2017: Top Songs

1. Joe Goddard f/SLO- Music Is The Answer

2. LCD Soundsystem- Tonite

3. The Jesus & Mary Chain- Always Sad

4. Coasts- Come On Over

5. Katy Perry f/Skip Marley- Chained To The Rhythm 

6. Future Islands- Ran

7. The Golden Filter- Dust

8. The Killers- The Man

9. Cut Copy- Airborne

10. Moonlight Cove- For I Am You

Bonus: The XX- On Hold*

*(released in late 2016, it missed my top 10 last year, because I wasn't familiar enough with it but would have been in my top 3 this year if I didn't believe in rules)

Listen as a Spotify playlist.

2016: Top Songs

1. Pet Shop Boys- The Pop Kids
2. Gwen Stefani- Make Me Like You
3. Steve Angello f/The Presets- Remember 
4. Shura- What's It Gonna Be?
5. The Weeknd f/Daft Punk- Starboy
6. Röyksopp f/Susanne Sundfør- Never Ever
7. Years & Years- King
8. DJ Snake f/George Maple- Talk
9. Clarke:Hartnoll- Better Have A Drink To Think
10. Beyond The Wizards Sleeve- Diagram Girl

Listen as a Spotify playlist.

2015: Top Songs

1. Brandon Flowers- Lonely Town
2. Chemical Brothers- Go
3. Miami Horror- Real Slow
4. Grimes- Entropy
5. Hot Chip- Huarache Lights
6. Courtney Barnett- Dead Fox
7. Say Lou Lou- Games For Girls
8. Chvrches- Leave A Trace
9. Foxes- Body Talk
10. The Weeknd- I Can't Feel My Face

Listen as a Spotify playlist.

2014: Top Songs

1. Temples- Shelter Song
2. La Roux- Uptight Downtown
3. Foster The People- Coming Of Age
4. Kelis- Friday Fish Fry
5. Todd Terje featuring Bryan Ferry- Johnny And Mary
6. Caro Emerald- Liquid Lunch
7. Röyksopp & Roybn- Do It Again
8. The Presets- No Fun
9. Shirobon- The Perfect Machine
10. Calvin Harris- Summer

Available to stream as a Spotify playlist.

2013: Top Songs

1. Chvrches- Recover
2. Daft Punk- Get Lucky
3. Arcade Fire- Reflektor
4. Pet Shop Boys- Vocal
5. Lorde- Royals
6. Capital Cities- Safe And Sound
7. Zedd- Clarity
8. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark- Helen Of Troy
9. Disclosure- Control
10. Annie- Invisible

It can be streamed as a convenient Spotify playlist.

2012: Top Songs

1. Ladyhawke- Black White & Blue
Did people loose interest in Ladyhawke this year? I must have missed the memo because this song is tremendous. Was there another single so strong, so immediate and demanding of attention as this released this year? If so, I haven't heard it yet.

2. Underworld- Caliban's Dream
As luck would have it the London Olympic Games placed the world's spotlight on many of the musicians who provided the soundtrack to my formative years. While the prospect Underworld scoring the Opening Ceremonies was exciting, the execution exceeded my expectations and cemented one of this year's most concrete collective memories.

3. Meiko- Leave The Lights On
This Is My Jam has been my go to music destination on the web since I joined back in January and the site's social nature has help expose me to all sorts of great music I might not have heard otherwise.  Of everything I have listened to, nothing hit me like the New Order-tinged "Leave The Lights On" which @april jammed back in the spring.

4. The Killers- Runaways
This might be the weakest lead single from The Killers to date, yet it still spins endlessly in my mind half a year later.

5. The Chemical Brothers- Theme For Velodrome
The second London Games track to make an appearance on this list find the brothers chemical Ed & Tom channeling Kraftwerk on this bicycling inspired track (who would have thought to make that connection) to great effect.

6. Saint Etienne- Tonight
Not that there was anything wrong with their post-Too Young To Die efforts, but Saint Etienne finally got down to the business of making brilliant pop this year.  This is just one of the high points.

7. Van She- Jamaica
The Austrialian electropop group have been creating underground buzz over the past few years but took a huge leap forward with this tropically flavored single.

8. School Of Seven Bells- Lafaye
The dreampop of my dreams.

9. Scissor Sisters- Let's Have A Kiki
One of the two self-produced tracks on the all-over-the-place Magic Hour had all of the charm you could want from a Scissor Sisters jam. Popservations has the track's history.

