The songs I'll still be listening to 30 years from now...
10. Junior Boys - Parallel Lines
A song that just sounds sleek and polished. Despite the keyboards, synths, drum machines, and vocals, this songs sounds open and clean for the better part of six minutes. The vocals and keyboards sound like a simplified version of NIN's "Closer."
9. Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone
This is Alex Turner's best writing to date, a guy who seems to have mastered the art of weaving stories of down-on-their-luck pub wanderers. "Cornerstone" is the story like this, but with the brilliant imagery of things like "I smelled her scent on the seat belt and kept my shortcuts to myself." The first two and half minutes are great, but the knockout punch is the song's last verse, a twist in the narrative that is as good of a punchline as any Arctic Monkeys song. Turner's wry wit makes the song more like a three minute joke than a heart sick saga, and he is the one left with the last laugh.
8. Neon Indian - Mind, Drips
If you were to view the medium of pop song (3-4 minute time limit using any instrumentation that sounds good), most bands could be described as painters, using different styles and techniques to produce their painting...or the pop song. Neon Indian's songs are more like a blank canvas that's been filled with bizarre cutouts from different magazines all pasted together... but the end result is usually something very appealing and instantly likable. The magazine cutouts in this song range from unintelligible samples that echo intermittently over the course of the song, keyboard hooks that invoke the soundtrack to Escape from New York, and faded and distorted vocals that function more as an instrument than a device to say anything. The end result is something that sounds totally different than most music I have ever heard, but also sounds better in a really strange way.
7. Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension
It's always good to hear good new music from one of your favorite musicians, even if that new music effectively signals the end of your favorite band. The writing seemed to be on the wall, even on 2006's First Impression of Earth, that he was itching to branch out from the post punk sound the Strokes perfected, but became pigeonholed into making. Free of the constraints and expectations that come with making a Strokes record, Casablancas went with the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach to his album, which failed for the most part, but came together incredibly well on this song.
6. White Rabbits - The Company I Keep
In a year that effectively saw the final nail in the coffin of my favorite band... leather jacket five-piece rock seemed to be a dying art, but White Rabbits remain, and they are pretty damn good at what they do. "The Company I Keep" is just a cool sounding, slow paced rock song about the type of things that cool rockers make songs about... how they're cool but unhappy and women Why reinvent the wheel, right?
5. Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
If you drew up a vendiagram with one circle labeled indie pop , and one circle labeled men's choir, Grizzly Bear would be the shaded area in the middle. "Two Weeks" features four minutes of arching vocal harmonies that sounds way catchier than one would expect from a song with the elements of "Two Weeks", so much so that Grizzly Bear had a great deal of cross over success behind this song.
4. Discovery - Orange Shirt
A buzzing and whirring hip hop/indie rock/electro pop/dance song, the combines the various stylistic elements of all these genres into the anthem of the summer. As you probably would expect, the music comes first here, but Ra Ra Riot lead singer Les Roskam's vocals fit perfectly well among the skipping drum machines and keyboard effects. Unfortunately for Discovery, the rest of their album could not build off the momentum of this, the first track on their LP (creatively titled LP), but this track stands alone as the catchiest track of the year.
3. Neon Indian - Deadbeat Summer
The more I read Pitchfork this year, the more I got sucked into the whole Chillwave/Glo-fi movement that the site covered extensively. Neon Indian was my favorite of these bands for a few reasons, the most obvious being that their songs just sound the best. "Deadbeat Summer" is basically just a top 40 pop song at it's core, but it's distorted and chopped up to make it become a song called Deadbeat Summer" instead of "[insert peppier word than deadbeat] summer". This song sounds like its title, but not in a depressing, closed-off-from-the-world view of summer through the shades, it's a song that sounds like having fun in the summer, just not doing anything productive or important (and probably under the influence of some psychodelic drugs).
2. Los Campersinos! - The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future
In August I saw this band dancing around a stage at lollapalloza like a group of hyperactive school kids at recess, led by a dude wearing jorts and an Abe Vigoda tshirt, spewing short, catchy, fast-paced indie pop songs. A month and half later, the first song from their next album (due in early 2010) was released, and it was something so radically different from their previous stuff, it required a sort of musical double take. In a stark contrast to their earlier work, this song is dark, string-drenched, epic infused with grown man retrospection. An absolute emotional gut punch of a song. Gareth Campesinos' vocals flow between urgency and defeat as he tells the story of a girl he knew along with some macro philosophizing on life and death, the past and the future.
