Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird

Time to memorialize the Top Songs Added to my Musical Library in 2010 (annual caveat of one song per artist) and have some fun with hashtags. Apologies to Spoon, Kanye West, Sara Bareilles, the Born Ruffians, and especially Antoine Dodson...close, but no cigar (as of January 2011).


10. Kings of Leon - "Pickup Truck"
The downward slide since Because of the Times continues...this is a bit of a stretch, but I'll give the guys of a pass because they still put on a fantastic live show. #highstandards




9. Dave Barnes - "Look So Easy"
A nice, fun summery type pop song. I listened to this song a lot with my niece and nephew in 2010. Not bad times. #summercandy




8. Mumford and Sons - "Sigh No More"
"Timshel" might just be better, but I'll give credit to the song that originally caught my ear. I had a nice weekend trip to Wisconsin listening to these guys (thanks, Corks). That said, not sure I could see them live given all the physical abuse bestowed upon the banjo. #stopbanjoabuse



7. Wye Oak - "My Creator"
Nice little find here; for some reason I feel like I'm catching on to these guys on the upswing. Fun fact: I like this song almost entirely because of Jenn's enunciation. #weird #jennwithtwoenns



6. Ben Rector - "When a Heart Breaks"
(Rector?!?) Props to Luke for suggesting a purchase of this album after seeing The Three Amigos open for Dave Barnes at the Exit/In. This song features one of my favorite lyrics of the year: "I don't need answers, I just need some peace; I just need someone who could help me get some sleep." #eeeemotions


5. Arcade Fire - "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
Look, I love the suburbs. But despite our obvious differences of opinion, this album was a winner from the start. And while I appreciate the sentiment of "We Used to Wait" a lot, this song is too catchy and (oddly) joyful to deny. #iheartchilis


4. Local Natives - "Wide Eyes"
I still find a bit improbable that these guys hail from the cultural black hole known as Orange County, playing such "venues" as The District in Tustin. Bottom line, Luke had it right when he said "the first 40 seconds of every song wishes it were as good as this one." #missyoutaylortownsend


3. Jars of Clay - "The Shelter"
The mancrush continues. Taken from an Irish proverb declaring that "it is in the shelter of each other that the people live," this tune is about finding strength in those around us...about seeing our community as a blessing and a gift. A novel concept on which to reflect...and another tune from Jars that both brings comfort and obliges action. #somethingtoaspireto



2. Frightened Rabbit - "The Loneliness & The Scream"
Another ridiculously strong effort from these Scottish lads. The new, fuller sound of the ever-expanding band really plays here. This song does not suck live. #morethanonedudeondrums



1. The Tallest Man on Earth - "The Wild Hunt"
2010: "The Year of Kristian Matsson." Love is All. A Field of Birds. King of Spain. The cover of Graceland. I could go on, but I'll go with the song through which we were introduced as my favorite TMoE song. Ironically, I first heard "The Wild Hunt" while hoping to catch a live Frightened Rabbit show on BBC Radio online...a happy accident. #WOAHsoisthiswhatshemeans

There's a Radio in the Corner, It's Dying to Make a Scene

Given a few more spins and a few less podcasts, I'm sure Tegs & Smush, Passion Pit, Pete Yorn, and The Swell Season could've made this list, but here's my Top 10 Songs Added to my Library in 2009 (again, with the caveat of one song per artist):

10. CSS - Move
I suppose I was a bit late to the game with these iTunes darlings. Regardless, I spent a good chunk of the early part of the year listening to chick-infused dance pop a la Ladyhawke and The Ting Tings, and I probably like this song the most.

9. The Temper Trap - Science of Fear
Like, The Stills' Rooibos last year, I'm a sucker for songs with a sense of urgency.

8. Manchester Orchestra - Shake it Out
No matter what I do, I can't seem to see these guys live (I think I'm ohferfive). Another song with a sense of energy and a great bridge. Probably the best running song of 2009 too.

7. MuteMath - Spotlight
I'm probably fudging a bit here since this song came out on 2008 on the Twilight soundtrack, but it's handclaps will continue long into the new decade.

While we're here, a brief note of thanks to the great drummers of 2009. Thomas Hedlund of Phoenix, Grant Hutchinson of Frightened Rabbit, and Darren King of MuteMath...thanks for making life more fun. Keep up the good work.

6. Kings of Convenience - 24-25
Ahhh. As Luke said, what year was this shot, 1979?

---Now begins the real powerhouse tunes---

5. The Rural Alberta Advantage - Edmonton
Pretty fun little find here after reading about them on some blog about the smaller buzz bands featured at SXSW. Fun fact, they toured the U.S. later in the year in a mid-1990s 4x4 Mazda MPV.

4. Phoenix - Lisztomania
Throw in 1901 here if you want, I won't argue. All I know is when Lisztomania comes on the iPod randomly, I'm smiling.

A timeout to highlight my three favorite live shows this year (a banner year, really, where I saw 9 shows from some of my top live bands over a 6 week period towards the end of the summer):

- Fleetwood Mac (5/28 at Staples Center): still bringing and playing all the hits. A solid way to start off a great 30th birthday weekend.
- Phoenix (6/28 at The Wiltern LG): Too.Many.Hits. A night where I felt I was part of a moment.
- MuteMath (10/10 at Club Nokia): these guys continue to melt faces with their live show. I mean, HONESTLY (!!!).

3. We Were Promised Jetpacks - It's Thunder and It's Lightning
Impossibly young looking, but still...best opener ever. Absolutely killed it. Can't wait to see what they do next.

2. Jars of Clay - Scenic Route
Yeah, ok, I have a bit of a soft spot (mancrush?) on these dudes, but no other band gets me thinking like them. After a challenging album with a theme of examining the darker side of human nature, Jars came back with an 80s pop-infused album centered on community and relationships...and it rocked. While Heart might just be the sound of Jars reaching their potential, Scenic Route is utterly listenable and features such lyrical gems as: "We're just sitting like novels we've picked up but never read through, you think you know my ending, I think I know yours too."

1. Frightened Rabbit - Old, Old Fashioned
My favorite band, album, and greatest find of the year. I can't recommend these guys highly enough.

You Got One? HOLLER!

Once again, I felt like memorializing the best tunes that were added to my musical library in the past year. Here they are, in order, with the caveat that I can choose only one song from any given album. Otherwise, this list would be heavy with Bon Iver, Coldplay, and KOL, probably my top three albums of 2008.

10. Phantom Planet - "Geronimo"

Look, this song is DIRTY…and not in a friendly way. You want proof? Try the lyric "You don't want to make me blush, you want me unconscious." Or, how about: "I scream bloody murder, why don't you call me something dirtier"? Subject matter aside, this song just feels like a Phantom Planet song, which makes for a fun few minutes of listening. One more? Ok: "I can't stop thinking of pummeling you, for a nother full minute or two." Seriously. Dirty.

9. Dave Barnes - "When A Heart Breaks"

8. Mates of State - "My Only Offer"

Both of the albums from which these songs came were pretty indicative of how I felt about a lot of my favorite albums in 2008…on first listen, MEH (underwhelmed, disappointment)…but after a few more listens, INTO it (into it). Barnes' "When a Heart Breaks" (a song about heartbreak, oddly enough) was a winner from day one. This song is emotional, and has a fantastic breakdown and bridge. "My Only Offer" is a solid example of Mates' switch from using the organ to the piano on Re-Arrange Us. It didn't work for me at first, but I've come to love both this album and this song.

7. The Stills - "Rooibos / Palm Wine Drinkard"

Apparently most of The Stills' latest album is about global warming (hence the title "Oceans Will Rise"). If that's the case, then "Rooibos" sorta embodies urgency to deal with the climate crisis more than any other song on the album for me. Frantic rhythms, air-raid siren guitars, and non-stop energy…all things that remind me of Al Gore.

6. City & Colour - "Waiting …"

Nothing like a song with a chorus of "We're all just waiting, waiting to die" to get you going, eh? Seriously though, this song is awesome. And my buddy Luke and I can't figure out why. Sure, Dallas Green's voice is unique and fantastic and I've been known to enjoy the acoustic guitar in my days, but really, nothing happens in this song. How is it so good?

While we're here, let's memorialize three concerts that I enjoyed immensely this year…

3. John Mayer, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, July 27, 2008 – Dude was feeling it that night…bouncing around on stage and bringing the energy (maybe cuz he was in the same town as Jen?) The setlist was awesome…acoustic Slow Dancing, Free Fallin', and b.a. covers of Mercy, Crossroads, and Panama.

