20) Closer to the Edge by 30 Seconds to Mars - Who would have ever guessed that the highlight of Jared Leto's career was NOT going to be playing Jordan Catalano in the early 90's television show "My So Called Life." I think that Jared Leto is my favorite actor-turned-singer of all time (right behind Raven Simone from the Cosby Show and That's So Raven.) As much as I love "Closer to the Edge" it is still BY FAR my second favorite 30 Seconds to Mars song in 2010. Also, I find it very difficult to believe that Jared Leto is going to be 40 next year. He doesn't look at day over 30, which is still very very young.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLqHDhF-O28
19) Worth it All by Fairhaven - Fairhaven, the local band from RI/MA did not just make the countdown (for the second year in a row) because I know the lead singer. They are 2009's Rockhunt winners and came out with a very impressive CD. I met Alan (the lead singer) when we both won tickets to have Sushi with Switchfoot. I even became friends with him and his girlfriend before I knew he was the lead singer of Fairhaven, so therefore they knew I was genuinely a nice, hilarious, fun-to-be-around guy; not simply pretending to be interested in friendship because of his fame. Granted, I would have been hamming it up a little more had I known from the start exactly who he was.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR2wvrcwUmk (This is not a great LIVE version at all. The song is awesome. Believe me. I highly suggest sampling it and buying it on itunes.)
18) 1983 by Neon Trees - Neon Trees is my favorite new band of 2010. I saw them a couple weeks ago in concert (with OK Go) and they were unbelievable. I was shocked at how much they reminded me of The Killers circa 2003-2004. I just this second found out that the band opened up for The Killers in 2008, which means I have probably seen them many times live. I would not remember them at all though because I am always too excited about seeing The Killers that I am usually doing shots at the bar or something. Apparently Ronnie Vannucci (the drummer from the Killers, and my favorite drummer of all time - tied with Brad Hargraves from Third Eye Blind) played in a band (Attaboy Skip) with the Neon Trees bassist. Hopefully Neon Trees will continue to impress us for years to come and maybe one day (ten years from now) if they are anything remotely close to The Killers or Third Eye Blind, I may even get a Neon Tree tattooed to my body.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfqTUmv4w34 (is it possible to have a band be in your top 10 favorite bands of all time after just 2 released songs? I think yes.)
17) Break Through the Silence by Monty Are I - Monty Are I is the final local band to make the countdown.
They are also doing so for the second year in a row (Last years "One in a Million" came in at #9.) 3/4 of the band went to Cranston West High School in the late 90's. The principal of my school actually had them in class and he said they were all really great kids. I met them at one of their shows and snapped a few pictures with them. We only talked for a few minutes, but they did seem like really cool guys. The entire CD is really good and this is my second favorite song on the CD. Monty Are I (formally knows as Monty's Fan Club) were WBRU's Rock Hunt winners way back in 2002.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mLKvU5xuOk (After watching this video please tell me they are not the best band to come out of RI, ever)
16) In One Ear by Cage the Elephant - Last year "Back Against the Wall" by Cage the Elephant was number 15. For some reason I really like the lead singer's voice. I also love the bands sound of rock/blues/punk. If you listen to the words in this song it really has a lot of meaning behind it. The band looks like they are just a bunch of grungy twenty-somethings, but they are really intelligent. Maybe that is why I like the band so much; I look like a grungy twenty-something, and I, too, am wicked intelligent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPgWNuUkuA8
15) Lay Me Down by The Dirty Heads - If Jack Johnson and Sublime had a baby, it would be named The Dirty Heads. I am pretty sure that not even 95.5 WBRU knows the name of this band. I listen to an unhealthy about of WBRU throughout the year and I have heard this song at least 100 times on 95.5. I have never once heard a DJ say the name of this band. Anyway, it is a great summer song and makes me think of the beach. I will be kind of shocked if The Dirty Heads have another hit song, for some reason they just seem like one hit wonders to me. But what a wonder this song is!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnuEOYK1Kps
14) You and Your Heart by Jack Johnson -
About this song:
If you haven't heard this song you either: A) Have not turned the radio on since 2009 B) ONLY listen to rap and/or country music C) Are deaf D) Are dead
If you do not like this song you either: A) Hate fun B) Hate smiling C) Hate both D) Hate summer, and all things related to nice, warm weather
Jack Johnson is the second artist (of seven) to have 2 songs makes the 2010 list. Bravo Mr. Johnson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWVnZAJaq4Q How can you NOT love this guy?
13) Harold T. Wilkins (Or How to Wait for a Very Long Time) by Fanfarlo - OK, I do a lot of research before I create this list. 95.5 has a list of 117 songs that are eligible for this years countdown. If I am not familiar with a song I will sample the song on itunes. If I like what I hear I will search for the video on youtube. Every year I find some gems during this process. This year I found THREE. Yes, 3 songs that I have never heard before last week are now in my top 13 songs of the year. I have basically been listening to only these three songs for the past week and I am obsessed with them. Anyway, this is the first one. I have heard of Fanfarlo before, but I could not tell you anything about them. This song was apparently in the 2010 movie "Going the Distance" whatever that is; so if you saw that movie (which I highly doubt) you might already know this song.
If you watch even 3 of the videos out of all 50, you must watch this so you can hear this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnR2oVUTPCo
12) I Was A Teenage Anarchist by Against Me! - I did not think that Against Me! could do anything to improve on their last CD, but I was wrong. The song is so simple and to the point, but I can listen to it over and over again and not get sick of it. I have put it on repeat on my itunes many times and just kept listening to it. I just watched the video for the first time and it is great. It is one scene and even simpler than the song, but it is a perfect fit for the song. I even got the chills at one point. Although maybe because it is 60 degrees in my house right now and I am eating frozen grapes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7RUeMCZL3Q
11) The Cave by Mumford and Sons - The ONLY reason this song is not in my top 10 is because I am sticking to my tradition of not allowing two songs by the same band to be in my top 10. Last year I even had to place "Bonfire" by Third Eye Blind at number 11 because "Don't Believe A Word" was number 1.
If you are facebook friends with me you may remember I posted this video about a month ago with the words "The last minute of this song may be one of my favorite minutes of ANY SONG of ALL TIME." The entire song is amazing, but the last minute in particular almost brings me to tears. It is that good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KkUeRPjc-Y ( If you watch the video the part I am referring to is from 3:17 to 4:00, the amount of passion in all of their faces while singing that part of the song is beyond words.)
And then there were ten........
Oh, and a special Christmas song that I will include in tomorrows finale.
No comments:
Post a Comment