[DouglasS]

What is artpoop? Who’s it by

Edit: my autocorrect

[DouglasS]

Would be interesting to read an album 100 or something tho

[Daniel.]

You could have at least said one of her half decent albums.

[Dogeatdog]

Originally Posted by Shaun

160-151:

Spoiler:

#160 - "When a Fire Starts to Burn" by Disclosure

Youtube video

2013's Settle LP was the home to a whole string of massive chart hits that made the year seem an exciting time for house and dance music; there was the breakthrough single "Latch" with Sam Smith, top ten hits "White Noise" and "You & Me", and other star names like Mary J Blige, London Grammar, Jessie Ware and Jamie Woon appeared to create something special. The record really sprang to life, though, thanks to the reworking of Eric Thomas' motivational speaking on this track. The production is immaculate.

#159 - "Chill Out" by RAY BLK & SG Lewis

Youtube video

The winner of the BBC's annual "Sound Of..." competition is usually someone incredibly safe and white and in the 2010s there were only three that didn't become chart-toppers or festival headliners... they happened to all be black (Michael Kiwanuka and Octavian are the other two... the other 7 are Sam Smith, Ellie Goulding, HAIM, Years & Years, Jack Garratt, Jessie J and Sigrid). But yeah... no racism in the UK What's especially frustrating for me is that RAY BLK - demonstrably on this track, but on many others, too - has more heart and soul in her voice than the majority of those other winners combined. This video shines a light on the experience of trans and gay people in Jamaica, and the track is just so breezy and showcases both her singing and rapping.

#158 - "Flowers" by Sweet Female Attitude

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I haven't checked, but this might be the earliest-released song to make it into this thread... having dropped all the way back in April of the year 2000 The song needs no introduction; it firmly established itself as a garage classic back at a time when your Craig Davids, Artful Dodgers, Mis-Teeqs and So Solid Crews were in full swing - but at the same time it doesn't suffer particularly from that dated feeling that some of its contemporaries might experience; there's an electronic poppy element to it that cements it as an immediate floor-filler, whatever the year.

#157 - "Monster" by Lady Gaga

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Narrowing down Gaga's discography to just the two tracks to feature in this list was an arduous effort, given the sheer number of hits and reinventions of herself. One I had to choose, however, wasn't even a single; "Monster" is hidden on her 2009 album The Fame Monster with a cold, slick, metallic production and a dark, cannibalistic lyric.

#156 - "Party in the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus

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As I've already said, this list was compiled long before I even knew what a Midnight Sky was, and as such it might feel a little dated... but I picked this track when there were other competitors like Malibu, We Can't Stop and Nothing Breaks Like a Heart on offer, and I am comfortable I made the right choice. Party in the USA is an iconic moment in pop: it's cheesy, it's camp, it's the catchiest thing you'll hear all day and it's one of the most joyous and sing-along-able songs released this century. **** the Star Spangled Banner, this is their national anthem

#155 - "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People

Youtube video

Then again, maybe this is a more appropriate American national anthem. Foster the People came along and disappeared promptly in 2011 with this monolith of a hit that deploys an unmistakable cool. That its lyrics for such a cheery, foot-tapping song are the vows of a high school shooter to terrorise his classmates is remarkable; and the fact that this song endured such longevity despite being pulled from radio stations every time one such tragedy happens, is nothing short of an oddity.

#154 - "L.S.F. (Light Souls Forever)" by Kasabian

Youtube video

At the height of their fame, Kasabian were one of the UK's most exciting bands to bother the charts; taking Oasis' remnants of Cool Britannia and adjusting them to a more electronic-friendly audience. Their self-titled debut album in 2004 is one of my favourites, and the psychedelic haze about this saw it become an indie classic.

#153 - "Down On My Luck" by Vic Mensa

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Mensa broke through in 2014 with this monstrously catchy hit that... sadly was never really followed up on. His album came three years later, and it was... bland and forgettable hip hop. Go back to deep house pls x

#152 - "Relax, Take it Easy" by Mika

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Before he went straight to the top of the charts with Grace Kelly, Mika dropped this song first and it was an instant shake-up of 2000s pop music. A queer immigrant from the Middle East commanding the charts felt like a real breath of fresh air, and it helped that the cheesy pop he was releasing was golden and full of joy.

