told Me"), I just remember finding this song a wonderful tonic for introverts everywhere.

#74 - "The Mother We Share" by CHVRCHES

Youtube video

Scottish act CHVRCHES burst onto the scene in 2013 with an arsenal of joyous electropop and it culminated in this mega-banger that, for some reason, I have closely affiliated with the Commonwealth games that were hosted in Glasgow a few years back. This song is just... begging to be screamed along to in a festival field; full of optimism and love.

#73 - "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim

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It's impossible to write about this song without acknowledging the music video: Christopher Walken's gravity-defying dance moves have already gone down in history as one of the greatest videos ever created, and that's just... not up for debate. But I'm ranking songs here, and it needed to be a great song to stand the test of time, because there were a lot of fantastic Fatboy Slim singles (even if the majority were in the 90s)... 'Weapon of Choice' uses the ridiculously cool Bootsy Collins' voice to give doctrine over this wonky, wobbly music that's just brilliant.

#72 - "Kiss It Better" by Rihanna

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Where to start with Rihanna's career? She's released, or been featured on, more singles than Tom Jones at this point. For me, there was a cruel irony in the fact that she's gone - for so long now - on hiatus after dropping her best ever album and best ever single. "Kiss It Better" was taken from 2016's Anti and is this dripping-with-sex belter that channels 1980s Prince; a guitar-heavy haze that's just irresistable. She had many, many bigger hits than this - but none of them were as good as this and I'll stand on that hill until I die.

#71 - "Mystery of Love" by Sufjan Stevens

Youtube video

When I compile end-of-year lists of music I have a tendency to ignore film soundtracks because I figure if they were that good, I'd have heard them before the year pans out. As a result, back in 2017 I completely missed this masterpiece until it swelled my heart when I watched Call Me By Your Name in 2018. Stevens has forever been the subject of rumours about sexuality and has been deliberately vague about it, so the idea of contributing to one of the most gorgeous and tragic queer romances in recent years seemed like an overdue penance. Here he observes the classics as he so often does, ruminating on Hephaestion and Alexander the Great's relationship as he ponders love and uncertainty with such a charm that only Stevens is capable of.

[Ammi]

#71 - "Mystery of Love" by Sufjan Stevens

#74 - "The Mother We Share" by CHVRCHES

#76 - "Seventeen" by Sharon Van Etten

.....

[Merry Mockmas]

Originally Posted by Ammi

......I love these type of lists that you do...there will be so many that I’m not familiar with and it always gives me the opportunity to do that and sometimes, to listen to artists more in depth......and also it reminds us to revisit great songs that we haven’t thought about for a while...

I 100% agree with everything in this post.

I haven't read the whole thread yet, but I love to know peoples Music tastes.

[Smithy]

Bey has much better songs

[Jordan.]

groovejet & millionaire

[Merry Mockmas]

Originally Posted by Babayaro.

Some solid choices

I like the fact that it feels like it is his genuine opinion rather than playing it safe like you can see with some lists on Youtube.

[Shaun]

thanks all!

70-61:

Spoiler:

#70 - "Into You" by Ariana Grande

Youtube video

Grande's career doesn't seem to be showing any signs of stopping any time soon, which is fantastic for her and yet frustrating for me. The last two or three albums have been incredibly blah and it feels like everything post-Dangerous Woman has been the same mumbling tedium. Compare the likes of thank u, next with the hits she was churning out (Be Alright, Break Free, Problem, One Last Time) and it just feels like what was once a bright poppy spark has been dulled into the same trap-infused crap that everyone else is doing. She peaked with Into You, an urgent and passionate sex-banger that has been at the forefront of every gay with a performative aspect's mind for a good half decade now. That whistle tone during the final chorus? Changed lives. I'm bald now. Irretrievable.

