FAMKAB

TOP 210 SONGS OF 2010

Hey guys,

Well it’s another year and another music list, although for the time being you all will have be tided over with just the ranked list. Since I am moving to Texas tomorrow I have had no time to get the full list ready by years end. However, in the next few weeks I will get that completed along with my Top 50 Albums of the year list.

Before I let you look at the list here as usual I will go over how I base my list. I take every facet of music and include it into my determination. The songs ranked are based in the end on my overall semi professional opinion along with taking all other factors into consideration, including critical praise, popularity, indie cred, and the overall impact the song had this year. I also just go through singles only, as it would take me half a lifetime to go through every song on every CD this year. A song can also be released the year before and still be on the list as long as it made a much larger impact this year compared to the previous. But in the end, again, it’s based on my opinion and you can hate it and hate on it all you want, but in the end it won’t be changed. Either way I think it is my best list yet, and I am excited to give you all the finished product as quickly as possible. Happy New Year and Enjoy!

TOP 210 of 2010

210. Crash Kings- Mountain Man

209. Dead Skeletons- Dead Mantra

208. Adam Lambert- If I Had You

207. Sleigh Bells- Crown on the Ground

206. The Dead Weather- Blue Blood Blues

205. Flying Lotus feat. Thom Yorke- …And the World Laughs With You

204. Ke$ha- Take it Off

203. Timbaland feat. Justin Timberlake- Carry Out

202. Brandon Flowers- Crossfire

201. B.O.B. feat. Rivers Cuomo- Magic

200. Citizen Cope- Healing Hands

199. Daft Punk- Derezzed

198. Girls- Carolina

197. Robyn- Indestructible

196. Ludacris feat. Nicky Minaj- My Chick Bad

195. Against Me!- I Was a Teenage Anarchist

194. Tame Impala- Solitude is Bliss

193. Sade- Soldier of Love

192. Maximum Balloon feat. Aku- Tiger

191. Band of Horses- Laredo

190. Adele- Rolling in the Deep

189. Of Montreal- Coquette, Coquette

188. Apocalyptica feat. Gavin Rossdale- End of Me

187. Mika- Kick Ass

186. Anberlin- Impossible

185. SnoopDogg feat. Kid Cudi- That Tree

184. Taylor Swift- Today Was a Fairytale

183. Linkin Park- The Catalyst

182. Kid Cudi feat. Kanye West- Erase Me

181. Zac Brown Band- As She’s Walking Away

180. Scissor Sisters- Fire With Fire

179. Hollerado- Americanarama

178. Robert Plant- Angel Dance

177. Chromeo- Don’t Turn the Lights On

176. Charlotte Gainsbourg- Time of the Assassins

175. Yolanda Be Cool- We No Speak Americano

174. Shakira- WakaWaka (This Time for Africa)

173. OKGO- This Too Shall Pass

172. These New Puritans- We Want War

171. Johnny Cash- Ain’tNo Grave

170. Middle Class Rut- New Low

169. Trey Songz feat. Nicky Minaj- Bottoms Up

168. Billy Currington- Pretty Good at Drinkin’ Beer

167. Weezer- Memories

166. Wavves- Post Acid

165. Street Sweeper Social Club- Paper Planes

164. Lady Gaga- Dance in the Dark

163. The Walkmen- Angela Surf City

162. MGMT- Congratulations

161. Nicky Minaj feat. will.i.am- Check it Out

160. Caribou- Odessa

159. New Politics- Yeah YeahYeah

158. Usher feat. Pitbull- DJ Got Us Falling in Love

157. Beach House- Norway

156. Stone Sour- Say You’ll Haunt Me

155. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti- Round and Round

154. Sleigh Bells- Infinity Guitars

153. Drake- Find Your Love

152. John Legend and The Roots- Wake Up Everybody

151. M.I.A.- Born Free

150. Gogol Bordello- Immigraniada (We Comin’ Rougher)

149. Klaxons- Echoes

148. Flobots feat. Tim McIlrathOf Rise Against- White Flag Warrior

147. One Republic- Secrets

146. Panda Bear- Slow Motion

145. Flo Rida feat. David Guetta- Club Can’t Handle Me

144. Jason Aldean- My Kinda Party

143. Black Eyed Peas- Imma Be

142. Jack Johnson- You and Your Heart

141. Ke$ha- Your Love is My Drug

140. Nelly- Just a Dream

139. Stone Temple Pilots- Between the Lines

138. The National- Bloodbuzz Ohio

