Best of 2012: A Late Review Of Music

Favorite Songs

1) Animal Life (Shearwater)
The only song the entire year I could listen to over and over and sing to it endlessly and not have a fucking clue what the dude is singing about. Great, soaring melody, with lyrics that throw up bombastic words so fluidly that you won't really care what an anodyne is.

2) Walt Grace's Submarine Test, January 1967 (John Mayer)
WHAT??!!?? A John Mayer song??!!??? REALLY?? Well, before you judge me (DON'T JUDGE ME!), go listen to this song. It's a wonderfully understated, melodious ditty with a great little story, a catchy marching band-style drum beat (that always gets me), and lyrics that just roll off the tongue nicely when you singalong to it (kinda like last year's June Hymn, by The Decemberists.).

3) The Pit (Silversun Pickups)
I love the Silversun Pickups. I love them so much that I named a cocktail after them. It's awesome, like this sneeringly ferocious song, which is the sort of song I love to sing and scream while driving so other drivers will think I'm swearing at them.

4) We Are Young (fun.)
The only reason this isn't higher up this list is it is technically a 2011 song (it was released as a single at the end of 2011), and it's been overplayed to death by almost every single radio station, live band and DJ everywhere. But I love it anyway, especially the sheer joy of the chorus - it's a perfect song to singalong to when you're high and at a party. And the overexposure certainly doesn't detract from the fact that this is just a really, really awesome song.


5) On My Way (Passion Pit)
I was on my way to writing a top ten favorite songs but stopped at this because I couldn't be arsed to write more about five other songs I have no idea why I liked. This was the perfect addition to this rather short list because I just like the way they sing I'M ON MY WAY!!!! See? Short and sweet explanation. Go listen to it and feel your heart soar when they get to the chorus.

6) Some Nights (Fun.) - Some nights I like to sing the first line of this without warning. Just the first line. 
7) Angels (The XX) - You will be as in love with The XX as I am.
8) Day To Day (Ting Tings) - Ting Tings sing Day to Day while I tap tap my foot foot.
9) Cellophane (Ladyhawke) - I don't know what pink cellophane is but I want some. 
10) Dumb Ways To Die (Tangerine Kitty) - Go ahead, get it stuck in your head. You know you wanna.

Notable mentions:

- Dreams (The Temper Trap
- Automatic Systematic Habit (Garbage
- Beloved Freak (Garbage)
- Speed The Collapse (Metric)
- Runaways (The Killers)
- Be Still (The Killers)
- Clear Eye Clouded Mind (Nada Surf)
- How (Regina Spektor)
- Ekki Mukk (Sigur Ros)
- So Long You Pretty Thing (Spiritualized)
- The World Moves On (Jens Lekman)
- Decorate (Yuna)
- Loud Noises (Yuna)
- Planes (Yuna)
- The Bed Song (Amanda Palmer)
- Smile (Pictures Or It Didn't Happen) (Amanda Palmer)
- Kids (Mika)
- It's Time (Imagine Dragons)
- Demons (Imagine Dragons)
- Get A Job (Gossip)
- Mae (The Gaslight Anthem)
- Off To The Races (Lana Del Ray)
- Sovereign Light Cafe (Keane)
- The Unknown Faces At Father James' Park (The Phenomenal Handclap Band)
- Love Is Greed (Passion Pit)
- Oh Love (Green Day)
- Conduct (The Cranberries)
- Greatest Hits (Mystery Jets)
- Someone Purer (Mystery Jets)
- How (Regina Spektor)
- Subtraction (Coheed & Cambria)



Favorite Albums

I couldn't think of a single album I REALLY REALLY LIKED so I compiled a list of albums I listened to more often than the rest. I'm also lazy, so there.

- Gossamer (Passion Pit)
- Valtari (Sigur Ros)
- Some Nights (fun.)
- Yuna (Yuna)
- Coexist (The XX)
- Night Visions (Imagine Dragons)
- Neck Of the Woods (Silversun Pickups)
- Animal Joy (Shearwater)
- The Temper Trap (The Temper Trap)
- Blunderbuss (Jack White)
- Theatre Is Evil (Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra)
- Radlands (Mystery Jets)
- Come Of Age (The Vaccines)
- The 2nd Law (Muse)
- Uno! (Green Day)
- Dos! (Green Day)
- Tre! (Green Day)
- Born to Die (Lana Del Rey)
- Battle Born (The Killers)
- A+E (Graham Coxon)
- A Different Ship (Here We Go Magic)
- A Joyful Noise (Gossip)
- Handwritten (The Gaslight Anthem)
- Babel (Mumford And Sons)
- Something (Chairlift)
- The Stars Are Indifferent To Astrology (Nada Surf)
- Sweet Heart Sweet Light (Spiritualized)
- Sun (Cat Power)
- I Know What Love Isn't (Jens Lekman)
- Synthetica (Metric)
- Toy (Toy)
- Be the Void (Dr. Dog)
- Anxiety (Ladyhawke)

20 Reasons Why The Cranberries Concert Rocked

1) Voice gone. Neck sore from too much headbanging. TOTALLY WORTH IT.

2) Actually, there were 22 reasons, but I didn't want to populate this list with just the song titles heh.

3) They started out with Dreams, then Linger. Now THAT is what I call an opening!

4) Stadium Negara didn't seem as stuffy and warm as the Jason Mraz concert we were at few years back. Looks like they fixed the air-conditioning...

5) Dolores was awesomely cute on stage. She wore this little black tutu and was dancing around, flapping her arms around wildly and headbanging, like a little, rocking black swan.

6) Would the band have been banned if they had known Dolores would be wearing a tutu onstage? LOL

7) There's just something about bands from the 90's that make for really awesome concerts. Green Day, Jimmy Eat World, and now Cranberries. Maybe it's because their back catalog is usually choke-full of awesome songs (they don't write songs like those these days), and because I know all those awesome songs AND can sing them all by heart. I still think that the best concerts are the ones where you know all the songs.

8) That said, the Cranberries DID play most of their back catalogue, with all the hits and familiar songs. This was more of a Greatest Hits concert than an album promo, so it made all of us very happy. :D

9) I rediscovered No Need To Argue. It used to be one of my favorite albums of all time, but I completely forgot about it. Last night, they sang almost half of the album, though not my utmost favorite song - No Need to Argue.

10) ODE TO MY FAMILY! That ranked as one of my favorite concert singalongs EVAR.

11) The heavier, more complex Daffodil Lament was one of the least likely songs I thought they'd play. Reminded me of how dark the entire No Need To Argue album actually was.

