Yancey

1.Rapture - "House of Jealous Lovers" - DFA
2.Secret Machines - "It's a Bad Wind That Don't Blow Somebody Some Good" - Ace Fu
3.LCD Soundsystem - "Losing My Edge" - DFA
4.Missy Elliot - "Work It" - MCA
5.Nappy Roots - "Aw Naw" - Atlantic
6.Nivea - "Don't Mess With My Man" - Jive
7.DJ Shadow - "Six Days" - MCA
8.Justin Timberlake - "Cry Me a River" - Jive
9.Clipse - "Grindin'" - Arista
10.50 Cent - "Wanksta" - Interscope

This was my Village Voice Pazz & Jop list, but now I'm thinking that without question the year's best single was Timberlake's "Cry Me a River." I have been obsessed with this track for weeks now, and it gets better with every listen. A stunning tune.

Penny Lane

Yancey, is that you?

For the record, benedict, I'm not trying to threadcrap. This post just doesn't sound at all like something Yancey would say. I am genuWINEly confused.

Gdrlv

Actually, I hate to say it, but I like "Cry Me a River" as well. Further, the Rolling Stone cover story on Timberlake actually gave me a bit of respect for the guy. He's not as maladjusted as I thought he'd be.

My best singles of the year (in no order)...
"Six Days" - DJ Shadow
"Come Around" - Rhett Miller
"Alive Again" - Trey Anastasio
"Cry Me a River" - Justin Timberlake
"Lose Yourself" - Eminem
"She Said" - Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

I'm not a big fan of Timberlake or Eminem, but each has created a killer song this year...

Giles

1. Coldplay - The Scientist
2. Badly Drawn Boy - You Were Right
3. British Sea Power - Spirit of St Louis
4. Doves - There Goes the Fear
5. Lo Fidelity Allstars - Feel What I feel

I am still deciding the remaining five.

dork

1. And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, "Relative Ways"
2. Belle & Sebastian, "I'm Waking Up to Us"
3. Badly Drawn Boy, "Something to Talk About"
4. Interpol, "NYC"
5. Steve Earle, "Jerusalem"
6. The Walkmen, "We've Been Had" (already used in a car ad!)
6. Rhett Miller, "Come Around"
7. Supergrass, "Grace"
8. Sleater-Kinney, "One Beat"
9. Spoon, "The Way We Get By"
10. Weezer, "Keep Fishin'"

I'll probably end up editing this, though. I'm sure I'm forgetting some much better songs.

Re: Timberlake. I'll bet Christgau will agree with you, if no one else.

Rypro 525

1. Cleanin out my closet Eminem
2. In my Place Coldplay
3. Areieals System of a Down
4. Fell in Love with a Girl The White Stripes
5. Too Bad Nickleback
6. Parabula Tool
btw, I'm not sure what if single is meant by radio or not or just best song of 2002 but Giles, I don't think Coldplay's "the Scientist" although a great song indeed was a "single"

Giles

In the UK it was...

Yancey

Yeah, it is me, Penny. In the past year my tastes have broadened greatly, primarily in my appreciation for pop. Each of those pop songs has something in it that grabs me. Maybe I'll write a graf on each later today. In any case, there's a huge gap between my album and singles lists this year, as the albums shade towards the noise side, while the singles are all, with the exception of the first three selections on my list, pop.

grunter

Ack!

I can't find that Rapture single anywhere.

Was it only released to vinyl?

Yancey

Yeah, the Rapture single is 12" only. There are a few places online where it's streamed, I think. One of them being Epitonic.com. DFA, the label, will be releasing a compilation of their 12"'s in February or March. And a new Rapture full length (which I'm going to finally hear tonight) will come out then too.

[edit: I found the Rapture song. Stream it here: http://www.epitonic.com/artists/therapture.html ]

Not that you asked, but a short essay I wrote about "House of Jealous Lovers:"

grunter

Yancey:

When you hear the Rapture's album, could you keep us updated as to what it contains and when it's supposed to be available?

Thanks.

Yancey

Sure thing. I'm supposed to hang with them, Black Dice and LCD Soundsystem at the DFA studio tonight to listen to the new stuff, hang out and watch them rehearse. Then interview the Rapture in a couple of weeks. Very cool.

grunter

Completely off topic: but, I'm curious. Who would I have to, uh, "service" to get a gig like that?

grunter yet again finds another reason as to why he's in the wrong profession.



This makes grunter seethe enviously.

GuessWho

Everyday -- Bon Jovi
Heaven -- DJ Sammy
Now -- Def Leppard
Without Me & Lose Yourself -- Eminem
Complicated -- Avril
Party Hard -- Andrew WK
Sandstorm -- Darude (was that '02 or 01?)

