Girl/Boy Songs circa 2010

Florence and the Machine - "You Got the Love (The XX Remix)"


Alphabeat - "Hole In My Heart"

YMD OFFICIAL SCIENTIFIC TOP TRACKS OF 2010

Maybe this Sky Ferreira song will get a push and a re-release next year and maybe her album will come out. But with the way pop music works these days maybe it won't, so it's #1 for 2010. Another great year of traxxxxxxxxxxxx. Assembled for your listening pleasure is a YouTube playlist of the tracks from my top 90 of 2010 (the ones available at YouTube). Power Hour available upon request.

1. Sky Ferreira - "One" (Parlophone)
2. Taylor Swift - "Mine" (Big Machine)
3. Kingdom - "Mind Reader ft. Shyvonne" (Fool's Gold)
4. Willow Smith - "Whip My Hair" (Columbia, Roc Nation)
5. Young Jeezy - "Lose My Mind ft. Plies" (Def Jam)
6. Gyptian - "Hold Yuh (remix ft. Nicki Minaj)" (VP)
7. Girl Unit - "Wut" (Night Slugs)
8. Ciara - "Ride ft. Ludacris" (LaFace)
9. Big Boi - "Shutterbugg" (Def Jam)
10. Katy B - "Katy On a Mission" (Rinse)
11. The-Dream - "F.I.L.A." (Radio Killa/Def Jam)
12. Tensnake - "Coma Cat" (Permanent Vacation)
13. Robyn - "Dancing On My Own" (Konichiwa)
14. Yelawolf - "Pop the Trunk" (Interscope)
15. Caribou - "Sun" (Merge)
16. Javiera Mena - "Hasta La Verdad" (Unión del Sur)
17. The Fives - "It's What You Do ft. Vanya Taylor" (?)
18. Sade - "Soldier of Love" (Sony)
19. The Crystal Ark - "The Tangible Presence of the Miraculous" (DFA)
20. Little Big Town - "Little White Church" (Capitol Nashville)
21. FaltyDL - "My Friends Will Always Say" (Planet Mu)
22. Wacka Flocka Flame - "Hard In the Paint" (1017 Brick Squad/Warner Bros/Asylum)
23. Nebraska - "This Is the Way" (Rush Hour)
24. jj - "Into the Light" (Secretly Canadian)
25. Gucci Mane - "Electricity" (mixtape)
26. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - "Bottled in Cork" (Matador)
27. Subeena - "Picture" (Opit)
28. Ludacris - "How Low" (Disturbing Tha Peace)
29. Duck Sauce - "Barbra Streisand" (Fool's Gold)
30. Justin Bieber - "Baby" (Island)
31. Roll the Dice - "The New Black" (Digitalis)
32. Keri Hilson - "Pretty Girl Rock" (Interscope)
33. Storm Queen - "Look Right Through" (Environ)
34. Diddy-Dirty Money - "Ass On the Floor" (Bad Boy)
35. Arcade Fire - "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains" (Merge)
36. Joanna Newsom - "Esme" (Drag City)
37. Funkystepz - "For U (ft. Lily McKenzie)" (Safe and Sound)
38. Kanye West - "Power" (Roc-A-Fella, Def Jam)
39. Jazmine Sullivan - "Love You Long Time" (J Records)
40. The Extra Lens - "Some Other Way" (Merge)
41. Lloyd - "Lay It Down" (Young Goldie/Interscope/Zone 4)
42. Lil Silva - "Perfussion" (Night Slugs)
43. Young Dro - "Freeze Me" (Grand Hustle?)
44. Hole - "Samantha" (CherryForever/Island Def Jam/Mercury)
45. LCD Soundsystem - "Home" (DFA)
46. Brad Paisley - "Water" (Sony)
47. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Round and Round" (4AD)
48. Los Campesinos - "Straight In at 101" (Arts & Crafts)
49. Enrique Iglesias - "I Like It" (Universal International)
50. Andre Nickatina & the Jacka - "My Middle Name Is Crime" (I-Khan)
51. Justin Martin and Ardalan - "Mr. Spock" (Dirtybird)
52. Zinc - "Wile Out (ft. Miss Dynamite)" (Zinc Music)
53. Miranda Lambert - "Only Prettier" (Columbia Nashville)
54. Glasser - "Mirrorage" (True Panther)
55. Wiz Khalifa - "Black & Yellow" (Rostrum, Atlantic)
56. Katy Perry - "Teenage Dream" (Capitol)
57. Corrine Bailey Rae - "Paris Nights/New York Mornings" (EMI)
58. Moody - "It's 2 Late 4 U and Me" (KDJ)
59. Laura Marling - "Alpha Shallows" (Virgin)
60. Rick Ross - "MC Hammer (ft. Gucci Mane)" (Slip'n'Slide/Def Jam)
61. Mad One - "House Girls 6" (Devine uk)
62. Horror Inc. - "Aurore" (Haunt)
63. Kourtney Heart - "My Boy (ft. Magnolia Shorty)" (?)
64. Teengirl Fantasy - "Cheaters" (True Panther)
65. Grinderman - "Worm Tamer" (Mute)
66. J Stalin - "D-Boy Blues 2010" (SMC)
67. Keith Urban - "Put You In a Song" (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville)
68. Emeralds - "Genetic" (Editions Mego)
69. Beeda Weeda - "Baserock Babies" (?)
70. Lindstrøm & Christabelle - "Lovesick" (Feedelity)
71. Ost & Kjex - "Continental Lover" (Diynamic)
72. Oneohtrix Point Never - "Returnal" (Editions Mego)
73. Damian Marley & Nas - "As We Enter" (Universal Republic/Def Jam)
74. Cassie - "Fuck U Silly ft. Nicki Minaj" (unreleased)
75. DVA & Fatima - "Just Vybe (Soul Power Mix)" (Hyperdub)
76. Dam Funk - "Hood Pass Intact (ft. MC Eiht)" (Stones Throw)
77. Shit Robot - "Take Em Up (ft. Nancy Whang)" (DFA)
78. School of Seven Bells - "ILU" (Ghostly International)
79. The Gathering - "In My System (Jef K System Mix)" (Silver Network)
80. Actress - "Maze (Long Version)" (Honest Jon's)
81. Erykah Badu - "20 Feet Tall" (Motown)
82. Yolanda Be Cool & Dcup - "We No Speak Americano" (Ultra)
83. Trace Adkins - "This Ain't No Love Song" (Show Dog/Universal)
84. Ramadanman - "Glut" (Hemlock)
85. Alphabeat - "Hole in my Heart" (Polydor)
86. Ajay D - "Sax Breeze" (?)
87. Âme - "Rrose Sélavy" (Innervisions)
88. Jam City - "Ecstasy Refix" (Night Slugs)
89. E-40 - "Lightweight Jammin' (ft. Clyde Carson and Husalah)" (Heavy on the Grind)
90. Nina Sky - "You Ain't Got It (Funk Dat)" (self-released)

