Say When? 2010!

Here they are ladies and non-ladies, the best songs of 2010. I made no effort to be fair and balanced (suck it Kanye) or thorough and exhaustive (although I picked up way more songs than I expected to). I tried to limit one song per artist, but of course there are some collaborations in there and one or two instances where I included a second song just because I liked it. I included two Cee Lo Green songs (because "Fuck You" was released early as a single and doesn't really seem to fit in with the rest of The Lady Killer) and two Gorillaz songs (because "Doncamatic" was released separately as a single and it's mostly a Daley song anyway).

Also, my selection from Sufjan Stevens is 25 minutes long. Oops! Anyway, here are the superlatives for this year:

Best Album: Heartland by Owen Pallett

This album is simply brilliant. Pallett has proved that he is just as imaginative in his songwriting as he is with his composing. Choosing a song from this album to include was the toughest challenge I faced in arranging this playlist, because there were several very strong contenders. In the end, I stopped trying to decide which song was best and went with an easier choice. I ended up picking "E Is For Estranged" not only is it one of the strongest tracks on the album, but also because it didn't really seem to belong on the album. It seemed to be something left over from an earlier era and didn't fit into the narrative of the album. Since the record is a concept album and follows a story line throughout, I thought it would be optimal to pick the song that best stood on its own, since not knowing the story might detract from listening to the other songs. SO BUY THIS ALBUM.

Best Rock Album: Sea of Cowards by The Dead Weather

This album kicks so much ass. Seriously, there's not a bad track on this record. Some of the best rock songs I've heard in a long time.

Best Rap Album: Devoir d'insolence by Z.E.P.

I have no idea what's being said on this record but I don't care, I just really like the music.

Best R&B Album: The Archandroid by Janelle Monáe

While this album isn't as catchy and immediately accessible as Cee Lo's The Lady Killer, it is easily one of the most imaginative and eclectic albums of the year.

Best New Artist: The Rubberbandits

Best Swedish Artist: The Tallest Man on Earth

And so here's the list! It's designed to fit on three audio CDs. Originally I planned to limit it to one disc but the thing totally blew up. I figured it would be better to just it super long than to have to make decisions and cut things out. The songs are arranged so that if you were to listen to them all on disc at once they would flow together nicely. So if you get all these songs you can make your own playlist and listen to them!

1. "O Death (Traditional)" by Lauren O'Connell

2. "The Wild Hunt" by The Tallest Man on Earth

3. "You Are" by Punch Brothers

4. "When I Decide" by My Terrible Friend

5. "A Simple Life" by Philip Selway

6. "You Are Not Alone" by Mavis Staples

7. "Thieves" by She & Him

8. "Too Many Miracles" by Badly Drawn Boy

9. "The Suburbs" by Arcade Fire

10. "Another Day" by Pomplamoose

11. "Cousins" by Vampire Weekend

12. "Latin Lover" by Mi Ami

13. "Trans-Continental Hustle" by Gogol Bordello

14. "I Can't Hear You" by The Dead Weather

15. "Better Things" by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings

16. "Written In Reverse" by Spoon

17. "Tighten Up" by The Black Keys

18. "Fair Game" by The Like

19. "Stranger" by Dr. Dog

20. "Vaporize" by Broken Bells

21. "Drunk Girls" by LCD Soundsystem

22. "Rhinestone Eyes" by Gorillaz

23. "Fuck You" by Cee Lo Green

24. "How I Got Over" by The Roots featuring Dice Raw

25. "Tightrope" by Janelle Monáe featuring Big Boi

26. "She Needs Me" by Fyfe Dangerfield

27. "E Is For Estranged" by Owen Pallett

28. "Little Houdini" by Sage Francis

29. "Good Soldier" by Flobots

30. "Impossible Soul" by Sufjan Stevens

31. "Animal Arithmetic" by Jónsi

32. "No One But You" by Doug Paisley

33. "Take Me Back" by Aloe Blacc

34. "Hard Times" by John Legend & The Roots

35. "A Town Called Obsolete" by Andreya Triana

36. "Wildflower" by Cee Lo Green

37. "Horse Outside" by The Rubberbandits

38. "Come On Sister" by Belle & Sebastian

39. "Doncamatic" by Gorillaz featuring Daley

40. "It's On" by Roots Manuva

41. "Krylon" by Skyzoo & Illmind

42. "I Count the Ways" by Bostich + Fussible

43. "Nique la France" by Z.E.P.

