Month: December 2011

Top 100 Songs of 2011 (25-11)

25. Lady Gaga – Hair/The Edge of Glory

I’m as free as my hair. That’s why I’m growing it out. Because of Gaga. That and my newfound pledge of getting haircuts for free. Still haven’t found a way to do that yet though, so I’ve got to bask in “Hair” for the time being. I don’t mind, it’s bloody fantastic. Gaga has an intuitive connection to pop music that the world hasn’t seen since MJ, I swear. “The Edge of Glory” is equally awesome; a sex-/sax-laden romp. Try and count the hooks in both songs. You can’t. No one can count that high. The essence of pop music.

24. Adele – Someone Like You

Someone eviscerated a part of Adele. She used that energy/pain and burst out with “Someone Like You”, castigating some unlucky chap who’s become a footnote in the best ballad of the year. What followed? Only the entire free world flocking to listen to the ever-personal experience Adele revealed, heartbreaking line by heartbreaking line. As cathartic a break-up song as there can be. Although Adele is extremely talented, this is the best song she will ever sing. By miles.

23. Imiginary Cities – Marry The Sea/Hummingbird

“Marry The Sea” mollifies with its cheery musical disposition (great job Rusty) and Marti Sarbit’s affecting, voluptuous vocals. A simple concept and impeccable delivery. “Hummingbird”, the band’s lead single, is victorious in its attempt to cause pause and ask, ‘where are these sweet sounds coming from?’ They’re coming from Imaginary Cities. Get used to the name.

22. Cage The Elephant – Shake Me Down

Lead singer and Kurt Cobain look-a-like Matthew Shultz looks like a blackguard. He kind of sings like one too. His mid-summer performances wearing nothing but a sundress would suggest his motives are nefarious to at least some degree. “Shake Me Down” is a fabulous pop-rock song, and it particularly soars at 2:23, as Shultz repeats, “even on a cloudy day…I keep my eyes fixed on the sun” as the music buzzes with vitality. He sounds so enthused you begin to think staring at the sun might be a good idea. Let’s give it a shot.

21. Bon Iver – Calgary/Holocene

“Calgary”, a broken, mourning lament of a song, its beauty laying in its ability to connect. “Holocene”, a subdued jaunt down remembrance alley. Justin Vernon continues his mastery over the art of song. Both songs are positively wonderful. The sound of blood on a record. A mended heart that continues to beat is a heart all the same.

20. Rihanna f. Calvin Harris – We Found Love

Her second best song ever — yes ever — after “Umbrella”. Calvin Harris supplies a preposterous pop beat, yet it couldn’t be brought to life by just anyone. Rihanna has this je ne sais quoi; she doesn’t have fantastic vocal dexterity, range, or power, but she pulls her songs off with a winking aplomb that no other pop star in her arena can touch. This song is so big I’m pretty sure it’s reached the outer limits of the Milky Way by now. Its course henceforth is unknown. It could never be pinned down.

19. Future Islands – The Great Fire

The Great Fire came to a man in the most fortuitous of circumstances. Running from a gigantic predator, the man tripped on the ground and tumbled into a cave. Darkness ruled the night, except for a light near the end of the cave. The man was intrigued. He walked closer to the light and noticed it was moving. It was bright, it was hot, and it had no fixed form. He was mesmerized by the treasure before him. It had an energy, a force, a story. It was The Great Fire. Feeling like the luckiest being on earth, he had delusions of grandeur and took The Great Fire from its home. Little did he know the huge creature he’d just escaped from had been been watching as he took the element. When he exited the cave, the creature pounced, took hold of the man, and demanded the fire. The man refused, but was physically overmatched. He was dragooned by the dragon to give up the fire. With no other option before him, he relented. The dragon was mystified once it possessed the fire. Its eyes glimmered, its insides lit up. It cackled as it dropped the man onto the ground. The man watched as the dragon flew away, breathing the newfound element through its nose, illuminating the night sky with a streaking, red-orange hue. The man had a taste of power and vowed on his life to get it back. The Great Fire.

18. The Black Keys – Lonely Boy

Simple raconteurs, The Black Keys are. Poseurs, they are not. Provacateurs, maybe. Catchy alt-rock is what they do best. “Lonely Boy” happens to be the coup de gras of this formula, and the best song they’ve yet written. This song is a monster, and not one of those cheesy monsters you’ll see making up the GOP. I’m talking a Godzilla-, Mothra-type motherfunker. The chorus is so grating on the psyche it’s considered a halucenogen in 13 states (North Carolina’s on the fence–as usual). P.S. Black Keys + Derrick Tuggle = visual gold.

