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Here's Mike Powell on Destroyer's Kaputt:

"Poor in Love," for example, is anthemic in the same way Bowie and Queen's "Under Pressure" is, the sound of skyscrapers and progress, of '80s video footage of Tokyo. But the song ends just as it finally starts to build, and concludes with the line, "Why's everybody sing along when we built this city on ruins?," which not only feels bad to sing along to, but is effectively an attack on the entire impulse to sing along. It's like getting a toy for Christmas and immediately being told it is very dangerous.

Kaputt is so, so good (and the video for "Kaputt" is, too).

Destroyer: "Kaputt"

I'm loving this new Destroyer song, and I love the video even more. I mean: this is enough to make you watch music videos again!

As much as I loved Rubies, I'm really glad to see Bejar moving somewhere new (particularly since "Kaputt" reminds me more of Your Blues, and I loved Your Blues).

Rob Harvilla:

The answer to your question, Maura, about my favorite time-travel moment of 2010, is "Yamaha," which I am tempted to just add outright to Purple Rain's tracklist, maybe right between "When Doves Cry" and "I Would Die 4 U."

It's just that good. The-Dream was incredible in 2010.

Shudder to Think: "X-French Tee-Shirt"

Gravediggaz: "Diary of a Madman"

My concert luck is very bad.

I missed Marnie Stern's show this week in Oakland, which is so disappointing, because I'd love to see her play live. And last week, we missed the Of Montreal/Janelle Monae show that we actually had tickets for, because I just forgot. #firstworldproblem, I know! But I'm still sad about this.

Justin Timberlake: "Cry Me A River"

Probably my favorite song of the 2000s decade.

What's interesting (to me) is that this was released (as a single) only a year and a half after "Pop", and only two and a half years after "Bye Bye Bye" (one of the only videos I remember watching the making of).

And yet "Cry Me a River" feels way, way more recent (not to mention relevant, cf. "Abyss") than either of those.

The Dream: "Yamaha, Nikki pt. 2, Abyss"

For me, less immediately immediate than the top and bottom of Love King ("Love King", "Florida University"), but! The middle Trilogy of "Yamaha", "Nikki pt. 2", and "Abyss" may now be my favorite 3-song sequence of 2010.

Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson: "My Rifle, My Pony and Me"

My favorite Dean Martin is the country & western Dean Martin (see also: "Houston").

Mark Ronson & The Business Intl. feat. Boy George: "Somebody To Love Me" (live)

I like Mark Ronson's Record Collection, but I love "Somebody to Love Me", featuring Boy George; it's probably one of my favorite songs of the year.

(Another live version, this with Alex Greenwald instead of Andrew Wyatt, is here. They're pretty different, and I like both of them for different reasons.)