#69 - "Hold On, We're Going Home" by Drake and Majid Jordan

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Speaking of musicians who've been dominating at the top of the charts long past their quality of output faded, Drake has been huge ever since the latter end of the 00s and has had an endless tirade of #1 singles and albums. The critical praise for the man has definitely faded over the last handful, but for a time he seemed inescapable. That nightmare was at least made bearable by the release of this phenomenal single in 2013. Hold On, We're Going Home is Drake at his best: emotional, vulnerable, honest and immaculately produced. Those synths swooning throughout... wonderful.

#68 - "I Dare You" by The xx

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Since their Mercury Prize-winning debut album in 2009, The xx have revolutionised the way bands and artists play with minimalism, and really paved the way for experimentalism to be more featured and prominent in mainstream pop. They truly carved out a niche; combining Jamie xx's gentle take on house and dance with Romy's sublime, aching voice and Oliver Sim's hollow, commanding drawl. I could've picked any of their songs to be honest; I've adored all three albums but I think I took to their most recent - 2017's I See You the most and thus I pick I Dare You. Those punchy, short lyrics give the track this sense of having to get it off their chests, and nothing feels more important. Millie Bobby Brown pops up in the video, too, which is odd.

#67 - "when the party's over" by Billie Eilish

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I've reflected a lot on the angsty, emo trends that dominated during my formative years with the occasional musical nostalgia in here, and it's that sort of teenage anxiety and uncertainty that is forever associated with those years of your lives. This generation's biggest star giving a voice to those sorts of feelings is Eilish, a woman whose star is almost certainly still on the rise even if she's already got two Record of the Year GRAMMYs to her name. Before she was being thrown opportunities like recording a Bond theme and mega-budget music videos, she was appealing to fans with these incredibly stripped-back songs and there wasn't one more laid-bare and vulnerable than When the Party's Over. Vocally, the song is haunting; layered with reverbs and echoes to such an extent that it's almost ethereal. Visually, the music video is so intensely unsettling and visceral that it's impossible to not feel moved by it. She's already released a lot of fantastic singles, but the one that really jolted me awake and made me pay attention to her artistry was this.

#66 - "Q.U.E.E.N." by Janelle Monáe and Erykah Badu

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I've already explained my love of Janelle Monáe in here so I'll just jump straight on the song: 'QUEEN' was the lead single from her second album, The Electric Lady. I remember waiting for the music video to premiere because I knew it would be an event, and I was not wrong. There aren't many songs from the 2010s that are more powerful than this: it's a feminist and black anthem that harnesses so much in its lyrics that it's almost impossible to unpack here. Especially when the music is so compelling, full of funk and groove and the wonderful interruption of Badu's signature drawl. The spoken word outro, though, is phenomenal:

"Are we a lost generation of our people?
Add us to equations but they'll never make us equal
She who writes the movie owns the script and the sequel
So why ain't the stealing of my rights made illegal?
They keep us underground working hard for the greedy
But when it's time to pay they turn around and call us needy
My crown too heavy like the Queen Nefertiti
Gimme back my pyramid, I'm trying to free Kansas City
Mixing masterminds like your name Bernie Grundman
Well I'mma keep leading like a young Harriet Tubman
You can take my wings but I'm still gonna fly
And even when you edit me the booty don't lie
Yeah, I'ma keep sangin', I'mma keep writin' songs
I'm tired of Marvin asking me "What's Going On?"
March through the streets 'cuz I'm willing and I'm able
Categorize me, I defy every label
And while you're selling dope, we're gonna keep selling hope
We rising up now, you gotta deal you gotta cope
Will you be electric sheep? Electric ladies, will you sleep?
Or will you preach?"

#65 - "Slow Burn" by Kacey Musgraves

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2018's Golden Hour is an album that demands to be listened to in the gentlest way possible. I cannot understate how calming and serene an experience it was to listen to the first time, and it only gets better with repeated listens. Its standout - for me - was Slow Burn, this picturesque snapshot of time and ecstacy that still gives me chills and probably will for years to come. I've never tried heroin but I'd imagine the high, that everyone addicted to it is chasing, feels something like this.

