Best of the Noughties - Top 10 songs

Welcome to the third instalment of “Best of the Noughties”. After first focusing on music blogs and public art installations, we’re now presenting our favourite tracks of the decade.

Editors Carlos de Brito and Gareth Owen personally selected the crème de la crème of ten year’s worth of songs, from the blindingly obvious to the painfully overlooked, and waded through blizzards of critical opinion, bluff and bluster, in order to concentrate on the songs that were great when they came out but are timeless now.

Choosing only ten songs was an exceedingly tall task, as you can imagine – we just wish we could choose more.

Metro Area – Miura (2001)

Metro Area are massively responsible for disco’s renaissance in the noughties, with their new productions and ace re-edits of long forgotten gems. “Miura” is their best moment; a perfectly textured and instantly recognisable pearl of emotive future disco. A song even your grandpa could dance to. (cdb)

Buy here.

The Other People Place – Let Me Be Me (2001)

Lifestyles Of The Laptop Café is one of the best electronic albums of the decade (if not of all time) and “Let Me Be Me” is its standout track. The enigmatic and secretive James Stinson, one half of the legendary Drexciya project from Detroit, never opened himself to the outside world like he did on this record. Easily his most accessible work, Lifestyles Of The Laptop Café is a slow-paced, dreamy and atmospheric masterpiece. James Stinson died in 2002; he is missed. (cdb)

The Rapture - House Of Jealous Lovers (2003)

Like a Brooklyn loft party invaded your house, smashed all of your belongings and left a trail of dead hipsters in its wake, “House Of Jealous Lovers” was certainly one of the most played records of the decade. The raw energy and shambolic groove just work every time, on every dancefloor. (go)

Buy here.

Alter Ego - Rocker (2004)

A brutal 12-inch of future funk, “Rocker” marked the point where electroclash burned out, and something slicker and harder with bigger teeth took over. While the template it laid out was soon cast aside, this record stands the test of time. One of the most terrifying, amazing grooves ever. (go)

Buy here.

Âme – Rej (2005)

Coming in the middle of an anything-goes decade, this classic record helped bridge the worlds of house and minimal. A huge club hit across the board, with rich strings and pounding beats, “Rej” was sampled, covered and licensed like no other electronic track of the last ten years, but still sounds totally fresh. (cdb)

Buy here.

Burial - South London Boroughs (2005)

This is the brilliant first track from Burial, who gave dubstep its spooky, misty and slightly off-key signature. With the accompanying self-titled album, the producer helped dubstep overcome the creative impasse that earlier stalled drum & bass. Remaining unknown and anonymous to the public for years, Burial uncovered his identity in 2008 as William Bevan from London. (cdb)

Buy here.

Battles - Atlas (2006)

Throwing polyrhythms around like handclaps and delivering one of the oddest grooves worth dancing to, “Atlas” is weird beyond belief. Math rock doesn't even come close -- this is closer to an algebra freak out. (go)

Buy here.

Ricardo Villalobos - Fizheuer Zieheuer (2006)

Villalobos has produced more complex and catchier tracks but nothing could more aptly describe the never-ending Berlin party extravaganzas than this simple and minimal 37-minute-long opus, built around a Balkan horn sample. File under: How to evaporate time with joy. (cdb)

Matthew Dear - Pom Pom (2007)

This song (and its accompanying album Asa Breed) is a serious contender as one of my desert island discs. Probably one of the most creative, affirming, and frankly brilliant pieces of pop music ever made, never mind the last ten years. However much hyperbole you chuck at this record, it always delivers. (go)

Buy here.

The XX - Crystalised (2009)

I was at pains about whether to include a band that is currently in receipt of so much hype. However, “Crystallised” ranks as one the most impressive debut singles of the last ten years. When you add a bit of context, such as the fact that this stunning track was written by two 16-year-olds in their bedrooms, you realize just what a truly magical world this is. (go)

Buy here.