1. Camera Obscura - French Navy
This was a once in a year song: catchy, replayable, and beautiful. I played it all the time, and it became somewhat of a soundtrack for the early part of this year. Lyrically, the story is simple enough -- a romance abroad doomed to fail -- but it's extraordinarily well written both lyrically and musically, while maintaining the simplicity of a standard pop song. Moreover, it is rare song that could have come out at any point in the past 35 years and still been well-received.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Top 40 Songs of 2009: 20-11
20. Dirty Projectors - Stillness is the Move
An intricately crafted song that is basically just a really good r&b track from a group that has been known for producing some of indie's most unlistenable art rock. Their album Bitte Orca ditches that hard-to-listen-to sound from records past in favor of a more listener-friendly pop sound, and this track demonstrates how that well sound works.
19. Joker & Ginz - Purple City
I have yet to get heavy into Dub Step, but I came across this on Pitchfork's Best Tracks list, and loved it. Just an absolute banger of track.
18. Franz Ferdinand - Katherine Kiss Me
This song is Franz Ferdinand minus everything that is Franz Ferdinand except Alex Kapranos' lusty come-on croon. With just a guitar and piano, this song puts Kapranos even more in the spotlight than he normally is (and this guy isn't shy on any of their other stuff). This song highlights his charm in a way few other songs have (excepting "Jacqueline"), where he plays the helpless admirer instead of the swaggering sex machine.
17. Jay Z featuring Alicia Keys - New York State of Mind (New York)
While Jay Z is probably in the twilight of his career as a lyricist, he is probably at the pinnacle of his career and this is his song from the top of the Empire State Building of hip hop. While other rappers may have had more top 40 songs this year or more video play, he has become what every rapper dreams of becoming, a transcendent success who has equal parts music credibility and business success. On this track he pays homage to his ascent and isn't shy about putting out his cigar long enough to tell everybody how impressive it is that he made it (he calls himself "the new Sinatra" for god's sake). Alicia Keys' chorus/piano take this song from good to great, and pulls off the difficult task of making a song about New York feel grand.
16. Smith Westerns - Dreams
Basically the story goes like this... a group of 17 and 18 year old kids in Chicago get together and find a bunch of dusty 60s albums in an attic and decide they want to make music that sounds like that, but the sound structure and guitar riffs aren't enough, so they go out and get a vocal distorter and set it to "poor sound quality 1960s live record"... The rest is fall of 2009 midwest indie/garage rock blogsophere history... or something kind of like that. Semi-accurate back stories aside, Smith Westerns seem to have carved out a nice little niche for themselves. When they're not getting kicked out of concert venues for "not peeing in garbage cans," they put on great live shows, and it's going to be interesting to see where they go on from here. As for this track, it's similar to most of their album, but I like the chorus more than any other on the album for it's inclusion of a more diverse percussion set (they use a xylophone), but you really can't go wrong with anything from their album.
15. Real Estate - Basement
As of this post, this song still can't be found on itunes, amazon, or youtube, but I came across it on their Myspace page after hearing their terrific self-titled debut album and liked it more than any track on their album... which is one of my favorite of 2009. It has more of a folk feel than the eerie sounding take on 60's beach rock heard on their album, and the vocals are more prevalent on this track. Lyrically this song takes that same nostalgic tone that is predominant on their album. Based on the line "The past is filled with episodes no one would televise" the lyrics are a series of snapshots of seemingly meaningless moments that develop this idea that the most basic and unimpressive moments are the moments that truly make up our past.
14. Best Coast - Sun Was High (So Was I)
This isn't the best song of the year, but It's about as perfect as a glo-fi song about thinking about somebody in the sun while high can be. Musically and lyrically, it perfectly captures a blurry, chemical-filled day in the sun with little else to think about.
13. Phoenix - 1901
If you have a television or a radio you have heard at least some of this song at some point this year. It's a slight point of pride that I can say I really liked Phoenix before their album Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart brought them mainstream success this year. It's also fun to see how the band has matured from the two-track wonder that was 2000's United to Wolfgang, which spawned a couple songs that got radio play, but none that were as heavily played -- or as good -- as this one.
12. Matt & Kim - Daylight
This song is almost too sugary to be good, but they pull it off. Kim Schifino's ticking clock drums and the soaring synths play well with Matt Johnson's vocals to produce a song that sounds bright and happy on the surface while dropping the hint that daylight isn't permanent ("Step back and here comes the nighttime").
