100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day Twelve

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8. In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

Cuts keep getting tougher.

100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day Eleven

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8. In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day Ten

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8. In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

  

It's December 2, and we're out of themes. From here on, it's the toughest of the tough cuts.

100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day Nine

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8. In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

We're easing into December with five ambient, atmospheric tunes. It's either great background music for a productive day at work, or the sound of going back to sleep, depending on where you're at today.

100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day Eight

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8. In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

When I started putting this mini-playlist together, I didn't realize it would be "Things Ian Cohen Reviewed Positively in Pitchfork," but that's what happened. He generally likes things that are good.

You Blew It!- "Award of the Year Award"

"The grown-up sonics only make the underlying, pound-the-dashboard, yell-to-yourself sentiments all the more loud and clear."

The Menzingers - "I Don't Wanna Be An Asshole Anymore"

"The Menzingers excel in desperate, earnest melodic punk with just enough Replacements-esque recklessness to make it clear that the next drink, the next girl or the next endless after-party is never that far out of Barnett's reach and the fight to not fuck up is never over."

Dikembe - "Hood Rat Messiah"

"It’s a sign of the scene’s health that a record as strong as Mediumship can feel like a missed opportunity; they’re a band in transition rather than one that fully realized their potential at the height of their visibility."

Viet Cong - "Continental Shelf"

Cohen didn't actually review this one, but it fits here. "Viet Cong still sound like a band being tugged in opposing directions, but here they control the discordance with confidence, transforming "Continental Shelf" into something disquietingly divine."

Dads - "Grand Edge, MI"

"You sense he’s someone with an insatiable urge to disclose his most intimate secrets and the knowledge that it always results in driving people away; but maybe not this time."

100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day Seven

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8. In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

Girl-pop Tuesday!

Katy B - "5 AM"

"In the grand narrative of post-millenial British pop, Katy B is a crucial plot point."

Broods - "Bridges"

Brother/sister duo from New Zealand, they share a producer with Lorde and have opened for Haim, Ellie Goulding, and Sam Smith. Four years ago they won a talent contest at a local mall. Dream big, kids.

Ryn Weaver - "OctaHate"

How Four of Music's Biggest Players Created a Pop Star Out of Thin Air

Indiana - "Solo Dancing"

As both a top-five scorer on The Singles Jukebox and a potential bookend companion for "Dancing On My Own," I had higher hopes for this one.

Lykke Li - "Love Me Like I'm Not Made of Stone"

I knew Swedes could be sad, but I thought it had to be the kind of Robyn sad where you could still dance to it.

100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day Six

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8. In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

A few more old (and new) favorites who didn't make the cut this year.

Stars - "From the Night"

Pioneers of a new kind of sad disco music.

TV on the Radio - "Happy Idiot"

On the one hand, TV on the Radio are like 6-8% responsible for Ilana and I getting married. On the other hand, 2014's Seeds is kinda boring.

Broken Bells - "Holding On for Life"

Literally every person who reviewed this song mentioned the Bee Gees influence, and they were all correct to do so.

Great Good Fine OK - "By My Side"

You may remember them from: "You're the One for Me" (#97 in 2013). Did we ever come up with a name for this sub-genre? Because 2014 is the year I finally got sick of whatever kind of music this is.

Jeremy Messersmith - "Ghost"

We always need more Minnesotans on the list, but "Ghost" falls just short of other Messersmith classics like "Violet," "Knots," or "Toussaint Grey, First in Life and Death"

100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day Five

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8. In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

 

One of two things happened this year: either music, across the board, got weirder, or I got older. A lot of Pitchfork-y, super-hype stuff didn't resonate with me at all this year. Here are a few that I liked, but not as much as people who actually get paid to write about music on the internet.

FKA Twigs - "Two Weeks"

"If FKA twigs doesn't get the respect she deserves from earthly residents, her exquisite brand of uncanny pop will certainly find a warm welcome on other planes of reality." (Best New Track)

Perfume Genius - "Queen"

"On 'Queen', Hadreas unifies his lyrical and musical ambitions into the most forthright, ornate, lustrous and 'pop' moment of his career." (Best New Track)

Future Islands - "Seasons (Waiting on You)"

"These songs finally invite us to participate in Herring’s world, one shaped by geological heartbreak events and their epochal reflection periods, told with nothing more than the simple truth." (Singles)

Jessie Ware - "Tough Love"

A Pitchfork Best New Track like the rest, but the most excited they get is calling it "an enticing taste while we wait to hear what else Ware has up her sleeve this time around."

