Top 100 Songs Of 2010 (60-41)

Another 20! The countdown continues starting with song 60 working our way outside the top 40.

60. No Age-Glitter

It's not too often you get a song that starts off sounding like "My Sharona" and ends up sounding like a great Sonic Youth nugget left behind in a studio in 1994. The two tricks here is the wall of a squealing guitar matched with a bass that only shows up full blown in the chorus. And the line "I want you back underneath my skin" is heartwarming and honest.
No Age, "Glitter" by selftitledmag

59. Hot Chip-I Feel Better

Like having a little elecrtopop dance number pop up on your shuffle once in awhile just to liven things up? Met too! "I Feel Better" has an in your face medley that is so sweet and irresistible, you forget that you've probably heard those synths somewhere familiar before. Do all you can to control your feet because like most Hot Chip songs, you'll find yourself looking for a conga line. This is no exception.
Hot Chip - I Feel Better by HOTCHIP

58. The Gaslight Anthem-The Diamond Street Church Choir

Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem

Sounding like an orphan from the "Born To Run" sessions, The Gaslight Anthem showed many a fan, including Bruce Springsteen, how they've become the heir apparent to the boss. No song shows that better from their album "American Slang" as it practically shuffles you down a boardwalk and to a basement "Where the Jacknives play". It all culminates with a chorus Van Morrison would approve: "Who does it better than we do? Them sopranos in Andy Diamond's choir". The most winning, swinging song of 2010.

57. Caribou-Odessa

It's "Odessa"'s strange and intricate sampling that intertwines itself into a giant pretzel of goodness. Cowbells, something that sounds like a wildebeest in pain, a runaway flute section, a low end bass on the keyboard that sluggishly drives the song along. All these sounds are brought together as lead singer Dan Snaith visits a common tale of a woman who's had enough abuse and has decided to move on. But it never feels tired and the whole thing makes you want to keep going back and getting lost in that pretzel.
Caribou- Odessa by pippsta

56. Here We Go Magic-Collectors

Pretty amazing guitar line that drives Here We Go Magic's "Collectors" down the highway like it's a spring day and you haven't a care in the world. "I've got a mild fascination for collectors" is what lead singer Luke Temple sings along including everything from shrunken heads to wood from Noah's Ark. Not sure if this is an ode to hoarders or not, but anyway you look it at it, it's a breath of springtime air, breathe it in.
Here We Go Magic - Collector by musicmule

55. Deerhunter-Fountain Stairs

"Fountain Stairs" is camouflaged as a cool indie rock song that has more 70's AM influence than anything else. Just listen to the chorus where power chords on the guitar meet with a saxophone in unison to create something menacing, warm, and comforting. And with opening lines "I forgot my book, at the fountain stairs/At a chapter on symmetry, nobody cares" drenched in reverb, you can swirl around in the song or bask in its glory. Speaking of symmetry, lots of great symmetry on "Halcyon Digest".

54. The Morning Benders-Excuses

I almost fell out of my chair last month when I heard a Morning Benders song on TV. Yes, it was instrumental passage from "Excuses" endorsing Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. They are a delicious candy bar, and "Excuses" with it's lazy summer strings, is also delicious. It's a love song "I put no one else above us" with a lot of Beach Boys influence and a huge wall of sound, from the opening crescendo through the bah-bum's in the background vocals. So it's nice to see a band break, I guess, even through a candy bar ad.
The Morning Benders - Excuses by flavatadpole

53. The Thermals-I Don't Believe You

Portland's The Thermals

Urgent, fun, untrustworthy, and lots of ooohs and aahs....it's the Thermals calling card. Their latest album "Personal Life" is full of these three minute power pop medleys that will never go out of style no matter what decade they are released in. And I Don't Believe You may be a one hook pony, but if you ride it for the three plus minutes and like it, there is no shame in that. "There is nothing you can do...."
The Thermals - I Don't Believe You by The Drift Record Shop

52. Shout Out Louds-Fall Hard

Is it the 'I'll back you up, always' sentiment in the beginning of the chorus "If you fall hard, I'll fall harder" or is it the 'Let me down again' line at the end of the chorus "I'll pick up the pieces and mistakes" that you identify yourself with more. I think we've all been in one corner or the other, but not so close together. "Fall Hard" also sounds immediate as the Shout Out Louds never try to give a huge sense of urgency. So you can sit back, reflect, and let those horns ride on down the stream.
  Shout Out Louds - Fall Hard by chris_hillary 

51. The Roots-Now Or Never

The chorus in "Now Or Never" pretty much sums up the trying to overcome odds and adversity atmosphere of their 2010 effort "How I Got Over": "Everything's Changing Around Me/And I Want To Change Too....I Feel Different Today/I Don't Know What Else To Say/I'm Gonna Get My Shit Together/It's Now Or Never". It's a song that wakes up everyday vowing to make a whole-hearted difference but the verses "Opportunities Lost Because I Blew Them" are full of pessimism. The great hip-hop balancing act.
  05 - The Roots - Now Or Never by thiagoney 