WUT

MASSIVE AND BRILLIANT AND REAL

Ciara - "Gimmie Dat" video

This shit is amazing.

YMD Summer Jams 2010 #final

Young Jeezy - "Lose My Mind (ft. Plies)"

The end of summer is near, so it's our duty to rectify the mistake of not yet writing about the song I've most enjoyed hearing blasted from car stereos in Bushwick and Beyond.

Much like Gucci's "Wasted" last year, "Lose My Mind's" most immediately gratifying feature is Plies absolutely ridiculous verse in the middle of it (it even has "white girls fun, cuz all them swallow" to rival last year's "I don't wear tight jeans like the white boys, but I do get naked like the white boys"). And I'm still not 100% on whether the hoes call Plies "fantastical" or "Fantastico" (I rap along with the latter) but it's an amazing line either way.

But much like on "Wasted", I realized after a few listens that I like the main rapper's verses as much or more than Plies'. There's the endlessly quotable "goons got goons/rooms got rooms" couplet (actually, it does that a disservice to quote that without the "house stupid-dumb-big" doesn't it?) that ends the first verse, but even that isn't as good as Jeezy's final one, on which his flow gets as playful as ever ("my nickname in the A: strapped up shorty" stuck in my head 24-7) over the lurching monster of a beat. The Recession is one of my two or three favorite rap albums of the last decade and while this isn't as amazing as the first single off of that one (few things are), it has me very very excited for Thug Motivation 103.