Sofi de la Torre - "Vermillion"

Barring a miracle, this will be 2014's highest rated song on my favorite music site, The Singles Jukebox, by a significant margin. Six perfect scores! Not sure what I'm missing.

100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day Four

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8. In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

 

Some old favorites didn't make the list this year, but we still get to show them some love in the Outtakes.

Penguin Prison - "Calling Out"

You may remember them from: "Don't Fuck With My Money" (#7 in 2011), "Fair Warning" (#36 in 2011), Hood Internet mash-ups

Smallpools - "Killer Whales"

You may remember them from: "Over & Over" (#43 in 2013), kind of being the bad guys in my 100 Songs for 2013 essay

Cold War Kids - "First"

You may remember them from: "Audience" (#15 in 2010), literally any time my buddy Krunal talks about music

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - "Revelation Blues"

You may remember them from: "Hiding" (#61 in 2013), "An Ugly Person on a Movie Screen" (#8 in 2011), my ill-fated "Top 100 Bands Named After NASCAR Drivers" list (list may not actually exist)

Kate Boy - "Self Control"

You may remember them from: "Northern Lights" (#52 in 2012), "In Your Eyes" (#79 in 2012), any time I go off on a tangent about great, weird Swedish pop

100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day Three

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8.  In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

Let's talk pop music.  In a year when we all rallied around our all-consuming hatred for "Rude" by Magic!, it seemed like most of the songs on the radio could be described as ... fine, I guess. I really don't have an opinion either way on Five Seconds of Summer, or One Direction, or the deluge of interchangeable Calvin Harris and Avicii songs. I'm mostly pro-Nicki Minaj and anti-Drake, though not to the point where I want to argue about either one. And a larger-than-usual number of pop super-hits will be on 100 Songs for 2014. Here are a few others I liked.

MKTO - "Classic"

Every generation gets the SoulDecision they deserve.

Nico & Vinz - "Am I Wrong?"

You hear this song and you just think "These dudes are Norwegian, that couldn't be any more obvious." Well, at least I do.

Tinashe - "2 On" (f/ Schoolboy Q)

I don't begrudge Tinashe her success, but what does she do that Cassie couldn't do even better? I will never understand how Cassie didn't become a huge star.

Ariana Grande - "Break Free"

I feel like I should probably hate Ariana Grande for something, but her Wiki page has three footnotes related to dog adoption, so all is forgiven. ("Bang Bang" is still terrible).

Sam Smith - "Stay With Me"

What do you think Sam Smith's second album sounds like? Is he just sad forever, or is there a team of genius Swedes working on a Sam Smith club banger for 2016? Either way, I'm interested.

100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day Two

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8. In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

I don't know if this is actually true, but it certainly seems like there were more victims of the Two Song Rule this year than in years past.

The War on Drugs - "Red Eyes"

"I can see it in the darkness coming my way." I don't know if Lost in the Dream was my favorite album of 2014, but it was definitely the one I listened to the most. It's a history of classic rock (easy-to-spot influences include Springsteen, Petty, and Dire Straits) filtered through a dreamy haze that makes it appropriate background music for almost any occasion. Also, part of the Great Philadelphia Takeover of 2014.

Generationals - "Gold Silver Diamond"

"Because you know it's only fate that can hold you." I never understand the lyrics to Generationals songs, but I see that as a feature, not a bug. Every lyrics site on the internet believes that the first line of this song is "Love is not a hug, you don't say it back." So, first of all, that doesn't sound right. Second, I think I was happier not knowing.

Bishop Allen - "Black Hole"

"Time goes so slow, but never slow enough." I mean, I think the titular black hole is a metaphor for a failed relationship, but ... it's at least possible they're talking about a real black hole here. There's a lot of talk about time dilation and gravity. Every breakup tears the sky to pieces.

Bleachers - "You're Still a Mystery"

"Man I was feeling like I never was young." Everyone knows that Bleachers frontman Jack Antonoff is also in Fun., and that he's dating Lena Dunham, but if you really want to out-hipster your friends and co-workers, tell them you've always loved his first band, Steel Train.  Seriously, "Firecraker" is a great, great song.

