2006: Peppered pretty good

Given that I didn’t really listen to the radio this year, I probably should have gone the Pitchfork route and listed tracks, not singles, but whatever. Here are five singles that penetrated my hermetic consciousness and made my year a little better:

5. Bishop Allen | The EP project

New Yorkers (and co-stars of Andrew Bujalski films) made one EP a month, for 12 months. Gimmicky? Yes. Fantastic? Yes again.

[Mp3s here. My favorite is the lovely (if atypical) "Butterfly Nets."]

4. Teddybears | Punkrocker (ft. Iggy Pop)

It’s hard to explain why this hook-y synthpop gem is so damned moving. I don’t remember the Cars being moving – do you? Anyway, I think it’s because Iggy Pop’s deadpan sounds so melancholy on the chorus. “Well, I’m a punk rocker, yes I am,” he says; “no more, no less,” is just implied. And is he in character when he says “I’m bored with being God”? Or is it the truth?

[streaming here.]

3. LCD Soundsystem | 45'33"

Including this on the singles list is probably cheating because it is, as the title implies, 45-and-a-half minutes long. That said, this uninterrupted track, created so Nike consumers would have something to jog to, is pretty damn delicious. Corporate synergy never sounded so good.

[purchase here]

2. Lily Allen | Smile

"MySpace star promotes self" only tells half the story. This is the only tune that actually did what a single should do - get me interested in the album, the artist, the whole damned show. Catchy as the plague, better for your health.



1. Justin Timberlake | SexyBack

Honestly, it sounds a lot like "Milkshake," which isn’t a bad thing. And of course, it became a buzz phrase within minutes of its release. Even Al Gore was in on the act - freakin' Al Gore! Not bad on the dance floor, neither – as everyone knows from drunken dudes:



to kids in Brooklyn:



to, um, this guy: