Top Songs of 2010: Honorable Mention
22 Dec 2010There are a handful of songs that didn't quite make my top ten, but I felt deserved some recognition. I guess, maybe, I felt that if somehow I didn't list them, they'd get made fun of by the other songs and eventually end up in a dead end job, living the life of a loner, handing out pamphlets about heaven and hell outside of major sporting events.
To avoid that happening, here are a few songs:
Little Lovin' -- Lissie
This song caught my ear on a commercial for the FX show Justified. It's one of those infectious folk-pop songs where it's an above average song combined with an unreal voice so that it just sticks in your head all day and you end up walking around singing it. It is too bad so many good singers are saddled with horrible songs. When you get a good singer and a good song, it's just unstoppable.
Architects & Engineers -- Guster
As Guster continue their maturation from indie-pop band to full on folk-rock, they've left behind a bit of the, well, fun. Their earlier albums, as simple as they might have been from a musical perspective, were just full of energy. Their last couple of albums have come off a bit mopier. Still good, but just lacking in a bit of enthusiasm. Their newest album, Easy Wonderful is as close to power pop as Guster gets these days, all hooks, harmonies, handclaps, and shiny guitars. It's a sound that fits them really well, and I hope they find their way back to it more frequently.
Crash Years -- The New Pornographers
Every time The New Pornographers put out an album, it finds a way onto my list of favorite music. This year is no different. It's just another great album from a band that finds a way to put out fantastic albums every few years. Neko Case's (and Kathryn Calder's) vocals combined with the pop melodies that AC Newman writes are really just hard to top.
This year they topped it with whistling.
I Don't Believe You -- The Thermals
If you just read through the lyrics on a Thermals album, you'd be pretty sure that it'd be a depressing, melancholy, angry album.
Then you hear it.