There's an album thread, so why not one for your favorite songs of 2010?

Here's a very tentative top 10 from me:

1. Janelle Monae- "Cold War"

Resistance is futile for me! The ArchAndroid is probably my favorite album since Sound of Silver, and this song is at its heart- manic energy exploding with color. The most urgent song of 2010? It doesn't hurt that she conjures Grace Jones in the video, either!

2. LCD Soundsystem- "All I Want"

Yeah, it may start off like a tribute to "Heroes", but once that magical synth comes in and James Murphy starts to crack, this becomes properly magical!

3. Gorillaz- "Empire Ants"

It begins as a sort of hybrid of a delicate Eastern piano and an ephemeral, summery acoustic guitar before being hijacked halfway through into a shimmering, underwater electro stomper for the ages! I might just have to check out Little Dragon!

4. Robyn- "Dancing on My Own"

I'm including the proper album version here, because it doesn't hold back! This song seems to follow in the footsteps of "With Every Heartbeat", providing further proof that that tough-girl braggart veneer protects a girl that has known her way around heartbreak. The synths that come in too loud and fast just show how she gets it, because the heartbreak she depicts knows no restraint! I defy people of the "synth music is cold and sterile" mindset not to be moved by this.

5. Kylie Minogue- "Cupid Boy"

When Kylie nails it, she nails it! This song flirts with post-punk with the ominously low bass in the verses before mixing with her trademark electro-pop goodness. Better than any big pop star, she knows how to perfectly walk that line between cold, sharp edges and commercial appeal.

6. LCD Soundsystem- "I Can Change"

It owes a nod to "Love Is a Stranger" by Eurythmics, which is always a good thing! Murphy's voice is absolutely top-notch here, especially as it climbs in "Love is a murderer", further linking it to Eurythmics. Part of James' charm is that he can make such pathetic displays of desperation sound magical and visceral. Or maybe that's just my inner loser finding a friend.

7. Janelle Monae- "Faster"

It's weird to pry this out of the album, as it feels like the second movement of the brilliant opening trio of the album, but that delicious funk guitar and Janelle's cool vocal chic makes it unavoidable!

8. Prince- "Compassion"

Prince on happy pills! The album often recalls the Minneapolis sound, and this is the torchbearer- full of manic synth bass, Purple Rain-esque claptraps and a boundless playfulness. Best of all (and this is me saying this, strangely enough) is when a horn section comes in to accompany the synths and guitar in the middle. This song makes me giddy!

9. Prince- "Act of God"

Prince's political songs often showcase his eccentricity more than any of his others, and this is no exception. But it sees Prince marry synths and deliciously funky guitar like only he can, working the hell out of a groove!

10. Maximum Balloon- "Tiger"

I guess this is a side project of one of the guys from TV on the Radio. It's just come out, but it strikes me as something pretty new, even if the electro, funk and soul influences are front and center. The video is pretty snazzy, too, with Chinese tigers emerging out of a sea of balloons!

These are all strong contenders for my top 20 songs of 2010

Good Intentions Paving Company- Joanna Newsom
All I Want- LCD Soundsystem
Drunk Girls- LCD Soundsystem
I Can Change- LCD Soundsystem
Shutterbugg- Big Boi
Cold War- Janelle Monae
Tightrope- Janelle Monae (featuring Big Boi)
Born Free- M.I.A.

My current top 10 would look like that, in no particular order :

Big Boi - Back-Up Plan
Big Boi - Tangerine (bubbling unders : Daddy Fat Sax and Night Night . + best skit of the year, the "David Blaine" one at the end of General Patton)
Caribou - Odessa (probably the best opener of the year, awesome song, but a real deception that the rest of the album is not as good)
Gorillaz - Rhinestone Eyes
Hot Chip - I Feel Better
Hot Chip - We Have Love
Janelle Monae - Come Alive (War of the Roses)
: I like Cold War, but it is far from being my favourite of the album, too "Gnarls Barkley-y" (Faster and Locked Inside would probably be in my top 20)
Kanye West - Power : I don't know, it's like this 1:30 video for the song, both too much to be serious and plain irresistible ; I liked the Kanye of Graduation and 808s but that song sounds like the Kanye I'm a big fan of... can't wait for the album
LCD Soundsystem - You Wanted a Hit (bubbling under : All I Want)
Sleigh Bells - A/B Machine

I guess my end of year top 20 will have at least a Yeasayer and a Foals song, I've got to listen to those 2 albums some more now that I think about it.

