Top 20 Songs of 2010

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*This list does not take into account those songs which belong on any album in next week's show: Top 20 Albums of 2010.



#20 Morning Benders - "Cold War (Nice Clean Fight)"

Wins the award for the most efficient use of 1 minute and 44 seconds during the past calendar year. The Benders put out an indie-pop gem in an age when they are supposed to be extinct.



#19 The Roots - "Dear God 2.0"




A most memorable track from the most complete album yet by the greatest hip hop band of all time.








#18 Perfume Genius - "Mr. Peterson"



The most affecting--and haunting--piece of songwriting of 2010.







#17 The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio"


Ohio's sweethearts make a love song for their home state, yet everyone swoons.






#16 Here We Go Magic - "Collector"


A sprawling masterpiece with more going on than perezhilton.com.






#15 S. Carey - "We Fell"





Wisconsin continues to dominate falsetto.







#14 Caribou - "Odessa"




Another musical collage from the genius, Daniel Snaith.





#13 Gold Panda - "Snow & Taxis"


The best trance song of the year. It will make you forget where you are, and be happy being nowhere at all.





#12 Marvelous Darlings - "I'll Stand By Her"


In a year when Rock & Roll was largely absent, Marvelous Darlings reminded us that it will always be waiting for us to find it again.





#11 Max Richter - "Infra 5"



Continuing the art of composition with fine-tuned German precision.






#10 Aloe Blacc - "I Need a Dollar"




During a soul revival, one artist clearly floated to the top.









#9 Beat Connection - "In the Water"





These Pac-Westerners took Spanish-infused dance beats to create the catchiest song of the year.





#8 Wild Nothing - "Chinatown"




The 80's live on, and they look dreamy.






#7 Baths - "Maximalist"





The most cerebral moment of 2010. If you decide to listen to this track with headphones, please be sitting down.









#6 Gauntlet Hair - "I Was Thinking"


The exciting new band of the year. Completely raw; and have already made a statement with just three songs released to their name.




#5 El Guincho - "Bombay"
Takes you over like a good punch in the face. "Bombay" is fueled by a rhythm that makes you wish you could dance better, and a beat that knows you could. Balearic is being mimicked around the world, but El Guincho put out the real thing.



#4 Sun Airway - "Oh, Naoko"

As shiny as pure hope. This was the closest any song got to perfect this past year. It glitters and sparks from beginning to end. And like a Salinger story, it goes exactly where you need it to, exactly when you need it to.




#3 Foxes In Fiction - "15 Atvian (Song for Erika)"

This song was written for me. Well no, it wasn't, but it sure feels that way. And I bet I'm not the only one.
Straight from his bedroom to yours, "15 Atvian" is as awkwardly personal, and instantly rewarding, as 2010's favorite new game: chatroulette.




#2 Tanlines - "Real Life"
In an age when everyone feels like they "understand" dance music, some pros decided to show everyone how it's really done. Crafted in Brooklyn in a year when that really means something, "Real Life" is as creative as it is formulated.

This is the kind of song that makes you want to roll your windows down even if it's only twenty degrees outside; these beats are that hot. This song will never, ever become stale. I will dance to this song when I am 85 years old. And when I attempt to do "The Dougie" in my elastic-banded, beige leisure suit, I will laugh as I hear the present twenty-somethings swear they had heard this one before on satellite radio.


#1 Shout Out Louds - "Walls"
We are in a time when the world is truly at flux. Power is shifting all over the world, be it political, economic, or environmental. It isn't too general to say that the world is in more of an identity crisis than usual.

This song captures that feeling of when you don't want to go to sleep because you finally figured out how the world works. At long last, things are going your way, and you know how you got here. But in that fleeting moment, you are aware of how ephemeral your newfound understanding of life really is. Tomorrow will bring change, and you'll have to relearn how to put your pants back on.

Shout Out Louds aren't the greatest band in the world. They aren't even the best band in Sweden. But for three solid minutes on "Work," they proved they could make a showstopper as good as anybody. For the most part, "Work" is a straightforward rock song. But the SOLs insert a piano line that will fill your dreams, and a closing climax that feels more well-earned and honest than anything else released this past year.

The world will continue to change. But we all have those moments when it feels like everything stands still, even if just for a few seconds. We all have our brief victories against time. "Work" closes with a full minute finale of fist-pumping, glorious tragedy that ends before you get to say goodbye. I first heard this song almost a year ago, and I still wish it had never ended.