A Not So Top 10 for 2k10′

how about swimming at the bottom of the lake? (ohhh, the irony! is that why people like the Weakerthans?)

Why do you put LOVE so much in your titles? Or something like that…

Hi. What moves you? Well… last year when I had a radio show and was much cooler I did a top five songs for the year that was quite hastily put together. So this year, radio show less, although with possible epic comeback on horizon, (a la Michael Jordan) and just as late, plus some more for extra ephemeral – a extremely brief look at the year in music for me, as in not all of this is from 2010 – but, still worthy of raging out to.

Of note: Michael Vick may put himself as number one MVP, but then again maybe I would too… But, nah – not this year; although 2010 was a year of note in my small world of playing music together with friends. Can you imagine this? Maybe someday we will have vinyl to share with you. After all, still making vinyl records is probably the coolest. However, and I will put a big BUT here – my tops that I will share with you, are all for free on Internet as downloads, put there by respective musician, cause this is probably just as cool, or even cooler!!! (Please note levels of coolness used throughout post vs. Metallica. I mean come on, you have META in your name – and you’re gonna take on the Internet? [11 years late…])

While I will not torture you will actually thinking this is something worth raging out to at the next portabella BBQ, it deserves mention. The Spook Rat album raised money for something that, after all is not so funny. Of related note, CrimethInc. ex-workers also released a Test Their Logik benefit album for legal support donations. One other music video of note to come out of that is this anonymous montage, put to Broken Social Scene’s song Meet Me in the Basement. Canada, eh?

Moving on: It is not that I’m trying to relive last year, after all I never won the lotto – but Jeff Rowe was on the top five before as well. So this year, the -anti is upped and we’re moving him to number two. After all, we forgot to put him at number one because of Bikage – since people who write songs (or cover) with the word bike in title are usually pretty cool IMHO. ty (stereotype in advance).

What else can you make fun of? This perhaps… Please Don’t Hang Out in Front of the House. This is a two volume free download of songs about hanging out in front of houses, punk rock shows, and good times (bad times). The thing that is lovable about this collection (volume #2) is Billy Wallace and the Virginia Blues playing A Gospel Song from a Living Room Show in Grand Rapids, MI. Maybe tonight? Well, and a lot more on it. Most of all the Mayflower acoustic “House Show is a Four Letter Word” and Another Breath acoutic “Choosen One”. Irony… you be the judge. Jeff Rowe Boat is on here as well, is this getting weird yet?

Let us travel a little out of state and across teh[1] Internets:

RVIVR – Dirty Water, LP, Life Moves, and derailer.

Probably one of my all-time new favorites in terms of rockability (and yes, I just made up a new word). If you are going to check out just one, I recommend the LP because the song Animal Hands is how they say in the NYC word-of-the-year-two-years-ago – hella’ sketch. In a good way though.

Hows about we fast forward to this year and take a look at this album that just came out last week or so by a band called Wolves and the Radio. I’m liking it all, but especially the song Kellegra which is the polar opposite image of the the underwater image at the beginning of this post. I’m looking out my window and thinking that it has been snowing here for about two months straight none-stop. It’s cool (ohh more irony!), but I’m not gonna lie and say I don’t miss being about to go Urban Scout and not freeze to death.

If you like Wolves and the Radio you may also like some of their close cohorts Mayflower and Larcenist. They were also on last years list, but Larcenist will be releasing a new album soonish – and Mayflower probably sometime as well. So, by now you’re wondering… Did you just rewrite last years list because it seems awfully familiar? Answer: Why thank you for paying that much attention, I’m flattered!

So my not so top 10 for 2k10′ turned out to be somewhat of a punk rock colosseum – perhaps 2011 will bring some change there, but we will just have to wait until next year (around this time, but two weeks later most likely). Here is to wishing the new year treats your ears kindly.

[1] seriously, whoever did this to “the” is a terrible person