I NEED SUGAR

And now back to the music...the decade in review continues with the Top 50 tracks of the decade countdown. Here now are tracks 20 through 16. Unfortunately, there was an iTunes blow up here and the list was all but lost. I managed to piece together 1 through 15, but with one of the 16 through 20s missing I've just realized after posting on blip and looking back here that there's now a track repeated. Oh well, if you've been paying attention, you can ignore it or enjoy it again. Update: Scratch that, I missed track 11 and it's an important one, so I'm updating this with the right Naughties 20.

Naughties.20 Metric - Hardwire The first Metric full-length from 2001 (which wasn't officially released until 2007) is a series of smart, sexy, Toronto-centric tunes the likes of which they haven't released since. This is how that leaked album ended in 2001, leaving you wanting for more. The rerelease had a completely different track order in which they dropped the best track from the album.

Naughties.19 Machine Drum - Freshkids featuring Mickey Factz It's artists like Machine Drum that renew my faith in hip hop. Filthy original beats and tight rhymes; no r&b wannabee samplefest here. From 2009.

Naughties.18 Fever Ray - When I Grow Up Feels like the Joy Division of the new millennium, 30 years later. I'm scared and fascinated and just can't get enough. From 2009.

Naughties.17 Underworld - Two Months Off Glory. Glory. Let that synth wash over you. You bring light in. You bring light in. From 2002

Naughties.16 Easy Star All-Stars - Electioneering Sure, there's a pretty decent brit rock version of this track (Radiohead + cowbell!), but this organ heavy reggae version is glorious! From 2006.

This past Friday was the People Downtown's inaugural Tequila Monthly at Tequila Bookworm. After Abdul Smooth played a nice throwback prog set I threw in with this mix before I was mistakingly distracted by a nutter. Next month will be nothing but 2010 vibes. And no damn requests.

Tracklist:
01 The XX - Basic Space (Jamie xx Space Bass Mix) 2009
02 Alix Perez - The Cut Deepens featuring Foreign Beggars 2009
03 Shlomo - Hot Boxing The Cockpit 2009
04 Roots Manuva - Witness (1 Hope) 2001
05 James Holden - Lump 2006
06 Holden & Thompson - Come To Me (Club Mix) 2006
07 Misstress Barbara - Dance Me to the End of Love (H.O.S.H Remix) 2010
08 Analog People in A Digital World - Rose Rouge (Cagedbaby Remix) 2009
09 Faithless - Not Going Home 2010

Listen and download Nathan Lee's 10:30p Tequila live mix set here.

See you next month!

The People Downtown are throwing a parting this Friday. The first event at our Tequila Bookworm monthly residency. Here's a light 60 minute warmup mix to get you through the rest of the week. And we hope to see you after 8 on Friday. Facebook event invite here. Mix below.

Tracklist:
01 Animal Collective - What Would I Want? Sky 2009
02 Junior Boys - Hazel (Ewan Pearson's House Remix) (Dixon Edit) 2009
03 Yuno - Stand And Wonder (Flor Hasenberg & Drei Farben House Remix) 2007
04 Popnoname - Hello Gorgeous 2010
05 Phonique - For The Time Being featuring Erlend Øye (Neil Quigley Remix) 2009
06 Underworld - Crocodile (Album Version) 2007
07 Röyksopp - This Must Be It (Maxime Dangles Remix) 2009
08 Birds & Souls - Birds & Souls 2010
09 Crystal Castles - Suffocation 2010
10 Cortney Tidwell - Palace (Michel Cleis It's Too Late Remix) 2010
11 Starkey - Stars featuring Anneka (Few Nolder Remix) 2010
12 Bat For Lashes - Daniel (Jozif's Etage Edit) 2009
13 Pantha du Prince - Stick To My Side (Walls Version) 2010

Download the April 2010 126 Melancholy Mix here.

And here's a special request for Merv. The same mix, but looped, so if you put it on repeat, it never ends, never ends.

Download the April 2010 126 Melancholy Mix (Merv Edition).

In honour of the terrifically mediocre Junos, belatedly continuing the decade review, tracks 21 through 25. And look, no less than two Canadian artists in the mix here, one of which had an album that surely could have been nominated for the 2010 Junos but, no, no mention of Tiga anywhere. (Though Tiga did win in '07 for Sexor so I suppose I shouldn't complain. Still Deadmau5? Is this about music or popularity? And a "Recording Package Of The Year" nomination for Patrick Watson, but no love for the actual music? Come on!) But, hey, at least I now know who Justin Bieber is. But I digress. So here's number 25 of the 2000s and, as always, just select the track name to listen on blip.fm:

Naughties.25 Tiga - Beep Beep Beep (Extended Mix) Fantastic groove building up to some terrifically unsubtle LCD Soundsystem flavoured drums (and yet not one of the two James Murphy produced tracks off the album) followed by some subtle space disco and back. A huge '09 vibe.

