Top 100 Songs of the Millennium (2000-2019) - #70-61

[Ron Burgundy]

#70-#69

CHIEN
Gorillaz, Feel Good Inc. (2005)
I really loved this when i came out, and for half a year i listened to it repetitively...Then the radio started playing it and after another 3 months(+ several years) i ruined it by listening to it waaaay too much. Still its a good song. 7/10
Arcade Fire, Rebellion (Lies) (2004)
Like with sixs #70, i like this band, but i prefer other songs a lot more. 6/10

GEEZER
Green Day, St. Jimmy (2004)
Im on the fence for American Idiot, some stuff was overplayed, other stuff is meh, this is neither, not bad. 5.5/10
Direct Hit!, Buried Alive (2013)
FL. When a song starts off like this, i know instantly its a song for a friend of mine, not me. 2/10

JOHNERLE
Bloc Party, This Modern Love (2005)
You're not prejudiced against black people are u John? Its a decent song. 6/10
Wolfmother, White Unicorn (2005)
Yeah, i like this song alot, can listen to it pretty much any time of day, any mood too. 7.5/10

LEESTU
FIDLAR, 40oz on Repeat (2015)
FL. I like some of FIDLAR's newer stuff. I hadn't heard this before but it falls in the average category for me. 5.5/10
Augie March, One Crowded Hour (2006)
After initially disliking it, it grew on me. Nowadays, gotta be in the right mood. 5.5/10

NSPAN
Pillow Fight, Redemption (2012)
FL2. Its good, but not top 100 material. 6/10
Ween, Booze Me Up and Get Me High (2013)
FL. A good friend introduced me to Ween, i really should listen to more of their stuff. They're pretty good. This is one i haven't heard but i like. 6/10

SCREEN203
Meg Myers, Desire (2013)
FL. Nah, i dont like it. 3/10
Charli XCX Ft. Rita Ora, Doing It (2014)
Very catchy, and boy, i had no idea she's so attractive!? 5.5/10

SHRYKE
Fatboy Slim, Weapon of Choice (2001)
Considered this for a bit, but like others here this is more of a top 100 music video for me. 6/10
Colbie Caillat, Brighter Than the Sun (2011)
Very much a mood song, right now, im not in the right one. So a bit meh. 4/10

SIX
The Arcade Fire, Rebellion (Lies) (2004)
Its good, but i like some of their other stuff much more. 6/10
Lower, Craver (2012)
FL. Its way too noisy, i didn't enjoy it. 3/10

SURFER
Liars, The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack (2006)
FL. Didn't do much for me, didn't dislike it though. 4.5/10
Mannequin Pussy, Drunk II (2019)
FL. Not bad, i could get into this. 6/10

TRANSFORMERS
Queens of the Stone Age, Go with the Flow (2002)
Great song, maybe in my top 200. 7.5/10
Behemoth, Daimonos (2009)
FL. Not a fan of extreme death metal. Just reminds me of metalocalyspe or listening to Wednesday late night triple j show called: The Racket. 4.5/10

[Geezer]

I have the day off, so I'll be listening to songs all day to get caught up. Going to have to limit my comments to a "love it," "like it", "meh," or "loathe it" style list though.

[Shrykespeare]

#68



CHIEN

Juliette Armanet, L’amour en solitaire (2017)

Juliette Armanet has such a pure, delicate voice. Second song of hers here. That voice makes for 50% of the beauty of her songs, it’s amazing. But there’s also a poetry in her lyrics, very hard to translate, a poetry mixed with something very contemporary that makes her song so very unique.

“Alone in my skin, on the beach. I play it sad, hit on the clouds. Alone in my party, too bad. Twosome is so fun, smoking cigarettes, on the beach. Alone on the boat, I set the sails. But all alone I take on water…”





GEEZER

Lucero, My Best Girl (2001)

This is ollllllld school Lucero. From their very first album. Very simple, mostly just Ben and his guitar. Appropriate for a love song about that very 6-stringed instrument. Its a beautiful song, and one of my favorites from the band to this day. Even if Ben says the lyrics are ridiculous every time I see them play it live.





JOHNERLE

Lightning Dust, Diamond (2013)

Some of my favourite modern music makes no attempt to sound like modern music. You could edit this into a John Hughes movie and no one would notice it didn't belong.