10. Soulsavers featuring Dave Gahan- Longest Day
Let's hope there is something near the emotional honesty of "Longest Day" on DM's upcoming long-player.

2011: Top Songs

1. M83- Midnight City
2. Depeche Mode- Puppets (Röyksopp Remix)
3. Foster The People- Helena Beat
4. The Drums- Money
5. The Rapture- How Deep Is Your Love?

2010: Top Songs

1. Gorillaz- Stylo
Easily dismissed on the first listen for adhering to the Gorillaz signature "first single" style this offers much more.  The most memorable baseline of the year is a good starting point but Bobby Womack's electric vocal transports the song to "another world in the universe".  Oooooh!

2. Brandon Flowers- Crossfire
A more subtle affair than Flowers' big singles with The Killers but to great effect.

3. Scissor Sisters- Invisible Light
Massive, massive disco tune.

4. Goldfrapp- Alive
The most perfect piece of electropop on a near flawless album.

5. Lindstrøm and Christabelle- Lovesick
Taking electro tempo down a bit this has been accused of being indie-dance circa-1990.  Nothing wrong with that.

6. Swedish House Mafia- One
This should so not work.  Pharrell's vocal sounds like it was conceived and recorded in five minutes, the riff is simple enough you can play it on an iphone synth and then the intro is basically a reworking of the breakdown from Fatboy Slim's "Rockafeller Skank".  Much better than the sum of it's parts.

7. Robyn- Dancing On My Own
I had this idea that I would quote negative reviews of the songs on this list but after pages and pages of googling I gave up.  Who could have something bad to say about Robyn at this point?

8. Deadmau5- Some Chords
The electronic underground buzz act of the year proves he has songwriting chops.

9. Little Boots- Mathematics
The US didn't get Hands until March of this year.  This circling, dizzy track creates the perfect formula for "a heart plus a heart".

10. Freezepop- Doppelganger
Expanding their synthpop pallet the narrative involves a run-in with an ex with a definite type.

2009: Top Songs

1. Pet Shop Boys- All Over The World
Just about anything off the astounding Yes could have claimed this spot but this ode to pop music found a special place in my heart when my daughter IDed the riff sampled from Tchaikovsky's 1892 hit as being from that song I liked as the classic featured in a Little Einsteins episode. Also the chorus is amazing to shout along with in the car.

2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Zero
They had written amazing songs, just ask Kelly Clarkson, and flirted with electronics before but I never expected the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to take a left turn into my musical territory with such command. Truly the surprise of the year.

3. La Roux- Bulletproof
Earlier in the decade LCD Soundsystem sang about wanting to make a Yaz record, but Elly Jackson & Ben Langmaid followed through and actually made one. A good one too.

4. Tiga- Shoes
What's that sound? The most off the wall lyrics of the year, in a year that brought us "Combination Pizza Hut And Taco Bell", paired with the catchiest bassline of the year. Sheer genius.

5. Annie- Songs Remind Me Of You
Richard X returns in a big way on track that was apparently leaked years ago. The pure electro adrenaline of this song is timeless.

6. Calvin Harris- Flashback
It seems every few months over the past year there was another strong Calvin Harris single being released. After the dust settled "Flashback" ended up my favorite.

7. Little Boots- Love Kills
Found on the superb Illuminations EP this Freddie Mercury/Giorgio Moroder cover trumps Little Boots original material by thinnest margin as it directly connects the current wave of electropop to it's 80s roots with the cause of Mercury's death adding an unexpected poignant touch to a forgotten song.

8. Jay-Z- Death Of Autotune
The only entry on my list you can't tie into electropop on some level takes a killer backing track based on a funky jazz loop and add lyrics like "we facin' a recession/but the music y'all makin' gonna make it the great depression". Anytime you do that I'm hooked.

9. Röyksopp- The Girl And The Robot
I tend to be a bit hot and cold on both Röyksopp and Robyn which put me off this track when it was first released. Fortunately I gave it a second chance as I got into the rewarding Junior a bit late. Still they should have wrangled a Daft Punk remix to really make the song complete.

10. The Crystal Method- Drown In The Now
The Crystal Method tend to be very hit and miss (Divided By Night is heavily in miss column) and I generally dislike Matisyahu but this a strong song that was overlooked by just about everyone. Give it a listen.