Naughties.24 The Whitest Boy Alive - Golden Cage (Fred Falke Remix) The man with the smoothest voice in the game meets the man producing the smoothest basslines. A massively uplifting '08 progressive house track.

Naughties.23 Hercules & Love Affair - Blind featuring Antony (Frankie Knuckles Remix) I'm actually not a huge fan of this album, but there's no denying that Blind is a great disco track. But Frankie Knuckles takes Blind and turns it into an exceptional house track. Bringing up the bass, warms up the track with some added synth and piano, and tightening up the percussion. So, so good. From 2008.

Naughties.22 Cat Power - Metal Heart My brother doesn't dig the Cat Power. Especially the covers. But on this reprise of her own '98 track from her '08 covers album, that smokey voice, those power chords, and that lyrical earnestness kick my ass hard.

Naughties.21 K-OS - Crucial K-OS has said and done some incredibly stupid things throughout the years, but he's also put out the odd gem on his albums. Crucial is a great summer reggae Can-rock vibe, showcasing a surprisingly fantastic confluence of genres.

The HaiHaiTO benefit was Feb 11, 2010 at the Courthouse in Toronto. The evening contributed to over $22,000 being raised in support of ongoing Haiti relief and rebuilding. I played for an hour, including some Haitian music and hip hop. Here's the entirety of the more uptempo vibes from yesterday's live recording.

Download HaiHaiTO Miniset by Nathan Lee

Track list:
U2 - Magnificent (Fred Falke Full Edit Remix) 2009
Pnau - With You Forever 2007
La Roux - In For The Kill (Lifelike Remix) 2009
The Knife - You Take My Breath Away featuring Jenny Wilson (Manhattan Clique Remix) 2005
Kläder & Vapen - What Have I Done featuring Anna Ternheim (Extended Mix) 2009
The Black Ghosts - Any Way You Choose To Give It (Extended Version) 2007
The Sounds - Tony The Beat 2006

Continuing the decade review, tracks 31 through 35.

Naughties.35 Santogold - Shove It This is one of those tracks that so completely transcends mainstream Hip Hop I just don't get how anybody can enjoy that overproduced pap.

Naughties.34 The Strokes - Last Night Oh 2000, we remember you for your garage rock revival, all that talk about yellow, and that pre-9/11 bubble.

Naughties.33 Golden Boy with Miss Kittin - 1234 The best pop song from a top album of the decade. Maybe you can convince me Rippin Kittin is better, but this is a lot more fun. From 2002.

Naughties.32 The Streets - Weak Become Heroes (Röyksopp's Memory Lane Mix) While the original has a decent UK garage vibe, Röyksopp's remix is a perfect early 2000's summer fresh progressive vibe. "All of life's problems, I just shake off." From 2002.

Naughties.31 CSS - Fuck Off Is Not The Only Thing You Have To Show Cansei De Ser Sexy's debut was a revelation. And Fuck Off Is Not The Only Thing You Have To Show epitomizes their dance rock team dream. From 2005.

Dance Baby Dance recorded Feb 1, 2010. Booty shaking good vibes.

Download: Dance Baby Dance by Nathan Lee

Tracklist:
01 Abonné - Voodoo Child (Art Bleeks Sunny Redub) 2008
02 Sade - By Your Side (Ben Watt Lazy Dog Remix) 2001
03 Manuel De La Mare - Born Slippy (MDLM Mix) 2008
04 Deep Dish - Dreams featuring Stevie Nicks (Extended Club Mix) 2006
05 Oxia - Whole Life (Part 1) 2009
06 Kaiserdisco - Chordalia 2010
07 Oxia - Whole Life (Part 2) 2009
08 Jay Bliss - Diffuse 2009
09 Ray Okpara - Brainows featuring Nikki 2010
10 Trentemøller - Charge 2005
11 Kasper Bjørke - Alcatraz (Kenton Slash Demon Remix) 2010
12 The Clover - Love In Da Wood 2009
13 And.Id - First Talk 2009
14 Hatiras - Your Love 2009
15 Massimo Di Lena - Delirious 2009
16 Rusty James - Stop Lying 2010
17 David West & Inkfish - Ghetto Feel 2010
18 Rondenion - Sun Glare 2009

Continuing the decade review, tracks 36 through 40.

Naughties.40 The Postal Service - Such Great Heights (John Tejada Remix) John Tejada was prolific throughout the decade, but nothing compares to his remix of Such Great Heights. So subtle, it draws you right in. The original sounds like happy hardcore after hearing this version. From 2003.

Naughties.39 The Kooks - Sofa Song The punchiest, danciest, singalongiest acoustic song of the decade. Just plain fun. From 2005.

Naughties.38 Silversun Pickups - Lazy Eye (Curtis Vodka Edit) Curtis Vodka tossed out a whole whack of bootleg mixes on his MySpace page back in the day, this was the best of the lot. The added kick and percussion ups the intensity of the original and makes for great dance floor fodder. From 2007.

