My Kingdom For One Last Dance: December 2010

eflecting, like I said yesterday, but there isn't too much to be said. pretty boring, yeah, life goes on. I'll regret this decision when I'm feeling particularly nostalgic later tonight, or tomorrow. but oh well.

the rest of the fam are watching a movie in the other room. .today was really really cool, though not a lot happened. had dinner, played a game, relaxed. just savoring the days until this beautiful time of year must be over. Wow I love the holidays.

yes, I am doing a Top 40 of 2010 because I'm an obsessive organising freak. also a music freak. there go, end of year top 40 Singles lists are perfect for my slightly odd brain. it's also good, because these say a lot about my year without me having to go off on endless rambles about things. so here we go.

40. All These Things - Darron Hanlon
Put simply, this song is adorable. it's cutesy boy-girl folksy stuff in one of the best forms I've yet to find. plus aussie accents and some pretty creative, interesting lyrics. also, ukuleles and horns. reminds me of the blogging world. always good.

39. Hannah - Freelance Whales
I can understand why a lot of people would dislike Freelance Whales, but I myself am quite the fan! Yes, the follow an overused formula; multi-instrumental folktronica, nostalgia coming out of the band members' ears. however, the music in this song provokes a very vibrant, topsy-turvy colorful world, and a nice little story of meetings on spiral staircases, to an addictive melody with gentle electronic vocal affects. very nice!

38. Skinny Genes - Eliza Doolittle
Eliza's been is the newest addition to the ever-expanding Kooky British Female Singers clan, and good for her. her sound isn't all uninteresting, as you perhaps might expect. on top of being unabashedly summery, the production in Skinny Genes is minimalistic, yet creative and lovely. also, the slightly risque lyrics clash with Doolittle's sugar sweet voice.

37. Wonderful Life - Hurts
Another new band for 2010! And yes, Eurotrash they may be, but an interesting group to watch they still are. this is a pretty basic pop song in form, however they create a very sleek sound, and some catchy melodies. like taking the best of the 80s and the worst of today and throwing them together. then randomly becoming huge in all of mainland Europe in six months and getting a seven foot opera singer to perform with you live.

36. Upside Down - Paloma Faith
the production on this is one of the best on Paloma's debut; shiny, shimmering, bright, and abundant in steel pans and Paloma's frankly, quite fantastic voice. it'll make you want to sing along. and dance. and lose all sense of reality. in other words, perfect pop.

35. Memories - Weezer
when the rest of the world was least expecting it, Weezer's charm returned. in the form of a traditionally simple chord change, uninteresting lyrics, super catchy melody, and nerdy joy. and painfully nostalgic lyrics. also, is that a harmonica in there somewhere?

34. Starry Eyed - Ellie Goulding
Hey, another newcomer. Weird. This is one of my favorites from Ellie's album. the melody, format, and lyrics of the song are worth attention. plus, the production values are endless, and the layout of the song really stands out from most pop/electronica combination music at the moment. really good!

33. Resistance - Muse
it is physically impossible for Muse to not appear somewhere on these lists whenever possible. for one thing, this is Muse. classic muse. muse all over. need I explain? Must I explain? It's just the perfect guitar song for the Masses, a la Muse.

32. Hollywood - Marina and the Diamonds
gosh, female pop singers, they never stop. personally, I do believe Marina to be one of the best of the group this year. on top of having a stunning voice and being a really cool person(who wears cool clothes...), the quality of the music is most definitely there. the melody and the chords flow really well, and an interesting choice of synths were used.

31. Talamak - Toro Y Moi
Because basically, every one in a while, there is an actual hipstertronica band with talent. this band is basically a song for late August, early September--must see the music video. something about it is very haunting, though it is not in the least a depressing song. it's pretty catchy, and the sounds are interesting.

30. Cosmic Love - Florence and the Machine
I'm a Florence fan yes. And I do like basically all of the songs on her album, though this finds itself near the top of that list. Florence's gorgeous voice coupled with some gorgeous music and really vivid lyrics and a nice melody proves for some really, really interesting music. Florence has just generally been a good thing for the last couple years.

29. Ambling Amp - Yasayer
trust Yaesayer to create one of the most catchy, danceable singles of the year, right? plus, the sounds they used were interesting, and very ear-catching. caught a lot of attention when it first came out.

28. Ghetto Stars - Tricky
I love Tricky. as far as pure musical and lyrics talent, I believe him to be one of the best at the moment for both. this is classic for him--and by classic, of course I mean very, very good indeed--but somehow doesn't fail to spark interest in the listened. didn't catch as much attention as it should have, which is a shame, for he is amazing.