#64 - "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand

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One of the greatest intros to a rock song of all time, period. Franz Ferdinand burst onto the UK music scene in 2004 with Matinee and immediately followed it up with this monster, jam-packed with catchy guitar riffs and lyrics that are practically begging to be shouted along to in a packed pub. It's been a long time since the Scots put an album out, and truth be told they were petering out for a while, like most bands do, but god they were amazing in the 2000s.

#63 - "Bohemian Like You" by The Dandy Warhols

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The second that drumbeat kicks in and the organs fire up on the intro, I am immediately teleported back to 2001 and the feeling of effortless cool. There aren't many songs more iconic or universally loved than Bohemian Like You; a song that extended way beyond your casual rock fans into the hearts of just about everyone it reached through radio waves. Five years later it was re-released as a mashup with Mousse T's "Horny" and given a new lease of life, but honestly I think the song was already destined to go down as an all-time classic without it.

#62 - "Hung Up" by Madonna

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Nowadays whenever you hear about Madonna reinventing herself you can't help but grimace and brace yourselves for the onslaught of true cringe... but back in 2005 she did it with such a meticulous attention to detail and just the perfect list of ingredients to back her up. Confessions on a Dance Floor is my favourite Madonna album of all time, and I have no qualms putting it over her 1980s and 1990s masterpieces. She'd already confirmed herself as the queen of pop, and a queer icon, so why not go full disco and take an ABBA sample and ****ing run with it? Hung Up is a phenomenal song, and truly shook up pop and the idea that women of a certain age should retire gracefully and put the pink leotards away. WHAT a moment iconic.

#61 - "Since U Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson

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After winning the first series of American Idol all the way back in 2002, Clarkson quickly established herself as one of the most bankable popstars around. Teaming up with masters of the craft like Max Martin was a recipe for success, and in 2004 she came back with a second album led by this... this lightning bolt. She's had a lot of fantastic bedroom-karaoke moments, but for me the best was always this... those guitar licks and crashing drums all combining to create something truly cathartic and adrenaline-rushing.

[Alf]

Take me out by Franz Ferdinand

[Smithy]

I was waiting for SUBG but for one of the best pop songs of all time, for it to not even make the top 50?!

[Shaun]

Youtube video

60-51:

Spoiler:

#60 - "Honey" by Torres

Youtube video

Since I found her in 2013, Torres has been steadily releasing fantastic lo-fi, emotional rock music and her albums are always there or thereabouts in my "end-of-the-year" lists. For me, she really made an impact with 2013's Honey... this slow-building, echoing and yearning rock ballad that feels like a forming storm. As her voice grows more distorted and struggles to resonate over the guitars, there's this breathtaking power taking over.

#59 - "There Goes the Fear" by Doves

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When I was 13 or 14, we had to write about this music video for some KS3 English class that didn't really make much sense to me at the time; I was more preoccupied with whatever Christina Aguilera was doing on MTV. As such, it took me until 2009 for Doves to really jolt me out of my poppy slumbers and make me pay attention to their material. In hindsight, There Goes the Fear is this dizzying, almost psychedelic trip into a world free from anxiety and sits right at a wonderful middle ground point, musically, between the nihilist misery of Radiohead and the silly multi-instrumentalism of the Rolling Stones.

#58 - "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga

Youtube video

I'm not writing anything nice about her because Smithy is annoying me lately and he was rude about SOPHIE. Take your iconic pop moment and FUCK OFF.

#57 - "All My Friends" by LCD Soundsystem

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Initially I found LCD Soundsystem through the use of "North American Scum", I think, on the Skins soundtrack... and the resulting lean towards their music has been frustratingly gradual on my part. I'm not sure what took me so long: their albums are all excellent, and full of these richly atmospheric, exhilarating songs. They are comfortable churning out dancefloor hits like Daft Punk Are Playing At My House, but I love them most when they're putting out 8 minute long, delayed-gratification epics that keep you on your toes and enjoying the buildup.

