You know what's been interesting about this year in music? The constant battle between light and dark (which is why Aguilera will be too late in 2010! FAIL AGAIN.), represented in the tracks here - especially the two dubsteppers!
81. Beach House - Norway
The first Beach House song I can honestly say I love. Favorite part: the fact that title sounds like "No Way" in the chorus - and that the song supports that interpretation.
80. Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck (Without You)
A little too easy, a little too slick (it feels like the type of track that sat around for two years before being released, and promptly rejiggered to fit into today's market - which it was!), but dammit if it doesn't hit the spot.
79. Atlas Sound (featuring Noah Lennox) - Walkabout
What really works around this song is how it manages to sound like an Animal Collective song, but also reflect Bradford Cox's personality. If only all collaborations were like this! :lovesexmagicwave:
78. Neon Indian - Deadbeat Summer
It's pretty sad that Neon Indian's unwittingly involved himself into a scene (Chillwave [!!!]) that has an expiration date, as this is a stunner of track. Maybe the indie equivalent of Delirious - i.e: the best summer song not heard in summer. Without using too many cliches, it really does sound like fires on the beach and rollerskating parlors.
77. El Perro Del Mar - Change of Heart
Annie better watch her back - and for that matter, Lykke Li! Sarah Assbring, under her stage name, ponders emotions both complicated and mundane, with a groove that never overshadows the landmines she's navigating.
76. Fever Ray - If I Had a Heart
While Fever Ray's other single,
When I Grow Up, is brilliant; it does sound like a lost track Karin Andersson's band, The Knife recorded;
If I Had a Heart, on the other hand, is it's own beast. Genuinely creepy, with a menace that never goes away, it set the perfect tone for all she wanted to accomplish.
75. Joy Orbison - HYPH MNGO
I'm not that knowledgeable on "dubstep" (I still haven't heard Burial's 2007 album!), so I don't know if HPYH MNGO is any more or less different from what's out there. I do know that I love this, though! There's a genuine joy evident, as a wisely chosen Janet Jackson sample (hi Eli!) creeps out, and perforates throughout it's five minute running time. Really good stuff!
74. Emalkay - When I Look at You
And now, for the (almost) complete opposite to HYPH MNGO. So futuristic and, again, compellingly shadowed in texture and sound, it sounds like the best version of contemporary hip-hop - and points to a more interesting tomorrow.
73. Girls - Hellhole Ratrace
The first track by a new band that completely surprised me, and Hellhole Ratrace can be seen as Girls' mission statement. Over six minutes and twenty seven seconds, the band (composed of the two guys in the picture - Christopher Owens and Chet "JR" White) painstakingly detail what it's like to be lonely and lost.