The Whole Shebash: top songs

Showing posts with label top songs. Show all posts

1.20.2011

Scott's Top 15 Songs of 2010: Part III

5. Jamie Lidell - "The Ring"

To be honest, "The Ring" is the only song I've heard by Jamie Lidell, but what a song it is. Mr. Lidell belts a desperate tale of a man trying to recover a long lost marriage over some seriously warped vocal loops. The eclectic accompaniment bends the blues into a shuffling junkyard beat of rattling drums, steady pianos, and frantic trumpet bleats. Lidell's voice swoons and roars in top form, easily channeling the lyrics' emotional turmoil. It's rare that someone approaches the decades-old, fixed chord progressions of the blues with such unique vision.

4. Janelle Monáe - "Tightrope (Feat. Big Boi)"

Dylan already wrote up a pretty good post about this track in his own top 5 list, but I feel like I can add a little bit to the discussion. Of all the songs on Janelle Monáe's massive, genre hopping debut album, The ArchAndroid, "Tightrope" comes off as one of the more conventional cuts on first listen. Initially, the spotlight centers on Monáe's high flying vocals, riding a slippery funk groove and firing off lines like "Some callin' me a sinner / Some callin' me a winner / I'm callin' you to dinner / And you know exactly what I mean" with infectious confidence.

However, subsequent spins reveal an impeccable devotion to detail and layering that cuts deeper than the bedding in your typical sedimentary rock outcrop. The male and female backing vocals are a particular highlight, filling out the tight rhythms with supporting harmonies that never threaten to overwhelm Monáe's voice.

Though his guest appearance merely consists of a brief verse and a few adlibs here and there, Big Boi's chilled out presence provides a perfect foil to Monáe's fiery performance. His lines fit in perfectly as yet another element of a truly swingin' track.

3. Big Boi - "Shutterbugg (Feat. Cutty)"

Yes, Big Boi does make two appearances in my top 5, this time the wildly inventive electronic stomp of "Shutterbugg", the first single off of Sir Lucious Left Foot... The Son of Chico Dusty. Mr. Patton eschews mainstream rap's standard autotune in favor of an arsenal of talkboxes that blast forth like a legion of robo-bullfrogs marching in lockstep. This track also features some of the best use of unsampled electric guitar in any rap song I've heard, with axe work ranging from staccato melodic lines to funky Hendrix flourishes.

As for the man himself, Big Boi boasts with a swift flow that perfectly complements the streamlined beat. Despite talk of "this finger on the trigger" and the like, he keeps things as chill as the drinks in the club he's rapping about. Probably the best song you will ever hear at a frat party.

2. She & Him - "In the Sun"

With "In the Sun", She & Him have crafted a gem of an indie-pop song. Zooey Deschanel proves once again that she's not just another actress who sings, but M. Ward's guitar playing and production elevate this song from breezy singalong to detailed composition. Ward's lush arrangements bathe Deschanel's vocals in layers of reverbed guitar chords and keyboard atmospheres, and his warbling closing solo channels some pretty sweet tones. A great summer track.

1. The Tallest Man on Earth - "King of Spain"

My favorite song of 2010 was The Tallest Man on Earth's "King of Spain", the galloping centerpiece of his magnificent second album, The Wild Hunt. Every second of this track bleeds raw emotion, from Kristian Matsson's roughly resonating acoustic strums to his expressive vocals: he screams his lungs out one second, only to whisper the next. The song never lets up, reaching a powerful climax with Matsson's closing howl.

Matsson's evocative lyrics are the key ingredient in making "King of Spain" an instant classic. I sort of wonder whether Matsson was partly inspired by Nikolai Gogol's short story "Diary of a Madman", in which a lowly Russian clerk goes insane and imagines himself as the king of Spain. Both Matsson and Gogol weave tales that initially glimmer with an almost playful confession of yearning. Like Gogol's protagonist, however, the narrator of "King of Spain" finds his fantasy to be mere "illusion"; the desire to "reinvent my name" becomes a feverish, tortured imagination of an escape from nameless mediocrity.

Well, I hope that didn't sound too pretentious; that's just my two cents on the song's meaning. "King of Spain" is an infectious romp, complex yet concise; it's a perfect song.

Thank you very much for reading our blog; it was a great year for music!

12.31.2010

Scott's Top 15 Songs of 2010: Part II

Happy New Years eve everyone! I hope that some good timez go down. Here's part two of my list.

10. Die Antwoord - "Evil Boy"

South African Zef rap trio Die Antwoord had a pretty successful year, mystifying audiences overseas with their debut $O$. Videos like "Enter the Ninja" and "Zef Side" became Youtube sensations thanks to the members' cartoonish posturing and scattershot humor. In my opinion, however, "Evil Boy" was the star of the circus and the best music video of the year. The ragged haircuts, the folktale monsters, the genitals, the District 9 prawn arm, Yolandi Vi$$er's creepy seduction of a very confused Diplo--all these elements coalesce in a video that bounces Pong-style from shocking to hilarious and back again. Take the visuals away and you're left with a solid banger featuring one of Ninja's best hard spitting raps.

