Top 5 Songs of the 2000s

This was hard. I narrowed it down from a long list of 20 tracks (partial Spotify playlist here if my link works). XFM and Absolute Radio have both recently completed a similar exercise. "Mr Brightside" by The Killers won the XFM vote. Absolute Radio are still counting down their list. I don't think any of my songs even made their respective top 100. Still, it probably goes to prove how much great music has been released in the 2000s (particularly 2006 it turns out). Though my choices are better, obviously. I've also added a YouTube clip of each song for you're listening pleasure.

1. "Hold Me In The River" Brakes (2006) from The Beatific Visions
The moment Brakes grew up from a quirky side project into a fully fledged rock'n'roll band.



2. "Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)" Arcade Fire (2004) from Funeral
Difficult to pick one song from Funeral that I like any more than the others but this is a cracker and a live favourite too.



3. "Breathless" Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (2004) from The Lyre Of Orpheus
Stunning and beautiful song from the Bad Seeds 2004 double album. Not the sort of thing you'd expect from Mr Cave.



4. "Eight Days of Hell" And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (2006) from So Divided
I find it impossible to listen to this song without singing along and beaming from ear to ear (not the easiest of things to do at the same time). Despite the title and the subject matter this is one of the most upbeat songs you're likely to hear.

Video on YouTube

5. "Ballad of the Broken Seas" Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan (2006) from Ballad of the Broken Seas
Gravel voiced Lanegan provides the perfect counterfoil for Ms Campbell's delicate ballad.

Top 5 Albums of the 2000s

Continuing my run down of the best of the noughts these are my favourite albums of the decade.

1. "Funeral" Arcade Fire (2005) - Difficult to find words to do this justice. This is art rock without the pretension. A brilliant big sound full of joy, energy and excitement.

2. "White Blood Cells" The White Stripes (2001) - I'd read a fair bit about the White Stripes before picking up this, their third album, but I couldn't imagine a guitar and drums duo could actually make anything sound this amazing. "White Blood Cells" is full of stripped down raw energy but underlying it all there's some great songmanship. The White Stripes turned out to be much more than their hype suggested and led me on a trail into Garage Rock and beyond. I love most of their first four albums (not so keen on the later output) but this remains my favourite.

3. "The Greatest" Cat Power (2006) - It took me a long time to get round to listening to Cat Power and this was the first album I heard. It's got a wonderful lush Memphis soul sound that accentuates Chan Marshall's gorgeous yet fragile voice. This is an album I can put on at any time of the day and feel happier about life when it's finished.

4. "Relationship of Command" At The Drive-In (2000) - ATDI arrived in an explosion of noise and hair, blew everyone away with their post-hardcore sonic attack, then promptly split up on the verge of making it massive. It was probably for the best as it would have been hard to top this album and various subsequent projects have veered a little too closely to Spinal Tap's "Jazz Odyssey" for my liking.

5. "Ys" Joanna Newsome (2006) - I'd previously avoided the apparently squeaky voiced performances of Ms Newsome but the critical clamour for this album intrigued me enough to give it a go and I was converted. On first listen it's easy to dismiss this as whimsical or contrived but there's a depth of feeling and intensity that shines through.

.

Top 5 Films of the 2000s

Doing lists of the best things of the decade seems to be in vogue right now and seeing as it doesn't involve a lot of thought I figured I'd follow suit.

