Maybe it’s a sign that after the 10th anniversary of 9-11 we’ve moved on when a song whose lyrics “I was in the air when the towers came down” comes in least preferred in Moogaz’s latest informal poll of Paste Magazine’s top 25 songs of 2011 so far.
The test was to listen to Paste Magazine’s list and decide if their honors were merited. Four random Portland Mainers, two guys, two girls stepped up to take the exam. Average ratings ranged from 4.6 to 1.9. (The original scale was 1 to 5 where 1 was suckdom and 5 was glorious awesomeness).
With a score of 1.9, The Low Anthem “Boeing 737” had the second highest standard deviation, so it was liked by some. But ultimately – harshly or not given its context – the panel of 4 scored the trombone ballad lowest.
Coming in highest with very little disagreement was the The Civil Wars “Barton Hollow” which no doubt explains their rocket indie ascent into the pop charts.
Songs did get progressively better moving from 25 to 1 but barely, and not statistically as this graph shows. Without a major crescendo, the Paste Magaziner is left to to frown as he/she moves to number 1.
But good exercise. Ironically, on a third listen to “Boeing 737” I find myself warming a bit to the melody. Like 9-11 itself, maybe time heals wounds.
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.
Smooth almost techno beat, possibly good with a chocolate espresso martini and a muted wine bar TV playing a random Asian gameshow.
49. The Tallest Man on Earth - “Burden of Tomorrow”
Bob Dylan hanging out with his grandmother on a sunny afternoon in a kitchen with a checkered tablecloth.
48. April Smith and the Great Picture Show - “Colors”
Fun, feet tapping, almost Irish beat most resembling K.T. Tunstall.
47. Beach House - “Norway”
This song was as long and melodic as explaining to Georgia how to play a 45 record on 33 speed. If I were about to off myself with the back of a muffler pipe, this would be the song I would choose.
46. Free Energy - “Free Energy”
Young angst meets quirky guitar in standard California style. Bleach your hair and grab a wave. This being Portland, Maine and it being only 30 degrees out, I’ll skip this track.
45. Joanna Newsom - “Good Intentions”
“Like a bump on a log,” is the line I’ll takeaway from this song which almost goes somewhere several times but ultimately falls flat on its lilypad. There’s some cool Southern undertones, trumpets that make me think New Orleans, but Joanna’s still a bit all over the place.
44. BLK JKS - “Zol!”
This song made me long for the summer and watching the World Cup and listening to vuvuzelas. Which brought me to campfires and crickets and drinking and dancing. Then I was warm inside.
43. Sarah Jaffe - “Clementine”
Coming off of a fun South African high, I tapped my toes to this one by Texas born singer songwriter. Ultimately, I wanted her to explode a bit more but the flirtatious percussion kept me interested.
42. Deerhunter - “Helicopter”
A bit mystical and new agey for my tastes although if I were taking a hot steam bath in Norway and needed to follow it up in a Volvo driving across the mountains to Sweden, I would choose this track.
41. The Walkmen - “Stranded”
Is it me or does this start out as a Christmas carol? I’m reminded of the classic teen movie scene where they cutaway from the New Year’s revelry to the porch scene where deep shit is covered.
40. Sufjan Stevens - “I Walked”
Well, the bottom 40s have been a disappointment. Although I felt the Poissonian urge to allot more than one star, there really isn’t much to this song to merit such an accolade. The syrupy strings punctuated with Billy Idolesque beats was just too drippy for the hard edges of a yellow star.