#151 - "Time to Pretend" by MGMT

Youtube video

Although best known for that inescapable synth hook on 'Kids', MGMT really made their first impact with this single in 2008. I suppose I loved the psychedelic element of the song and its aesthetics so much that I was able to suppress my queerness (and ignore the hotness of the lead singer, apparently, jesus christ I missed this one?!) But... jesus this song defines a wonderful period of time.

Love Disclosure, Sweet FA and Pumped up Kicks

[Dogeatdog]

Starlight always reminds me of BB5

Loving that “Jerk It Out” & “Galvanize” are included. Love those songs they bring back some great memories

[Smithy]

Originally Posted by Daniel.

You could have at least said one of her half decent albums.

[Daniel.]

Originally Posted by Smithy

Pretty easy to think it not a joke considering your obsession with Gaga and the fact jokes are meant to be funny.

[Smithy]

Yes bc Jewels and Drugs is obviously the best song of the past two decades isn’t it

Clownery!

[Jake.]

Originally Posted by Daniel.

Pretty easy to think it not a joke considering your obsession with Gaga and the fact jokes are meant to be funny.

I’d say that the obsession with gaga lies elsewhere!

[Jake.]

I wish Foster The People would become good again

[DouglasS]

Originally Posted by Smithy

Yes bc Jewels and Drugs is obviously the best song of the past two decades isn’t it

Clownery!

Where’s the punchline or the funny element though? Jokes are meant to have that element - I think that’s what Daniel is getting at

[Daniel.]

Originally Posted by Smithy

Yes bc Jewels and Drugs is obviously the best song of the past two decades isn’t it

Clownery!

I mean you probably think Chromatica is the best album of the last two decades so wouldn't shock me

[Daniel.]

Originally Posted by Jake.

I’d say that the obsession with gaga lies elsewhere!

I don't mind her. I think she has two good albums.

[Smithy]

Originally Posted by Daniel.

I mean you probably think Chromatica is the best album of the last two decades so wouldn't shock me

[Shaun]

ANYWAY

120-111:

Spoiler:

#120 - "Queen" by Perfume Genius

Youtube video

I went to see Perfume Genius at some small chapel concert in Bath back in 2013 and his sound had sort of confined itself to incredibly acoustic, minimalist balladry that - whilst excellent - is a mile away from the shenanigans he was set to unleash on the world in 2014 with this single. A trippy glam rock epic, and he's only grown in outlandish style since.

#119 - "I'm Not Alone" by Calvin Harris

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I already mentioned earlier in this thread that I have a softer spot for the Harris singles where he hasn't brought in a huge star to cover the vocals... and that's largely because of this 2009 banger. It definitely feels a little more dated than some of his other chart-toppers, but if there's a song that evokes that end-of-the-2000s party vibe better than this, I'm unaware of it.

#118 - "Gold Dust" by DJ Fresh

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Genuinely one of the most adrenaline-fueled songs ever released... the music is fire in and of itself, but the vocals from dancehall artist Ce'cile just give it an unmatched energy.

#117 - "You (Ha Ha Ha)" by Charli XCX

Youtube video

The brief period of time where Charli XCX was likely to contend for the top tens of singles charts both sides of the Atlantic is sandwiched between two far more interesting cycles of her music. Nowadays she's more experimental, and releasing bedroom albums that're miraculously fantastic, but before she went huge with the likes of Boom Clap or Break the Rules, she was releasing music like this and it was wonderful I could've just as easily chosen SuperLove or Nuclear Seasons, but in the end the sample from Gold Panda's "You" tipped this over the edge.

#116 - "Falling" by HAIM

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HAIM continue to grow in strength and are now positioned as festival headliners wherever they go, but whilst there have been some wonderful singles and albums since their breakthrough in 2013 - it's the debut album that contains my favourite song of theirs. Falling has a funky, Blood Orangesque bassline that serves as a stable backdrop whilst the guitars and twinkling electronics shine.

#115 - "Sleepwalking" by The Chain Gang of 1974

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Grand Theft Auto V was the biggest game of all time, and was the foundation for some of my closest friends today to be made, so it seemed only right to take the song that helped advertise it all and plonk it into the list. I've never checked out their other music, probably because this song is so closely associated with another form of media, but... god this is good.