17. Grouplove – Colours

Gamboling without a care in the world, Grouplove see colours as variant perceptions of light and sound. Black, black, green and brown, brown, brown, brown and blue, yellow violets red. Sounds like we’ve got the spectrum there lady and gents. Fun incarnate. (Also, props must go to an American band spelling ‘colours’ the British way.)

16. The Airborne Toxic Event – The Graveyard Near The House/Half of Something Else

What pop instincts TATE have. They are a tour de force of pop mastery. “The Graveyard Near The House” has an inscription on its heart that doesn’t kill it and somehow emboldens it. It’s a warm, melodic, emollient love song. A fragile beauty. Mikel says it best, “it’s better to love, whether you win or lose or die…it’s better to love and I will love you ’til I die”. “Half of Something Else” is the aforementioned song’s kindred soul. Another crushing love song, featuring straightforward lyrics and a cascading musical track. The idea of being but ‘half of something else’ is one of the most compelling ways to put the idea of commitment I’ve ever heard. Breathtakingly august.

15. Lady Gaga – Bloody Mary

Madonna’s “Just Like a Prayer” + Taco’s “Puttin’ On The Ritz” + robots + humans + sex + bassline + choral (occultish) chanting + dancing (with hands) + a sprinkle of Jesus = “Bloody Mary”. My favourite song on Gaga’s indefatigable monster, Born This Way, and plainly, one of the best songs in her increasingly spectacular cache of pop masterstrokes.

14. Britney Spears – Trip to Your Heart

Impugn if you must, but I think this may very well be the best song Brit has ever been a part of. Femme Fatale is her best album, and it’s filled with some standout electro-pop smashes, but frankly, this song leaves them all in the dust — it pretty well leaves every song she’s ever done there. This tune is a one-off coast on a cloud to the epicentre of euphoria’s (electro) beating heart. Reminiscent of Nalin & Kane’s “Beachball” and classic early aughts DJ Sammy, but still different, and…better. Contains wave after wave of cascading, careening synths and hooks.

It’s by far the best headphone song she’s ever done. The most sensual.  The classiest (I know, not normally an adjective used to describe anything related to Ms. Spears [except when she eats Cheetos] — but it’s true). The dreamiest (“Unusual You” is a close second). Titillating yet low-key, with her most understated vocal turn. That beat. What a fantasy. The production is impeccable; it’s an engineer’s wet dream. The capstone song in Brit’s repertoire. Absurd yet delicious that it wasn’t a single. A treasure.

13. Foo Fighters – Walk

Inconfutably, “Walk” is one of the Foo’s most energetic efforts, a song to stand proudly along “Best of You”, “My Hero”, “The Pretender”, and “Everlong”. Dave Grohl, ever the rabble-rouser, lets buck have filthy, unprotected sex with wild on this track. How he continues to scream with such unadulterated chutzpah is a revelation to me and voice specialists everywhere. A wall of sound (welcome back Pat Smear). A frothing intensity. A hellacious journey. Grohl’s on his knees, praying that he never dies. I think we’ve long since known that’ll never happen Dave. Carry on as your were.

12. Incubus – If Not Now, When?

I dig “If Not Now, When?” so much because of one reason: Bredan Boyd’s vocal. Sure, the guitar work is simmering in heat, the melody is fantastic, the lyrics are poignant and relevant to the masses, but that voice, my god, that voice. Technically, it’s the best male vocal I’ve heard in eons. Passionately, it’s just as wondrous. Specifically, it’s the way Boyd raises an octave at 2:12 as he reflects that “something’s missing here”. I’m here to correct you on that assertion BB. Nothing’s missing. Absolutely nothing.

11. Young Galaxy – We Have Everything/Peripheral Visionaries

Both songs are unencumbered in their beauty. Young Galaxy have crossed the rubicon. Not a household name, I exhort anyone coming across this list to investigate Young Galaxy’s Shapeshifting LP. It could very well be the best Canadian LP (among many deserving candidates) of the year. I came across this record early in the year and I was instantly flabbergasted. “We Have Everything” and “Peripheral Visionaries” are monolithic wonders, belying their state by moving with the ease and grace of an eagle. Young Galaxy were a solid band before Shapeshifting, but with a bit of a lineup change, they’ve become unrecognizable (in the best way possible). There is no analog for these songs. They inhabit their own space. They are unique. They are leviathans. They are Young Galaxy.

Top 100 Songs of 2011 (50-26)

50. The Airborne Toxic Event – Numb/All I Ever Wanted

“Numb” and “All I Ever Wanted” continue the trend of The Airborne Toxic Event birthing song-after-song of stadium-ready pop-rock tunes. They’ve raised the bar so high the sport of pole vaulting has been eradicated. About time someone came through on that.

49. The Joy Formidable – Whirring

Six minutes and forty-seven seconds of exultant pop-alt. And nothing less.

