Popdar #12: Hold it against you Britney?

There's not real anything you can hold against Britney with her new single, her first since 2009. It has a pretty little chorus, one that recalls the bubblegum-teenage-dream-pop of yore, pulses along to a thunderous eurodance rhythm designed to shatter gay club speakers (and one that will no doubt be diluted by Cahill, Freemasons and the like to tone this down, I can already hear the Bimbo Jones take) and even has the audacity to chuck in a bizarre Die Hard dubstep middle 8. She's worked with a ton of producers and it shows. Dare I say, on first listen, the track seems a little bit confused and overlong.

But with repeated listens, beware. How do you know a Britney single from a single from any other female artist? It's like pop-crack, whilst, say, the younger Katy Perry can only manage pop-pro-plus. Now in 2011, her itsy bitsy voice has become immortal and every time you hear it, you hear that girl from "Baby one More Time" and somehow, every lyric she utters becomes instantly and unavoidably iconic. For an individual who is accused of losing her talent, she will have the one thing most artists long for all their careers: Presence.

So what if "Hold it Against Me" is a bit of a mish-mash of a load of producers ideas? It works because it's a half good track at least, and that's all that's needed for Britney to alleviate it to what will probably become of the biggest singles of 2011. Lord help us all.

Top 20 Albums of 2010 (In Brief) and 5 ARTISTS FOR 2011!

There comes a time when frankly a year should be put to rest, the christmas tree taken down, and NEW music embraced. So no blurbs for these, but just 20 honorary (and very much ordered) mentions for my favourite albums of 2010.


TOP 20 ALBUMS OF 2010
20 Rihanna - Loud
19 Vampire Weekend - Contra
18 Kylie Minogue - Aphrodite
17 Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
16 Rumer - Seasons of my Soul
15 Four Tet - Love Cry
14 Kelis - Flesh Tone
13 Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
12 Delphic - Acolyte
11 Stornoway - Beachcomber's Windowsill
10 Tyler, The Creator! - Bastard
9 Antony & The Johnsons - Swanlights
8 Hurts - Happiness
7 Sleigh Bells - Treats
6 Delorean - Subiza
5   Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II
4   Robyn - Body Talk
3   The Depreciation Guild - Spirit Youth
2   Beach House - Teen Dream
1   Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here


There we are then, lovely. So that my friends is a cap on 2010. Anathema gave me hope, Robyn gave me emotional support and Rihanna gave me the ultimate drinking anthem. Time to see what 2011 brings eh? I have a few ideas.


Now I've realised I'm hardly the zeitgeist for guessing what will be big, only what will be good. I mean, my tip for 2010 was Owl City, and that was hardly a suggestion that deserves recalling much now. But still, with regards to whose records I am looking forward to MOST this year, the 5 listed hear are the ones who fit that bill the best, and I reckon together they could define my 2011. Partially. I seem to swear by different artists every month. (Robyn being the exception this last year, but that's only because she never fucked off, praise the lord).

Oh and Lady Gaga and Britney Spears don't feature. This is new stuff bitches. Although I'm sure both those high-maintenance divas will create partially brilliant and partially awful records that I also wet myself with excitement at the prospect of hearing.

5 MOPP.
Trancey electronic dance music that is shamefully rarely heard these days.
For fans of: Above & Beyond, Tiesto, Chicane, Ferry Corsten



4 Jessie J
A new bitch with attitude and more talent than can possibly be contained. Is it R&B, is it Electro? Is it good? Perhaps, perhaps, YES.
For fans of: Rihanna, Beyonce, Ciara, Ke$ha



3 Katy B
The first lady of dubstep has simply got to release a solo record in 2011. Guarantee it will be laid back, dirty and irresistable.
For fans of: Magnetic Man, Ms Dynamite, Skream



2 James Blake
Who says Trip Hop is dead? Dubby beats that rustle and click underneath a plethora of quirky instruments and samples, and occasionally rather beautiful songs, James Blake is definately one to watch this year.
For fans of: Portishead, Massive Attack, Eskmo, Caribou
(Show "Limit to your Love")



1 The Naked & Famous
The Killers could only dream of writing tunes this big. Dancey, euphoric and delightfully over the top, The Naked & Famous could play their cards right and release the album of 2011. I understand it's currently leaked but I REFUSE to pander to this.
For fans of: Passion Pit, Bloc Party, Fenech-Soler, The Killers

Popdar #11: Some stuff to get excited about for 2011

As if I wasn't excited enough for Katy B's album, this revelation opens her forthcoming record up to a whole new ballpark of early 90s house interpretation. Simply, fuck yes.

