Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
20. The Postal Service – Such Great Heights
My favorite Ben Gibbard album is Give Up, even amongst all those great early Death Cab masterpieces. Before the twee synth became commonplace, Gibbard took it to every first-generation iPod, car commercial, and teen soap montage (I’m looking at you, The O.C.). And of course, he did so with this song, still as beautiful as I remember it back on WOXY-FM my sophomore year of high school.
Tomorrow I begin my listings of the top albums of 2010, but before I do, here are twenty great albums, listed alphabetically, that just barely missed the cut.
This year I made the big move from Lubbock to Austin, and the transformation has done wonders for my live music fix. I should have been writing down all the awesome bands I saw this year (and the years before, for that matter) but alas, hindsight, she is 20/20 once again. I think this post covers the highlights more or less, however. There’s plenty of great live music I saw this year that I’m leaving out, but after the jump, in no particular order, are twelve of the best shows I witnessed in 2010, eleven of them right here in the Live Music Capital of the World.
And for the record, I wanted to put the Sleigh Bells show on here, as fun as it was once they finally started playing, but everyone who attended knows Beauty Bar is at fault for that show’s omission. What a disaster.
Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
90. AC Newman – Drink to Me Babe Then
The head writer for the New Pornographers had an impressive first solo outing – The Slow Wonder combines the melodic superiority with a mellow, easygoing feel. “Drink to Me Babe Then,” introduced to me by my dear friend Kim way back when we were still on college radio, is a gem and the highlight from the album. Adding an acoustic sway to the sweet pop Newman is known for, the song easily peaks with a sweet whistling interlude.
Today I begin a new series of posts dedicated to the best albums of the last decade, posting analysis of one album at a time.
50. The New Pornographers – Electric Version
While Mass Romantic introduced the world to a phenomenal Canadian supergroup, Electric Version transformed the New Pornographers into a solid band all on their own, never mind that the crew consists of some of indie rock’s finest. Carl Newman’s and Neko Case’s vocal trade-offs provide the highlights for this unforgettable 2003 disc, mostly written by Newman, though Dan Bejar contributed a few memorable nuggets of his own, particularly “Testament to Youth In Verse.” Still, the gems here are both Newman-penned and Case-sung, including the masterpiece “The Laws Have Changed” and the single “All For Swinging You Around,” which featured an incredible jump-rope music video.
Electric Version gave the already-superb pop craftsmanship of Carl Newman a new standard to beat, and he would rise to the challenge and come close to matching his best with 2005’s Twin Cinema. Still, this, the New Pornographers’ sophomore effort, is their finest, an earnest, hook-laden, beautiful album that is impossible to stop listening to.
Today I continue my ongoing feature showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of the past decade, posting ten songs at a time.
200. 50 Cent – I Get Money
Dr. Dre and Eminem’s protege hasn’t released anything of substance, save for this song, in my opinion. Most would say his first album is pretty good, and that “In Da Club” is an alright song, but they are sadly mistaken. For some reason though, this song, released late in Fiddy’s career, really took a shine to me. Maybe it’s the snare hits, the deep synth line, or the rhythmic sampling. Maybe it’s 50’s dumb rhymes. Maybe it’s because every time I hear this song my thoughts hearken back to a college party when a friend was trying to teach me how to C-walk to this song. Yeah, it’s probably that last one.