9. The Ocean - "She was the Universe"

Leave it to a metal song from a concept album about The Brothers Karamazov and the evolution of Christianity to feature one of the catchiest hooks of the year. "She was the Universe" may be almost all massive guitars and syncopated snare pummeling, but The Ocean's new vocalist Loic Rossetti provides the track with a melodic immediacy rarely present within the sludgy depths of post-metal.

8. Yelawolf - "Pop the Trunk"

I have to admit that I wasn't really impressed by Yelawolf's stripped down Southern style at first, but "Pop the Trunk" helped turn me around. Catfish Billy's slippery flow defies all haters as he deftly dances around the sparse production, and the synthesized horns during the chorus are simply huge.

7. Sleigh Bells - "Rill Rill"

Coincidentally, Sleigh Bells' excellent debut Treats dropped just as I was getting into Funkadelic's Maggot Brain, the source of the sample that fuels "Rill Rill." "Can You Get To That"'s chilled out acoustic guitar line provides an excellent contrast to Alexis Krauss' heavily processed vocals. A perfect summer track.

6. Chromeo - "Night By Night"

"Night By Night" is one of the few '80s throwbacks that doesn't annoy me--Chromeo's unapologetically slick production refuses to neglect solid songwriting. P-Thugg's talkbox trades off with Dave 1's vocals during the memorable chorus, while the recurring harmonized guitar leads bring to mind Judas Priest hitting the dance floor. The duo show off some pretty flashy licks during the instrumental break, as well. Check out the video: Dave 1 knows how to dance.

12.29.2010

Dylan's Top 25 Songs of 2010 (25-1)

25-15

25) Method Man, Ghostface Killah, & Raekwon - Dangerous
24) Suckers - Martha
23) Yelawolf - Pop the Trunk
22) Freeway & Jake One - She Makes Me Feel Alright
21) Beach House - Zebra
20) Duck Sauce - Barbara Streisand
19) Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg & Akon - Kush
18) Broken Social Scene - Forced To Love
17) The Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
16) Tobacco - Stretch Your Face
15) The-Dream - Love King

14-6

14) The Black Keys - Tighten Up
13) The Roots - Right On feat. Joanna Newsom
12) Yeasayer - O.N.E.
11) Plants and Animals - Tom Cruz
10) Deerhunter - Coronado
9) Curren$y - Audio Dope II
8) Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - Window Shopping
7) Sleigh Bells - Tell 'Em
6) LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change

5) Goldfrapp - Alive

Many of Goldfrapp's previous popular tracks lean in the direction of edgy synthpop but "Alive" finds the duo paying more dues to glam and 70s stadium rock. Lyrically and rhythmically simple, it relies on a stampede of constantly changing short and sunshiney hooks over a driving synth bass. Lead singer Alison Goldfrapp's whimsical vocal maintains a mood just short of gushy as background synthesizers plummet into chaos.

4) The Tallest Man on Earth - King of Spain

Swedish folk singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson has been around for a few years but a little internet hype for his 2010 album The Wild Hunt and a phenomenal live show couldn't have hurt in skyrocketing his popularity this year. Joyously descriptive and slyly romantic, his scratchy vocals howl over what could otherwise be described as a safe countryside jam. Instead, painting an intimate sketch of ambition and adventure, Matsson strums with a veteran finesse and couples this with vocal might few accomplished folk singers can muster.

3) Kanye West feat. Bon Iver, Rick Ross, Jay-Z & Nicki Minaj - Monster

Knock, knock. Who's there? Yeezy, Bon Iver, Jay-Z, half-Barbie half-Terminator Nicki Minaj--and for about 10 seconds Rick Ross. Oh, and this year's biggest mainstream hip-hop banger.

On an album that sports Elton John alongside Fergie, this combination seems pretty tame. But there's absolutely nothing subtle about "Monster." It schizophrenically shifts between a spookily empty background and an enormous palette of indecipherable groans, apocalyptic children at play, guttural lion roars, infectious haunted house keyboard and an undeniably satisfying open hi-hat and snare combination.

Bon Iver blesses the intro with freakishly distorted crooning and closes the track with a gorgeous outro over a progressive piano solo. In between, we get gigantic rattling and pulsing of Kanye's beat coupled with dynamic and flawlessly chilling verses from the four rappers. The transitions happen so abruptly that it feels like the hip-hop portion of the song is the animated and exaggerated manifestation of Iver's spooky campfire ghost story. Kanye, Jay-Z, Minaj and even Ross exhibit a larger than life sense of character. They flaunt, tantalize, agonize and in the case of Minaj, reach the brink of explosion but Iver calmly closes the song with his subtle delivery before the monsters can destroy the world.

