Thinking about the biggest hits that I've genuinely loved and continued to love over the decade, it's no surprise that they all fall well within the first half of the decade. Maybe it's an age thing, but so little I've heard has remotely appealed in the last 2-3 years that now I look at a top 40 and barely know about half a dozen songs in it, Disclosure aside I'd have very little desire to listen to anything new by any of these now.
I never expected to like Disclosure's 'Settle' anywhere near as much as I did that's still stands out as excellent, 'White Noise' was always my favourite from it and it was great to see this, and them, have some significant success. When I did my end of year chart for 2010 I had 'Telephone' as number one, and whilst nearly a decade later I wouldn't rank it that highly, it remains one of my favourite pop songs, the high point of both artists work and with one of the most incredible videos of all time.
Both Rudimental and John Newman went on to release some other decent stuff, but nothing was ever close to being in the same league as 'Feel It All'. 2012/13 was probably the turning point in life where I was no longer bothered about going to clubs, and as such 'Don't You Worry Child' is the last dance anthem that I've ever really had any great affection for. Listening back, it's a toss up between these two for favourite number one single of the decade. 'Pass Out' was a huge university anthem that hasn't aged one bit, and every time I hear it it's still as incredible as it ever was.
Author
7 - Duets / Collaborations
Christine & The Queens feat. Perfume Genius - Jonathan (2015)
(2010)
(2018)
(2019)
(2019)
'Jonathan' was my introduction to Christine via Perfume Genius, who had released one of my favourite albums of the first half of the decade in 'Put Ur Back In 2 It'. It's a gorgeous song as Christine flits between French and English, their voices complement each other perfectly. Crystal Castles may have become somewhat tainted by the allegations made by Alice Glass against fellow bandmate Ethan Kath, but their work in the first half of the decade was sensational. I was never really able to get into their debut but 'Crystal Casltes (II)' was one of my favourite albums of 2010, and their cover of 'Not In Love' became even better when adding the vocals of Robert Smith to it, it would comfortably be in my top 10 listened to songs of the decade if I hadn't completely cocked up the last.fm tags.
Whilst not being quite as much a fan of Jonna Lee in her different guises as a lot of BuzzJack members, each album was good and they all contained some brilliant songs, but for me 'Harvest' is the best song in either hers or TR/STS discographies, an absolute banger. I've grown to love Loyle Carner this year, I think he's a fantastic artist who's lyrics are superb, his collaboration with Jorja Smith was where it all started - easily one of my songs of 2019. 'I Am Easy To Find' is an excellent new direction for The National to take, with each song bar the final one on it a collaboration with a female vocalist, some more well known than others. It's easily the best record of their last three, sounds exceptional live and is a true return to form. I could've picked one of a few songs for this ('I Am Easy To Find', 'You Had Your Soul With You', 'Rylan') but went with 'Where Is Her Head?' with Eve Owen, who has released her debut solo stuff since. The way her vocal's work with Matt's is brilliant - it has certainly become one of my favourite National songs over the last six months.
Edited by RabbitFurCoat
Author
8 - Great Live Acts
(2019)
(2019)
(2016)
Hot Chip - Hungry Child (2019)
(2013)
5 of the best live acts I've ever seen now.
Kicking off with Blood Red Shoes, I was always a fan but got a bit bored of them and stopped paying attention to them mid-way through the decade. The band had a break and came back with a different sound and more members than just the original two, and their music from the last 18 months is comfortably my favourite of theirs. The best of which is 'Elijah', album closer and set opener, the way it builds up is stunning, a BJSC flop but one of three songs this year I rank comfortably above anything else. They were so good live I travelled 3 1/2 hours to see them again less than a week later. For a long time The Chemical Brothers were the act I'd most love to see live, and finally seeing them at Glastonbury this year was worth the ticket price alone, an incredible set from a band with a ridiculous back catalogue. 'Got To Keep On' from their most recent album a definite highlight of it, and amongst their best of the decade.
On the day of their second album's release, I went to watch DMA's live, a band I quite liked but never exactly loved. Within a year I'd been to see them four times and I'd listened to them twice as much as anyone else over the same period, a brilliant live show that transformed how much I liked the band. 'Delete' is a crowd singalong favourite but I could quite easily have picked about five songs to include in this. Hot Chip have always been capable of quality singles and this years 'Hungry Child' is probably my favourite ever of theirs. Again watching them live is an incredible experience and one I'd been looking forward to for a long time, thoroughly entertaining and a set of songs that sounds brilliant live.
