Top 40 Favorite Songs of 2007

For some reason a list of my 40 favorite songs is a magic number. (Although, I do have a list of 100 that fits nicely onto 5 CDs). Here are my favorite songs of 2007 in relative order...

01. Phantom Limb – the Shins
02. Sewn – the Feeling
03. Plus Ones – Okkervil River
04. Hey Momma – Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground
05. Dirt and the Body – Hello Dragon
06. You Bring Me Down – Travis
07. Kookaburra – John Vanderslice
08. Chariot – Page France
09. Boyscout’n – Menomena
10. 1234 – Feist
11. The One – Trabant
12. Red Rabbits – the Shins
13. It’s Not True – William Fitzsimmons
14. Sing Like the Sun – Rotary Downs
15. Home – Great Northern
16. Die Alone – Ingrid Michaelson
17. Colors That Lie – Meowskers
18. Heart It Races – Architecture in Helsinki
19. Ghosts – Siobahn Donaghy
20. The End of the World – Hello Dragon
21. Halloweenhead – Ryan Adams
22. Broken Arm – Winterpills
23. Fire It Up – Modest Mouse
24. Ruby – Kaiser Chiefs
25. No Cars Go – Arcade Fire
26. Challengers – the New Pornographers
27. Fool That I Am – Kula Shaker
28. Wild Mountain Nation – Blitzen Trapper
29. Typical – Mutemath
30. Good Night – La Rocca
31. How Low – Jose Gonzales
32. Dark Matter – Andrew Bird
33. Strange – the Feeling
34. Candylion – Gruff Rhys
35. Stephen Hawking – Hello Dragon
36. July – Winterpills
37. Rotten Hell – Menomena
38. X’s Are Forever – Scissors for Lefty
39. Slow Show – the National
40. Sugar – Dan Wilson with Sheryl Crow

Greetings from Colorado

Well, if you didn’t already know, I’ve moved to Colorado. I got a chance to take a job at the University of Colorado at Boulder and decided to jump at that opportunity. I have always wanted to live in the Centennial State.

Backing up a bit, September and October 2007 were months of sweeping change for me.

In a matter of a couple of weeks I:

1)…moved to Colorado – I packed up all my stuff Sept. 20-27, loaded it up into a moving van and drove to Colorado from Sioux Falls.

2)…gained a roommate – Joe is my roommate. He owns a home about 15 miles outside of Boulder, and I rent from him. He’s a great guy and a good friend and has been working on renovating the house, so he gave me a good deal on rent. It hasn’t been too hard readjusting to sharing living space, but after living alone for so long, there was a little adjusting to be done…like remembering to turn off lights, etc.

3)…fractured my elbow – As I was loading stuff into a storage unit here in Longmont, I lost my balance and fell, with most of my weight on my right arm. After a 3 hour wait in the emergency room, it was confirmed that I had fractured my elbow. I wore a sling for about 6 weeks and am now finally getting back to close to the range of movement I had before the accident.

4)…started a new job serving as the assistant to the director of an NSF funded project – it’s been a good change.

5)…gained a four-legged roommate – in October, Joe brought home Noodle, who was an 8-week-old Jack Russell Terrier. She quickly took over the house and we now exist only to serve her. She’s actually a very smart and fun little pup—too smart for here own good, but a good little companion, nonetheless.

6)…started riding the bus rather than driving to work. The rush hour drive to Boulder from Longmont can take 40 minutes on your own, so I’ve made use of the free bus pass given to all University of Colorado employees and ride to and from work. It takes a little longer, but I haven’t bought a tank of gasoline since mid-October!

So, there you have it. I’m enjoying Colorado and the new job. I look forward to spring when I can explore the mountains and go panning for gold and other things.

More (almost) apocalyptic lyrics...

In this song the world really doesn't come to an end, but the author thinks about what it might be like in his situation and almost yearns for it.