Top 50 Tracks Of 2003

Rescued from my now dead Geocities page is this list of songs featured on from my now dead internet radio station back in 2003.  Since that time I have decided that blogging is the new djing and that twittering is the blogging but I thought this worth posting for the sake of posterity.  Those interested in the 2004 & 2005 radio station lists can click on those links.  Here is what I had to say at the end of 2003:


Compiling a list of the most-worthy songs of 2003 that were featured on the Box proved to be a difficult task. An amazing amount of great music has been released in the past year, much of it a return to electronic pop from artists with different approaches and musical backgrounds. A technical note: Not all the songs on the countdown were originally released this past year, some tracks were singles, but all received plenty of "air" play on the Box. Enjoy and please let me know where I went wrong.

1. Ladytron- Blue Jeans
2. Tomcraft- Loneliness
3. Pet Shop Boys- Miracles
4. Audio Bullys- We Don't Care
5. Client- Rock And Roll Machine
6. Goldfrapp- Strict Machine
7. Electric Six- Danger! (High Voltage)
8. Primal Scream- Some Velvet Morning
9. Chemical Brothers- The Golden Path
10. Groove Armada- Easy
11. Richard X vs Liberty X- Being Nobody
12. BT- Somnabulist
13. Jay-Jay Johanson- Automatic Lover
14. Freeland- We Want Your Soul
15. The Droyds- Take Me I'm Yours
16. Cause & Effect- Into The Light
17. Dave Gahan- I Need You
18. Erland Oye- A Sudden Rush
19. Dandy Warhols- We Used To Be Friends
20. Fluke- Zion
21. Alpinestars- Burning Up
22. Pet Shop Boys- Somebody Else's Business
23. Beth Orton- Anywhere
24. Massive Attack- Special Cases
25. Junkie XL featuring Robert Smith- Perfect Blue Sky
26. Chicks On Speed- We Don't Play Guitars
27. Client- Price Of Love
28. Groove Armada- Groove Is On
29. Tomcraft- Overdose
30. The Streets- Weak Become Heroes
31. Ladytron- Evil
32. Erasure- Solsbury Hill
33. Johnny Marr + The Healers- Down On The Corner
34. Richard X- Rock Jacket
35. Benny Benassi- Satisfaction
36. Placebo- The Bitter End
37. Goldfrapp- Train
38. My Robot Friend- We're The Pet Shop Boys
39. Cloudless- Some Distant Memory
40. Blank & Jones featuring Robert Smith- Forest
41. Massive Attack- What Your Soul Sings
42. Camouflage- Me And You
43. Miss Kittin & The Hacker- Stock Exchange
44. Martin Gore- Loverman
45. Royksopp- Sparks
46. Moonlife- Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
47. Junior Senior- Rhythm Bandits
48. The Sounds- Dance With Me
49. Basement Jaxx- Cish Cash
50. The Dysfunctionals- Payback Time

2008: Top Songs

1. Goldfrapp- A & E
Those familiar with Goldfrapp's past knew they were capable of switching gears as they said they would after the disco-tastic Supernature but know one could know they would come up something so completely different from everything else they have done before while conjuring up their most emotional single to date. A year after I first heard the song it still gives me chills. Every time.

2. The Killers- Human
Bonding over their mutual Pet Shop Boys admiration Stuart Price takes The Killers down the disco in a collaboration that brings out the best in both parties. Brandon Flowers searching vocals take on questions that no one else dared ask as the music gives us the divine answer.

3. Moby- Disco Lies
First appearing on the Cloverfield soundtrack this second single from Last Night is the finest pop moments of the year you've never heard. Unfashionably technopop rather than electropop the song takes at what first appear to be pedestrian disco diva vocals wailing about how "you lied" and turn it into something transcendent. Shame a poorly planned initial release and a terrible video kept this grower from everyone but fans.

4. Cut Copy- Lights & Music
While I continue to bill this as the hipsters "Where The Streets Have No Name" the lush economy of the song is so breathtaking that even my repeat listens have only faintly dulled the impact of the song.

5. Kanye West- Love Lockdown
Forget Kanye the media personality for a moment. Can you think of a single song with an arrangement that flies completely in the face of convention that comes across as absolutely accessible as "Love Lockdown"? Kanye's futuristic performances are a jaw dropping but at the core the song deals with love that has spun out of control in an honest way and that is something pretty amazing too.

6. Hot Chip- Ready For The Floor
This rumored Kylie reject (sadly debunked) is ready for the floor as it asks "I can’t hear your voice, do I have a choice?" before creating even more confusion by quoting Tim Burton's Batman. Amazing.

7. The Black Ghosts- Anyway You Choose To Give It
Bringing together the talents of the guy behind The Wiseguys (my favorite big beat two hit wonder of 1999) with the vocalist from Simian (naturally not a part of the amazing Simian Mobile Disco) "Anyway You Choose To Give It" is a proper song that begs for you to hit repeat despite the Justice-sized overdriven bass that dresses the track. With an album that finally just dropped in full on itunes this is most definitely an act to keep an eye on.

