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The Top 50 Songs of 2010: #30-11
For the second year in a row, we polled everyone at The Factual Opinion headquarters to determine the top fifty songs of the year. It was a three-part process: Each participant nominated his or her favorite songs from 2010; Tucker and I sifted through the nominees to come up with a short list of potential candidates; then, we voted. Each participant submitted a ranked list of up to fifty favorites—which were not necessarily limited to the short list—and the results were tallied according to both the total number of votes a song received, and their placement on individual ballots. The results range from UK-garage-influenced pop to skeevy basement electro to frenetic psych rock—and that's just in the first three entries. The list reflects an equal mix of personal favorites and monolithic singles (and sometimes voters didn't even know which was which—one participant voted for Cee Lo's "Fuck You!" thinking that it was an undiscovered gem.) Ultimately, it's a fair and idiosyncratic overview of 2010—which was, incidentally, a killer year for music. Please enjoy. -MB
PREVIOUSLY: #50-31
30. Robyn – "Dancing On My Own"
It's important to note the kind of place where Robyn dances alone. Broken glass litters the floor. She wears stilettos. Outside it's dark—no stars. Inside it's dark, too. We can infer that they're playing the kind of music that "Dancing On My Own" uses for its foundation—hard, bracing techno, the bass a relentless throb. Robyn is in the corner, her eyes trained on a guy. Her ex? An unrequited crush? Doesn't matter. She's come here in order to watch him making out with another girl on the dance floor. Maybe Robyn didn't believe the other girl would be here. Maybe she needed to see them together in order to let him go. Either way, she's here, in this dank spot, in the dark, dancing her ass off. Hell, she's spinning in circles! At last call, the lights come on. The music dies. Under broad fluorescents the guy still doesn't notice her: staring, dancing, spinning, staring and dancing. It would all be resolutely creepy if it weren't so fucking romantic. -MB
29. Sleigh Bells – "Infinity Guitars"
In keeping with the all-singles digital assault found on Sleigh Bells' coyly-titled Treats, "Infinity Guitars" is a song that won't seem like much if you're digging around in lyrics sheets. A collection of shouted phrases—some of which are about whores!—backed up by vaguely off-key "uhh" and "huhs" builds upon itself, like the accelerated footage of Legos, until the point is finally made: be fucking loud, that's how you make yourself heard. You can come up with something else to say on the second album. -TS
28. Screaming Females – "I Don't Mind It"
I have an almost uncomfortable amount of awe for Screaming Females. They're a straight ahead rock and roll band, but their obvious respect for their instruments and obsessive compulsion to play live have allowed them to develop such a tight and precise sound that I can hardly contain or explain the deep satisfaction I get from listening. And while there's still the spirit of chaos in their music, it sounds like they've strapped it down with a harness and made it their bitch. They tell chaos where to go and how to make it work for them. And that's intimidating and so fucking sexy. "I Don't Mind It" speaks to accepting discipline, sacrifice and some pain, and I believe it, every single word. -SE
27. Deerhunter – "Desire Lines"
Deerhunter front man Bradford Cox used to wear dresses on stage. As a certified blogger of a thing related to Deerhunter I am required to start there. But where Deerhunter is now is not dresses. On "Desire Lines," there isn't even a Bradford singing (Lockett is). Deerhunter are in sweaters mostly, playing simple riffs so effortlessly elegant. It is like they are one thing born together…the riffs that is. They lay atop drums that pulsate like some vital rock and roll organ in an intricate song body. The bass line acts as a vascular system pumping blood to all the right places. Simple declarations are made in barley singing talking. "Come with me and we'll see," he says/sings in ominous/fearless tones. And what we end up seeing/hearing is a wild ride through a dark labyrinth of post punk sound that slowly melts into a twinkling guitar night sky. So sit back and enjoy the post dress glow. -AH
26. Robyn – "Hang With Me"
