Back again with another list. This one took a bit longer because I had to go and do some searching for songs I'd missed last year. As hard as it is to believe, 2010 was an even worse year for music than 2009; Triple J's Hottest 100 in '09 at least featured Them Crooked Vultures, Pheonix and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 2010 didn't even fare that well. I bought 4 albums last year and two were soundtracks, after this I'll be getting 3 more, but still not a great year. 2011 is looking pretty good so far, but we'll have to wait and see.
I'm not going to bother posting youtube links, just copy/paste and find them yourself.
(Song - Artist)
10. The Opposite of Adults - Chitty Bang
Now, I haven't just put a hip hop song on the list to grab me some street cred. The Opposite of Adults is on this list because it's a hip hop song I actually like. Except for Matisyahu and the Beastie Boys there's been really no rap/hip hop I've liked since the first wave died out in the early 1990s. Here is a song with the rap artist apologizing to his mother for not having a real job, no guns, bitches or bling in sight and a sample that actually sounds better than the original. If you think you don't like hip hop, check this out.
9. London Calling - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
This cover was actually performed at a concert in Hyde Park in 2009, but as the DVD was released in 2010, it's going here. During a massive concert at one of London's most iconic venues, the Boss opened with a classic Clash number, he didn't know all the words or all the chords, but it still sounded fantastic. London Calling is not my favorite Clash song, but with the entire E Street Band belting it out, it takes on a new life. The Boss. The Clash. In Hyde Park. This is what Stadium Rock was meant to sound like. If you're a fan of live music, go pick up Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band London Calling - Live in Hyde Park on DVD.
8. Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National
Somber, melancholy and beautiful, Bloodbuzz Ohio is a perfect example of how a good pop song doesn't need to be a dance anthem. I don't know much about The National, but after hearing this I'm going to check them out a bit more. In terms of sound, Bloodbuzz Ohio reminds me of early R.E.M. or The Smiths, pop rhythms with a downbeat feel and subtle vocals. Also there's a fair bit of Joy Division there, think Love Will Tear Us Apart before it was all over pop radio. If the rest of the album is even half this good, it's worth a look.
7. Crossroads - Cyndi Lauper
Apparently, Cyndi Lauper has done a blues album. I don't know how I missed this, but I am pissed. I've copped stick in the past for admitting I like Cyndi Lauper, but seriously, what's not to like? Compare a current pop singer, anyone you like; songs written by computer, voice auto-tuned beyond recognition and tits out for the whole world to see. Now take Cyndi; wrote most of her own songs, an octave range that an Opera singer would be proud of and stuck to her own sense of fashion. Here she does a Blues staple, Crossroads (aka Crossroad Blues), it's a great take on the song, her voice being pretty far removed from the typical, gravely Blues sound. Given her talents and success, it's also not unreasonable to imagine that she really did sell her soul to the devil for music.
6. Cyanide - Bad religion
After touring themselves almost to death in 2008/09, the BR guys crashed at one of their houses for a week and kicked out an album. Sounds like something Bruce Springsteen would do (and indeed has done), but no, one of the oldest and most respected Punk acts has pulled a Segar Session. A common, and often fair, complaint about BR is that all of their songs sound the same, although the last two, New Maps of Hell and Against the Grain have had an increasingly post-produced sound. Cyanide gets away from this, it sounds more like something from The Empire Strikes First with a bit of a country (no, seriously) sensibility. That's right, BR has done a Pop Punk love song with some country riffs, and hey, it sounds great. Hopefully this marks the point that BR actively tried to find a new sound.
5. Mercy Street - Fever Ray
I like The Knife, but I've had trouble really getting into Fever Ray's solo stuff, this Peter Gabriel cover changes that. Haunting, but not creepy like The Knife, this is a great twist on a classic pop number. Maybe not enough enticement to buy the whole album, but a great single from a great vocalist. If you don't know The Knife, check this out first and go from there.
4. TRON Legacy (End Titles) - Daft Punk
Everybody's talking about Derezzed, but the real gem on this debut soundtrack from French Electro geniuses Daft Punk is TRON Legacy. The song builds through a complex electronic introduction before blending in a crescendo with classic strings and horns. Daft Punk have grown up and found their calling, I would be shocked if this is the last soundtrack we get from them, everything about it is perfectly tied in with the film. The end title theme is epic, sweeping and smooth as a light cycle, it may not be a hit single like Derezzed, but as a piece of musical composition, it is by far the superior song.
3. Threshold - Sex Bomb-om (Beck Hansen)
For those that have seen Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, this song appears in the battle of the bands between Sex Bomb-om and the Katanagi Twins. Indie Darling and Futurama guest star Beck was a great choice to compose the songs for the fake band featured in the film and he knocked out a couple of frenzied punk numbers for Micheal Cera to shred a bass to. Threshold is the best song that Sex Bomb-om play hands down, good beat, crazy lyrics and a solid rhythm line make it really stand out.
2. Orphans - The Gaslight Anthem
TGA have gone more Springsteen and less punk on their latest album, but they still sound awesome. Orphans is the hardest rocking song on American Slang, with some beautiful lyric work like "we were diamond Sinatras, like something I saw in a dream" and TGA's signature guitar work. If you're not in to TGA yet, American Slang is probably their most accessible album, start there and work backwards to The '59 Sound and Sink or Swim. Easily the best band you're not listening to yet.
1. March On - Devo
Are we not men? In a world dominated by crap artists mining 80s electro for inspiration, Devo comes back on the scene to show them all how it's really done. March On is as good as Beautiful World or Freedom of Choice, the synth is used properly (a rarity these days) and that drum work is an actual drummer, not a machine. The album Something For Everybody is a fantastic parody of manufactured pop music; Devo showing off their Punk credentials for the whole world to see. If you need a solid pop album, go get Something For Everybody, probably the best thing I've heard all 2010.
