This is the second part of the only Best of 2010 Music wrap-up you need to read
Let’s get it.
Top 31 Songs of 2010
31. Carried Away - The Deadly Syndrome. Cover of Television song, guitar face-melter.
30. Swing Sets and Neighborhoods - Moses Campbell. If I were in the game of predicting local bands success, I’d wager this crew would have a good 2011.
29. Little Golden Age - Wolf Parade. As I wrote on Facebook*, this is a Bruce Springsteen song that he didn’t actually write. Graduation gowns, doing stuff in the dark, nostalgia, leaving town, all this stuff is in the song Bruce! Cover it next time in Canada! *Worst way to start a sentence ever.
28. Post Punk - Regrets and Brunettes. Good jam, great band name, sadly band broke up.
27. Selfish Kids - Radars to the Sky. Probably a song you don’t want to relate to but like to rock out to anyway.
26. Under the Gun - Apex Manor. Some bros from The Broken West and some bros The World Record = Apex Manor. So far it’s the first thing I’m looking forward to in 2011.
25. C’mon - The Soft Pack. Not sure why I wasn’t down with the song / band from jump street. I like everything about this song / band so far.
24. I Just Wanna Talk to You - The Dig
23. Numbers Don’t Lie- The Mynabirds. Whatever the formula is for the Mynabirds, I’m pretty sure I will like that for the foreseeable future.
22. Sentimental X’s - Broken Social Scene. For some reason I think this song is about someone being sentimental about the X’s that you get at the door before going into a bar.
21. Crazy - The Pack A.D. Scorched earth bluesy rock jam from two ladies. “It’s not sink or swim, it’s swim or die!” Well alright then!
20. Diamond - Your Youth. Really dropped the ball not listening to this about a hundred times this summer. Would have been a perfect jam for a July mixtape. Related, the 40 hands party I was a part of a few years ago had some highlights and some, um low lights. While it was fun, was not as cool as this video.
19. Hurricane J - The Hold Steady
18. As We Enter - Damian Marley & Nas. Are people forgetting about this song? Do I like it more than most people? Did Kelis get an editorial spot for some of her friends at Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, etc. in the divorce settlement? It is likely I have no clue about the perception of the popularity about this song or actual popularity. I still like it though.
17. Na Na Na - The Californian. We come from LA, we mean you no harm
16. Glitter - No Age. I suppose there are people a little bummed that No Age might not be as raw as they used to be. I am not one of those people. Probably a couple occasions when I listened to this five times in a row.
15. Digging for Something - Superchunk. Fuckyeahsuperchunk, this is as good as anything they’ve ever done! (Me pretending I’ve been up on Superchunk for the duration, when in reality this album is my first extended exposure to them). Slack Motherfucker indeed.
14. Silver Soul - Beach House. If only because it inspired me to write this sentence - I would like to make out with some hipster babes to Beach House or make out with The Like in a beach house. (But seriously folks, this is my favorite song from Teen Dream, the “ah ah ahaas” seal it.
13. The Only One - The Black Keys. I’m happy the Black Keys are blowing up but I am a little worried that this current, almost unprecedented erection that music supervisors for tv shows and commercials have on the Black Keys right now will not be good in the long run.
12. Art Czars / Younger Us - Japandroids. This is my list so I’m not choosing between the two. Younger Us could be a little too on-the-nose nostalgic for things that may or may not have happened. But remember that night you were already in bed said Fuck it, got up to drink with me instead? Me either.
11. Learn how to Hang - David Vandervelde. A kinda playful song if you have to tell a friend they kinda talked some shit last night when they were drunk. But it’s not the end of the world.
10. We Used to Wait - Arcade Fire
9. Moves - The New Pornographers. Depending on who you ask, this album was a comeback of sorts. It starts the whole thing off on the best possible foot.
8. Camera Talk - Local Natives. *smoking a pipe and putting on my serious writer pants* In this age of the cell phone camera, tagging friends in photos on Facebook, and the rise of youthful alcoholic beverages such as 4Loko, the chorus “It’s alright the camera’s talking, oh ohhh, even if I can’t be sure, memory tells me that these times are worth working for” speaks to this youthful generation.
7. Angela Surf City - The Walkmen. Give the drummer some. “I took the high road, I couldn’t FIND you up there” Let em’ know Ham, let em’ know.
6. Written in Reverse - Spoon. Thrashy is the first word I think of when I think of this song. The “Whooo!” ad-lib is a 2k10 hipster version of Johnny Cash’s “Suey!”
5. A More Perfect Union - Titus Andronicus. Not even sure if this is my favorite song off The Monitor but I feel like it sums up the best of everything from the album. The super-specific Northeast mentions, The Dark Knight quotes and the Simon and Garfunkel and Bruce Springsteen references all contribute to this being awesome. And obviously, it slays. Rally around the flag.
4. Monster - Kanye West ft. Justin Vernon, Rick Ross, Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj
(see the internet if you are wondering why this is on here)
3. Your Famous Friends - The Henry Clay People. There is a solid chance that if you are reading this you are my friend, thus would be probably familiar with my thoughts about The Henry Clay People. Anyway, this song smokes and “I AM SORRY, I lost my business sense, while you were making all your famous friends,” makes 1000% sense to me right now.
2. Bushwick Blues - Delta Spirit. Combining listening at work, in my car & apartment, probably the song I listened to the most this year. In an interview with Kevin Bronson, lead singer Matt Vasquez said it was inspired by “that one ideal romantic New York night that you know can never happen again.” This song makes me want to be wandering around late night in Brooklyn in February, freezing cold, running to make the subway with friends and some girl I will probably think about for the rest of my life.
1. Liv Tyler - Roadside Graves. After a couple listens in the first few months of the year I thought this could be my favorite song of the year. I kept listening to it and then saw them dominate it live in concert at The Echo. It’s over seven minutes long and that might not be long enough. I’ve banged a soft spot into my steering wheel playing this in my car. I’m definitely not one for “this group deserves to… or “this song should be a #1 radio hit” etc, type of stuff but - “If we didn’t have to worry about money, we’d be alright ” deserves to be hollered in stadiums by a lot of people.
