Greetings, and welcome to the fifth(?!) annual installment of LISTMANIA! I'll leave out the whole "year in review vibe" for now... Next week (fingers crossed) is the main course. Albums, live shows, etc. This is just the appetizer. But right now it's late and I have to go to the bathroom. Enjoy!
25. Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy”
This was a tough one, really. The song's appeal was surpassed only by its ubiquity, which almost pushed it out of the top 25 altogether. Unlike a certain other semi-leftfield single by a brashly experimental mainstream hip-hop act (Oh think about it!), "Crazy" doesn't hold up terribly well past listen 23,456. Talk to me after a year of not hearing it every day...
24. The Gossip – “Listen Up!” (mp3)
What's better than white-girl soul over sweet punk-funk hooks? Fat-white-girl soul over sweet punk-funk hooks!
23. Flaming Lips – “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”
22. Justin Timberlake – “Sexy Back”
What? What?? Hey, I don't know about you, but I missed the sexy. And JT brought it back. Thanks, JT.
21. TV on the Radio – “Wolf Like Me”
I'd be so much cooler if I liked these guys more.
20. Hot Chip – “I Was a Boy from School”
19. Young Jeezy feat. Timbaland – “3 A.M.” (mp3)
"I'm on that Grey Goose/Higher than a pelican/Sophomore year/But I spit like a veteran"
Higher than a pelican? Uh... ooookaaay. Plus Timba lays in a fantastic ascending synth note throughout. Reports of his irrelevance have been greatly exaggerated.
18. Robert Pollard – “Love Is Stronger than Witchcraft”
Bob is profound.
17. Arctic Monkeys – “When the Sun Goes Down”
For anyone who claims the Monkeys were the recipients of the most undeserved internet hype this year, I refer you to their actual music. It is good. The end. (Also, the interwebs' biggest WTF overhype of the year was undoubtedly Lily Allen. And if you just said, "Who's the hell is Lily Allen?"... God bless you.)
16. New Young Pony Club – “Ice Cream” (mp3)
15. LCD Soundsystem – “45:33”
Coming in at just over 45 minutes, most would call James Murphy's extended jogging soundtrack an album. But hey, it's one song... the title pretty much confirms that. So single it is, dammit. And you really should try working out to this. See you at LA Fitness, you vain indie-yuppie douchebag.
14. Mastodon – “Crystal Skull”
It was originally called "Crystal Head," but the song is such a barrage of face-melting rock that only the skull remains.
13. I’m from Barcelona – “We’re from Barcelona” (mp3)
It's a good thing most of the 37 or so people in this band are mildly funny looking in an Eastern-European kinda way. If they were all as cute as this song, life as we know it would come to a screeching halt and we would all proceed to hug each other to death.
12. Clipse – “Mr. Me Too”
11. The Raconteurs – “Steady As She Goes”
Paul Reubens (aka Peewee Herman) is in the video, too.
10. Peter Bjorn & John (feat. Victoria Bergsman) – “Young Folks” (mp3)
I can't believe Victoria Bergsman quit The Concretes. And this song is basically her making an okay song into an amazing song... like she's sticking out her tongue and blowing her cigarette smoke in our faces. She's that maddening, brilliant, totally hot girl who teased your pants in high school. Sorry... what was I talking about? Right... this is a great song.
9. The Futureheads – “Skip to the End”
We are so angular and British. La la la la la la... four-part harmonies. How is this band still so criminally underrated?
8. Ghostface Killah – “Kilo”
Confession time: I don't think this song was actually released as a single. BUT, it should have been. So it has been granted special awesomeness dispensation. "Kilo" is, far and away, the greatest song ever written about cocaine. You heard me, Grandmaster Flash! Oh wait... what about Eric Clapton, you ask? What about Jackson Browne? What about The Eagles? Tell you what: you go tell Ghostface Killah that The Eagles made a better coke song than he did. You do that, and I'll concede the point.
7. The Black Angels – “Black Grease”
If The Jesus and Mary Chain and The Doors had a massive Jack-Daniels-and-Witchcraft orgy, The Black Angels might be their unholy spawn. It's odd that a nice group of semi-hippies from Austin should make such dark music about Vietnam and death and stuff. I mean, this song's chorus is "Kill Kill Kill Kill." Seriously.
6. Camera Obscura – “Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken” (mp3)
Good thing there was an adorable, scathingly literate Scottish band to fill the Belle & Sebastian void on this list!!
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Cheated Hearts”
You know Karen O is pissed that this is the second single and the best song from the new album. You know she's the one who wanted to "expand their sound" and "not get pigeonholed" and, y'know... just be as pretentious as her ex-boyfriend's band, Liars. Well guess what, Karen... "Cheated Hearts" could very easily have appeared on Fever to Tell. Sorry, dear. Sometimes "growing as a musician" is dangerously close to "not being good anymore." Now put the microphone back in your mouth and commence with the rocking.
4. Band of Horses – “The Funeral”
Prettiest song of the year. Yeah, I said "pretty." I fucking dare you to listen to this without getting all starry eyed and inspired, tough guy. This song is twinkling-stars-and-reverb-guitars majestic beauty.
3. Wolfmother – “Dimension”
There are those who consider this band a tad... kitschy. And while I would argue that Wolfmother are light years more serious than, say, The Darkness, I will admit that all the songs about unicorns and gypsies and shit can be a little much. However, anyone who has ever listened to Led Zeppelin knows that you can sing about elves and valkyries and JRR Tolkein as much as you want as long as you rock so hard that everyone pees their pants. "Dimension" is Pants-Pee Rock of the highest order.
2. Midlake - "Roscoe" (mp3)
Well somewhere between Microsoft Word and Blogger, ol' "Roscoe" done got misplaced. Oops. It's perhaps a little ironic that the confluence of human memory and modern technology should short change this track, as the song itself is steeped in nostalgia for an idyllic, preindustrial way of life. Bearing more than a passing musical resemblance to Fleetwood Mac, Midlake add just the right amount of indie weirdness to their 1970s Laurel Canyon sound to keep things interesting. This is an absolutely beautiful song. Now is it really just about some dudes building a house in the woods?
1. Hot Chip – “Over and Over”
I dunno how a bunch of dudes who look like they hang out at the British equivalent of Radio Shack managed to make one of the most soulful, groove-heavy albums of the year, but these nerds brought the fucking booty. I mean, I bought their last album, and it was pretty much the definition of "meh, whatever." Now it's 2006 and they're the only band with two songs on this list. Can you say "pact with Satan?" However it happened, this song is The One. Every year there is a magic song that makes everyone drop their drinks and run to the dance floor to jump around and rub each other... "sex-crazed and retard strong." This is the 2006 sex-crazed-and-retard-strong song. Plus there's spelling at the end, and who doesn't love spelling?
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