Listasaurus: The Top 20 Songs of 2010: 08 - 06

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We are now one post away from the top five. That's simple mathematics right there. If you can't work that out then you probably can't read anyway so this blog is completely lost on you. No, I don't do screen readers, braille or large font translations.

08. Arcade Fire - 'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)'

"I need the darkness someone please cut the lights..."

When it comes to indie releases in 2010, they didn't get much bigger than 'The Suburbs'. When it comes to disappointments in 2010, yeah, you can use the second half of that first sentence again. Again, my problems with 'The Suburbs' were much publicised on this blog and on my twitter but if there's one thing I couldn't be accused of, it's not trying enough. I gave that record listen after listen, hour after hour and it just never happened. Amazing if you consider that after hearing 'Funeral' and 'Neon Bible' I couldn't conceive of living my life without those records. They were just that big to me. Epic statements of heart, inspiration and perseverance they are albums that are now four and six years old respectively. They are albums I still listen to on a weekly basis. That says it all, I think.

My problems with 'The Suburbs' may have been plentiful but in 'Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)' I found a saving grace that knocked me off my feet and carried me away. It's a song that you swear you've heard before. It could be Kate Bush. It could be Blondie produced by The Knife. Whatever. It's the kind of song that makes mountains beyond mountains seem entirely surmountable.

07. Young Jeezy Ft. Plies - 'Lose My Mind'

"My house stupid dumb big, my rooms got rooms..."

My God this is a banger. There's no other way to put it. In many ways you can hold it up as the archetypal Young Jeezy song. By that I mean it's big, it's dumb and it smashes you in the face like a sledgehammer. As the lead single from the eagerly awaited 'Thug Motivation 103' 'Lose My Mind' did exactly what it was meant to. It banged and made you think "Man, that new Jeezy album is going to be some ridiculous shit." The only issue, OF COURSE, is that there is no sign of that album at the moment and the release date seems to change with the wind direction.

This is all to take nothing away from the song though. Clocking in at just under four minutes, Jeezy bosses his two verses just as we've come to take for granted whilst Plies spits his out like he's been chewing on concrete and barbed wire for the past coupla weeks. Plies is Plies, I'll give you absolutely nothing if you guess the content of his lines, let's put it that way. Again, God, this is a banger.

06. Robyn - 'Call Your Girlfriend'

"And then you let her down easy..."

Much like Drake, 2010 has been truly a year to remember for Robyn. In a year that saw her release two EPs and a full length, she is now reaping the rewards and also finds herself at the business end of just about everybody's end of year lists.

The biggest compliment I can pay to Robyn is that this song could've been one of about five. If I was intending to include more than one song per artist in this list then she would've had multiple entries. 'Indestructible', 'Hang With Me', 'Dancing On Your Own' and 'Cry When You Get Older' could all be substituted in place of this song I've chosen here quite easily. 'Call Your Girlfriend' is different though. It's simply the most mature, most accurate and incisively written pop song I've heard this year. In her first verse Robyn sings "Tell her not to get upset, second-guessing everything you said and done..." and man, that's a hell of a line. We've all been there haven't we? One thing goes wrong and there you are left wondering if the whole thing was a sham from day one. This is something Robyn does better than anyone. She can take minute details of life, of love, and she can retell them in these amazing songs so they sound anything but small. Oh, and all this to tunes you can dance to. The best way to put this is to say that, at the moment, there is no one making music who can soundtrack tears on a dance floor better than Robyn.

"Working on being a doper person."

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Look at the pathetic size of this private plane. WHEN WILL THIS RECESSION BE OVER FOR GODS SAKE?

I linked to a Kanye video in the last post and I hate to be repetitive but I've gotta briefly write about the man again I'm afraid. Sorry to yer mutha. A lot of words are written about Mr West's ego and his self love or how he seems to believe that he's a bonafide genius in everything he does - we [the whole word minus Kanye], of course, just ain't noticed yet. So, what better arena for a man with too much to say about anything and everything than Twitter. A site that pretty much sums up the internet for me. It's instant, easily accessible from many formats and it's, by and large, a colossal waste of time. As a keen purveyor of all things to do with time wasting, I love it. I love Kanye too of course. I'll cut to the chase, Kanye signed up a Twitter account last week and he's absolutely brilliant on it. So, he tweets about how his private plane is too small (see title photo), he tweets about how he doesn't know what circa 1700 style goblet to buy and he tweets about how hard it is to sleep on fur pillows. How many more reasons do you need to follow the man?

