Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

After the commercial breakthrough Toxicity it seemed that System were on the fast track to legendary status, they could seemingly do no wrong, even the boorish Steal This Album couldn't slow their momentum. However in 2005 they bit off more than they could chew with a double album that would leave to the band going on hiatus and a gross overexposure of their limited formula. Yet everything started well enough and B.Y.O.B had the world licking it lips at the prospect of a new System LP. With crunching guitars, elastic bass and the combination of political satire and a feel good vibe; System had created one of 2005's best loved rock tracks, shame it was all down hill from here. Hear It Here

I have to admit when he first arrived on the scene I never saw myself warming to Akon, his first singles were tortuous but as the years have past he's grown in stature and matured into one of R'n'B's greatest hit makers. Smack That was Akon's first real high quality single that merged innate catchiness with a genuine A grade beat and a surprisingly slick guest spot from Eminem who was fast becoming a radically better producer than rapper. Best of all there wasn't a cheap gimmick in sight, this was a genuine R'n'B classic. Hear It Here

(Virgin Records 2003, Daft Punk)

Discovery asserted Daft Punk's place as the greatest dance act of their generation and arguably of all time, it was stacked full of sick beats and killer singles. But despite their new found status as international kings of cool, Daft Punk found their inspiration from the least credible of sources, the sugary pop of the seventies, eighties with a touch of Japanese popular culture thrown into the mix. As a result their biggest hits sounded like rainbow coloured feel good anthems rather than ice cool electronica and the beautiful Something About Us would have felt more at home on Marvin Gaye's Midnight Love than on Kraftwerk's Autobahn. Something About Us still remains the ultimate proof that Daft Punk were human after all. Hear It Here

You know when a single is release as a DVD rather than a CD something is up, there was more to Eric Prydz call on me than just an irresistible hook, a hypnotic thudding bassline and some nifty cross fading. Yes I'm sure this songs success had more than a little to do with it's mouth watering but equally hilarious video. Yet behind all the leotards and sweat bands lied a sure fire two minute club banger. Hear It Here

I'm sure most people, myself included, scoffed when they heard Jared Leto was going to unleash his own emo outfit upon the world, no one expected it too be good, no one expected his tracks to sell, but of course they were and they did. Unsurprisingly Leto instantly secured legions of screaming girls but more surprisingly he won over the men at an alarm rate too, with his crunching wall of noise sound and a gift for the theatrical. While From Yesterday may not be one of the best executed tracks of the decade, it's sheer scope and ambition was ultimately overwhelming. Hear It Here

Subtly obviously isn't in Ludacris' dictionary, he'll never be accused of being a street poet, and he'll never rank among the great MCs but when it came to getting retarded nobody could do it better than Ludacris. Stand Up was the ultimate party anthem, it had an infectious chorus, it's own dance step, an OTT video and to Luda's credit some sharp one liners. Hear It Here

While Slumdog Millionaire sweeped a weak year at the Oscars (robbing Milk in my opinion) it also stormed the pop charts by introducing the western world to Jai Ho! a charming little track sublimely produced by A.R. Rahman and a track perfectly suited to remixes. Jai Ho! quickly became part of a feel good feeling that surrounded 2008 before the world wide recession deepen. Hear It Here

That's Not My Name marks the second and final entry from my least favourite act of the 21st Century in the top 1000. It's a short sharp intelligent pop record, it's also remarkably grating, and to be honest I have little else to say, plenty has been said about this track, and I'm sure in two years time when the backlash begins in earnest the Ting Tings will look back on the good times as a fond memory. Hear It Here

Grindin' has to be one of the most haunting Hip Hop tracks of all time, built around a sparse minimalist Neptunes beat that sounds mechanical and almost totally inhuman were it not for the handclaps. It adds to the tragic air of the track as Clipse walks us through the drug trade. This track was simply darker than the competition, it felt as though Clipse had single-handedly written the entire first season of the Wire within these four minutes. While Clipse throws in some great one liners, it's hard to get passed the bleak mentality and abrasiveness of the track. It's a record designed to intimidate as well as make you dance, it's a complex, contradictory, and one of the finest and most challenging hip hop tracks of all time. Hear It Here

From a daring piece of bleak minimalism to a brain dead party anthem, it hardly seems fair to list Clipse below Andrew WK but this is a singles list, and while the voices in your head tell you to resist this lad rock bollocks you'll have already lost control of your neck to perpetual head banging. Perhaps the cruellest jokes is that in 2001 people were billing Andrew WK as a hard rock saviour, well that was too much weight to bear and he crumbled in the face of critical backlash but he did at least have the courtesy to leave behind this anthem, which still manages to stay in rotation eight years later. Hear It Here