Moonbeam, I'm quite surprised you have no Hot Chip in your list, sounds to me like music I would assume you would enjoy a lot.

Also:
Joy Orbison - The Shrew Would Have Cushioned The Blow
Lindstrom & Christabelle - Lovesick (was a single here in Belgium)
The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
The Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire
Princess - Frontline (2009?)

My top 10, three artists have 2 songs in the list.

1. The Tallest Man On Earth - Love Is All
2. The National - Afraid Of Everyone
3. Angus & Julia Stone - I'm Not Yours
4. The Tallest Man On Earth - Kids On The Run
5. Beach House - Take Care
6. Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
7. Angus & Julia Stone - Yellow Brick Road
8. Gorillaz - Rhinestone Eyes
9.The National - Anyone's Ghost
10. Anaïs Mitchell - Why We Built The Wall

Mine:

1. Silver Soul - Beach House
2. Brian Eno - MGMT
3. Zebra - Beach House
4. I Saw The Light - Spoon
5. Got Nuffin - Spoon
6. Bye Bye Blackbird - Quasi
7. Siberian Breaks - MGMT

I've been waiting for a thread like this for a while; I've been too busy listening to 60s and 70s records this year to really catch up with 2010. I will say that my favorite new LCD Soundsystem song by far is "Dance Yrself Clean," but the others cited here are good too.

MY ultimate favourite album of the year is Treats, so

Crown On The Ground
Rill Rill
Treats

LCD left me underwhelmed, so just

Dance Yrself Clean

National was pretty good, if not great -

Lemonworld
Runaway
England

Janelle Monae I really like -

Neon Valley Street
Cold War
Mushrooms and Roses
Wondaland
I really like Make the Bus though I think I'm alone in this!

Gorillaz was great, so -

Glitter Freeze (I don't know why but something just makes my head spin)
Some Kinda Nature (Lou Reed still has that brilliant "deadpan" voice, perfect song)
Pirate Jet - perfect ending to a really good album
Plastic Beach



Certainly Yeasayer will have some, I just can't remember them off the top of my head. Apart from that, I haven't done much 2010 listening.

Tentative top ten so far:

1. Janelle Monae, "Cold War"
2. Arcade Fire, "We Used to Wait"
3. John Grant, "Where Dreams Go to Die"
4. Joanna Newsom, "Good Intentions Paving Company"
5. Yeasayer, "Ambling Alp"
6. The National, "Bloodbuzz Ohio"
7. Arcade Fire, "The Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
8. Janelle Monae, "Come Alive (War of the Roses)"
9. John Grant, "It's Easier"
10. Gorillaz, "Some Kind of Nature"

The chorus of #3 has the best line of the year, by far: "Baby, you're where dreams go to die/I regret the day your lovely carcass caught my eye." Imagine that sentiment delivered in a mellow croon, enveloped by a pitch-perfect early '70s-style piano-and-strings arrangement, and you've got a good sense of what all of QUEEN OF DENMARK sounds like.

Some other really good songs from 2010....

Rill Rill- Sleigh Bells
Bloodbuzz Ohio- The National
Terrible Love- The National
Boyfriend- Best Coast
Stylo- Gorillaz
Holiday- Vampire Weekend
Cousins- Vampire Weekend
A More Perfect Union- Titus Andronicus
Mmmhmmm- Flying Lotus
Dance Yrself Clean- LCD Soundsystem
Home- LCD Soundsystem
The Suburbs- Arcade Fire
Ready to Start- Arcade Fire
Month of May- Arcade Fire
We Used to Wait- Arcade Fire
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)- Arcade Fire
Window Seat- Erykah Badu
Silver Soul- Beach House
Used to Be- Beach House
Locked Inside- Janelle Monae
XXXO- M.I.A.

For me a very poor year, so far. But I drag behind.

1. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Bright Lit Blue Skies
2. Laura Veirs - Wide-Eyed, Legless
3. Gil Scott-Heron - I'll Take Care of You
4. Yeasayer - Love Me Girl
5. Joanna Newsom - Good Intentions Paving Company
6. Janelle Monáe - Cold War
7. Johnny Dowd - Yolanda
8. Chromeo - Don't Turn The Lights On
9. Bilal - Free
10. Elephant9 - Fugl fønix

In No Particular Order...
Arcade Fire -- Ready To Start, Month Of May
Gorillaz -- Rhinestone Eyes, Stylo
Janelle Monae -- Tightrope
Vampire Weekend -- Cousins, Giving Up The Gun, Holiday
Jack Johnson -- You And Your Heart
Sade -- Soldier Of Love
The National -- Bloodbuzz Ohio, Lemonworld
M.I.A. -- Born Free, XXXO
Big Boi -- Shutterbug
Neon Trees -- Animal
The Dirty Heads -- Lay Me Down
MGMT -- Flash Delerium, Siberian Breaks, It's Working
Broken Bells -- The High Road
Yeasayer -- O.N.E
The Black Keys -- Tighten Up
The Roots -- Dear God 2.0, The Fire
She & Him -- In The Sun
Band Of Horses -- Laredo
LCD Soundsystem -- Drunk Girls, I Can Change, Dance Yrself Clean
Brandon Flowers -- Crossfire
Johnny Cash -- Ain't No Grave
Teenage Fanclub -- Baby Lee
The Smashing Pumpkins -- Freak
Ratt -- Best Of Me
Cypress Hill -- Rise Up
Beach House -- Zebra, Norway
Keane f/K'NAAN -- Stop For A Minute
Arrested Development -- The World Is Changing
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings -- When I Come Home
Band Of Skulls -- Light Of The Morning
Minus The Bear -- My Time
Paper Tongues -- Trinity
Civil Twilight -- Letters From The Sky
Against Me -- I Was A Teenage Anarchist

I know theres more, but these are some of the songs I have enjoyed from 2010...

It cheers me to see all of the "Cold War" love, I'll hop on that particular bandwagon...

01. Janelle Monáe - Cold War
02. Jaga Jazzist - Toccata
03. Flying Lotus - Do The Astral Plane
04. Joanna Newsom - Good Intentions Paving Company
05. Big Boi - Shutterbugg
06. Janelle Monáe - BaBoomBye Ya
07. Gil Scott-Heron - Me and The Devil
08. Laurie Anderson - Only an Expert
09. The Books - I Didn't Know That
10. The Roots - Now or Never
11. Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill
12. Souljazz Orchestra - Consecration
13. LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change
14. Konono No. 1 - Fula Fula
15. Joanna Newsom - Easy
16. Laurie Anderson - Transitory Life
17. Mary Gauthier - May 21, 1962
18. Janelle Monáe feat. Big Boi - Tightrope
19. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round
20. Johnny Cash - Ain't No Grave
21. Janelle Monáe - Faster
22. Field Music - The Rest Is Noise
23. The Roots - The Day
24. Caribou - Odessa
25. Pantha Du Prince - The Splendour
26. Beach House - Norway
27. Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings - I Learned The Hard Way
28. Arcade Fire - The Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
29. Kanye West - Power
30. Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill

Very interesting year so far...

Yeasayer - O.N.E.
Hot Chip - I Feel Better
Sleigh Bells - Treats
Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round And Round
Gorillaz - Cloud Of Unknowing
Big Boi - Shine Blockas (09?)
DOM - Living In America
Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union
The National - Conversation 16

that'd be the top 10 I guess. without thinking about it too much, mind - I reckon I've missed a few out.

yeah, missed out Wavves' King Of The Beach. take out Hot Chip

Favorite by far this year is Baby Lee by Teenage Fanclub. After over 20 years together they still somehow managed to release their best song to date. I was listening to their Best Of and the songs they recorded specifically for that best of may very well be amongst the greatest songs they've ever written. They have not lost a single step.

One song I came across this week that I like alot is "Undertow" by Warpaint. Their debut album "The Fool" is coming out a month from now. Anyone else heard this song?

I heard a lovely acoustic version of Undertow, really took my breath away. Looking forward to the album with high hopes!