11. Bat for Lashes - Daniel
Almost everything I've read about this song likens it to a Fleetwood Mac song, and as much as I'd like to be a contrarian, I can't... although I'd add that it sounds like a really good Fleetwood track. I heard this song and saw the video together at first, so the images of the video are indelibly linked to the song for me, but I think the ghoulishness of the video captures the sound quite well. The distant whir of the instrumentals and the drum machine set a soundscape that brings to mind the ruins of a battlefield or something equally dark and tragic, so video or not, the song effectively conjures up this kind of dark imagery without visual aids ("when the fires came / the smell of cinders and rain / perfumed almost everything"). At the same time, it's a catchy song that demands repetitive listens, which is the mark of a great song. The fact that I've read that this song is loosely based on her crush for the dude in The Karate Kid is a little disheartening, but sometimes the interweb lies, so I did not factor that into this ranking.
the songs that defined my year, tomorrow...
An intricately crafted song that is basically just a really good r&b track from a group that has been known for producing some of indie's most unlistenable art rock. Their album Bitte Orca ditches that hard-to-listen-to sound from records past in favor of a more listener-friendly pop sound, and this track demonstrates how that well sound works.
19. Joker & Ginz - Purple City
I have yet to get heavy into Dub Step, but I came across this on Pitchfork's Best Tracks list, and loved it. Just an absolute banger of track.
18. Franz Ferdinand - Katherine Kiss Me
This song is Franz Ferdinand minus everything that is Franz Ferdinand except Alex Kapranos' lusty come-on croon. With just a guitar and piano, this song puts Kapranos even more in the spotlight than he normally is (and this guy isn't shy on any of their other stuff). This song highlights his charm in a way few other songs have (excepting "Jacqueline"), where he plays the helpless admirer instead of the swaggering sex machine.
17. Jay Z featuring Alicia Keys - New York State of Mind (New York)
While Jay Z is probably in the twilight of his career as a lyricist, he is probably at the pinnacle of his career and this is his song from the top of the Empire State Building of hip hop. While other rappers may have had more top 40 songs this year or more video play, he has become what every rapper dreams of becoming, a transcendent success who has equal parts music credibility and business success. On this track he pays homage to his ascent and isn't shy about putting out his cigar long enough to tell everybody how impressive it is that he made it (he calls himself "the new Sinatra" for god's sake). Alicia Keys' chorus/piano take this song from good to great, and pulls off the difficult task of making a song about New York feel grand.
16. Smith Westerns - Dreams
Basically the story goes like this... a group of 17 and 18 year old kids in Chicago get together and find a bunch of dusty 60s albums in an attic and decide they want to make music that sounds like that, but the sound structure and guitar riffs aren't enough, so they go out and get a vocal distorter and set it to "poor sound quality 1960s live record"... The rest is fall of 2009 midwest indie/garage rock blogsophere history... or something kind of like that. Semi-accurate back stories aside, Smith Westerns seem to have carved out a nice little niche for themselves. When they're not getting kicked out of concert venues for "not peeing in garbage cans," they put on great live shows, and it's going to be interesting to see where they go on from here. As for this track, it's similar to most of their album, but I like the chorus more than any other on the album for it's inclusion of a more diverse percussion set (they use a xylophone), but you really can't go wrong with anything from their album.
15. Real Estate - Basement
As of this post, this song still can't be found on itunes, amazon, or youtube, but I came across it on their Myspace page after hearing their terrific self-titled debut album and liked it more than any track on their album... which is one of my favorite of 2009. It has more of a folk feel than the eerie sounding take on 60's beach rock heard on their album, and the vocals are more prevalent on this track. Lyrically this song takes that same nostalgic tone that is predominant on their album. Based on the line "The past is filled with episodes no one would televise" the lyrics are a series of snapshots of seemingly meaningless moments that develop this idea that the most basic and unimpressive moments are the moments that truly make up our past.
14. Best Coast - Sun Was High (So Was I)
This isn't the best song of the year, but It's about as perfect as a glo-fi song about thinking about somebody in the sun while high can be. Musically and lyrically, it perfectly captures a blurry, chemical-filled day in the sun with little else to think about.
13. Phoenix - 1901
If you have a television or a radio you have heard at least some of this song at some point this year. It's a slight point of pride that I can say I really liked Phoenix before their album Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart brought them mainstream success this year. It's also fun to see how the band has matured from the two-track wonder that was 2000's United to Wolfgang, which spawned a couple songs that got radio play, but none that were as heavily played -- or as good -- as this one.
