Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

Bloc Party would go onto to become indie house band, and almost define the sound and ambition of so many up and coming scenesters in the late 2000s, but for Bloc Party it all started here. She's Hearing Voices was a declaration of intent, with it's glorious off beat drum line, it's sharp and effects laden guitar work and Kele leading the world in his low key maniacal chanting. In hindsight Bloc Party would never really sound this exciting or this daring again. Hear It Here

The 21st Century would be a tough place for an artist like Bjork, while it appeared that music on the whole had embraced her, and that niche music making was prominent, suddenly Bjork no longer looked like an innovator she looked like one of the many. Luckily Bjork was a true artist and never struggled for inspiration. Declare Independence started with what sounded like an electronic rape of Michael Jackson's Beat It, before it gave way to a powerful industrial march towards independence. Declare Independence seemed both a call to arms for the oppressed and to the one dimension scenester sheep of the world. No one expected Bjork to sound this vital in 2008. Hear It Here

Sometimes you feel a track is so perfect it cannot be bettered, Dolly Parton's Jolene seemed so definitive it seemed unimaginable that anyone else could claim the track as their own. But with the first primal cry of Jolene Jack had claimed the track as his own, Jack's raw and fragile voice bleed with emotion, it was as if his heart was breaking with each and every syable. Where these words his own I'd call this the most emotional powerful track of the decade, a lo-fi work of art. Hear It Here

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart were one of the few bands who managed to sublimely combine the post Strokes sound that dominated this decade with the dreary hazy sound that dominated the indie world in the previous decade. The result is a sound that at times can be europhic and disillusioned in equal measure. Most importantly Young Adult Friction sounds beautiful, the melodies are sublimely judged, and while they may not reinvent the wheel and influences are worn on the sleeves theirs a joy to behold in the precision and knowing soulfulness of their music. Hear It Here

In 2007 the Yeah Yeah Yeahs traded in their garage rock bluster for some thick and sexy grooves. While alot has been said out Karen O as a front women there is absolutely no doubt that she has one hell of a sexy voice, and she puts it to good use on this disco studded, sleek and sexy monster. Zero pulsated and grinded remorselessly while Karen crooned and squelled like she was having the time of her life. It seemed that for all the rock and roll bluster the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were always destined to be dancing queens. Hear It Here

In 2003 having effectively saved the world the backlash had reached unheard of levels and it was ready to engulf their brilliant and tragically under appreciated second album Room On Fire. Yet no level of ill will or resentment could undermine 12:51, it immediately flew into the charts, it was short sharp and sweet, it was everything the Strokes did best in one record. A perfect slice of garage rock minimalism, the melody was addictive, the narrative was glorious shallow and ironic, the guitar work was slick and well Fab's drums were as metronomic as ever, but best of all 12:51 sounded utterly effortless. Hear It Here

In 2006 Timbaland was ontop of the world and could legitimately claim to be the greatest producer walking the face of the earth. Justin Timberlake was his greatest pupil, and together they made some staggering music. What Goes Around... was typical of Timberlake's approach rather than making short sharp pop he was pushing boundaries creating sprawling five minute pop epics rather than two minute suger snaps. What Goes Around had a rich and vibrant arrangement and Timberlake never aloud the melody to settle, this track felt like it was a constant state of flux always evolving building understated hook ontop of understated hook. Hear It Here

Be Mine! highlight Robyn's underrated power as a slick and sharp songwriter. While she never seemed content to stick in one place lyrically and as a result her album varied wildly in quality, you kind of wish she'd have stuck to the Be Mine! formula more often. A desperate semi psychotic rant/cry for help, it's a situation that so many have us have faced, when you become obsessed or even a addicted to one person, their you're image of the ideal but of course they'll never be yours, it'll never happen. It was refreshingly honest and strikingly real. Hear It Here

Aha Shake Heartbreak was the album that solidified the Kings as one of indie's front runners and started their long rise to superstardom. Many still consider this LP as their finest and with good reason it was full of sharply crafted well judge pop music. King Of The Rodeo showed the beginnings of their stadium ambition, it had the slick and repetitive main riff, and understated and addictive groove, yet unlike their later work the Kings were firing this track out at rapid pace with Caleb spitting out with genuine venom. Hear It Here

Some tracks are definitive, they sound like mission statements, they perfectly encapsulate at band one particular moment in time, and for LCD Soundsystem their was no more definitive track in 2004 than Yeah. Whether you prefer the Crass version or the Pretentious version, it matter little as both were sublime, and this track simply oozed irony, it was utterly non plussed, this was the sound track to eye rolling world wide, it was sarcastic scornful and groovy as a motherfucker. The tracks undoubted highlight was the zombie-like repetition of the dreary "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" rarely has music said so little and yet implied so much. This may well be my personal favourite track of the decade. Hear It Here

In 2006 the Yeah Yeah Yeahs unleashed upon the world the biggest and most pure pop song to date, Cheated Hearts was a glorious piece of music, it was sweet and soothing and even the screech O and the crunching riffs of Zimmer somehow only served to add more layers to this charming and addictive pop songs. The ultimate genius of this track was it's ability to sound strangle chaotic maintaining a cobbled together sound and yet at the same time it's such a wonderfully polished pop song. It's this wonderful contradictions that gives Cheated Hearts it's brilliance. Hear It Here

It feels almost sacrilegious to say this but in the early 2000s Rachel Stevens released some of the most daring and exciting pop music on the planet, and Some Girls was their pierce de resistance. Of course it was Rachel Stevens name was on the album but it was Richard X's striking song writing and revolutionary production that truly deserves the credit. Some Girls while in many was the perfect pop song was far from complete, it had one major flaw that accounts for it's low positioning on the list, it never felt honest. When Lily Allen sings of giving head and frustrated depression it's believable, it's equally believable when Lady Gaga recites ridiculous tales of sexual exploits and tacit shallowness, these feel like Organic voices. Rachel on the other hand, was always a sham, she positioned herself as the every girl who gets passed up for a superior shallower and prettier model; now did she really expect anyone to buy that? Hear It Here

Some tracks send shivers down your spine from the first note, New Born is the ultimate example of just that, this was a track that was always destined to be a festival show stealer, it was a track created for the biggest of stages. It builds divinely the opening piano line starts the hand claps, Matt conducts a mass singalong and they build to that perfect moment when the guitar explodes and they drop THAT bassline ripping festival fields to shreds creating a sea of flying limps. While New Born may not be this decades greatest tracks, it is one of those tracks you simple must see live before you die! Hear It Here

From one great live track to another, while New Born was an unholy masterpiece of pomp and bluster, Daddy's Gone was more of a religious experience, fraught with emotional honesty, and stripped down minimalistic power. Lyrically Daddy's Gone was staggeringly honest and incredibly brave, it's one of those tracks that would either go down in legend as a thing of beauty or an utter laughing stock. Of course Daddy's Gone will always be remembered as the former, and in 2007 there was no more powerful, emotive or divisive band than Glasvegas. Hear It Here

It seems almost unthinkable to go from a track as powerful and beautiful as Daddy's Gone to a tracks as inane and false as Oops...I Did It Again, yet there couldn't be a more sublimely ridiculous track than Oops...? It has everything that made Britney so great in those early years. Of course there was a series of irresistible hooks and charming melodies, but what makes this track and Britney on the whole brilliant is her stupidity, this track, the video, the "oh babies" are just so inane and idiotic it's utterly diffusing. It's a master class, it's the definitive proof that if you can knowingly parody yourself, act a total fool and keep a straight face that you can achieve anything and everything. Rarely has their been a track where every last line is so addictive and yet so hilarious. Hear It Here