2010s Single Songs

I listened to a ton of music. Much of it was great, even if the album it came from wasn’t a favorite. Also, the rise of streaming had given elevated importance to singles again. As I mentioned earlier, my favorite song of the decade In Kind by Braids, was an amazing single that got put on a sub-par record. Here is an unordered, list of other songs that I really like that are not contained within my favorite albums:

  • “Genghis Khan” by Miike Snow - Soundtrack to the last days of AltSpace (actually not)

  • “Ancient Ways” by Interpol - Saw them at Royal Albert hall soon after this

  • “Face for Today” by Duran Duran - Out of nowhere back to pop relevance

  • “Uncle ACE” by Blood Orange - Love that sax part at the end

  • “Keep Your Lips Sealed” by The Do - France’s answer to Sleigh Bells

  • “Shell Games” by Bright Eyes - Last song I love by this guy

  • “Rivers and Roads” by The Head and the Heart - Why can’t they have more like this?

  • “Bizness” by Tune-Yards - I can’t take her music in long doses, but this is great.

  • “December” by The Constellations - Thanks to WITR I know about this weird song

  • “Adult Goth” by Gang Gang Dance - Saw these guys at Pitchfork and they had a comical, new agey performance style straight out of the 90s

  • “Midnight City” by M83 - “The City is my Church!, bb” - RIP Hipster Runoff

  • “Polish Girl” by Neon Indian - I much prefer the first album, but a great single

  • “Cheerleader” by St. Vincent - The last song of her’s that I love

  • “We Are Young” by Fun - Yeah this is pop trash, but it is great pop trash

  • “Smile (Pictures or It Didn’t Happen)” by Amanda Palmer - Terrible person, great song

  • “Live” by Ultravox - What an amazing song for these guys to end an amazing career on

  • “Spiteful Intervention” by Of Montreal - The last song I love by this guy

  • “Past Life” by Lost in the Trees - The smoother sound of this record didn’t really work, except on this one

  • “Sears Roebuck M&Ms” by Ava Luna - Another nutty, but extremely catchy song from a band that is completely off the map

  • “Fall in Love” by Phantogram - Electro-pop masterpiece that they have never quite been able to reproduce

  • “Front of the Line” by Magik*Magik - I only know about this woman because of her orchestral performances at noise pop, but glad I could hear this gem

  • “Fireworks” by Mitski - By far my favorite song from the first three of her records

  • “The Lung” by Hiatus Kaiyote - Thanks Spotify radio!

  • “Laura” by Bat for Lashes - Such a powerful song, and I wish she would do simpler arrangements like this more often

  • “Paper Love” by Allie X - Apparently the Canadian answer to Lorde, I know little else

  • “Scared Money” by NxWorries - The kind of Chillwave/R&B mix that I wish we had more of

  • “Abducted” by Cults - I remember the aura around these guys at NxNE 2011 as the next big thing, but they leave behind this amazing track and “Go Outside”

  • “Pizza Pasta” by Night Manager - Absolutely stunning, like everyone of the two dozen or so songs they leave behind

  • “Shut You Down” by Caveman - Probably my favorite band from this time to never produce a great record, but this song is amazing

  • “So Good at Being in Trouble” by Unknown Mortal Orchestra - They were mostly a singles band for me, including this one

  • “Disparate Youth” by Santigold - One of the last songs I remember discovering from a commercial (for some sort of car)

  • “Black Diamond I/II” by Ava Luna - A nutty combination of soul, traditional indie, and Nine Inch Nails?!

  • “Death Rays” by Mogwai - Finally something different, more of this please!

  • “Where’d ALl the Time Go?” by Dr. Dog - Every now and then these low-fi revivalists find a really great song