27. Zorbing - Stornoway
pfft, Mumford and Songs? Those idiots? No, I am most definitely Team Stornoway. for one thing, folk in 2010 never sounded so unique. it's very lofi, though never fails to impress, and the layout of the song is different from most of it's contemporaries. plus, his voice is amazing. plus, they hate Mumford too(good!).

26. Born Free - M.I.A.
Now we're done with the recent M.I.A. backlash, I can say this, right? Good. It's not Paper Planes and it's not lyrical gold, but it's good. really good. somehow, M.I.A never fails to catch my attention, even when shooting ginger kids or threatening to murder my eardrums with its boundless energy. regardless, she's good.

25. Drunk Girls - LCD Soundsystem
Again, I love LCD Soundsystem, I think they're great, in their light weight, almost satirical, summery kind of way. this is very much the height of this band's ability. it'll make you want to sing along, every single time. and dance, of course. and watch the video, you must. it's all fun fun fun.

24. Flash Delirium - MGMT
as far as pretentious art-physcadelica-electronica-whatthefucishness goes, you can never, of course, forget about MGMT. personally, I do believe this song is in the leagues of Kids and Time To Pretend. it's just as melodic and easy to sing along to(trust me) yet the layers of the music are more interesting, and ever more weird. pan pipes? cool!

23. New York - Paloma Faith
as far as British Top 40 goes, this is honestly one of my absolute favorite songs of the year. like I said before, I love Paloma's voice, and the power that I seem to find in this song with every single listen. plus, I genuinely thought the storytelling in this song was really interesting. really a level above a lot of people around at the moment.

22. Blah Blah Blah - Kesha
Kesha is on this list. just so you know, Lady GaGa isn't--I like her, but not always her music. I apologise! I must be soooo stupid, right? well, good, because that's part of the reason I wound up actually liking this girl. because everyone else thought it was moronic to do so, and did their best to make this clear whenever possible. if this wasn't by Kesha, this song wouldn't be half as good. oh, you noticed padlocks don't zip, feel so smart now, do you? Gonna call her a whore now on no basis, are you? well, this song is a blatant fuck you to all of that and to the entirety of pop music in general. plus, it's super catchy.

21. Love The Way You Lie - Eminem
Eminem's lyrics are decidedly simpler to what we're used to, but regardless it still holds all of the power and the aggression and the emotion we've come to expect. the verses till an important, complicated tale and is both dark and fiery. the choruses, featuring Rihanna, provide an interesting contrast in their lightness, yet somehow, it works. really, really good.

20. Only the Young - Brandon Flowers
so basically this is the vastly underrated sibling over the overrated Crossfire, which I'm sure you're all familiar with. the musical and lyrical ability of the two songs are similar, though that synth line in this song...wow, it just kinda pops. very Day And Age. good work, Brandon.

19. Vlad The Impaler - Kasabian
Genuinely one of the finest songs from one of the best albums I own. like every other song on this record, their sound is completely unique, very catchy, and musically, required a serious amount of talent to create. it is my belief that everyone should own this record. just saying.

18. Hammock - Howls
this really is an interesting balance between light and colour in a way I'd never really seen before. their sound is really nice, as I said, the production values are good, and the melodies and singing in here are very, very good indeed. shame they're not more popular, but they're a new band, what are you gonna do?

17. High Five, Swan Dive, Nose Dive - Pulled Apart By Horses
to some it may just be uselesss noise or the typical Jo Whiley hyped-up band. but to me, this is one of the best songs in the 'alternative rock' genre of the year, if not the best, simply for the fact that it just doesn't care. at all. it's the perfect balance between loud and quiet, rock and pop, catchiness and screaming, incoherent lyrics and hipster-ness. I love it.

16. Home - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
Chances are you hate this, think it's really boring, and one of the most trite, overrated songs of the year. right? However, I disagree with you on every single point. the song really builds, is somehow very sweet, the lyrics are stylized and cool and while this band may just be a hippie freeforall most of the time, this song is very nice and I love it nonetheless.

15. Echoes - Klaxons
Finally, Klaxons return--and they don't disappoint. I've heard this album is amazing, and if this song is anything to go by, it must be. the sound and production on this is just fantastic, and is lacking in all the random horns that made up the last Klaxons album. somehow, it's kinda spacey too, but very pop. very very good indeed.