12. Matt & Kim - Daylight
This song is almost too sugary to be good, but they pull it off. Kim Schifino's ticking clock drums and the soaring synths play well with Matt Johnson's vocals to produce a song that sounds bright and happy on the surface while dropping the hint that daylight isn't permanent ("Step back and here comes the nighttime").
11. Bat for Lashes - Daniel
Almost everything I've read about this song likens it to a Fleetwood Mac song, and as much as I'd like to be a contrarian, I can't... although I'd add that it sounds like a really good Fleetwood track. I heard this song and saw the video together at first, so the images of the video are indelibly linked to the song for me, but I think the ghoulishness of the video captures the sound quite well. The distant whir of the instrumentals and the drum machine set a soundscape that brings to mind the ruins of a battlefield or something equally dark and tragic, so video or not, the song effectively conjures up this kind of dark imagery without visual aids ("when the fires came / the smell of cinders and rain / perfumed almost everything"). At the same time, it's a catchy song that demands repetitive listens, which is the mark of a great song. The fact that I've read that this song is loosely based on her crush for the dude in The Karate Kid is a little disheartening, but sometimes the interweb lies, so I did not factor that into this ranking.
the songs that defined my year, tomorrow...
Monday, December 21, 2009
Top 40 Songs of 2009: 30-21
30. Big Boi featuring Gucci Mane - Shine Blockas
The bouncy soul/funk beat alone is worth the listen, but the two rap juggernauts tear it up for good measure.
29. St Vincent - Actor Out of Work
If this list were based on lyrics alone, this would be a top 5 song. There is a lot to take in in just over 2 minutes... "You're a cast signed broken arm" ...amazing. While the vocals are calm, beautiful and all things traditionally feminine, they are undercut by the biting wit and sarcasm of the lyrics resulting in a wonderful song driven by its contradictions.
28. Wild Beasts - Hooting & Howling
I had never heard of Wild Beasts before this year. Moreover, I had never heard anything like them, a group revolving around the dynamic vocals of a lead singer who sings primarily in a falsetto. This track was the first single from their phenomenal album Two Dancers, and showcases singer Hayden Thorpe's jaw dropping vocal dexterity and how the musical structure of the band allows him to be the center of the show. A rare song that's as enjoyable as it is a "what the fuck is that."
27. The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
A track that serves as a chapter in the story that is their concept album The Hazards of Love; it's really two different songs in one. The opening of the song features a solid, but business as usual performance from lead singer Colin Meloy -- cute little antiquations delivered in that steady, but mostly underwhelming voice... typical Decemberist stuff -- but then the song transitions into the "repaid" part and on comes Shara Warden, who just goes ape shit over a marching, psychedelic rock groove to take the song to another level.
26. Washed Out - Feel It All Around
This is the only song I've ever heard by Washed Out, so I can't really tell you anything else about them other than that I like this track a lot. The newly coined indie sub genre chillwave describes this song perfectly. The best way I can describe its sound is like a hazy memory of a song you heard a long time ago and vaguely remember, but hearing it brings you back to that time - or at least your fuzzy idea of what that time was like. The song's strength lies in that foggy nostalgia that is both longing but pleasant at the same time.
25. Gucci Mane featuring Plies - Wasted
Gucci Mane was this year's Lil' Wayne. It seemed like he had a verse on pretty much every top 40 rap track, he dropped a mixtape or two, and had some radio success for himself, principally this song. The song doesn't really break any new musical ground (it's basically about getting drunk and the the process by which one gets drunk), but not all music has to break new ground to be good. When it sounds like this, it's ok to rap about getting wasted.
24. jj - ecstasy
Speaking of Lil Wayne, who knew his mega hit "Lollipop" would be turned into a hazy drug ode set to his beat as some kind of distant car alarm. If that doesn't make sense, it's because it's really fucking hard to describe this song. This song also contains one of my favorite lines of the year: "If you get a hug / Guess what drug" Hmm.... While the best song about ecstasy still belongs to Bone Thugs N Harmony, this song is a very close second.
23. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Soft Shock
The track begins like some kind of electro/indie rock lullaby, and Karen O channels some of the tenderness that made Maps one of the best songs of the decade. The song almost builds into a fully buzzing synth jam, but remains close enough to that lullaby to be a unique track that balances both lullaby and synth rock.