The Temptation of Adam
by Josh Ritter
from the album The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter

If this was the Cold War we could keep each other warm
I said on the first occasion that I met Marie
We were crawling through the hatch that was the missile silo door
And I don't think that she really thought that much of me

I never had to learn to love her like I learned to love the Bomb
She just came along and started to ignore me
But as we waited for the Big One
I started singing her my songs
And I think she started feeling something for me

We passed the time with crosswords that she thought to bring inside
What five letters spell "apocalypse" she asked me
I won her over singing "W.W.I.I.I."
She smiled and we both knew that she'd misjudged me

Oh Marie it was so easy to fall in love with you
It felt almost like a home of sorts or something
And you would keep the warhead missile silo good as new
And I'd watch you with my thumb above the button

Then one night you found me in my army issue cot
And you told me of your flash of inspiration
You said fusion was the broken heart that's lonely's only thought
And all night long you drove me wild with your equations

Oh Marie do you remember all the time we used to take
We'd make our love and then ransack the rations
I think about you leaving now and the avalanche cascades
And my eyes get washed away in chain reactions

Oh Marie if you would stay then we could stick pins in the map
Of all the places where you thought that love would be found
But I would only need one pin to show where my heart's at
In a top secret location three hundred feet under the ground

We could hold each other close and stay up every night
Looking up into the dark like it's the night sky
And pretend this giant missile is an old oak tree instead
And carve our name in hearts into the warhead

Oh Marie there's something tells me things just won't work out above
That our love would live a half-life on the surface
So at night while you are sleeping
I hold you closer just because
As our time grows short I get a little nervous

I think about the Big One, W.W.I.I.I.
Would we ever really care the world had ended
You could hold me here forever like you're holding me tonight
I look at that great big red button and I'm tempted

Lyrics of the moment...almost like the end of the world

The song "Kookaburra" by John Vanderslice is amazing, if not more than a bit apocalyptic. Picked up his new CD this past week and played this particular song about 30 times.

"Kookaburra"
by John Vanderslice

Lightning shot from the sky
It breathed life into every, every living thing
It made you, it made me
It gave us the kookaburra
It gave us frangipane tree

From dusk to dawn and dawn to dusk
The sky will fill
with vaporized dust, raining
White on white, like streamers of dirty confetti
White on white, the Chrysler Tower had disappeared
White on white, the capitol dome was invisible
White on white, the hoisted flag had disappeared

It can't be stopped
Thunder clouds are tightening
In the sky tonight
We can't be saved
Electricity will scribble out
Your name

Lightning shot from the sky
It gives, it takes away from
Every living thing
It made you, it made me
It gave us the terrabyte
It gave us 117V

From dusk to dawn and dawn to dusk
The sky will fill
with vaporized dust, raining
White on white, like streamers of dirty confetti
White on white, the looming spire had disappeared
White on white, and the Bundestag was invisible
White on white, the hoisted flag had disappeared

White phosphor rain
And blackout bombs
Are falling out the sky tonight
We can't be saved
Electricity is crossing out
Your family name

It made you, it made me
It gave us the kookaburra
It gave us frangipane tree

Bands of the moment: A to Z

I'm feeling alphabetical, so here are my favorite bands/artists of the moment A to Z along with the album/music I'm currently listening to...with apologies to O, U, & X. (there are more B's, C's, M's, and S's, but only one per letter)

Adams, Ryan - "Easy Tiger"
Bad Plus, the - "Prog"
Crowded House - "Time on Earth"
Donaghy, Siobhan - "Ghosts" (single)
Eagle*Seagull - new stuff on MySpace
Fitzsimmons, William - "It's Not True" (single)
Guster - "Satellite" (EP)
Hello Dragon - new stuff on MySpace
Iron & Wine - "Boy with a Coin" (EP)
Junior Boys - "So This Is Goodbye"
Kaiser Chiefs - "Yours Truly, Angry Mob"
Lowery, David - new stuff on MySpace
Menomena - "Friend and Foe"
New Young Pony Club - "Ice Cream" (single)
O
Procession, the - "Musique Magnifique"
Queens of the Stone Age - "Era Vulgaris"
Rosebuds - "Night of the Furies"
Scissors for Lefty - "Underhanded Romance"
Travis - "The Boy with No Name"
U
Veirs, Larua - "Saltbreakers"
White Stripes, the - "Icky Thump"
X
Young Knives, the - "Voices of Animals and Men"
Zutons, the - "Tired of Hanging Around"

Fourth of July 2007 - We should all be so proud...