Will Robyn ever top "With Every Heartbeat?" Maybe not, but we can surely accept the consolation of tracks like this. Certainly, the boilerplate criticism of Robyn as merely an indie-pandering iteration of faceless Scandinavian pop might have some validity—but only if you accept the premise that well-made pop music is invalid as an end in and of itself. Hell, if you ever catch me in the right mood, I'll freely admit to joyfully lip-synching to "I Want It That Way" whenever I hear it over the intercom at a department store (oh wait, too late). This, however, is better than Backstreet. Robyn's voice is simply a marvel of technical precision that somehow never manages to obscure the soulful, almost dirty passion at the heart of her performance. You get the feeling she could do vocal acrobatics all the ding dong day, but are deeply grateful that she also understands the principle that one clear sustained note is better than five trilling melismas—especially when that one note carries this much feeling. The beats aren't bad either. -TO
25. New Young Pony Club – "Before the Light"
The state of indie music is such that a band can peak before they even release their first album. "Ice Cream" was a fun slab of New Wave revivalism back in 2005. But by the time New Young Pony Club's first album (Fantastic Playroom) came out in 2007, people had stopped caring, even though it was one of the strongest debuts of the decade. 2010's The Optimist was just as good, if just as widely ignored. These guys are great precisely because they defy your expectations: you think they're all about kinky sex appeal, but really, it's all about how sex obscures so many other things. "Before the Light" is built on as sexy and neurotic a groove as you're likely to hear anywhere this side of Remain in Light, but if you actually listen to the words you realize it's not about sex, it's about the opposite of sex. It's about what happens when the sex obscures more important things. When Tahita Bulmer sings, "Don't look at me now/ Look at my intellect," you get that chill up your spine because you realize she's talking to all those other women singers out there who might be willing to trade their respectability for sex appeal and a million dollar payday. Who says feminism is dead in pop music? -TO
24. The New Pornographers – "Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk"
"Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk": It builds, it soars and it takes me to green hillsides where I hold hands with friends and dance a modern Irish jig. Right?! The New Pornographers' music can be transporting. This one certainly is. With a bright stacatto piano, marching drums, and a Celtic tone, I can't help but doing a little hopping and chasse-ing around my kitchen as I listen to this. And no matter what kind of day I've had or what mood I'm in, I feel hopeful and uplifted after listening to this. But I've learned to not listen too hard to New Pornographer lyrics. The words are fun and musical, but generally nonsensical if you try to make meaning out of them. Unless, of course, they are just way deeper than I can grasp, and there are, in fact, layers of philosophy buried within their lyrics. That would be byzantine. -NS
23. B.o.B – "Airplanes, Pt. II (Feat. Eminem & Hayley Williams)"
"Airplanes, Pt. II" evokes an interesting nostalgia for simpler times, with Bobby Ray's "back in the day" lyrics combining with Hayley Williams' sadly wistful chorus to conjure up a feeling of lost youth and innocence. That's fine, but what really knocks the track to the next level is when Eminem comes in and turns up the intensity, as he is wont to do, transforming the rosy nostalgia into anger at his shitty childhood and the idea that he would even consider discarding what he has spent so many years striving for. It's a fascinating inversion of a premise, a strikingly open and emotional contribution to an already good song. Collaboration! -MJB
22. Titus Andronicus – "A More Perfect Union"
There's never been a better time to be grandiose than right now, but what do you do when your grandiosity is laced in absurdly macho war quotes that bloat your fist-pumpingest track to a toxic-for-football seven minutes? On "A More Perfect Union," Titus Andronicus doesn't seem to have known what to do with that either, and if you lay it down on paper, you can see why: "We will live forever or die, by suicide" and "Let me go out on a gurney"? There's no cutting that. It would be like telling General Patton to wrap up early, in case the infantry gets too tired to enjoy Kid Rock's USO show. –TS
21. Spoon – "Written in Reverse"
When I was in high school, there was a kid a couple years older than me who was kind of my friend, but more like my idol. He was the coolest, smartest, most talented kid I ever met, and he made it all seem like that was just what he was up to these days. As a reasonable adult who's less prone to seeing peers as idols, Spoon now fills that role for me – sure, I'm a fan, but really, I wish I was Spoon. These guys put out 10+ awesome songs every three years or so, and it just seems to be what they're up to these days.
