Last December I complained that 2008 was a crap year for music. I was tempted to say the same thing about 2009, but instead of getting crotchety and complaining about kids and their music today (get off my lawn!), I decided to end the year in a more positive way.
This week, while driving to and from Chicago for the holidays, I put together a playlist of 65 of the best songs from the last decade. By best, of course, I mean my favorites. By the time we returned home, I’d narrowed the list down to 25 songs that lifted my musical decade. Some are even from the last two years. In no particular order, the songs are:
You Can Make Him Like You, The Hold Steady
Hoppípolla, Sigur Ros
Til the Sun Turns Black, Ray LaMontagne
Skinny Love, Bon Iver
Gideon, My Morning Jacket
Jenny and the Ess-Dog, Stephen Malkmus
1234, Feist
Crackle & Drag (Original Take), Paul Westerberg
A Bigger City, The Mendoza Line
The Bucket, Kings of Leon
Our Life is Not a Movie of Maybe, Okkervil River
Float On, Modest Mouse
When You Were Young, The Killers
Come Pick Me Up, Ryan Adams
In California, Neko Case
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Part 1), The Flaming Lips
Common People, William Shatner
Maps, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Question, Old 97′s
Last Nite, The Strokes
Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson
Wake Up, The Arcade Fire
Idiotique, Radiohead
Crazy, Gnarls Barkley
I’m Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You, The Black Kids