Happy Independence Day 2007! It's a day we celebrate in memory of throwing off the non-representational rule of a monarchy. Hmmm. Here we are in the year 2007 celebrating, and here's why we should all be so proud of our country and our current presidential administration (note sarcastic tone):

• Where once the U.S. was a nation of laws that applied, more or less, equally to all, we now have a nation where the cronies of G.W. Bush (read Scooter Libby) have their criminal sentences commuted or dismissed - it's great that we have a double standard that applies to G.W. and his ilk!
• Where once the U.S. was respected by most countries around the world because it upheld the Geneva Conventions and worked as a true partner, we now face scorn from even our closest allies because of our unilateral disregard for the Kyoto Protocals, our incursion into Iraq, and our waterboarding and other "not really torture" methods at Guantonamo Bay and Abu Grabe. Thank you, W. and company!
• Where once (read at the end of President Clinton's term) the U.S. was on its way to balancing a budget and having an actual surplus, we now face a national debt of several TRILLIONS of dollars.
• Where once there was a fairly distinct line separating church and state that allowed most people freedom of and from religion based on their individual beliefs, we now have a system of faith-based initiatives and further church-state erosions that give a distinct impression that evangelical Christianity is unofficially the official religion of the U.S. - people of many diverse faiths or none at all are now forced through taxation to underwrite evangelical Christians' religious activities.
• Where once the scientific acumen of the U.S. was second to none, we now face funding cuts and assaults on true science from advocates of the belief (not theory) of Intelligent Design.
• Where once we had three branches of government with an elaborate check and balance system, we now have a Decider-in-Chief who apparently has no regard for either the Legislatve Branch nor the Judicial Branch, as well as an extremely secretive vice president who claims accountability to none becaues he's not officially part of the Executive Branch.
• Where once we had the protection of habeus corpus to ensure fair treatment, we now have the potential to have that suspended if someone in the government even thinks you might have some vague tie to some "enemy combatant".
• Where once the U.S. was moving on a track to become an environmentally responsible world citizen, we now have taken a backward step, perhaps 40 years, via repealed or more lax environmental policies, partly because the administration still doesn't believe the more than 95% of real scientists who say global warming is reality and is not a good thing.
• Where once we had a media corps that actually questioned the veracity and motives of the government and corporate sectors, we now have a "fair and balanced" corporate media arm that pushes the agenda of its owner Rupert Murdoch and engages in what can only be called smear tactics of candidates not marching to its far-right conservative bent.

Okay, it's not all doom and gloom; we have made strides in equity for various minorities based on race, gender, and sexual orientation. And don't forget that we have the iPhone! But we DO have our work cut out for us. Let's get going, America. Happy Independence Day!

Remix Culture

I've been reading Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture - The Nature and Future of Creativity. It deals with the concepts surrounding copyright protections and free culture. He makes a strong argument that less control over what we can and cannot do with the things around us--our culture--nurtures a more "permissive" environment (not to be confused with "permission based" which requires that people get permission and/or pay to use those same things around us - i.e. copyright). A permissive, free or remix culture, subsequently, fosters a more creative spirit that allows its members to improve upon, change, integrate, or otherwise remix the intellectual property and works of copyright holders. It reminds me of collage work...taking bits and pieces of other things to create something new and innovative...or open-source programming...or mash-ups an remixes of music...

Learn more at www.free-culture.cc.

"Live through this and you won't look back..."

Lyrics and strangely beautiful video of the moment...

