Singles of 2009: #17 Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension

While his day-job band made their career from re-inventing the past to shape the future, Julian Casablancas looked firmly forwards with his surprisingly good solo record Phrazes For The Young. With a new Strokes album seemingly still some distance from being finished, fans eagerly waited to see what he'd come up with.

The answer was a lean album of just nine tracks, each and every one of them well above average. But this, the album's lead single, was arguably the best of the lot, the chiming guitars and shuffling beats suggesting a more dancefloor-orientated direction for the New Yorker and his band.

It was a brave and important move for Casablancas, who must be aware that the Strokes' days are probably numbered. 11th Dimension gave a timely reminder of his prowess as a performer, securing his musical career for the foreseeable future. Whether it turns out to be with the Strokes, on his own, or with a new band, only the future will tell.

Singles of 2009: #18 Girls - Lust For Life

It's hard to put into words just how much I love Girls. I loved them from the first minute I knew of their existence, when we posted the video for Lust For Life on TMM.

The song itself was effortlessly brilliant and immediately I fell for the band, hard. Lust For Life came along just at the right time, in that week or so of summer weather we had. Its gloriously lo-fi beach sound contrasted nicely with the way my life seemed to be going and all was well in the world.

When their debut album, erm, Album landed a few weeks later I loved them even more. There was more to them than the casually strummed guitars, the tales of lost love dominating the record. But it was Lust For Life that introduced me to the band, all 2:25 of it seeming life-affirmingly necessary. And the video is quality, embedded with the carefree, lovelorn attitude I've come to love so much about Girls.