8. Chemical Brothers- Keep My Composure
Better by a hair than the other new Chemical Brother track included on the unnecessary singles collection Brotherhood this collaboration with Spank Rock finds the Brothers reconnecting with a raw jump up hip hop sound they haven't explored since the Loops Of Fury EP. Plays up more of their strengths than 95% of their material this decade.

9. Nine Inch Nails- Discipline
Trent Reznor stops trying to be scary all the time on this disco number from the second Nine Inch Nails album of the year (the free one) and releases his most openly commercial singles in years.

10. Ladytron- Deep Blue
Who doesn't love a song about the most famous chess playing computer in the world?

2007: Top Songs

1. Tracey Thorn "It's All True"
2. Chemical Brothers "The Salmon Dance"
3. Justice "D.A.N.C.E."
4. Sarah Nixey "The Black Hit Of Space"
5. LCD Soundsystem "North American Scum"
6. Client "Drive"
7. Simian Mobile Disco "Hustler"
8. Róisín Murphy "Let Me Know"
9. Matinee Club "Discotheque Français"
10. Swen Weber "First Stroke"

2006: Top Albums

Thanks to the miracle that is the internet (and free streaming services) this past year has given me the opportunity to listen to almost as many albums as I did when I was a sub-music director at a college radio station. In spite of the access there were only a few albums that I found myself drawn to time and time again.

1. Pet Shop Boys Fundamental

Returning to the principals of the duo's "imperial period" of the late 80's with producer Trevor Horn Fundamental managed to be my favorite and most listened to album of the year despite it's flaws brought on by the Boys own attempt to create a cohesive album. If they had included the Richard X produced "Fugitive" (on the bonus disc), "The Resurectionist" and "Bright Young Things" (b-sides) we would have a classic PSB disc. Sill it's hard to complain about an album that has "Minimal", "I Made My Excuses And Left" and the chill inducing "Integral".

2. Goldfrapp Supernature

Love is a difficult thing when you're treated badly and my relationship with this album is a complicated one. The music is brilliant as the duo complete their electropop makeover in a style that is unparalleled but the endless lingering in limbo for the belated US release took it's toll and I didn't find myself giving it the attention it deserved. Still tracks like "Ride A White Horse", "Satin Chic" and "Let It Take You" changed me as they left an imprint on my soul and for that I will always be grateful.

3. Tiga Sexor

Arriving at least three years too late for a proper electroclash cash out Tiga's debut album left many puzzled on first few listens. Still I've found myself going back to the album over and over again on my mp3 player as I slowly but surely have found new tracks to obsess over and pick apart. This must be why six of the tracks have outside lives as singles even when he didn't just take the easy way out by compiling his one-off single releases as an album. It doesn't matter if Tiga is taking on Public Enemy on "Pleasure From The Bass", deconstructing NIN on "Down In It" or himself on "Type Of Guy" (which references almost every single song he had recorded before the album) there is plenty of good listening here.

4. Ferry Corsten L.E.F.

Trance star Ferry Corsten proves again that he has more interests than the melodic trance he built his name with as he storms the sub-genres that fall under the electronica umbrella with an unusually strong sense of song craft. The album's profile has been hampered by dodgy single selections like "Junk", which is his 2002 hit "Punk" with a rap over it, but the album has very few missteps and is so strong that Howard Jones sounds good and relevant on his guest track (note: I hate Howard Jones). Corsten calls his music loud, electro and ferocious but "L.E.F.", "Down On Love" and "Into The Dark" explore more complex and ambiguous territory (actually "L.E.F" must be played very loud, is extremely electro and is utterly ferocious but you get my point).

5. Junkie XL Today

The most common complaint about Tom "Junkie XL" Holkenborg is that he simply copies the style of others and he overcomes that here exploring a rock-ish style of trance that he has been developing as a remixer over the past few years on an album that also delivers strong straightforward vocal songs. Fortunately it's much better than it should be and far more complex than I can properly describe as the album conjures atmospheric post-punk like The Cure but in a more electronic way. "Today", "Youthful" and "Yesterdays" are as good as it gets from rock-friendly electronica.

There are other albums that could be contenders which haven't connected with me completely yet. Junior Boys So This Is Goodbye is a truly solid album and Hot Chip's The Warning has many fantastic tracks but I rarely find myself listening to them like I do with the albums that made the cut.

