Apr 23 2010

My Top 100 Songs of 2009 – 70-61

Today I continue my ten-part series showcasing my personal picks for the best songs of last year.

70. Miley Cyrus – Party In the USA

“Seriously?”  Yes, dude, seriously.  You know why people hate this song?  Because Miley sings it.  That’s the only reason.  Any other reason and you have no soul.  Why?  Have you listened to this song?  It’s fucking awesome.  Seriously.  And Hannah Montana had nothing to do with its awesomeness.  That crunchy bass line?  That banging beat?  And the melody is pop gold.  I mean, it’s not like Miley had anything to do with the songwriting and production – she didn’t.  She just sings.  And the Auto-Tune makes her sound like sweet, sweet candy.  Seriously. So stop pretending like you don’t love this song just because 14-year-old girls do, too.  They’re not always wrong.  Sponge Bob is still awesome.

For those of you still willing to lie and say you hate this song, and you don’t crank it when no one’s looking, nodding your head like yeah, moving your hips like yeah, let me ask you this: do you even like music? Seriously.

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Apr 16 2010

Save It For a Rainy Day

It’s dreadful and wet here in the LBK – the city famous for NO draining system.  The streets are flooded and there are holes in my shoes.  Time to turn the heater back on.  But on the plus side: Rainy Day Playlist!  These tracks will get you wet.  Promise.

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Mar 12 2010

My Top 100 Songs of 2009 – 100-91

Yesterday’s post got me all riled up, and since I love lists, I figured I’d go ahead and start yet another analysis I should have posted months ago – this one won’t take as long.  Today is the first post in a ten-part series looking at my personal favorite tracks of last year.


100. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Heads Will Roll

I wasn’t a huge fan of It’s Blitz – definitely my least favorite from this group.  I saw them at Monolith 2009, and, to say the least, they were disappointing.  Turns out I’m not as big a fan of Karen O and her “animated” stage antics as I thought.  Pretention is something I can’t get past, no matter how rocking the music behind her is….but since they were playing mostly ballads from their latest effort, that wasn’t the case.  All this being said, this track is pretty damn catchy.  Karen’s try at Blondie was hit or miss for me, but the highlight of Blitz is three and a half minutes of complete dancing hysteria.

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Mar 9 2010

Currently Digging: Tanlines

I saw these guys open for Ted Leo at CMJ in October, and it was a pretty enjoyable show overall.  I remember thinking that there are a lot of bands that are trying this indie-electro/tribal music in the vein of MIA, et al, but few manage to deliver with such irresistible swagger and inescapable melody.

Today the duo releases a new EP titled Settings (pictured above) and they have a slew of SXSW dates planned, so I definitely plan on seeing them again to observe their progression.  In the meantime, I’m jamming this track, “Real Life,” featuring a dominant drum beat that feels like it’s about to collapse but keeps coming back on rhythm, speeding up to catch up with the rest of the song.  And it succeeds, everytime.