Best of 2010: The Top 31 Songs of 2010

I've been doing year-end lists since 2004, and no year has brought such a diversified collection of artists and sounds as the one which we are currently sending off.  To me, 2010 was the year of pop music, a year that brought us albums from Ellie Goulding, Robyn, Janelle Monae, of Montreal, and other amazing pop acts!  This list will reflect that.  But 2010 was also a year in which I opened my ears up to types of music that I had dismissed or ignored in the past: namely folk and hip hop.  You'll also see a little bit from those genres in here.  I don't intend for this list to be interesting in any way, but hopefully you'll see a song on here that you're unfamiliar with, download it, and fall in love.  These are the Top 31 Songs of 2010.

#31:  Crystal Castles - "Empathy" - from the album, Crystal Castles

"You must work in symmetry.  You must earn their empathy."

#30:  Frightened Rabbit - "Swim Until You Can't See Land" -  from the album, The Winter of Mixed Drinks
"Are you a man, or are you a bag of sand?"

#29:  Robyn - "Hang With Me" - from the album, Body Talk
"When you see me drift astray, out of touch and out of place, will you tell me to my face?"

#28:  Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - "Round and Round" - from the album, Before Today
"I'm afraid. You're afraid. And we die and we live and we're born again."

#27:  Field Music - "Them That Do Nothing" - from the album, Measure
"We used to all be happy while pretendithat we weren't.  Now the smiles upon our faces show how much it all must hurt."

#26: Deerhunter - "Revival" - from the album, Halcyon Digest

"Freedom, silence, always.  All this darkness, always."

#25:  LCD Soundsystem - "Pow Pow" - from the album, This Is Happening
"With you on the inside, and me on the outside, there's advantages to both."

#24:  of Montreal (Featuring Janelle Monae) - "Enemy Gene" - from the album, False Priest 
"How can we ever evolve when our gods are so primitive? They destroy our hope for peace, hope for love."

 

#23:  Sufjan Stevens - "I Want to be Well" - from the album, The Age of Adz
"I'm not fucking around!"

#22:  The New Pornographers - "Valkyrie in the Roller Disco" - from the album, Together
"Bounce off the walls, valentine, have your fun.  Come on, be the one...come on, be the one."

#21:  ceo - "Love and Do What You Will" - from the album, White Magic
"Take my hand and do whatever you will."

#20:  Kanye West (Featuring Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, and Bon Iver) - "Monster" - from the album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
"Pink wig, thick ass, give 'em whiplash.  I think big, get cash, make 'em blink fast."

#19: of Montreal - "Famine Affair" - from the album, False Priest
"She says, 'You're not boring, I'm just bored with you' - the psychology behind it is ruthless."

#18:  Vampire Weekend - "Horchata" - from the album, Contra
"Years go by and hearts start to harden.  Those palms and ferns that grew in your garden are falling down and nearing the rose bed.  The roots are shooting up through the tool shed.  Those lips and teeth that asked how my day went are shouting up through cracks in the pavement."

#17:  Das Racist - "All Tan Everything" - from the album, Sit Down, Man
"New dance, do the booty droop.  On to the next one, now do the booty scoop.  Do the booty up.  Do the booty-ooty alley oop."

#16:  Yeasayer - "Ambling Alp" - from the album, Odd Blood
"You must stick up for yourself, son.  Nevermind what anybody else done."

 
#15:  The Tallest Man On Earth - "The Wild Hunt" - from the album, The Wild Hunt
"I plan to be forgotten when I'm gone.  Yes, I'll be leavin' in the fall."

#14:  Band of Horses - "Dilly" - from the album, Infinite Arms

"Take the mask off when you speak to me."

#13:  MGMT - "Congratulations" - from the album, Congratulations

"As strange as it seems, I'd rather dissolve than have you ignore me."

#12:  Local Natives - "Sun Hands" - from the album, Gorilla Manor

"And when I can feel with my sun hands, I'll promise not to lose her again.  And even if the morning never comes, my hands are blessed to have touched the sun."

#11:  Ellie Goulding - "This Love (Will Be Your Downfall)" - from the album, Lights

"This love is not what you want.  This heart will never be yours.  This love is be and end all.  This love will be your downfall."

#10:  LCD Soundsystem - "One Touch" - from the album, This Is Happening

"People who need people to the back of the bus."

#9:  Sleigh Bells - "Kids" - from the album, Treats

"I sip my kool-aid.  I'm feeling better now"

#8: Wallpaper. - "#STUPiDFACEDD" - self-released

"I'm blacked out, sleepwalking, on a quest for god at my friend's apartment."

#7: Cee-Lo Green - "Fuck You!" - from the album, The Lady Killer

"If I was richer, I'd still be with ya.  Ain't that some shit?"