Modern Baseball - "Fine, Great"

"I'm so tired or maybe just bored / I can't really tell the difference whenever I'm talking to you." I appreciate when songs written by college sophomores sound like songs written by college sophomores.  Modern Baseball are dickish and self-obsessed, but so was I at that age, and I wasn't writing killer songs about it. Also, part of the Great Philadelphia Takeover of 2014.

100 Songs for 2014: Outtakes, Day One

100 Songs for 2014 will be released on Monday, December 8.  In the meantime, we're taking a look at some great songs that didn't make the cut.

The hardest cuts are the easiest cuts are the hardest. Since we limit artists to two songs each on 100 Songs for 2014, a few great songs that would have otherwise been easy inclusions have to step aside in the name of variety.

The New Pornographers - "Brill Bruisers"

"Wanted to keep my job as the leader of your gang."  The two songs rule is especially difficult when it comes to the New Pornos, who feature four lead singers, two very distinctive songwriters, and a slightly different feel on almost every song.

Beach Slang - "Get Lost"

"These books and bars and this honesty, they're all I've got." After years of claiming that all good music comes from Sweden, in 2014 it turns out that all good music actually comes from ... Philadelphia. Who knew?

The Rural Alberta Advantage - "Terrified"

"Honey I've got you if you pull the knife."  The Rural Alberta Advantage released three singles in advance of the excellent Mended with Gold, each better than the last.  Since "Terrified" came first, it was third best.  No shame in that, though.

Andrew Jackson Jihad - "I Wanna Rock Out in My Dreams"

"The older I get, the more articulate I am at whining." Winner of my Christopher Columbus Award for 2014, where I "discover" a band that has actually had a rabid cult following for upwards of a decade, with multiple solid albums I could have been enjoying years ago. Better late than never, I guess.

The Hold Steady - "Spinners"

"Heartbreak hurts but you can dance it off."  If you've ever read this blog before, you'll know that I cannot in any way be rational about the Hold Steady.  You will correctly surmise that I thought 2014's Teeth Dreams was great, including this ode to abandoning prairie towns nationwide to get lost in the big city.

100 Songs Outtakes: The Final Cuts

The last day of Outtakes!  100 Songs for 2010 still available December 6!

So these are the final cuts, each one a heartbreaking ordeal in its own right.  Our long Outtakes nightmare is finally over.  Check back over the weekend for some bonus downloads that I'm actually very proud of, then Monday we go live with the Top 100.

Cults - "Go Outside"

If you're disappointed that this song didn't crack my Top 100, you'll probably feel better when you see it on absolutely every other best songs list that will come out this year. Probably a top-20 candidate for Pitchfork's year-end retrospective, too. These guys will do fine without me.

Sambassadeur - "High and Low"

I love the way they use the string section to build intensity, but I'm left with the feeling that it's more of a technical exercise than a song. Still, there's already another Sambassadeur song on the Top 100, and this gives me a chance to celebrate Swedish pop even here, in the Outtakes section.

FM Belfast - "Par Avion"

Reasons why this song didn't make the Top 100, from least likely to most likely:

(1) My subconscious hatred of all things Icelandic.
(2) Ongoing debate about how to pronounce the word "Caribbean."
(3) Ilana thinks the "And we could go there!" vocals sound like a Muppet.
(4) I really have nothing interesting to say about it for the Listening Guide.

Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - "Dance the Way I Feel"

Technically disqualified as a 2009 single, these guys sadly gained notoriety only after their lead singer committed suicide in 2010. Since the album came out in 2010, I really debated adding this to the Top 100 this year, but it's just too weird to feel sad while listening to dance music.

Kathryn Calder - "Arrow"

Apparently not satisfied with being both the leader of Immaculate Machines and the Girl in New Pornographers Who Isn't Neko Case, Calder is now an accomplished solo artist as well. Honestly, is every Canadian in multiple bands? I get the feeling Calder has written three more songs in the amount of time it took me to type this blurb.

100 Songs Outtakes: Albums (Cont.)

(Outtakes Festival Day 11!  100 Songs for 2010 available December 6!)

As we continue counting down my favorite albums of the year.  Check out albums 1 through 5 here.

(6)  Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Top 100 Songs:  2


Arcade Fire - "Modern Man"


"They say we are the chosen few / But we waste it / And that's why we're still waiting"

Such an insightfully depressing record.  In that regard, almost too good for its own good.

(7)  Free Energy - Stuck on Nothing

Top 100 Songs:  2

Free Energy - "All I Know"


Here are ten awesome pop-rock songs.  No social commentary.  No "challenging the listener."  No "exploring new sonic directions."  Just a collection of great songs.  I hope they never change.


