my year in lists part 1. singles club

December becomes less about the birth of Christ (maybe a good thing considering he probably wasn't even born then) and more about lists. This is good. Lists are a religion I can wholly and fully worship. I tried to do some last year but only got to singles. There is where I will start again this year, but there is more to come. So here it goes.

My Top 10 Singles of 2010AD

10. Dreaming of Another World - Mystery Jets

I have loved the Jets since they were the first band that I ever saw in a proper gig and their progression from the quirky weirdo folkprog of their earliest singles to the shimmering pop that is Dreaming of Another World has been magic. I usually prefer the Blaine-led tracks to the Will ones but the chorus on this is just sublime.

9. I Just Sighed. I Just Sighed, Just So You Know - Los Campesinos!

I could have chosen any of the 15 tracks from Romance Is Boring for this list but I'll go with I Just Sighed because it most sums up for me Gareth's lyrical intensity, somewhere between poem and novel, and features a handful of his best lines (tbf, all LC! songs do). The couplet "Please just let me be the one to keep track/of the freckles and the moles on your back" seemed even more relevant to my feeling as the year wore on.

8. Shutterbug - Big Boi

It's that buh-buh-buh bass line. As my musical lists will be testament to, I have become a lot more influenced by rap, rnb and hip-hop this year (especially in its latter half) and this just feels like it has everything. 6 or 7 little pieces of music interlocking to form a bombastic song. The back to life, back to reality bit is a treat too.

7. Teenage Dream - Katy Perry

It was a tough choice for my favourite shiny, lacquered American pop song this year. Lady GaGa put herself to the max with Telephone and Alejandro but this year was very much the year of Katy Perry. I loved California Gurls (video of the year in the Shakira tradition of these things) but it's Teenage Dream that takes the place. Initially, I was not too sure of it at all but it's an earworm that has snuck into my brain and is, on closer inspection, really quite sincere and heartfelt. Now that I am no longer a teenager, I get what the new Mrs Brand is saying here.

6. Cold War - Janelle Monae

The first half of The Archandroid is pretty much all single-worthy (as will be discussed in albums of the year) but I will choose Cold War for specific praise. Though not as mad and out there as perhaps the also-excellent Tightrope, Cold War is easily the most complete song on the album. It fulfills its job on the album in context but on its own it is lyrically a brilliant statement. As I find myself becoming increasingly politicised, I find myself wondering if I really know what I am fighting for. Janelle's outstanding and emotional vocal really brings the song and her story to life. Compelling.

5. I Feel Better - Hot Chip

One Life Stand is Hot Chip's best and most satisfying album and I Feel Better is, for me, the most outstanding song from it. The interplay between Joe and Alexis' individual vocal lines is haunting beautiful and the use of string samples shows them as an outfit that are really refining their sound. The Peter Serofinowicz directed video is the most disturbing thing I have seen all year. I fear for the 5 year old children who stumbled upon it.

4. Rad Pitt - Egyptian Hip Hop (and pretty much the whole Some Reptiles... EP)

I first read about EHH in The Fly, not my usual source for new music but something in the over-stylised and sycophantic writing (which I hope to God this blog post is nothing like) really made me want to know more. I'm very glad I went with it. This song is just stunning. It isn't burdened by the troubles of the world but that's not to say that it is completely happy. For me, this feels like being a teenager in a song. I look forward to hearing more from them. They remind me a lot of The Mavericks of Love.

3. Starry Eyed - Ellie Goulding

Me dressed in my best and smartest outfit running from my house, all the way down the Clements to meet a bus in the dark, listening to Starry Eyed on my iPod. This song is really electrifying and tingly. I don't think i've ever heard anything like it. I tipped Ellie Goulding for this year and she has done me proud. This should have been the biggest pop song of the year.

2. Heartbeat Song - The Futureheads

I remember when I first got into music for reals in the now far-distant 2004. Decent Days and Nights was one of the first songs I ever loved for myself and I have been a fan of the Futureheads ever since (being the only person who I've heard of that rates News and Tributes as their best). Heartbeat Song is a perfect encapsulation of everything they do best. Life-affirming. What a chorus.

1. Yamaha - The-Dream

It only ever could have been one. 5 minutes of glistening pop, lacquered with soul. I really don't know why The-Dream isn't the biggest male pop star in the world. YAMAHA YAMAHA OH YAMAHA

Special Mentions

All the singles from Total Life Forever by Foals

Hang On by Weezer (yes, I like Michael Cera backing vocals)

Homework by Big Deal (great space in the music, boy girl vocals ftw)

Limit To Your Love by James Blake (haunting innit)

Doo-Wah-Do by Kate Nash (her best for sure)

Shine A Light by Mcfly feat. Taio Cruz (a close 11th)

The Flood by Take That (need to hear the album more)

Will be doing top ten albums tomorrow. I think. YEAH