The Obsessively Listened to List of 2010

I like the idea of looking back at the end of the year and reflecting on things that were. I know I'm a few days late to the game but I really don't care.

Anyways, music is what keeps me happy most days, snapping out of whatever anxious panic work is providing for the given day, and unfortunately it seems as though I have less and less time to sit around listening as days get busier and busier.

Like most people these days, I spend more time listening to playlists that I've created to take with me wherever I go. This really isn't a new thing for me as when I was younger, it was mix tapes. I made hundreds of them growing up, passing them off to friends and of course, trying to impress the females as often as I could with them. (it never really worked.) I've yet to find a real simple way to do this with the internet, which boggles my mind a bit, but I'm sure it'll surface soon enough.

The great thing about music players like Itunes now is it will literally tell me what I spent all my time listening to during a given time period with the right tweaking of a smart playlist. As the play count rises, I know what songs I've likely annoyed the shit out of my wife with, yet I just can't get enough of. For me what follows was the top of the list for 2010.

Broken Social Scene - World Sick



Most of my good feelings about any given song I hear can directly relate to where I was when I heard it the first time, or the most prominent memory that it triggers when I hear it. Some times a song just blows you away on first listen in a way that you'll never forget, and World Sick was like that for me. From the slow dreamy lead in, to the meandering riff in the verse and the bombastic chorus, this song's got everything I love about this band. I heard this for the first time the night before a snowboarding trip, and then spent the whole next day secretly pining for the Iphone to shuffle back to it as I was riding. I didn't wait long and probably played it 5 or 6 times that day.

Buy it here: World Sick

MGMT - Electric Feel



I'm a few years behind on the hipster scale when it comes to MGMT. But I don't really give a shit. I happened to catch this random video of some kids snowboarding at blue mountain on the youtube and got obsessed with the song. Got me all kinds of excited and pumped up when I would go riding myself. The keyboard break in the middle makes me dance like an idiot. don't believe me? Adjust volume accordingly.

Buy it here: Electric Feel

Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)



This one is just sooo catchy to me. I find myself humming this one everywhere I go and can't get it out of my head. It kind of continues a theme for the year that found me searching out keyboard heavy, borderline disco music. This one drew me in as soon as I heard this album.

Buy it here: Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

The Dead Weather - Jawbreaker



Riffs, Growling Keyboards, Big drums. Jack White. that is all.

Gorillaz - Empire Ants



I love the sleepy intro on this one. when the keyboards/bass kick in it's just silly. This one got lots of listening in the summertime. More of that keyboard goodness that drew me in.

Buy it here: Empire Ants (Feat. Little Dragon)

The next 5 in the list, and just as worth mentioning:

Broken Social Scene - The Sweetest Kill
Broken Bells - The High Road
Them Crooked Vultures - Scumbag Blues
Built to Spill - Hindsight
Radiohead - These are My Twisted Words