12) I didn't think much of the new album at first, but after hearing some of the songs live, I think I might give it another shot. Conduct seemed especially nice.

13) Though as expected, a lot of the new songs didn't get much of a response. The band was wise to slot them in sporadically after 3-4 older ones, just to keep the crowd going.

14) I used to be a HUGE Cranberries fan a long time ago. I'm surprised I still remember so many of their songs, AND can still singalong to most of them...

15) ZOMBIE! ZOMBIE! ZOMBIEEEEEE!!!!!

16) OH, that ONE SONG you all know means you all HAVE to hold up your bloody phones and RECORD it lah, right? C'mon you idiots, it's ZOMBIE. STOP RECORDING AND START HEADBANGING, GODDAMIT.

17) Sometimes I wonder why people spend so much money on concert tickets then just stand or sit there doing nothing but take pictures or videos.

18) All the same, despite the lack of concerts here, Malaysian concert crowds are SO MUCH more fun than Singaporean ones. At least a vast majority of us actually DO dance, jump, scream and sing along most of the time.


19) After the frenzy of Zombie, the encore seemed a bit anti-climatic, especially since they sang two new songs in the beginning. But ending with the massive shoutfests Salvation and Promises made up for it. :D

20) From stadium to home in 20 minutes. Parking down the hill at Kampung Attap was a good decision indeed.

Best of 2011: Musiclarity Moments and Ceremonials

In a year full of big-name releases (Coldplay, Radiohead, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Death Cab For Cutie, Wilco, Bjork, Snow Patrol, REM, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Feist, Fleet Foxes all had new albums), it was Florence + The Machines' Ceremonials that stood out the most for me. I tend to rate albums by how many songs I like in it and how long I can listen to it on loop without getting sick of it; and after three months of being stuck in my car's CD player, I am STILL not sick of the album. It was the same with Adele's 21 and Coldplay's album as well, but in the end, Florence won out because it had the least number of songs I pressed "Skip" on.

Foo Fighters, The Black Keys and The Vaccines also rate very high here because these are just some of the best headbanging, good old rock 'n' roll albums of the year. Radiohead is inevitably in the top ten because while it is not as accessible as most of their earlier work, it is still a great album as a whole IMHO, and I still listened to it on loop A LOT. In contrast, PJ Harvey's Let England Shake may have been very well-acclaimed, but I couldn't bear to listen to it for too long. I'm mainstream like that, so sue me.

Here are my top 20 albums of the year then: 

1. Ceremonials (Florence And the Machine)
2. 21 (Adele)
3. Mylo Xyloto (Coldplay)
4. Wasting Light (Foo Fighters)
5. El Camino (The Black Keys)
6. The King Is Dead (The Decemberists)
7. Build A Rocket, Boys! (Elbow)
8. What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? (The Vaccines)
9. Metals (Feist)
10. King Of Limbs (Radiohead)
11. Prisoner (The Jezabels)
12. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds (Noel Gallagher)
13. Helplessness Blues (Fleet Foxes)
14. EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ (Glasvegas)
15. Bon Iver (Bon Iver)
16. A Creature I Don't Know (Laura Marling)
17. Last Night On Earth (Noah And The Whale)
18. Bread And Circuses (The View)
19. Kosciuszko (Jebediah)
20. The Whole Love (Wilco)

Notable mentions:

• A Different Kind Of Fix (Bombay Bicycle Club)
• Blood Pressures (The Kills)
• Chesapeake (Rachael Yamagata)
• Cults (Cults)
• Fallen Empires (Snow Patrol)
• Ghostbird (Zee Avi)
• Going Out In Style (Dropkick Murphys)
• Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (Mogwai)
• Hotel Shampoo (Gruff Rhys)
• Kiss Each Other Clean (Iron & Wine)
• Let England Shake (PJ Harvey)
• Nine Types Of Light (TV On The Radio)
• Skying (The Horrors)
• So Beautiful or So What (Paul Simon)
• Valhalla Dancehall (British Sea Power)
• Velociraptor! (Kasabian)
• Year of the Wolf (Nerina Pallot)
• Yuck (Yuck)

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Top 10 Favorite songs of 2011


1) All This And Heaven Too (Florence And the Machine)

Did you know that Florence Welch was diagnosed with dyslexia before? With that in mind, consider the lyrics of this song, which is about how "Poor language doesn't deserve such treatment" and how "All these words are all escaping and coming back all damaged"... it gives the entire song an additional emotional heft that when coupled with the rising verses, the soaring chorus and the wonderfully flowing, longingly glorious outro, makes this in my humble opinion, the most underrated yet most emotional song in Ceremonials. Glorious, simply glorious.

2) June Hymn (The Decemberists)
Quietly understated, amazingly melodic, and with beautifully written lyrics that roll off your tongue like poetry honey. It's been a long time since I've been so motivated to learn the lyrics to a song.

3) Someone Like You (Adele)
It may have been overplayed to death, but that doesn't change the fact that it is still an epic ballad, with some very sad, sad lyrics, and Adele's voice at her most yearning and melancholic yet. When I first got Adele's album, this song was the one that stood out the most in an album full of pretty damn good songs. Heck, I'm happy that I managed to overplay it to death BEFORE everyone else started overplaying it to death.

4) Shake It Out (Florence And The Machine)
The most obvious hit single from Ceremonials, but it's the most uplifting and soaring single you'll ever hear this year. I love it most for the way she sings the lyrics "I am done with my graceless heart, so tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart" so resolutely that you can practically feel her determination to restart.


5) Dear Rosemary (Foo Fighters)

The best song on Wasting Light, the rousing intro, the battling guitars, the frenetic build-up, the soaring chorus, and the mid song bridge with Bob Mould makes this a song that just COMPELS you to turn the volume up to 11 and start headbanging.

6) Charlie Brown (Coldplay)
I first heard them play it live at Splendor In The Grass, and the hook riff just er.. hooked me from the start. Afterwards, I couldn't get it out of my head and kept wondering what the hell I was humming, up till Mylo Xyloto came out and I finally realized that it was the riff from Charlie Brown.

7) Set Fire To The Rain (Adele)
MY second favorite song off 21. I actually this more dramatic and angst-y song to the more popular Rolling In The Deep (which I think has been overplayed to death on radio and by every single wannabe pub/wedding live band out there). I think her voice is more powerful and emotional on this song than on Rolling In The Deep.

