10 best songs that influenced Sidewalk Dave in 2010
1. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
This band may have single handily saved pop from mass obscurity. When The Beatles set the bar for pop, the corporate world saw dollar signs –>$$$. Since then their has been a thick line in the sand between the underdog artists and the packaged bite size “popsters”. Here is the title track from their album– our favorite of the year.
2. The Black Keys – Next Girl
If The Arcade Fire saved pop from the corporate mass, than The Black Keys gave hope to blues form Rock and Roll. Our favorite producer, Dangermouse, transformed this band from a gritty contemporary blues rock duo into a full fledged rock and roll hero. They expand on all the sounds we thought were to be modern guitar and drum sounds.
3. The Black Angels – Entrance Song
I’ve had my eye on this band for a few years now. I thought they might make a splash in the buzz pool and then sink into the depths of art rock, but with their new album Phosphorene Dream they proved they could kick it with the most innovative and provocative. Just when we thought we were sick of reverb drenched drone rock, we heard “Entrance Song”.
4. David Bazan – Bless This Mess
The singer/songwriter of the late Pedro The Lion has mastered the mid-slow tempo extroverted mellow-drama song. On his album Curse Your Branches, he reached new maturity with doing something he’d never done before: auto-biographical songs. This might be his best work. David Bazan might be our favorite lyricist right now.
5. Dawes – When My Time Comes
Ok, Ok, this band released this song last year. I’m cheating. But somehow I heard it when it was released and let it disappear until this year. This song was the anthem of our tours from Ohio to Maine and all between. The harmonies in this song were constructed so that angels can hear them.
6. Delta Spirit – Bushwick Blues
Delta Spirit make music just like their name expresses. I’m pretty sure they don’t mean Delta as in the airline, either. No, they shine new light on the spirit of the old delta Mississippi mud singers. These guys are a little more gruff and rough with this album, and we can relate– we’re road weary too. You can hear the blood hit the microphone as the song climaxes; “Because my love is strong, but my heart is weak, after all!”
7. Cee Lo Green – Fuck You
He did it again. After writing the catchiest song of all time and putting it on the scariest album of all time, the Gnarls Barkley singer/co-writer writes an absolute hit without Dangermouse at his side. What makes this better than “Does that make me craaaaazzzaaayyyy?”, is that this equally infectious song’s hook is, “I see you driving ’round town, With the girl i love and i’m like, Fuck you!”
8. Broken Bells - Mall & Misery
Once again, lady’s and gents… Dangermouse. This time he teamed up with The Shin’s lead man, James Mercer, to bring the X-Files mystery sound to the psychedelic folk based pop of the new age to further bounds.
9. Aeroplane, 1929 – Le Loup-garou (No no no…)
Nostalgic and bitter sweet. It’s sad giving credit to a band that is no longer together. It’s even more sad because in the summer of 2009 I toured with this band to Detroit and back. I considered them the best underground band in Connecticut before I was in the band and their farewell record, Attic & Cellar, was their most progressive, tight, and thoughtful effort by far. Enjoy the uptempo of Le Loup-garou in celebration of the late, great Aeroplane, 1929.
10. Foster The People – Pumped Up Kicks
Infectious anti-hipster hipster indie-pop. The battle rages on between the hipsters and the hipsters that don’t believe that they are hipsters (though they may be one in the same). As I myself am an exception to the counter culture hipster movement (wink*), I bit on the lyrical bate: “All you other kids with your pumped up kicks, better run, better run, out run my gun.” Fuck yeah! Run hipsters! Run!….Wait, does that make me a hipster?