And Cut Copy's Zonoscope may have a lot to live up to after the giddying heights of "In Ghost Colours", but one listen to recent single "Take Me Over" and one has only to realise that they've taken a different tack for 2011... rather than "LET'S RAVE TIL WE BLEED" it's more "Let's chill the fuck out". And hell it works, but they can't deny themselves a few gorgeous hooks along the way.

And who says cheesy house DJs can't release balearia in winter? I ask you! Eric Prydz I salute you, and hope this is as big a club hit as that "Call on Me" one, weren't nowt wrong wi' that! This remix makes it all a bit 2007, which is fine by me if it's Funky House we're talking about.

Oh I'm excited now :D A new year, NEW rules.

Top 5 Worst Songs of 2010.

...and finally. The WORST of the WORST.

5 Scouting For Girls - This Ain't A Love Song
No it certainly ain't, it's a pile of mixed messages and fucking Mumford and Sons bollocks. I just don't get what they're trying to say. "This ain't a love song, this is goodbye?" Well fair enough. But why say that you're a "little bit lost without (her)"? And that you're a "bloody big mess inside"? I thought you were holding it together mate. Just a load of cliched balladic phrases over a dull backing track. Go figure.

4 We No Speak Americano - Yolanda Be Cool vs. DCUP
Has there ever been a more irritating track in the history of music? And has their ever been a beat that offended you more? Oh fuck off, you're making me want to put you in my "songs I shouldn't like, but..." list. Tosser.

3 The Time (Dirty Bit) - Black Eyed Peas
I would like to know if there's one original melodic element to this song. So far I can only find "Dirty Bit" followed by that electro house monstrosity. Crap, I think I like this one too. Moving on.

2 Cheryl Cole - Promise This
FINALLY, a track I'm actually sure I hate. The beat is horrible. The chorus is offensively forgettable. The suggestion it actually has personal meaning is hilarious. That sampled vocal hook is totally out of place and utterly irrelevant. And I think most of all, the video is the most pretentious thing. She does not have nearly enough diva status to even think about doing the "wind blowing past her floating body as she pulls the Jesus pose" gig. Seriously, enough's enough now, trot back to Girls Aloud pet and have another gander at that.

1 JLS - Club is Alive
There's no forgiving this. I can't even...

Well that was a relatively uncathartic affair. 2010 did have some fucking shit, but it's becoming so commonplace that I'm almost getting used to it, it's a scary prospect that 2011 could bring more of it. Anyway, that's the last I speak of bad music! Onwards and upwards!

TOP 50 SONGS OF 2010 Pt. 5: 10-1

So, after much deliberating and subsequently forgetting things that I've missed, more rearranging back and forth on iTunes, and considering a top 100, then a 75. here we are. My top 10 songs of the year. I'm sure you'll be disappointed, but if I was reading this list as an outsider, I surely wouldn't. I'd be all "YES, THIS is the shit. Right on that c*nting money".

So try and pretend you're me when reading this, the weepy eyed, rave-happy, summer-missing, sentimental-as-FUCK, and maybe a little bit gay, individual who you almost certainly don't pay much attention to.

10 Hurts - Stay
The art of the power ballad. A tricky one. You've got to believe the singer, you've got to be able to punch the air to each huge snare, you've got to want to listen to it on repeat after a break-up and most importantly you've got to want to lose your voice screeching along to it, with tears in your starry, most likely drunken eyes. Now Hurts are no Celine Dion for melodrama, no Mariah Carey for vocal acrobatics, and no Whitney for drunkeness, so what they have produced with "Stay" is the most uncanny of things. A power ballad that doesn't show off, it simply offers its heart up on a plate.