K. West aside. It's already August and I'm not sure I've done anything of real note this year thus far. August is like the eighth month right? Give me a sec here...yeah, so that's erm...two thirds! 2/3rds of the way through this damn year already. I think it is time that we all went out and started getting it, whatever that is, in the sincerest way possible. To put us back on track, I'm eagerly awaiting some big releases before this year is out. *takes breath* Kanye, Jeezy, Arcade Fire, Grinderman, The Walkmen, Of Montreal, Antony & The Johnsons, Kid Cudi, Andre 3000 (maybe), The Cool Kids, Doom & Ghostface (!), Lupe Fiasco. There's still a tonne of stuff from this year I've been sleeping on too. I'm going to be busy erm, sat in my little room listening to loads of records for the rest of the year then.

One of the big names on that list is of course Arcade Fire. Why they aren't called The Arcade Fire, I don't know. People call them that anyway everywhere, I do know. So, I pre-ordered this album last week sometime and I really don't know why I bother. Play.com, if you're reading this. Why are you so slow these days? For real, I pre-ordered Big Boi about a month before it came out and didn't get it for about a week after it was out in normal shops that plebs can go to. Isn't the whole point of pre-ordering that you get it on time on release day and you can be all smug and tell everyone you've already got whatever item waiting for you on the doormat at home? Well, I ain't doin' it again now. I was going to pre-order this Jeezy album I'm always yakking about but then I remembered that some poor souls somewhere probably pre-ordered Dre's 'Detox' about 5 years ago and are still waiting. Those rappers hey? Good when you want some beats to soundtrack ya grind, not so good at being prompt and sticking to their words on release dates. Bet Biggie use to always be late for meetings.

Slow clap for a really ungoogle friendly title Arcade Fire. Why not title your next album "Arcade Fire - Google'?

Either way, 'The Suburbs' is getting some amazing press (here and here) and I'm really excited about it in general. AF are a really special band that I've always thought have a unique talent. That is somehow, when you listen to their records, you feel that it's just you listening. That they're some little band that no one but you knows. You play their songs over and over until they sound like friends. They aren't friends though of course, they're more like little secrets. Little secrets shared between a band consisting of seven people. Little secrets shared between millions of people that buy their records. Long may that continue.

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P.S UNRELATED NEWS JUST IN. I'm getting some reports through here that certain lucky play.com users have just had their pre-ordered copies of 'Be Here Now' by Oasis delivered.

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I AM UNDECIDED

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Arcade Fire: Too many members to split royalties between. Ask lead singer guy in the stetson, he was thinking about it as this photo was being taken.

I'm pretty sure Arcade Fire songs are always growers. I can't really remember to be honest. I mean when did 'Neon Bible' come out ? 2007? Long time ago now. Do you even remember 2007? A quick recap: Foot and mouth disease was doing its not-too-nice thang, Chris Benoit was putting his skills to use a bit too literally, Miranda Lambert was kicking everyone's ass with 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'. Back then, the Arcade Fire were a pretty big deal and man did they put on a good live show but that was then and this is now. Have this coterie still got it? I've listened to this song, 'The Suburbs', twice now and I'm, as the title would suggest, undecided. Picking splinters outta my ass from sittin' on this here fence etc. Can the AF put the game in the chokehold like they have done in the past? A headline appearance at Reading/Leeds (poor sods) awaits, and if they haven't won everyone back over by then, so probably do about 400 bottles of warm piss.


EDIT: Third listen. This is getting good now. The more familiar you get with it, the better it is. Bit like being held in captivity I suppose.

Love With Clipse, A A Bondy, The Antlers and a Cod.

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1.) Clipse - Till The Casket Drops


Over at Complex they've got a pretty decent preview of the new Clipse album 'Till The Casket Drops' which many people are pretty excited about. In fact you could say it's going to be "Kinda Like a Big Deal." THAT'S THE TITLE OF A SONG FROM THE ALBUM. DO YOU GET IT?! There's a few peaks into some of the new songs and I'll be honest, I was a little dissapointed initially. 'I'm Good' is decent but y'know this is Clipse. This album is due to follow 'Lord Willin'' and 'Hell Hath No Fury'. No pressure then.