137. SerjTankian- Left of Center

136. Jay-Z feat. Mr. Hudson- Forever Young

135. Luke Bryan- Rain is a Good Thing

134. Maroon 5- Misery

133. Nneka- Kangpe

132. 3OH!3 feat. Ke$ha- My First Kiss

131. Shinedown- The Crow and the Butterfly

130. Warpaint- Undertow

129. 30 Seconds to Mars- This is War

128. Rihanna- Rude Boy

127. Mike Posner- Cooler Than Me

126. Eric Church- Smoke a Little Smoke

125. Cake- Sick of You

124. Florence and the Machine- Heavy in Your Arms

123. Surfer Blood- Floating Vibes

122. Sick Puppies- Maybe

121. Foals- Spanish Sahara

120. Dom- Living in America

119. Deftones- You’ve Seen the Butcher

118. Jerrod Niermann- Lover, Lover

117. Silversun Pickups- The Royal We

116. Best Coast- Boyfriend

115. Jamie Johnson- Playing the Part

114. My Darkest Days- Porn Star Dancing

113. Kelis- Acapella

112. The Band Perry- If I Die Young

111. B.O.B. feat. Bruno Mars- NothinOn You

110. Katy Perry-Firework

109. Lil Wayne- I am Not a Human Being

108. Mark Ronson and Business International- Bang BangBang

107. Lee Brice- Love Like Crazy

106. Three Days Grace- The Good Life

105. Drake- Over

104. Chris Brown feat.Tyga- Deuces

103. Jimmy Eat World- My Best Theory

102. Arcade Fire- Ready to Start

101. Avett Brothers- Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise

100. Train- Hey Soul Sister

99. Usher feat. will.i.am- OMG

98. Ratatat- Drugs

97. Taio Cruz- Dynamite

96. Temper Trap- Sweet Disposition

95. Godsmack- Crying Like a Bitch

94. Ingrid Michaelson- Parachute

93. The Dirty Heads feat. Rome- Lay Me Down

92. Adam Lambert- Whataya Want From Me

91. Vampire Weekend- Holiday

90. Alice in Chains- Your Decision

89. Gaslight Anthem- American Slang

88. Jason DeRulo- In My Head

87. Bruno Mars- Just The Way You Are

86. New Pornographers- Your Hands

85. Spoon- Written in Reverse

84. Paramore- The Only Exception

83. Rick Ross feat. Styles P- B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)

82. Disturbed- Another Way to Die

81. Kings of Leon- Radioactive

80. Kele- Tenderoni

79. Arcade Fire- Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

78. Pink- Raise Your Glass

77. Das Racist- hahahahajk?

76. KoRn- Let the Guilt Go

75. Enrique Iglesias feat.Pitbull- I Like It

74. Drake feat. T.I. and Swizz Beats- Fancy

73. B.O.B. feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore- Airplanes

72. Black Eyed Peas- The Time (Dirty Bit)

71. Robyn- Hang With Me

70. Chiddy Bang- Opposite of Adults

69. Cage the Elephant- In One Ear

68. Far East Movement feat. Cataracts and Dev- Like a G6

67. Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg- California Gurls

66. My Chemical Romance- NaNaNa (NaNaNaNa)

65. Rihanna- Only Girl in the World

64. Phoenix- Litzsomania

63. Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars- Billionaire

62. Lil Wayne feat. Eminem- Drop the World

61. Die Antwoord- Enter the Ninja

60. Bruno Mars- Grenade

59. MUSE- Resistance

58. Taio Cruz feat. Ludacris- Break Your Heart

57. The Roots- The Next Movement

56. Ludacris- How Low

55. Ke$ha- We R Who We R

54. Janelle Monae- Cold War

53. Linkin Park- Waiting for the End

52. Eminem feat. Lil Wayne- No Love

51. Big Boi feat. Vonnegut- Follow Us

50. Civil Twilight- Letters in the Sky

49. Deerhunter- Helicopter

48. Crystal Castles- Baptism

47. Lady Gaga feat.Beyonce- Telephone

46. Neon Trees- Animal

45. Gorillaz feat. MosDef and Bobby Womack- Stylo

44. Katy Perry- Teenage Dream

43. Broken Bells- The High Road

42. Taylor Swift- Mine

41. Vampire Weekend- Giving up the Gun

40. K’NAAN- Waving Flag

39. Sara Bareilles- King of Anything

38. Black Eyed Peas- Rock That Body

37. Deadmau5 feat. Rob Swire- Ghosts N Stuff

36. Ray LaMontagne- Beg. Steal or Borrow

35. Kanye West- Runaway

34. One EskimO- Kandi

33. David Guetta feat. Kid Cudi- Memories

32. Maximum Balloon feat. Theophilus London- Groove Me

31. Miranda Lambert- The House That Built Me

30. Titus Adronicus- A More Perfect Union

29. MUSE- Undisclosed Desires

28. Ke$ha- TiKToK

27. LCD Soundsystem- Drunk Girls