One might recall Shakespeare's Sister's early 90s collosal ballad by the same name, and that is admittedly a template for this one (not the same song, just to get that straight), but when singer Hutchcraft sings "You say goodbye in the pouring rain, and I break down as you walk away", these words, heard so many times, suddenly sound as genuine and heartbreaking as if they'd never been sung before. The choir who chant "Stay!" from across the street at him feel the exact fear and pain he feels at that moment, as does every Hurts fan lying on their bedroom floor when the moment arrives. In a world of studio trickery and heavy production, "Stay" is endlessly refreshing because the song alone could survive any manner of stripping down, as the words and melody are timeless.



9 Crystal Castles - Baptism
If one thinks back to Crystal Castles' "Alice Practice" single, and how brattish and childish they sounded then, one can never imagine that track outside a bedroom or drunken Skins party. When one listens to "Baptism" however, the jaw will drop on the 50th listen just as hard as on the first. This is one Jesus-sized track, and no I have no I what Alice hollers, but the way she hollers makes me want to stand marching to attention before throwing myself into an almightly moshpit of delirious ravers. The EQ cannot handle the galloping walls of synth, compressed until they burst at the seams, and the whole track is a build up and comedown to that moment when Alice screams her first utterance over the thunderstorm of beats. THE club anthem of the year that you will never hear in a club.



8 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Lost Saint
The Pains are a band for teenagers with taste, essentially: teenage angst, self-doubt and being scared of your feelings. How they manage to deal with such issues with such depth and beauty is beyond me, but the rather obscure B-side "Lost Saint" manages to tick these boxes and then some. The band are always one to swap between Smiths-esque clangy loveliness and razor sharp punk guitars, "Lost Saint" is one from the former catagory, but with an added maturity and melancholic guitars that suggest a message much deeper than a simple message of teenage angst. The guitar solo is one of the most beautiful musical moments of the year, and vocally as touching, if not moreso, than their previous triumph "Higher than the Stars". Of course, that triumph has now been eclipsed by this wonderful gem. They don't play it live, which is a travesty, but I figure maybe this is one to be enjoyed by yourself on a thoughtful Sunday afternoon.



7 Chad Valley - Anything
If you mix Glo-Fi beats, Balearic synths, and cheesy autotuned vocals, accompanied by squeaky pitch-shifted sampled ones, you have a very crude summary of what "Anything" sounds like. But somehow, the giddy summery dreamwave that Chad Valley produces here manages to be incredibly poignant, in a way that makes "Anything" probably my escapist anthem of this summer. Mastermind Hugo Manuel's vocals are not blissed out and breathy in a way that so many blogpop artists opt for, this guy ad libs and lets his voice break into falsetto every now and again before using a strained tenor that autotune fails to tame. As the track closes to the line "I would do anything", the last word repeats over and over as the track begins to fade in on itself, leaving a wake of uncertainty and desperation that one was not expecting at its beginning. Distant yet urgently trying to communicate, "Anything" leaves the listener wanting more of its emotionally euphoric bliss.



6 The Depreciation Guild - Dream About Me
The Depreciation Guild recall the spirit of My Bloody Valentine, but aren't so fond of the noisy interferences, instead tearing away the nasty bits and washing their sound with a fuzzy warmth that shows off just how gorgeous their ear for melody really is. But "Dream About Me" is positively romantic, even sexy, a daydream of a song that boisters in a deep, intense chorus that seduces as much as it ponders. There's a lot going on in "Dream About Me", but its only credit to their songwriting that each turn you make, there's an even more delicious musical dish around each corner. A perfect song, and one that makes you a bit more breathless each time you hear it.