Do you remember we were sitting there by the water

(song starts 30 seconds or so into this YouTube)

By the time I had even heard about this leaking it was #1 on iTunes, such is the power of our Taylor. It's encouraging to hear her writing specifically about being a young adult ("yeah we've got bills to pay" and a line about cohabitation!) with the same skill that she wrote about being a high school kid. The "you made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter" is super-entertaining verging on annoying, almost in an Elvis Costello way, but I've grown to love it. Yet again Taylor takes a cliche and makes it beautiful.

So basically after a week or so with "Mine" (and, truth be told, a walk home from Greenpoint to Bushwick the other night listening to it on repeat) I couldn't be more excited for this album.

YMD Summer Jams 2010 #9

Kourtney Heart - "My Boy (ft. Magnolia Shorty)"

This is far from the first thing I think about when listening to music, usually, but is there something about a song that seems to want to be a hit real bad but probably won't ever achieve that status that adds a touch of melancholy?

I seem to recall (I guess I should start taking down URLs of smart things I read for future citations) someone writing something not too long ago about how that kind of discourse used to be the reserve of indie-pop fans and now, with so many people making pop/popular-genre music, here we are talking about well-produced, well-performed, super-catchy R&B songs in terms of them deserving to be in the charts but not having a hope in the world.

Anyways, I read about this Kourtney Heart song on ILM last week and it's dope. Magnolia Shorty's "my boy!" backing in the chorus elevates it like 10 steps.

YMD Summer Jams 2010 #8

Sky Ferraira - "One"

AMG agrees, this one is official. It's a single from teen-pop hopeful Sky Ferreira, and is produced by Bloodshy & Avant, who have in the past been responsible for three of our favorite Britney songs of the decade ("Toxic", "Piece of Me", and "Radar") and are hopefully taking a little break from their indie band. It wins (admittedly nerdy) points from me right away for the extra two beats thrown in before the first verse starts and then again before the chorus. There are a few surprises along the way, actually: the amount of direct and stretched out repetition, the barely verbalized bridge, the quickly ascending arpeggios in the chorus and the way they kind of grind to a halt in the coda.

And all those surprises have worked as well for me the 13th and 14th times for me as they did the 1st, yes, I'm obsessed with this song.

YMD Summer Jams 2010 #7

Robyn - "Dancehall Queen"

"Dancing On My Own" is still an official summer jam, but since this morning this has been dominating my brain so thoroughly that it must be declared one as well. It's the second song in a row in which Robyn is dancing by herself, but unlike the last one, in which she is specifically dancing on her own to highlight her loneliness and rejection, this one is more ambiguous and, I think, more interesting.

"I came to dance not to socialize" is a great line, an example of how the narrator of the song foregrounds her objectives (dancing superiority and the recognition thereof) and methods (solitude) but not her reasoning. Is being Dancehall Queen an end unto itself? Should we, especially in the context of an album that includes "Dancing on My Own", assume that there are other emotional factors in the narrator's choice of solitude? ("I'll go down low like she won't..." in the bridge suggests this might just be a completely different way of dealing with the "Dancing on My Own" situation) (A different way of dealing with it through dancing, of course).

It wouldn't be nearly as moving, though, without the chorus melody, which I have to admit has a pretty ridiculous effect on me. It legit almost made me tear up on the train no less than three times today, and I fear what it might to do me if I hear it out/drunk.

YMD Summer Jams 2010 #6

Robyn - "Dancing On My Own"

Initially, I kept wanting to see this in the same electro-pop tearjerker vein as Annie's "Heartbeat", but it's not really fair to compare every electro-pop tearjerker to one of the best songs of the last decade. It is quite good though, and if I was still frequenting Trash or whatever I would be very disappointed if this hadn't been added to the playlist.