Your Ex-Lover is Dead
by Stars

God that was strange to see you again
Introduced by a friend of a friend
Smiled and said 'yes I think we've met before'
In that instant it started to pour,
Captured a taxi despite all the rain
We drove in silence across point champlain
And all of the time you thought I was sad
I was trying to remember your name…

This scar is a fleck on my porcelain skin
Tried to reach deep but you couldn't get in
Now you're outside me
You see all the beauty
Repent all your sin

It's nothing but time and a face that you lose
I chose to feel it and you couldn't choose
I'll write you a postcard
I'll send you the news
From a house down the road from real love…

Live through this, and you won't look back…
Live through this, and you won't look back…
Live through this, and you won't look back…

There's one thing I want to say, so I'll be brave
You were what I wanted
I gave what I gave
I'm not sorry I met you
I'm not sorry it's over
I'm not sorry there's nothing to say
I'm not sorry there's nothing to say...

Lyrics of the moment...

New favorite song of the moment... By a group called Hello Dragon

Dirt and the Body
by Hello Dragon

I’m taking it back
All of my gifts and pestilence
I’ll stay in my bed
Until I’m sure

This is all we get
The dirt and the body
We forgot the rest
And I have no idea where my comfort went

Up in the hills
The drums sound bigger than the moon
They buffet the rocks
Until they’re sure

This is all we get
The dirt and the body
We forgot the rest
And I have no idea where my comfort went

And the days go by
And we all stay high

This is all we get
The dirt and the body
We forgot the rest
And I have no idea where my comfort went

Why bother?

“Why bother?” Kurt Vonnegut, acclaimed writer who passed away this week had a great response:

“Here’s my answer: Many people need desperately to receive this message: ‘I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people don’t care about them. You are not alone.’”

There are a few people out there who make me feel like I'm not alone. Thank you, you know who you are.

What humanity does best...

I came across a quote in an article in the most recent edition of Paste Magazine. It struck me as quite an insightful observation... Humans are story tellers by nature, but this comment succinctly explains a lot of things like popular music, comedy, novels, visual art, movies, tv, videoclips, the Internet...

"...what humanity does best -- wasting each others' time in increasingly imaginative and enjoyable ways." --John Oliver, of The Daily Show

Four new bands you should know...

In my enduring quest to discover cool new music, I've come across four new bands that I really like. They are complex, yet tuneful! Check 'em out. I've included a link to the pages on MySpace, where you can stream a few of their songs.

Menomena - might be my favorite of these four... the CD cover/package for their latest release "Friend and Foe" gets bonus creativity points.

The Procession - are poppy and fun, vaguley reminiscent of the Beatles. Very tuneful and catchy -- and that's NOT a bad thing!

Future Clouds and Radar - have one of the coolest, strangest names for a band I've heard in a while. Their sound is very indie rock with interesting sonic flourishes.

Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground - another interesting name, another interesting band. I love the strings!

Quote of the moment...

"Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it."
--Andre Gide

I find it interesting that some of those who tell us most vehemently "what is true" or "what is right" are also the ones who aren't following it or living it themselves...

New Year's Resolutions - only 11 months to go!

Ten Things I Should Probably Do Before I Die:
(in no particular order)

10> Travel to Australia and New Zealand
09> Visit my ancestral homeland, the Czech Republic
08> Swim in a tropical ocean (including scuba diving)
07> Complete a painting I really feel good about
06> Run a marathon...or something
05> Tour a cave where various crystals grow right in the walls
04> Design the ultimate comic book super hero team
03> Listen to every song -- in its entirety -- on every CD I own
02> Tell all the special people in my life what they mean to me
01> Love someone and be loved by that same someone

Ten Things I Might Do If I Had More Courage:

10> Address negative people more directly
09> Continue work on a master's degree
08> Wear an authentic kilt
07> Get laser eye surgery so I wouldn't have to wear glasses
06> Write a blog entry sharing ten things I'd do if I had more courage
05> Be more actively political
04> Be more open to people
03> Skydive
02> Be more creative
01> Move someplace new

"...Dancing about architecture"

"Writing about music is like dancing about architecture"

This quote has been attributed to Elvis Costello, although it's said that Frank Zappa and Laurie Anderson have uttered similar statements. It's an interesting concept. I most recently heard it on a video link on the Shins' website where lead singer and writer James Mercer says it in the hilarious video segment called "The Interview". In the clip Mercer's alter ego then asks him to compare his latest album to a building, in this case "the Empire State Building", and subsequently to "dance" that building... Nice. Fun and funny.

