Scott's top 15 songs of 2010 (15-11)

Yo, it's t1me for my favorite songs of the year!!!!1!1!! In all seriousness, I've spent many an hour pondering the wealth of music that I've discovered this year, and I can safely say that my ears have been going through some massive taste expansion. Without further ado, here's part one of my list.

15. LCD Soundsystem - "Dance Yrself Clean"

"Dance Yrself Clean" is actually the song that introduced me to LCD Soundsystem, back when Dylan wrote a post on them earlier this year. James Murphy & Co. bring the old school synths to some pretty massive climaxes over the track's nine minute duration. Case in point: the drop around three minutes in hits just as hard as any hardcore breakdown.

14. How to Destroy Angels - "A Drowning"

Trent Reznor has written some magnificently chilling closers over the years, and "A Drowning" might just be one of the best. On this How to Destroy Angels cut, Reznor and Atticus Ross build a dark, immersive soundscape around Mariqueen Maandig's simple yet surprisingly emotional vocal lines. In one of the best production tricks of the year, swelling guitars seem to literally drown Maandig's fragile voice at the end of the song, leaving behind a single, plaintive piano line.

13. Das Racist - "You Oughta Know"

Freely associated pop culture references and slacker imagery aside, the dudes in Das Racist dig up some hip-hop gold with this song by mining an old Billy Joel song and slathering on their own sloppy imitation. Just try getting "You Oughta Know" out of your head.

12. Kanye West - "POWER ft. Dwele"



And the award for most unexpected prog-rock sample goes to... Kanye West! Even though I'm not a big fan of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, "POWER" is a perfectly cut gem of a rap--the handclaps, the sirens, Yeezy's unrestrained megalomania, the King Crimson sample, dat AMAZING SYNTH BREAK at 3:19!!! No seriously, that brief instrumental section makes the album.

11. Jónsi - "Boy Lilikoi"

On "Boy Lilikoi," Jónsi speeds up Sigur Ros' glacial atmospherics to technicolor bursts of skittering wind instruments and joyous, breakneck percussion. The Icelandic vocalist has finally embraced both the short pop song and the English language in an infectious performance that's so happy it almost hurts.