happy new year // peter likes songs 2010

Peter liked a lot of songs in 2010.  Here are the songs Peter liked the bestest.

You can stream the list as a mix at my 8tracks account.
(*note—there seem to be, hopefully temporary, technical difficulties on the 8tracks site currently . . . )

20 // Niki & the Dove : Mother Protect

There’s a point in this song when it shifts from sounding like a Little Dragon song to a Kate Bush song—and that’s the point that hooked me.

19 // Marina and the Diamonds : I Am Not A Robot (Fool’s Gold remix)
http://media.thefader.com/thefader/i-am-not-a-robot-fools-gold-rmx.mp3″
For some reason, I always envision Sharlto Copley dancing to this song with his infectious smile. Afro-disco goodness . . .

18 // Tennis : Marathon

Is it that the music is that great, or is it just that the dream that you can sail on a boat for a year and then become overnight musical sensations is too irresistible to vicariously experience?

17 // Mark Ronson & the Business International : Bang Bang Bang

A lot of pre-saturday-morning-runs were spent listening to this song. Excellent fuel for 6 mile runs.

16 // Puro Instinct : Stilyagi
http://cdn04.cdn.gorillavsbear.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Puro-Instinct-Stilyagi-ft.-Ariel-Pink.mp3″
The sound of midnight AM radio pop drifting over the wavy winds from Iron Curtain Russia.

15 // Blonde Redhead : My Plants are Dead (Games remix)

The original is gorgeous (as is its parent album) but new kids on the block Games turn it into something cosmically spectacular—like spectral rainbows spanning constellations.

14 // Twin Shadow vs. Hooray For Earth : A Place We Like

Best New Romantic song ever?

13 // Taken by Trees : Anna (CFCF remix)
http://www.mbvmusic.com/mp3/anna-cfcf.mp3″
The Johnny Marr-esque guitar and Panda Bear backing vocals are only the sweet icing on this beautiful song.

12 // Korallreven : The Truest Faith

Is this the quintessential Belearic song or the quintessential Chillwave song? Or both at the same time?

11 // Arcade Fire : Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

This song is so incredible it kind of made me hate the rest of the album for not sounding as good.

10 // Wolf Gang : Back to Back (Active Child remix)
http://media.thefader.com/thefader/wolfgang_activechildremix.mp3″
Active Child takes this song to another level—music for a hot summer evening riding your bike among a small swarm of lightning bugs.

09 // Here We Go Magic : Casual

Here we go—magic in a song. Seriously. Listen to it. Casually devastating.

08 // Joanna Newsom : Good Intentions Paving Company

Anachronism as an art form. Joanna manages to weave these golden masterpieces out of a few pieces of all-natural cotton—sending us audio pop ballads from some century past in an alternate history.

07 // MGMT : Siberian Breaks

I’m sort of cheating on this one—fitting a few extra songs in. In fact, time was I thought these were all separate songs—a medley nearly as creative and masterful as the second half of Abbey Road.

06 // Active Child : I’m in Your Church at Night

This song is transcendently sublime.

05 // Ruby Suns : Closet Astrologer
http://subpop-public.s3.amazonaws.com/assets/audio/6618.mp3″
A mid-summer dream song full of sparkling fountains and prismatic desert-scapes sprung into existence from the ether hovering over the land down under.

04 // Twin Sister : All Around and Away We Go

I was obsessed with this song/band for a better part of 2010. The video pretty much sums up the visions that literally danced through my head as I listened to this song—basically, all the reasons I love it so, so much.

03 // Neon Indian : Sleep Paralysist

Mental note, if ever kidnapped by a sentient alien spaceship and forced to navigate a global road trip, be sure to have this song on hand for repeated playing while cruising at top speed over the myriad Earthscapes.

02 // Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti : Round and Round

How can anyone deny the musical genius of this song. It sounds like every great song I ever heard melted into one audio tape, flattened out, drizzled with acid and then hand-fed into a 1983 Pontiac Fiero tape deck sound system. Pastel fireworks explode in my frontal lobe. The world breaks away piece by piece until it’s just me and Ariel Pink at either ends of ghostly radio waves.

01 // Girls : Carolina

The first time I heard this recorded version of the song, my jaw dropped, my eyes glazed over and some drool possibly dripped to the floor. My 5-yr-old looked at me concerned. “Don’t mind Daddy, he’s just blown away by possibly to most amazing song he’s ever heard.” She then let me drift off into the insanely familiar yet deliriously otherworldly swirl of three-dimensional near-perfect pop. I dare 2011 to produce a song half as good as this one. There should be twenty more songs between this one and the song in slot #2. Yes. I feel that strongly about this song. The change from the second act to the third act is the musical moment of the year.

Happy 2011 y’all!

2011/01/01 | Categories: music, video | Tags: 2010, a place we like, abbey road, active child, anna, arcade fire, ariel pink, back to back, bang bang bang, best songs, blonde redhead, carolina, casual, cfcf, closet astrologer, end of year list, favorite music, favorite songs, fool's gold, games, girls, good intentions paving company, here we go magic, hooray for earth, i am not a robot, i'm in your church at night, joanna newsom, kate bush, korallreven, little dragon, live video, marathon, marina & the diamonds, mark ronson, mgmt, mother protect, music, my plants are dead, neon indian, niki & the dove, panda bear, pearl harbor, puro instinct, round and round, ruby suns, siberian breaks, sleep paralysist, song, sprawl, stilyagi, taken by trees, tennis, truest faith, twin shadow, twin sister, video, wolf gang | 1 Comment