22. Islands - Tender Torture
If you've read this list straight through up to this point, you're probably tired of the phrase electro pop, but I have to use it again to describe this song... there are seriously keyboard and synths everywhere... but it all comes together really well and it's one of the most infections songs to come out this year.
p.s. - I couldn't find a good link for this song, so that's the best I could do.
21. Lil' Wayne - Watch My Shoes
The stand out track off his only mixtape this year "No Ceilings," it's a vintage Wayne mixtape track where he takes an expensive beat from some one-hit BET video group, and just tears it to shreds and makes everybody forget this wasn't his track in the first place. His mixtape wasn't at the level of his 2007-08 stuff, but trying to become a hip hop guitar player and getting sentenced to jail might have something to do with that drop off. Either way, it's good to know that his tank isn't empty and hopefully there will be more stuff like this to come in the near future from the best rapper alive.
20-11 tomorrow...
The bouncy soul/funk beat alone is worth the listen, but the two rap juggernauts tear it up for good measure.
29. St Vincent - Actor Out of Work
If this list were based on lyrics alone, this would be a top 5 song. There is a lot to take in in just over 2 minutes... "You're a cast signed broken arm" ...amazing. While the vocals are calm, beautiful and all things traditionally feminine, they are undercut by the biting wit and sarcasm of the lyrics resulting in a wonderful song driven by its contradictions.
28. Wild Beasts - Hooting & Howling
I had never heard of Wild Beasts before this year. Moreover, I had never heard anything like them, a group revolving around the dynamic vocals of a lead singer who sings primarily in a falsetto. This track was the first single from their phenomenal album Two Dancers, and showcases singer Hayden Thorpe's jaw dropping vocal dexterity and how the musical structure of the band allows him to be the center of the show. A rare song that's as enjoyable as it is a "what the fuck is that."
27. The Decemberists - The Wanting Comes in Waves / Repaid
A track that serves as a chapter in the story that is their concept album The Hazards of Love; it's really two different songs in one. The opening of the song features a solid, but business as usual performance from lead singer Colin Meloy -- cute little antiquations delivered in that steady, but mostly underwhelming voice... typical Decemberist stuff -- but then the song transitions into the "repaid" part and on comes Shara Warden, who just goes ape shit over a marching, psychedelic rock groove to take the song to another level.
26. Washed Out - Feel It All Around
This is the only song I've ever heard by Washed Out, so I can't really tell you anything else about them other than that I like this track a lot. The newly coined indie sub genre chillwave describes this song perfectly. The best way I can describe its sound is like a hazy memory of a song you heard a long time ago and vaguely remember, but hearing it brings you back to that time - or at least your fuzzy idea of what that time was like. The song's strength lies in that foggy nostalgia that is both longing but pleasant at the same time.
25. Gucci Mane featuring Plies - Wasted
Gucci Mane was this year's Lil' Wayne. It seemed like he had a verse on pretty much every top 40 rap track, he dropped a mixtape or two, and had some radio success for himself, principally this song. The song doesn't really break any new musical ground (it's basically about getting drunk and the the process by which one gets drunk), but not all music has to break new ground to be good. When it sounds like this, it's ok to rap about getting wasted.
24. jj - ecstasy
Speaking of Lil Wayne, who knew his mega hit "Lollipop" would be turned into a hazy drug ode set to his beat as some kind of distant car alarm. If that doesn't make sense, it's because it's really fucking hard to describe this song. This song also contains one of my favorite lines of the year: "If you get a hug / Guess what drug" Hmm.... While the best song about ecstasy still belongs to Bone Thugs N Harmony, this song is a very close second.
23. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Soft Shock
The track begins like some kind of electro/indie rock lullaby, and Karen O channels some of the tenderness that made Maps one of the best songs of the decade. The song almost builds into a fully buzzing synth jam, but remains close enough to that lullaby to be a unique track that balances both lullaby and synth rock.
22. Islands - Tender Torture
If you've read this list straight through up to this point, you're probably tired of the phrase electro pop, but I have to use it again to describe this song... there are seriously keyboard and synths everywhere... but it all comes together really well and it's one of the most infections songs to come out this year.
p.s. - I couldn't find a good link for this song, so that's the best I could do.
