TNSFF

Tech, music, sports, and other stuff.

27 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #6 Written in Reverse -- Spoon

Written in Reverse -- Spoon

Spoon just keeps putting out albums that slightly move the target for what good rock music is. Each album they put out lands slightly askew from where they'd taken rock music with their previous album. The songs on Transference are more anarchic than anything they'd done before. "Written in Reverse" shows that anarchy at its peak, with the slightly out of tune piano hitting over sharp guitars, and then the disembodied voice of Britt Daniel pops in with a half a lyric layered a few beats off of the lyric proper (and a "whoo!). It is just enough to make you wonder if they've lost their minds. And then you realize that you've been tapping your foot for three minutes and you shake your fist and yell "Darn you Spoon!"

24 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #7 Favourite Colour -- Tokyo Police Club

Favourite Colour -- Tokyo Police Club

Champ by Tokyo Police Club is very likely my favorite album of the year. There are four or five huge singles, very little filler, and it all fits inside of 40 minutes. There are the typical Tokyo Police Club power-pop-punk songs, some Passion Pit-esque keyboards (which works well, since the two toured together), and some slower, bigger straight rock songs. Top to bottom, it's a big step forward for the little band from Canada.

"Favourite Colour" is my favorite off the album, a straight-forward song with a simple hook, that you'll have stuck in your head for a while.

24 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #8 Giving Up the Gun -- Vampire Weekend

Giving Up the Gun -- Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend's second album didn't make nearly the impact that their first album did. That's not because it wasn't good—it was very good. It's just that it wasn't as accessible as their first album, so the teeny bopper set didn't latch on. With no "A-Punk" or "Oxford Comma" to glom on to, the general public kind of let this album stay just outside of the mainstream (Honda commercial notwithstanding).

And that's all too bad, since this was a good album, with three or four really great songs. This is one of them.

23 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #9 Write About Love -- Belle and Sebastian

Write About Love -- Belle and Sebastian

Quietly, Belle and Sebastian put out one of the best albums of the year. Quietly, as that's the way Belle and Sebastian do it. There's no bombast, no huge guitars or drums propelling the song forward. It's just the same ornate pop music that Belle and Sebastian put out. Here, they've put together another song that wouldn't sound out of place in the '60s (I'm sensing a pattern with my choices this year ...). It's also got a stellar little duet, featuring that girl from the British movie everyone liked that I haven't seen yet.

23 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #10 Each & Everyday -- Best Coast

Each & Everyday -- Best Coast

In a year where lo-fi took over, there wasn't really a bigger lo-fi band than Best Coast. A throwback to '60s pop, except recorded in someone's garage on a crappy 4-track, Best Coast hit all the highs, sunshine, and simple, heartfelt lyrics of '60s pop, but replacing some of the gorgeous harmonies with crunchy guitars and reverb.

23 Dec 2010

Twitter Updates for 2010-12-23

22 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: Honorable Mention

There 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.