12 Days of Music (Bonus) - Best Worst Songs of the Decade

Darryl Worley - Have You Forgotten?
Holy hell I love this song way too much. Best/worst/best-again patriotic cash-in of the decade, hands down.



Toby Keith - Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue

Courtesy Of The Red, White And...

Fuel - Hemorrhage (In My Hands)
We used to ridicule this song back in high school, justifiably, in spite of our terrible taste in music. Wait for the chorus's "Blee blah blee-ding in my hands, in my hands, blah blah's bleeding..."

Hemorrhage (In My Hands) (Albu...

Nickelback - Rockstar

Rockstar - Nickelback

Creed - One Last Breath
Ha! Every word makes me laugh. All the better for their utter earnestness.

12 Days of Music (Bonus) - Best Xmas Songs of the Decade

Stephen Colbert - A Cold, Cold Christmas
Somehow both hilarious and a great song.

Weezer - Christmas Celebration



Eels - Christmas is Going to the Dogs/Everything's Gonna Be Cool This Christmas

Christmas Is Going To The Dogs...

Everything's Gonna Be Cool Thi...

Ron Sexsmith - Maybe This Christmas

Maybe This Christmas - Ron Sex...

And one for New Year's:

Death Cab for Cutie - The New Year
Check out the great video too, which captures the aesthetic and sense of possibility akin to New Year's Eve better than just about anything I've seen.

12 Days of Music pt.12 - Best Radio Pop of the Decade

Mario - Let Me Love You
This song belongs at the climax of the greatest romance movie never made.

Let Me Love You (Album Version...

Usher - Love In This Club (ft. Young Jeezy)
Filthy and catchy and very 00's.

Love In This Club - Usher feat...

T.I. - What You Know
Don't waste this song on your average speakers, this one deserves some sound quality.

What You Know - T.I.

Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around.../...Comes Around Interlude



Kanye West - Good Life (ft. T-Pain)

Good Life - Kanye West

12 Days of Music pt.11 - Best Song Lyrics of the Decade

Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??



Do you realize?
That you have the most beautiful face

Do you realize?
That everyone you know
Someday will die

Do you realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning 'round

Mountain Goats - Woke Up New

Woke Up New - The Mountain Goa...

On the morning when I woke up without you for the first time
I felt free
And I felt lonely
And I felt scared
And I began to talk to myself almost immediately
Not being used to being the only person there
Hmm

What do i do?
What do i do without you?

Stars - Barricade

Barricade - Stars

Trapped on the terraces, I looked at you and knew
You were the only thing that mattered
There was no one for me but you

In Harmony Street we beat a man
Just for standing there
I held my breath as I watched you swing
Then run your fingers through your hair

The pigs arrived with tear gas
And I wept at the mistakes we made
We stalked the streets like animals
And danced as windows shattered

Frightened Rabbit - Head Rolls Off

Head Rolls Off - Frightened Ra...

When it's all gone
Something carries on
And it's not morbid at all
Just when nature's had enough of you

When my blood stops
Someone else's will not
When my head rolls off
Someone else's will turn
And while I'm alive, I'll make tiny changes to earth

12 Days of Music pt.10 - Best Indie Rock of the Decade

The Walkmen - The Rat
A blitzkrieg of drums, plain and simple.

The Rat - The Walkmen

Vampire Weekend - Walcott

Walcott - Vampire Weekend

Okkervil River - Black
One listen to this track and I was an Okkervil fan.

Black - Okkervil River

The Thermals - A Pillar of Salt
Pop meets angst in the best of ways.

A Pillar of Salt - The Thermal...

Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)

12 Days of Music pt.9 - Best Songs from Movies... of the Decade

Requiem for a Dream
Clint Mansell & Kronos Quartet - Lux Aeterna
Surprising this was even crafted this decade, given how timeless it feels.



Little Miss Sunshine
Mychael Danna & DeVotchKa - The Winner Is



Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Jon Brion - Theme

Theme - Jon Brion

Triplettes de Belleville
Ben Charest - Belleville Rendez-Vous
One of the zaniest animated films of the 2000s had a soundtrack to match, highlighted by this fun stomp-along.



8 Mile
Eminem - 8 Mile
Sadly, the last thing of relevance Eminem put his effort into.

8 Mile (Soundtrack Version) - ...

12 Days of Music pt.8 - Best Collaborations/Remixes of the Decade

Coldplay - Clocks (ft. Buena Vista Social Club)
An irresistible few minutes from two masters of adult contemporary.



Girl Talk - Play Your Part (Pt. 2)
A "remix" in the most hyperbolic of ways, this is the closest Girl Talk has come to sustained brilliance.

Play Your Part (Pt. 2) - Girl ...

The Rapture - Sister Savior (DFA Dub)



Iron & Wine and Calexico - History of Lovers
The story here

12 Days of Music pt.7 - Best Odd Music of the Decade

El Guapo - Glass House
Pitchfork called this track above-average robot-dance music. I think it's way better than that.