8) Euphoria Take My Hand (Glasvegas)
It doesn't help that the riff recalls Coldplay's Life In Technicolour somewhat, but this plaintive plea for heartbreak to go away is sung to depressingly emotional heights by James Allen's trademark wail. Glorious when heard live (which I did at Splendour in The Grass, see the pattern here? heh heh)

9) Lippy Kids (Elbow)
Another song I heard live at Splendour in The Grass. It sounds simply glorious when heard live, and singing "BUILD A ROCKET BOYS!" out loud to the night sky just seemed so... ethereal. My favorite song off one of my favorite albums of the year.

10) L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N. (Noah And The Whale)
Go on. I dare you to listen to this song and not get sucked into singing along to the chorus.One of the best feelgood songs of the year, and my biggest regret was that I passed up watchign them at Splendour to go watch the Jane's Addiction borefest instead.

Notable mentions:

• Arlandria (Foo Fighters)
• Birds (The Submarines)
• Calamity Song (The Decemberists) 
• City Girl (The Jezabels)
• Every Teardrop Is a Waterfal (Coldplay)
• Half Moon (Iron & Wine) 
• Helplessness Blues (Fleet Foxes)
• Heart Is A Beating Drum (The Kills)
• Holocene (Bon Iver)
• How Come You Never Go There
• How To Be A Werewolf (Mogwai)
• Hurts Like Heaven (Coldplay)
• Grace (The View)
• Grey Lynn Park (The Veils)
• Lonely Boy (The Black Keys)
• Lots Sometimes (Glasvegas) 
• Lotus Flower (Radiohead)
• Neat Little Rows (Elbow) 
• No Light No Light (Florence + The Machine)
• Post Break-Up Sex (The Vaccines)
• Princess Of China (Coldplat feat. Rihanna)
• Rolling In The Deep (Adele)
• She's Like A Comet (Jebediah)
• Skip The Charades (Cold War Kids)
• Still Life (The Horrors)
• Strangers (White Lies)
• The Beat Goes On (Beady Eye)
• The Birds (Elbow)
• This Will Be Our Year (Nerina Pallot)
• Those Distant Bells (Snow Patrol)
• Tragic Magic (The View)
• Vomit (Girls)
• Walk (Foo Fighters)
• Walking Far From Home (Iron & Wine)
• Wetsuit (The Vaccines)

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Best Gigs I attended:

1. Jimmy Eat World (Singapore)
2. Splendor In The Grass (Australia)
3. The National (Singapore)

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Biggest disappointment of the year:

• Codes And Keys by Death Cab For Cutie. I expected more from Ben Gibbard and co, but this album just didn't make much of an impression on me.
• MGMT's concert in KL - No beer, no atmosphere.
• Ukelele Songs (Eddie Vedder) - Seriously, Eddie, stop mucking about with that stupid ukelele and go back to Pearl Jam already.

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Favorite new discovery:

• The Vaccines - addictive lad rock and catchy tunes too.
• Australian indie rock. Attending Splendour In The Grass really opened my ears to some great Australian bands, like Jebediah, Cloud Control, The Jezebels, The Panics and The Grates and MAde me go out and explore more of their music.

My My, Mylo Xyloto, WHOAAAAAAAA

This just in. Based on the lyrics on Mylo Xyloto, Coldplay's next new album will consist of songs that only have the lyrics WOAAAH, OOOH, AAAHH and WOOOO in them. I lost count of how many times Chris Martin goes WOAAH in this album, or breaks out into non-committal Lalalalas in the middle of a chorus (like in Princess of China). Even when I saw them performing the new songs live during Splendour In The Grass, we could all singalong with the songs because there were so many WOAAAH moments in them. It's like Chris Martin is trying to recreate the WOOAAH in Viva La Vida, so that he can get the crowd to sing it during concerts.

Lyrics aside though, this is a pretty solid album though. The first few songs are soaring stuff (though I maintain that Paradise is one of the most boring singles they've released so far, and it doesn't help that I think it is a rip-off of a Beyond song, hehe), starting off with one of my favorites, Hurts Like Heaven, which is just... FUN.

My favorite song off the album has to be Charlie Brown (despite the annoying chipmunk voices in the intro). I keep humming the damn riff for hours unconciously, that's how addictive it is. Princess Of China is also pretty good, but I hate it that half the song is just Martin and Rihanna going nananana and "you stole my star", and the best part of the song, the chorus where Rihanna sings "Could have been a princess..." is only sung ONCE. ONCE! Godammit.

Anyway, the style of music here is pretty much stadium anthem Coldplay, with a lot more electronic synths thrown in. There are some wonderfully uplifting sonic flourishes that rise and rise and don't ever seem to come back down, but also some repetitive and somewhat unremarkable moments that seem to just go on and on.

Ok, I don't think it's worth the five stars that Q Magazine gave it, but it IS still a pretty solid album that gets better and better with each listen. But trust me when I say the songs song A LOT BETTER when they play it live. heh heh.

Celebrating Florence's Glorious Ceremonials

I've been looping Florence And the Machine's new album Ceremonials non-stop for days now, and I still can't get enough of it. It's a glorious album of soaring highs and even higher highs, and is one I can really get high on. Er, ok, maybe not THAT kind of high, but you get the point.

Like Lungs, the emphasis is on Florence Welch's powerful, almost shouty vocals, with tough, pounding, almost tribal drum rhythms that add an almost visceral feeling to the songs. I saw Florence And The Machine live in concert a couple years ago (and interviewed her as well, she is such a darling little flightly, wispy character), and the drumbeats were the most memorable parts of the music (as well as her mad enthusiasm) for me.

My favorite song on the album BY FAR is All This And Heaven Too; a beautifully written, stirring, soaring song that rises and falls like a wave, with lyrics that flow along smoothly with the crests and falls of the music. It's got everything - beautiful, quiet breaks, a soaring chorus, a flowing, crescendo-ing outro, and wonderfully worded lyrics... I was looping this ONE song for more than an hour last week, and I'm STILL not sick of it.

As for the rest, my next favorite is Shake It Out, which is probably the most obvious 'hit single' of the album; and then there's Heartlines, album opener Only If For a Night, What The Water Gave Me, and Never Let Me Go... like Lungs, the more you listen to the album, the more each individual song stands out more.

One thing about the album though, it doesn't exactly break new ground when it comes to Florence's musical style. Somehow many of the songs just don't stand out as much as the individual brilliance of the songs in Lungs. Maybe it's the fact that I'm already used to her style now, whereas when Lungs came out, her sound was still fresh to my ears. But anyhow, if you liked Lungs, you'll like this one as well.

