Back online, and moved into a new place! Life is good.
Hope you all had a terrific New Years.
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Roger’s Top 60 Tunes of 2010
10. Mumford & Sons – Little Lion Man
A track with a sound, chorus, and foot-stomping mantra that defined the Modern Rock scene in 2010. A telling tale of owning up to famously ****ing things up, this was a track I rooted for as it quietly but surely made it’s way to the top of the charts.
9. Katy Perry – California Girls | Teenage Dream | Firework
Katy Perry has incredible song writers, as they capitalize on the power of novelty and nostalgia in her trio of ubiquitous hits this year. ‘California Girls’ was bread and buttered for the summer, girls singing it with their car tops down and their bikini tops off, and taken along with it’s monumental chorus, it was all things glorious. ‘Teenage Dream’ is probably her best track ever. Katy Perry has gotten incredibly hot this past year, and this song shows she is the ultimate pin up poster girl in a guys bedroom, rocking her skin tight jeans. Then ‘Firework’, a track that capitalized on the media attention on school bullying and the importance of empowering those who feel low. Then there’s also the fact that the song just builds and builds until it explodes into a barrage of titty fireworks.
8. Rihanna – Only Girl (In The World) | What’s My Name | Rude Boy
Rihanna has been famous for just missing the big top 10 year-end show:
Pon De Replay - #21
S.O.S. - #11
Umbrella - #11
Don’t Stop The Music - #14
Disturbia - #11
But now, and it only took three of the best singles she’s ever released, she finally does it. As if she ever needed to prove it, but this Barbados beauty is the ultimate singles hit machine. Everything she touches is gold. ‘Only Girl’ is an acid-fueled club banger, like ‘Don’t Stop The Music’ on crack, and restored faith that this girl could still set the dance floor on fire. Taken with ‘Rude Boy’, Rihanna’s filthiest and saving grace track from “Rated R”, people were ready to put her at the top of the class yet again. And then comes along ‘What’s My Name’, a completely polar sound to the previous two singles but works just as well. My only complaint would be the under-utilization of Drake, who is reduced to a short, but great intro verse.
7. Silversun Pickups – The Royal We
I’m not quite sure what it is about these guys, but they blew me away last year with ‘Panic Switch’ (also #7) and ‘Substitution’ (#33). Then, I saw them open up for Muse in March and this song reached a whole new level of greatness. “Do you feel safe again, look over your shoulder. Very carefully, look over your shoulder” – it’s paranoid, but the writing is tight, and the sound is now that which is established as classic SSPU. Can’t wait for their next album.
6. Kanye West – Power | Monster
I have so much to say about Kanye’s year, these two tracks, and his glorious, mind-**** of an album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” – but I think it goes without saying the album is going to do well on my list and I will give it the full credit it deserves there.
Nonetheless, these two tracks are the perfect examples of Mr. West’s raw, brooding, and ferocious demeanor. ‘Power’ was the ultimate buzz single – dropped earlier this year and then got the remix treatment, which somehow, made the song even more heart-stopping. ‘Power’ embodies everything Kanye is about – in your face, loud and proud, and doesn’t stop even when your telling him “to chill, chill… shit’s burnt up already”. Then comes ‘Monster’ – which all I gotta say, has the greatest, most ridiculous cameo from none other than Nicki Minaj, who I otherwise don’t care for. Her 30+ bars in this track are absolutely bat-**** bananas, career defining, and flat out legendary. With money so tall that her barbies gotta climb it, and pink with thick ass giving em whip lash, she actually out-did both Ye and Jay on this track. Nonetheless, the guys drop it big in this one as well. “Gossip, gossip, *** just stop it, everybody know I’m a motha ****ing monster”. Awesome.
5. Mumford & Sons – The Cave
This was the first M&S track I ever heard, and I remember thinking, man, what a sound. I also remember thinking, these guys could be really big. I checked out the album (comments on that later), and my feelings were affirmed. ‘The Cave’ is without question the highlight off the mind blowing, “Sigh No More”, and is a further demonstration of this band’s capabilities to write intricate tracks that are fleshed out through momentum building verses, and epic musicianship.