"Written in Reverse" wails. The keyboard and the guitar engage in rock n' roll throw down of the finest quality. Britt Daniels cries of "AAAAAI'm not standing here!" are what Robert Plant would do if he was a baritone in skinny jeans instead of a tenor in tights. The words are a little nonsense from the get-go ("I'm writing this to you in reverse / someone better call a hearse"), and still give the listener a strong narrative of struggling to say the intense stuff (including a little Socratic / Dick Cheney-esque "All I know is all I know"). The false stop gives you a chance to reflect on the awesome before some more awesome happens. It has these gripping hooks that you can't remember once the song ends. It's completely accessible on the first listen, and still deeply intriguing on the 20th. And I suspect that after listening, you wish you were Spoon, too. -JW
20. Das Racist – "You Oughta Know"
Besides accomplishing the task of making rap criticism sound...you know, a lot less like rap criticism, while still being funny, "You Oughta Know" is one of those Das Racist tracks that's almost brutal in its embrace of party aesthetic. They're willing to be serious, even if you're not, but they want to make sure the rest of their fanbase is nodding their head while you get all Deborah Soloman on them. And while choosing a favorite line from Racist's output is a task even the most obsessive would struggle to complete, may we suggest "sick of arguing with white dudes on the internet" as a possible contender? -TS
19. Vampire Weekend – "Run"
On a March episode of Saturday Night Live, Vampire Weekend scored the second-best appearance by a musical guest in 2010 on the comedy show (Jay-Z takes top honors for his ten-minute, show-stopping Hova-palooza). Performing "Cousins" and "Giving Up The Gun", Ezra, Rostam, and the two Chris's performed as if to say: no sophomore slump here, amigos.
They are maturing into a band of fierce dynamism and endless creativity, and no song showcases that better than Contra's sixth track, "Run." They all just sound so... together. Consequently, this is perfect for a song about one lover urging the other to run off with him/her, away from the rut of their daily work routine. As our hero "chang(es) roles", he contemplates what it would be like if "the two of us could run"—and, suddenly, Ezra's vocals disappear for a musical chorus more gorgeous and dynamic than any vocal could ever capture. Vampire Weekend succeed in capturing the bliss of an impromptu escapade with a lover: the sense of abandon and spontaneity; the ultimate solace to be found next to the love of your life and a little powered radio. -FA
18. Gorillaz – "Empire Ants (Feat. Little Dragon)"
When I first got hold of Gorillaz' Plastic Beach, "Empire Ants" was the one track I immediately gravitated to. It is the most expansive track on the record, where, as a listener you, can actually point out the moment it goes wide with a huge dolly back to show the whole world is alive around the scene you were watching. Damon Albarn's half of the song feels very private and almost mournful; Yumiki Nagano's is lush and dance-y –neither of which I could tell you what they are singing about. Musically this is exactly where you wanted the Gorillaz project to go from Demon Days, pop songs that aren't pop songs, but too lush to be called anything else. There is a feeling that Albarn and Nagano are on equal ground, rather than one dominating the other... it's a lovesong on an album without any (aside from the other Little Dragon collab), at least it feels that way on Albarn's end. -SW
17. The Tallest Man on Earth – "Burden of Tomorrow"
I doubt The Tallest Man on Earth has the height he claims, but that's okay, because he's got other talents, including a Bob Dylan-like rasp to his voice, nice imagery to his lyrics, and some really pretty acoustic guitar. "Burden of Tomorrow" seems to be about hoping to leave a better world for future generations, a lovely sentiment that comes across in the emotion of his voice, and lingers in evocative lines about holding a glacier to an open flame or feeding a canyon's mouth, making for a beautiful, haunting listen, one to keep coming back to. I think I'll do so. -MJB