#56 - "Cellophane" by fka twigs

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Well, I've obviously messed up because I named Sharon van Etten's Seventeen the song of 2019 and this is from the same year. Well... times change. And the beauty behind this song, let alone the gorgeous music video, has obviously swayed me. The raspiness in her voice, the range from guttural moans to gasping falsettos, and those hissing sound effects as a deceptively simple piano chord plods along all combine to create a spell that's captivating.

#55 - "Flawless" by The Ones

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Okay so I've just discovered that the lead vocalist of this band died last year due to COVID complications, at the age of 50, so I'm definitely temporary pulled out of the heady, dizzying disco that this song immediately conjures The Ones were a trio of queer entertainers who - back in 2001 - had a one-hit-wonder with 'Flawless'. The song was later sampled by George Michael for his excellent single "Flawless (Go to the City)" and the song's irresistable funk was given another lease of life. I remember learning all of the rap on this ("worshipping you like a godde-like a goddess" ) as an eleven year old with no real grasp on my sexuality. It took me a long time to ****ing get there, but god bless you, The Ones, for showing me the ropes. ANTHEM.

#54 - "I Wish" by Mini Viva

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Right, I suppose I had better let go of my biases and realise that Mini Viva are never going to make any top 40 The UK's bittersweetly short-lived frolic with Mini Viva was, sadly, limited to the top-10 single Left My Heart in Tokyo all the way back in 2009. Whilst that debut single was indeed great, it was their second - this - that captured my attention. Sitting prettily between the poppy melodrama of Girls Aloud's The Loving Kind and Xenomania's signature electronica, the single might never have been destined to enter the charts, but it entered my heart an iconic moment.

#53 - "Say It Right" by Nelly Furtado

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I've already exhausted myself with praising Timbaland's production style throughout this list so I'll just say this: this was probably his best work, and one of the finest songs released in that decade. Furtado's voice is always piercing, but amplified here by those sweeping, hypnotic background synths.

#52 - "All The Small Things" by blink-182

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JUST scraping into eligibility for this list - it was released on the 18th of January, 2000 - are blink-182, pop punk's greatest success. All The Small Things needs no introduction: it is a timeless classic that is one of the most guaranteed ways to conjure waves of nostalgia and millions of people now in their 30s and 40s to sing along at the top of their lungs. From the ridiculous music video to its presence in every single teen movie for years to come, the song is now embedded in pop culture forever.

#51 - "Hey Ya!" by Outkast

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Another song with legend status is Hey Ya!, taken from 2003's incredible project Speakerboxxx / The Love Below. If I were to be writing this in an attempt to be objective, and name the greatest song of the century, this would definitely be much higher up: it's one of the most unique and incredible songs of all time and has absolutely obliterated everything you require to go down in history: the charts, the culture, the music video, the vocals, the memes and the radio airplay. The only reason it escapes my top 50 is because I was able to pick 50 songs I cherish more; this whole list is silly because all of the 250 songs I've named are likely to have me rolling around the floor screaming the lyrics like a confused seal. SHAKE IT LIKE A POLAROID PICTURE

[Babayaro.]

All My Friends

[Saph]

glad to see some iconic bops in the list so far!
Groovejet, Some Girls, Hung Up, Since U Beek Gone, Kiss It Better, Let Me Blow Your Mind

[Saph]

i can only assume leave (get out) by jojo is top 50

[Merry Mockmas]

Originally Posted by Alf

Take me out by Franz Ferdinand

That was a nice surprise for my personal tastes.

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Saph

i can only assume leave (get out) by jojo is top 50

I did put together a list of 10 songs that JUST missed out and Miss Jojo is on there! But... for "Too Little Too Late", unfortunately </3 queen of breakup bops.

[Shaun]

we're close to the end now

50-41:

Spoiler:

#50 - "Midnight City" by M83

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I suppose I should be more annoyed that Made In Chelsea went ahead and made this their theme tune, but I think I'm leaning towards the idea that this should be the theme tune for absolutely everything. French band M83 have been releasing albums since 2001, but it was in 2011 that they went stratospheric with the release of Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. An album rich with childlike optimism, and a sense of wonder - all held together by this climactic track and its indescribable atmosphere.

