Theme: Songs Just Off Stage from the FOWRies
KEY: M=Matt, A=Andrew, J=John
#1 “Hey Cool Kid” by Cloud Nothings-M: It’s good. I can’t explain why. None of us can. But we all agreed upon one thing: We totally made a big mistake when we missed this last year.
#2 “I Don’t Belong” by OFF!-A: Keith Morris coming back with this really powerful band was something extremely interesting to… aw screw it, it’s raw-ass rock and roll.
#3 “No Barrier Fun” by Liars-J: Liars is one of my favorite bands, so it should say something that music got so good that there was nowhere to really put them.
#4 “The High Road” by Broken Bells-M: When I saw who made up Broken Bells, I was floored that I had not heard of them before recently. Seriously, Danger Mouse? Yo, I fucked up.
#5 “I Only Know (What I Know Now)” by James Blake-A: If I knew how good James Blake was before his self-titled album, I would have put him down as my vote for Best Debut of 2010.
#6 “Kick Back” by YC The Cynic-J: Can’t really think of anyone that flows quite as smooth as YC The Cynic, and You’re Welcome was a killer album balanced solely on YC’s mic control.
#7 “Save Me” by Nicki Minaj-M: Not really what you’d expect/want from Nicki, but the producing behind this track is so well done that I couldn’t help myself. I was one of the people who still liked Nicki’s more safe, radio pop album “Pink Friday” even though it wasn’t a hard-hitting rap album.
#8 “Ancestors” by Gonjasufi-A: Gonja sort of came out of nowhere for me and he’s probably the coolest (coolest, as in, dude this guy is fucking cool) new artist of 2010.
#9 “Cipher” by Animalistic-J: My Special way of apologizing for the “Not About Animalistic” podcast. One of the best duos working today.
#10 “Rose Garden” by Shad-M: Shad has a great grasp on his rhyme technique and delivers each line with a very cool, laid back attitude. Too bad I missed this guy when he debuted in ’10
#11 “Haunting at 1300 McKinley” by Phosphene Dream-A: Talked about, but not enough. Its 60s flare with a modern taste made me want to just nod my head in aural satisfaction.
#12 “Don’t Do It” by Sharon Van Etten-J: There is something very vulnerable about Van Etten’s writing and voice that makes me regret how long it’s taken for me to come around to it.
#13 “The Chaconne” by Dessa-M: Dessa has always impressed me with her range as a artist. She excels as a writer, rapper, and singer. This song moves away from her rap, and shows her softer melodic style.
#14 “Age Class” by Weekend-A: “Sports” is actually pretty good and sorely overlooked for what I believe is a great rock album.
#15 “I Built Myself A Metal Bird” by Silver Mt. Zion-J: Weird to hear what is essentially pop music coming from anyone from the GY!BE collective, but it is about as awesome as that sounds.
#16 “Back and Forth” by The Bright Light Social Hour-M: No one knows about these guys and it makes me sad. Back and Forth is a simple, somewhat stupid song about sex, with some amazing instrumentation behind it.
#17”Airbrushed” by Anamanaguchi-A: It’s fun, powerful, and makes good use of sounding like the best old video game composition ever.
#18 “Corazon” by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez-J: Because there was no Omar on the best songs mixtape and that’s weird.
#19 “De Piedra” by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez-J: Also, since it’s a two song suite, I am selfishly stealing the 19th track. I PAY FOR THIS SITE, I MAKE THESE CALLS.
Fermata over Whole Rest 