Most of the songs would also sound awesome in concert, which leads me to believe that If Lungs was her eccentric debut, then this is Florence And The Machine's huge stadium anthem album. Now if only she'd come back to the region for another show. I would give it all this and heaven too just to hear her sing All This And Heaven Too live. That would be glorious, just glorious.

Noel Was The Heart And Soul of Oasis, Liam Was Just The Mouth

Ever since Oasis broke up, we've all been waiting for the two Gallagher brothers to come up with their much-hyped solo releases. Liam was first out of the blocks with his new band, Beady Eye, which is pretty much just Oasis without Noel (the other two members of Beady Eye were also in Oasis), releasing Different Gear, Still Speeding in April.

At first listen, Beady Eye sounded like Oasis, though that was pretty much probably because Liam was the lead singer of Oasis after all. Then you start listening to the songs properly, and although they were decent, I somehow felt they just did not measure up to what Oasis use to come up with (even during their lesser albums like Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants and Be Here Now). My favorite out of the whole album was probably The Beat Goes On, which ironically was quite Noel-esque in nature. The rest sounded like Liam was trying to sound macho and trying TOO hard to prove that he was better than his brother.

Then, came Noel's High Flying Birds. And the difference was clear. Noel's songwriting is DEFINITELY, WITHOUT A DOUBT the stronger of the two brothers, and it shows. The songs may be gentler than Beady Eye's, but the melodies are splendid, and the lyrics certainly kick Liam's ass soundly. Sure, his singing voice might not have that 'raw madchester' thing Shaolintiger thinks Liam's has, but it certainly is no pushover either.

Besides, if you think about it, I personally think one of the greatest songs Oasis has ever recorded was Don't Look Back In Anger... which was written AND sung by Noel Gallagher. And every other hit the band had, especially on their firsts two albums Definitely Maybe and (What's The Story) Morning Glory? Yup, ALL written by Noel Gallagher. (The only Liam-penned song I REALLY like is Songbird. The rest were pretty shite).

Anyway, I tried an experiement where I put both albums in the same playlsit and shuffled it, and I found that the songs I skipped the most were the Beady Eye ones. Conclusion? Sorry Liam, you may have been the band's voice and attitude, but Noel was the true heart and soul of Oasis.

It's The End Of REM as We Know It (And I Don't Feel Fine)

So, REM. has broken up after 31 years. While it's always sad when a band breaks up,especially one as influential and great as REM, the band's output HAS been kinda stale lately, with only a few flashes of brilliance in their last two or three albums, but not enough to really make an impact.

Like it or not, Michael Stipe and co. will always be best known for being the early pioneers of alternative rock and their earlier music, which included some of the greatest songs ever in Rock and Roll.

Anyway, in tribute to the band, here's a list of my top five favorite REM songs. EVER:

1) Losing My Religion
Because life is bigger than you, and you are not me. This was just a song that I fell in love with the SECOND I heard that first sentence, and the way the lyrics just rolled off your tongue meant it was great to singalong to. Unfortunately, the radio stations back then BANNED the song (for obvious reasons), but I think BFM has been playing it lately. You wouldn't believe the lengths that I will go to to play this song (I considered playing it at my wedding hehehe). Oh no, I've said too much. Ok, I've said enough.

2) Everybody Hurts
For me, this is the ultimate break-up-recovery song. Everybody hurts, sometimes. It acknowledges your sadness, but tells you to stay hopeful and hang on. Everybody hurts, you are not alone. take comfort in your friends. And hold on. No matter how sad you feel, that rising 'Hold on, hold on' crescendo at the end of the song is guaranteed to lift you up and will give you the will to hold on no matter what. Fuck all those so called 'emo bands' today and their fake sadness. THIS was and still is the saddest yet most uplifting song ever written.

3) It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
That's great, this starts with an earthquake and then proceeds on to shudder and vibrate through some of the most awesome motormouth verses to sing ever. I used to be obsessed with motormouthed songs like this (others include Billy Joel's We Didn't Start The Fire, Barenaked Ladies' One Week, and Savage Garden's I Want You), and would spend days memorising the lyrics and singing along to the songs. I can still remember every single lyrics in these songs. Heh heh.

4) At My Most Beautiful
This is just a beautifully written love song. That's all.

5) What's The Frequency Kenneth?
This was the first song I'd heard after the greatness of Losing My Religion, and it instantly struck me how different it was from that other song (this was pre-Internet/torrents, so I could only rely on the radio to listen to their songs). I remember thinking, "who the fuck is Kenneth and what the hell is Benzedrine?". Again, this was pre-Google, so I couldn't just google the answers. But the lyrics stuck with me for years until I finally found out what they meant. Heh.

THOSE are your worse songs of the 90's? HAH!

So yeah, Rolling Stone had a list of the worse songs of the 90's. I don't agree with half of them. Why? Because most of them were not so much lousy songs, but songs that were overplayed to death. Ok, I think Achy Breaky Heart and Who Let The Dogs Out deserve their place, as well as BArbie Girl. But What's Up? Really? What's up with that? I thought that's a pretty good song. And what's wrong with Tubthumping? Damn uptight Americans.

Anyway, here are MY personal worse songs of the 90's:

1) Mambo #5 (Lou Bega) - Once, the office decided that it would be a good idea to pipe in MixFM on the PA. It was tolerable at first. Then... THIS song came on. I think half the office wanted to commit mass suicide by jumping off the building at that point.

2) Barbie Girl (Aqua) - Ok, this is one choice I actually agree with. It's the most annoying song ever, with the most stupid lyrics and sung in the most annoying high pitch voice EVER. AQUA MUST DIE.

3) The First Time (Surface) - The first time I heard this song, I wanted to punch the face of the singer. Then the video came out and I wanted to chop him into little pieces THEN punch him in the face.

4) With Arms Wide Open (Creed) - Good bands don't let their frontmen yarl.

5) Blue (Eiffel 65) - I'm blue, badadibadibagaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

6) Rico Suave (Gerardo) - Ale alele! Riiicooo... SUAVSHHHADAAAAP.

7) Amazed (Lonestar) - Before Lady Antebellum, there was Lonestar, pioneer of boring, unimaginative, wholesome 'country' sickness.

8) Honey (Mariah Carey) - I actually liked Mariah at one point, when her hair was still curly and before she started looking like a sex-crazed slut. This album was for me, the one where she started completely annoying me, and on this song in particular... DOES SHE EVEN SING? What does she do beyond all that YODELLING???

9) You Are Not Alone (Michael Jackson) - Sorry, Jacko fans. Everytime I see or hear this come on on the TV or radio, I just turned it off so I could be alone.