Animal Collective - Bees

Bees - Animal Collective

Animal Collective - Grass

Before Animal Collective gave us the swirling synths of Merriweather Post Pavilion, they really knew how to shout. This is a lovely example of shouting.

Grass - Animal Collective

Battles - Atlas

Flaming Lips - I Can Be a Frog (ft. Karen O)
This song seems like it was as fun to make as Judd Apatow movies are to film. But it's definitely weirder.

I Can Be A Frog - The Flaming ...

Tenacious D - Fuck Her Gently
Think about how odd it is that this song even exists, let alone how great it is.

Fuck Her Gently (Album Version...

12 Days of Music pt.6 - Best World Music of the Decade

Amadou & Mariam - Sabali
World music gets a bad rap, because it often dabbles in the realm of, um, mediocrity. This song, on the other hand, represents everything awesome about the globalization of music.

Sabali - Amadou & Mariam

Rodrigo y Gabriela - Tamacun

Tamacun - Rodrigo y Gabriela

John McDowell - Gopala Over Credits
Is it considered world music when a white composer creates a brilliantly laid-back Indian sound for an American documentary about India?

Gopala Over Credits - Soundtra...

Shugo Tokumaru - Button
I heart the Japanese.

Button - Shugo Tokumaru

Konono No. 1 - Paradiso

Paradiso - Konono No1

12 Days of Music pt.5 - Best Folk/Alt Country Songs of the Decade

Gillian Welch - I Had a Real Good Mother and Father
I usually think that a good singing voice is overrated (c'mon American Idol contestants, pick up a friggin' instrument), but Ms. Welch here just melts me every time.

I Had A Real Good Mother and F...

Drive-by Truckers - The Purgatory Line

The Purgatory Line - Drive-By ...

Bon Iver - Skinny Love

Skinny Love - Bon Iver

Elected - 7th September 2003
It's amazing what a little twang will do for an already ambitious little indie ballad.

7 September 2003 - The Elected

Death Cab for Cutie - I Will Follow You Into the Dark

I Will Follow You into the Dar...

12 Days of Music pt.4 - Best Electronica of the Decade

Alan Braxe & Fred Falke - Rubicon



Lindstrom - I Feel Space
If you're in the mood, this one's bliss.

I Feel Space - Lindstrøm

Felix da Housecat - Madame Hollywood



Booka Shade - Mandarine Girl (8:04)
play here

Chemical Brothers - Das Spiegel
They didn't make a lot of good music this decade, but this one's up to snuff.

Das Spiegel - The Chemical Bro...

12 Days of Music pt.3 - Best Instrumental Tracks of the Decade

Bad Plus - Flim
Somehow, the Bad Plus remained the only prominent indie jazz group of the 00's. I'd say it's a shame but it's hard to go anywhere but down from this Aphex Twin cover.

Flim - The Bad Plus

Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Mine

Your Hand in Mine - Explosions...

Cinematic Orchestra - Flite
Every time I hear this song I want to drop out of school and devote my life to the drum kit.

Flite - Cinematic Orchestra

Sparta - Syncope
Really the best song this band was capable of producing, in a wordless minute and a half.

Syncope - Sparta

Rachel's - Water From the Same Source

12 Days of Music pt.2 - Best Hip Hop of the Decade

Sage Francis - Broken Wings



Deltron 3030 - 3030
Science fiction hip hop defends its right to exist with this gorgeously-produced epic.

3030 - Del The Funky Homosapie...

The Roots - The Seed 2.0
Maybe the greatest hip hop-rock n' roll crossover of all time (sorry Limp Bizkit).

The Seed (2.0) - The Roots

Wale - The Star


Asher Roth- I love College
A little overplayed, but it is still the anthem of college life in the late aughts. Trust me. It's everywhere.
Plus with the background sound of "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer. Beautiful.



M.I.A. - Paper Planes
Despite its now maddening popularity, I will never forget the first time I heard this song. I made my friend play it again. And then again.

Paper Planes - M.I.A.

12 Days of Music pt.1 - Best Opening Tracks of the Decade

Postal Service - The District Sleeps Alone Tonight

The District Sleeps Alone Toni...

Rilo Kiley - It's a Hit
Either the most abrasive pop song or the poppiest abrasive song of the decade.

It's A Hit - Rilo Kiley

Binary Star - Reality Check
Rap albums are notoriously weak for opening tracks, where the term "Intro" has become synonymous with poorly sketched album concepts and unnecessary two and half minute rants. Not so with "Reality Check," where Binary Star give it everything they've like there isn't a moment to lose.

Reality Check - Binary Star

Caribou - Melody Day

Melody Day - Caribou

Shins - Kissing the Lipless

Kissing The Lipless - The Shin...

Welcome!

Welcome to the new blog, yo! Much good stuff to come.

Your loyal contributor,

DJ Responsible