5 Anathema - Dreaming Light
I talked so much about Anathema around the release of their astonishing We're Here Because We're Here album that it seems odd to look back now, but in a way its always a good idea to return to something incredible after the hype has died down. Though pleasingly, "Dreaming Light" is still the most heartwrenching song of the year, a collosal post-rock crescendo that would surprise even Sigur Ros and a vocal performance that sets Vinny Cavanagh heads and shoulders above any mainstream rock vocalist you could care to mention. The song may be bigger than Jupiter, but there's no pretence here, only pure unadulterated happiness, an emotion finally comfortably associated with Anathema, who have spent years trying to release an album at peace with itself. And finally after 20 years, they have managed it admirably, and "Dreaming Light" gives a simple enough statement: "We made it."



4 Stornoway - I Saw You Blink
For such a seemingly shy and awkward band, from a background of reclusive Oxford culture and a small folky musical scene, Stornoway are not at all shy at expressing joy. "I Saw You Blink" is just charming and sunny at any time of year, and the excitement and love that singer Brian Briggs so desperately tries to keep conservative, simply leaps from his vocal chords as he cries "I need to know, are you the one I've been waiting for?", and when he sings "so, so long!" in the final chorus, it's almost unbearably wonderful. The cheeky organ, eager drumming and zealous percussion, sing-song counterchorus backing vocals and fiercely strummed guitars... it's all just like a perfect summer's day. Perfect for falling in love to.



3 Cee Lo Green - Fuck You!
The world has been waiting for a song like this. Not a song about missing their loved one, or a song about moving on, or even one about "forgetting" you (Yea, FORGET you commercial radio), but a track that just fucking says it. Cee Lo is a mess in this song, just listen to him wailing out "I still love you!" midway. But on the whole, this slap to the face of modern soul is a celebration of hatred towards those who deserve it; those who lie to us. And only two words can really make you feel better. Those are not "forget you" but FUCK and YOU. And boy does Cee Lo spit them out, and every time you hear that chorus, you will too, whatever your state of relationship.

Of course, for a track to reach #3 on my list it's got to have a little bit more than the odd expletive, but of course "Fuck You!" delivers. It's the catchiest tune of the year, goes without saying once you've heard it, and it's got the best lyric of the year ("Guess he's an Xbox and I'm more an Atari" - genius) but above all its the most FUN a track has been in years. It brings friends together on the dancefloor and makes even the most sorry break-up-ee feel like busting a move.

"Cee Lo Green - Makes break-ups fun!" What a calling card.



2 MOPP. - Dream About You
From an international smash hit to something practically internationally unknown. All you need to know about MOPP. is that they (well, he) are from Scotland and they (he) write summery dance music. Everything else you will find out in the first few seconds of "Dream About You". From the moment those three cloud chords break the silence, it hooks into the subconcious and doesn't let go. "Dream About You" is my #2 because, for 4 minutes, you are alone with the song. Every insecurity and worry is addressed ("All alone I struggle on, never knowing where I'm going") and then discarded with the simple phrase "I had a dream about you". Whoever or whatever that dream is about is different for every listener. We all have our dreams and aspirations, but seldom does a track affect us in a way that makes us believe we can achieve them.

As the track bursts from twilight ambience into heavy balearic dance, they sing "when the sun goes down, we know we're not alone", and in that moment, every person who has ever heard the song knows that they indeed are not. I would bet that every person who hears "Dream About You" is affected by its poignant honesty and heartfelt optimism, and even if they aren't, the track is absolute bliss however you listen to it.



1 Robyn - Dancing on My Own
And so here we are. My artist of the year with her track of the year. There's no two ways about it, "Dancing on my Own" is an instant classic. We all knew that Robyn was capable of mixing real feelings and dance beats but "Dancing on My Own" does it so effectively that it feels as if you've known it for years. There is indeed a sense of familiarity about "Dancing on my Own", probably because we can all relate to its lyrics.


Now Robyn isn't anyone's bitch or scapegoat. She doesn't compromise, she doesn't mince her words and she has attitude that could move mountains and bring down governments. But she's also an insecure little girl who desperately wants to be loved. Like "Be Mine" before it, "Dancing on My Own" is brutally honest, euphorically uplifting and yet tenderly bittersweet all at once, a thoroughly intense listening experience and yet with an all too simple message: a broken heart fucking hurts.