2006: Top Songs

1. Pet Shop Boys- Minimal (video)
2. Hot Chip- Over & Over (video)
3. Gnarls Barkley- Crazy (video)
4. Goldfrapp- Ride A White Horse (video)
5. The Killers- When You Were Young (video)
6. Junior Boys- In The Morning (mp3)
7. Massive Attack- Live With Me (video)
8. Tiga- (Far From) Home (mp3)
9. James Figurine- 55566688833 (mp3)
10. Justin Timberlake- SexyBack (video)

Top 40 Tracks Of 2005

Tis the season for counting down and year-end-lists and here I bring you my 40 tracks added to my now defunct internet radio station in 2005:

1. Goldfrapp- Ooh La La
2. LCD Soundsystem- Disco Infiltrator
3. Soulwax- NY Excuse
4. M.I.A.- Galang
5. New Order- Guilt Is A Useless Emotion
6. Timo Maas- First Day
7. Daft Punk- Technologic
8. Ladytron- Destroy Everything You Touch
9. Moby- Where You End
10. Out Hud- How Long
11. Depeche Mode- Precious
12. Vitalic- My Friend Dario
13. Missy Elliot- Lose Control
14. The Lovemakers- Dance
15. Tiga- Louder Than A Bomb
16. Annie- Heartbeat
17. Fischerspooner- Never Win
18. Bloc Party- Banquet (Phones Disco Edit)
19. Gorillaz- Feel Good Inc
20. Kelly Osbourne- One Word
21. Röyksopp- Only This Moment
22. Juliet- Ride The Pain
23. VHS Or Beta- Night On Fire
24. The Juan MacLean- Tito’s Way
25. Chemical Brothers f/Tim Burgess- The Boxer
26. !!!- Take Ecstasy With Me
27. Gwen Stefani f/Andre 3000- Long Way To Go
28. Brazilian Girls- Lazy Lover
29. Freezepop- Smoke Machine
30. LCD Soundsystem- Tribulations
31. Audio Bullys- Shot You Down
32. Riton- Candy
33. Kylie Minogue- I Believe In You
34. The Egg- Wall
35. Beck- Ghettochip Malfunction (Hell Yes)
36. Erasure- Breathe
37. New Order- Jetstream (Richard X Remix)
38. Maxx Klaxon- Internationale 2000
39. Saint Etienne- Fascination
40. Afrika Bambaataa f/Gary Numan- Metal

I'm Mr. Countdown

Somewhere in my time off blogging I did a countdown of songs played on my radio station in 2004. It took me forever to compile the list, and was a bit bummed out that I didn't find 50 songs to list like I did in 2003, but still some great songs and I tend not to add stuff to my station that I think is getting too much mainstream exposure (well, when I add it). Here's my list, or you can see it with a green background if you prefer...


1. Faithless- Mass Destruction
2. Pet Shop Boys- Flamboyant
3. Scissor Sisters- Comfortably Numb
4. Client- Radio
5. The Faint- I Disappear
6. Prodigy- Girls
7. Kraftwerk- Aerodynamik
8. Erlend Oye- The Black Keys Work
9. Air- Cherry Blossom Girl
10. Ferry Corsten- Whatever!
11. Crystal Method- The American Way
12. Freezepop- Chess King
13. Radio 4- Party Crashers
14. Fatboy Slim- Wonderful Night
15. Phoenix- Everything Is Everything
16. The Killers- Mr. Brightside
17. Richard X- You (Better Love Me x4) Tonight
18. LCD Soundsystem- Yeah
19. Chromeo- Needy Girl
20. Zero 7- Speed Dial No. 2
21. Miss Kittin- Professional Distortion
22. Tiga- Pleasure From The Bass
23. Felix Da Housecat- Rocket Ride
24. Chemical Brothers- Get Yourself High
25. Orbital- Acid Pants
26. Swayzak- Keep It Coming
27. Bjork- Triumph Of A Heart
28. Lamb- Sugar 5
29. I Satellite- Where In The World
30. Gwen Stefani- Serious
31. Scissor Sisters- Music Is The Victim
32. Le Tigre- Nanny Nanny Boo Boo
33. The Lovemakers- Internet Girlfriend
34. Junior Jack f/Robert Smith- Da Hype
35. Client- In It For The Money
36. Tristraum- Shiver
37. Proper Filthy Naughty- Fascination
38. Junior Senior- Shake Your Coconuts
39. I Am X- Your Joy Is My Low
40. Chemical Brothers- Galvanize