26. Kid Cudi feat. MGMT and Ratatat- Pursuit of Happiness

25. Eminem- Not Afraid

24. Florence and the Machine- Dog Days Are Over

23. Kanye West feat.Dwele- Power

22. Avenged Sevenfold- Nightmare

21. Lady Gaga- Alejandro

20. Arcade Fire- The Suburbs

19. Beck- Ramona

18. Erykah Badu- Window Seat

17. Yeasayer- Ambling Alp

16. M.I.A.- XXXO

15. The Dead Weather- Die by the Drop

14. Sleigh Bells- Tell ‘Em

13. Mumford and Sons- Little Lion Man

12. Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi- Tightrope

11. Cee Lo- Fuck You

10. Big Boi feat. Cutty- Shutterbugg

9. Robyn- Dancing on my Own

8. Charlotte Gainsbourg feat. Beck- Heaven Can Wait

7. The Roots feat. John Legend- The Fire

6. Hot Chip- One Life Stand

5. Eminem feat. Rihanna- Love the Way You Lie

4. Kanye West feat. Rick Ross, Jay-Z, Nicky Minaj and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver- Monster

3. Lady Gaga- Bad Romance

2. MGMT- Flash Delirium

1. Black Keys- Tighten Up

THE TOP 105 SONGS OF 2010 AT HALFTIME!
By Kevin Kilker

Well it is past the halfway marker for 200, and there has already been an influx of amazing music out there, from surprising to non-surprising…new and exciting and of course old and tired. And although I wanted to make this list much more detailed with descriptions and everything I just haven’t had the time to do so, and therefore can only list them out for you. Either way this is one of the more interesting lists I have ever put up, which makes me wonder what the second half of 2010 has in store for us.

There are a lot of factors that determine how I put my lists together and how they are ordered, but the most important thing is that every song is where it is at for different reasons. I only list official singles, because if I tried to base it off of every song off of every album it would come out three or four years from now, negating purpose, especially for a halftime list. I base my decisions based off the overall impact the song has had in the musical world in the given year, whether it be for sales and airplay reasons or for critical acclaim, or in some cases even both. The list goes on and on but in the end it all depends on the overall package. I went with 105 songs instead of 100 because in December it will be the Top 210 of 2010, so why not divide it by two for a halftime list. Makes sense right? Either way in the end you must realize that although I like to consider myself a music expert it is still MY opinion, and NO ONE will agree with the list 100% Nor should you. So although I would love to hear feedback on everything…even recommending that you do, (and explain myself if necessary for certain tunes) it will do nothing to change it. Either way I hope you like it and be on the lookout for The Top 210 of 2010 in December!

TOP 105 SONGS OF 2010 AT HALFTIME

Read the rest of this entry »

By Kevin Kilker

St. Louis power pop rock outfit LUDO have been working away in the studio for the last few months working on their followup to their breakthrough major label debut, 2008’s You’re Awful, I Love You. And after several playful hints and clues revealing information on the newest album over the last few weeks on their MySpace and Facebook fan pages they not only revealed their new single, but also two other songs along with the album title (The release date was announced earlier last month).

LUDO members Tim Ferrell and Tim Convy took to the St. Louis radio airwaves on Monday, June 21 and premiered their first single, an explosive, clever and predictably catchy tune entitled “Whipped Cream” on 105.7 The Point. It’s not quite at the same level of catchiness as their most popular single “Love Me Dead” (which peaked at #8 on Billboard’s Modern Rock Charts in September of 2008), but it is a bit more explosive and stands to have a solid chance on Modern Rock radio stations all across the United States in the coming weeks and months. They also premiered two other tracks, the more orchestral and classic LUDO sounding “Too Tired To Wink” and the non surprising robotic styled “Cyborgs vs. Robots”.