Thing is, "Dancing on My Own" is in a resolutely major key, and sports irresistable pulsing rhythms, shiny, tinkly synths and gorgeously warm synth strings; Robyn wants her love interest to see her having a good time without him. But he doesn't see her at all. She's damned if she cries over him, so she dances through her tears, determined to let herself go in the music. But with each thud of the kick, Robyn falls harder and harder. Proof, if ever there was such proof, that Robyn, and Robyn alone, truly understands the sheer emotional power of a simple pop song.




Well that's it. Robyn won. Oh fuck, need to do the albums now. And maybe a couple more little lists for fun.

Top 5 Songs That I Really Shouldn't Have Liked in 2010.

I won't pretend I have the best taste in music, but I've learnt to accept this fact and wear it with pride. Well, semi-pride; I'll publicly hate it until someone muses "Y'know, this isn't half bad", to which I immediately respond "OH MY CHRIST, I LOVE IT." Bad habit. Anyway, I thought I'd exorcise some demons before I proudly present my ACTUAL top 10. If I was a 13 year old chavvy girl from Staines, with a kid, then this would be my top 5. Maybe I was said child in former life...

Anyway, prepare to cringe.

5 JLS - Eyes Wide Shut
I hate JLS, I really do, for a multitude of reasons. I hate that they are the biggest commercial whores on the planet, and will do anything to please their preteenbase. I hate that I find myself, against my will, a tiny bit sexually excited by Marvin and Aston's frequently exposed man cleavage (oh come on, you do too), and I hate that sometimes a song by them will drill its way into my subconcious, like psychological bullying within the entertainment industry. They hire the right songwriters for their cause, no doubt. The bastards have the sickly sweet melodies and pristine R&B backing, but now the mothers have employed the kind of dancefloor filling Calvin Harris synths that are my weak point, and as a result the euphoric chorus pleases my ears a bit too much. Every cliche in the book, laced with A.T. and various other dancepop S.H.I.T.... I paid 99p for this on iTunes and have felt like self harming ever since.

Oh apparantly there's a version with Tinie Tempah.



4 Jason Derulo - Ridin' Solo
"TALENTLESS TURD, TALENTLESS TURD, TALENTLESS TURD". Is what I find myself screaming in my head, or indeed out loud, when someone mentions this man. The solo american version of PMS, sorry JLS, Mr Derulo is a shameless whore for autotune and saccharine lyrics and arrangements, the Imogen Heap sample being the only slightly credible artistic display to his name. HOWEVER, the version of Ridin' Solo I listen to is based around a sample of its own, one that didn't make it to the record due to the band in question simply telling Derulo where to stick it. The string crescendos of the Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" are just enough to add colour to Derulo's would-be-oh-wait-actually-is unbearably obnoxious ode to self-love (the PG version). And due to that, I still find myself accentuating my voice to the vacuous words even now the sample is gone. I'm hooked. FUCK.



3 Cheryl Cole feat. Travis McCoy - Yeah Yeah
Messy Little Raindrops is messy, little and bollocks, and surely the worst album title of all time. And that cover hurts my eyes. And by God, can that woman really not sing one unassisted note? If anyone could save even one second of the record it's the producers. Give her a good song, and a massive backing to cover up the lack of talent. And so we have "Yeah Yeah", which I will concede is actually rather good, thank you Mr Stuart Price. Tumbling pianos and huge pulsating synths over nu-disco beats is hardly new ground for Price, ground which he has paced since Madonna's "Confessions on a Dance Floor", but it saves Cheryl from total irrelevance and her relative anonomity in "Yeah Yeah" admittedly allows the rhythm to take control. Travis McCoy spoils it a bit, but let's face it, it's just refreshing to enjoy a song by Cheryl Cole in any capacity. Refreshing, and a bit bizarre.



