Songs Of The Year

The calendar has now turned to December (really, it's December?) it's pretty much now a countdown for the year 2010 to end. With that in mind, here's my list of my favorite songs of the year. In no particular order and certainly not in ranking forms either, here are the songs that when I listened to them the first time I went, "Wow." Then I listened to them a second time and went, "This is pretty good," and even after listening to it for the seventeenth time, I was still in awe.


"Lumiere" by Blue Scholars
2010 was originally going to bring another Blue Scholars album, but that's been pushed back to next year. That didn't stop the Seattle hip-hop duo from releasing a few songs over the year. "Lumiere" was the biggest standout for me. Incorporating The XX song "Intro," you could've sworn that it was an original track from them if you hadn't heard song by itself. Below is a fan-made video of the song that won the official seal of approval from Blue Scholars themselves.


"The World's Not Bad" by Smoosh
What started out as a sister duo has now become a three-sister set of some very good music. "The World's Not Bad" has a very cryptic sound the likes you'd hear from Tori Amos, but the words paint a very pretty picture. In a better world, people would be giving these teenagers the spotlight instead of Justin Bieber because these kids actually know how to make music. And good music at that.

"Selfmachine" and "In Spirit Golden" by I Blame Coco
It was "Selfmachine" first that I heard from I Blame Coco that got me interested in her music. However I couldn't ignore another song on her debut album, The Constant, titled "In Spirit Golden," that's just one of those good electro-pop songs that feel like a throwback to New Wave. The daughter of the musician Sting, yet from all accounts she's doing it all on her own and not playing the card of her father's name, has a lot of potential to make noise in the following years.

"Animal" by Jenny & Johnny
Jenny Lewis has one of the best voices in music today. While I wish there would be a Rilo Kiley release in the near future, her duet album with her boyfriend Jonathan Rice was a good listen. "Animal" was my favorite song off their album I'm Having Fun Now.

"Cloud Shadow On The Mountain" by Wolf Parade
I can't quite put my finger on exactly why I like this song other than it's just a solid rock song.

"Rhinestone Eyes" by Gorillaz
Remember when Gorillaz first came out and people didn't know what to make of this "concept band?" We're now years removed from their first song "Clint Eastwood," and still Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett are going strong. While a music video for the song was never released, they did release this "storyboard video," and who wouldn't want to see this storyboard be actually fleshed out as a full length video.


"Fire With Fire" by Scissor Sisters
At first I didn't know that it was done by Scissor Sisters. A change of pace from their typical sound, it's a beautiful song.

"Something Good Can Work" by Two Door Cinema Club
A fun song that dominated my playlists throughout the spring and summer of this year.

"Tighten Up" by The Black Keys
Is there anything The Black Keys cannot do? Last year they paired various rap/hip-hop artists and that was some good stuff. This year the duo are back with the album Brothers and the first single was some solid as they come rock & roll. And there was this equally awesome music video.


"We Can Get Together" by The Hold Steady
It was an episode of CBS' Sunday Morning news program that introduced me to The Hold Steady back in 2008. I was instantly hooked and was looking forward to their follow-up to the Stay Positive album. The album Heaven Is Whenever did not disappoint and "We Can Get Together" stands out on that album.

"Represent" by Weezer
The unofficial anthem of the United States National Soccer Team, though it might as well be the official anthem. Unless you were living under a rock or just a complete hater, you couldn't ignore the drama and the flair that the US national team put on this summer in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.


"Wonderful Life" by Hurts
I first heard this song on this 2010 FIFA World Cup highlights video and my instant reaction was, "This song fits the video." Watching the video many times over and the song just grew on me.


"10 Rap Classics, Part 1" by J. Bair
I've written about this song before, and I've written about his production "Business Instead of Game." So to avoid repeating myself, I'll leave the music video here for you to enjoy. Following the mantra at the beginning of this article, I went, "Wow" when I first heard it and after multiple listens, I'm still impressed with J. Bair's "10 Rap Classics."


So those are my favorite songs of the year. Readers, what are yours?

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