2005: the singles

In addition to my love for independent and boundary-breaking music, I am also totally down with pop music. This is by no means a list of the "best" singles this year -- it's simply just a list of some of my favorites, both mainstream and indie.

Snoop Dogg [f/Charlie Wilson & Justin Timberlake]//Signs


Yet another slab of amazing 70's-inspired funk/hip-hop. And not to kill the party, but JT steals the show from Snoop. I'M SERIOUS!

Daddy Yankee//Lo Que Paso, Paso


While I have yet to get into reggaeton like I'd really like to, this Daddy Yankee album is one that really killed it for me. I owe my love for artists like Tego Calderon, Don Omar and Ivy Queen to a former co-worker of mine, but Daddy Yankee's album Barrio Fino is the first reggaeton album I purchased, and while everyone loves the jam "Gasolina," I can't get over how great "Lo Que Paso, Paso" is. If anything on this album is the party starter, than it's right here.

Arctic Monkeys//I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor


"Stop making the eyes at me, I'll stop making the eyes at you" Alex Turner demands at the beginning of "Dance Floor," a song that is funkier than the rest of the post-punk revivalists will ever be. While this is a great start for a band that is already pegged as 2006's "buzz band," they have a long way to go. Some suggestions: put out "When The Sun Goes Down" as your next single and release an amanzing debut album. Oh wait, they are doing the former. We'll have to wait for that album...

Amerie//1 Thing


Anyone who bought Touch expecting gold was sorely disappointed. If you're really interested, go to the Itunes store and just purchase this single. It's why the 70's were so great for funk and R&B; the song soars and the chorus is instantly recognizable--there's none of that mumbling or ultra low end bullshit we've come to expect from modern urban music.

Fall Out Boy//Sugar, We're Going Down


Everyone is saying that 2005 is the year that emo went mainstream, but from how I see, didn't emo break years ago? Jimmy Eat World, anyone? The thing with Fall Out Boy is that I don't view them as an indie band that broke big--they are a simply a pop group to me, and one that has had two great singles this year. While the video was kind of hokey, the song is everything you want a great pop song to be, plus the lyrics have some depth, too. With lines like "I'm watching you two from the closet, wishing to be the friction in his jeans," the band takes something rather adult and applies it to this pop nugget.

The Streets//Blinded By the Lights


While The Streets entered the pantheon of greatness on their first album, their destiny was sealed with the release of A Grand Don't Come For Free last year, an album that was perfect to begin with and only gets better with age. Mike Skinner has always been a great storyteller and "Blinded By the Lights" is the best example of that. A night out at a sweaty and dirty club, his girlfriend snogging someone else and struggle to make the right decision because his judgement is clouded by drugs and beer.

Ashlee Simpson//Boyfriend


Hopefully Franz Ferdinand and Jimmy Eat World got paid for this because if it wasn't for them, Ashlee wouldn't be able to fathom a song have as good as this.

Editors//Munich


Interpol loves Joy Division, steals their sound and then come the Editors, who bring that sound home again. You will never tire of this song.

K.O.//George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People


What a perfect protest song. If only people talked about this song as much as they talked about Kanye.

My top albums of 2005 are coming quite soon, promise!