1. Sin City (2005 dir. Robert Rodriguez/Frank Miller/Quentin Tarantino)
Based on Frank Miller's neo-noir series of graphic novels this is a visual feast. I hadn't read the comics before seeing the film so had no pre-conceived ideas about what it should look like but as far as I can tell it's pretty much spot on. Love the ensemble cast and the Tarantino style story segments. Thrilling stuff.
iMDB entry



2. City of God (2002 dir. Fernando Meirelles/Katia Lund)
Brazilian drama about organised crime in Rio de Janeiro. Very few genuine actors used, most of the cast came from the Rio favelas which makes for a gritty and authentic feel that really aids the story telling. Close run thing between Sin City and this for the number one slot.
iMDB entry



3. Walk The Line (2006 dir. James Mangold)
Johnny Cash biopic which focuses on the love affair between Cash (brilliantly portrayed by Joaquin Pheonix) and June Carter (an equally great performance from Reese Witherspoon).
iMDB entry



4. Black Hawk Down (2001 dir. Ridley Scott)
Film about the Battle of Mogadishu and the US effort to capture a Somali warlord. Ridley Scott is one of my all time favourite directors and managed to create a conflict based movie that compares well with the very best war movies.
iMDB entry



5. The Man Who Wasn't There (2001 dir. Joel & Ethan Coen)
Another noir film in which Billy Bob Thornton plays a laconic, chain-smoking barber who blackmails his wife's boss in an attempt to raise money to invest in a dry cleaning company. Filmed in colour but transferred to black and white it has the feel of a 1940s classic which is enhanced by a wonderfully understated performance from Thornton.
iMDB entry

Top 5 British Sitcoms (21st Century)

Bang up to date and into the 21st Century then. It's harder to be objective about these show as they've not had the passage of time to help sort the great from the good. There does seem to be a resurgence in good comedy though, possibly thanks to the increase in channels wrought by the digital age.

1. Extras (2005-2007)
2 Series written by Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
"The Office" may have been more groundbreaking but for me Extras wins out as it's got more laughs per episode. Stephen Merchant is outstanding as inept agent Darren Lamb, and the episode where Kate Winslet, whilst dressed as a nun, gives Maggie advice on how to talk dirty to attract a man is enough to claim first place on it's own.

2. Black Books (2000-2004)
3 Series written by Dylan Moran & Graham Linehan
A hidden gem in the Channel Four listings. Dylan Moran wrote and starred in this comedy about life in a small independent book shop in which the proprietor (Bernard Black) was more interested in downing quantities of red wine than selling books. Some great interaction between Moran, Bill Bailey and Tasmin Greig (often the only three participants of the episode) who bicker and goad each other to escape their insulated world only to repeatedly get sucked back in to old habits. Bernard's foul-mouthed, eccentric, misanthropic and nihilistic views on the world are oddly pretty accurate and in many ways chime pretty closely with my own.

3. Peep Show (2003 - ongoing)
5 Series written by Jesse Armstrong & Sam Bain
When I first started watching Peep Show it was on late at night which usually meant having to read the subtitles with the sound off. I think I properly discovered it flicking through the channels for anything to watch when I really should have been getting a good nights sleep. The "eye level" point of view created something a bit different that caught my attention as I flicked through endless channels of rubbish. Somewhere between then and now it's actually become quite successful and, having been moved to a more accessible time slot, is currently pushing the boundaries of taste during it's 5th series with a 6th series already commissioned.

4. The League of Gentlemen (1999-2003)
3 Series written by Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith
As I write this I've realised that this is possibly more of a sketch show than a sitcom. Too late for me to take it out now, and in any case whatever genre you might think it belongs it's a show that pushes the boundaries of both.


5. The Office (2001-2003)
2 Series written by Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
Wasn't sure I really wanted to have two shows written by the same team in the Top 5 but it's impossible not to have this series included. Painfully cringeworthy at times but still very funny indeed.

Bubbling under but not quite making the final cut are The I.T. Crowd (2006 - ongoing - 2 Series written by Graham Linehan) which I may enjoy more than I should as it so closely resembles my own working life and The Mighty Boosh (2004 - ongoing - 3 series written by Julian Barrett & Noel Fielding) which I'm only just getting to grips with and still haven't decided if it's genuinely funny or just plain weird (could also be a sketch show not a sitcom. Damn! I think I'm losing the plot after 4 weeks of comedy).