44. "Tudo Bem" by Garotas Suecas

45. "The Glitter Prize" by The Posies featuring Kay Hanley

46. "Marken Lag Stilla" by Dungen

47. "Alphaville" by Working for a Nuclear City

48. "Goldskull" by Miniature Tigers

49. "Telephone" by The Black Angels

50. "Hey Cool Kid" by Cloud Nothings

51. "I'd Rather Be Alone" by Cheap Time

52. "Waterfall" by The Fresh & Onlys

53. "Chickens In Love" by Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros

54. "Adultery" by The Extra Lens

55. "Babies" by The 1900s

56. "So Sleepy" by Fiona Apple, Punch Brothers & Jon Brion

So that's the list! Go out and listen to some music!

The Best Music Videos of 2010

Hey kids, it's time to list the best music videos of 2010! What's that you say? "Music videos? What is this, 1987?" YEAH IT IS YOU DIRTY BEATNIKS, YOU! WOOOOOOOO!!!

First up is the Rube Goldberg machine version of "This Too Shall Pass" because Rube Goldberg machines are freakin' sick and decidedly cooler than marching bands.

Next up is a stop-motion video because stop animation is pretty sweet, but not quite as sweet as Rube Goldberg machines (note: dogs are cooler than everything) . This video is also cool because one of my friends helped film it.

Speaking of stop animation, here's a crazy video with claymation by Gogol Bordello. The claymation tells a pretty sweet story, I think.

Speaking of Gogol Bordello, here's another video by Gogol Bordello:

OK GO, GOgol Bordello, GOrillaz? I'm sensing a pattern here. This is a great video, a homage to car chase movies like Vanishing Point. Murdoc, 2D, and a robotic Noodle, looking worse for wear, tear across the desert in a beat-up Camaro. Soon though, homicidal hitman Bruce Willis is hot on their tail, chasing the beleaguered band in his El Camino. It's good that this video has some sweet action, because the song itself can feel kind of repetitive.

"On Melancholy Hill" starts off pretty sweet, showing a masked Noodle getting into some serious trouble. The the bullets and explosions are the perfect counterweights to the breezy 80's synth music. From there, the video picks ups where "Stylo" left off, with Murdoc and 2D in a shark sub. For some reason, Robo-Noodle is still and 3D and vomiting up one-eyed octopi. Whatever. Anyway, the video gets boring from there as the rest of it is basically cartoon versions of all the guest musicians featured on Plastic Beach. I get it, you got a bunch of famous dudes to contribute to your album. Get over yourself. At least now we know what the hell the lyric "Up on melancholy hill sits a manatee" is supposed to mean.

This video's on the list because I think they made Daley's submersible look really cool

I don't know how, but the infectious, text-only video that made Cee Lo's "Fuck You" a viral internet success, is just as good, if not better, than the official video:

In this well-executed video, The Black Keys combine their knack for humor with a classic story to compliment a great song:

Speaking of a classic story, electro/hip-hop duo LMFAO decided to go with an untimely Dodgeball parody for their song "Yes", adopting the TV setting to a curling tournament (Get it? Curling? Party Rock, rock, stone, curling?). The 10-minute epic has a couple laughs and a surprise guest star at the end but I much prefer the song's original bootleg video.

While we're on the subject of silly sports videos with famous guest stars, here's Vampire Weekend at a tennis match, joined by the RZA, a Jonas brother, Lil' John, and a very goofy Jake Gyllenhaal. Who said these guys were preppy?

Here's another video with Japanese themes and competition:

This video is the debut of Irish comedy hip-hop duo Rubberbandits. The makes the song as the silly lyrics are augmented wonderfully by frontman Blindboy Boat Club's dance antics.