(8)  Titus Andronicus - The Monitor

Top 100 Songs:  2

Titus Andronicus - "Theme from 'Cheers'"


The exact opposite of the Free Energy album.  A possibly-overambitious, probably-too-long record that requires a good amount of patience, but one that more than pays off the investment in the end.


(9)  Band of Horses - Infinite Arms

Top 100 Songs:  1


Band of Horses - "Dilly"

That rare instance where "lazy" should absolutely be taken as a compliment.  A great album for the porch and rocking chair I don't actually have.

(10) Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Top 100 Songs:  1

Kanye West - "Dark Fantasy"

Every music critic in the entire world can't be wrong ... can they?

So far, the rare hip-hop record that seems to have some replay value with me.

100 Songs Outtakes: Albums

(Day Ten of the Outtakes Festival! 100 Songs for 2010 coming December 6! After my complaining about lack of interest on Monday, Tuesday's blog post garnered the most hits yet - fifteen!  Up from two the day before! So now I know I can shame some of you into reading this. That's valuable information.)

(Second parenthetical aside:  If you're in the mood to download a huge amount of year-end music from someone other than me,  I recommend the 8-disc, 157-song mix over at Fluxblog.  I want to be that guy when I grow up.)

I always talk about doing an Albums of the Year list, then never actually do it, so let's throw one together here, highlighting some additional great songs from these albums that didn't make the Top 100.


Aaron's Top Five Albums of the Year

(1) Gaslight Anthem - American Slang

 

Top 100 Songs: 3

Gaslight Anthem - "American Slang"

Or "Stay Lucky." Or "Orphans." Or "The Spirit of Jazz." Such a consistently great album. I don't know how you'd pick a least favorite song on this one.

(2) Robyn - Body Talk

 

Top 100 Songs: 3

Robyn - "Indestructible"

Or "Get Myself Together." Or "Call Your Girlfriend." Or "We Dance to the Beat." Or "Dancehall Queen." There could have been ten Robyn songs on the Top 100 this year.  And you know I thought about it.

(3) New Pornographers - Together

 

Top 100 Songs: 2

New Pornographers - "We End Up Together"

The last song on every New Pornographers album is always awesome, a little bit more sprawling than everything else, like they'd been stressing a little bit to get everything just perfect for the first ten or so songs, then they ease up a little bit for the last one. "Breakin' the Law" is probably my favorite, but "The Spirit of Giving" is so good, too, and "Miss Teen Wordpower."

In conclusion ... "Give us the KEYS! MAN!"

(4) Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever

 

Top 100 Songs: 2

Hold Steady - "Our Whole Lives"

So I might be late on this, but ... do you guys buy MP3s on Amazon?  I needed an MP3 version of this since all my Heaven is Whenever MP3s are really quiet for some reason, and I didn't want to have to buy the M4A from iTunes, then convert it, then upload it.  So I went over to Amazon ... and it's really very cool.  They have a LOT of albums on sale (Arcade Fire, Roots, Spoon, The National, etc. for $1.99, the new Kanye and Robyn for $4.99),* stuff downloads instantly, quickly, and right into your iTunes.  This is very exciting.  I think a lot of people are willing to pay for music as long as it's cheap and convenient, and iTunes with their never-sale-priced albums and DRM limits (which they got rid of, but still) and weird M4A format is just not it.  Amazon, though ... I will be checking them out often.  If I can get legal albums for $1.99, I'm definitely willing to re-buy stuff that I (may have, hypothetically) pirated.

With this song, though, I already own it on both CD and vinyl, so this is really just me giving the Hold Steady another dollar in the name of convenience.  Here you go, guys!  Keep up the good work.

* Looks like the deal just ended, and there are no more $1.99 CDs, but, I promise, they were there.

(5) Someone Still Loves You Boris Yelstin - Let It Sway

 
Top 100 Songs: 2

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - "Evelyn"

Would definitely make a list of Top 100 Songs I Sing to My Dog. Number one, if you're curious, is Paul Simon's "Loves Me Like a Rock." I understand this is really weird.

100 Songs Outtakes: Tuesday

(It's Day Nine of our look at some quality songs that couldn't crack the Top 100.  The full list of my 100 Songs for 2010 will be available December 6.) 

