Top 20: #5 to #1 The Final Countdown!

Finally we have got down to the final 5 of our Top 20 countdown for tracks of the years. These tracks selected may not be the ones you'd expect or agree with, but for whiteboydancefloor, these tracks made 2006 something more than it is, was, has been.

#5 TV On The Radio – I Was A Lover (Mp3)

‘Wolf Like Me’ is a good song, but it is too obvious of a choice for the best track off the excellent Return to Cookie Mountain. ‘I Was A Lover’ however, is less so. It is like a cheese grater, slowly and uncomfortably grinding along, peeling away the layers by heaping on more of its own. I love its weirdness and its abstract nature, however it is surprisingly hooky especially that little effect that sounds like some sort of bugle or trumpet and the title vocal hook. In short, TV on the Radio are still one of the best bands on the planet, and this song explains why. – Chris

Pix said: "I must say I was a lover... of Wolf like me (bad joke) but I do agree that it is all too obvious for something worthy of this top 5. I was a lover delivers the same sucker punch that Wolf like me does but in a much more subtle-sophisticated manner. Slightly more baron yet variant than Wolf like me too, however both are great songs".

[Buy] from Amazon

#4 Herbert – Moving Like A Train (Mp3)

Matthew Herbert is a consummate music geek. He certainly has the look, and after assembling some 630+ samples of the most random things like a petrol pump and various bird noises to create the nu-jazz masterpiece Scale, he also has the skills. Choosing a favourite track from this album was difficult, yet ‘Moving Like a Train’ encompasses everything I love about this nerdy white boy. I will leave the sample picking for the trainspotters as I can pick hardly any of them, but the result is some wonderfully smooth jazz-pop meticulously pieced together with some excellent guest vocalists to boot. – Chris

Pix said: "Not for a second did I ever envisage that Herbert would feature anywhere in the whiteboydancefloor top 20 until I actually gave this track and Herbert in general a more well deserved listen. The results are its position at #4 winning over some great tracks".



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#3 Spank Rock – Backyard Betty (Mp3)

‘A breath of fresh air’ is a horrible cliché, however this is so true of Philadelphia’s Spank Rock. To me, Hip-hop as a genre seems tired, old and irrelevant….so what do this MC and producer duo do? Release an album full of innovative, offensive and sharp witted Hip-hop that appeals to the indie kids as much as die-hard rap fans. ‘Backyard Betty’ is one of the most pummeling and vicious urban tracks I’ve heard in a long time. It’s a snarling slab of electro-hip hop with Spank Rock’s filthy and sexually explicit rhymes placed over XXXChange’s uncompromising beats and glitchy electronic blips. There would be few who could compete with Spank Rock in this sort of form. Whilst the competition parade sexual images in their videos, ‘Backyard Betty’ and its lyrics make these pretenders look tame and frigid in comparison. I’d tap that hoe. – Chris

Pix said: "Spank Rock are like miracle bakers. They make even the most stale bread fresh again".

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#2 Justin Timberlake - Sexyback

Commercial music tick box complete. It seems Timberlake has struck a chord with many a blogger across the blogosphere. "Sexyback" was the first chance for the world, particularly skeptical bloggers, to look at Timberlake and find some semblance of musical talent. Sexyback really threw Timberlake into another class of pop musicians and the track much like Timberlake doesn't waste precious time getting to the point, it's at the point when the song begins. Not only a personal dancefloor favourite of whiteboydancefloor but more so a demonstration of 'commercial music' that isn't bland and flavourless. In all honesty Sexyback doesn't need buzz words or in depth analysis, it is well presented and gives any dancefloor an injection of bad whiteboy dancing. Quite clearly the ackward whiteboy dancing this song inspires enabled it to receive bonus points.

[Buy] from Amazon



#1 Hot Chip – Arrest Yourself (Mp3)

Many may argue that ‘Over and Over’ and ‘Boy From School’ are the best tracks from Hot Chip’s second album The Warning as many year end polls have already showed. I tend to disagree. ‘Arrest Yourself’ I believe is the definition of the Hot Chip sound. It is inherently bizarre and quirky just like the band themselves, with that ascending synth arpeggio riff that is varied throughout intro and verse setting up an odd and strangely abrasive journey. The song never really finds a rhythm or comfortable space which in a way makes it so charming. The saxophone sounds as though it has been run over by a steam roller ala Lisa Simpson’s and that drum beat is hypnotically syncopated, clicking and tapping through every off beat imaginable as though the drummer has ingested some sort of depressant. The chorus floors me every time, it has a certain je ne sais quoi, where sax, drums and synth seem to trip over each other yet in dueling for real estate seem to create a perfect balance. - Chris

Pix said: "The only difficult part about Hot Chip is decided which of their tracks is better than the other. Arrest yourself may seem like an unusual choice, but it succeeds on so many levels".

[Buy] from Amazon


The Top 5 artists are all fantastic in whiteboy eyes. The best part of this whole relatively fickle caper is that there are more arguements of which songs from one particular artist rather than which artists to begin with. Artists like Hot Chip, Justin Timberlake, Spank Rock, Herbert & Tv on the Radio are not mere one hit wonders but more so artists in every sense of the word with a great deal of fine music to offer.