Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
170. Dwight Yoakam – Give Back the Key to My Heart
No question the 80’s and 90’s were the prime years for Yoakam in terms of success, but after having his turn at the spotlight, he ventured deep into the crossroads realm, taking a more traditional approach to his brand of honkey-tonk. While most dug deeper into the cinematic country-pop Nashville world, Dwight stayed around Hollywood, acting and making indie records. One of the highlights of his work this past decade is this Doug Sahm cover, recorded for the Imus Ranch Record in 2008; it’s just good ol’ DY doing what he does best.
Overall, 2010 has been an amazing year in the world of music. My year-end list is swamped, and we’re not even into fall yet, where the majority of hyped and acclaimed releases are dropped. But alas, like every hit-filled year, there are some misses. I’ve listened to a lot of albums in 2010, and I’ve heard some fascinating work, some boring duds, and a few completely atrocious, “what were they thinking?” moments. Sometimes we know what we’re getting into, but it hurts the worst when a highly-anticipated album does not impress. Here are a few examples of albums from groups that failed to deliver this time around.
Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
250. Rage Against the Machine – How I Could Just Kill a Man
For most of the decade, 3/4 of Rage were in shitty solo projects or the inevitably dreadful Audioslave. The other 1/4 released a new song every once in a while and lived off his earnings from the 90’s (that one is Zach). There were a few reunion shows – most of which sent people to the hospital – but overall the boys weren’t really raging much in the 2000’s. But at the turn of the century, before the nasty breakup, Rage put out their final studio album Renegades, a pretty kickass covers album. And although this Cypress Hill remake is a pretty straightforward take on the original, it still hits hard, the way these guys always knew how to.
Today I continue my ten-part series showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of last year.
90. IYAZ – Replay
Usually in December of every year, I go home for Christmas. The indie world is dead at the end of the year, so I usually do research on the pop charts, listening to songs I have missed for most of the year. Nearly all of the songs I am happy to have avoided, but there are always a few candidates that make the cut. I’m a sucker for well-crafted pop music, as everyone knows, and IYAZ’s first single had my head bobbing enough for it to make my year-end list. It’s charming, super-infectious, and it name-drops a common household item that no one owned ten years ago (that would be the iPod).
