Further Listening

Inside each blog post, there's at least one link to a song to allow you to listening to what I'm talking about. And now, I've compiled a playlist of a handful of my top songs of the decade for your listening pleasure. Click here to go to my blip.fm playlist and thanks for tuning in!

Songs Of The Decade: Come On Let's Go by Broadcast

I listen to a lot of peculiar music, I admit it. And I generally don't try to foist it on people unless they are actually inclined to give something new a spin. However, sometimes, there are songs that are so fantastic but sadly ignored that I should carry a spare set of headphones around and share them with the world.

Come On Let's Go is one of those gems that should've made #1 everywhere, and I've been playing it often ever since it came out in 2000. (So it literally is the Song Of The Decade.)

Although Broadcast is known to dwell in the abstract, this song couldn't be more direct... there's always you and me, no matter what else goes on around us. It could soundtrack any number of movie scenes where girl finds boy in a crowded room, they reunite, and the camera locks in on the couple embracing, oblivious to the others surrounding them. But you can film your own scene when you listen instead.

As with the best of Broadcast's songs, the plaintively lovely vocals of Trish Keenan float above an atmospheric soundscape. And if there was ever a song to end a year and a decade on, it's Come On Let's Go. After all, if you can believe William Shakespeare and Tony Bennett, what's past is prologue and the best is yet to come, so come on, let's go. Happy new year!

Album Of The Decade - Someone To Drive You Home by The Long Blondes

Here it is... my album of the decade and I can already hear the chorus of "who?" and "why?". Well, let me tell you about The Long Blondes.

For me, Someone To Drive You Home yielded the total package: great songs, hyper-literate verses coupled with anthemic choruses, a slinky ingenue lead singer singing the songs of a svengali guitarist, and a packaging aesthetic that speaks the language of record store aficionados. There's an overall intrigue and mythos to The Long Blondes and that's something lacking in a lot of bands these days.

Will you like it? You should. The Long Blondes are pop fans, and they have distilled their love of 60's Britpop and 80's indie into rocking songs as well as drawing on cult classic film and literature cues in their lyrics. There's a familarity to the music without feeling overly derivative. (But if you must... I reckon it's a combo of the Smiths and the early days of the Pretenders.)

Is this the best album of the decade? Probably and probably not. My Top 10 is honestly a toss-up. Illinois is a beautiful album, The Bees, The New Pornographers and MGMT made incredibly fun records, and Sarah Harmer and Broadcast created some amazing stuff as well. But The Long Blondes, in the end, got played the most.

But hey, check them all out and for now, let The Long Blondes take you to Giddy Stratospheres.

Songs Of The Decade: French Navy by Camera Obscura

I miss the days where songs leap out of the radio and grab you. Hit me with a big drumroll or an immediate leap into the chorus. Sure, there's a lot of great new music out there, but I'm talking Big League Top 40 stuff. Hooks and hits, please.

Well, speaking of the Big Leagues, Scotland's Camera Obscura just got called up out of the minors, because they've finally put together everything they've been promising to do for three albums.

French Navy is the song that did it for me. The crack of the drum and the hit of the strings pulled me in and the opening gambit of "Spent a week in a dusty library, waiting for some words to jump at me" still forges a strong bond between ears, brain and speakers. Some lovely lyrical twists also continue to beguile. (I still want to finish the line "By the moon of a silvery lake" as "By the light of the silvery moon.")

This is girl-group pop for our time... if the Shangri-Las were novelists or something equally alluring.

French Navy is my Number 1 song of 2009, and is a major player for the decade to boot!

Christmas Song Of The Decade: Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland by Grandaddy

At this point, we've heard them all before. Countless retreads of White Christmas or Sleigh Ride. And we've got our own personal classics. Personally, I'm a sucker for Darlene Love's Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) and The Pogues' Fairytale of New York, but there's always room for one more.

And so, even though my favorite songs have notes that are wrong, please enjoy this 21st Century Christmas classic: Alan Parsons In A Winter Wonderland.

Parsing The Decade: Top 10 Covers!

As you probably know, I'm addicted to cover versions. Mess up someone's song and I'll be forever grateful. So, as I put together my decade lists, there's a ton of covers floating around. Without further ado, here's my Top Ten:

1. Knock Loud - Neko Case (covering Sook Yin-Lee) - A beautiful song that hopefully found a bigger audience with Neko's version
2. If You Can Want - The Dirtbombs (The Miracles) - The bangin'-est track from the amazing Ultraglide In Black
3. Come On Petunia - The Blow (a copyright skirting cover of Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic) - Weird electro treatment of The Police's fake reggae song
4. Such Great Heights - Iron & Wine (The Postal Service) - A hushed, acoustic take on the indie technopop gem
5. The Waltze Of The Tennis Players - Meg Baird (Fraser & Debolt) Today's obscure folkie (from the Espers) presenting ancient obscure folkies
6. Out Of Step - The Soft Pink Truth (Minor Threat) - Because the world was asking for a jacked-up club jam version of straight edge punk. Right?
7. Bicycle Race - Be Your Own Pet (Queen) - Punk brats eviscerate a dum-dum oldie.
8. He Did It - The Detroit Cobras (The Ronettes) - Michigan's distaff cover specialists give
9. When I Was A Baby - The New Pornographers (The Donner Party) - Worlds collide when the New P's dig up one of Sam Coombes from Quasi's first songs.
10. Hallelujah - Kathryn Williams (covering John Cale's version of Leonard Cohen) - To me, this is the definitive take on a modern-day hymn.

Bonus points to two amazing Kate Bush covers: Wuthering Heights - The Puppini Sisters and Hounds Of Love - The Futureheads. And special recognition must go to Petra Haden's all-in cover of the entire Who Sell Out album. Thanks to Matt Berry for his cover of album covers, including Thriller as seen above.

(Boring technical note: In order to bring you all 10, tracks 1 and 2 go to Lala, not Blip.fm, and #7 and #10 goes to YouTube. )

Songs Of The Decade: Dear Catastrophe Waitress by Belle & Sebastian

When I was a wee pop kid, I would buy everything that Trevor Horn produced: Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Art Of Noise, Yes' 90125, Malcolm McLaren's Buffalo Gals. It had that big pop sound and bombast.

And then, as an older pop kid, I would buy everything by Belle and Sebastian. Every album, every multi-format single, every compilation track. I loved their shambling, romantic la-la thing.

So imagine my surprise when I heard that B&S had hired Trevor Horn to produce them. Genius idea, I thought, but it'll never work. And then imagine my surprise to learn it actually did work! (Even with a song about Mike Piazza on it!)

Dear Catastrophe Waitress is the pick of the litter. (And yes, it's another epic song about waitresses.) B&S manage to channel Love's Forever Changes while maintaining their own arch-indie style with this baroque gem. Horn's production doesn't overwrite the band's sound, so much as it brings them into full Technicolor from their somewhat monochromatic hues, yielding their best work since If You're Feeling Sinister.

The Decade

Hey, just a reminder. I'll be posting my best of the decade lists between Christmas and New Year's, but if you're reading along, you can click any link you see to go to Blip.fm's streaming audio and listen to the actual songs.

Songs Of The Decade: Vegetarian Restaurant by Aberfeldy

A sweet little hippy-dippy slow jam never hurt anybody, and for me, Vegetarian Restaurant is that jam.

Following in the tradition of such other classic "I fell in love with a waitress but it didn't work out well" as Don't You Want Me or Kim The Waitress (bet you didn't realize that waitress-infatuation was such a credible genre, did ya?), Vegetarian Restaurant weaves a first person tale of unrequited longing from the perspective of a counter-dweller that can't get his waitress crush to acknowledge him.

In other hands, this could've gotten creepy but Aberfeldy's narrator keeps it breezy, cracking silly jokes to mask his jilted heart. (Tears Of A Clown for 2003, anyone?) For fans of the late great That Dog, you'll find a similar sound of violins and close harmonies. This was Aberfeldy's first single, and while the subsequent stuff is agreeable, nothing else comes close to this bittersweet concoction.

Triple Threat: Band, Song, and Album of the Decade - The Bees!

How good are The Bees (a.k.a. A Band Of Bees)? Well, Free The Bees (2005) is a bonafide Top 10 Album of the Decade, and almost every song on it is in contention for my Song List. On top of that, the whole vibe of the record is still blowing my mind.

I suppose the simplest thing would be to call Free The Bees a pastiche of Times Past... since it does project a Now That's What I Call The 60's kind of sound. Every track has a distinctive sound and mood that it's tapping into: Stax soul (Chicken Payback), Studio One reggae (The Russian), Small Faces/Kinks baroque pop (Go Karts - which is topping my shortlist of songs, but is sadly unblippable at the moment), etc. - but the album has a very cohesive feel to it.

Of course, I may be smitten by the fact that this band might be Rutle-izing every non-Beatles 60's genre, but it's still an excellent "greatest hits" wall to wall good-time party record with tons of hooks, big choruses, and a lot of awesome B-3 organ!

Free The Bees! (And thanks to Chris and Ron for the buzz and the honey.)

Triple Threat: Band, Song, and Album of the Decade - The Thermals!

Speaking of bands with theme songs, let' s talk about the Thermals, one of the best new bands of the 2000's.

Everything Thermals is an 84 second manifesto that smooshes the Monkees and Guided By Voices together into one giddy low-fi mess. A B-side on their first single, this might not be their greatest song (and well, maybe it is!), but it was an excellent lead-off to the amazing More Parts Per Million album, which is bursting with jumpy, frothy punk pop smashes. Although they haven't maintained their breakneck momentum with every album in my estimation, they're still a must-buy, must-see band.

That's enough outta me. Theme songs should speak for themselves, so here's a live version of Everything Thermals to chew on... and some excerpts from their opening salvo...

Yeah, everything Thermals... Straight from the pages of your journal. I know nobody's ever seen it, the Thermals know all your secrets.

Yeah, everything Thermals... Born in an outer space wormhole, brought to life by the big bang, traveled to Earth in a Dodge van.

The Thermals go right to your head. The Thermals have sex in your bed. Everything in circles. Yeah, everything Thermals!

Songs Of The Decade: Those Dancing Days by Those Dancing Days

I'm gonna keep this short, because this song is short. And sweet. Oh so sweet. Five girls from Stockholm making noisy insistent pop you can dance to. That's what pop music is. It's not marketing strategy and focus groups and stadium tours with merchandising synergies. It's a beat... and energy... and fun... and crazy hair... and youthful exuberance... and more fun.

Just listen and enjoy and have fun with it. But before I go, I wanna give shoutouts to a band that writes themselves a theme song and Linnea's Nordicfro and the fact that they named themselves after a Zeppelin song despite the fact that there are zero traces of Zep in their music.

A Top Ten Song Of The Decade!

Songs Of The Decade: Amy by Ryan Adams

It took the better part of the decade but I finally saw what others claimed to see in Ryan Adams, even if it was only for 3 minutes. Amy is all tender heartbreak and yearning, bundled neatly in a gentle arrangement of acoustic guitars, sweeping strings and aching vocals.

Ironically, I stumbled across the song on the Mark Ronson covers extravanganza, Version, where his 60's soul take on the song was almost hidden in between bombastic dancefloor reimaginings of Coldplay and The Smiths, and big star turns by Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen. I was shocked to learn that this buoyant version was actually a cover of Ryan Adams. Yep, I was actually enjoying a song by the tiresome, over-prolific, alt-country "superstar" who had burned me when I blindly purchased Gold solely based on the ecstatic press it received. (I know, rock critics were wrong about something? Go figure.)

I decided to track down the original and wow, it's a beautiful gem, and one of the few unabashed love songs on my Decade list. Although it's not in the tip-top of my Best Of list, I dare say that Amy might be a rarity in that it should appeal to everyone that might be reading this.

And just in case you don't feel sappy today, check out this nutty cover of Pretty Green by the Jam by Mark Ronson and Santo Gold (or whatever she wants you to call her now.)

Albums Of The Decade: Almost The Same by Clearlake

OK, we just did Clearlake and it's an EP but Almost The Same overflows with so many amazing songs that it shames most of the full length albums on my list.

Hopefully, you've already sought out Winterlight (see below) but don't pass up the Britpop-meets-British Invasion rave-ups peppered liberally throughout like the title track or Something To Look Forward To!

Songs Of The Decade: Winterlight by Clearlake

In this era of iPod, short songs seem to find more favor. Sure, there's always a little Close To The Edge going on, but you can cram more shorties on your player, and you don't have much time to impatiently skip those quick tracks. However, I've always got time for greatness, and Winterlight is magic.

Atmospheric builds, shimmering guitars, and a magnificent mystery of imagery, Winterlight is a celebration of the chill and joys of winter. Imagine the late 60's Kinks in a Cocteau Twins curated echoplex and enjoy the ride.

To present Clearlake's finest 7, I'm hijacking D.J. Prairielaura's Blip.fm feed, because she was the one who first tipped me off to these masters. Click here to feel the slightest warmth as we approach the first days of winter. So don't thank me, thank Laura. Thanks, Laura!

Albums Of The Decade: Speakerboxx/The Love Below

2003 was supposed to be the Year Of Outkast... a group releasing a double album at the height of their success and talent. But it all got weird very quickly. As soon as the Speakerboxx/Love Below combo pack showed up, it was clear something was up. Two solo albums, packaged together? Rumors that Dre and Big Boi weren't even on speaking terms. And the strange notion that you had to pick one of the two seemed to be part of the package. (Seriously, I had one conversation with a local rock critic terminated when I spoke up in favor of The Love Below. Just stone cold over.)

Well, yeah, I did favor Andre 3000's The Love Below at first. Hey Ya was a marvel to me... the decade's first honest to god Top 40 song, crossing over like Sly and the Family Stone or Deee-lite. But in retrospect, I guess I can say I was really into Love Shack the first dozen times I heard it, too. And now that I've heard both songs a hundred times, I wish nothing more than to listen to interstate traffic.

Of course, I also found Speakerboxx's lead-off single, The Way You Move, utterly boring, so I conceded the victory to Dre, and then avoided both records. Somehow, I found it in me to delve into Speakerboxx about 6 months later, and suddenly realized that I'd missed out on some real treats and some inspired music. Snatching victory away from Dre, I now switched sides and buddied up to Big Boi, still believing that you had to choose one.

In 2009 with hindsight firmly in place, I now remember one of the truly immutable truths of music: double albums just don't work in general. So, if Outkast hadn't completely imploded, maybe they would have boiled things down to 60 minutes of magic. Instead, we got left with the mess and no mop. And now, I'm even debating whether this record makes the list. (It's literally hovering at #99 on this week's draft.)

While I retire to the conversatory to ponder the fate of Outkast, I'll recommend one from Dre (Happy Valentine's Day) and one from Big Boi (The Rooster) that still sing out to me. (But sadly, I can find no simple links for either, so use your imagination.)

Songs Of The Decade: Formed A Band by Art Brut

The most rockin' Mission Statement in the history of music? Supposedly, this is the first song ever written by Art Brut, and it details, well, why the band got together and why they wrote this song. Before you run away, this is not a mess of self-indulgence and in-jokes run amok. This is an anthem for the spirit of every kid who ever picked up a guitar and dreamed of... forming a band.

If you can buy into Springsteen's claim that "we learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school" then you can surely embrace Eddie Argos' assertions that he can write songs that "make Israel and Palestine get along." It's rock'n'roll... you just have to believe, is all.

When played live (and you must see them live!), the song takes on a tent-revival quality, all exuberance and inspiration. But in its recorded form, Formed A Band (2005) is scrappy rock magic. Pump your fist, sing along, and get your own band together. Eddie is counting on you.

Albums Of The Decade: Girl Talk - Night Ripper

The astounding Night Ripper is a lock as an Album of The Decade for this reason, if no other: It contains every piece of music ever made throughout history. Seriously.

Check out Once Again, if you don't believe me. In 2:40, you'll hear N'Sync, Boston, Ludacris, The Verve, Outkast, M.I.A., Oasis, Arrested Development, Genesis, The Boredoms, Positive K, and The Five Stairsteps. And that's a partial list for Track One. (The wiki for the album has an amazingly detailed breakdown of samples by the second!)

