Blondie - Sunday Girl

Quite possibly the most beautiful song ever written. Sexy, and aggressively shallow, the melody charms your heart while the churning intellectual steam-train of Pop grabs your brain by the vulnerable bits and gives it a good shaking. 

Sonic Youth - Free City Rhymes

This is the poncier, snobbier side of intellectualism, and Sonic Youth treads thin ice here, but what glorious ice it is! Thurston Moore's sonic New York-flavoured mishmash is ethereally beautiful, and the almost melody brings home the ghostly heart of his beloved city. 

Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining

I love this song. Rilo Kiley hearkens back to Blondie not in sound but in aggressively poppish material which is anything but ashamed to be catchy. The kicker is Jenny Lewis's songwriting which is several layers deep and pretty no matter how you look at it. "I was your silver lining/but now I'm gold" Eat your heart out, Lit majors. 

Beastie Boys - B-Boys makin' with the freak freak

Not particularly chosen for the quality of the rap, which I'm admittedly clueless about. But these boys were like the Sonic Youth of rap. Rap historians may forget that they played some motherfuckin' funk that hails Funkadelic itself in invention and sheer joyous sonic fuckery. They pull out all the stops: double-bass, tape loops, scratching, sound clips. 

Arcade Fire - Intervention

After the Sensitive Jerks with Acoustic Guitars (Jason Mraz - guilty) and the Touchy Feely Pop Bands (coldplay) and the Annoying Pseudo Religious Harcdore Bands (Avenged Sevenfold, shittiest band quite possibly in the history of music ever), Win and gang bringing back the Excess into rock and roll is a wonderful, wonderful feeling. They did this one on the biggest church organ in england. No poncy classical/jazz pretentions here. The organ gets straight to the 1-6-4-5, blasting out the chords like some demented church organist, except the gospel here is Rock and Win Butler is the preacher. Workin' for the church while your family dies, indeed. 

Velvet Underground - After Hours

This one's been covered by everyone from Rilo Kiley to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and that's because we all love it. Moe Tucker singing? Yes. Moe Tucker singing out of tune? Fuck yes. Nobody makes it charming like she does. The simplicity of the lyrics belies the depth and detail of feeling displayed here - 'If you close the door, I'll never have to see the day again' tells of desperation, denial, naivete, and child-like faith, without once losing a tight grip on making sense. The melody is heartbreaking. I think a fitting song for the end of this year.

adam