#114 - "Where Are We Now?" by David Bowie

Youtube video

There wasn't really any need for Bowie to come back after (seemingly) bowing out back in 2003 with Heathen; an entire decade of nothing new seemed well-earned. Let the man retire in dignity and all that (take notes, Paul McCartney x). So to get not one, but TWO albums before he succumbed to cancer in 2016 was a wonderful surprise, and both of them were fantastic - far better than some of the experimental nonsense he was tinkering with in the 90s. 'Where Are We Now?' was the lead from 2013's The Next Day, and it's a wonderfully appropriate feeling of confusion, isolation and dissatisfaction with the current state of the world, and wallowing on past glories.

#113 - "The Scientist" by Coldplay

Youtube video

Everyone loves to hate on Coldplay. They've been huge since the year 2000 and have a frontman with an extraordinarily punchable face, and penchant for saying outlandish things. His music can verge on offensively dull. But for such a long period of time, Coldplay were the biggest band in the world because they were capable of writing beautiful songs and - back in the early 2000s - fantastic albums. 2003's A Rush of Blood to the Head is one of the century's best albums, and contains many highlights, but for me there's no song prettier, more bleak or heartbreaking, than The Scientist. It's rare for the music videos pushing a billion YouTube views to be decades-old ballads, so it must be good.

#112 - "Something Kinda Ooooh" by Girls Aloud

Youtube video

The lyrics are absolute nonsense. Many of the best pop songs are. Girls Aloud are the best girlband of all time and this is one of the reasons why (more later!)

#111 - "I Could Be the One" by Avicii vs. Nicky Romero

Youtube video

Avicii's music was deeply beloved by a lot of EDM fans and his suicide was an unmitigated tragedy for music as a whole. At his best, he was capable of conducting pure euphoria, and there wasn't a better single than this one: amazing video as well.

[Ammi]

Where Are We Now?" by David Bowie..........it’s an incredibly beautiful song and just sends chills all through...

[Ammi]

...something kinda ooooo jumping’ on my tutu....something side a me, wants some part of you oo ooooo....

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

Freak by shygirl is #1

[Alf]

I request you to do the greatest 250 songs of the 20th century next.

Do you accept the challenge?

[Shaun]

It's something I'd happily try, but would take a while to decide upon

[Alf]

Originally Posted by Shaun

It's something I'd happily try, but would take a while to decide upon

You take your time. It will also be very educational for you while researching.

[Shaun]

Mmm I'm already pretty knowledgeable but thanks for the condescension x

[Shaun]

ANYWAY again

110-101:

Spoiler:

#110 - "mOBSCENE" by Marilyn Manson

Youtube video

Quickly slipping this one in here and out of the way before the full details of the abuse allegations ruin his music forever... but during the 2000s I was introduced to the dark side by a wonderful goth friend who looked upon me and my Now! CDs with disdain. Many bands flooded my library during this period of time (Placebo, Nine Inch Nails, Tool, A Perfect Circle, AFI, Avenged Sevenfold, and the like) but one of my favourites - perhaps for its extravagant presentation, for its absurd Satanism-dabbling rhetoric, or just because it was so viscerally jarring - was Marilyn Manson. This track was an eye-opener for me as a teenager and still slaps

#109 - "Tell 'Em" by Sleigh Bells

Youtube video

In 2010, noise pop fully took over thanks to M.I.A. and the debut from Sleigh Bells: their brash, unapologetic and explosive music really shook things up and probably ruined a million dodgy speakers in the process. Their debut album kicks off with this, and I can fully understand why 50%+ of listeners would recoil in horror and dismiss it as shrill and awful, but... it paved the way for two wonderful albums (and two crap ones) and kicked pop music in the ass.

#108 - "Losing You" by Solange

Youtube video

Before Solange started releasing albums that would be incredibly overhyped and hailed as the second coming, she was resigned to dropping the occasional single that was utterly charming. In 2008, she teamed up with Freemasons to drop "I Decided", which was a swing-inspired masterpiece. Four years later, she teamed up with Dev Hynes to release this and an EP called True, and it was even better; the song is a summery, hazy masterpiece that just relaxes me in a way that few songs can.