2. Tegan & Sara with City & Colour, Music Box Theatre, October 18, 2008 – Maybe the surprise show of the year for me. Dallas is great live, and Tegan & Sara are immensely likeable. Also, who knew…"Back in Your Head," quite a closer.

1. The Swell Season with Iron & Wine, SDSU Open Air Theater, October 3, 2008 – Perhaps the best night of the year for me. The sound at this venue is generally perfect, leading to the realization that Sam Beam's voice is really quite beautiful. Meanwhile, the Swell Season blew me away. I highly recommend checking out both of these sets.

5. Dear & The Headlights - "Saintly Rows (Oh Oh)"

So, one night, I load up Drunk Like Bible Times onto my Nano and hit the play button as I walk out my front door to walk my dog, Hapa. Once "Saintly Rows" pops on and the "oh oh"s really kick in, I literally could not stop myself from skipping along to the beat. Music is awesome…even though I'm guessing my neighbors totally think I'm a freak.

4. Coldplay - "Lovers in Japan / Reign of Love"

So apparently I didn't want to like the new Coldplay album. I guess X&Y turned me off to Coldplay so much so that I wasn't even sure I'd give this album a try. Weirdly I didn't even realize this was the case until I was spinning Viva La Vida and found myself kinda upset that I liked the album so much. "Lovers in Japan" was my original favorite, and a standout on an album that remains eminently listenable. Ok, Coldplay, you won me back. So much so that I paid nearly $120/ticket to see you back in November, and now you f'ers hold the title of "most expensive concert I've ever been to" (by, like, a mile). So, um, thanks.

3. Jason Mraz - "Dynamo of Volition" (Live + Acoustic)

Pretty big year for Mraz, who made a decent comeback with his hit "I'm Yours," a song that my roommate listened to literally 40x in one day (easily one of the most absurd stories I heard all year). "I'm Yours" ain't bad, but frankly Jason can keep cranking crap out like that so long as I get to see him doing acoustic versions of fun songs like this one with Toca in tow.

2. Kings of Leon - "Manhattan"

I find myself amazed at some of the crap that KOL gets away with sometimes (see: "Sex On Fire," a breakthrough hit for KOL in the U.S., which is about…good sex). The latest KOL bio says "Manhattan" is "partly about dancing and enjoying life, and partly about Native Americans." Seems like an odd mix. Then again, the bio also uses the word "throbbing" to describe another song, an adjective that is, in my opinion, always a mistake when talking about music (and most things, frankly). At any rate, here's to a KOL song that legitimately makes me happy for a reason other than just general awesomeness (and that has that going for it too).

1. Bon Iver - "Re: Stacks"

Full disclosure: I first heard this song in May during the end of crazy emotional season four finale of House (it was definitely pretty dusty in my living room that evening…and someone was clearly cutting some onions nearby too). Using "Re: Stacks" at the close of this heartbreaking episode was a brilliant choice, as this song just sounds sad. That said, as the closer of an album that deals with pretty intense depths of isolation and desperation ("whatever could it be that has brought me to this loss"), this song is actually quite hopeful. With "Re: Stacks," it actually feels like we're exorcising Justin Vernon's demons along with him, until we too feel the weight of his sadness lifted: "This is not the sound of a new man, or a crispy realization, it's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away." In a year when so many spoke of hope, the subtle optimism of this song makes it my favorite tune of the year by far. Indeed, as Bon says, "everything that happens is from now on."

What kind of hits? THE hits.

January 4, 2008

I felt like memorializing my thoughts on the top 10 songs I added to my musical library in 2007. Here they are, in order, with the caveat that I could only add one song per artist...otherwise the entire list might've been taken up by KOL, Mute Math, and Spoon (my three favorite albums of 2007)...

10. "The Con"
Tegan and Sara
My favorite Canadian lesbian twin sister indie rock duo, hands down. Apparently they basically provided the entire soundtrack to Grey's Anatomy before the writer's strike happened…I wouldn't know. But I can see a song like this blasting over an over-the-top emotional montage of people breaking up or cheating on their significant others or something. If that doesn't make for a good tune, I'm not sure what does.
Bonus points: "Encircle me, I need, to be, taken DOWN!"

9. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi"
Radiohead
In Rainbows was maybe the surprise of the year for me. I'm hardly a huge Radiohead fan, so the last thing I would have expected from them at this point in their career was a totally listenable and easily accessible album. I suppose this implies some simplicity on my part as a listener, but either way, In Rainbows was almost instantly a golden addition to the library in 2007. "Weird Fishes" is apparently a love song, also a bit of a surprise. Regardless, I dig this song's beat and repetitive guitar licks.
Bonus points: I paid £0.00 for this album. That was pretty fun.

8. "Sign of Life"
Kunek
(Album: Flight of the Flynns)
These dudes are from Stillwater, Oklahoma...home of Oklahoma State University...home of head football coach Mike Gundy. I'm not sure if you heard, but he's a man...and he's 40! Beyond that, this song is really good and has a fantastic bridge.
Bonus points: "...are you...okay?"

7. "I'm Not Who I Was"
Brandon Heath
(Album: Don't Get Comfortable)
I'll say it...I like CCM (Contemporary Christian Music). When it's done right (which isn't often), it has the power to be both moving and soothing. Brandon Heath did it right with his breakthrough single, which plays out as a letter of forgiveness. The song stays mellow throughout and doesn't really go anywhere, but succeeds powerfully in getting its message across.
Bonus points: "...(pause) Hellllooo."

6. "Past in Present"
Feist
(Album: The Reminder)
"Past in Present" recently overtook "I Feel It All" as the most consistently listenable track on this album for me. The Reminder is, frankly, solid all the way around, but there's no denying this toe-tapper.
Bonus points: Double claps!

5. "Fake Empire"

The National
My buddy Luke once wrote a blog highlighting how certain bands are good at composing certain parts of songs. He gave the title of "Best Outro" to the Kings of Convenience (see: "Misread" and "Love is No Big Truth"). This song, off the critically-adored Boxer, builds throughout the tune, before melding a fantastic KOC-esque outro with Sufjan Stevens' sweeping horn arrangements to create two of my favorite musical minutes of the year.
Bonus points: ...when the drumming kicks in after the initial verse + piano.

4. "Finer Feelings"
Spoon
Let's give it up to Spoon for producing an eminently listenable and fun "indie" album (horrible title aside). This, my friends, is a friggin' POP song, with ironic lyrics to match. Good times.
Bonus points: Hand claps!

3. "Keep the Car Running"
Arcade Fire
The number of people who have told me that Arcade Fire is the best live band in the world is amazingly high. Thus, I was prettay excited when they showed up on SNL early in the year to perform some new tunes off Neon Bible. After seeing them open with a decent, but underwhelming version of "Intervention," I was left a bit disappointed. Then they came out for their second tune, performed this one, and blew me away. Great melody, dance-able rhythm, and a semi-fun sounding tune on an otherwise morose, albeit enjoyable, album.
Bonus points: Anytime there's a group of 3 or more people singing "OHHH OHHH" in unison, I'm IN.

2. "Noticed"
Mute Math
YOUYAH! Full disclosure: I bought this album at the recommendation of espn.com's Sportsguy, Bill Simmons. Then John Mayer recommended Mute Math, calling their self-titled debut LP "the album that will take me through the rest of the year." Even though I like both of those guys, I went in to this album wanting NOT to like it. Cue "Noticed," and I was in. It was this song that caused me to explore Mute Math's album a bit further, which led me to see their live show in September. After seeing back-to-back Kings of Leon shows to end the summer, I wouldn't have thought any band could reasonably challenge KOL for the title of "Best Live Show Ando Saw in 2007," but these guys put on an INSANE show that could best be described as "friggin CHAOS", and really made the vote close. Well played, Mute Math...one of the major highlights of 2007. Also, "Noticed" is the best running song released in 2007, in my humble opinion.
Bonus points: For (i) the underlying Christian undertones, (ii) the use of the keytar, and (iii) seriously, did I mention the live show?!?

1. "Arizona"
Kings of Leon
Simply put...the best song off the best album of the year from the best live band I saw in 2007. Seriously, if you don't like this song, we probably shouldn't be friends. Maybe I have a soft spot for anything that involves my home state of Arizona, but this song evokes the feeling of driving through the desert on a warm, dark night...my favorite thing to do in the world. Solid gold, KOL.
Bonus points: "She must be plum crazy. I kinda think I like her. I kinda think I do."