48. Fucked Up – Serve Me Right/Queen of Hearts

It’s Father Damian’s acerbic delivery. “Serve Me Right” is two petards and an itchy trigger finger. “Queen of Hearts” is somewhat sweeter, at least in the sense that a chopped off left arm is better than lopping off both legs. From the alarmingly good David Comes to Life album. I believe Fucked Up have something important to say. It’s a good idea to listen.

47. Maroon 5 – Moves Like Jagger

I was disabused of the notion that Maroon 5 had reached their peak in the (sort of) distant past. “Moves Like Jagger” is a startling return to form; one of the best pop songs of the year, and maybe the best they’ve yet released.

46. Clive Tanaka Y Su Orquesta – Neu Chicago (Side A) [For Dance]

What a stirring, almost instrumental tune. That one guitar string being held at the end in an ambient, Edge(U2)-kind of way makes the song for me. One of the best, and most sunny, dance tracks of the year. A fortuitous discovery.

45. Nicki Minaj – Super Bass

Who knows what goes on in this chick’s brain. Whatever it is, we can be sure that it’s “slicker than the guy with the thing on his eye, uh”.

43. The Antlers – I Don’t Want Love/Putting The Dog to Sleep

“I Don’t Want Love”: If beauty formed an accord with anguish. Buoyed by an elegant falsetto, Peter Silberman’s vocals during the last third of the song are something out of this world. What a ride. A fitting album opener to a superb LP.

“Putting The Dog to Sleep”: If anguish formed an accord with suffering, who then alligned with sorrow, coalescing with heartbreak to form a dire scourge of a record. Yet in all this pain, the song is still dazzling. A fitting album closer from a marvellous LP.

42. Cults – Walk at Night/You Know What I Mean

Like 1950’s doo-wop teeny-boppers cavorting around late at night unbeknownst to their parents, making the best of youth yet exaggarating every scar beyond any rational measure, Cults, and in particular, “Walk at Night” and “You Know What I Mean” feature the oldfangled heavily and without remorse. The addition of guitars to the process makes the sound extremely attractive.

41. Austra – The Beat and The Pulse/Lose It

What a stunning debut. “The Beat and The Pulse”, with its The Knife-like beats and Glasser-like vocals, is a racing bullet of a synth-pop song. “Lose It”, with its Glasser- and Florence and The Machine-like vocals, is sweeter than a honey-coated Cinderalla. These songs are statements of intent from a band that bombarded its way onto the scene and carved out its own niche quicker than you can check if the band is named after the European country. That’s quick. And mighty impressive.

40. Future Islands – Before The Bridge/Balance

*Spoiler alert* There is more to come about Future Islands higher up on the list, so I’ll limit the pontificating here. “Before The Bridge” is a stirring peace offering. It’s how the bass drops at 0:30. It’s how soul meets body. It’s how the moon is listening. It’s “how to forget a love, is to regret”.  “Balance” is a lilting, pleasing, wizardly love song that bleeds nostalgia. Continuing to produce hits at such a hurried pace, Future Islands are The Truth.

39. Lana Del Ray – Blue Jeans/Video Games

Lana Del Ray sure has finagled her way into the alternative (now mainstream) music consciousness this past year. While the rival factions argue over her authenticity (some call her a charlatan, a mountebank), I’ll be content to sit back and enjoy two startlingly raw and bare songs from a siren-voiced chanteuse. Both “Blue Jeans” and “Video Games” are immaculately constructed ballads, containing prodigious melodies and vocals. What a sexy, simmering showcase to the world these two songs are. 2011, the year Lana Del Ray’s star was propelled into deep space.

38. Mates of State – Mistakes

Perhaps the loveliest, most melodic song on Mountaintops, “Mistakes” contains one of the most honest lyrics of the year as it relates to the human (relationship) condition: “I need you, but it’s not normal, if I refuse, to be by myself”. Consistently affecting, honest and reliable, Mates of State are one of the most underrated bands of this era.

37. M83 – Intro (f. Zola Jesus)/Midnight City

From the outset, “Intro” lets the listener know they’re in for a trip. Not a trip down downtown, to the ‘burbs, to the nearest metropolis, down south, or halfway around the world. This trip is astral, divine, and for infinity if you want it to be, because once you’ve immersed yourself in M83, in Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, in “Intro”, the path back is hard to find and just about meaningless. Zola Jesus offers an impassioned guest spot on the record, and her turn driving the cosmic bus is an astounding one. “Intro” leads into “Midnight City”, and the possibilities propagated are endless. “We didn’t need a story, we didn’t need a real world; we just had to keep walking, and we became the stories…”

36. Manchester Orchestra – Virgin

Manchester Orchestra have an antipathy to that which is not catchy; I get that now. But this is ridiculous. There are so many hooks in “Virgin”, you’d swear it was the supplier of Bass Pro Shops. Manchester Orchestra continue to be a criminally underrated outfit. “Virgin” is the sound of a rock band being a bad-ass rock band.