You may have seen these guys in the last month doing holiday commercials for Hyundai but this spunky duo has been hamming it up on Youtube for quite a while now. I encourage you to go to their Youtube channel and check out their Video Songs. They do a great cover of Lady Gaga's Telephone, which is saying a lot. Because I hate Lady Gaga.

Then there's My Terrible Friend, which is a team-up between Pomplamoose's Nataly Dawn and Lauren O'Connell

Lauren O'Connell's got some cool stuff too:

Anyway, it's time to wrap this thing up. I want to round out the listen with Janelle Monáe, an inspired performer and creative dynamo. Her song "Tightrope" is a blast and the video is a lot of fun, combining some sweet dance moves with the freaky sci-fi fantasy elements she's developed a reputation for incorporating in her work (see: "Many Moons").

Stark and simple compared to her other videos (and all other music videos in general) Monáe manages to evoke something sublime here, relying solely on the strength of her music, her emotion and her subtle sexuality. Today's pop divas better be taking notes

So that's it! Say When? 2010! is almost done. The final playlist will be published tomorrow or the next day or the next day or never.

Don't Cry, '09

Here are some good songs (ordered for your listening pleasure) that got left off my 2009 compilation, Oh My, '09!. For some reason I decided to ignore the Arctic Monkey's latest album until this year which is unfortunate because "Crying Lightning" has a great second verse. And though I knew of George Watsky's foray into hip-hop for some reason I never thought to include it on my list that year. "The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie" would've undoubtedly been a contender for my favorite song of the year as well as a contender for best music video of the year, as the version of the song used in the video has an extra great arrangement.

I Cut Like a Buffalo - The Dead Weather

Crying Lightning - Arctic Monkeys

Modern Girl (...With Scissors) - Alec Ounsworth

Ulysses - Franz Ferdinand

Stockholm Syndrome - That Handsome Devil

Who's Been Loving You? - Watsky

Sex Bomb - Spinnerette

Expiration Date - Pomplamoose

Bear - The Antlers

Last of the English Roses - Peter Doherty

The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie - Mewithoutyou

Home - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes

Don't Hate, '08

Hey, here's some cool songs that should've gone on my best of 2008 playlist, Mix Tape Oh Eight, ordered for your listening pleasure

Tape Song - The Kills

Mister Jung Stuffed - Man Man

Another Way to Die - Jack White & Alicia Keys

Wintergreen - That Handsome Devil

Head Honcho - DeVotchKa

Raincoats - U.S. Royalty

Skinny Love - Bon Iver

Painting - Atmosphere

Handlebars - Flobots

The Butcher - Final Fantasy

So many regrets! I remember looking at Man Man's album in 2008 but for some reason I didn't decide to listen to it until a year later. "Another Way to Die" is without a doubt one of the best Bond songs in years (Chris Cornell's track for Casino Royale was good too though) and I remember it was one of the main reasons I was excited to see Quantum of Solace (which was a huge disappointment). And I don't know how I managed to leave out Flobots that year. Everyone was digging on that song.

The Best of 2010

Merry Christmas, everybody! So, for the last year I've been compiling a playlist of the best songs of the year, starting at the very beginning of January and stretching all the way up to the these waning days of December. Now, my list is by no means supposed to be some sort of definitive list, as I plan to snub some of your favorite artists (cough cough Kanye cough). Rather, it is merely a list of my favorite songs from this year, a brief playlist for suggested listening.

I'll be unveiling my list, entitled Say When? 2010! on New Year's Eve (or perhaps before or after, depending on what I'm up to). Until then, I'm going to have a list of my favorite music videos from the year, as well as some retro-retrospectives in which I list a few of the groovy tunes I missed or overlooked from 2008 and 2009.

The Egret of Regret

Merry Christmas! As a special gift, here's an alternate version of Tuesday's comic:

The Egret of Regret

Spock Shock

Here's an old comic I made one time using Star Trek pictures I found online. I don't recall ever publishing it. Maybe there was a reason for that. Anyway, enjoy it. Or don't.

Abraham Lincoln

Wobbuffett