#49 - "Dog Days Are Over" by Florence + the Machine

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I already picked one of Florence's songs and have probably stated a million reasons why I - and so many others - love her and her artistry, so I'll just go on and explain the song that kicked it all off. 2009's Lungs was an album executed perfectly, full of knockout singles and bizarre, baroque album tracks that still keep me going back for repeated listens. But it was Dog Days Are Over that put her on the map: an incredibly brief, punchy combination of drums and harps that is as uplifting as it is catchy.

#48 - "Love at First Sight" by Kylie Minogue

Youtube video

She really loved those weird robotic dancers with face shields, didn't she? I only just talked about On a Night Like This, and truth be told I had a hard time differentiating between the two... but I think I associate this song with more good times and it has a slightly more euphoric vibe to it. Kylie has a broad range of fantastic singles, but if pushed, I'd have to say this one is my favourite.

#47 - "212" by Azealia Banks and Lazy Jay

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Every basic white girl (myself included)'s immediate favourite thing at the end of 2011 was 212. Its monochromatic music video, its profane lyrics, that Mickey Mouse sweater and that flawless delivery were a shot of adrenaline to the music scene and - for a moment - it looked like we might have the best female rapper of all time in our hands. Banks went on to release a lot of fantastic music, but also a lot of... seemingly endless toxicity and is one of the industry's biggest disasters since Milli Vanilli. I'm not here to tarnish her reputation though (she did that herself): 212 is one of the greatest rap singles of all time and is guaranteed to fill floors even if it's with a bunch of people wondering if she's still cancelled.

#46 - "Video Games" by Lana Del Rey

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If you need a better indication that the ordering of this list is incredibly esoteric, then know that I was toying with throwing this song out of the running at the first list of ten videos As I started to write about it, and Lana Del Rey's story, though, I knew that I was making a mistake and that this song had a far bigger impact than I was aware of. Her breakthrough in 2011 with this video - seemingly dropped on YouTube independently and promising this story of an impossibly-beautiful woman without a record label being capable of putting together this 1950s Americana-tinged nostalgia - was nothing less than huge. 'Video Games' shot straight into the top ten in the UK, and made her an overnight star. Her albums since have varied in quality, but now she's back in the public favour it seems we're indebted to the huge success of this debut.

#45 - "Yeah Yeah" by Bodyrox and Luciana

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This single hit #2 (held off by Fedde le Grand's Put Your Hands Up For Detroit) back in 2006 and for a long, long time (as a sixteen year old, mind) I considered it the best thing I'd ever heard. That production is just... like nothing else I've ever heard, such a grungy take on the dance music that was so dominant at the time. British-Italian singer Luciana was a guest on many hit singles around the time for Taio Cruz, Super Mal, Lethal Bizzle and Tiësto, but none were as big as Yeah Yeah and her signature punky style was perfect for it.

#44 - "Life in Technicolor II" by Coldplay

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I've already talked about Coldplay in this list so I'll just explain why this was my favourite song of theirs... actually I'm not sure I need to. Initially released as an instrumental to break up the action on their 2008 album Viva la Vida... or Death And All His Friends, the reception to it was so big that the band opted to put a vocal to it and release it as a single. Those vocals are indeed lovely, and it was nice to have something to sing along to, but if I'm honest the reason it took residence in my heart was because of that instrumental. I associate the song with a period of time in my life that was traumatic, and turned to songs bursting with radiance and optimism, and this was one of the more successful efforts. It still gives me chills

#43 - "A&E" by Goldfrapp

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I've grown to love Goldfrapp for a lot of reasons, some of which have already been made clear in this thread. But my first introduction to them was on 2007's Seventh Tree; a far more folksy, baroque take on their sound than the electropop that had previously dominated their discography. Its standout was A & E... and Alison Goldfrapp's vocal on this song is perhaps the closest thing to heaven I've ever heard. For a song about taking an overdose and ending up in A&E to sound so magical and blissful is... bizarre.