LEESTU

Thee Oh Sees, Static God (2017)

The opening track from their 19th studio album Orc, (and there has been more since this one), and possibly my favourite albums of theirs. Oh Sees always tend to start their albums off with a bang but on this album they go further with the first three songs just bang! bang! bang! One of the best three song starts to any album. Actually, even after that it doesn’t really let up. Enjoy the crazy, insanity of this song!





NSPAN

Phoenix, Napoleon Says (2006)

All of you know this song already, so I won't try and sell you on it. Just enjoy





RON B

Future Islands, Seasons (2014)

I first saw this one on the David Letterman show, it hit me pretty hard, cause i still enjoy it.





SCREEN203

Chelsea Wolfe, 16 Psyche (2017)

The brooding guitars from the beginning start off a sense of unease that is complemented by (as usual) Wolfe's vocals. This is my favorite of hers.





SHRYKE

Green Day, American Idiot (2011)

Who could have imagined that a band that sang almost exclusively about meth addiction would one day be a first-ballot Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and would inspire a Tony Award-winning Broadway musical based on one of their songs? Well, it happened. Here is the aforementioned song, which proved that they’d (mostly) left their addiction songs behind in favor of stuff that was more politically charged yet no less energetic. It’s a great song, and Rolling Stone magazine agrees – in 2010, they named it one of the 500 greatest songs of all time.





SIX

Big Thief, Not (2019)

Most of the time I need to hear a song a few times to love it. Not this one. Less than a year old (to me, at least. They’ve been playing it live for years). From the very start I was hooked by the guitars and Adrianne Lenker’s Orbison-like passionate vocal performance, which is intoxicating.





SURFER

Explosions In The Sky, 'The Birth And Death Of The Day' (2007)

Alongside Mogwai, EITS are probably my favorite instrumental act. And this song, from the brilliant All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, is such a cathartic listen. Taking its title from a line in Steinbeck's East Of Eden, its a song that builds beautifully with its percussion and guitars throwing wave upon wave of intensity at its listener, and it all builds to a fantastic climax.





TRANSFORMERS

Vince Staples feat. Juicy J, Big Fish (2017)

Long Beach rapper Vince Staples really found his groove when he started experimenting with hip house. Production driven by massive, off-kilter synths and hard-hitting drum machines is the perfect complement for his quietly intense flow and unconventional rhyme schemes. Bonus points for enlisting Academy Award winner Juicy J from Three 6 Mafia to do the killer hook.

[numbersix]

68, here we go.

Chien: Sorry, but this kind of balladry kinda bores me. Bring back slightly-ineligible Sigur Ros!
Geez: Very country. Not bad.
John: Joke's on you! Bedroom synth pop is so 2010s! Just look at how big Let's Eat Grandma are getting! This was good. The music is almost Suicide-y but the beautiful vocals gives it a fresh edge.
Leetsu: Great song. But disagree about the album, which is a mixed bag. The problem is Oh Sees keep putting their best song at the start of the album, so everything else pales in comparison. They've done that for the last 5 albums! Mix it up, Mr Dwyer (who, by the way, I think is the greatest guitarist of the last 15 years).
NSpan: Joke's on you! I've never heard this before. Was pretty decent. Reminded me a little of Wolf Parade, though these guys came first I think.
Ron B: Like you, and most of the world, I discovered them through that Letterman performance too. Lovely song, especially the Exorcist-style lows his vocals hit. Shame they've never been able to make a song as good.
Screen: Forgot about this track. It's perfect Chelsea Wolfe. Amazingly heavy guitars with her weird angelic vocals. Love this.
Shryke: Not a fan of this kinda punk, but again they do a decent job at trying to recreate their peak.
Surf: Lovely track, especially when it hits that 4-minute mark. I prefer stuff from their previous 2 albums, but this is great.
Tranny: I just said how much I dig your hip-hop choices, and then this comes along and does absolutely nothing for me. Go figure.

[Chienfantome]

Chien: Sorry, but this kind of balladry kinda bores me. Bring back slightly-ineligible Sigur Ros

She has a way of mailing every Word sound so poetic and erotic, and she is so good with the rimes.