#6:  The New Pornographers - "Up in the Dark" - from the album, Together

"You can't see them in it.  It gets weaker, watch them go.  Wrap yourself around me in the shadow show."

#5:  The Tallest Man On Earth - "Burden of Tomorrow" - from the album, The Wild Hunt

"I wasn't born, I just walked in one frosty morn' into the vision of some vacant mind."

#4:  Vampire Weekend - "Cousins" - from the album, Contra

"You and this model sit outside on the side of a house on a street they wouldn't park on at night."

#3:  MGMT - "Flash Delirium" - from the album, Congratulations

"You can't get a grip if there's nothing to hold."

#2:  Janelle Monae (Featuring Big Boi) - "Tightrope" - from the album, The ArchAndroid

"See I'm not walkin' on it, or trying to run around it.  This ain't no acrobatics.  You either follow or you lead."

#1:  Beach House - "Zebra" - from the album, Teen Dream

"Any way you run, you run before us, black and white horse arching among us."

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Best of 2010: The Top 5 Pop Albums

These days, most of my music-listening involves pop music in some form or another. Even the more avant-garde pieces in my collection have catchy hooks or lines that infect you in the way that only a great pop song can. So cementing my Top 5 Pop Albums of 2010 is not the easiest task to undertake, but it is certainly a great way to reflect back on all the awesome pop music of the past year.

#5. Ellie Goulding: Lights – I can’t really explain how I first came across Ellie Goulding for this simple reason: I don’t remember. I almost certainly read about her on Pitchfork or some other source for music news, though my memory is hazy on this. All I remember is downloading Lights one night, playing the first track and immediately being blown away by Ellie’s vocal gymnastics, her excellent lyricism, and her songs’ flawless production. Lights was overlooked my pretty much everyone with an American accent, but it is one of the more endearing pop records of 2010, and the only one that isn’t afraid to wear its genre on its sleeve.

#4. Belle and Sebastian: Write About Love – 2007’s The Life Pursuit was my first run-in with this longtime indie pop favorite. I loved it upon its release, and even now I still throw it on occasionally. Write About Love is just as good, if not better than its predecessor. It’s filled with the kind of timeless pop music that the band is famous for and features awesome guest vocals from Norah Jones and Carey Mulligan (the latter is particularly charming). At some point in a band’s career, you begin to wonder if they can continue making amazing music, but Belle and Sebastian keep putting out awesome music. Doubt is not an option.

#3. Sleigh Bells: Treats – Sleigh Bells make the kind of genre-blending music that make assembling this list such a difficult task. Is it pop? Is it rock? Is it dance? What do we call it exactly? However, beyond the band’s distorted guitar and dance drums lie some of the catchiest pop songs of 2010. Rarely will I be listening to “Kids” or “Rill Rill” and not be singing along with complete disregard as to how ridiculous I sound in doing so. That alone is the mark of great pop music. Oh sure, they can put up a front of tattoos and amp walls, but we know that deep down they’re just a friendly little pop band looking to make you dance. Awwww!!

#2. of Montreal: False Priest – Kevin Barnes’ latest foray into the dark corners of pop music is one of his more difficult listens. This is why it only received a 7 out of 10 from me when I reviewed it. But like most of Montreal records, it only gets better as you listen to it. Somewhere along the line, False Priest stopped being a fun little pop-funk record and started speaking to me on a deeper level. That’s something pop music rarely does, but something that Barnes does exceptionally well. False Priest is just the latest in a long line of affecting pop music from of Montreal.

#1. Janelle Monae: The ArchAndroid – Much like Sleigh Bells’ Treats, Ms. Monae’s debut LP is a difficult album to define. At times it’s hip hop, at others it’s soul. But like its rock-laced brethren, The ArchAndroid is heavily rooted in pop music. One listen to “Tightrope” or “Make the Bus” and this becomes apparent. However, the brilliance of The ArchAndroid does not lie in the greatness of each individual track, but rather the overall package that they form. Janelle Monae has done more that create an amazing pop record, she’s crafted one of the strongest female albums of the last decade and presented us with one of music’s most exciting new characters. Everything from the album’s orchestral movements to the raw energy of her live performances makes clear the fact that Janelle is much more than your average pop star. She is a personality to be excited about, and one that will be with us for a long time.

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Worst of 2010: The Death of All Music

Friends and family,

It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that I come to you today to eulogize our dear friend, music, who passed tragically on June 8, 2010.

Music had long been a close friend of mine.  Even from my earliest years, I can remember music by my side, accompanying me for long family drives, kindergarten classes, and birthday celebrations.  Music was a diverse creature, able to change forms throughout its long, productive life.  As a child, music first came to me in the form of a Disney Christmas Carol record and later a Chipmunks' Greatest Hits album.  As I grew, so did music.  It shed its childish routes in the early 90s and took on a form that was more mature, but still evolving throughout its life.