21. Lil' Wayne - Watch My Shoes
The stand out track off his only mixtape this year "No Ceilings," it's a vintage Wayne mixtape track where he takes an expensive beat from some one-hit BET video group, and just tears it to shreds and makes everybody forget this wasn't his track in the first place. His mixtape wasn't at the level of his 2007-08 stuff, but trying to become a hip hop guitar player and getting sentenced to jail might have something to do with that drop off. Either way, it's good to know that his tank isn't empty and hopefully there will be more stuff like this to come in the near future from the best rapper alive.
20-11 tomorrow...
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Top 40 Songs of 2009: 40-31
After taking the last month to really focus on my top 40 songs list, it's finally ready for consumption by the masses. I will be breaking it up into four posts as to make it look like I've written more than I really have.
40. Miike Snow - Silvia
This song appeared on my radar after seeing a terrific live version at Lollapalooza. For the most part Miike Snow is a run of the mil, electro pop group, but this track stands out as their best work to date. A breezy, synth loaded six minute song that's not really about anything, but sounds good nonetheless. The music itself is a lot better than the lyrics, which I guess is what counts in an electro pop song.
39. We Were Promised Jet Packs - It's Thunder and Lightning
As the opener of their otherwise blah album, this track captures all their pent up Scottish rage. The rage is suppressed for the first two minutes before it blows up into a vein throbbing chant of "Your body was black and blue." It's a great song to get sad and angry too, especially if you can get passed the accent.
38. Ida Maria - Oh My God
I've always been a fan of this sort of anthemic driving British rock track (see: Razorlight's "Stumble and Fall", and The Kook's "Eddie's Gun"), but this is the first female take on the style I've really liked.
37. Harlem Shakes - Strictly Game
While their album Technicolor Health took a beating from most music critics I read, I think they got a little too much shit for being late to the African drum/guitar party and not being as good at it as bands like Vampire Weekend, who popularized the sound last year.While their album really isn't that bad, it's not great either, and this is by far, the best track, thanks mainly to the great chorus: "This will be a better year. Make a little money, take a lot of shit, feel real bad, then get over it."
36. The Cool Kids - The Art of Noise
While their M.O. has been old school-inspired party rap, they're usually at their best when the BPMs are lowered a little (see: Black Mags). The beat slowly shifts over the track's three minutes like an itunes visualizer screen, but Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks flow nonstop with cocky verses about Derrick Rose, drinking Odwalla and hooking up with the daughter of the weather lady on channel 9.
35. The Shins - Phantom Limb
On most of their albums The Shins usually have one or two easily accessible pop songs that sound good to people who otherwise don't really like the Shins. This is one of those songs.
34. F.L.Y. - Swag Surfin'
I guess I have a soft spot for catchy Casio keyboard beats and rhymes about Nickelodeon shows. I'll be shocked if F.L.Y. ever produces another noteworthy song, but the line "Shorty checked my dougie like she Patty Mayonnaise" makes this song top 40 material.
33. Animal Collective - My Girls
I don't totally understand why there is so much indie critic love for Animal Collective (this song and its album were both ranked #1 on Pitchfork's year end best of lists), a lot of times AC's music seems so dense and inaccessible that it's too much work just to try to like it, but I can appreciate the beauty that is this song. First off, it's far more accessible than almost everything else in their library. More over, while simple, the simplicity of the song's lyrics balance the layered complexity of the music going on over and underneath the vocals: "I don't mean to seem like I care about material things, like a social status/ I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls".
32. Passion Pit - Swimming in the Flood
If this were a top 100 songs of the year list there would probably be like six songs off Passion Pit's first full length album, but this track, one of the more mellow on the album, was my favorite. In line with the rest of the album, it's easy on the ears and sounds just as good on the 30th listen as it does on the first.
31. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero
The first single off the album of the year. Karen O was born to croon with the synths on full blast like this.
30-21 coming tomorrow...
40. Miike Snow - Silvia
This song appeared on my radar after seeing a terrific live version at Lollapalooza. For the most part Miike Snow is a run of the mil, electro pop group, but this track stands out as their best work to date. A breezy, synth loaded six minute song that's not really about anything, but sounds good nonetheless. The music itself is a lot better than the lyrics, which I guess is what counts in an electro pop song.
39. We Were Promised Jet Packs - It's Thunder and Lightning
As the opener of their otherwise blah album, this track captures all their pent up Scottish rage. The rage is suppressed for the first two minutes before it blows up into a vein throbbing chant of "Your body was black and blue." It's a great song to get sad and angry too, especially if you can get passed the accent.
38. Ida Maria - Oh My God
I've always been a fan of this sort of anthemic driving British rock track (see: Razorlight's "Stumble and Fall", and The Kook's "Eddie's Gun"), but this is the first female take on the style I've really liked.