The Public Service Broadcasting gig is the one which I'd still rank as the best I've ever been to, iconic unique music which was an incredible live experience, 'Night Mail' a brilliant song from it and one of my absolute favourites by them.
Author
Now on to the five categories where I've made attempt to label songs by genre or mood...
Foals have been one of my favourite bands of the decade (though 2019 output very meh in comparison) with a couple of songs which are top 10/20 of the decade contenders. They've had 9 top 5 hits for me but only 'Inhaler' has found its way right to the top, a song I loved instantly - much heavier than their previous output and I very much enjoyed their change of direction. 'Near To The Wild Heart of Life' was my introduction to Japandroids, my single of 2016 and so close to ending the decade in its top 5. Often I don't delve too deep into acts I discover late on's back catalogue but I did with them - their albums all the epitome of quality over quantity, each 8 tracks with absolutely zero filler, an act of the decade for sure.
The decade started with 'Go Tell Fire To The Mountain', Wu Lyf's only album and one of my favourites of '11. Front man Ellery James Roberts embarked on a new project with Ebony Horn and their debut album contained three songs which I absolutely adored in 'Beneath The Concrete', 'Unites' and 'I & I', each of them so incredibly powerful sung in such a unique voice.
I'd listened to songs from Marmozets debut album without being particularly taken in by any of them, however that changed when they released 'Play' to lead their second album, a massive chart hit for me and a band I've listened to a lot since. Slaves have certainly been one of my favourite acts from the latter half of the decade with a couple of superb albums. I love their style, they're thoroughly entertaining and capable of simple fantastic tunes, 'Sockets' was the first of theirs I really liked and remains my favourite.
Edited by RabbitFurCoat
This is a great way to do a retrospective.
I think I've heard a lot of the artists from your first post but not particularly the songs, giving the Dream Wife one a listen anyway, sounding very nice!
A good choice of chart hits as well, White Noise and Pass Out in particular are favourites. Don't think I've heard that Crystal Castles song since 2011 so that's bringing back memories!
Author
10 - Electronic
(2014)
(2012)
(2015)
Jon Hopkins feat. Purity Ring - Breathe This Air (2013)
(2013)
When it comes to albums of the decade, Dan Snaith has released a couple of contenders in both 'Swim' and 'Out Love', the title track from the latter the standout Caribou song. I have discussed Crystal Castles in here already, they really were a fantastic duo who produced some of the best and darkest electronic music around who kept getting better with each album, 'Plague' their best as a duo. I haven't got quite as much into Grimes as many posters on this forum, but she has released some bangers over the last 10 years, none moreso than 'Flesh Without Blood' which has elevated itself to be my favourite of hers.
If I had done a top X songs of the decade rather than something like this, Purity Ring would have the most entries in the top section of it, the best of which is 'Breathe This Air' with Jon Hopkins. Hopkins' album 'Immunity' is a thing of beauty, and is so easy to get lost in, but the addition of vocals to 'Breathe This Air' from one of the best acts around managed to make it even more perfect. Looking at my personal chart history I'm gobsmacked this wasn't a number one, though did spend 6 weeks in the top 3 and 5 months in it, I'm going to have to check what held it off now... 'Elevate' by St. Lucia and then 'Reflektor' by Arcade Fire. Hmmm.
Röyksopp released some of my favourite singles of the previous decade and had a couple of further massive personal chart number one's for me in the first half of this decade, 'Do It Again' with Robyn, and 'Running To The Sea' with Susanne Sundfør, a vocialist who suits their music so well. It's a beautiful song that I don't think I could begin to get tired of.
Author
I think I've heard a lot of the artists from your first post but not particularly the songs, giving the Dream Wife one a listen anyway, sounding very nice!
A good choice of chart hits as well, White Noise and Pass Out in particular are favourites. Don't think I've heard that Crystal Castles song since 2011 so that's bringing back memories!
Thanks for the comment, glad you're enjoying some of it. If you like that Dream Wife song then 'Hey Heartbreaker' and 'Fire' I'd say are their next best and were also singles.
Author
This is a great way to do a retrospective.
Thanks Colm, good to see you posting. Hope you're enjoying it, did feel I wanted to do something a bit different than a standard countdown.
Hello there!
Great list!
Really like the categories format, it's something fresh and new compared to the other Year-end lists out there.