#42 - "How It Ends" by DeVotchKa

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Little Miss Sunshine is one of my all-time favourite movies, and whilst that's largely due to its plot, its dark comedy, its unique take on familial relationships and incredible acting from Toni Collette, Steve Carrell, Alan Arkin and co., a significant reason is attributed to its soundtrack. Devotchka, a little-known Denver band, were responsible for the majority of it and its crux was How it Ends. The strings that kick in at the end of the song are so achingly beautiful.

#41 - "The Best of You" by Foo Fighters

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Foo Fighters have ONE better song than this, but sadly Everlong was released in the 90s and was therefore ineligible for this list. The band have been colossal for a long time now, and whilst the music hasn't been any good since, like, 2011, at their height they were fantastic. Dave Grohl's voice is always a tonic, but on this song it's something else... so strained, so visceral and so powerful.

[Black Dagger]

What a list of 10.

I always forget how punchy Midnight City is. What a ****ing song.

[Tony Montana]

Hold On, We're Going Home is my favourite Drake song. It's so underrated. Glad you included it.

Flawless, Say It Right, All the Small Things, Take Me Out, Hung Up, Since U Been Gone, Love at First Sight, Video Games and Best of You are all amazing.

Hey Ya is an absolute classic. Brings back so many amazing memories, the early 2000's were really something else. What I'd do to go back there.

[Shaun]

i am happy to provide a public service. Saph is at the back handing out pamphlets on how to join the church of taste x

40-31:

Spoiler:

#40 - "Pyramid Song" by Radiohead

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It took me a long, long time to get into Radiohead. Their two best albums were released prior to the cut-off point of this thread, so that didn't help, considering I was ten years old and not really likely to bounce away to No Surprises or Everything In Its Right Place. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, though, and they've continued to throw out great albums well into the 21st century. 2001's Amnesiac was not one of the best, but it contained this - the best musical depiction of what I'd imagine it is like to see mirages in the desert. Those piano chords jab at you from all different angles, giving an incredibly alienating experience, but at the same time it's all so... serene.

#39 - "We Are the People" by Empire of the Sun

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2009's Walking on a Dream album was one of the weirdest and most visually and sonically appealing things I'd ever heard at the time. The Australians surfed in on the end of that wave of indie disco with an incredible eye for aesthetics and a handful of phenomenal singles. I was close to choosing the title track, which is also worth a listen, but in the end I had fonder memories of swaying along to this; its "I know everything about youuuuu" bridge is burnt into my subconscious.

#38 - "Frontier Psychiatrist" by The Avalanches

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Speaking of eccentric Australian duos, the Avalanches dropped one album in 2000 and its impact was so severe that it took sixteen years to follow it up. There've been two since 2016, and both are wonderful, but I would be lying if their biggest cultural impact - both on me and the world - wasn't... this. This song is almost unable to be described. The band received a lot of praise for innovating the way producers use samples, and along with DJ Shadow over in the US really created a new genre. I remember discovering this music video when I was about 14 or 15, so a good five years after it was released, and my friends thinking it was the coolest/funniest thing we'd ever seen. It is truly unique, and yet... SO incredible.

#37 - "The Fear" by Lily Allen

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One of the most divisive figures in music, Lily Allen has been releasing thought-provoking pop since 2005 and, unlike the majority of this list, I was at an age able to appreciate and digest it from the get-go. Her career's been fun to follow; whether she played it safe with the John Lewis Christmas advert or got called a racist for, um, having some dancers twerking on the video for Hard Out Here. It's her two first albums that I hold dearest to my heart, though, and in 2009 she hit the top of the singles chart with this clever, poignant reflection on the invasiveness of celebrity culture (it took me so long to realise "I'll look at the Sun, then I'll look in the Mirror... I'm on the right track, yeah I'm on to a winner" was referring to the tabloid newspapers and not just sungazing or looking at herself queen of wordplay!) She's released many brilliant songs, but this'll always be my favourite.