16. Crystal Castles – "Not in Love (Feat. Robert Smith)"
"Not in Love," the Crystal Castles' updated version of Police knock-offs Platinum Blonde's song, is something rare: an improvement on a cover that was already an improvement on the original. It's a modern 80's synth-pop gem that plays effortlessly in 2010 thanks to what is easily Robert Smith's best vocal performance since... who can even remember? Maybe because the Cure have lost their edge in the new millennium. Meanwhile, on their self-titled sophomore LP, Crystal Castles get sharper with an eclectic mix of propulsive synths and white goth noise. This remix is an apt sonic symbol for our generation; it bridges the nostalgic goth-pop of The Cure's yesteryear with a sound that is both today and yesterday. Plus, it makes my head bounce. –FA
15. The Chemical Brothers – "Escape Velocity"
I never gave up hope. Even after a string of—well, not bad, certainly still good but far from revelatory—mid-decade sleepers, The Chemical Brothers finally make good on the promise of their early years with a striking return to form. Watching them fiddle about in the thankless pursuit of a pop crossover hit these last few years was, at times, almost painful –especially so since you could never fully dismiss them as a spent force. Every Chems album was still stacked with massive deep cuts for the attentive listener to glom and dig, but the limpid pop and rap "hits" were an increasingly steep admission price for all but the most fervent followers. Finally, though, they found the plot: gone are the guest vocals from faded or nascent pop stars, here to stay are the massive psychedelic barn-burners and none-harder-than beats. I listen to a lot of dance music but the fact is that in decades of listening I've yet to find anything that sounds as big and as bold and as challenging as the Chems when they truly let loose. This right here, "Escape Velocity," is as big as anything they've ever done, and should serve as notice to every dubstep pretender or nu-rave charlatan: the kings are back, baby. -TO
14. Gorillaz – "Stylo (Feat. Bobby Womack)"
You'd expect Mos Def to drop a verse on "Stylo," but no, he's just background vocals here. Damon Albarn does an admirable job, but Bobby Womack is the star here. He's fresh out of retirement and he goes in. The mix of Mos Def's electronic vocals, Albarn's melancholy singing, and Womack pouring his heart out is killer, man. This song sounds pre-apocalyptic, like we're stuck in the moment when everything's gone sick, and we've got Bobby Womack telling us how things have been and will be. Mos comes on the air like a radio broadcast that brings nothing but bad news, and Albarn is us, lost and lonely. "Stylo" feels like inevitability. Maybe I'm reading too deep. Maybe it's just that good. -DB
13. The Dead Weather – "Die By the Drop"
Of Jack White's various non-White-Stripes projects, The Dead Weather seems to be going in a somewhat bluesy direction, but that doesn't stop them from rocking your face off when they want to. And they'd better, being a supergroup consisting of members of other awesome bands. On "Die By the Drop," White and The Kills' Alison Mosshart wail something fierce about dying slowly, while Mosshart and Queens of the Stone Age's Dean Fertita absolutely shred on guitars, which is normally White's job, but with this kind of talent, he's happy to sit back and pound on the drums while everyone else sets the stage on fire. After rocking this track, you certainly don't feel like you're dying in parts; it makes you feel alive. -MJB
12. Das Racist – "Shorty Said (Gordon Voidwell Remix)"