14. Celastica - Crystal Castles
a return for another spectacular band. again, this is just what I expect from Crystal Castles, especially them being one if the finest electronic bands around, if not the absolute best. alice's haunting voice is everywhere on this, on top of bubbly, synth lines that build and beats from a more dub step background. plus, it positively oozes gothicness at every corner.

13. Bloodbuzz Ohio - the National
Best song of High Violet? Absolutely! like always, the music is there, in all its dark glory. the lyrics are there--absolute nonsense, since we all expect nothing else. and as always, Matt Berninger sounds like he's drunk to the point of collapsing. plus, it just sounds...good.

12. You - Gold Panda
finally, some good, and I mean really good, chill tronica/chillwave. this song is like nothing I heard this year. desperately catchy, very melodic, endlessly fun, and extremely unique. another randomly good hipster. hoorah!

11. Animal Arithmetic - Jonsi
I was kinda obsessed with this song for about a week. something about it. it's so lightweight and yet it manages to be a really interesting sound. and oh, the drums! those drums! it has percussion to kill! plus, its lyrics are very nostalgic. and there's Icelandic in there, too, which one can never get too much of.

10. Clay Bodies - Zola Jesus
Perhaps the best new female artist of the year! It's like synth rock, synth pop, again with fabulous percussion, a wonderful voice, and gothy artsy darkness absolutely everywhere. unlike anyone else around right now, and definitely someone to watch.

9. Walking Far From Home - Iron and Wine
finally, the random return of Iron And Wine, and it is absolutely incredible. it sounds like winter, in a very cold yet magical, beautiful kind of way with some of the most intrinsically poetic lyrics of the year. plus, what sound continued throughout the song, I haven't a clue--but I love it. a lot.

8. Go Do - Jonsi.
a journalist once said that if Sigur Ros were the sound of glaciers, Jonsi solo would be the sound of snowflakes. and the moment I heard that I had a sort of "whoa, that's exactly correct" moment. this song is so, so beautiful, so much so than almost any music I've heard in my life. it's very delicate, very graceful. the production is gorgeous and the instrumental choices are wonderful. it's so wintery. I love it.

7. Zebra - Beach House
my favorite new band of 2010 by quite a ling way. in contrast to a lot of their other material, this is very springlike, very bright, and somehow very spooky at the same time. the music is great and they have a ton of really interesting influences. part chillwave part lofi part alternative rock, part I don't know what. regardless, it's so good.

6. Friend - Cheyenne Marie Mize
part bluesgrass, part folk, kooky, nice voice, pretty, interesting lyrics--what more could you want, right? and yet it's remarkable how almost no one is familiar with this girl--oh well, people will find her, eventually. you heard it here first.

5. Sylvia - the Antlers.
The Antlers. put simply, I love them. Hospice is the absolute favorite of all the records I own. it's powerful beyond belief, with some genius lyrics along the way that will, seriously change you forever. this song is none of my favorites. Perhaps one of the most pop songs on the album, and still some of the most amazing lyrics and music on the whole record. brilliant.

4. Na Na Na - My Chemical Romance.
One of the biggest moments in music this year was when MCR randomly become trendy. yes, it was an odd experience for us all, when they ditched the knee-length jackets and eyeliner for red hair and space outfits, but it's all good when they had this hyper, electric, uber energetic music to match, pop rock that was just unabashedly fun and yet anarchic in its own special way at the same time, which is just great.

3. The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
yes, I am a victim too...I mean, I tried to resist. I wanted to hate Win Butler, I really did, but The Suburbs, wow, it just pulled me in. and now I'm stuck. these fucking hipsters are musical genuises. songs of nostalgia and teenage years, very autumnal, with a really nice chord change. very unique. very good.

2. Norway - Beach House
this song is absolutely phenomenal. it's very wintery and chilling, and yet it just bursts into imaginary colorful...things. anyway, the music in this, as chill wave as it is, is unlike anything else I've heard this year, honestly. it's nothing short of beautiful and you must, must listen to it if you haven't yet.

1. Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
Internet phenomenon gone wild. song screamed in my school's auditorium, despite everyone's best efforts to censor it. I guess, at the end of the day, that is the core of this song. Try as you might to censor it, it will never, ever work. especially when you're mixing a really cool voice, fantastic lyrics, mo town, jazz, blues, pop, and rock all into one massive pot and throwing it out to the universe which will hungrily obsess over it given half a chance. which is amazing. and as all singles go, it did its job; it's loud, it's proud, and it got the work out there. a perfect pop song, through and through, and one we'll remember for a very long time coming.

thank you.