Today's Quick Mention: Today begins the
process of year-end listing! This week you'll
get my top 50 songs, then on Monday I'll kick off my
top 25 albums, and then each of the writers will do
their own lists the week after that. Try not
to get overwhelmed.
Let's do this! You know the rules, the 50
tracks you'll find this week are all from the pool
of nearly 500 tunes I shared throughout 2011. Enjoy.
- 50 through 41 -
50)
:The
Strokes - Under Cover Of Darkness:
The latest Strokes full length wasn't exactly their best
work, but I found it hard to escape this song. The
guitar riff is just too good, and I love how catchy every
single moment of it is. This is from the Angles
LP.
49)
:Charles
Bradley - The World (Is Going Up In Flames):
Anything that comes from the Daptone roster is bound to
impress me in some way or another, so it makes sense that
this beast of a soul artist would have a spot in my year-end
track list. You need this. Find this on No
Time For Dreaming.
48)
:Veronica
Falls - Come On Over:
I liked this song when I first shared it, but it wasn't
until the last month or so that I realized I actually love
it. It's just so well crafted, and I pretty much adore
the songwriting. This is from the band's self titled
effort.
47)
:Dale
Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - Morning Thought:
This band has been riding a fairly large wave of buzz all
year, and this easy-to-love pop track makes it obvious as to
why so many people are willing to champion them. This
is from It's A Corporate World.
46)
:J
Mascis - Is It Done?:
I found it hard to buy into a lot of J Mascis' solo effort,
but there are a few tracks on it that I've been unable to
escape at any point in 2011, and this is one of them.
Every time I hear this I want to sit by a fire, get drunk,
and sing loudly. This is from Several Shades Of Why.
45)
:Robert
Ellis - What's In It For Me?:
There are pretty much no country artists working right now
that interest me in any sort of way, and I'm slowly
realizing that's because none of them are as good as Robert
Ellis. You can locate this track on Photographs.
44)
:Elaine
Greer - Earth Stands Still:
Over the last half year or so Elaine Greer has entered my
world of local artists to watch out for, and this song alone
has kept her there. What a stellar piece of pop it is.
Find it on the Annotations full length.
43)
:Future
Islands - Before The Bridge:
This is such an overly dramatic effort that I thought at
some point in the year I'd just tire of it and never give it
another listen. I was way wrong. It can't be
escaped. Own this track forever via On The Water.
42)
:The
Rosebuds - Second Bird Of Paradise:
Only the husband/wife duo of the Rosebuds could break up
their marriage and then still release a track as slick as
this one. Way to keep it real, Ivan and Kelly!
This is from Loud Planes Fly Low.
41)
:Battles
- Ice Cream (Featuring Matias Aguyao):
Let's face it, Battles just aren't as good without Tyondai
Braxton. With that being said, though, I really dig
this track and think that it's an absolute blast to listen
to. This is from Gloss Drop.
- John Laird -
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