TNSFF

Tech, music, sports, and other stuff.

06 Jan 2011

Twitter Updates for 2011-01-06

  • Apropos of nothing, I can't stand Dave Matthews' voice. I like a lot of bad singers, but he sucks. #
  • If the Xfinity iPad app supports AirPlay, then the iPad+AppleTV becomes the greatest entertainment combo ever. #
31 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #1 (Tie) Ready To Start/Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) -- Arcade Fire

Ready To Start -- Arcade Fire
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) -- Arcade Fire

Well, I cheated. Arcade Fire put out one of the best albums of the year, and they did so the same way they released their first full-length: with a sneaky good record that, upon first listen, sounds pretty good, but not earth shattering. Each listen, however, reveals a bit more depth, a bit more story, an instrument you hadn't heard before. Maybe you catch them live, or on Saturday Night Live, or just happen to catch a glimpse of a concert video and you pick up on another layer of that song.

It's the cheap and easy way out to pick two songs as a tie for #1, but I'm lazy, and I think it's the best way to illustrate what this band did. "Ready To Start" is a driving, angry song. If you were going to compare it to something from Arcade Fire's past, it's maybe "Intervention" off of Neon Bible, but much more personal.

And, in one of the just outright greatest things you'll ever see, Regine beats the hell out of the drums on this one.

Watching Regine give the drums an asskicking, makes the second half of this top pick all the better. "Sprawl II" is a 70s pop song, or maybe an 80s New Wave song. Jittery guitars, some synths, and Regine's breathy, almost European (by way of Haiti and Canada) vocals floating along making a nice bookend to the anger of "Ready To Start". Though, don't be mistaken, this is an angry song, too. It's just a much prettier angry song, and is such a complete 180 from "Ready To Start" that it's hard to imagine the same band made them both.

In the end, the best part of both songs is that the first time you hear them, you will say "I liked some songs earlier in your list a lot better." It's inevitable. I don't think there's a single song on The Suburbs that hits immediately. They slowly worm their way into your brain, until you find yourself repeating lyrics, or dancing around to the lilting rhythm of "Sprawl II" (and believe me, you will), wondering how the hell Arcade Fire continue to put out the best music on the planet.

30 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #2 Turn Off This Song and Go Outside -- The Lonely Forest

Turn Off This Song and Go Outside -- The Lonely Forest

The first (and only) band signed to Death Cab for Cutie member Chris Walla's label, this song snuck up on me. I'd heard another of their tracks ("I Don't Want to Live There") on KEXP's Music That Matters podcast, so I grabbed their EP on iTunes because it was super cheap. This is the first track, and it's just supremely awesome. If you're jaded and don't dig just awesome sugary sweet power pop, well, this isn't for you. But then, if that's the case, I hate you.