#36 - "American Boy" by Estelle and Kanye West

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That a song can almost be ruined not once but twice - first by the cringe scene in Gavin and Stacey between Sheridan Smith and James Corden, and later, now, with that ****ing Fortnite parody of the song - and STILL stand the test of time as... probably the greatest pop/rap collaboration of the century, is a miracle. The song is a wonderful time capsule of when Kanye West was still on the rise, and not above hosting Channel 4's The Friday Night Project... rather than... whatever he's become today. Estelle deserved more hits; her voice is gorgeous and her style is impeccable.

#35 - "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire

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You can't really mention this song on TiBB without reminding everyone of the incredible "Channel 4 Big Brother Best Bits" video put together by former moderator Rory on YouTube, so the song already has the home advantage on here... but I loved this song, and Arcade Fire, long before Big Brother's demise. The band are one of my all-time favourites... and there's no song more embedded in the fans hearts than Wake Up... that chanting chorus is one of the most comforting things in the world.

#34 - "I Still Remember" by Bloc Party

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One of the 2000s more interesting bands were Bloc Party, fronted by Kele Okereke and his eye (aka he's gay x) for something subversive. The band had this string of weird, chaotic singles that were a shock to the system... but I'm going to wimp out and pick one of their gentler songs. I was torn between So Here We Are and this... but I think the lyric for this just tipped it over the edge. It's such a romantic, beautiful song and the way mundane experiences are given such weight and personality is remarkable. "Every park bench screams your name" is such a silly lyric unless you're in the throes of a whirlwind romance.

#33 - "By the Way" by Red Hot Chili Peppers

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Another band more famous for dicks-out nonsense music than anything with much heart were the Chili Peppers... making the older generation tut since the late 1980s. Whether singing about ****ing in California, asking girls to "suck my kiss", or the very public heroin addiction plaguing Anthony Kiedis, they were always on the outskirts of what was acceptable to show on MTV... but by 2002, they'd calmed somewhat but still put out gorgeous songs. 'By the Way' is one that has this calming effect on me; something that makes you close your eyes and sing along as though an incantation. The track was sadly beaten to the #1 spot by Elvis vs. JXL's take on "A Little Less Conversation"... but I'm not going to let the UK's fixation with making Elvis still top the singles chart in the early 2000s bother me. I'm just not.

#32 - "Sea of Love" by Cat Power

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There was a fair bit of competition in terms of the cover song I could've placed highest... Scissor Sisters did a remarkable job reworking Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, Utah Saints did something good indeed with Kate Bush's Cloudbusting, and Eric Prydz sent shockwaves through the music video channels with his take on Steve Winwood's Valerie... but in the end I put away all of the dance hits and gave the title to this track from 2007's wonderful soundtrack for the movie Juno. On it is Cat Power's take on a 1950s crooner by Phil Phillips (who sadly passed away last year, RIP ) and both versions of the song are beautiful... but the twangs and ache in Power's voice on this 2000 version are just something else entirely. She took this love-song-by-numbers and gave it such a dark, eerie feeling... as though it could be from a siren, luring us to the rocks.

#31 - "Biology" by Girls Aloud

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One of the greatest pop songs of all time, period. I've already put in Something Kinda Ooooh and truth be told, I could've easily thrown in The Loving Kind, The Show, Sound of the Underground and Call the Shots too... no girl group will ever come close to their legacy, and whilst you can certainly worship the ones that preceded them... I am comfortable when I say that Girls Aloud were better than the Spice Girls, better than the Supremes, and better than... well who else is there? Biology is one of those rare songs where every. single. section. of. the. song. sounds like the chorus, such an incredible individual component, forming to create this monster of a song. Ignore the choreography.

[Shaun]

i've finally put the remaining 30 in a concrete order of those 30 songs, only two are by the same artist. Three guesses as to who!

[Smithy]

Jewels & Drugs and Come To Mama no doubt about it