Here are my favourites from each category:
1 - Excited for the 2020s
FONTAINES D.C. - Boys In the Better Land
2 - Female Solo Artists
Robyn - Dancing On My Own
3 - Male Solo Artists
Sampha - (No One Knows Me) Like The Piano
4 - 1990s Acts
blink-182 - Bored To Death
The Chemical Brothers feat. Beck - Wide Open
Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky
5 - 2010s Acts
Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
6 - Chart Hits
Disclosure feat. AlunaGeorge - White Noise
Lady Gaga & Beyonce - Telephone
Rudimental feat. John Newman - Feel The Love
Swedish House Mafia feat. John Newman - Don't You Worry Child
Tinie Tempah - Pass Out
(aka all of them)
7 - Duets / Collaborations
Loyle Carner feat. Jorja Smith - Loose Ends
8 - Great Live Acts
The Chemical Brothers - Got To Keep On
DMA's - Delete
9 - Rock
Marmozets - Play
10 - Electronic
Grimes - Flesh Without Blood
Enjoyed reaching this, nice job!
Edited by Sergej
Author
Thanks Sergej, good to see you liking so many.
Author
11 - Hip Hop
Danny Brown feat. Purity Ring - 25 Bucks (2014)
(2019)
(2017)
(2012)
(2019)
Given it's hardly my go-to genre of choice I've surprised myself when I've looked back at just how much hip-hop I've enjoyed over the last decade, the last 15 months have felt fairly vintage with so many albums I've found myself loving.
If it wasn't for the Purity Ring feature on '25 Bucks' I'd likely have never discovered Danny Brown, but he's turned into someone I always check out new music by. His distinctive voice works perfectly with the sound of Purity Ring, who again harshly denied a personal chart number one, spending 6 weeks at no. 2 behind a song still to be announced in here. I've been listening to Dave for 2.5 years now and have always been impressed by his lyricism, especially for someone so young, but has deservedly got success, acclaim and awards. The likes of 'Question Time' and then 'Black' are incredible, but the 10 minute story depicted in 'Lesley' is one of the most powerful songs I've ever had the pleasure of listening to, a rarity where I just sit and concentrate all the way through.
Dizzee has always been something of a favourite of mine although the quality of his output does fluctuate wildly, but 2017 was a great return, 'Space' not like anything he'd released in the previous 10 years and by far his best song since the beginnings of his career. It'd unlikely for any type of hip-hop recap to not include at least one of Jay-Z or Kanye West, their 2012 collaboration 'Niggas In Paris' one of the best songs from either artist and still sounds as good as it did originally. Of all the great hip-hop released in the last year, 'Grey AREA' by Little Simz is comfortably my favourite, her songs have such a great variety to them and '101 FM' has grown to be one of my songs of the year.
6 - Chart Hits
Lady Gaga & Beyonce - Telephone (2010)
Thinking about the biggest hits that I've genuinely loved and continued to love over the decade, it's no surprise that they all fall well within the first half of the decade. Maybe it's an age thing, but so little I've heard has remotely appealed in the last 2-3 years that now I look at a top 40 and barely know about half a dozen songs in it, Disclosure aside I'd have very little desire to listen to anything new by any of these now.
I never expected to like Disclosure's 'Settle' anywhere near as much as I did that's still stands out as excellent, 'White Noise' was always my favourite from it and it was great to see this, and them, have some significant success. When I did my end of year chart for 2010 I had 'Telephone' as number one, and whilst nearly a decade later I wouldn't rank it that highly, it remains one of my favourite pop songs, the high point of both artists work and with one of the most incredible videos of all time.
Both Rudimental and John Newman went on to release some other decent stuff, but nothing was ever close to being in the same league as 'Feel It All'. 2012/13 was probably the turning point in life where I was no longer bothered about going to clubs, and as such 'Don't You Worry Child' is the last dance anthem that I've ever really had any great affection for. Listening back, it's a toss up between these two for favourite number one single of the decade. 'Pass Out' was a huge university anthem that hasn't aged one bit, and every time I hear it it's still as incredible as it ever was.
7 - Duets / Collaborations
Christine & The Queens feat. Perfume Genius - Jonathan (2015)
'Jonathan' was my introduction to Christine via Perfume Genius, who had released one of my favourite albums of the first half of the decade in 'Put Ur Back In 2 It'. It's a gorgeous song as Christine flits between French and English, their voices complement each other perfectly. Crystal Castles may have become somewhat tainted by the allegations made by Alice Glass against fellow bandmate Ethan Kath, but their work in the first half of the decade was sensational. I was never really able to get into their debut but 'Crystal Casltes (II)' was one of my favourite albums of 2010, and their cover of 'Not In Love' became even better when adding the vocals of Robert Smith to it, it would comfortably be in my top 10 listened to songs of the decade if I hadn't completely cocked up the last.fm tags.