10) I Believe I Can Fly (R. Kelly) - The only version of this song I could stand was the one FlyGuy came up with during his Breakfast Show (back when HitzFM was still tolerable), which went: I believe I can flyyy... I believe I can grow an eyeee...

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SPECIAL MENTION:

Almost EVERY fucking song by Michael Learns to Rock Deserves a place on this list. In fact I could have populated the ENTIRE LIST with songs from that fucking band, but I didn't think about it until KY pointed it out on Twitter AFTER I'd posted this list. So, what's the WORSE EVER Michael Learns to Rock song? The idiotically retarded lyrics of The Actor is a close second, the grammatically incorrect That's Why You Go Away is also close, but the WORSE MLTR SONG EVER IMHO is...

PAINT MY LOVE.

Everytime I hear that fucking song, I imagine paint on the walls curling up in protest, or just turning into flakes and flying away just to get away from the song. It's got a fucking boring verse, and the bloody chorus just makes my ears bleed. WHY THE HELL IS THIS SONG AND BAND SO POPULAR IN MALAYSIA? It's a fucking insult to my name, it is...

Hurts So Good, But Not Better Than Love

(picture from NME.com)

Did it feel better than love? Not really. Was Hurts so good? Well, they were pretty decent, actually.

I was right though. Before going for the show, I'd surmised from the album Happiness that most of the songs would sound A LOT better live, especially since they were mostly SOARING, melodramatic ballads that would sound MUCH better played live and LOUD, instead of the more polished and slightly blander sound on the album. And I was right.

The songs, coupled with the group's presentation made it more than just another boring indie pop band gig. The concert started out cun-cun 8:30pm, with Unspoken, and lasted a little more than an hour, going through 15 songs, including a Kylie Minogue cover Confide In Me.

Songs like Silver Lining, Evelyn, Stay, Blood Tears Gold and Unspoken sounded SO much better than on the album. The soaring choruses, the pounding synth beats and melodramatic performances by lead singer Theo Hutchcroft and synth player Adam Anderson made it a pretty good show. I especially enjoyed the drama on songs like the soaring Blood, Tears Gold and Silver Lining, and the unexpected head-banging session during Evelyn, the only song where Anderson got up and played an electric guitar instead.

But those were not the best part of the concert for me though. Nor was it the expected Stay sing-along (which though good, kinda felt a bit of an anti-climax).

No, the best part of the gig for me was when halfway through the album's hidden track Verona, the back-up singer just BURST OUT into song, his powerful voice overpowering ALL the musicians and putting Hutchcraft's own vocals to shame. The fellow was STANDING STRIGHT the ENTIRE NIGHT, not moving a single muscle except his vocal chords, and when he finally left his post at the end of the encore (Better Than Love), that was when we KNEW that the concert was over (that, and the fact that Hurts had already played every single song on Happiness (barring The Water) and then some, and were pretty much out of songs to sing).

All in all, a decent gig, pretty decent for a band that only has one album to their name so far. At least they didn't make me regret not going for Gruff Rhys instead....

Don't Waste Light,Start a Foo Fight!

Has it really been THAT long since I've heard a good old Rock 'n' Roll album I liked? Have I been swimming in indie rock waters so long that I've forgotten how awesome an old school rock album can be like?

It's not everyday that a band makes me question my current playlists, but the Foo Fighters have. Heck, after hearing this album for the first time, I chucked out all the indie pop nonsense (ok, not nonsense, but the less rocking ones) I had in my iPhone and loaded it with all the classic rock albums I used to love so much.

Supposedly recorded the old school way - on analogue tapes - in Dave Grohl's garage, Wasting Light is one awesome album. I think the last album I felt this exhilarated listening to it was Green Day'sAmerican Idiot, back in the days before I discovered all those funky little indie bands that I've been listening to since.

Wasting Light caught my attention form the get go - even though I was doing my usual 'earphone in ear, music in background, attention somewhere else' thing, I couldn't help headbanging (or rather, head nodding, since I'd look really stupid headbanging in a silent office) to the songs. Bridge Burning and Rope got the album off to a great start, but then came the next song.

Dear Rosemary is definitely one song that is gonna be on my Top Ten list at year end. Everything, from the rousing intro, the battling guitars, the frenetic build-up, the soaring chorus, and the mid song bridge with Bob Mould is just AWESOME. It's the type of song where you are just COMPELLED to turn the volume ot 11 and head bang to, no matter where you are.

As for the rest of the album, my other favorites are Arlandria, I Should Have Known, These Days, Miss The Misery, and that song from the THOR soundtrack, Walk (after learning to fly, he now has to learn to walk again. heh heh). Heck, that's almost the whole album!

So yeah... All hail the Foo! Now THIS is how you make a REAL rock and roll album! YEAH!

Melancholic Hurts And The Infinite Sad Happiness

So, apparently this band called HURTS is coming to KL for a gig. Not having even heard of them before, I was intrigued. So I decided to give their debut album Happiness a listen to see if they'd be worth going to watch live.

Ironically, despite calling their album 'Happiness', the band doesn't actually sound very happy in their songs, heh heh. In fact, the whole album is filled with melancholic, melodramatic power ballads, with a few upbeat synthpop numbers thrown in between.

It's fairly uncomplicated fare - their music is more pop than rock, to tell the truth, veering more into mainstream synthpop, like a combination of Savage Garden, Duran Duran and bizarrely, Rick Price (one of the songs actually reminded me of Heaven Knows).

Ok, I know that description doesn't sound very flattering to them, but the album actually is pretty decent. Most reviews of the album so far have emphasized the strength of singles Wonderful Life and A Better Day, while complaining about the number of melancholic ballads in the album. I happen to be the opposite - I prefer the ballads, and actually think they are actually the better part of this album.

Album opener Silver Lining sets the tone for what's to come - most of the songs here are uncomplicated, catchy pop numbers with killer hooks and the occasional melodramatic soaring climax, which suits me just fine. Other songs I kinda liked were Blood Tears and Gold; Illuminated, Unspoken and Evelyn.

Surprisingly, the much-praised Wonderful Life and Better Than Love sounded a little bland and unremarkable to me. (The latter actually reminded me of a less edgy White Lies, to tell the truth). And while we're comparing acts, their duet with Kylie Minogue - Devotion - even reminded me of a song by Gregorian. Heh.

My favorite of the lot, however, has to be Stay. Sure, it's a completely clichéd, bombastic and melodramatic song, but I can't seem to stop listening to it. Maybe it's the melancholic romantic in me, but this sort of songs always seem to catch my attention more than most.