Well I'm pretty sure you won't like my next song either, too French and too soft for you. I'll go ahead and bet you won't like any stuff on my list until #63, which is in French, but maybe this one will be more your kind of song.

[NSpan]

#68

CHIEN
Juliette Armanet, L’amour en solitaire (2017)
Beautiful and moving. I wish I could understand all of the lyrics!

GEEZER
Lucero, My Best Girl (2001)
I hear at least three stringed instruments here. Drums, too. Regardless, this was a fun listen.

JOHNERLE
Lightning Dust, Diamond (2013)
I LOVE Lightning Dust so much. I'm surprised none of their music made it into my own list!!

LEESTU
Thee Oh Sees, Static God (2017)
I've always been curious about this band. This track kinda grew on me as it went on. Sounded like Jennifer Gentle... but better?

RON B
Future Islands, Seasons (2014)
Great sound to it, but the style isn't really what I'm after.

SCREEN203
Chelsea Wolfe, 16 Psyche (2017)
Heavy just the way I likes

SHRYKE
Green Day, American Idiot (2011)
I always assumed weed was the "hardest" drug Greenday ever did. Didn't know they had songs about meth addiction. Anyway, back on topic, I don't mind this track in isolation. It's fine. But I really don't like their "new" sound. The early days were much more tolerable to my precious ears.

SIX
Big Thief, Not (2019)
I warmed up to this as it progressed. Fairly epic in scope. Dug it.

SURFER
Explosions In The Sky, 'The Birth And Death Of The Day' (2007)
Enjoyed this. A lot going on, but I appreciated the vast majority of the sounds

TRANSFORMERS
Vince Staples feat. Juicy J, Big Fish (2017)
If/when I give this another spin, i have a feeling it'd grow on me. That said, i wasn't hooked upon first listen

[Chienfantome]

Juliette Armanet, L’amour en solitaire (2017)
Beautiful and moving. I wish I could understand all of the lyrics!

Aaaah, I'm glad you find the Song beautiful and moving. When I'll have time, I'lI write you a translation of the lyrics.

[Geezer]

GEEZER
Lucero, My Best Girl (2001)
I hear at least three stringed instruments here. Drums, too. Regardless, this was a fun listen.

I did say mostly

[NSpan]

GEEZER
Lucero, My Best Girl (2001)
I hear at least three stringed instruments here. Drums, too. Regardless, this was a fun listen.

I did say mostly

[Leestu]

#68 playlist

https://open.spotify.com/user/purplepas ... iKRPxD6gtQ

[Shrykespeare]

#68


JohnErle - Diamond - Loved this. The 80s vibe really drew me in. Excellent choice. 7.5/10

Ron B - Seasons - This was terrific. Is it just me, or does his voice resemble that of Sir Elton just a little? 7/10

Screen203 - 16 Psyche - I liked this a lot more than your usual female pop fare, Screen. She sounds like Grace Slick doing shoegaze music. Which is a good thing. 7/10

Surfer - The Birth and Death of the Day - unlike Geezer, I like instrumentals (see Satriani, Joe), and this was really cool. 6.5/10

Chien - L’amour en solitaire - This was very nice. She's got a gorgeous voice. Send me a copy of those lyrics too, would ya? 6.5/10

Geezer - My Best Girl - I liked this more than I thought I would. Dude's voice kinda reminds me of Scott Weiland but with a country twang. 6.5/10

NSpan - Napoleon Says - I've actually never heard this song before. (Consternation! Uproar!) But I liked it. 6/10

Transformers - Big Fish - You must have caught me in a good mood. Any other day, I might have hated this. Today, I didn't. 6/10

Six - Not - This was just okay for me. 5.5/10

Leestu - Static God - Didn't like it. This was a step down from the other Oh Sees songs I've heard so far. 4.5/10

[Geezer]

70

Like It
Gorillaz, Feel Good Inc. (2005)
Bloc Party, This Modern Love (2005) (yup, I too was surprised to see that the singer was black. Really liked this album)
FIDLAR, 40oz on Repeat (2015)
Bernard Fanning, Wish You Well (2005) (2:27, now you're speaking my language!)
Fatboy Slim, Weapon of Choice (2001) (yeah how could you forget this video? It was huge, and with good reason, better than the song, imo)