2 Nicki Minaj & Will.I.Am - Check it out
You know what? I fucking love this track. Yes it samples a novelty hit from the 80s, features music's Satan Will.I.Am, and the line "I can't believe it, this beat is banging", but oh Nicki, oh Nicki. When she opens her mouth, the shite becomes satirical and the crap becomes credible. And fuck me, "I just pop up on these hoes like some pimple shit, and put an iron to your face y'ol' wrinkle bitch". Who can argue with such angelic words?



1 Joe McElderry - Someone Wake Me Up
One of the ONLY original songs on McElderly's dire debut, "Someone Wake Me Up" could've saved this boys career if only he'd led with it. It's slushy and falsely emotional in a kind of Snow Patrol way, and those anthems guitars are straight from Kelly Clarkson's "lite" soundbite atalogue, but cock me. This is the clean shirted and beamy faced Joe that won the X Factor, and you know what? I really, really like the song, I think it's lovely. Oh and despite the song's request, don't wake me up just yet, I'm pretending that I live in a world where enjoying this is acceptable.

TOP 50 SONGS OF 2010 Pt. 4: 20-11

Fell behind a bit, so I guess the whole top 20 will come tonight, erk.... hopefully though, because these are after all my favourite 20 songs of the year, I'll be so inspired that I'll be able to chat crap about them all into the early hours. Anyway... Oh, look at these... what tunes.

20 "Thank You For Your Love" - Antony & The Johnsons

Sumptuous melodrama is always to be expected from Antony and his earth shattering, shimmering Nina Simone-esque tenor, but ne'er yet 'til now have we heard him express the emotion that is expressed here: HAPPINESS. Let's look back to Antony's defining moment, obviously the timestoppingly incredible "Hope There's Someone"; This is the voice of a broken man, one battered down by loneliness in a cruel world, one who's dreams are all but dissolved. And there's nothing quite like hearing this same voice, 6 years on, break out into an uncontrollable ear to ear smile and holler "I want to thank you". Whether this is the love of a newly born relationship, or one that has grown through thick and thin, it matters not. During the 4 minute duration of "Thank You For Your Love" nothing else matters but the unconditional and all encompassing adoration Antony has developed for this individual. And as horns parp out in agreement, moments of musical joy this genuine are few and far between.

19 "Coma Cat" - Tensnake

Being Balearic and sun flecked was popular in underground dance music this summer, but there's nothing like a tune that hits the big time with a hook that refuses to become tedious no matter how much you hear it. "Coma Cat" is timeless; jubilant bells ring out over a regal house beat, and the essence of the early 90s is all over the choppy vocal samples and chunky bass. There's not much you can say about a track like "Coma Cat" except that it has to be heard to understand the sheer jolt of lightning felt at the drop. Every time.

18 "Bermuda" - Kisses

The joy of "Bermuda" on first listen is just how cheap and lo fi it sounds, but oh my, that's the joy in it. 

Kisses are not here to make a big statement; vocally low key and unguilded, but no one can argue with a melody as innocent and wholesome as the one showcased here. Dippy synths plip and plop here and there as warm pads caress the clumsy drum machine, and the effect is heartwarming and achingly gorgeous. What's so charming about Kisses in general is that the real appeal here is in the songwriting. No pretences or big production, just a wonderful melody, a blissful vibe and a song that never gets tiresome.

17 "Teenage Dream" - Katy Perry

Katy Perry has her own snug place in the US pop world. Somewhere between an American Idol and Ke$ha’s drunken slag persona, and all of a sudden Katy Perry is a cheeky role model who can get away with just about anything. A blink of those gorgeous blue eyes and it doesn’t matter that she kisses girls, squirts whipped cream from her nipples or gets drunk on beaches (if Ke$ha does any of that, she’s just dirty). It’s the songs though. When Ms Perry (slash Mrs Russell I guess) shoots, she scores spectacularly. “Teenage Dream” simply is every pop song you’ve ever heard that warms your heart, that makes you want to bunk off work and go to the beach, to go clubbing when you have work at 8am the next day, to do things that make you feel naughty, irresponsible and YOUNG. Yes it’s a love song, but not necessarily to another person... it’s a love song to itself. This song makes you feel like you’re living a teenage dream. Don’t ever look back.

