Sun Staff Writer John Taechin Lee sat down with Cornell Concert Commission’s current Executive Director Douglas DuRant 11 and last year’s Executive Director (and Sun columnist) Justine Fields 09 to get their take on 2009s pop music hits.

Beyoncé, “Single Ladies”

Röyksopp, Junior

On Junior, Röyksopp proves, in songs like “The Girl and the Robot” featuring Robyn and “You Don’t Have a Clue,” that hidden beneath layers of trip-pop lies a profound message about loneliness, self-hate and love.

District 9

Part hilarious mockumentary, part apartheid commentary, part body horror film, part Mechwarrior shoot-em-up, part alien space opera, part coming-of-age story. All modern sci-fi masterpiece. This film also features an iconic CGI shot of an alien mother ship hovering ominously over downtown Johannesburg, raises more questions than it answers (in the best way possible), and for a sleek few hours, makes us simultaneously loathe and ponder the nature of the human race.

Throughout the history of modern culture, New York has been the center of the most cutting edge trends in popular music. From Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train” to the punk and avant-garde sounds of the 1980s, New York has been a Mecca for musicians who want to make new and interesting music. This past year was no different. With pop music in a funk, forward thinking New Yorkers are rethinking their approach to music, taking it in new directions and adding outside influences.