2) The Morning Benders - Promises

"Excuses", the first track on the Morning Benders' 2010 record Big Echo is a ballad. Featuring only safe and subtle melodic and rhythmic changes, it relies on tasteful harmonies and hooks over a perpetual 6/8 beat with a wall of sound gradually increasing in sonic complexity. It's blissful for a while--and certainly catchy--but blatantly unadventurous compared to what they accomplish in their second track, "Promises".

Listening to the lackadaisical first verse of this song can throw you. It's gentle. The lead vocalist stays in a limited range. Perhaps we're in store for a lyrically complex but musically low key indie rock ballad. Maybe there will be a nice guitar solo halfway through but undoubtedly in the tradition of the light-hearted tinkering those first few seconds introduce.

But while "Excuses" is a naive and fleeting summer romance, "Promises" is the painfully bittersweet reflection on a saga of self-fulfilling agony. Lead singer Chris Chu breaks down, the soothing introduction was just a facade in front of his bubbling frustration. The band crescendos and adds hefty distortion and layers under Chu's brilliant lamentation, "They say it's only natural...but I can't help thinking we grew up too fast." Then the band reaches back to that blissful 6/8 sound they discovered on "Excuses" but this time the subject matter is much heavier. The momentous wall of sound packs a much stronger punch with the added context of anger per misguide. Harnessing their finesse at switching rhythmic styles and moods, the Morning Benders render "Promises" an unexpectedly heart-wrenching and beautiful indie rock masterpiece.

1) Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi - Tightrope

Janelle Monae is the type of artist where supplying a laundry list of the genres she trots across is incredibly tempting but in no way does justice to her extraordinary musical talent. She's fearless, polished, boisterous and quirky. When the raucous and funky stomp of "Tightrope" drops she's immediately ready for action, spitting rapidfire lyrics with a liquidy delivery. A brass section with impeccable staccato hits appears during the chorus and Monae elevates her vocal to that of a refreshingly youthful yet experienced soul diva. Big Boi drops in for a few words, keeping his appearance tastefully brief and allowing Monae to run the show from there on out.

"Tightrope" gets even funkier. Sassy adlibs preface an even sassier horn soli. Then Monae commands, "Now shut up" and "Now put some voodoo on it", allowing the track to close in a completely unpredicted manner. Moody strings, DJ scratching, sassy male vocal samples--it's all very easy to miss the first time through. Monae utters her last few words airily and somewhat ambiguously and the song closes with a psychedelic echo of "Happy birthday." "Tightrope" sets the precedent for a deeply complex album but stands alone as a party jam, a funk experiment, a showcase for an immensely talented artist. Pushing the limits of mainstream music like her mentors in OutKast and alluding to the far out musical character of old school acts like Parliament, Monae establishes herself as part of the lineage of true funk. This song coalesces everything she stands for.

12.16.2010

Scott's top 15 songs of 2010 (15-11)

Yo, it's t1me for my favorite songs of the year!!!!1!1!! In all seriousness, I've spent many an hour pondering the wealth of music that I've discovered this year, and I can safely say that my ears have been going through some massive taste expansion. Without further ado, here's part one of my list.

15. LCD Soundsystem - "Dance Yrself Clean"

"Dance Yrself Clean" is actually the song that introduced me to LCD Soundsystem, back when Dylan wrote a post on them earlier this year. James Murphy & Co. bring the old school synths to some pretty massive climaxes over the track's nine minute duration. Case in point: the drop around three minutes in hits just as hard as any hardcore breakdown.

14. How to Destroy Angels - "A Drowning"

Trent Reznor has written some magnificently chilling closers over the years, and "A Drowning" might just be one of the best. On this How to Destroy Angels cut, Reznor and Atticus Ross build a dark, immersive soundscape around Mariqueen Maandig's simple yet surprisingly emotional vocal lines. In one of the best production tricks of the year, swelling guitars seem to literally drown Maandig's fragile voice at the end of the song, leaving behind a single, plaintive piano line.

13. Das Racist - "You Oughta Know"

Freely associated pop culture references and slacker imagery aside, the dudes in Das Racist dig up some hip-hop gold with this song by mining an old Billy Joel song and slathering on their own sloppy imitation. Just try getting "You Oughta Know" out of your head.

12. Kanye West - "POWER ft. Dwele"

And the award for most unexpected prog-rock sample goes to... Kanye West! Even though I'm not a big fan of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, "POWER" is a perfectly cut gem of a rap--the handclaps, the sirens, Yeezy's unrestrained megalomania, the King Crimson sample, dat AMAZING SYNTH BREAK at 3:19!!! No seriously, that brief instrumental section makes the album.

11. Jónsi - "Boy Lilikoi"

On "Boy Lilikoi," Jónsi speeds up Sigur Ros' glacial atmospherics to technicolor bursts of skittering wind instruments and joyous, breakneck percussion. The Icelandic vocalist has finally embraced both the short pop song and the English language in an infectious performance that's so happy it almost hurts.