Yancey

It happened after I emailed DFA to get rights to stream "House of Jealous Lovers" at Flakmag.com, where my year-end mix CD will be listed as part of an annual special there. I then requested a Rapture interview for a piece at Neumu.com and their manager and I started shooting the breeze. He was mentioning all of these great DFA things that they were recording. I called him an a**hole for telling me about them without me being able to hear them. He countered by telling me to come over to the studio and hang out, which was not the response I expected. It's supposed to go down tonight, but I might have to push it back to later in the week because of some writing obligations I have to take care of. It is very cool and I am lucky to be able to do this. You are a Rapture fan, I take it? I got into them with the Out of the Races and Onto the Tracks EP, then got Mirror, which is also great. But the leap they have made for their DFA songs is tremendous. The b-side to "House of Jealous Lovers," "Silent Morning," is just as phenomenal. You should pick up that 12" if you can track it down. I know Insound.com has it...

benedict

<small></small>It happens that the title has a question mark.

Regardless of that fine distinction, I think an ideal post would include one's own list &/or a constructive criticism of what has been posted previously.

My experience of occasions where people post emptily is that the threads are soon taken off-topic and degenerate into "yes it is" "no it isn't" "you suck" kind of discussions i.e. you don't see a positive, acceptable thread-drift and hence the anti-threadcrap rules formulated quite some time ago....

.... maybe there wasn't a bona fide threadcrap here but neither was there a clear statement as to what constituted a "best single". So I've now put your post in the "sin bin". Yah booh!



Benedict
Moderator, Music Talk

Penny Lane

That's cool. I didn't mean to offend you, and I'm sorry if I did. I seriously didn't peg you as a Justin Timberlake fan, that's all. SORRY.

Yancey

No offense taken. And I understand the confusion.

Anyway, more lists of songs please!

the narrator

1) I Feel Fine - Riddlin Kids
2) Pretty Girl(the way) - Sugarcult
3) Just LIke a Pill - Pink
4) Complicated - Avril Lavigne
5) Cleaning OUt My Closet - Eminem
6) All You Wanted - Michelle Branch
7) '03 Bonnie and Clyde - Jay-Z& Beyonce
8) I'd Do Anything - Simple Plan
9) Keep Fishin - Weezer
10) Im With You - Avril Lavigne

those are just off the top of my head...i'm sure i've forgotten some

kcdny

Just Like A Pill/Family Portrait (Pink Rocks!)

Lose Yourself/Cleaning Out My Closet/Without Me/Haley's Song (anything Eminem put out last year got heavy radio play here and I wasn't complaining)

She ****ing Hates Me - Puddle of Mud (radio edit sucks)

Hot in Here/Dilemma - Nelly & Kelly

Gangsta Love - Eve & Alicia

Heaven Candlelight Remix - DJ Sammy

I am sure there are more, those are what stick out to me.

dork

More songs:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Bang"
Kylie Minogue, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" (no one's listed this one yet???)

Hey Yancey, I still want to see what appeals to you about Timberlake's song. (In a different thread, if you'd prefer.)

Yancey

Kylie's is a tremendous song. Thanks for mentioning that one.

As for Timberlake, if you had asked me that upon first hearing it the answer would be simple: Timbaland's production. "Cry Me a River" is such an Aaliyah (one of my fave performers of the last decade) song it's not even funny. But after really listening close, my appreciation went much deeper. Here's a comment I sent to the Voice for P&J (who knows if it will run):

My favorite parts of the song are those falsetto phrasings in the pre-chorus, but beyond that, Timberlake's vocal phrasing is phenomenal throughout. The lyrics are very wordy, but by skipping his voice a bit, he fits it all in so fluidly (I have a feeling he might have listened to Aaliyah's "Are You That Somebody" to do this). He never oversings, he's pretty restrained, and so the song itself takes centerstage, and it's a great one.

Da Thrilla

Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow
Eminem - Without Me
Blink 182 - Stay Together For The Kids
Ja Rule - Always On Time
Big Tymers - Still Fly

edit to add: I can't believe I forgot Po' Folks by Nappy Roots, great song

kneijst1

Nappy Roots - Po Folks w/ Anthony Hamilton
TRUSTcompany - Downfall
Michelle Branch + Carlos Santana - Game of Love
Eminem - W/O Me + lose Yourself
Scarface - My Block
Goo Goo Dolls - Here is Gone
Box Car Racer - There is


short list of some of my favs

atlantamoi

Yancey, your list surprised me as well, but I think that's cool.

I don't listen to pop radio too much, but sometimes I hear a song that really sticks in my craw....

Santana and Branch "Game of Love" is summer ready.
I feel weird saying this, but that Kylie song is very catchy.
Queens of the Stone Age "No One Knows"... cool song.