In recent years though, music's health seemed to be digressing rapidly.  Surely, I was not alone in this diagnosis.  I first noticed it around the age of 18, around the same time that a band named Stain'd rose to prominence.  Selfish as it seems now, it was difficult for me to be around music during this period of its life.  We drifted apart.  In the following years, we would meet up occasionally and I would see a faint glimmer in its eye, as if there was life beyond its frail and tragic exterior.  I hoped, as I'm sure many of you did, that music would take hold of this light and fight its way out of its downward spiral.  Sadly, this did not happen.

On June 8, 2010, I lost one of my best friends.  On June 8, 2010, "Pretty Boy Swag" by Soulja Boy Tell 'Em was released to the general public.

I first discovered the death of music a month or so after that horrible day.  Driving with another close friend, "Pretty Boy Swag" began playing on the radio.  Starting innocently enough, I was soon bombarded with what can only be described as the nonsensical ramblings of the mentally handicapped.  I thought to myself, "Only in a world where music has died could such a monstrosity be released on a medium once-designated solely for that dear friend of mine."  Depressed at the departure of music, I sought solace in the bars, hoping that alcohol would help ease my sorrow.  Much to my chagrin, "Pretty Boy Swag" thrived in these locales, serving as a constant reminder of the death that has so greatly affected me.

In this moment, I feel I must confess to a transgression of heinous proportions.  In the dark time following the death of music, I began indulging in the dark wine of "Pretty Boy Swag." Ironically, of course, though I cannot help but feel that my encouragment amongst friends and family helped propel this garbage to #34 on the Billboard Hot 100, if only by the minutest of amounts.  All the parties I've thrown where I've "sung" along to the intoxicating, yet repulsive, "Heeeeeeeys" of "Swag's" chorus; all the terrible dances I've concocted to its lazy production; all of the shots I've taken to mask the effects of its inane lyrics - all of these have only contributed to the popularity of the beast.  For this, friends, I must offer my apologies and ask for forgiveness - from you, of course, but also from music, should our friend be out there somewhere still longing to be intimately involved in the lives of mere people.

Music, I have loved you for as long as I can remember.  And though your presence no longer lingers in the realm of the living, your memory will live on in the form of your various manifestations.  In moments of weakness and sorrow, I will call upon the greatness of your memory to help me through.  In moments of triumph, your exuberance will be my soundtrack. 

I will never forget you, music.  Come back to us.

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10/28/2010: Wallpaper. - Houston, TX

Longtime readers of the blog are well aware of my perhaps frightening obsession with the Oakland, CA funk/pop band, Wallpaper.  (As of this writing, they are the5th most-blogged about artist on Audio Overflow, just above Muse and only one post shy of Sufjan Stevens.)  However, despite my incessant hyping of the group, I had never seen them perform live until last night at Fitzgerald's in Houston, TX!

It should go without saying that I was just in love with what I saw.  Ricky Reed's stage presence is as captivating as the character requires.  Whether he's making subtle jokes, renaming songs on the fly, or just singing and dancing, the guy has got his act down!  The energy that he gives off is absolutely infecting, keeping me moving and singing along the length of the set.  In addition, I'd be remiss not to mention the talent of his P.I.C. and drummer, whose skill is just unparalleled.  It's not a Wallpaper. song without a fresh beat, and Derrick (Arjun?) is the heart of the live show!

The group played through a number of songs from their debut LP, Doodoo Face, including "I Got Soul, I'm So Wasted," "Gettin' Drip," and set-closer "It's My Birthday."  They also mixed in a few new songs as well, including the just-released summer jam "Indian Summer."  When I first heard the track a week ago, I was a little unsure of its greatness.  However, after hearing it live, I have no questions; this is a straight party jam!  I loved it!  Disappointments?  Not many aside from the lack of "Txt Me Ur Love" or "I Ain't Most Dudes," though I understand that when you're playing a 30-minute set, you sometimes have to cut the less crowd-pleasing songs. 

Wallpaper. opened for The Heavy, who are making waves right now with their similarly funky sounds.  My apologies to the band for not sticking around for the show.  Believe me, if I didn't have to work at 6am this morning, I would have been there in the front dancing my ass off!  But hey, I did get to see Wallpaper., and I got to meet the guys after the show too! 

Listen, if you have yet to listen to this awesome group, do yourself a favor and catch them on the road soon!  The band is currently touring the US with The Heavy (Austin tonight!!), and you can check out their tour dates on their Myspace page.  Come back to Houston soon, guys! 

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