List-o-mania

This is one of my favorite times of the year for a multitude of reasons. One of which is the abundant amount of "Best of" lists that you start to see all over the internet. Last year afforded me the opportunity to provide you all with my own "Best of the decade" lists and this year I figured that I could use the same concept and come up with any number of the "Best movies/songs/etc. of 2010." Well in the past week I stumbled across a "Best 60 Songs of the Year" list and a "Best 75 Songs of the Year" list. I figured that these two lists would be a good starting point for my own personal "Best Songs of the Year" list, but I soon realized that I had never heard of most of the songs on these lists. Honestly, I had heard of maybe 4 or 5 songs tops on each list. Clearly I'm out of touch with the music world.

Although I was derailed from my (not so) original idea I decided to give many of these songs a listen and boy am I glad that I did. In case you aren't aware, the indie rock craze is currently off the charts (or maybe the two lists I scoured were from trendy websites/publications). Either way, I've been on an indie rock binge lately like you wouldn't believe. Don't be surprised if I look like one of these guys the next time you see me.



As I've grown to appreciate the indie rock movement in the past few weeks I've taken a particular liking to five bands. Of the five two are British, one is Canadian, one is French, and one boasts members that all hail from the land of the home and the free.

So consider this quick list of my top 5 indie rock bands the consolation for my inability to provide a top 10 songs of 2010.

(in no particular order)

1.) Manic Street Preachers- This British group is a bit on the older side. They formed in 1986 and have since released 10 albums. My favorite song of theirs is their most recent single "(It's Not War) Just the End of Love."




2.) Phoenix- I had actually heard of this French band before my binge began, but I'm not even sure if they qualify as an indie rock band. They won a Grammy earlier this year for Best Alternative Music Album for their most recent album, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix", but indie rock is Alternative, right? Either way I know they've hit it big because not only have the played on all the late night talk shows, but they were even an answer/question on a recent episode of Jeopardy. My two favorite Phoenix jams are "1901" and "Lisztomania" (which has been used in countless movie trailers, tv shows, etc.).

You've probably heard "Lisztomania" already anyway and there's no way I'm going to embed a video of just the lyrics, so click the link if you want to hear the song.


3.) Vampire Weekend- You may have heard of them. They seem to be quite popular from what I can tell. My favorite part about this band of former Columbia students is that they've been named the "whitest band" going by the guy that created the website stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. Also, they've appeared on The Colbert Report so they're good in my book. My favorite Vampire Weekend songs include "Giving Up the Gun", "Holiday", "Cousins", and "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa".






4.) Mystery Jets- This five piece English band was formed by a father, son (who has a spinal condition that prevents him from really walking- he uses crutches), and the son's best friend. They have since added two members and have released a total of 4 albums. Their most recent, Serotonin (this is commonnly known as the "happiness" hormone), features two of my current go to tunes in Dreaming of Another World and Show Me the Light. I also particularly enjoy their song "Flash a Hungry Smile".






5.) Arcade Fire- If I had marginally heard of this Canadian band then you probably have too. They are led by a husband and wife duo, which is kind of cool, and have been nominated for a number of Grammys including 3 this year. My favorite Arcade Fire songs are "We Used to Wait" and "Intervention". Surprisingly I'm not a fan of their song "Wake Up" which has been used by the NFL in 2010 Super Bowl commercials and also by The Dan Patrick Show.