2010 Songs: 61 - 80

Continuing with the list. For 61-80 all songs are available for streaming through the Grooveshark widget

61. "Tighten Up" by The Black Keys (from Brothers)

"I don't need to get steady / I know just how I feel / telling you to be ready / my dear"


Great band. Good album. And yet the best element of the Brothers experience was pulling the once jet black CD out of the computer after its first play and wondering what the hell just happened.

62. "Citizen" by Broken Bells (from Broken Bells)
"What is, just is, I know / So we're trapped by answers"

Danger Mouse continues his tour through indie music royalty, partnering with James Mercer of the Shins to form Broken Bells. 

63. "Catholic Pagans" by Surfer Blood (from Astro Coast)
"Please don't padlock your parent's bomb shelter"

I love the simplicity of this song, and the Beach Boys-like vibe that extends beyond just the band's name. The Obama reference at the end comes out of nowhere.

64. "Do-Wah-Doo" by Kate Nash (from My Best Friend Is You)
"I think she's a bitch"

Fulfills my snarky British songstress quota

65. "The Undoing" by Interpol (from Interpol)
"Me suelto / me suelto en el deshacer"

Has it ever been a good sign when a band releases an eponymous album this late in their career? Liz Phair doesn't think so. That said, "The Undoing" could have been on Turn on the Bright Lights, or at least Antics. Also, awesome random Spanish is awesome.

66. "Breeze" by Xavier Rudd (from Koonyum Sun)
"And you / will touch their souls"

It's overly earnest, somewhat generic hippie music (I mean, look at that cover), but that's not always a bad thing. Its not like I am going to learn to play it on the bongo or anything.

67. "Someone's Missing" by MGMT (from Congratulations)
"With a long sigh let the hissing in / stones deformed by gentle kissing and / all the closed eyes start to glisten / but it feels like someone's missing"

Congratulations is a change of pace for MGMT. I certainly would have been fine with another Oracular Spectacular instead

68. "I Am Not a Robot" by Marina and the Diamonds(from The Family Jewels)
"Guess What?"

I have now exceeded my snarky British songstress quota

69. "Atlas" by Fanfarlo (from Twilight: Eclipse)
"And maybe you will be the one / who'll draw the line in the sand / for us to cross"

A nice B-side from an underrated band.

70. "Some of Kind of Nature" by Gorillaz ft. Lou Reed (from Plastic Beach)

"They need the eat, and they-they wear phony clothes / they sit with barbituates and filled with gold"

Now Albarn needs to convince Lou Reed to join for the next The Good, The Bad & the Queen album

71. "Someday Maybe" by City Lights (from Burned Out Bright)

"We all hate our jobs / talk shit about the ones we love / but I know i can do no wrong with you"

Other than being based in San Francisco, I know nearly nothing about the band

72. "Go Do" by Jónsi (from Go)

"You wish silence released noisy drummers / you wish white noise surrendered to summers"

I want to presume that his Iclelandic/Hopelandic lyrics with Sigur Ros are more subtly inspiring than the somewhat literal "the world is AMAZING" English lyrics on his solo album

73. "Daisy" by Fang Island (from My Best Friend Is You)

"make your ideas stick in the mud / like the trees they are"

I have probably heard this song more than 30 times this year and I just realized the lyrics are actual words and not strange chanting. One of my favorite 2010 album covers, for some reason.

74. "Hands" by The Ting Tings (from Hands - Single)

"Clap your hands if you're working too hard"

Seriously? More female britpop?

75. "Dear God, I Hate Myself" by Xiu Xiu (from Dear God, I Hate Myself)

"And I will always be nicer to the cat / than I am to you you you you"

Lest I be accused of liking too much happy music.

76. "Clive Tanaka y su Orquesta" by Neu Chicago (from Jet Set Siempre 1°)

"I'll grab a shovel, you grab a spade"

Downloaded on December 16th, this is the very last song on this list to be added to my library

77. "Beat the Devil's Tattoo" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (from Beat the Devil's Tattoo)

"Everyone is king when there's no one left to pawn"

BRMC is carving out a nice niche as the perpetual soundtrack to Sons of Anarchy

78. "Belly of June" by Horse Feathers (from Thistled Spring)

"We're no longer young / we're lazy and lithe / and our age makes us dumb"

Horse Feathers has long been a favorite (they are the "H" in the logo), though after three albums many of the songs have begun to run together

79. "Come Home" by Chappo (from Plastique Universe)

"Take everything / my iPod"

An iPod commercial with a song that name-checks the iPod? Those rascals at Apple! Microsoft would get pilloried if they did it, but name checking Excel doesn't really get it done anyway.

80. "Marchin' In" by Lo-Fi-Fnk (from Marchin' In - Single)

"From now on to march / what's mine what is ours"

Funky Swedish nonsense