TNSFF

Tech, music, sports, and other stuff.

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.

28 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #4 Echoes -- Klaxons

Echoes -- Klaxons

2010 saw Klaxons release their long-awaited second album, a harsher, more guitar driven album than their debut from a few years ago. It is still the same dense, hard to process, somewhere between-rave-and-rock sound, though this time around it's a bit more rock than rave.

The album also has one of the great album covers of all time:
klaxons-cat-astronaut-album.jpeg

Echoes is the best song that Muse never wrote. Given that Muse gets all the hype for creating "sci-fi rock", and rock stations spent about a thousand hours hyping Muse's rip-off of Blondie's "Call Me" (which was possibly the worst song of 2009), it's horrifically unfair that I've only heard Echoes played on the radio a handful of times (and it was on one of the XM indie rock stations at that).

28 Dec 2010

Twitter Updates for 2010-12-28

  • I guess this is a storm. Kinda weak so far http://twitpic.com/3k321e
    http://twitpic.com/3k325b #
  • Top Songs of 2010: #6 Written in Reverse -- Spoon http://www.ryantoohil.com/2010/12/top-songs-of-2010-6-written-in-reverse-spoon.php #
  • I love minor bowl games. Going for 2 to win -- awesome. Now maybe we'll get a kickoff return td. #
  • Hook and lateral to convert a 4th and 17, that will be overturned on review to end the game. Minor bowls! #
  • The play stands! FIU lives for 42 more seconds. #
  • FIU has a 40ish yard FG to win the game. I'm rooting for a fake. #
  • It's good and FIU beats Toledo to win the Callahan Tire Bowl. #
  • Top Songs of 2010: #5 World Sick -- Broken Social Scene http://bit.ly/hgc5Hj #
  • Might be time to go start digging out from this mess. #
  • First round of shoveling is done. Sidewalks, porch, and part of driveway are clear. Back out in a bit to shovel out my car. #
  • Shoveling done. My car can get out and drive now. I'll probably just leave it there so no one ganks my spot. #