I'm not going to bother posting youtube links, just copy/paste and find them yourself.
(Song - Artist)
10. The Opposite of Adults - Chitty Bang
Now, I haven't just put a hip hop song on the list to grab me some street cred. The Opposite of Adults is on this list because it's a hip hop song I actually like. Except for Matisyahu and the Beastie Boys there's been really no rap/hip hop I've liked since the first wave died out in the early 1990s. Here is a song with the rap artist apologizing to his mother for not having a real job, no guns, bitches or bling in sight and a sample that actually sounds better than the original. If you think you don't like hip hop, check this out.
9. London Calling - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
This cover was actually performed at a concert in Hyde Park in 2009, but as the DVD was released in 2010, it's going here. During a massive concert at one of London's most iconic venues, the Boss opened with a classic Clash number, he didn't know all the words or all the chords, but it still sounded fantastic. London Calling is not my favorite Clash song, but with the entire E Street Band belting it out, it takes on a new life. The Boss. The Clash. In Hyde Park. This is what Stadium Rock was meant to sound like. If you're a fan of live music, go pick up Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band London Calling - Live in Hyde Park on DVD.
8. Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National
Somber, melancholy and beautiful, Bloodbuzz Ohio is a perfect example of how a good pop song doesn't need to be a dance anthem. I don't know much about The National, but after hearing this I'm going to check them out a bit more. In terms of sound, Bloodbuzz Ohio reminds me of early R.E.M. or The Smiths, pop rhythms with a downbeat feel and subtle vocals. Also there's a fair bit of Joy Division there, think Love Will Tear Us Apart before it was all over pop radio. If the rest of the album is even half this good, it's worth a look.
7. Crossroads - Cyndi Lauper
Apparently, Cyndi Lauper has done a blues album. I don't know how I missed this, but I am pissed. I've copped stick in the past for admitting I like Cyndi Lauper, but seriously, what's not to like? Compare a current pop singer, anyone you like; songs written by computer, voice auto-tuned beyond recognition and tits out for the whole world to see. Now take Cyndi; wrote most of her own songs, an octave range that an Opera singer would be proud of and stuck to her own sense of fashion. Here she does a Blues staple, Crossroads (aka Crossroad Blues), it's a great take on the song, her voice being pretty far removed from the typical, gravely Blues sound. Given her talents and success, it's also not unreasonable to imagine that she really did sell her soul to the devil for music.
6. Cyanide - Bad religion
After touring themselves almost to death in 2008/09, the BR guys crashed at one of their houses for a week and kicked out an album. Sounds like something Bruce Springsteen would do (and indeed has done), but no, one of the oldest and most respected Punk acts has pulled a Segar Session. A common, and often fair, complaint about BR is that all of their songs sound the same, although the last two, New Maps of Hell and Against the Grain have had an increasingly post-produced sound. Cyanide gets away from this, it sounds more like something from The Empire Strikes First with a bit of a country (no, seriously) sensibility. That's right, BR has done a Pop Punk love song with some country riffs, and hey, it sounds great. Hopefully this marks the point that BR actively tried to find a new sound.
5. Mercy Street - Fever Ray
I like The Knife, but I've had trouble really getting into Fever Ray's solo stuff, this Peter Gabriel cover changes that. Haunting, but not creepy like The Knife, this is a great twist on a classic pop number. Maybe not enough enticement to buy the whole album, but a great single from a great vocalist. If you don't know The Knife, check this out first and go from there.
4. TRON Legacy (End Titles) - Daft Punk
Everybody's talking about Derezzed, but the real gem on this debut soundtrack from French Electro geniuses Daft Punk is TRON Legacy. The song builds through a complex electronic introduction before blending in a crescendo with classic strings and horns. Daft Punk have grown up and found their calling, I would be shocked if this is the last soundtrack we get from them, everything about it is perfectly tied in with the film. The end title theme is epic, sweeping and smooth as a light cycle, it may not be a hit single like Derezzed, but as a piece of musical composition, it is by far the superior song.
3. Threshold - Sex Bomb-om (Beck Hansen)
For those that have seen Scott Pilgrim Vs The World, this song appears in the battle of the bands between Sex Bomb-om and the Katanagi Twins. Indie Darling and Futurama guest star Beck was a great choice to compose the songs for the fake band featured in the film and he knocked out a couple of frenzied punk numbers for Micheal Cera to shred a bass to. Threshold is the best song that Sex Bomb-om play hands down, good beat, crazy lyrics and a solid rhythm line make it really stand out.
2. Orphans - The Gaslight Anthem
TGA have gone more Springsteen and less punk on their latest album, but they still sound awesome. Orphans is the hardest rocking song on American Slang, with some beautiful lyric work like "we were diamond Sinatras, like something I saw in a dream" and TGA's signature guitar work. If you're not in to TGA yet, American Slang is probably their most accessible album, start there and work backwards to The '59 Sound and Sink or Swim. Easily the best band you're not listening to yet.
1. March On - Devo
Are we not men? In a world dominated by crap artists mining 80s electro for inspiration, Devo comes back on the scene to show them all how it's really done. March On is as good as Beautiful World or Freedom of Choice, the synth is used properly (a rarity these days) and that drum work is an actual drummer, not a machine. The album Something For Everybody is a fantastic parody of manufactured pop music; Devo showing off their Punk credentials for the whole world to see. If you need a solid pop album, go get Something For Everybody, probably the best thing I've heard all 2010.
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