50. The Black Keys-Everlasting Light

Falsetto vocals and hand claps. Check and check. Well those are two good traits to start any album with, but then throw in a little shoops and you've got some good gravy. "Everlasting Light" led off "Brothers" and it rightfully showed off a little more polished side of the band. And don't forget, Daniel Auerbach spends the whole song awkwardly cooing his love interest: "Let me be your everlasting light/The sun when there is none/I'm a shepherd for you." A minor "Let's Get It On", doncha think?
  Everlasting Light/The Black Keys by Neuroid 

49. Best Coast-Boyfriend

Lead singer Bethany Cosentino plays the part of the lovesick girl perfectly. But while the idea may seem a bit trite, the song shows an honest side of a girl having troubles with self esteem and jealousy "The other girl is not like me, she's prettier and skinnier" as well as self confidence "She has a college degree/I dropped out when I was seventeen". A lot of songs play off this theme on "Crazy For You" but the thing that keeps it together is it's earnest. And how about that wicked So-Cal guitar line.
  Best Coast - Boyfriend by Ragged Words

48. Beach House-Norway

The tribal beats that start off "Norway" give way to hushed chants and a slide guitar that feels like it is being played with a giant saw. Victoria Legrand gives out her best vocal performance on "Teen Dream" as she teases the title of the Scandinavian country and the whole refrain in the middle where she croons "Where you think you're gonna run to now/With the beating of a tiny heart" is simply breathtaking.
  Beach House | Norway by daughters 

47. Band Of Horses-Laredo

A song that seems so familiar on first listen, like it's been around for ever, but yet slowly creeps into your heart with the first lines "Gonna take a trip to Laredo" giving it a road trip kind of vibe. Deep down there is a real loneliness that creeps in: "I'm at a crossroads with myself/I don't got no one else". The guitar solo in the middle brings it to another level as well and it turns out to be pleasing for anyone who enjoys a good American traditional rock song.
  Laredo by bandofhorses

46. Foals-Miami

Foals "Miami Bad"

The percussion at the beginning of the up tempo "Miami" plays to a sort of South Beach crowd and the guitars play off that beat throughout this exceptional song. But the underlying message of the song is one of betrayal as stated in the chorus "Would you be there for me? Would you betray me, save me, save me from you?" So if the music propels "Miami" along like a beach song, and the lyrics are bitter to a point where the line "Miami bad" is repeated over and over, we've got the best contradiction song of the year. And it's danceable.
  Foals - Miami by Electric Audio

45. Grinderman-Palaces Of Montezuma

With all the sleazy little tales that litter "Grinderman 2" leave it to Nick Cave to bring a proclamation of love near the end of the album. His gifts include everything from the hanging gardens of Babylon to the spinal cord of JFK wrapped in Marilyn Monroe's negligee. And then Grinderman brings a super sweet chorus "C'mon baby lets get out of the cold, and give me your precious love to hold." Sometimes, it's the love song you remember most from the grueling tales of pulp fiction, and that's the case here.
Grinderman * Palaces of Montezuma by thefoxymoron

44. Arcade Fire-The Month Of May

Definitely the most direct, hard rock song on "The Suburbs", "The Month Of May" moves along at a furious speed with eighties root guitars and a fantastic rhythm. Win Butler portrays the band leader painting an autobiography of the band making a record to get the kids from the suburbs to raise their arms to their music. "But the kids are still standing with the arms folded tight" adds the tension until Butler asks "How you gonna lift it with your arms folded tight?" Infectious and Arcade Fire at their tightest.
  Arcade Fire - Month Of May by RocknRollGhost

43. Vampire Weekend-Giving Up The Gun

Ezra Koenig slyly throws out "When I was 17, I had wrists like steel, and I felt complete" giving a strange feeling of nostalgia until the realization of not being that young sets in "And now my body fades, behind a brass charade, and I'm obsolete." It's no secret when you bring a song that seems simple on face value but throw in complex and thought provoking lines, you'll have something special. "Giving Up The Gun" works that formula flawlessly and effortlessly.
  08. Giving Up The Gun - Vampire Weekend by RowanSmith1

42. Dum Dum Girls-Jail La La

Dum Dum Girls-La La La La La

So many influences (Siouxsie Sioux, the Supremes, the Jesus and Mary Chain) culminate into some really good tunes on "I Will Be", "Jail La La" being my favorite of the bunch. Lead singer Dee Dee tells a tale of ending up in jail but doesn't want her mother and father to know. The bittersweet chorus looking for help from her love "Someone tell my baby/Or else he won't know I need saving" is stunning. A song for the teenager in trouble with the law no matter what decade it is, "Jail La La" transcends generations.
  Jail La La - Dum Dum Girls by ladufurrena

41. The New Pornographers-Crash Years

"Together"'s finest moment. Neko Case leads the charge on this one with so many memorable one liners "Traffic was slow for the crash years" and "Tonight will be an open mic". It again shows what a wonderful vocalist Case is. Musically, it is full of everything from the wonderful strings to an all out whistle solo. When the New Pornographers are on point, they create winning pieces like this.

Source: http://www.jhostation.com/2010/12/top-100-songs-of-2010-60-41.html

Ingrid Michaelson The Motorcycle Boy Sia Regina Spektor