This decade was plagued with bands with a retro ’80s sonority, but with a slick sound and ingenious pop songwriting the Arab/Jewish duo from Montréal managed to set apart from the others by giving us noteworthy melodies and funny but clever lyrics. David Macklovitch (Dave 1) and Patrick Gemayel (P-Thugg) signed as Chromeo in 2001, and started creating music together in 2002, producing some of the best vintage synth pop for the new millenium.

Coldplay is not a band with an innovative sound, at times they even sound somewhat lacking in originality, but their skillful melodies and memorable compositions are unquestionable, and these are the reasons why they belong in this account. With one of the shakiest voices, Chris Martin leads a band of shimmering guitars and keyboards, that hand over moody and flawless rock harmonies that are both familiar and unique. “-You know how I know you’re gay? -How? -You like Coldplay.” (Lines from the movie The 40 Year Old Virgin)

A highly influential figure in underground Hip-Hop, Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr. (a.k.a. Common Sense or simply Common) made some dazzling albums in the ’90s, but that decade was clearly governed by gangsta rap. By the new millennium positive-minded hip-hop came back into prevalence and Common went to a major label and issued Like Water For Chocolate, this and his consecutive albums are stuffed with powerful songs and stories and, also, remarkable productions, making them some of the richest-sounding albums of hip-hop music.

The self-taught guitarist, Keigo Oyamada (小山田 圭吾) (a.k.a. Cornelius) is the perfect hero of indietronica. His music is based on electronic experiments, and he often incorporates dissonant elements, pop culture samples, sounds from nature and electronic tones. Whereas —what is considered by many— his masterpiece is from the ’90s, he has continued to delight us with his music throughout the recent years, his high-concept compositions that makes him an even more mesmerizing artist and one of the best, not only of this decade, of all times.

The intoxicating sextet from São Paulo, CSS (letters that stand for Cansei de Ser Sexy, a quote by Beyoncé, who said “I’m tired of being sexy”) make unpretentious but unique electro-rock, jumping back and forth from Portuguese to English lyrics and cleverly set their intonation for an eccentric and sensual sound that conjures a lot of fun and danceability. The band has plenty of energy to make people love their music. (A personal note: I love Lovefoxxx and I never get tired of her being so sexy.)

Their robotic Majesties are an essential electronic music duo, not only in the French house scene, but in the whole current musical universe. They first reached notoriety in 1997 with their seminal Homework, later they issued their successful Discovery and in 2005, Human After All, their third studio album; by listening close to these three you can understand each recording’s particular style, and it’s safe to say that they are some of the best electronic albums ever produced, using a perfect blend of house, techno, acid, funk, rock and pop. Their live performances are mythical and breathtaking, thanks to Daft Punk music everywhere got harder, better, faster, stronger.

The multi-instrumentalist Brian Joseph Burton, better known by his pseudonym Danger Mouse, might easily be the producer of the decade, with an extremely resourceful style and his enthusiasm to throw raging political blows into the mix, he has produced some of the most memorable albums of the decade, including his own music projects, mentioned above, and also Beck’s Modern Guilt; The Black Keys’ Attack & Release; Gorillaz’ Demon Days; and of course Gnarls Barkley’s St. Elsewhere, among others.

Deerhoof is an indie-pop and noise-rock band from San Francisco that combines huggable melodies with noisy chaos. By adopting an adorable voice and schizophrenic heavy drums and guitars, the quartet transmits a very uncommon sonority that captures the listener with enchantment before smashing his ear ducts with a violent sonic raid. This gorgeous and daring songcrafting made this peculiar band absolutely essential to this decade.

With a magniloquent name like Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O’Malley Armstrong, it was a wise choice to select simply Dido as her nom de guerre, but also with a pulchritudinous voice like hers, it was a smart decision to make straightforward pop-rock music. With a hard-to-find freshness Dido arrived in 1999 with No Angel showing a style that combined elements of acoustic pop and electronica, however, her break came in 2000, when Eminem sampled Thank You for the chorus of the magnificent Stan. Her subsequent albums are more honest, subtler and richer, and so is the production, providing us with comforting and reassuring music that is noiselessly compelling.

Melissa Arnette Elliott, known by her stage name Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, arrived to the decade already bearing a nice dose of fame on her shoulders, but her albums issued on this decade put her in superstardom status. A much tougher and independent performer who used high quality funky hip-hop sprinkled with off the wall electronic beats to achieve one of the most singular styles in R&B and urban contemporary music. Her list of elite guests on her recordings is endless, but the important legacy here is her pristine music, that, in the end is …so addictive.