MUSIC THREAD

I'm not sure why it took me so long to download The National's "High Violet." Pretty damn good record. Especially love "Conversation 16."

 

What are your top 20 albums of 2010? Mine are:

Kanye West -- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Arcade Fire -- The Suburbs
Robyn -- Body Talk
The National -- High Violet
Big Boi -- Sir Lucious Left Foot
Brandon Flowers -- Flamingo
Taylor Swift -- Speak Now
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings -- I Learned The Hard Way
Justin Townes Earle -- Harlem River Blues
Fistful Of Mercy -- As I Call You Down
Lady Antebellum -- Need You Now
She & Him -- Volume Two
Sara Bareilles -- Kaleidoscope Heart
Sugarland -- The Incredible Machine
The Band Perry -- The Band Perry
John Legend and the Roots -- Wake Up
Rihanna -- Loud
Far East Movement -- Free Wired
Interpol -- Interpol
David Gray -- Foundling

 

How is JTE's latest? Does it sound like he was headed to rehab?

Anyone heard of William Elliott Whitmore? Friend just turned me on to him. Good stuff. I guess blues/folk is the best way to describe what I'm listening to. Perfect "old bluesman" voice.

 

JTE's is excellent, especially the song Harlem River Blues. Sounds like something that could come straight out of Johnny Cash's greatest hits.

Currently have JTE, The Band Perry, Kanye, Big Boi, Rihanna, Sara Bareilles, and Sugarland in rotation in my iPhone, though Sara and Sugarland won't last long. Don't really like Brandon Flowers' solo stuff.

Recently discovered The Band Perry, and along with them The Secret Sisters, who sound a bit like a garage band doing Johnny Cash era music as well. Doesn't hurt that their debut single was a Cash cover released on his record label.

Mumford & Sons' "Sigh No More" belongs on the list. Really liking Cee Lo's solo disc as well.

 

I don't have either of those yet, but I've heard great things and am planning to pick them up. As well as The Black Keys, LCD Soundsystem, Vampire Weekend, Beach House and Yeasayer. I've been seeing all of those popping up on a lot of year-end "Best of 2010" lists, too.

 

Anyone else listening to The Tallest Man on Earth?

 

Hahaha not exactly. I think it's a better album than Midnight at the Movies.

Here's my top 10:

1.) MGMT - Congratulations
2.) Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
3.) Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
4.) Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
5.) Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
6.) Spoon - Transference
7.) The Black Keys - Brothers
8.) Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
9.) The Like - Release Me
10.) Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

 

I don't listen to enough full albums to do that list, but here's my top 25 songs of the year (the standard being that it's a song being played on radio nationally for the first time this year or late last year, regardless of whether it was an official single)

1. Suburban War, Arcade Fire
2. You Will Leave A Mark, A Silent Film
3. We Used To Wait, Arcade Fire (you're going to notice a trend, I think)
4. Quiet Little Voices, We Were Promised Jetpacks
5. Airplanes, Local Natives
6. Kings and Queens, 30 Seconds to Mars
7. Ready To Start, Arcade Fire (see?)
8. Fuck You, Cee Lo Green
9. Internet Killed The Video Star, The Limousines
10. Feel It All Around, Washed Out
11. We Share the Same Skies, The Cribs
12. Audience, Cold War Kids
13. Kill Me Carolyne, The Whigs
14. Jonathan Low, Vampire Weekend
15. Heartbeat Song, Futureheads
16. Take Me Out, Atomic Tom
17. Friends, Band of Skulls
18. Flash Delirium, MGMT
19. Stylo, Gorillaz f/Mos Def and Bobby Womack
20. Tell 'Em, Sleigh Bells
21. Out Of The Blue, Julian Casablancas
22. Little Lion Man, Mumford and Sons
23. Anybody Out There, Civil Twilight
24. Tighten Up, Black Keys
25. Post Acid, The Wavves

A difficult year to rank songs, and I was tempted to have half the damn chart be songs from The Suburbs. I will probably remember a bunch of songs I liked and change this repeatedly. I think I need to listen to more black people music.

 

Since I did my list, I've also got the following five, each of which is quite good.

Drake -- Thank Me Later
Mumford & Sons -- Sigh No More
Kid Cudi -- Man on the Moon 2
Bruno Mars -- Doo-Wops & Hooligans
Cee Lo Green -- The Lady Killer

 

A top ten list for me, in approximate order:

The Silver Seas, "Chateau Revenge!"
The Gaslight Anthem, "American Slang"
Crowded House, "Intriguer"
Neil Young, "Le Noise"
Butch Walker, "I Liked it Better When You Had No Heart"
Paul Weller, "Wake Up the Nation"
Ra Ra Riot, "The Orchard"
Cee Lo Green, "The Lady Killer"
Surfer Blood, "Astro Coast"
Pernice Brothers, "Goodbye Killer"

I like the Arcade Fire album, but don't quite get the love for it everywhere. I've just never thought they were all that special.

 

I didn't have enough time to listen to a lot of new stuff this year, but I'll get around to it...eventually.

Hands down the best single of the year, though, is "Fuck You." That song is a masterpiece.

 

1. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
2. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
4. The Fresh & Onlys - Play It Strange
5. The Goodnight Loving - Supper Club
6. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
7. Wavves - King of the Beach
8. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
9. Das Racist - Sit Down, Man
10. Nobunny - First Blood