2010

They say that the UK and the USA are two countries separated by a common language — and looking back on the year 2010 in music, our differences were often as stark as night and day: while Katy Perry and Lady Gaga offered up super-sized conceptual pop with "California Gurls" and "Bad Romance" respectively, the likes of Ellie Goulding and Adele were all about subtlety and intimacy on the gorgeous covers "Your Song" and "Make You Feel My Love". Cee Lo Green transformed romantic rejection into timeless, joyous soul with the cheekily scrubbed-up "Forget You," Dizzy went Dirtee, and Matt Cardle picked up the big X Factor prize and ran with Biffy Clyro's "Many of Horror".

We venture into the big city with Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, in Next Steps.

Remembrance of things past fuelled much creativity in 2010, as the Black Eyed Peas borrowed the Dirty Dancing signature "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" and went all freaky with it, and Duck Sauce tapped into Boney M's "Gotta Go Home" for the retro disco delirium of the year's campest, catchiest tune, "Barbra Streisand". Jay-Z bigged up the East Coast, and created an anthem for the ages supported by Alicia Keys with "Empire State of Mind", Michael Bublé slagged off the West Coast with his creamy dig at sell-out fame on "Hollywood", and Eminem explored dark places with Rihanna on "Love the Way You Lie".

Florence meets Dizzee and the rest is Brit Award histor-ee, in Deep Cuts.

Spain won the World Cup in 2010, and also provided half of a great one-two club move by allying Enrique Iglesias with Pitbull on "I Like It" . . . and that wasn't the year's only great example of musical teamwork. The interplay between Florence and Dizzee Rascal was practically telepathic on "You've Got the Dirtee Love" — a cover of the Source/Candi Staton club classic, memorably showcased at the Brit Awards — and the X Factor Finalists joined forces for a potent charity version of David Bowie's "Heroes". Train provided a blast of sunshine with "Hey, Soul Sister", Arcade Fire took us to the suburbs on "City With No Children", and P!nk toasted with a drink on "Raise Your Glass".

Was Twenty Ten a topsy-turvy year, or what? Never mind those jet-stopping volcanic eruptions in Iceland, we also got the electoral mish-mash of a hung parliament, oil carnage in the Mexican Gulf, a devastating earthquake in Haiti . . . everything bookended by two climatically off-the-charts white-outs in here the UK. Musically, it was just as remarkable, what with Robbie returning to the Take That fold with gorgeously overblown single "The Flood", Lady Gaga consolidating her astonishing ascent to pop superstardom with "Bad Romance" and "Telephone", and the cast of Glee taking us into the twilight zone between am-dram and karaoke with "Don't Stop Believin'". We said farewell to punk impresario Malcolm McLaren, rock vocalist Ronnie James Dio, eccentric West Coast experimentalist Captain Beefheart and soul giant Solomon Burke; but we greeted Matt Cardle as the winner of X Factor . . . and defined our groove with these standout songs.