They also revealed the name of their second major label album, the fun but repetitious sounding Prepare the Preparations. It is out in stores on August 17. And knowing LUDO, “Whipped Cream” probably already has a clever music videos in the works. And although they intend on announcing tour dates soon, they have been tapped as one of the headliners of Pointfest 27 in St. Louis on August 14 in the meantime. We will continue to update you as we get new information

You can access the interview and subsequent new single at the link below. It is not amazing quality as of right now but as soon as a better version is released we will post it in this one’s place

LUDO’s  “Whipped Cream” Interview and Single Release

LUDO

By Kevin Kilker

M.I.A. has never been able to be fit into a category…a little bit electronica, a little bit hip hop, and a lot a bit unique. After “Paper Planes” became a hit and subsequently exposed her to a brand new mainstream audience that was shocked to enjoy her music, she did what any other normal person would: Performed at the Grammy’s a full 9 months pregnant, then naming the kid Ikyhd (Yes Ikyhd), retire from performing only to renounce that decision a year later, and not to mention getting nominated for an Academy Award (For her Slumdog Millionaire track “O Saya”). So for her third album, the stakes were a lot higher. And as usual, she does not disappoint whatsoever.

Her latest effort, MAYA ( actually written as /\/\ /\ Y /\ ), is trademark M.I.A., but she does manage to expand her already wide ranging sound and at times she becomes, dare I say, accessible. She sings on more tracks while getting much more bass friendly on others, occasionally switching the sound up and coming out of left field.  Now some may argue that she has always been bass friendly, and in some senses they would be right. But here the bass is louder, more impactful and have a way of standing out more. It’s as if every aspect of the songs seem to speak forthemselves and stand out brighter that way. And although not every song is flawless in that respect, never is there a dull moment, and the 42 minute running time never lags, and if anything is too short.

The album starts off with the minute long bass loving “The Message”  and goes right into “Steppin’ Up”, another bass thumping journey It is also one of the first songs to feature powertools prominently in the  background beat. The next track, “XXXO”, has already been released, but it still is an accessible, catchy club jam that features ironic lyrics like “You want me be somebody who I’m really not” and “I can be the actress, you be Tarantino”.  It almost seems like she is trying to rebel against the fact that she became a household name overnight, and the welcoming dance beat cements the idea of clashing ideals. “Teqkilla” is an interesting experiment in electronica, hip hop and bass usage. And at over six minutes long, it is an epic, head bobbing, entrancing tune that serves as the CD’s longest song. “Lovalot” is an M.I.A. standard, spewing out hip hop lyrics over a tribal beat, but all the while a little bit cleaner and a little more polished. The next song  is “Story to be Told”, another awesome club bumper which features another M.I.A. trademark, a chorus with a distorted hindu sound clip. But like “Lovalot” it’s even more elegantly put together. “It Takes a Muscle” is easily the album’s most mainstream friendly track, featuring a mid tempo reggae beat with M.I.A. cooing about falling in love, a bold move for the artist, who’s sound is typically a little less sunny. But she pulls it off brilliantly, and the catchy chorus could put this song on the billboard chart. “It Iz What It Iz” follows next, and flows seamlessly from the previous reggae sounding “Muscle”, featuring another mid tempo beat that acts as a great intermission song. “Born Free”, another previously released track, is easily the most explosive song on the album. Sampling the 1977 song “Ghost Rider” from punk rock gods Suicide, the singer belts out defiant lyrics as the song continuously pulsates in the background.  The political undertones were brought out in the controversial, 9 minute long music video directed by Roman Gavras. And although I was unsure of how the song would fit into the album (as did many other critics and fans) it ended up working out great. “Meds and Feds” samples Sleigh Bells, one of M.I.A.’s groups on her predictably unique N.E.E.T. label. In fact, Sleigh Bells’ Derek Miller produced the track.  And the result is a drum and bass masterpiece that is irresistible not to bump your head to. The next track, “Tell Me Why”, slows the pace back down, while at the same time showcasing her vocal abilities, although at times she is aided by a voice modulator. Not to take anything away from the usage of voice modulators, though, as it actually compliments the track. So in the end it was probably intentional. It blends seamlessly into the album’s final track, “Space”, which is a mellow, outright psychadelic mind trip of a song,  allowing the listener to mellow out, and wrapping up the CD perfectly.

All in all it isn’t QUITE as impacting as its predecessor, 2007’s breakthrough Kala, but it doesn’t really have to be at this point in her career. It is, however, a more flawless and carefully crafted effort, taking more chances but maintaining her unique identity throughout. She stuck with her same producers, Diplo and Switch (if it ain’t broke, right?), along with adding British beatmaker Rusko and previously mentioned Derek Miller to the list as well. To conclude, M.I.A. continues to prove why she is one of the most dependable artists in music today, with a CD that shows her growth as an artist and as a person, and is easily one of the year’s best.

The album is due for release on July 13, but was recently leaked to torrent sites. M.I.A. and her label, Interscope,  have not made any plans to push the release date up yet, but have not ruled it out as a possibility.

My Grade: A

M.I.A.'s cover image for her newest album, // / Y /, due for release July 13

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