Paste’s Top 50 Songs for 2010 Resampled – Part 3 of 5

If you’re just joining us, start here.  Whence we last left off, Gorillaz was teaching us how to be silky smooth after a horrible brush with Annette Funicello.  And thankfully, we are no longer tied up in our vanilla underwear.

So to continue with Paste Magazine’s top 50 songs of 2010, here are the twenties …

29. Suckers - “It Gets Your Body Movin”

There’s a limited amount of time in the universe.  A song called It Gets Your Body Movin should not leave you limp and lifeless. 

28. Vampire Weekend - “Horchata”

Crisp and quirky, this song is much like its namesake: Horchata is natural ice cold refreshing beverage made from tigernuts, water, and sugar.  VW’s song is essentially melodic water, with a hint of percussional sugar and a splash of African tigeresque beats.

27. Yeasayer - “Ambling Alp”

More rambling electronic Wham like pop.

26. Stornoway - “Zorbing”

If I were to look at the piano cords of this song, they might look like a sine wave undulating up and down with a very occasional arc tangent for variety.  And that’s about the level of excitement that this song generates.  Unless you consider the end.  Which is like discovering the square root of –1. Yeah, that cool.

25. Josh Ritter - “Change of Time”

I think I’m slow melodied out.

24. Justin Townes Earle - “Harlem River Blues”

Something different.  Dirty water.  I got into it.  Needed a church choir in the background.

23. Lil Wayne - “6’7””

You have to be really angry to appreciate this song.  I’m only slightly angry.  I’ll add a half star on the chance that if I was more angry later, I’d play this song at 110 dB and make my hand look like a pistol.

22. Mark Ronson & The Business International - “Bang Bang Bang”

It’s just a cruel, cruel world.  The Bangles make a surprise reappearance after 20 years of silence.

21. Band of Horses - “Laredo”

Sadly, including a Wyoming town in your song name doesn’t make you cool.  It takes hard work and lots of hair gel.  Or you could be born Patrick.  Either way, this song doesn’t live up to the hype that it’s name generates.  Flat tones and wining vocals mean Trapped in Cheyenne would’ve been a better title.

20. Big Boi - “Shutterbug”

This one goes out to Chris U.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be singing “You’re in my system” the whole bus ride home.  And I’ll be watchin’ out for gangstas. Pow.  Number 20 is a hit.  Finally.

Tomorrow we role into the teens … kicking it off with Florence & The Machine Dog Days are Over.  How true, how true, time to head home for the evening.

Paste’s Top 50 Songs for 2010 Resampled – Part 2 of 5

If you missed the last post, we had just gone through 3 poor songs in the low 40s.  Hoping the 30s brings the musical contentment I was looking for in this project.  So we continue with Paste Magazine’s top 50 songs from 2010 as presented in http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2010/12/the-50-best-songs-of-2010.html …

39. Dr. Dog - “Stranger”

A good apple.  Shiny, red, with hews of green blushes. This piece of fruit felt fresh and juicy in the mouth after a couple of acidulous tracks.  

38. Belle & Sebastian - “I Want the World to Stop”

Somewhere between the 1980s shiny bright blue spandex and an afternoon playing of REMs Shiny Happy People comes this upbeat, bouncy tune.  I can’t tell if this has the required complexities of a 2010 80s remix.  It certainly has the boom box held high in front of the suburban white picket house, the Franch Fries, and the hot car racing Howard Cosell.  But ultimately it lacks the depth of truly needing two dollars.   

37. Jamey Johnson - “Poor Man Blues”

There are three times when country is awesome.  When you’re walking out of prison.  When you’re going back in.  And when you’re drinking a ton in a Southern bar.  This song made me think of all three times.  Kristyle – queue this one up baby.   

36. New Pornographers - “Crash Years”

Fun solid song, good powerful voice and a nice whistling background.  Continuing the 80s theme, this one loses a half star for being Debbie Gibson-esque.

35. The Black Keys - “Tighten Up”

Took me three listens through and grabbing Brad from the cubicle next door before I stumbled upon where I’d heard this from.  Listen from 2:15 to 2:28. Answer below.  Doesn’t matter, still a good song with a nice surprise changeup at the end.   

34. Avi Buffalo - “Truth Sets In”

Nice soft track.  Bubbly with veins of truthiness.  Truthfully though, I think I might tire of this song after two listen throughs.  Hold on, I’m going to try it again. [Hold on] … [Stop Holding] Yeah, I stick with my original thought although if someone were to buy me a drink I might change my mind on this one.  Nice background but a bit grating.  

33. Freelance Whales - “Hannah”

Seems to be a theme of tapping off color 60s blown glass, adding some xylophonic symphonies, and a female voice and blessing it as a track.  Well, 15 songs deep into this list I won’t be fooled. 

32. Magic Kids - “Hey Boy”

This song went Beach Boys too early and my mind immediately went to Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello and from there I went Mickey Mouse club. Not being able to escape the strong 1950s gravitational forces, I couldn’t appreciate this as a 2010 piece.

By the time I came back,  living color had been invented.  Speaking of which, check out the first color TV presentation ever, October 1958, 14 days after Sputnik:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oivx0aJJmC8

31. Surfer Blood - “Floating Vibes”

Nice piece, not too flashy but sets low expectations.  Rhythmics are predictable.  It’s vanilla underwear. If I was tied up in a Middle Eastern prison, blindfolded, and asked to name the band I would’ve guessed Weezer or Granddaddy.  Thankfully, I’m not. 

30. Gorillaz - “Stylo”

We wind down the 30s with a beat bop mixed in with some subway style lovin’.  I did my best to funk as bad ass as I could sitting in my IT cubicle.  The Caddy’s in the shop and the bling didn’t come for Christmas so all I really had to work with is white angst. Let’s use that.  I’m hitting Play again.

Answer to 35. Witchy Woman.

Even more to come after the break … the Twenties!