37. Harlem Shakes - Strictly Game
While their album Technicolor Health took a beating from most music critics I read, I think they got a little too much shit for being late to the African drum/guitar party and not being as good at it as bands like Vampire Weekend, who popularized the sound last year.While their album really isn't that bad, it's not great either, and this is by far, the best track, thanks mainly to the great chorus: "This will be a better year. Make a little money, take a lot of shit, feel real bad, then get over it."
36. The Cool Kids - The Art of Noise
While their M.O. has been old school-inspired party rap, they're usually at their best when the BPMs are lowered a little (see: Black Mags). The beat slowly shifts over the track's three minutes like an itunes visualizer screen, but Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks flow nonstop with cocky verses about Derrick Rose, drinking Odwalla and hooking up with the daughter of the weather lady on channel 9.
35. The Shins - Phantom Limb
On most of their albums The Shins usually have one or two easily accessible pop songs that sound good to people who otherwise don't really like the Shins. This is one of those songs.
34. F.L.Y. - Swag Surfin'
I guess I have a soft spot for catchy Casio keyboard beats and rhymes about Nickelodeon shows. I'll be shocked if F.L.Y. ever produces another noteworthy song, but the line "Shorty checked my dougie like she Patty Mayonnaise" makes this song top 40 material.
33. Animal Collective - My Girls
I don't totally understand why there is so much indie critic love for Animal Collective (this song and its album were both ranked #1 on Pitchfork's year end best of lists), a lot of times AC's music seems so dense and inaccessible that it's too much work just to try to like it, but I can appreciate the beauty that is this song. First off, it's far more accessible than almost everything else in their library. More over, while simple, the simplicity of the song's lyrics balance the layered complexity of the music going on over and underneath the vocals: "I don't mean to seem like I care about material things, like a social status/ I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls".
32. Passion Pit - Swimming in the Flood
If this were a top 100 songs of the year list there would probably be like six songs off Passion Pit's first full length album, but this track, one of the more mellow on the album, was my favorite. In line with the rest of the album, it's easy on the ears and sounds just as good on the 30th listen as it does on the first.
31. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero
The first single off the album of the year. Karen O was born to croon with the synths on full blast like this.
30-21 coming tomorrow...
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Five Things I Wanted to Write About
As I have written about ad nauseum, I very rarely can think of things to write about. Is that in itself a shtick? Am I trying to be enigmatic? Why would a banana grab another banana? I mean, those are the the kind of questions I don't want to answer.
In one of my more focused mind wanderings at work today, I thought of making each post a top five list of things I want to write about regardless of relevance, timeliness, or appeal to my readers. Hopefully this won't be the straw-that-broke-the-camel's-back that loses the interest of the handful of readers I may or may not have. I guess I can only hope for the best...
Lizard Kings
I stumbled upon a great show about monitor lizards during one of my bi-yearly viewings of PBS last night, and it was one of the more entertaining things I've seen on tv lately. PBS is really only good for two things, nature documentaries and Sesame Street, and only one of those does anything for me (sorry Snufalufagus). For whatever reason I'm easily captivated by nature shows, even if they are as mundane as following around a bearded Australian man who digs lizards out of holes and straps video cameras to them (yes, this is actually what happens in that documentary), and PBS usually has the best nature shows that remain focused and informative throughout without talking down to the viewer. Animal Planet and Discover Channel usually show decent nature docs, but most are lacking in one of those areas (with the exception of Planet Earth... although Sigorney Weaver's narration as half relaxation tape reader/half 1-900 receptionist took a little off that show's fastball). Anyway, here's a link to the aforementioned program.
"The Old College Try"
I think a social more should be established that dissuades people who did not graduate from college from using this phrase. Today, my boss told me to "give [random remedial task] the old college try." In a perfect world I would have replied with something like "that's an ironic phrase to use, you know, with you not having graduated college and all, therefore probably not knowing what a college try even is," but I just fantasized about how sweet it would be to say that instead. However, the phrase "college try" is quite silly regardless of education level, and most people who graduated college don't really know what it means. I'm not going to google the origins of the phrase or anything like that because I doubt it's very interesting. Really, the closest thing to trying hard in college is taking a cross cultural journalism test hungover and on 2 hours of sleep, or trying to act convincing when you tell the chick in your room when you wake up that you really should hang out again soon.