So, would it be worth going to watch them live?

Well, I'd give this band the benefit of the doubt. Judging from some of the songs on the album, they should be a pretty decent live act. Songs like Stay, Illuminated and Silver Lining would be GREAT when played live, especially if the crowd is familiar enough to sing along with them. I personally can't wait to sing along to Stay. Hey, what can I say, I'm partial to guilty pleasure singalongs at concerts, so sue me.

Anyway, if you're interested to go watch the show, they'll be playing this 6th May, at Mist Club. You can get tickets at Red Tix, or at selected Rock Corner, Victoria Music or TOPMAN outlets. For more information,click on the poster below:



TOPMAN is also 

offering
 a
 special
 ticket
 price
 of
 RM105
, exclusively 
for
 their
 Fashion
 Fast
Forward
 members, with 10 
pairs 
of 
Meet 
& 
Greet 
passes
 to
 be
 won
 for
 members
 who 
purchase
 the 
MusicTicket+
 together
 with
 the
 RM105 
TOPMAN 
concert
 tickets.
(Only
 at
 TOPMAN 
outlets)

MusicTicket+ is 
a 
collectible 
music 
download
 card
 that 
gives 
the 
ultimate 
fan
access

to 
exclusive 
songs 
and 
is 
available 
with 
the 
concert 
ticket.
 MusicTicket+ 
is 
being 
offered 
for Hurts' 
Asian 
Tour. With it, you 
can 
choose
 and
 download
 5 
Hurts 
tracks
 you
 can’t
 find 
anywhere 
else, 
including
 special
 live 
performances.



Freewheelin' Down Desolation Singapore!

Come gather round you people, to Singapore,

Because Dylan's in town, and I just had to go!

From KL, two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.

And I'm prayin' that there ain't gonna be a hard rain that's gonna fall.

The Day Jimmy Ate My World

I was spinning free, dizzy, and 23 once again. For me, this was heaven.

You see, if anyone were to ask me what my favorite band in the world was, I would say Jimmy Eat World without a doubt. So when they came to Singapore on 1 April, there was NO WAY IN HELL I was going to miss the concert.

There were so many highlights for me - singing along to 23, moshing and spinning free during Sweetness, headbanging to Futures, Big Casino, Bleed American; the awesome Hear You Me, and... fooh, so many more. Heck, almost every song was a highlight for me. This was probably the only concert I have ever been to that I knew how to sing EVERY SINGLE SONG, and it was AWESOME. I am now convinced that for a concert to be REALLY good experience, you need not just an awesome band, but also to know the songs as well, AND a thousand more like-minded people to sing along with. Now THAT'S a good concert experience. Take THAT, MGMT!

Anyway, I've already got an 'official' account of the concert HERE, so there really isn't much else for me to say here except... PLEASE COME BACK AGAIN, JIMMY EAT WORLD!!!


SETLIST:

1) Bleed American
2) A Praise Chorus
3) My Best Theory
4) Coffe And Cigarettes
5) Your New Aesthetic
6) Let It Happen
7) Futures
8) Big Casino
9) Dizzy
10) Action Needs An Audience
11) Pain
12) 23
13) Get it Faster
14) Evidence
15) For Me This Is Heaven
16) Hear You Me
17) Work
18) Blister
19) Goodbye Sky Harbour
20) Invented
21) The Middle
21) Sweetness

WTF OMGMT NO BOOZE?

So... MGMT was here last week.
We went, we saw, and I complained like hell.
My memory of the thing is a bit hazy (yeah it was THAT memorable), so I'm gonna write this with a little help from my tweets from that night...

---------------------------------

• MGMT is hipster central.
• You may think you look hensem gila, but wearing sunglasses in a dark concert arena only makes you look bodoh gila.
• I'm getting too old for this shit.
• Really hope they play Kids early so all the kids leave early. Haha.

I actually felt like an old hippie amongst all the hipster kids walking around the area. Sigh....

---------------------------------

• No way they'll start soon. Half the crowd still outside the ONLY entrance, waiting to be body checked to get in. Stupid stupid stupid.

I got there at about 8pm because I was afraid there'd be no parking. Turns out I shouldn't have worried. Managed to find a nice parking spot at the Securities Commission and walked down to join the crowd waiting outside. After 1 hour of waiting for the line to go shorter (to no avail), we decided to join in, managing to get in just in time for...

---------------------------------

• Finally got in in time for opening act Kyoto Protocol!
• Kyoto Protocol are pretty damn good!
• Good stuff, @FuadKyoto! I await the release of your record! Hehe

This was the first time I've heard them, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with Kyoto Protocol's music. Their tunes managed to catch my ear on the first listen, and one song (not sure which one) was a great mix of blues rock and indie rock, which somehow worked really well. I'm definitely checking out their LP when it comes out!

Then, it was time for the main event!

---------------------------------

• Finally! MGMT is coming on!!!!
• Flash Delirium!!!
• Oh dear. The sound isn't very good, is it? #MGMT

The band kicked off with Flash Delirium, probably my favorite from the Congratulations album, and the first single off it. Unfortunately, the crowd didn't seem to respond to the song very well, which only proved that most of the crowd were only there to hear three songs, two of which were...

---------------------------------

• Electric Feel! Probably one of only three songs most people know here judging from the reaction to the previous Congratulations songs haha
• No need to pretend anymore, it's Time To Pretend!
• Songs from Congratulations not getting much love from the crowd at #MGMTKL...

Like I said, most of the crowd only came alive during the three biggest songs of the night (as well as some of the Oracular Spectacular album) and they didn't show much response when the band played the songs from the Congratulations album. This was probably because that album is a lot more abstract and psychedelic than Oracular Spectacular.

Which brings me to my BIGGEST peeve of the night....

---------------------------------

• Definitely need beer for this sort of concert lar.
• I want beeeer. Going for a psychedelic indie rock concert without booze just doesn't seem right somehow...

NO BOOZE. NO BEER, NOT A SINGLE DROP OF ALCOHOL. If there was any concert that NEEDED some alcohol to get the crowd going, it was this one. COME ONE, how the hell are people supposed to enjoy 12-minute, trippy, psychedelic rock song like Siberian Breaks WITHOUT being at least a LITTLE high?

Speaking of which...

---------------------------------

• Ok, i really hope they don't spend 15 minutes playing the entire Siberian Breaks later...
• Oh man, they ARE playing Siberian Breaks now. Now THIS is a song you DEFINITELY need booze to enjoy properly...

