Continuing where Part I left off, this list is shorter but no less eclectic.
You’ll see a little post-punk (Elefant), reggae (Ziggy Marley, Matisyahu), melodic death metal (Into Eternity), hip-hop (Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West, Beck), indie folk (Bright Eyes), and so much more on this list of the last 89 of my 209 favorite tunes of the 2000's.
Of course, with a list this long, some songs meant more to me than others. For instance, Imogen Heap’s collaboration with legendary guitar whiz Jeff Beck, “Goodnight & Go” helped get me through post-surgery complications back in 2006 (along with Radiohead’s underrated “Lurgee”). And Junkie XL’s “We Become One” is the dreamiest, spaciest song I’ve ever heard that Peter Gabriel never wrote. It was also cool to hear the Dropkick Murphys make the suburb they started out in (Quincy, MA, also my hometown) the subject of the chorus of “Finnigan’s Ball.”
In this half of the decade, I found myself discovering and listening to a boatload more female-fronted bands and artists than the first half, including Natasha Khan’s Bat For Lashes, Neko Case, Arch Enemy, Emily Haines’ Canadian troupe Metric, the blue-eyed soul of Welsh singer Duffy, and the lovely Jenny Lewis, among others. Then there were bands I got more into than ever, including hard rock mainstays Clutch, My Morning Jacket, and Royksopp.
Newer favorites included Silversun Pickups, Company of Thieves, Band Of Horses, Torche and The Whigs. And of course, bands I grew up with kept delivering the goods, including Pearl Jam, a reunited Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Sonic Youth, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Now, without further ado, here are the fine 89. As always, feel free to comment on them below.
Part II: 2005-2009
Allen, Lilly “Smile”
Arcade Fire “Keep The Car Running”
Arcade Fire “Wake Up”
Arch Enemy “Nemesis”
Band of Horses “First Song”
Bat For Lashes “What’s A Girl To Do”
Bat For Lashes “Daniel”
Bat For Lashes “Sleep Alone”
Beck “Hell Yes”
Black, Frank “I Burn Today”
Black Eyed Peas “Don’t Lie”
Black Label Society “Suicide Messiah”
Brazilian Girls “Don’t Stop”
Bright Eyes “First Day Of My Life (f/Jesse Harris on guitar)”
Bright Eyes “Lua (f/Gillian Welch)”
Broken Social Scene “7/4 (Shoreline)”
Broken Social Scene “Fire Eye’d Boy”
Case, Neko “Star Witness”
Chemical Brothers “Galvanize (f/Q-Tip)”
Clutch “10001110101”
Clutch ”Electric Worry”
Company of Thieves “Oscar Wilde”
Corgan, Billy “The CameraEye”
Death Cab For Cutie “Cath”
Down "Mourn"
Dropkick Murphys “Finnigan’s Ball”
Duffy "Mercy"
Flaming Lips “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power)”
Future Of The Left “You Need Satan More Than He Needs You”
Gaslight Anthem “The ‘59 Sound”
Heap, Imogen w/Jeff Beck “Goodnight And Go”
Into Eternity “Timeless Winter”
Iron & Wine “Flightless Bird, American Mouth”
Jay-Z w/Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind"/Alicia Keys "Empire State of Mind (Part II)"
Junkie XL “Mushroom”
Junkie XL “We Become One”
Killswitch Engage “The End of Heartache”
King, Kaki “2 O’Clock”
Kings of Leon “On Call”
Kings of Leon “Sex On Fire”
Legend, John “Ordinary People”
Lewis, Jenny “Rise Up With Fists!!”
Lewis, Jenny “Big Guns”
Lifehouse “Hanging By A Moment”
Loomis, Jeff “Sacristy”
Low Red Land “Dog’s Hymn”
Marley, Ziggy “Love Is My Religion”
Mars Volta “Goliath”
Matisyahu “King Without A Crown”
MGMT “Time To Pretend”
M.I.A. “Paper Planes”
Minus The Bear “Pachuca Sunrise”
Megadeth “Sleepwalker”
Metallica “All Nightmare Long”
Metric “Monster Hospital”
My Morning Jacket “Anytime”
Muse “Starlight”
Nine Inch Nails “The Hand That Feeds”
Oakenfold, Paul “Ready Steady Go”
Paramore “That’s What You Get”
Passion Pit “The Reeling”
Pearl Jam “Got Some”
Phoenix “1901”
Radiohead “All I Need”
Radiohead “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”
Red Hot Chili Peppers “Snow (Hey Oh)”
The Rifles “The Great Escape”
Royksopp “Only This Moment”
Royksopp “Vision One”
Satellite Party (Perry Farrell) "Milky Ave"
School of Seven Bells “Half Asleep”
Silversun Pickups “Rusted Wheel”
Silversun Pickups “Substitution”
Silversun Pickups “Three Seed”
Smashing Pumpkins "Stellar"
Smashing Pumpkins “That’s The Way (My Love Is)”
Sonic Youth “Incinerate”
Stevens, Sufjan “Come On! Feel The Illinoise!”
Third Eye Blind “Non-Dairy Creamer”
Torche “Across The Shields”
Travis “Selfish Jean”
Travis “Colder”
Tunstall, KT “Black Horse And The Cherry Tree”
TV On The Radio “Wolf Like Me”
West, Kanye “Gold Digger (f/Jamie Foxx)”
Waltham “Cheryl (Come And Take A Ride)”
The Whigs “Right Hand On My Heart”
The White Stripes “Blue Orchid”
Wolf Parade “The Grey Estates”
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