Judging by all available hit count data, it's unbelievable how quickly everyone stopped caring about these Outtakes blog posts. I don't know what to tell you. They'll be over on Sunday. Then we'll see who's laughing.*

*Note: I have no idea who will be laughing, or why.

Jonsi - "Go Do"

Side project of the lead singer for Sigur Ros, a band who sometimes sings in Icelandic and sometime sings in a totally made-up language. This song is in English, though it may take you awhile to realize it. You'll go into it expecting a beautifully incomprehensible Sigur Ros song, and then Jonsi's purposefully irregular enunciations and emphases will further confuse you, until you get to a more straightforward English section and think to yourself, "Holy crap, I think I'm starting to understand Icelandic!" You are not. Though that would be awesome.

Janelle Monae - "Tightrope"

Sorry, Grace.

Penguin Prison - "Animal Animal"

Nothing has changed since the last time we discussed this song. There will still never be a more profound lyric than, "I wish Mike Tyson was my friend / Then I would tell him everything / That I'm so nervous ..."

Mike Tyson would totally understand. Then maybe you guys could go up to the roof and watch pigeons.

Kite Flying Society - "Coney Island"

Probably better than the "Coney Island" song that made my 2008 list. Early bird gets the worm, though. On the Top 100, we're moving forward.

Miles Kurosky - "I Can't Swim"

At a certain point, I realized I only wanted this song to make the Top 100 so I could talk about how much I loved Beulah, Miles' old band. Then I thought, well, I can just do that here. So ... I miss Beulah. Go listen to them here.

100 Songs Outtakes: Monday

(It's Day Eight of our look at some quality songs that couldn't crack the Top 100.  The full list of my 100 Songs for 2010 will be available December 6.) 

One week away. No more themes, just songs.

Fyfe Dangerfield – "When You Walk in the Room"

Heard this song last December, then posted on Facebook that I had found the first song for 100 Songs for 2010. Shouldn't tempt fate like that.

Extra Lens - "Only Existing Footage"

No proper Mountain Goats album in 2010, but we did get a John Darnielle side project. And he joined Twitter! So, if you're wondering if I'm still an obsessive Mountain Goats fan, the answer is absolutely yes. That fandom just doesn't extend to side projects, apparently.

Fresh and Onlys - "Waterfall"

Came very close to being this year's "Song by a San Francisco band that makes the Top 100, then Ellard wonders if it just made the list because the band is from San Francisco, and I think, well, maybe he's right." This year, sadly, I don't think we have a song like that. You win this round, Ellard.

Sufjan Stevens - "I Walked"

Like Sufjan Stevens, other things I used to really like that I now find largely boring include The National, "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," and most regular-season NFL games.

Kings of Leon - "Radioactive"

As of today, I like this song. I like that the kids drink orange Jarritos in the video. I like Cee-Lo's stripped down cover. I like it all. But, like every other Kings of Leon single, I just know I'm going to hate it eventually, and I don't want to have to see it on the Top 100 for all eternity. For now, though, still fine.

100 Songs Outtakes: Halfway There

(It's Day Seven of our look at some quality songs that couldn't crack the Top 100.  The full list of my 100 Songs for 2010 will be available December 6.) 

So we're halfway through the near-misses. In that spirit, here are five songs that made my Halfway 100, but won't make the year-end list. It shouldn't reflect poorly on any of them. These are all good songs. It's just that there was a lot of great music this year.

MGMT - "Congratulations"

I get the feeling this album is going to age incredibly well. Like Pinkerton-style misunderstood-cult-classic well. Just a hunch. So, if that happens, let the record show that I thought this song was, um, I guess moderately okay in 2010.

Gorillaz - "On Melancholy Hill"

Song of the year over at Dots and Dashes. In the same way that, in the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes, I think it is also true that, in the future, every song will be number one on someone's blog. The better songs will just be number one on blogs people actually read. No offense to Dots and Dashes ... I'm sure they have a lot more reader than I do.

Toro Y Moi - "Leave Everywhere"

Toro y Moi is one guy from South Carolina, and he's probably seen as the leader of the chillwave movement, which we discussed yesterday. Anyway, after his critically-acclaimed chillwave album, he released this song as a single, and it's not chillwave at all. It's just a straight-ahead rock song. And so the blogs got all excited, talking about how this showed how Toro y Moi was branching out, leaving chillwave behind for a wider audience, he was bored with chillwave, he was taking chillwave mainstream, back and forth, etc, etc. For a small, weird group of people, this was like Dylan going electric.

And then the guy gave an interview where he basically said, "Yeah, I wrote that song like five years ago, I just wanted to release it before I forgot about it. It really has nothing to do with any of my future plans." And everything everyone wrote was instantly meaningless. I feel like, if you had to explain internet journalism to an alien, that story would pretty much do it.

Erykah Badu - "Window Seat"

As Elliot* pointed out when this song first appeared, all the controversy surrounding the music video really obscures the fact that this is just a great, chill song. Somebody say come back, come back baby ...

(And the video, I guess, is NSFW-ish, but really ... this is what we're offended by now? I feel very un-shocked.)



*And I link to Curt's column all the time, but I feel like I have been neglecting the great work Elliot is currently doing at the Wichita Eagle. Cherish it, as he'll be in Zimbabwe before you know it.

New Pornographers - "A Bite Out of My Bed"

And here's the problem with being consistently wonderful: I start to expect it of you. If this song came from some no-name blog-hype band, I suspect it would have cracked the top 50. As is, it's the New Pornographers, so it's the third-best song on their album and probably doesn't crack the top 25 in their catalog. Sorry guys. Please continue being consistently wonderful anyway.

100 Songs Outtakes: Chillwave

(It's Day Six of our look at some quality songs that couldn't crack the Top 100.  The full list of my 100 Songs for 2010 will be available December 6.) 

So ... chillwave was a thing that happened in 2010.  I think we'll have a hard time explaining it in the years to come.

Where do you start?  Musically?  Well, it sounds like 1980s synth-pop, but like it was recorded in some guy's bedroom on really cheap equipment.  Culturally?  Well, it started as a joke genre (and apparently could have been called GorillaVsBearCore) which is awesome.  I would say that I am pro-joke-genres, and generally pro-anything they're doing over at Hipster Runoff.

More than that, though, if we want to take chillwave seriously as a cultural artifact, it doe seem possible to do so.  David over at Pitchfork Reviews Reviews wrote a very interesting essay about how a bad economy creates music like this, and I think it's entirely possible we'll look back on chillwave decades from now the same way we look at some of the freakier hippie music of the 1960s and say, "Well, yeah, it would never work now, but you can kinda see how they'd be into that at the time."

So there aren't any chillwave songs on the Top 100.  "Sleep Paralysist" and "Low Shoulder" were included in early versions of the list, but in the end there were just too many other good songs.  Also, it's possible that ceo* and Delorean aren't really chillwave (people on the internet actually make charts about stuff like that - ceo is a Tough Alliance** side project if you're trying to figure out where they fit), but I think they sound similar enough to be included here.

Neon Indian - "Sleep Paralysist"

Toro y Moi - "Low Shoulder"

Washed Out - "You and I"

ceo - "Come With Me"

Delorean - "Stay Close"

* Sweden!
** Also Sweden!

100 Songs Outtakes: Sweden

(It's Day Five of our look at some quality songs that couldn't crack the Top 100.  The full list of my 100 Songs for 2010 will be available December 6.) 

I bet some of you think I stack the deck when it comes to Swedish bands in the Top 100.*  Not true.  It's just that, year after year, there are a huge number of great songs from Sweden. To prove it, here's five more of my favorites that didn't make the list.

*I don't really think that. I bet most of you don't put any thought at all into my methodology. Which ... why would you? You shouldn't.

Robyn - "Dancehall Queen"

I know, I know ... I thought I could find a way to get four Robyn songs into the Top 100 as well. This one was a late cut. I feel guilty already.

Junip - "Always"

Junip is the side project of singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez, known for his excellent cover songs and a few sweet originals as well.

His music was also featured in the most beautiful commercial of all time.



The video for "Always" doesn't hit quite the same cinematic heights, but ... it does feature a guy who makes guitars disappear. So that's something.


JUNIP - Always (Official Video) from City Slang on Vimeo.

Shout Out Louds - "1999"

My favorite Swedish band fails to crack the Top 100 this year, but still put on one of the best shows I saw in 2010. Everyone there was very tall. I felt right at home.

Britta Persson - "Some Girls Some Boys"

An eerie, textured slow burn of a song. This was literally song #101 on my overall list for a long time.

Tove Styrke - "White Light Moment"

All I can tell you is that she finished third on Sweden Idol in 2009. If you're wondering at what point Swedish girl pop gets too cheesy even for me ... well, it's somewhere pretty close to here. This song manages to stay on the right side of the line. But barely.