Naughties.37 Deep Dish - Dreams featuring Stevie Nicks Kindly reviving one of the great tracks of the 70's and having Stevie Nicks sing on it, no less. (There's a great story behind that, too.) This song was great even before 2006's Montreal club excursion, but hearing this on a big room system at 4:00a. Epic!

Naughties.36 Underworld - Dinosaur Adventure 3D (Funk D'Void Vocal Remix) Funk D'Void's remix warms up Underworld's banging techno track, opting to focus on synths over the heavy bass line of the original. A top progressive vibe. From 2002.

Continuing the decade review, tracks 41 through 45.

Naughties.45 Pearl Jam - Sad Every once in a while Pearl Jam remember what it is to rock with conviction. From 2000, their best song about lost love since Black.

Naughties.44 Miike Snow - Animal Can't say enough about Miike Snow's Animal. Rhythm, melody and melancholy. Simple but precious pop song. From 2009.

Naughties.43 Bent - Waiting For You featuring Simon Lord (Danny Howells Remix) Simon Lord followed 2006's massive Simian success by collaborating with Groove Armada and Bent in '07. Danny Howell's epic remix of Bent's Waiting for You was a nice precursor to the Black Ghosts and, along with Groove Armada's The Things That We Could Share, really cemented Simon Lord as the king of earnest dance rock vocals.

Naughties.42 Ida Maria - Going to Hell Singing along to damnation never felt so right. Inexplicably not included on her album release, Ida Maria's chant friendly Going to Hell. From 2007.

Naughties.41 Babak Shayan - Flowers Warm and soulful with a light vocal mid-track pause. Good late night vibe and great loud. Deep house at it's finest. From 2004.

The first decade of the new millennium was a great decade for music, as noted in this article on my personal blog which was inspired by Street Boner's 90s lament." So, what better way to celebrate this much improved decade than by counting down I Need Sugar's best.

Starting with number 50 and working our way up. Here we go!

50. Underworld - Trim "Sugar. Sugar. Clear your mind. Leave it all behind." Nice vocal synth pop off Underworld's underrated 2002 release.

49. Ada - Maps (Michael Mayer & Tobias Thomas Mix) Before my '06/07 infatuation with Yeah Yeah Yeahs there was Michael Myer's remix of Ada's Maps cover. Glorious DJ track from 2005.

48. Cut Copy - Future Marks the early 2000's punchy crossover tracks and a sign of things to come from Australia. Sounds even better sped up. From 2004.

47. The Organ - I Am Not Surprised The Organ's stoic live shows came to an end following their Drake underground European sendoff. They'll be missed.

Here's a run down of two other top 2009 music lists. Pitchfork, who seem to be keenly interested in reviving the Beach Boys, and Resident Advisor, who love it when people mumble "house music" over a muffled beat. I took a listen to both sets to see what was what in the world of internet music lovers and have gathered my rankings below in fancy image format. Of course, the last image in the set is the trusty I Need Sugar list, which I hope is a much more varied collection of stellar tracks.

Pitchfork's Top 50 Tracks of 2009

Resident Advisor's Top 50 Tracks of 2009

I Need Sugar's Top 50 Tracks of 2009

Hear the top 10 I Need Sugar tracks at blip.fm.

This 126bpm melancholy mix was prepared with lots of love. It's breaking my heart a little but I'll get over it.

Tracklist:
01 Underworld - Headset 2002
02 The Black Ghosts - Full Moon (Appleblim & Komonazmuk Remix) 2009
03 Cut Copy - Future 2004
04 Memory Tapes - Bicycle 2009
05 Ascii Disko - Seven Angels 2008
06 Agoria - Les Violons Ivres 2006
07 Superpitcher - Tomorrow (Kaito Mix) 2004
08 Daso - Daybreak 2005
09 Partial Arts - Trauermusik 2007
10 Alex Smoke - Telemetry 2005
11 Anna - Green 2007
12 Vector Lovers - Genevieve 2007
13 M.A.N.D.Y. - Tonite 2003
14 Closer Musik - One, Two, Three--No Gravity (Ewan Pearson's 2004 Remix) 2004
15 Radiohead - Nude (Ripperton Edit) 2008
16 Guy J - I See You Next Time 2008
17 Lucky Misu - Puzzled 2007
18 Booka Shade vs Plastic Operator - Night Falls Won't Back Down (A-Side Remix) 2007
19 Perfume Uniform - Out Alone Tonight (Lucky Misu Mix) 2007
20 Ebb - I'm All Made of Music (Jori Hulkkonen Remix) 2006
21 The Postal Service - Such Great Heights (Remix by John Tejada) 2003
22 The Raveonettes - Lust (Trentemøller Remix) 2008
23 Apparat - Useless Information 2007
24 Cortney Tidwell - Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan Pearson's Objects In Space Remix) 2007
25 Gui Boratto - Beautiful Life featuring Luciana Villanova 2007
26 The Chap - President At Last (Zilla's Premier Remix) 2007

Download here. Or listen online with People Downtown.