To cap off the week of the release of the new Shins album, below are the lyrics to my new favorite song on that album--more cryptically beautiful poetry.

"Red Rabbits"
by the Shins
from the album "Wincing the Night Away"

Hurled to the center of the Earth again,
The place where it's hot, love,
You know, it hurts to breathe in,
And the watershed you balance on is begging it,
Well did he ever know,
Will he ever know?

The trees in the moonshine are a dark lattice,
So you catalogue every angle you notice,
In a vacuum you are charged to record this,
So you won't make it easy on me.

I can't go into this no more,
It puts too many thorns on my mind,
And the necessary balloon lies a corpse on the floor,
We've pissed on far too many sprites,
And they're all standing up for their rights.

Born on a desert floor, you've the deepest thirst,
And you came to my sweet shore to indulge it,
With the wan and drilling eyes of an orphan,
But there is not enough,
There is not enough.

Out of a gunnysack fall red rabbits,
Into the crucible to be rendered an emulsion,
And we can't allow a chance they'd restore themselves,
So we can't make it easy on you.

Undaunted, you bathed in hollow cries,
The boys with swollen, sunburnt eyes,
A reward for letting nothing under their skin,
So help me, I don't know, I might
Just give the old dark side a try.

Don't cast your whirling eyes on the shore,
'til we even the score.
I still owe you for the hole in the floor
And the ghost in the hall.
Who decides who paddles over the falls?
Yeah, who makes the call,
Who makes the call?

Well, I know there's an eventual release
From every scale of crime,
But the necessary balloon lies a corpse on the floor,
We've pissed on far too many good intentions held by clever sprites,
And they're all standing up for their rights.

3 for 3 with 3 more days...

And so Tuesday is the day the new album by the Shins is released, and I'm waiting in eager anticipation... The song below was released as a CD single in late December, and they have performed this on SNL and Letterman. Of course it's difficult to get concrete meaining from these somewhat cryptic lyrics, but it hints at overcoming superficiality and looking for connections...If it's any indication, the album will be wonderful!

"Phantom Limb"
by the Shins
from the album "Wincing the Night Away"

Foals in winter coats,
White girls of the North
File past one five and one,
The are the fabled lambs,
of Sunday ham,
The EHS norm.

And they could float above the grass,
In circles if they tried,
A latent power I know they hide,
To keep some hope alive,
That a girl like I could ever try,
Could ever try.

So we just skirt the hallway sides,
A phantom and a fly
Follow the lines and wonder why
There's no connection.

A week of rolling eyes,
And cheap shots from the trite,
And we're off to Nemarca's porch again,
Another afternoon with the goat-head tunes,
And pilfered booze.

We wander through her mama's house,
And the milk from the window lights
Family portrait circa '95,
This is that foreign land
With the sprayed on tans,
And it all feels fine,
Be it silk or slime.

So when they tap our Monday heads
Two zombies walk in our stead,
This town seems hardly worth the time
And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too far along in our climb,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky,
With no connection.

Oh whoa oh whoa oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh
Oh whoa oh whoa oh

So when they tap our Sunday heads
Two zombies walk in our stead,
This town seems hardly worth our time
And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too far along in our crime,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky
With no connection

Shins-mania continues

Another great song with beautifully poetic lyrics from the Shins is "Pink Bullets". I think this is my favorite song from their second album, "Chutes Too Narrow". I love the imagery of the kites...I've read that it suggests two people so inextricably linked (literally tied by knots) that when it came time to break up, the only way was to sever their ties completely. Of course, the song has a hint of melancholy, like so many of their songs, but in this case the memories provide "warm light on a winter day".