Yeah. They played Siberian Breaks. That super-long, super-trippy, song from Congratulations. It's a damn fine song on its own, but listening to it live in a concert, without a single drop of booze, was just a little too much to take.

Thank god then, for....

---------------------------------

• I think they need to play Kids after this to wake everyone up....
• What did I tell ya??!!?? KIDS NOW!!!!!!

As soon as they finished Siberian Breaks, they went straight into Kids. And predictably, everyone got up (yeah we were all sitting down hahaha) and jumped around a lot. Hey, it's Kids. Something about that synth riff just makes you wanna jump around like a kid. heh heh.

And after that song, it was winding down time...

---------------------------------

• Winding down with Congratulations now. People started leaving right after Kids...
• Last song oledi?? why no Brian Eno??!!??

Yup, the last song was Congratulations. I don't know what else they played for the encore, because I left right after Kids. Yeah, I ain't a Kid anymore. I was way too tired already hahaha.

And to sum it all up:

• MGMT was slightly disappointing. Note to self, get a little drunk first, next time.

So, one concert down. I'm hoping Jimmy Eat World will be MUCH better later this week! WHEE!

The King Of Limbs Will Be Crowned Soon!

Head's up, all you radical reborn Radioheadists who have been living in rainbows since 2007! Thom Yorke and gang just dropped a bombshell a few days back - the new Radiohead album - KING OF LIMBS - will be dropping THIS WEEKEND.

Ok, it's only the digital format for now, though you get to pre-order a 'Newspaper Album' physical copy that will be released in May. And unlike the 'pay what you want' format they used for In Rainbows, you have to pay 6 quid for the download this time, which will be released this Saturday.

Ah, just go to the website kingoflimbs.jp to see what they're up to this time lah!

21 Reasons To Love Adele

Back in 2008, in the wake of Amy Winehouse's sensational rise and subsequent fall, two young female artistes stepped into the void she left behind - Duffy and Adele.

Duffy's debut - Rockferry - was one of my favorite albums that year, and though her nasal vocal style took some getting used to, I loved that album, and even went for her concert in Singapore later that year. In contrast, I thought Adele's album 19 was a little tame compared to Duffy's, though she really caught my ear with songs like Chasing Pavements and Hometown Glory. Still loved that album though.

Fast forward 3 years, and both girls have new albums again, and this time around, Adele is the one who has the better album. Duffy's Endlessly was not bad, but if you hated her voice on Rockferry, you'd REALLY hate it on Endlessly. The nasal-ness of her voice is really more pronounced this time, and it was partly why I couldn't really listen to it for too long.

Adele's new album 21 however, is WAY better. At first, album opener Rolling In The Deep actually reminded me of something from Florence And the Machine; and I thought Adele was going all Florence on us. But the song does pregress into something a lot more than just a Florence rip-off. Rumour Has It is another foot-stomping rollicker, but it's the later songs that really stand out for me.

The ballads Turning Tables, One And Only and Lovesong (a cover of The Cure), are great, but for the album's most emotional, most moving and most emo moment, check out the album closer Someone Like You. Now THAT is an epic ballad, just some rolling piano, some very sad, sad lyrics, and Adele's voice at her most yearning and melancholic yet.

The other highlight of the album for me is Set Fire To The Rain. It's probably the most dramatic moment on the entire album. As moving and soulful as her voice is one Someone Like You, it's the complete opposite here. Here, her voice is soaring, powerful and hits all the most dramatic notes perfectly.

Forget all your Britneys, Swifts and Biebers. If you want REAL female pop music, one that isn't autotuned to death and consists of REAL singing, check out Adele's 21.

Jimmy Eat Singapore!

Heads up, people! The Jimmy Eat World concert has been confirmed and the tickets will be available from 28 January onwards!

It's gonna be on 1 April, at the The Coliseum, Hard Rock Hotel Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa.

So don't stay in the middle, come up and chase this light with them! Who else is going as well!!!??!!

More details at the FB page.

Jimmy Eat World! The National! WHEE!!!

It's only the first week of 2011, and already it's looking great, concert-wise. The first half of the year is looking pretty good, with some of my FAVORITE bands coming to the region.

As usual though, Singapore is getting the bulk of the concerts. BAH! In February alone, they'll have Deftones (16/2), Iron Maiden (15/2) - which should please a lot of metalheads out there - and Faithless (22/2)

March is gonna be awesome though. Over here, we'll be getting MGMT at KL Live (15/3)! YAY! And over in Singapore, Slash & Stone Temple Pilots will be playing at Big Night Out (11 & 12 March).... but the big draw (for me at least) will be the Mosaic Music Festival (11-20/3).

I'm saving MY money for The National (eh wait, I already BOUGHT the ticket MUAHAHAHA), but there's gonna be a few more artistes that are worth the tickets as well - Jamie Lidell, Joanna Newsom, 65DaysOfStatic... and Malaysia's very own Mia Palencia as well! Woot!

I'm glad I didn't spend anymore on other shows though, because apparently, 1 April will see emo pioneers Jimmy Eat World hit Singapore.

JIMMY EAT WORLD! YEAY! I'm DEFINITELY going for this one... heck, they're my FAVORITE BAND bar none. NO WAY I'm gonna be missing THIS concert WOOT! No ticket details yet though, but rest assured, I'll be buying this AS SOON as it is available! YEAH!

Best of 2010: My Favorite Concerts!

Ok, so I didn't go to THAT many concerts this year. I'm still kicking myself for missing Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and unfortunately, The Killers canceled their Singapore date in February because of personal family matters.

Oh, and I couldn't care less about the Katy Perry, Akon, Flo Rida, Paramore and Ne-Yo concerts. Sorry, it's just not my kinda music.

I DID manage go to a few cracking concerts though, though unfortunately, most of them were in Singapore. Really put a dent in my wallet. Sigh. But anyway, here are my top five favorite concerts I went to this year:

----------------------------------------------------------

1) Green Day (Singapore)



Too much of a hipster to go watch Green Day? Well, your loss, cos you missed an AWESOME concert full of singalongs, WTF moments and a pure masterclass of showmanship from Billy Joe Armstrong.

They played old songs, new songs, and I knew almost all of them (I think this helped me enjoy the show even more). Plus it was worth it just to be able to hear and singalong to Jesus Of Suburbia live.

Heck, I don't think I've ever screamed so much or jumped so much in a concert EVER. In the end, it was just right, and I think everyone in that stadium really did have the time of their lives.

