Pretty much self-explanatory except really I'm talking more about recordings. These are the pieces of musical sound created in this decade that have most blown my mind.
I was awestruck when I first saw Saul Williams putting his slam poetry delivery to music. It was one of those performances where you just know that the artist's potential has no limit.
On Act II Scene 2, he puts it all together. A monster backing riff and beat gives him the ideal podium to launch into an unrelenting barrage of chilling lyrics about the Iraq War and the post-9/11 political climate.
2
Wanderlust King - Gogol Bordello
Many musicians have the goal to make you break out of your daily grind and really savor life. None are more successful at this than Gogol Bordello, and Wanderlust King is a fitting anthem.
The song pulls you right in and you have to fight yourself to avoid singing right along with frontman Eugene Hutz as he illustrates his philosophy of life through a musical autobiography
3
Well Well Well - Ben Harper and The Blind Boys of Alabama
This is evidently a Bob Dylan song he never released. The song is so good, I say without hesitation that that was a mistake, but given how many legendary songs Dylan wrote, I get it's not that crazy that not all of them go the attention they deserved.
Harper and the Blind Boys give a hauntingly beautiful performance of the song. Harper's got soul to spare, but the Blind Boys' voices are a force of nature, and together they inspire goosebumps with regularity.
4
Creator - Santogold
I first heard this song on a beer ad. Crazy. At the time I assumed it was a new song from M.I.A. When I YouTube'd it, I found that not only was it not M.I.A., it was better than anything M.I.A. had ever done.
A first listen to the song might make you think it has a straight forward verse-chorus structure, but each verse is structured differently, with each using a relay of related but distinct subcomponents that keep the listener off-balanced and drive the arch of the song toward fantastic intensity.
5
King's Crossing - Elliott Smith
I don't think there's any song that inspires such strong mixed feelings in me as this one. On the posthumously released album From a Basement on the Hill, this is the song that appears to deal most frankly with him considering suicide.
It's not for everyone, but it is an amazing song. Smith first defined himself as a solo artist as a singer-songwriter of simple and quiet, but intense songs. This song represents the peak of him writing complex and at times quite loud songs, though still maintaining a quiet in his voice that makes hearing the song at times almost psychedelic.
6
The Penalty - Beirut
The Penalty is a small song. Not just short, but seemingly insignificant. Thrown in the middle of more complex songs on the album The Flying Club Cup, I don't think it's ever been a focal point. A quick Google search shows 1/100th the results for it as some of the artist's other works, and despite the fact that Zach Condon's Beirut has only been recording music for a few years, when I saw them live, they didn't play it.
But it is a small gem. A perfect song. Condon's voice rises and falls with each line. He lulls us in to rhythm with the voice & ukulele only first verse which puts us in a state to experience a beautiful crescendo in the second as the rest of the band arrives in force. Tight, no wasted breath, should be the prototype for songs of the MP3 generation.
7
Hotel Yorba - The White Stripes
If I were to make a longer list, the White Stripes would dominate. So many great songs, all bounding off in every different direction. As a songwriter myself, it's inspiring and liberating to see the way they fearlessly steal from various genres all throughout their albums.
Hotel Yorba stands out furthest among their tracks for me. Perhaps a little odd because it's a light-on-its-feet country song, not what they're best known for. On the other hand, given their penchant for the unexpected, seems about right. This song captures their playfulness like none other.
8
Ultimate - Gogol Bordello
Where Wanderlust King is a loose, raucous, pub song, Ultimate actually has a solemn feel to it. It has Hutz standing back delivering a thesis:
There was never any good old days They are today, they are tomorrow It's a stupid thing we say Cursing tomorrow with sorrow
Particularly interesting is it's live usage by the band. The main riff has an almost militaristic feel to it, and is played at different intervals in the show which gives both a unified them to the show, and a sense of closure and purpose when their time is done.
9
O Death - Ralph Stanley
This song is the reason why I'm emphasizing that a song qualifies by the recording, and when the recording occurred. Not only a traditional song, but Stanley released a version of the song early in his career. But the a cappella version recorded for the O Brother Where Art Thou? soundtrack with T-Bone Burnett, is incredible.
The performance is spooky, the desperation of the narrator moving, and Stanley's aged voice seeps through your skin. This isn't a song of empathy for another, it's an excerpt from your own last days sent back in time. And it is a testament to why no instrument can be as powerful to human ears as the human voice.
10
Hello Operator - The White Stripes
When I picture the White Stripes sound in my head, this is the song I hear. Electric blues with a heavy beat. Eats like a good steak. Not too slow, not too fast. Too bold to be subtle, but nothing unnecessary, nothing overdone. All laced in with a spry sense of humor that makes anything amateurish about the song feel more charming than anything else.
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