of Montreal
Here's where the obligatory music bit gets tossed in. After listening to of Montreal leading up to Lollapalooza, then watching them put on a fantastic show; I acquired a large quantity of their music. Lately they've climbed into the top 3 of my favorite active bands, and Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?, hasn't left my car's cd player in 3 weeks. I'll forgo any additional slurpage in favor of linking an interview done by lead singer Kevin Barnes with Hall and Oates. Just to translate that into fanboy for you: "The dude from of Montreal interviews fucking Hall and Oates... the dudes who sing 'kiss on my list'!!!11!" ...Now that I think about it, I should probably embed that video into this blog right now. Why don't you take a little break from your close reading of Myke Writes and enjoy...
Greatness. I legitimately like them... probably way more than I should.
Serial Killing
I watched CSI: Miami last night for the first (and most likely last) time ever last night, and the following is by no means limited to my thoughts when I watch CSI: Miami... it goes for pretty much any time I watch a crime show or documentary about a serial killer.... Now blog reader, is it just me, or do you say to yourself (or even say out loud) something like this every time you watch the part in one of these serial killer shows when the guy gets caught "Well that's why he got caught, if I were him I would definitely have done x, y and z..."? Watching this show last night, I couldn't stop saying stuff like "if he would have just waited til that dude walked by to drown her he would've been good or "he did a pretty crappy job burying that body." This means a) I'd be a kick ass serial killer b) I need to clean my act up before things take a tragic turn c) all of the above. I'm going with option a.
Not Having a Fifth Thing to Write About
A top 5 sounds much cooler than a top 4. For the sake of not ending my first "Top 5 things I wanted to write about" post with only four topics, here's a list of cool things that come in fours...
- The Beatles
- the number of cans of beer a regulation ultimate disc can hold
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
...alright, that's enough of that
Thursday, November 5, 2009
This Week in TV Viewing
I've been a huge Daily Show for a long time, and John Stewart used to kill it on a nightly basis during the Dubya years, but it's on the brink of jumping the shark after year one of the Obama Administration. I'm not trying to get all politicy here, so don't you worry, I just want to complain about what's on the tv. Basically, the show has turned into a fish in barrel shooting range, with the fish being Fox News. And I love Fox News bashing as much as the next guy, but even (I'm trying to clean up my act so...) [insert demographic of traditionally slow-witted people] could come up with hilarious ways to tear up Fox News, so I'm holding out hope that the shark jump does not come. Stephen Colbert's show, on the other hand, has a shtick that doesn't revolve around directly making fun of a specific political entity and has been able to thrive despite a non-moronic administration being in office.
Speaking of Colbert, ESPN columnist and hands down best sports writer alive, Bill Simmons, was on his show last week and was great as expected.. His new book dropped last week, and if I weren't too cheap to buy it... I'd, uh... buy it.
Simmons is also the man behind the phenomenal 30 for 30 series ESPN is running, the first programming ESPN has introduced in the past 5 years that does not reduce its viewer's IQ. That's probably because ESPN and its production staff give up creative control to 30 different directors, and are, assumedly, unable to drool on the film reel.
Speaking of Colbert, ESPN columnist and hands down best sports writer alive, Bill Simmons, was on his show last week and was great as expected.. His new book dropped last week, and if I weren't too cheap to buy it... I'd, uh... buy it.
Simmons is also the man behind the phenomenal 30 for 30 series ESPN is running, the first programming ESPN has introduced in the past 5 years that does not reduce its viewer's IQ. That's probably because ESPN and its production staff give up creative control to 30 different directors, and are, assumedly, unable to drool on the film reel.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Reality
As the throngs who regularly visit this blog already know, sporadic posting has sort of been my modus operandi. Instead of continuously making hilarious tongue-in-cheek remarks about this, I've decided to address this issue head on. My main problem with coming up with content for this blog is determining the scope of topics I would like to write about. As a writer I see myself as a jack of all trades, but a master of none, so posting concert reviews and op eds about music tends to be more mastabatory than anything else, especially since a lot of it is half assed. In the near future I might start another page devoted soley to music as I have with the already-lost-a-lot-of-its-steam sports blog I started a few weeks ago. For now though, I think I'm going to try and live up to the eponymy of this blog and write about myself more. Writers are supposed to write best when they write what they know, so expect a steady stream of dick jokes and "i saw something silly at the store when I went there to buy some chips and here are some smart ass things I thought to say, but had nobody to say it to" type shit.
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