35. The Horrors – Still Life

When I listen to this song, I picture it smoking, dilly-dallying, rebelling with the world aflutter around it. A little bit Oasis, a pinch of Joy Division and a smattering of Arctic Monkeys, The Horrors’ “Still Life” is a song that could soundtrack a libidinous love scene or a violent bank robbery. That’s range.

34. Bombay Bicycle Club – Still/Lights Out, Words Gone

At this moment in time, only Bombay Bicycle Club could release the song “Light’s Out, Words Gone”. Combining so many disparate elements into a facile, perfectly mixed concoction of rhythm is cause for celebration among music fans looking to be inspired. I’ve yet to come to terms with “Still”. It’s the most vulnerable thing they’ve ever done, and will likely ever do. It’s mind-boggling. It’s serene. It’s delicate. It’s trancendent. What a work of pristine, crystalline art. I want to take care of “Still” forever. Monumentally precious.

This band will have a (successful) 40-year career in music if they choose to stick around (please, oh please). It all seems to come so easily for Bombay Bicycle Club. There is nothing these brilliant young lads are incapable of musically.

33. Iron & Wine – Walking Far From Home

Sam Beam’s lyrical imagery is quaint, thoughtful, romantic and idyllic. And “Walking Far From Home” deserves to be revered alongside “Such Great Heights”, “Flightless Bird, American Mouth (original)”, “Resurrection Fern”, and “The Trapeze Swinger” as the best of Iron and Wine’s increasingly impressive pantheon. Augmenting his usually descriptive language and folk insistence is an electronic backbone that gives the band’s sound a fresh face. Iron and Wine are truly one of a kind.

32. The Naked & Famous – Young Blood

Pop. Alt. Dance. Bewitchment. Such is the life of “Young Blood”. It’s a good life. A great life.

31. Death Cab for Cutie – St. Peter’s Cathedral/You Are a Tourist

“You Are a Tourist” contains a behemoth of a riff; it’s slightly outside the norm for DC4C, a welcome detour from the signature sound they’ve come to master over the years. I just can’t get over that riff. “St. Peter’s Cathedral” is a smoldering triumph, probably my favourite song on their Codes and Keys album. It’s also a departure from normal DC4C fare, but the kicker is an interesting one. It has a bit of The Postal Service in it, at least more than I’ve heard in any Death Cab song to date. Perhaps it’s true that The Postal Service will not reunite (a shame), and if it is, sneaking a bit of that sound into new DC4C songs is a great idea. The fizzing guitars and repetitive ‘ba da ba da’s’ are rife with ebullience. I’d love to see the band explore that sound further. For now, “St. Peter’s Cathedral” will more than suffice.

30. Wild Beasts – Bed of Nails

“Bed of Nails” is a cheeky rascal. Its melody is insidious, its vocal is gaudy and bedazzling. Lead singer Hayden Thorpe channels his inner Antony Hegarty, but he’s no cheap knock-off, as he injects his vocal with a plush playfulness all his own. My favourite song on their excellent Smother LP.

29. Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – If I Had A Gun

Oh Noel. “If I Had a Gun” is the best song he’s released — Oasis or otherwise — in ages. Maybe the most exposed Noel has ever sounded. The melody hovers in the cosmos like a charming celestial guardian. Most affectingly, it’s the way he utters, “my eyes have always…followed you around the room”, in the sweetest, most plausible way one could imagine. Sorry Liam, this fight was never fair.

28. Arctic Monkeys – Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve Moved Your Chair

The sound of rapscallions at play, this ferocious, villainous riff is the hardest thing the Arctic Monkeys have ever done, and it sounds bloody brilliant. I’m floored and loving every second of it. Sneaky little buggers.

27. Glasvegas – Whatever Hurts You Through The Night/Euphoria, Take My Hand

“Whatever Hurts You Through The Night” is the sound of assignation, a sojourn of a romance frothing with fervor but aware its life span is short. Probably the most hypnotic tune on the album Euphoria /// Heartbreak, the song wouldn’t have sounded out of place on their awesome debut LP, Glasvegas. “Euphoria, Take My Hand”, equally reminiscent of the debut record, is the album’s totem, the talismanic symbol of a record that aims to please every aural sensation possible. It works.

26. Cold War Kids – Mine Is Yours/Finally Begin

The sound of a band at the top of their melodic game. Cold War Kids sound eminent and comfortable in their own skin, bridging their innate quirkiness with bucket-loads of charm. “Mine Is Yours”, the album opener, is a giver, asking nothing in return but an ear and a pulse, two conditions I can gladly submit to. “Finally Begin” is the love song, separating love in an AD, BC context. Well put. Well done.