Love It
The Arcade Fire, Rebellion (Lies) (2004) (popular song that I too adore)
Queens of the Stone Age, Go with the Flow (2002) (I am not a huge QotSA fan, but when they were on top of their game, they were pretty damn good. This is one of those songs)

Meh
Meg Myers, Desire (2013)
Liars, The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack (2006)

Loathe It
Pillow Fight, Redemption (2012)

[Geezer]

69

Like It
Wolfmother, White Unicorn (2005)
Ween, Booze Me Up and Get Me High (2013)


Love It
The Arcade Fire, Rebellion (Lies) (2004)
Augie March, One Crowded Hour (2006) (That story about you and your wife is just adorable. Warms my heart. I can even picture it)
Mannequin Pussy, Drunk II (2019) (I can definitely feel that pain, good stuff)

Meh
Charli XCX Ft. Rita Ora, Doing It (2014)
Colbie Caillat, Brighter Than the Sun (2011) (but I won't give you shit for it either)

Loathe It
Beck, Colors (2017)
Lower, Craver (2012)
Behemoth, Daimonos (2009) (I actually made it to 1:14 when they started growling)

[Shrykespeare]

#67



CHIEN

Alain Souchon, La vie ne vaut rien (2001)

Alain Souchon is one of the great French songwriters, and has been around since the 68’s. His lyrics are tales of life, love, joy, melancholy. I’ve grown up listening to his songs in the 80’s and 90’s, and even though I haven’t listened to much of his work this last decade, he’s made this wonderful song at the beginning of the century, “Life is worth nothing”. He’s playing with the words, and you can probably hear it without understand it, so it’s hard to translate the richness of the sounds of it, but here’s the main chorus at least :

“Life ain’t worth a thing. Life ain’t worth a thing. But when I hold, oh when I hold, Here in my two dazzled hands, the two pretty breasts of my girl, then I say, nothing, nothing, oh nothing is worthier than life..”





GEEZER

Social Distortion, Don't Take Me For Granted (2004)

One of the very first punk bands I ever experienced and fell in love with. My dad got me into them at a young age. Most of their best stuff is from outside the scope of this countdown, but the lyrics of this one always spoke to me and the music is as good as they've ever been.





JOHNERLE

Arctic Monkeys, Fake Tales Of San Francisco (2006)

For the record, I have been to San Francisco, and it was awesome.





LEESTU

Pond, Don’t Look At The Sun Or You’ll Go Blind (2009)

This is a weird one because this is a song that I fell in love with from seeing it performed live many times. It was from their debut album, which is unavailable on streaming services, so I hadn’t heard it before I first saw them live and it blew me away. It’s always a highlight in the middle of their set. However, the live performances of this are a different beast than the original so it’s not the album version that makes my list, it’s the nonspecific live performance experiences that make this one of my favourite songs of the millennium. There are crazier live performances of this around but of course the KEXP version has the best sound quality. There is also a version on their live album.



Try this if it doesn't work for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqCyTM1bF6Q


NSPAN

XTC, Wounded Horse (2000)

XTC's turn-of-the-millennium comeback albums are on par with their highest highs, in my humble opinion. As evidence, I present to you this track.





RON B

Hilltop Hoods, Nosebleed Section (2003)

This is only Aussie hip hop song in my top, while these guys have been consistently successful in Australia ive always felt they never reached the same heights. I managed to see these guys in the front row when i was 16.





SCREEN203

Cassie, Me And U (2005)

This is not a masterpiece. I'm not sure if it's even a good song. But I don't think I would have it on repeat every time I hear it if it was completely without merit. The catchy beat makes up for the lack of originality in theme in my opinion.





SHRYKE

Barenaked Ladies, Too Little Too Late (2001)

I have a soft spot for Barenaked Ladies, have since “One Week”. They don’t take themselves too seriously, and yet they have a few songs that are as musically cool as they are lyrically outrageous. This video, which shows the stresses of making a video, is a prime example of their humorous take on rock and roll.