With last year's "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" still on the tongues of everyone from Larry David to Mary Gaitskill, this year's big takeaway from Das Racist is the actual significance intertwined with the laffs. Victor Vasquez and Himashu Suri (plus oft-neglected hype-man, Dap) articulate, through Dadaist raps, their experience of being Latin and Indian, respectively, and operating within black culture (hip-hop) and white culture (America.) The premise even trickles into the group's press, with interviewers constantly getting the two dudes mixed up—presumably because Himanshu has an Eastern-sounding name and Victor rocks a beard, so they assign the two Muslim-y attributes to one guy—but it reaches its apotheosis in Shut Up, Dude's "Shorty Said (Gordon Voidwell Remix.)" Bolstered by a sample from A Tribe Called Quest's deathless "Electric Relaxation"—"I like them black, white, Puerto Rican and Haitian"—the duo lists people that girls have told them they look like, from Richard Grieco to Carlos Mencia to Slash with no hat on. The point gets across in the first couple of bars, but the verbal riffs easily sustain the four minute run time. And that's the second takeaway from Das Racist this year: the jokes are pretty great, too. –MB
11. Arcade Fire – "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
Régine Chassagne takes lead vocals on "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)," the gorgeous, disco-tinged closer from Arcade Fire's ambitious third LP The Suburbs, easily one of the year's best. Much like the hero in Vampire Weekend's "Run," she too is weighted down by the daily grind, but also finds herself being swallowed by the city: "dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains/ And there's no end in sight." It's an intensely personal song for them and, if you've ever felt at times like the city is conspiring against you, this is your song. Arcade Fire feel expansive yet looser with their newfound embrace of electronica, found in delicious spurts throughout the album: "Sprawl II" is the culmination of an album that captures the universal tumult of adolescence and, fittingly, it doesn't end in triumph. It breaks down and fades much like youth does, until one day, you're not a kid anymore. -FA
By Frankie Alvarez, Matthew J. Brady, David Brothers, Marty Brown, Sarah Engelman, Andre Harris, Tim O'Neil, Nina Stone, Tucker Stone, Sean Witzke, and Josh Woodbeck, 2010
Martin Brown in Music, Top Albums of 2010 | Permalink
Tags: Best Songs of 2010, Music
The best thing about Stylo is that reportedly, Womack was just signing whatever. And it works brilliantly anyway!
Posted by: Lugh | 2010.12.17 at 19:37
Anybody got any guesses at the top ten?
Posted by: Marty | 2010.12.18 at 12:01
I really wanted that "Justin Bieber" El-P mix of "Baby" to make an appearance so that I could call some names, but so far, the good folks at TFO have showed some inspired aversion to that song. It's like Girl Talk, except you take out the songs people like and replace it with Justin Bieber and Wings and swear words. What more could you ask for in a song to get good and pissed off about?
That Das Racist song loses me a little after the "Fuck Carlos Mencia" line, but it's fun enough.
We'll have to wait for the top 10 for name calling, I guess...
Posted by: BerserkerJosh | 2010.12.18 at 12:26
LLLLLLLLCCCCCCCCCCCDDDDDDDDD
Posted by: andre | 2010.12.18 at 12:26
I don't know if it's an accurate guess or not, but I'd be pretty hyped if Gold Panda's "Snow and Taxis" made it on.
Posted by: Chris Jones | 2010.12.19 at 05:56
I always feel like the musical ignoramus around these parts, but I'm kinda annoyed about the multiples here. Two Robyn tracks? Two Das Racists? That's lame, and I bet it knocked out some deserving stuff, although not necessarily any of the stuff I nominated, since it's probably not cool enough for this crowd. I did manage to rescue Airplanes 2 from being excluded though, so I'm happy about that; it was near the top of my list.
Oh, and there's too much electronic stuff too. That whole genre does almost nothing for me. Did I mention I'm not cool enough to swing with these guys?
Posted by: Matthew J. Brady | 2010.12.20 at 00:27
Thank you for recommending "Desire Lines." I'd not heard that before. Listened to your youtube link, bought it -- and cranked it up for a dozen plays today. Great tune.
Posted by: Paul Worthington | 2010.12.20 at 00:43
I agree with Brady about artists showing up multiple times, even though I had multiples on my own list. I did it because I'm selfish, I want the artists I like to show up on the list and I don't like voting for songs I only kinda like. So while I agree it may not be ideal I don't actually care because I love Robyn and Das Racist. And fuck Carlos Mencia, Josh. Fuck him.
Posted by: Sarah Engelman | 2010.12.22 at 07:20