"Pink Bullets"
by the Shins
from the album "Chutes Too Narrow"

I was just bony hands as cold as a winter pole
You held a warm stone out new flowing blood to hold
Oh what a contrast you were
To the brutes in the halls
My timid young fingers held a decent animal.

Over the ramparts you tossed
The scent of your skin and some foreign flowers
Tied to a brick
Sweet as a song
The years have been short but the days were long.

Cool of a temperate breeze from dark skies to wet grass
We fell in a field it seems now a thousand summers passed
When our kite lines first crossed
We tied them into knots
And to finally fly apart
We had to cut them off.

Since then it's been a book you read in reverse
So you understand less as the pages turn
Or a movie so crass
And awkardly cast
That even I could be the star.

I don't look back much as a rule
And all this way before murder was cool
But your memory is here and I'd like it to stay
Warm light on a winter's day.

Over the ramparts you tossed
The scent of your skin and some foreign flowers
Tied to a brick
Sweet as a song
The years have been short but the days go slowly by
Two loose kites falling from the sky
Drawn to the ground and an end to flight.

Countdown to Jan. 23...

I saw the Shins perform last night on Saturday Night Live. They performed their new single "Phantom Limb" and, later, their classic "New Slang". I had picked up the CD single for "Phantom Limb" a few weeks ago, and the song has grown on me. I only have two weeks 'til the new CD "Wincing the Night Away" is released. I cannot wait! Back to "New Slang"... I think it's a truly beautiful song with poetically oblique lyrics. See below...

New Slang
by the Shins
from the album "Oh Inverted World"

Gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth.
Only, I don't know how they got out, dear.
Turn me back into the pet that I was when we met.
I was happier then with no mind-set.

And if you'd 'a took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree
And I'd 'a danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would'a fared well.

New slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries.
Hope it's right when you die, old and bony.
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall,
Never should have called
But my head's to the wall and I'm lonely.

And if you'd 'a took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
Well, I'd 'a jumped from my tree
And I'd 'a danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would'a fared well.

God speed all the bakers at dawn may they all cut their thumbs,
And bleed into their buns 'til they melt away.

I'm looking in on the good life I might be doomed never to find.
Without a trust or flaming fields am I too dumb to refine?
And if you'd 'a took to me like
Well I'd 'a danced like the queen of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would'a fared well.

Lyrics of the moment: Needles in My Eyes

A recent rediscovery that just got lodged in my head this past two weeks...

Needles In My Eyes
by the Beta Band

Last night it was so good
I felt like crying, I felt crying
Last night though you looked so cold
I felt like smiling, smiling while I'm dying

Last night looked so good
Felt like crying, felt like crying
Last night though you looked so old
I felt like smiling, smiling while I'm dying

You left me cold, you left me cold
You left me cold, you left me cold
Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright

Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright
Last night I dropped my heart and
I never wanna see it again
Getting tighter with you all the time
I think I'm gonna my buckle my spine

I crept in and I stole your mind
I think I'm having trouble with mine
Crept in and I stole your mind
I think I'm having trouble with mine

You left me cold, you left me cold
You left me cold, you left me cold
Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright
Needles in my eyes won't cripple me tonight alright
Twisting up my mind please pull me through the light alright

101 Songs of 2006

Here they are: my 101 favorite songs, in roughly the order they fell on my "like-o-meter".