I'm gaining strength, trying to learn to pull my own weight
But I'm gaining pounds at the precipice of too late





SIX

Wilco, Radio Cure (2002)

Wilco made some great music, particularly in the 90s, but for me this is the pinnacle of their career. It reflects their folk nature and how they could bring in a little bit of experimentation, like the dreamy reverb of this opening, and their poppy sensibilities as the song hits its stride. It also helps that I was listening to this when in a long-distance relationship, so the lyrics had an extra-special meaning.





SURFER

Laura Marling, Salinas (2011)

For the second day in succession we get a song partly inspired by John Steinbeck. This time though it is rather different from the Explosions In The Sky effort. Salinas was released with the quite stunning album A Creature I Don't Know, the third record from Marling, and it showcased a broadening of her style. Moving away from the still impressive English folk of her first couple of albums, her vocals distinctly drop in tone and she uses this to create a dark and brooding record with many a twist and turn throughout. Recalling both Joni Mitchell and Dylan, Salinas found Marling at her most impressive yet, and this despite her precocious age of just 21.



The above link didn't work for me, so if it doesn't work for you, try this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmLCm-0TgSI



TRANSFORMERS

Every Time I Die, Partying is Such Sweet Sorrow (2012)

Lyrics have always been the least important piece of the musical puzzle to me. I really can't explain why this is the case, it's just something that doesn't impact my opinion on a song 99% of the time. Keith Buckley from Every Time I Die is among the limited number of people that I feel writes absolutely brilliant lyrics. Using dark humor to address alcoholism and the way it fuels depression allows its sentiments to be especially powerful.

[Shrykespeare]

JohnErle said the site's IP address is being blocked on his phone. He can listen to the music, but he can't post. So he sent me his latest batch of opinions:




I can access and read it just won't let me post. I usually listen via Spotify anyway.

68 – 70

I spent the evening listening to the Spotify playlists on shuffle, so here's some comments on shuffle...

Feel Good Inc. - I prefer Clint Eastwood

St. Jimmy – I prefer American Idiot

Weapon Of Choice – I prefer Praise You

Rebellion (Lies) – I didn't expect this song to appear so often, simply because Arcade Fire have been around a long time and have a lot of quality songs to choose from. If you were going to mention a Strokes song or Franz Ferdinand there's one obvious choice, but I expected a greater variety of Arcade Fire songs to show up. Maybe there'll be more to come, but for now I wish I'd gone with something else because it feels like a wasted pick.

Uncle Lucero – Sorry, but that sounds like a copycat track to me.

The Birth And Death Of The Day – One of their best. Right up there with Your Hand In Mine.

Liars – That intro really tested my patience, but once they finally got started it was hypnotic and beautiful. I'll definitely be listening to that one again.

Colors – I agree with the “Wait, that's Beck?” comments. If Sea Change was post-breakup Beck then this sounds like creepy middle aged Beck hitting on girls his daughter's age at a nightclub in Ibiza.

Doing It – I hit the skip button before the 30 second mark because I didn't want Spotify to send anyone involved in making that song .00000008 cents on my behalf. I didn't want to encourage them.

Colbie Caillet – I'll bet she's had to fight off Beck's advances on more than one occasion. This was sickly sweet like cotton candy.

American Idiot – I'd written Green Day off as a one-album wonder until this came out. Good stuff. I hope someone posts Jesus Of Suburbia. And I'm no expert, but I too thought early Green Day was more about weed and jerking off. I could be wrong, but I don't think meth was a big part of the SoCal pop-punk scene in the early 90s.

The Static God – The Dream was an 8-minute song that would have worked better as a 4-minute song. This is a 4-minute song that would have worked better as a 0-second song.

Napoleon Says – Never heard it before. The only Phoenix I know is from Wolfang Amadeus. Didn't really grab me.

Big Thief – That feels like a grower to me. Given time it might really work its way under my skin. I plan to give it a chance.

Behemoth – No exorcism required. My problem with Death Metal is that I assume these guys and their fans find this stuff dark and edgy, but as soon as I hear that demon-in-need-of-a-lozenge voice I start giggling because it all sounds so silly to me. Even during my metal phase in the 80s I thought bands like Venom were ridiculous. I will say this though: if you have a loud stereo your neighbours probably hate you, and since pissing people off is part of the appeal of metal, crank it to 11.