#11. Daft Punk – One More Time

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Artwork by Adam Sarpalius

As 2009, and the decade come to a close, PMA will be looking back at our favorite songs of the last ten years. We will update a list with 75 empty slots until we reach that song that changed everything. You can keep track of this list by keeping an eye on this page. We make these lists in hopes that you guys will chime in the comments and share your favorite musical moments of the noughties.

In 2000, my sister studied abroad in London. She came back with some terrible CDs – NOW! That’s What I Call Music! and things of that sort. But there was one disc, a single. It was a black CD, with rainbow writing that simply said “One More Time.” I popped it in and played it. And played it. And played it.

I had no idea who or what Daft Punk was when I first heard “One More Time.” I had never heard autotune. I had an unrealistic contempt for techno music.

That disc changed all that. Something about that single really hooked me, and fast. “One More Time” is an exercise in momentum, an evolution – at first it sounds like a skipping CD played on tinny computer speakers, but that is soon joined by beefier bass and repetitive vocals. The song snowballs toward a climax, bass getting louder, lyrics getting more imperative. And then, it stops. Well, it doesn’t stop, it pauses. It pauses to drive home the point of the tune: forget all that judgment on techno, on autotune. Forget whatever is holding you back. Feel the beat pulse, hear the desperation in Romanthony’s effected voice as he implores you – Atlantic City lounge singer breaths and all – to celebrate one more time.

#12. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Maps
#13. Spoon – The Way We Get By
#14. The Killers – All These Things That I’ve Done
#15. Panda Bear – Comfy In Nautica
#16. Arctic Monkeys – Leave Before The Light Comes On
#17. Kanye West – Jesus Walks
#18. Beyonce – Crazy In Love
#19. LCD Soundsystem – Losing My Edge
#20. Radiohead – Jigsaw Falling Into Place
#21. The Strokes – The Modern Age
#22. Jay-Z & The Beatles – 99 Problems (Danger Mouse)
#23. Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal
#24. The Knife – Heartbeats
#25. Lil Wayne – A Milli
#26-75: Various

by Chris Barth on December 17, 2009 ‡ 0 reactions