Tomorrow I begin my listings of the top albums of 2010, but before I do, here are twenty great albums, listed alphabetically, that just barely missed the cut.
Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
120. Prodigy – Girls
Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned fared better across the Atlantic in Prodigy’s native England, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t blaring in my dingy yellow car during high school. Quite the opposite, in fact. “Girls” is a standout from a banging comeback from one of the 90’s most successful, riveting, and interesting electronic groups. And while nothing on the disc comes close to their previous work’s brilliance, and the crew would later shell out typical guitar-driven bore for shillings, this track gives us a glimpse into the progression that could have been.
Once every three months I list the best of what I heard in albums/songs/remixes for the quarter. I do this to personally keep up with all the awesome music I hear, as it ultimately helps me at the end of the year when I do my overall listing for the previous twelve months. I also do it to introduce you cool cats to tunes you may have missed independently.
We all know Kelis as the girl that brought all the boys to the yard via her milkshake, but you wouldn’t correlate her past with her present after hearing her latest effort Flesh Tone. Most critics have mentioned, when reviewing this new album, that Kelis recently went through a bitter divorce and had a child. She has been branded as a new woman, with a renewed purpose and a complete musical makeover.
And that’s all pretty much true. While we certainly can’t predict the future sounds this starlet will bring us (whose musical tendencies are sporadic, unpredictable, and always exciting), this time around she has traded in the slick post-R&B style for a Euro-pop, space-age approach. And because the songwriting is pristine and the hooks are focused, it totally works. The lyrics are poignant, emotional, and obviously dedicated to her new love – her child. And while the words are sentimental, the beats are overpowering. Never has a sweet dedication to one’s baby been so damn danceable.