Best moment: The Jesus of Surburbia singalong + the acoustic encore
Worse moment: Douchebag 'fans' who spent most of their time watching the concert through their videocams and blocking the view for the rest of us.

----------------------------------------------------------

2) The Flaming Lips (Singapore)



This wasn't a concert, it was a full-blown PARTY. Wayne Coyne is a BRILLIANT performer, and even if you didn't know the songs, you would've have STILL been hugely entertained by the show.

Best Moment: HER NAME IS YOSHIMI!!!!!
Worse moment: Fat attention-whoring skank with VPL on stage. The sound system was also pretty lousy.

----------------------------------------------------------

3) Slash (Sunway Surf Beach)



Too think I almost didn't go for this one. It's SLASH fer gawds sake. And it was worth it just for that Sweet Child O' Mine singalong, and to see the man rip into the riff for that song. THAT'S the real deal, man!

Best moment: The Sweet Child Of Mine and Paradise City singalongs. Who needs Axl, eh?
Worse moment: Crowd control was AWFUL. The areas were overcrowded to the MAX, and I actually spent most of the time helping keep the steel barriers from falling over and hurting someone.

----------------------------------------------------------

4) Florence & The Machine + The XX (Singapore)



I LOVE Florence and The Machine. Her songs have those LOUD, POUNDING drumbeats that just gets me pumped up every time I hear them. Listening to songs like Drumming, Hurricane Crush and Howl live was just awesome. Also helps that Florence Welch is also a livewire on stage - she can't seem to keep still at all!

In contrast, The XX were a little er... boring. Sure, their music is awesome live, but after the initial thrill, you realise that they are just standing there recreating all the songs in their ONE album word for word, note for note. Still, they're a young and new band - they can only get better. I hope.

Best moment: Not exactly a concert moment, but I got to interview her before the show! She's so cute and quirky!
Worse moment: Not exactly a 'worse moment' either, but The XX performance was a little monotonous. Close your eyes and you might as well be listening to the album.

----------------------------------------------------------

5) Placebo (KL Live)



This wasn't as great as I thought it would be, but it was still pretty damn fun to be at. The initial triple whammy of For What It's Worth, Ashtray Hearts and Battle For The Sun was great, and it was fun when they played older hits like Every You Every Me and Special K because the crowd really came alive during those songs.

Oh, and I also interviewed both Brian and Stefan before the concert. Which was just AWESOME.

Best Moment: Jumping up and down during the CINECERO CENICERO chorus of Ashtray Hearts.
Worse Moment: The mid-section of the concert, where they mostly played their newer stuff, and the crowd wasn't too responsive.

----------------------------------------------------------

Honorable Mentions:

• Kings of Convenience (Bentley Music Audiotorium)
  
• Video Games Live (KL Convention Center)

Best of 2010: My Favorite Music!

Here we are again at the end of another year! And it's time for the year end lists again...

Let's start off with music, shall we? Here's my personal list of favorite music this year. And might I stress, these are MY personal favorites, so of course it's gonna be a bit bias (and have a few dodgy choices as well...) ... heh heh...

----------------------------------------------------------------

Favorite Albums of 2010

1. High Violet (The National)
2. Write About Love (Belle And Sebastian)
3. The Suburbs (Arcade Fire)
4. The Place We Ran From (Tired Pony)
5. Invented (Jimmy Eat World)
6. Covers (Mates Of State)
7. Plastic Beach (Gorillaz)
8. Come Around Sundown (Kings of Leon)
   
9. American Slang (The Gaslight Anthem)

Honorary Mentions:

• Congratulations (MGMT)
• Forgiveness Rock Record (Broken Social Scene)
• Go (Jónsi)
• Halycon Digest (Deerhunter)
  
• Head First (Goldfrapp)
• Heaven Is Whenever (The Hold Steady)
• If I Had A Hi-Fi (Nada Surf)
• One Life Stand (Hot Chip)
• Postcards From A Young Man (Manic Street Preachers)
• Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World OST (various artistes)
  
• Shadows (Teenage Fanclub)
• Slash (Slash)
• The Age of ADZ (Sufjan Stevens)
  
• The Sea (Corinne Bailey Rae)
• This Is Happening (LCD Soundsystem)
• TRON Legacy OST (Daft Punk)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Favorite Songs of 2010

1. Afraid Of Everyone (The National)
2. The Heart Is Hard To Find (Jimmy Eat World)
3. Vandelylle Crybaby Geeks (The National)
4. Write About Love (Belle & Sebastian)
5. Ready To Start (Arcade Fire)
6. On Melancholy Hill (Gorillaz)
7. Runaway (The National)
8. TRON: End Titles (Daft Punk)
9. Bloodbuzz Ohio (The National)
10. Mixtape (Jimmy Eat World)
11. I Am A Landslide (Tired Pony)
12. Pyro (Kings Of Leon)
13. Slush (Hot Chip)
14. Black Sheep (Metric)
15. Na Na Na (My Chemical Romance)
16. Son Et Lumiere (Mates of State)
17. Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John (Belle & Sebastian)
18. Alive (Goldfrapp)
19. Rococo (Arcade Fire)
20. Flash Delirium (MGMT)
21. World Sick (Broken Social Scene)
22. Sing (My Chemical Romance)
23. American Slang (Gaslight Anthem)
24. Month Of May (Arcade Fire)
25. Cut (Jimmy Eat World)

Honorable Mentions:

• 17 Pink Sugar Elephants (Mates of State)
• All To All (Broken Social Scene)
• Animal Arithmetic (Jónsi)
• Arcadia (Ash)
• Boy Lilikoi (Jónsi)
• Brothers (Hot Chip)
  
• Coda: A Burn Scar in the Shape of the Sooner State (Los Campesinos!)
• Congratulations (MGMT)
• Drunk Girls (LCD Soundsystem)
• Electrocution (Nada Surf)
• Garbage Truck (Sex Bob-Omb)
• Get on the Road (Tired Pony)
  
• Go Do (Jónsi)
• I Didn't See It Coming (Belle & Sebastian)
  
• Just A Face In The Crowd (Car Crash Hearts)
• Long Way Home (Mates of State)
• M.A.D. (Hadouken!)
• Piano Fights (65daysofstatic)
• Postcards From A Young Man (Manic Street Preachers)
• Rocket (Goldfrapp)
  
• Sleep the Clock Around (Mates of State)
• Stylo (Gorillaz)
• The Spirit Of Jazz (The Gaslight Anthem)
• Was It Something I Said (Brandon Flowers)
• Welcome Wagon (Fang Island)