Whilst not being quite as much a fan of Jonna Lee in her different guises as a lot of BuzzJack members, each album was good and they all contained some brilliant songs, but for me 'Harvest' is the best song in either hers or TR/STS discographies, an absolute banger. I've grown to love Loyle Carner this year, I think he's a fantastic artist who's lyrics are superb, his collaboration with Jorja Smith was where it all started - easily one of my songs of 2019. 'I Am Easy To Find' is an excellent new direction for The National to take, with each song bar the final one on it a collaboration with a female vocalist, some more well known than others. It's easily the best record of their last three, sounds exceptional live and is a true return to form. I could've picked one of a few songs for this ('I Am Easy To Find', 'You Had Your Soul With You', 'Rylan') but went with 'Where Is Her Head?' with Eve Owen, who has released her debut solo stuff since. The way her vocal's work with Matt's is brilliant - it has certainly become one of my favourite National songs over the last six months.
Edited by RabbitFurCoat
8 - Great Live Acts
Hot Chip - Hungry Child (2019)
5 of the best live acts I've ever seen now.
Kicking off with Blood Red Shoes, I was always a fan but got a bit bored of them and stopped paying attention to them mid-way through the decade. The band had a break and came back with a different sound and more members than just the original two, and their music from the last 18 months is comfortably my favourite of theirs. The best of which is 'Elijah', album closer and set opener, the way it builds up is stunning, a BJSC flop but one of three songs this year I rank comfortably above anything else. They were so good live I travelled 3 1/2 hours to see them again less than a week later. For a long time The Chemical Brothers were the act I'd most love to see live, and finally seeing them at Glastonbury this year was worth the ticket price alone, an incredible set from a band with a ridiculous back catalogue. 'Got To Keep On' from their most recent album a definite highlight of it, and amongst their best of the decade.
On the day of their second album's release, I went to watch DMA's live, a band I quite liked but never exactly loved. Within a year I'd been to see them four times and I'd listened to them twice as much as anyone else over the same period, a brilliant live show that transformed how much I liked the band. 'Delete' is a crowd singalong favourite but I could quite easily have picked about five songs to include in this. Hot Chip have always been capable of quality singles and this years 'Hungry Child' is probably my favourite ever of theirs. Again watching them live is an incredible experience and one I'd been looking forward to for a long time, thoroughly entertaining and a set of songs that sounds brilliant live.
The Public Service Broadcasting gig is the one which I'd still rank as the best I've ever been to, iconic unique music which was an incredible live experience, 'Night Mail' a brilliant song from it and one of my absolute favourites by them.
Now on to the five categories where I've made attempt to label songs by genre or mood...
9 - Rock
Japandroids - Near To The Wild Heart of Life (2016)
Lost Under Heaven - I &I (2016)
Foals have been one of my favourite bands of the decade (though 2019 output very meh in comparison) with a couple of songs which are top 10/20 of the decade contenders. They've had 9 top 5 hits for me but only 'Inhaler' has found its way right to the top, a song I loved instantly - much heavier than their previous output and I very much enjoyed their change of direction. 'Near To The Wild Heart of Life' was my introduction to Japandroids, my single of 2016 and so close to ending the decade in its top 5. Often I don't delve too deep into acts I discover late on's back catalogue but I did with them - their albums all the epitome of quality over quantity, each 8 tracks with absolutely zero filler, an act of the decade for sure.
The decade started with 'Go Tell Fire To The Mountain', Wu Lyf's only album and one of my favourites of '11. Front man Ellery James Roberts embarked on a new project with Ebony Horn and their debut album contained three songs which I absolutely adored in 'Beneath The Concrete', 'Unites' and 'I & I', each of them so incredibly powerful sung in such a unique voice.
I'd listened to songs from Marmozets debut album without being particularly taken in by any of them, however that changed when they released 'Play' to lead their second album, a massive chart hit for me and a band I've listened to a lot since. Slaves have certainly been one of my favourite acts from the latter half of the decade with a couple of superb albums. I love their style, they're thoroughly entertaining and capable of simple fantastic tunes, 'Sockets' was the first of theirs I really liked and remains my favourite.
Edited by RabbitFurCoat
I think I've heard a lot of the artists from your first post but not particularly the songs, giving the Dream Wife one a listen anyway, sounding very nice!
A good choice of chart hits as well, White Noise and Pass Out in particular are favourites. Don't think I've heard that Crystal Castles song since 2011 so that's bringing back memories!
