01. LCD Soundsystem "Yeah" (Crass & Pretentious versions)
[Easily the dance single of the year. James Murphy out does himself again, commanding hipsters to put their lofty ideals and camera-phones where their mouths and asses are. Featuring the catchiest clavinet line you'll hear all year, bombastic percussion breaks from the white Congo (uh, Brooklyn?), and splatters of acid squelches, "Yeah" covers more ground in one nine minute song than most dance punk songs did all year. The "Pretentious" flip side is an eleven minute long wet dream for aspiring human jukebox DJs such as myself with its extra racous drums and more consistent flow. If the next sermon from Father Murphy carries the same ass-shakin' weight, dancing disciples will crowd every dance floor.]

02. Annie "Chewing Gum"
[Right now Madonna and her Kabbalah creeps are probably plotting to either kill or set up a hot kiss with Annie. Richard X's brilliant electro bop beat is the perfect landscape for Annie's sly angel character to bounce and shake. Her carefree and sugar-filled lyrics are so cute and fitting for her silky voice. You would have to hate fun to hate this song -- that's all there is to it.]

03. Britney Spears "Toxic"
[This was the year that Britney went down the shitter... and coincidentally the year of her greatest single. Dodging between sinister strings and riding high on waves of surf guitar and burping up Redbull along with the bursting baseline, Spears makes a fantastic white trash secret agent. A single that "rockist" white kids could like without ruining their cred and probably the last decent single she'll put out before she pops out a bunch of babies.]

04. Franz Ferdinand "Take Me Out"
[A little hot, a little nerdy, a little fey, a little gay: Franz Ferdinand had it all covered. This monster disco stomp was the single that everyone could feel indie dancing to. Few bands that have been as hyped by the intercontinental press circuit and have lived up to it, let alone put out a smash single. Franz Ferdinand sniped pop music and unless pop music fights back, we've got some new leaders of the pack.]

05. Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell "Drop It Like It's Hot"
[What even needs to be said for this song? No one else could get away with a beat this off the wall OR rapping as poorly than The Neptunes and Snoop. Just another checkpoint in The Neptunes' career and the capstone of Snoop's. That is, unless he comes back as a cyborg; imagine the beat you could make sampling that shit!]

06. M.I.A. "Galang"
[If you build a crunked out, shredded up dancehall, they will come. If you build a crunked out, shredded up dancehall, they will come.]

07. Kanye West "All Falls Down"
[Though many extoll the virtues of "Jesus Walks" (and there are many) and call it West's best, I'm gonna have to disagree. The live instrumentation of "All Falls Down" is modest and funky, and provides the most fitting venue for West's self conscious confessional. He may be an ego maniac, but this track knocks him out of the clouds long enough to toss down some sweet verses while Syleena Johnson belts out a sweeter hook. The humble shall inherit the Earth, even if they're just joshing.]

08. Leslie Feist "Mushaboom"
[It wasn't hard to see swirling beauty of "Mushaboom" even in its fetal stage. Starting out grainy and punctuated by traffic, the track oozed bitter passion. Emerging from its cocoon, it recalls the changing of the seasons, smiling childhood, and a warm cup of coco to curl up with. Breath-taking.]

09. Gwen Stefani "What You Waiting For"
[For a pop song, this took a while to worm its way into my brain before I let it unleash its neon colored arrows and speedlines. "Take a chance you stupid ho" indeed.]

10. Ratatat "Seventeen Years"
[Thank god being in Dashboard Confessional didn't rob guitar dude, Mike Stroud of his creativity. Holding us off until Daft Punk releases something genius.]