#107 - "Gotta Tell You" by Samantha Mumba

Youtube video

Ireland's Samantha Mumba was a huge popstar for such a brief period of time and it's absolutely criminal. This - her debut single - was a huge hit and even cracked America, reaching the dizzy heights of #4 at a time when Britney, Xtina and co. were dominant. Over here, it was only held off the top of the charts by Eminem's The Real Slim Shady. She was teasing a comeback at the tail end of 2020, and that's lovely, but I'm forever besotted with the year 2000 and this song being played on rotation on my Walkman

#106 - "On a Night Like This" by Kylie Minogue

Youtube video

I'm sure some purists will regard 1980s Kylie as her peak but... they are fundamentally wrong and everyone with a brain knows that she was truly at the height of her powers in the 2000s. In the year 2000 itself, she cemented herself as the queen of the gays by dropping Light Years, an album that contained not only Spinning Around, not only Your Disco Needs You, but also this latin-tinged dance anthem. Modjo's "Lady (Hear Me Tonight)" held it off the top spot, which is fair, but I can't help but feel this should've been another of Kylie's many, many #1 hits.

#105 - "Sleepyhead" by Passion Pit

Youtube video

I've already thrown in one of their later singles, but Passion Pit really took off and were taken to the hearts of many an indie fan thanks to this in 2008. Sampling the Irish singer and harpist Mary O'Hara's piece Óró Mo Bháidín and turning it into something unrecognisable is firm evidence of their prowess at electronic experimentation during their early days. Sleepyhead sounds like absolutely nothing else; it is a thumping, eerie, unique masterpiece.

#104 - "Over and Over" by Hot Chip

Youtube video

NME called this the song of 2006 and - in a pretty stacked year - it's definitely a contender. Hot Chip have been releasing fantastic music for almost two decades now, but it all started off with this (they did have a 2004 album but I've never listened to it, sorry x)

#103 - "Take Your Mama" by Scissor Sisters

Youtube video

I'm still baffled by the Scissor Sisters' complete and utter domination of the UK charts from 2003-2010 and yet being completely ignored by their native US. I remember being so intrigued by frontman Jake Shears' style in this video (enough so to suppress the very obvious fact that he looked ****ing hot in it). The song channels Elton John so severely that the man himself would later go and provide a piano performance on another song (yet to come in this list )... and it's just a wonderfully gay time isn't it?

#102 - "Ugly Heart" by G.R.L.

Youtube video

So many songs I've picked for this have come with a heavy heart because of a suicide, and Simone Battle's just as this song was taking off and hitting the charts was especially devastating. 'Ugly Heart' is one of those perfect pop songs: catchy, rhythmic, full of fascinating different elements, and performed impeccably by all 5 girls... so perfect, of course, that paler imitations of it would happen a year or two later.

#101 - "Get Ur Freak On" by Missy Elliott

Youtube video

I will never be able to put into words just how much Missy Elliott deserves the world. Her videography is truly up there with Michael Jackson's, and her production and singles are not far behind. In 2001, she took a bhangra sample and kicked off a rebirth of hits influenced by the genre (Punjabi MCs, anyone?), and - together with Timbaland - set about shaking up pop for the entire decade. I have one more song of hers I've placed higher, but the very idea of a song being better than Get Ur Freak On is laughable, isn't it? Thank god I only named 100 of them.

[Ammi]

#101 - "Get Ur Freak On" by Missy Elliott
#102 - "Ugly Heart" by G.R.L.
#103 - "Take Your Mama" by Scissor Sisters
#106 - "On a Night Like This" by Kylie Minogue
#107 - "Gotta Tell You" by Samantha Mumba

......

[Shaun]

into the top 100 we go

100-91:

Spoiler:

#100 - "Bags" by Clairo

Youtube video

Clairo's debut album in 2019 was wonderful, but things were really brought to a boil on its standout single; Bags was placed in the top five or ten songs of the year for pretty much every major music publication. The song has this weird, distorted piano and guitar throughout that keeps it from being just another angsty grunge ballad, and features one of the HAIM sisters on drums. On it, Clairo waxes lyrical over the confusion of young, gay identity and a love interest who isn't sure if they're straight or not, and the end result is something utterly charming, tender and tentative.

#99 - "A Real Hero" by College and Electric Youth

Youtube video

The release of the movie 'Drive' in 2010 definitely lit up the hearts of a generation of misanthropic, directionless youths but it was the soundtrack that had more of an impact; aside from the phenomenal Nightcall by Kavinsky, it spawned another cult classic here. Released at the height of the chillwave movement, it channels the likes of Giorgio Moroder and Gary Numan and other classic electronic musicians but gives them a modern, feminine tinge. You'll find an endless stream of YouTube comments attributing so many different emotions to this song and I suppose its greatest triumph is provoking such a reaction in so many.