16 "Hang With Me" - Robyn

Of the 3 big singles this year, "Hang With Me" is the one that expresses the most complicated emotion: the one a person feels whilst they heal. "Hang With Me" displays a woman who's been hurt, and hurt badly, but one who is beginning to believe she can, just maybe, love again. It's as she says in "Call Your Girlfriend": "the only way her heart will mend is when she learns to love again", and after falling in love with "Dancing on My Own" (where is that track by the way?! *wink*) I couldn't have found it easier to fall in love again with the understated and thoughtful dancepop of "Hang With Me".

15 "Come Wander" - Delorean

Delorean's Subiza is without a doubt one of the most uplifting dance records of the year, and "Come Wander" is it's dark horse of a centrepiece, tucked away towards the end of the record, but ensuring that the pace does not relent, and indeed if anything it accelerates. With its shamelessly housey piano  hooks and thunderous tribal dance beats, "Come Wander" is the closest to an ibiza club anthem Delorean have thus far created, but the dreamy vocals keep feet from touching the dancefloor, and whilst the track still pulsates, it does so floating giddily in mid air. Oh and the final 30 seconds? Best 30 seconds of instrumental music of 2010. Get ready to go wild.

14 "Counterpoint" - Delphic

Delphic were criticised this year, somewhat unfairly, of lacking originality. Words like "New" and "Order" were thrown around, shit got thrown around. Ok, I exaggerate, but the point is that the sheer scale of the 8 minute "Counterpoint" is one that cannot be argued with. A two chord anthem to end all two chord anthems, the razor sharp beats stumble as they run through streets and empty corridors, hectic synths and hyperventilating guitars speeding to keep up. Singer James Cook tries to convince us that "nothing's wrong" but as he gets increasingly distressed, the track reaches a positively religious climax, and Cook is left screaming "NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING" as the strobe light synths escalate and swallow the track whole before a blissful final chord ends matters abruptly. The most joyous emotional breakdown committed to tape this year.

13 "Wonderful Life" - Hurts

After over a year of this instant classic circulating, Hurts finally got the attention they deserved. "Wonderful Life" is simply the perfect pop song. A haunting, life affirming, yet somehow cryptic main lyric that can be taken at face value or seen as something deeper, with a deliciously gothic shawl cast over the track's tumbling rhythms and polished 80s tapestry of Spandau Ballet nuances and New Order basslines. When bands like Hurts get the recognition they deserve without having to change a thing, it really is a wonderful life.

12 "Not in Love" - Crystal Castles feat. Robert Smith

It's astonishing what the presence of a different vocalist can do for a track. "Not in Love" serves as one of the subtler moments of the band's sophomore self-titled record, with a vocodered Alice Glass muttering the lyrics as if giving some dark, ritualistic sermon. When The Cure's Robert Smith (what a catch guys, god knows how they nailed this down) steps up to the mic, angst and intense yearning trailing in his wake, all of a sudden, the year's most unlikely anti-love anthem is uncovered. Smith's desperate cries of "I'm not in love!" battle with euphoric synths that say otherwise, seemingly beefier and more deafening than before. An emotional battle between despairing razor blade synths and a shivering, fearful vocalist, this is truly one of the best, if not the best, collaborations of 2010, and certainly the most moving.

11 "Norway" - Beach House
The longing to get away. This is the essence of Beach House's Teen Dream record. Previous records by the band would pass by in a daydream, lovely, but unwilling to commit emotionally. And then along comes a track like "Norway" and you could be listening to a band reborn. Singer Victoria Legrand is no longer casually conversing with you from the corner of the room, she's whispering in your ear; this is no longer some daydream. Breathlessly delivered wordless chants and spiralling guitar arpeggios raise the Beach House benchmark to a new, astronomically high level, and when the final chorus hits, Legrand's voice swells up and spirals down, and its clear that she's not in a daydream anymore, she wants to reach the other side of that fence, and 'Norway' represents that place. Heartstoppingly beautiful and a revelation.

TOP 10 tomorrow! How exciting. Although not for me, because I already know my top 10.