1 "Skeleton Key" Margot & the Nuclear So & So's
2 "Young Bride" Midlake
3 "Samson" Regina Spektor
4 "Chapters" Commuter
5 "You Only Live Once" the Strokes
6 "Young Folks" Peter, Bjorn and John
7 "Don't Be Afraid" Howie Beck
8 "Dart for My Sweetheart" Archie Bronson Outfit
9 "Night Drive" Jimmy Eat World
10 "That Time" Regina Spektor
11 "When You Were Young" the Killers
12 "Amsterdam" Peter, Bjorn and John
13 "On a Freezing Chicago Street" Margot & the Nuclear So & So's
14 "God Is Going to Get Sick of Me" Aberdeen City
15 "The Escape Artist" Mountain Con
16 "Settle Down" Breaks Co-op
17 "Obstacles" Syd Matters
18 "I Need Some Fine Wine…" the Cardigans
19 "Let's Call It Off" Peter, Bjorn and John
20 "Roscoe" Midlake
21 "Valerie" the Zutons
22 "Break Your Mama's Back" Slow Runner
23 "Dive" Babybird
24 "Plans" Grizzly Bear
25 "Number 1" Goldfrapp
26 "Gold Lion" Yeah Yeah Yeahs
27 "17 Devils" Starlight Mints
28 "The Otherside" Breaks Co-op
29 "On the Other Side" the Strokes
30 "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is" Jet
31 "Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)" the Rakes
32 "Loughborough Suicide" the Young Knives
33 "Chinese Translation" M. Ward
34 "Timebomb" the Format
35 "Better" Regina Spektor
36 "The Killer" Starlight Mints
37 "Dead Funny" Archie Bronson Outfit
38 "Show You How" Lindsey Buckingham
39 "For Us" Pete Yorn
40 "Taking Chances" Platinum Weird
41 "You Could Be Happy" Snow Patrol
42 "Ever Thought of Coming Back" Kelley Stoltz
43 "Not Going Home" the Elected
44 "Go" OSI
45 "No Complaints" Beck
46 "Knights of Cydonia" Muse
47 "Over and Over" Hot Chip
48 "9 Crimes" Damien Rice
49 "Into the Open" Heartless Bastards
50 "The W.A.N.D." the Flaming Lips
51 "The Charging Sky" Jenny Lewis
52 "The Bird" Shawn Colvin
53 "Stand Up" Jet
54 "Skip to the End" the Futureheads
55 "Nothing Left to Lose" Mat Kearney
56 "Oh Shoplifter" the Stills
57 "Crooked Teeth" Death Cab for Cutie
58 "Monsters" Band of Horses
59 "I Should Get Up" Teddy Thompson
60 "Olé Tarantula" Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3
61 "Dress Me Like a Clown" Margot & the Nuclear So & So's
62 "Level" the Raconteurs
63 "Wolf Like Me" TV on the Radio
64 "Wolves" Josh Ritter
65 "Stromata" Charlotte Martin
66 "Cuckoo" Archie Bronson Outfit
67 "Hideaway" Rock Kills Kid
68 "Hang Me Up to Dry" Cold War Kids
69 "How We Operate" Gomez
70 "Coming Home" the 88
71 "Steady as She Goes" the Raconteurs
72 "Think I'm in Love" Beck
73 "Rusted Guns of Milan" Art Brut
74 "Here It Goes Again" OK Go
75 "Radiate" AverageSuperstar
76 "Little Black Cloud" the Cardigans
77 "Golden Star" My Brightest Diamond
78 "Someday Sometimes" Syd Matters
79 "Falling by the Wayside" People in Planes
80 "A Method" TV on the Radio
81 "Lowlife" Scanners
82 "The Illiad" Tapes 'n Tapes
83 "Flying Low" Willard Grant Conspiracy
84 "Dirty Knife" Neko Case
85 "Down on Rodeo" Lindsey Buckingham
86 "The Funeral" Band of Horses
87 "Bandits" Midlake
88 "Read My Mind" the Killers
89 "Pills in My Pocket" Fink
90 "Apocalyptic" Mountain Con
91 "Painted by Numbers" the Sounds
92 "As Four" the Concretes
93 "The Blues Are Still Blue" Belle and Sebastian
94 "Vision Valley" the Vines
95 "You Said It Before" Mojave 3
96 "Supermassive Black Hole" Muse
97 "Tchaparian" Hot Chip
98 "On a Neck, on a Spit" Grizzly Bear
99 "O Valencia" the Decemberists
100 "Joker & the Thief" Wolfmother
101 "Shores of California" The Dresden Dolls