#98 - "You Know I'm No Good" by Amy Winehouse

Youtube video

"I told you I was trouble," she warns on this, one of her most celebrated tracks, and that word "trouble" is definitely one way to put the very public life and problems of Amy Winehouse. That she was allowed to just play herself out so visibly and treated with little more than a knowing nudge and tabloid fodder remains one of the greatest tragedies of the 21st century. So many people failed Amy, and her death in 2011 was... absolutely soul-destroying. It must be common knowledge now that she is one of this century's greatest icons - and whilst so many of those icons like Hendrix, Cobain, Joplin end up in tragic endings - the timeless production offered by Mark Ronson on this, and many of the other tracks on Back to Black, means that there never will really be an ending to the phenomenon that she was.

#97 - "Seasons (Waiting On You)" by Future Islands

Youtube video

I remember when Pitchfork named this the best song of 2014, and Ben (ukturtle) was flogging the hell out of it on here, I was initially underwhelmed and cautious... but with time the song's continued to grow on me and remains one of the decade's most fascinating tracks. Coupling the singer's howling and crooning with this incredibly futuristic backdrop is a feat that shouldn't work on paper - sort of like setting John Denver to a MGMT record - but it undeniably does. "I've been hanging on you" is delivered with such an ache and it's gorgeous.

#96 - "All Good Things (Come to an End)" by Nelly Furtado

Youtube video

I've mentioned before in the write-ups about Missy Elliott and Justin Timberlake tracks in this thread that Timbaland's production, for the majority of the 2000s, was really untouchable... so much so that I've cherry-picked not one but two tracks from Nelly Furtado's incredible album "Loose". The first is this; a panpipe-led ballad co-written by Coldplay's Chris Martin. All of the whistled parts and that gentle, lingering percussion give the track this dream-sequence feel; and as such the song feels like a hazy trip back to my latter school days of 2006 and 2007. Nelly Furtado is not given enough retrospective credit for how long she was a fantastic popstar.

#95 - "The Next Episode" by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kurupt and Nate Dogg

Youtube video

So many hip hop songs from this period of time have infiltrated the cultural psyche to such an extend that it's hard to keep track. "The Next Episode" is the direct source of that hold up meme that even made its way into songs like City High's What Would You Do?, but more than that, it's an instantly recognisable and iconic slice of music history. TECHNICALLY it was actually released in November 1999 if we consider it as a chunk of the album 2001, but... I showed a little lenience and allowed its single release date to take precedent

#94 - "Move Along" by The All-American Rejects

Youtube video

The AARs were absolutely huge in America for a brief period of time, arriving fresh off the back of groundwork laid by the likes of Fall Out Boy, Green Day and Panic! at the Disco. Few bands really rode that pop-punk wave better than them, and there was a whole bunch of singles that I could've chosen ("Gives You Hell", "Swing Swing", "The Last Song" were all great). Frontman Tyson Ritter and his model good-looks serves as a fantastic focal point for an uncontrollable gush of melodrama on 'Move Along'. It's one of those tracks that immediately teleports me back to setting my MSN status as "busy" because I was ~feeling things~

#93 - "Dance, Dance" by Fall Out Boy

Youtube video

A year before Move Along, though, Fall Out Boy reached through to chart status with Sugar, We're Goin' Down and this... and oh my god what a banger it was. Released at the same time when prom night was a big thing for me, it's just... yeah I'm reliving my teenage years, leave me alone x

#92 - "Stronger" by Britney Spears

Youtube video

When it came to choosing a Britney song, there was obviously a lot of competition. I've never been the biggest Britney fan - I've always been more enticed by the bigger voices (Xtina), the better performers (Beyonce) or the better songwriters (the Cheeky Girls) - but to deny that her pop was stratospheric would be rewriting history. My favourite song of hers, in the end, was an easy decision: 'Stronger' is one of pop's biggest triumphs, an absolute explosion of a chorus and emotion that's so good it's been used as a Drag Race lipsync twice.

#91 - "Venus Fly" by Grimes and Janelle Monáe

Youtube video

I'm still waiting for this to be used as a Drag Race lipsync. I loved this song long before it was given this breathtaking visual excavated deep from the mind of Björk. The song is a combination of my two favourite musicians from the 2010; taking Grimes' ethereal production style and smashing it with Monáe's gender-bending funk was the greatest discovery of a dream-collaboration since chocolate and peanut butter. And then there was that meme of some Russian kids voguing to this... cementing it deep within my imagination as a gay anthem.