So 2010 is coming to a close, and man, what a year it was for music. These next few entries will chronicle my personal favorites from the year– first the Top 25 individual songs, then the Top 10 albums. There are dozens of entries I would have loved to discuss but couldn’t fit in. To save space, any songs without official videos are links instead of embeds.
25. The Army You Have, “See You in November”
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Conservatives’ music has long been stuck in the Lee Greenwood model of “Let’s make this the most epic, patriotic tearjerker song evarrr!” and has stagnated for decades. When we dare to quit preaching to the choir, the result is often a low-rent parody with hacky buzzword lyrics. This year, The Army You Have bucked that trend, featuring a lineup of Bigs writers fronted by Gary and Shelli Eaton.
“See you in November” is a modest, light-hearted power pop tune that’s more subversive than it lets on; it’s a generous helping of wiseassery in response to the steaming bottomless pit of dumbassery known as the “F*ck Tea” movement. It’s emblematic of the sea change occurring in conservatism today; progressives are the Man– stuffy and overbearing, scrambling to control the minutiae of others’ lives– and we are the snide, rebellious punks. “SYIN” was a song of the moment, a perfectly snotty and righteously angry anthem for the Tea Party; even though we’d been disfranchised by the media and actively smeared by know-nothing pundits, our overwhelming vote could not be ignored on election day, and The Army You Have was serenading us all the way to the polls.
24. Trampled by Turtles, “Wait so Long”
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This is the direction country music needs to go: away from glammed-up, over-produced pop rock with a twang and toward acoustic, no-frills bluegrass. Those who like their jug bands with an extra helping of rawk will find much to like in the debut album of Minnesota’s Trampled by Turtles.
23. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, “I Learned the Hard Way”
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Just because no one else is making music in a particular classic genre anymore doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t be done. It’s just difficult to do, since you’re in the looming shadows of the stars of yesteryear. Sharon Jones does more than hold her own against the titans of ’70s pop. With breezy brass and jazz-band instrumentation behind her and funneled through the warm sounds of entirely analog recording equipment, you could sneak this one onto an XM funk channel and nobody would notice a difference between it and their favorite classics. It’s a songwriting triumph, avoiding the pitfalls of cheap nostalgic imitations and achieving an original, timeless quality.
22. Caribou, “Leave House”
A fairly innocuous flute loop and electronic beat descends into a dark world full of droning pads, sounds of breaking glass, and dingy square synths. Daniel Snaith’s falsetto vocals relay a tale of domestic unrest that’s sufficiently ambiguous without being pretentiously obtuse. You get the idea more from the paranoid, claustrophobic mood than from the lyrics themselves, and it’s a delightfully chilling experience.
21. Antoine Dodson/Gregory Brothers, “Bed Intruder Song”
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Possibly the most popular song of the year, it was the single most viewed video on YouTube, and “Bed Intruder” has something for everyone. For the hipsters, there’s ironic hip hop. For everyone with a funny bone, there’s the inspired performance of Mr. Dodson, flush with righteous anger and triumphant in his mockery of the fleeing felon. And for conservatives, it’s a story of capitalistic success and charity. The Dodsons elevated Dodson’s celebrity and opened up methods to monetize the viral hit, graciously sharing the profits and allowing him to buy a house and a better life for him and his family. So while you double over laughing at the pure goofiness of the video, you’re also weeping tears of joy.
20. Big Boi, “Shutterbugg”
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A classy party song bursting with energy, hopping from idea to idea without losing cohesion, showcasing some of the greatest production values possible in the music industry. I feel sorry for the readers who categorically dismiss rap and miss out on enjoying true gems like this.
19. Janelle Monae, “Oh Maker”
R&B’s new queen Janelle Monae has some moments on her debut album that drag or don’t seem to know quite where to go, but “Oh Maker” is one of the songs that is just perfectly structured, hitting all its marks while making genre-hopping look easy. While she sings in many styles and voices throughout the record, here she seems in her native element, really belting it out for a sweet, we-all-want-love-and-world-peace ballad with a massive kick drum and grooving bass.
18. Arcade Fire, “Sprawl II”
The most condescending, sneer-at-middle-America song on the Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs just happens to be the only good song on the album. It’s a New Wave near-masterpiece with a huge chip on its shoulder and a passionate performance from frontman Win Butler’s wife, Regine Chassagne. It’s a song about how people who conform to working a normal job are stupid rubes who can’t understand the singer’s awesome artistry, a song about how people’s businesses and livelihoods are such a drag on the scenery and aesthetics in town. It’s a pure expression of raging leftist id, and I love it. If only the other 15 songs on the album could be this honest and stop trying to sound like the work of some wizened statesman (which often just turned into imitating Springsteen at his cheesiest), The Suburbs would’ve been a lock for me like Fahrenheit 9/11 was for John Nolte. But, sad to say, “Sprawl II” is the only one that makes the cut.