Night Ripper (2007) is the ultimate in manic DJ mixtapes, mashups, and megamixes. Yes, it is a musical strobe light, but it's party-time fun. Despite the kitchen sink approach to mixing, it's an amazingly thought-out set of tracks and booty-moving to boot.

Forgotten Favorites: Ladytron

I always feel crummy when I abandon a band I champion, but it's happened a gajillion times already and it's probably only going to get worse as time goes by. But one of the side effects of this Decade project is that I'm confronted by the Ghosts Of Popstars Past, especially when I look at the early years of thee millennium. And the most notable example on my list is Ladytron.

So icy cool, so chic, so future-retro. Of course, I was going to be hooked in by the notion of a modern-era new Human League where the two girls took over. The first album, 604, was good enough, but Light and Magic (2002) was the kicker. Jampacked with singles like Blue Jeans (presented here in one of those dumb stare-at-the-cover videos, sorry) and Seventeen, Ladytron resurrected the spirit of '80's pop while staying firmly planted in modern sounds. Both songs are still catchy as hell, so what happened?

Well, it's a classic case of More Of The Same Syndrome. Subsequent records mined the same ice-queen dark pop vibe, and it wore me out. Sadly, new Ladytron records made me less inclined to listen to the old stuff, and they fell to the middle of the digital pile. But I've dusted off those two songs listed above and some other goodies. They probably aren't going to dent the big Songs of the Decade list, but a late-game comeback doesn't hurt their chances either. (And the Lego version of the cover is not the real deal, but in many ways, much more awesome.)

2000-2009: Autopsy-Turvy

As 2009 comes to a rollicking close, I realized that yr basic End of Year lists weren't enough. It's the end of a decade, too. So hey, if Neil Young could do it, why can't I?

I've been assembling giant laundry lists of favorite albums and favorite songs, and as certain things float upwards and other things shake out, I've been inclined to opine on a select few. So, I'll be trying to desperately justify some choices and vilify others, as well as resurrecting a few forgotten favorites and maybe even trying to get some digital media to work with this blog so you guys can actually listen to the stuff.

After the new year, posts will probably become more random, erring on the side of the cool and new rather than the sappily nostalgic. (Oh, 2002, you weren't really all that, were you?)

Songs Of The Decade: Richard Dawson by B.C. Camplight

Check this buoyant piece of candyfloss, and try to tell me you don't like it. (Assuming all you death-metal kids have already moved on to bleaker things.)

Sadly, this song is not actually about everyone's favorite stalag occupier and grandma kisser, but the giant horn hook is a shoulda-been game show theme-in-waiting, so I'm guessing that's where the title comes from. Speaking of hooks, this one is jampacked. Horns, swelling synths, bam-bam piano playing, back and forth vocal lines, woo hoo. And in keeping with the pop music tradition, the fast tempo and major key lifts seem to be hiding a dark and stormy relationship.

So, give Richard Dawson (2005) a spin, and try to do The Running Man along with it in honor of you-know-who. (Check out Scare Me Sweetly from B.C. Camplight's second album if you want a little more.)

Albums Of The Decade: Boards Of Canada

Even after 10 years, there's something weird and magical about listening to Boards Of Canada. In fact, I've frozen up just now trying to put a neat, concise label on their music. So let's be sloppy instead. It's electronic but not robotically propulsive. It's ambient but it never lets your brain completely drift off into fugue states. It's synthetic but never cold. In fact, it glows with a comforting warmth, much like your laptop glows or your handset radiates heat after a long phone call.

At first blush, the music seems otherworldly, but the more you listen, you discover a familarity and human quality to the warped tones and sound fragments. The gentle melodies are wispy and transient, ideas float in and out of your consciousness. It's almost like a series of daydreams from a summer afternoon.

Despite the fragmented nature of the music, Boards of Canada is deliciously consumed in full length listening. Both Geogaddi (2002) and The Campfire Headphase (2005) are shaping up to make the Album of The Decade list.

And now, dim the lights and take a taste of Sherbet Head from The Campfire Headphase.