4. Phoenix – Lisztomania
They hit #10 last year with ‘1901’, and this year they one-up themselves by breaking the top 5. This track showed that these French dudes were not a one-trick pony, and that their sound was not too novel that it was destined to become over played and out dated. I love the repetitive piano beat in the chorus, the chorus itself, and the fact that those crazy talented kids from chorus PS 22 or whatever its called, did an amazing cover of this track.
3. Florence + The Machine – Dog Days Are Over
I think I’ve already said a lot about this track in previous song/album write ups. Speaking of building tracks up and delivering effectively, she does a wicked job here of using sweet, almost angelic vocals to lure us in before pounding out the drum-laden, hand clapping chorus. This track, again, just screams out freedom, liberation, and new beginnings. It’s a perfect way to start the New Year, and it should be eternally recognized as the track that brought Florence + The Machine the attention they so rightfully deserve.
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Roger’s Top 10 Albums of 2010
5. The Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
This band makes me incredibly proud to be Canadian. Seeing them hit #1 on the Billboard albums chart, dethroning Eminem, it was almost as gratifying as Sidney Crosby scoring “the goal” and securing Canadian gold at the Olympics. Although I appreciated and commended both ‘Funeral’ and ‘Neon Bible’ – I was never able to get into them fully, always some tracks I couldn’t wrap my head around or understand truly. And now they drop a 16-track (there longest yet) classic, one that has more than half a dozen tunes worthy of eternal recognition. ‘Ready To Start’, ‘Month of May’, ‘Modern Man’, ‘We Used to Wait’, and ‘The Suburbs’, help the album strike the impossible balance of being thematically rich but also possessing killer hooks. I will invest my belief, and daresay, hopes and dreams for Canadian music, in this band as well as Metric; to be the future face of Canadian live music, bands that we root for, bands that we go to because we know that we will be entertained. How could we ever possibly be let down by such talented individuals?
4. Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown
I would definitely agree with some critics who suggest that this album is more consistent than “Only By The Night”, an album which was #8 on my 2008 year-end. Although it doesn’t have a unifying, appeal to the masses hit like ‘Use Somebody’ or ‘Sex On Fire’ – it does have a collection of steady, and nicely produced tracks. Songs like ‘Pyro’, ‘Immortals’, and ‘The End’ – are obvious attempts at trying to re-create the glory days of their massive hit singles. Although it never quite reaches that level, the songs are still menacing and confident. I also really like how tracks such as ‘Back Down South’, ‘Pick Up Truck’, and ‘Mary’ – embrace a more Western, vintage feel that is a nice contrast to their stadium ready tunes. Although not as commercially or critically embraced, and those who were fans before “Only By The Night” are still not convinced, I truly believe this is one of their best albums ever. Not one bad song.
3. Brandon Flowers – Flamingo
I was the first one to be skeptical about this project as the details regarding its release became available. Flowers is already flamboyant enough, and with an album called “Flamingo”, and suggestions of ditching the Killers trademark sound, there was reason to be weary. Nonetheless, he introduces himself as a solo talent with the brilliant ‘Crossfire’ and ‘Only The Young, tracks that echo the subtle but stadium ready Killers tracks like ‘Read My Mind’ and ‘Smile Like You Mean It’. What I love about this album is how he incorporates all of the different sounds that the Killers have attempted in the past – without succumbing to sounding recycled. Tracks like ‘Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts’, ‘Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas’, and the ode to Mexico, ‘Magdalena’, all have quirky, non-sensical lyrics that we’ve come to grow and love about Flowers. Then there’s the ultimate WTF in ‘Swallow It’ – one of the funniest songs I’ve ever heard. Before seeing him live earlier in December, this album probably would have made the top 10, but definitely not #3. It goes to show how great of a live performer Flowers has become over the past 7 years as he was able to take a good album upon listen into an anthemic, and terrific debut solo album on the live stage. He is no longer timid and monotonous – he is vocal, animated, and knows how to bring his songs to life; and that did wonders for making me appreciate this album.
Well there you have it. We’re almost done.
Late Monday or early Tuesday – I will post #2-1 for both charts. Can ya dig it?