17. Avey Tare, “Oliver Twist”
The de facto frontman of Animal Collective’s solo album uses swamps as a visualization of Hell, with gurgling, trippy (drippy?) synths and heavily modulated vocals helping him channel the pain of losing his marriage, seeing his sister battle with cancer, and just about every other existential quandary you can get bummed about. “Oliver Twist” shows Avey searching the world for some form of purpose or human connection, finding nothing, realizing he’s orphaned and lost. The song’s highlight comes when all the instruments drop out and Tare bellows a series of “Oh”s, howling out into anywhere for a response from anyone. The distortion and octaver on his voice give the moment, and the entire song, a haunting resonance.
16. Wavves, “King of the Beach”
Nathan Williams’ speaker-destroying pop-punk project is finally all growed up… well, sorta. Gone is the obvious digital clipping and intentionally rough recording; instead, there’s some masterful production that straddles the line between lo-fi punk and stadium rock. Williams’ nasal snarl perfectly compliments the acerbic youth-in-revolt lyrics; there’s something crazily endearing in the obnoxious proclamation that he is “king of the beach.” So prideful, yet so petty.
15. Hot Chip, “One Life Stand”
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It’s hard to pin down what I love most about this song: the effortless transition from a menacing minor verse to a bouncy major chorus, the post-chorus synth solo morphing in and out of crazier and crazier sounds, or hearing another immaculate performance from Alexis Taylor’s sonorous tenor voice. If you prefer your pop music electronic and genial, One Life Stand ought to have been one of the highlights of your year.
14. Blackbird Blackbird, “Pure”
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When it comes to shoegaze, I’m firmly in the camp of My Bloody Valentine and other acts that tried to push the boundaries of recorded music to completely overload all frequencies. You don’t see it happen too often today, but San Diego’s Blackbird Blackbird is a synth pop outfit that does just that, squeezing every bit of saturation they can out of their instrument tracks through aggressive compression and slathering a layer of hazy vocals on top of it all. Keep an eye out for these guys; they’re going places if they keep up the quality of their debut LP, Summer Heart.
13. Cee-Lo Green, “Fool for You”
Contrary to popular opinion, I didn’t dislike Cee-Lo’s third solo album The Ladykiller. I just felt that it was a stronger album listen without its infamous first single. There are plenty of great radio-friendly songs on the album, and none of them quite stand out like “Fool for You,” a desperate plea for a woman to return the singer’s love. The drums roll forward with their hits snapped tight to the 4th notes while a truly overpowering bassline and brass provide a bed for Cee-Lo to let go and just wail. When it all drops for the chorus, a lush string riff allow him to open up his soul, completely vulnerable, quietly admitting that he, the Ladykiller himself, is willing to drop his cool, charismatic persona for this girl. That is the essence of love– self-sacrifice– and I figure the world would be about 65% better if our pop songs celebrated this theme rather than self-absorbed immediate gratification.
12. Sleigh Bells, “Infinity Guitars”
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A short and sweet encapsulation of everything that’s right with the best rock record of the year. Just when you think it’s at its biggest and loudest, it gets bigger and louder and awesome-er.
11. Sufjan Stevens, “Too Much”
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It was difficult choosing a single track that stood above the rest of The Age of Adz, so I just went with the track that first chipped away at my skepticism about the album. The second released track “Too Much” is the gateway between Sufjan the folk songwriter and Sufjan the 21st-century multi-genre composer prodigy. Like Dylan switching on that electric guitar, the electronics of the song open with a low gurgle that soon elevates into screeching feedback before the synthesized beat kicks in.
“Too Much” is a coy, light-hearted admission of trepidation in romance and the only danceable song in 7/4 I’ve ever heard. As it progresses, more and more analog instruments come into the mix– brass, strings, piano, and choir. Once the chaotic breakdown storms through, the melody bouncing back and forth between orchestra sections and synth patches, Sufjan’s embrace of all things digital has finally brought his audio engineering to a level that matches the quality of his compositions. Previous highlights such as “Chicago” or “The Transfiguration” sound austere and stale compared to the aggressive, world-shattering sounds of The Age of Adz, and “Too Much” is quite the appropriate introduction to this new sonic world.
Stay tuned for Tracks 10-1.