And maybe it's instructive to compare Robin to Annie anyways. On "Heartbeat", Annie registers for me far more as a part of the track than as a distinct character (the thinness of her voice and ethereality of the vocal production might be a start as to why) She leaves a space in the song; this makes it easier for me to lose myself in it. Robyn, on the other hand, functions more like a traditional (post-Elvis, let's say) pop star. Her personality always comes through much stronger than Annie's, and that's not necessarily good or bad. On "Dancing On My Own", Robyn is clearly present as a well-defined character within the song, a character she's built throughout her career (this is even clearer in the video, where her dance moves become almost too distracting for me).

This all needs editing and expansion, I'm sure, but anyways, "Dancing On My Own" is a jam, and besides being yet another Valiant Heartbreak Anthem from Robyn (I'd imagine it will be balanced on the album by a song about how she'll kick your ass), proves yet again the unbeatable power of the wordless vocal hook.

YMD Summer Jams 2010 #5

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - "Bottled in Cork"

Who said we don't summer with guitars anymore? Ted Leo, who I've seen live more times as all but 2 or 3 other bands, put out a very good record earlier this year, and the most suitable song for summer jamming is this, his newest travelogue. Something about the acoustic guitar actually reminds me of frisbee-rock also-rans Guster, but I promise that I mean that in the least insulting way possible. The closing repetition of "tell the bartender I'm falling in love" doesn't seem like it could be any more perfect for summer daydrinking at bars that have backyards (and especially for those Saturdays on which you realize there's not gonna be a break between the daydrinking and the nightdrinking, is there?).

YMD Summer Jams 2010 #4

Big Boi - "Shutterbug"

Obviously. Despite the fact that we're going to know the words to like half of Sir Luscious Left Foot's songs by the time it leaks, anticipation at YMD Headquarters and environs couldn't be higher. Big Boi has a very legit claim to the title of Best Rapper Alive right now, and he maneuvers this talking bassline with the ease and deftness we've come to expect ever since he was "catchin' buzz like a bumble bee" back in the 90s. The singing part of the chorus is maybe even more crucial than the raps though, as far as making this something to cruise summer streets to. "Baby baby" indeed.

YMD 2010 Summer Jams #3

Gyptian - "Hold Yuh (Remix ft. Nicki Minaj)"

It's not very often you hear a song on Hot 97 without a kick drum (for good reason), but Gyptian and Nicki have been getting a decent amount of play both on the radio and here at YMD headquarters. Entrancing summer jam, though I think it could be a decent sweaty dancefloor break too.

YMD 2010 Summer Jams #2

Terror Danjah - "Acid"

Yet more heat from both Hyperdub and Terror Danjah. The ravey build up in the first minute is hype as hell and the one-note synth riff is nothing if not insistent. Definitely a summer night jam, as much as these things can be controlled.

YMD 2010 Summer Jams #1

jj - "Into the Light"

Maybe the only summer jam to ever feature audio commentary of a Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal, this is my favorite track of Swedish Balearic duo jj's new album. Their rap and R&B covers are for the most part decently fun novelties, but gorgeous stuff like this keeps makes them a legitimately interesting band (the fact that you can dance to this one sure doesn't hurt its summer jam status).

(PS, seeing if this embed ting works, will find a better way soon).

Hey London

This is the best dubsteppy thing I've heard so far this year, I think. It's called "Picture" and it's by Subeena, who keeps bringing the rhythmic variations subtly enough for them to flow together but often enough for it to be quite exciting. It's all pretty and danceable and interesting and fun, and you should go to Beatport or your preferred dance music mp3 merchant and cop it.

Welcome back

I was a bit worried that Tip's straight out of prison stuff might be "Dead and Gone parts 2-20". Luckily, this is very much not that. Can't wait to see what else he's got.

I am yours now

While I don't agree with the Fader blog's description of Falty DL's remix of the xx's "Islands" (routine rhythms? gentle?! this track bangs!), I must thank them greatly for bringing it to my attention. Two of our favorite flavors of 2009 team up in 2010. I like it. Get the mp3 here.

Disco in the new era

I'm just gonna say that if you like Disco and/or House, you might want to be all over anything that Tensnake puts our right now. This is the A-side to his new 12" "Coma Cat" and I like it very much.