TNSFF

Tech, music, sports, and other stuff.

27 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #5 World Sick -- Broken Social Scene

World Sick -- Broken Social Scene

This song should not work. It's close to 7 minutes long. I think it has 14 bridges, 7 outros, and 8 or 9 times when you say "wow, great song!" and then it starts up again and keeps going. It's the kitchen sink of songs, with big crashing cymbals, a nice little "do-doot-do-doot" rhythm that runs under the whole song keeping it together, some lyrics that probably have some greater meaning but are lost inside the cacophony that is Broken Social Scene. Yeah, it's really good.

27 Dec 2010

Twitter Updates for 2010-12-27

  • Played some basketball, grabbed some pre-blizzard groceries, cleaned, and watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Bring on football! #
27 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #6 Written in Reverse -- Spoon

Written in Reverse -- Spoon

Spoon just keeps putting out albums that slightly move the target for what good rock music is. Each album they put out lands slightly askew from where they'd taken rock music with their previous album. The songs on Transference are more anarchic than anything they'd done before. "Written in Reverse" shows that anarchy at its peak, with the slightly out of tune piano hitting over sharp guitars, and then the disembodied voice of Britt Daniel pops in with a half a lyric layered a few beats off of the lyric proper (and a "whoo!). It is just enough to make you wonder if they've lost their minds. And then you realize that you've been tapping your foot for three minutes and you shake your fist and yell "Darn you Spoon!"

24 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #7 Favourite Colour -- Tokyo Police Club

Favourite Colour -- Tokyo Police Club

Champ by Tokyo Police Club is very likely my favorite album of the year. There are four or five huge singles, very little filler, and it all fits inside of 40 minutes. There are the typical Tokyo Police Club power-pop-punk songs, some Passion Pit-esque keyboards (which works well, since the two toured together), and some slower, bigger straight rock songs. Top to bottom, it's a big step forward for the little band from Canada.

"Favourite Colour" is my favorite off the album, a straight-forward song with a simple hook, that you'll have stuck in your head for a while.

24 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #8 Giving Up the Gun -- Vampire Weekend

Giving Up the Gun -- Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend's second album didn't make nearly the impact that their first album did. That's not because it wasn't good—it was very good. It's just that it wasn't as accessible as their first album, so the teeny bopper set didn't latch on. With no "A-Punk" or "Oxford Comma" to glom on to, the general public kind of let this album stay just outside of the mainstream (Honda commercial notwithstanding).

And that's all too bad, since this was a good album, with three or four really great songs. This is one of them.

23 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #9 Write About Love -- Belle and Sebastian

Write About Love -- Belle and Sebastian

Quietly, Belle and Sebastian put out one of the best albums of the year. Quietly, as that's the way Belle and Sebastian do it. There's no bombast, no huge guitars or drums propelling the song forward. It's just the same ornate pop music that Belle and Sebastian put out. Here, they've put together another song that wouldn't sound out of place in the '60s (I'm sensing a pattern with my choices this year ...). It's also got a stellar little duet, featuring that girl from the British movie everyone liked that I haven't seen yet.

23 Dec 2010

Top Songs of 2010: #10 Each & Everyday -- Best Coast

Each & Everyday -- Best Coast

In a year where lo-fi took over, there wasn't really a bigger lo-fi band than Best Coast. A throwback to '60s pop, except recorded in someone's garage on a crappy 4-track, Best Coast hit all the highs, sunshine, and simple, heartfelt lyrics of '60s pop, but replacing some of the gorgeous harmonies with crunchy guitars and reverb.