Note I did say initially up there because I then heard 'Popular Demand (Popeyes)' (dirty and clean link over at nah right.) which is just brilliant. No idea how long The Neptunes have had this beat hanging around for but it's refreshingly great for them. Pusha takes it on points over Malice but Cam'ron kinda holds his own with his murky verse. Those 'ehhs' are very 'Run This Town' aren't they. I think that's the point dumbass.

This album has a release date of December 8th but this is a hip hop album so yeah, pinch of salt delivered by a dumpster with that. It might actually come out on December 8th, I might wake up tomorrow with animal legs like that guy in Narnia.

That photo up there of the Thornton boys and Cam'ron in a Popeye's (I assume) is from nah right too. They look really funny and I don't know why. If they think they're gettin' served with their backs to the counter, they got another thing comin'. Rappers these days. No manners.



2) A.A Bondy & The Antlers














I've been listening to these two a lot this week and there's just nothing better than finding a new artist you really enjoy. I sometimes worry I'll wake one day to find that I've listened to everything I want to and there's nothing left. I usually then remember that worrying never saved anyones life, put on 'Ignition (remix)' and get on down.

- A A Bondy is currently touring with The Felice Brothers which is a good decision I think. He very much has that sound and if you like the latter, you'll definitely like the former. Hell, he's not doing anything new or different but I've not always been one striving for innovation at every corner. There just nice tunes man, put em on. 'When The Devil's Loose' is out now.

A A Bondy - A Slow Parade

"...these dogs will tear your flesh/you best give them a bone."




- The Antlers have made a really foreboding and simple album in 'Hospice' that sounds beautifully honest. Lauded by the people it's good to be lauded by in these circles, I really hope they go far.

Pitchfork say:

"Hospice is a skyscraping blend of the ambient and the anthemic, a record that swings for the bleachers at a time when it's fashionable to bunt."

We say:

"Hospice is a really beautiful album to listen to when you're walking in the forest trying not to think about too much and you're really pleased you brought your coat and not just your jumper."

People will mention Arcade Fire and perhaps Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! as influences and whatnot. I would say that but I'm fully aware that people say that about every band that's released an album in the last 5 years. So, If I wanted to bore you, I'd direct you to the appropriate website dear reader.

The Antlers - 'Two'

"...Well no one's gonna fix it for us, no one can/You say that, 'No one's gonna listen, and no one understands."



Both albums are on Spotify too. Here.


3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and 'Gamers'

A Cod, yesterday. Spends its whole life in the miserable dark ocean attempting to avoid getting caught yet is still pleased it's not a 'gamer'.

'Gamers.' Just look at that name. It's something you can never use to describe yourself without then collapsing under a wall of ridicule and/or silence. You can say you're a drug addict, you can say you're a professional clown and you can probably say you are a really big Nickelback fan with out too much trouble but you say that you're a gamer, yo on yer own son.

Why? It's about LAN parties, drinking 2L soft drinks out of the bottle, fast food, obesity, little burrowed pits for eyes, poor social skills and online 'girlfriends', an absolutely ridiculous vocabulary and a strange penchant for Rammstein that truly sets these gamers apart. Today, however, finds me worried. I've just spent the last few minutes looking at videos of 'Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2' on youtube. This is out of character.

Okay some background, I have recently been exposed to both the worlds of Xbox 360 and Call of Duty (or COD as it is affectionately known to most teenage boys) and I'm seeing its appeal, I really am. There's little feeling like killing a friend/enemy in the head on this game. That's for sure. I'm guessing it's a bit like your wedding day or seeing your first child being born. i.e. pure joy. My dilemma, however, is this: I will buy COD:MW2 (even the acronym is geeky) when it is released and despite my obvious failings (I'm often shooting my own feet and/or the clouds) will play it until I am bored but the real concern is can you game and not be a gamer?

I'll leave you on that distinctly Carrie Bradshaw looking last sentence there my gamers. I'm struggling to link a song in here. Ermm. I always that when in doubt, go tenuous!

(Don't Fear) The Gamer guys.

Blue Oyster Cult: (Don't Fear) The Reaper