top 20 songs for twenty-oh-two.
following up on my essential 7 albums, here are twenty tunes that took two thousand and two's version of my head and kicked it around (ask your local P2P client for a demonstration), in alphabetical order:
[2003.01.02 update: added links where necessary.]
badly drawn boy - silent sigh: this piano-led song creeped in from the about a boy soundtrack like a millipede on a feather.
blackalicious - make you feel that way: this is your summertime checklist, reminiscing about what makes you feel good.
cassetteboy - fly me to new york: frank sinatra's word twisted into a september 11 analysis. freakishly funny and jawdropping scary at the same time.
the chemical brothers featuring beth orton - the state we're in: although star guitar is more indicative of this year's model, the state we're in is like toffee melting in your mouth.
clinic - walking with thee: the sinister title track, with insistent organ, lock groove and plaintive yelps. i r rumblor.
elvis costello - tear off your own head (it's a doll revolution): no longer youthful but still brutal, he still has rage fully on.
dj shadow - you can't go home again: "here's a little song, about being free." agreed. there is an entire bouncing universe here.
the hives - hate to say i told you so: no gloom, no doom, just pure gleeful menace. broken vocals, ripping guitars, slightly sloppy bass; this is hip-shakingly fun.
interpol - pda: sublime. they may have 200 couches, but you'll be tearing the cushions off and having a good frug instead. the joy in joy division.
kylie minogue/ kid 606 - can't get you out of my head/smack my glitch up: one and a half songs here, with the cathy dennis-penned superhit uttering a true threat: the song can't get out of my head. kid 606 realizes this and doesn't even technogut this slinky cold kitten at all, giving it a loving tribute.
nirvana - you know you're right: proof nü-metal sucks; this eight year old half-song takes a chainsaw to all the loud bleating and renders it all sludge.
queens of the stone age - no one knows: reason why dave grohl is missed behind the drum kit. this song shouldn't work, but it's running on its own dirty momentum that pounds logic into submission. the dance kids love it, too.
sugababes - freak like me: credit to gary numan for the are friends electric? synthetic music, adina howard's growly lyrics, the original man who made the bastard pop collide and the sugababes for putting the proper vixen vocals. now you don't have to give a damn about this. woof woof!
röyksopp - eple: if this was a game show in heaven, this would be the music to part the curtains to show you what merchandise you have just won.
squarepusher - do you know squarepusher: the balance between his brilliant melodic percussion and his wont to smash shit up. this floorfilling techno threatens to build up a tower to the sky and see if it can be shaken down with a crane. sublime.
they might be giants - violin: from their kids' album no!, a song for the love of words and certain fractions of george washington's head. hippo, hippo.
u2 - electrical storm: much like the meteorlogical phenomenon, it's one gorgeous mess of surprises, that slowly builds up to an event that requires shelter. love, lust and the whole acre of emotions, just doesn't want to get out of bed quiet yet.
underworld - two months off: ebulliance in nine minutes. this is happiness personified, which could peel the sidewalk off with its 4/4 house beat.
the white stripes - fell in love with a girl: in two minutes, one guitar and one drumkit have suddenly kicked you in the stomach, knocked you off your feet and all you can do is ask for its phone number so it can happen again. change your world completely.
wilco - heavy metal drummer: is it pop? is it country? is it ambient? it's not heavy metal, it's not kiss, it's not expected. it's a cloud you can take a nap on in a sunny haze and wonder how you managed to get this far. it's beautiful and stoned.