10 - Electronic
Jon Hopkins feat. Purity Ring - Breathe This Air (2013)
When it comes to albums of the decade, Dan Snaith has released a couple of contenders in both 'Swim' and 'Out Love', the title track from the latter the standout Caribou song. I have discussed Crystal Castles in here already, they really were a fantastic duo who produced some of the best and darkest electronic music around who kept getting better with each album, 'Plague' their best as a duo. I haven't got quite as much into Grimes as many posters on this forum, but she has released some bangers over the last 10 years, none moreso than 'Flesh Without Blood' which has elevated itself to be my favourite of hers.
If I had done a top X songs of the decade rather than something like this, Purity Ring would have the most entries in the top section of it, the best of which is 'Breathe This Air' with Jon Hopkins. Hopkins' album 'Immunity' is a thing of beauty, and is so easy to get lost in, but the addition of vocals to 'Breathe This Air' from one of the best acts around managed to make it even more perfect. Looking at my personal chart history I'm gobsmacked this wasn't a number one, though did spend 6 weeks in the top 3 and 5 months in it, I'm going to have to check what held it off now... 'Elevate' by St. Lucia and then 'Reflektor' by Arcade Fire. Hmmm.
Röyksopp released some of my favourite singles of the previous decade and had a couple of further massive personal chart number one's for me in the first half of this decade, 'Do It Again' with Robyn, and 'Running To The Sea' with Susanne Sundfør, a vocialist who suits their music so well. It's a beautiful song that I don't think I could begin to get tired of.
Thanks for the comment, glad you're enjoying some of it. If you like that Dream Wife song then 'Hey Heartbreaker' and 'Fire' I'd say are their next best and were also singles.
Thanks Colm, good to see you posting. Hope you're enjoying it, did feel I wanted to do something a bit different than a standard countdown.
Hello there!
Great list!
Really like the categories format, it's something fresh and new compared to the other Year-end lists out there.
Here are my favourites from each category:
1 - Excited for the 2020s
FONTAINES D.C. - Boys In the Better Land
2 - Female Solo Artists
Robyn - Dancing On My Own
3 - Male Solo Artists
Sampha - (No One Knows Me) Like The Piano
4 - 1990s Acts
blink-182 - Bored To Death
The Chemical Brothers feat. Beck - Wide Open
Daft Punk feat. Pharrell Williams - Get Lucky
5 - 2010s Acts
Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know?
6 - Chart Hits
Disclosure feat. AlunaGeorge - White Noise
Lady Gaga & Beyonce - Telephone
Rudimental feat. John Newman - Feel The Love
Swedish House Mafia feat. John Newman - Don't You Worry Child
Tinie Tempah - Pass Out
(aka all of them)
7 - Duets / Collaborations
Loyle Carner feat. Jorja Smith - Loose Ends
8 - Great Live Acts
The Chemical Brothers - Got To Keep On
DMA's - Delete
9 - Rock
Marmozets - Play
10 - Electronic
Grimes - Flesh Without Blood
Enjoyed reaching this, nice job!
Edited by Sergej
11 - Hip Hop
Danny Brown feat. Purity Ring - 25 Bucks (2014)
Given it's hardly my go-to genre of choice I've surprised myself when I've looked back at just how much hip-hop I've enjoyed over the last decade, the last 15 months have felt fairly vintage with so many albums I've found myself loving.
If it wasn't for the Purity Ring feature on '25 Bucks' I'd likely have never discovered Danny Brown, but he's turned into someone I always check out new music by. His distinctive voice works perfectly with the sound of Purity Ring, who again harshly denied a personal chart number one, spending 6 weeks at no. 2 behind a song still to be announced in here. I've been listening to Dave for 2.5 years now and have always been impressed by his lyricism, especially for someone so young, but has deservedly got success, acclaim and awards. The likes of 'Question Time' and then 'Black' are incredible, but the 10 minute story depicted in 'Lesley' is one of the most powerful songs I've ever had the pleasure of listening to, a rarity where I just sit and concentrate all the way through.
Dizzee has always been something of a favourite of mine although the quality of his output does fluctuate wildly, but 2017 was a great return, 'Space' not like anything he'd released in the previous 10 years and by far his best song since the beginnings of his career. It'd unlikely for any type of hip-hop recap to not include at least one of Jay-Z or Kanye West, their 2012 collaboration 'Niggas In Paris' one of the best songs from either artist and still sounds as good as it did originally. Of all the great hip-hop released in the last year, 'Grey AREA' by Little Simz is comfortably my favourite, her songs have such a great variety to them and '101 FM' has grown to be one of my songs of the year.
Edited by RabbitFurCoat