3rd Annual Dirty Dozen (2010) - SONGS

Previous top 5's:
2009:
05. "Waves" - Metric
04. "Memoir of a Lightning Bolt" - Beat Radio
03. "Bright Lights" - Placebo
02. "Come Back Clean" - Crystal Method ft. Emily Haines
01. "Freak Out" - Stellastarr*
2008:
05. "Kids" - MGMT
04. "L.E.S. Artistes" - Santogold
03. "Dying Is Fine" - Ra Ra Riot
02. "Ion Square" - Bloc Party
01. "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" - The Helio Sequence

At last the time has come! It's Thursday! Tomorrow's the big holiday. Saturday's the big party. It all comes down to this... and it was really the hardest list I've ever made. I second-guessed myself so much... but feel I have come to a defining list of the BEST OF 2010. Just in case you think a song should be on here but isn't, stay tuned to tomorrow, as I'll list all the honorable mentions of best songs (a shitload of these), albums, and remixes.

The National and Shout Out Louds nearly outdid their best selves with two of my favorite introspective rock songs of the year, Paper Moon and Bloodbuzz Ohio. Definitely worth a listen for those that love such a genre. Invisible Light was so good that it put the rest of the Scissor Sisters' Night Work to shame. It was also their best song live, since they really screwed up the re-working of Filthy/Gorgeous. Kelis sounded her resurgence and her grasp of future pop with a track that entranced me for months, 22nd Century. Duck Sauce made the nonsensical amazing and made me dance like none other this year with (my favorite dance track of 2010) Barbra Streisand. Groove Armada made a track that sounded like it was teleported from the '80s in all the right ways. The Walkmen made one of the more interesting angst-ridden tracks I've ever heard, with the surf-pop-meets-angst-rock Angela Surf City. God I love that song (you may hate it... haha)! Crookers and Martin Solveig took advantage of amazing leading ladies of indie pop, Roisin Murphy and Martina Sorbara, and made two of the best songs of the year. Marina & The Diamonds showed us how it was okay to pick up all the pins. And, Goldfrapp produced her best song in years; one that (when seeing it live) was one of the highlights of my year.

...and then there was Robyn. The Swedish starlet produced not ONE but TWO of the best songs of the year. The first leak I heard was Fembot. Fembot immediately took for me, with its well written sass-infused lyrics, intensely catchy beat, and the perfect ability to not take itself seriously, while also never selling the intelligence of its audience short. I would have been happy with that. But... then came another leak. This one was the killer. A song that, when released on June 1st, crossed an amazing amount of boundaries in music. The hipsters loved it. The club kids danced to it. The gays idolized it. Sorority girls connected over it. Kept wives sang it into their homemade dry martinis (with a splash of tears). Everyone knew it, even if they didn't know Robyn. It was written perfectly. It was Dancing On My Own. And it stood on its own.

It is explosive but vulnerable, angry but innately melancholy, and it is very much an appreciation of the bittersweet aspects of the world in which many of us dwell. I loved it, to say the least. At a time when pop music looked doomed to auto-tune and fake-boob us into artistic submission, Robyn came back and saved the day for a while... Let's appreciate that.

12 (tie). "Angela Surf City" - The Walkmen
12. "Paper Moon" - Shout Out Louds
11. "Invisible Light" - Scissor Sisters
10. "22nd Century" - Kelis
09. "Barbra Streisand" - Duck Sauce
08. "Rocket" - Goldfrapp
07. "Bloodbuzz Ohio" - The National
06. "I Am Not A Robot" - Marina & The Diamonds
05. "I Won't Kneel" - Groove Armada ft. SaintSaviour
04. "Fembot" - Robyn
03. "Royal T" - Crookers ft. Roisin Murphy
02. "Hello" - Martin Solveig ft. Dragonette
01. "Dancing On My Own" - Robyn


3 tracks: digitalism

German-based, French label-signed duo Digitalism is a big favorite of mine, I must say. After years of listening to them, I wonder why they've never really made it this side of the pond... and then I look at my WORST OF 2010 list, and I realize why. Ugh. Anyway, their distinct style of electro is always refreshing when I need it, and their two new tracks, Blitz and Stratosphere have their signature all over them, while being super instrumental (if you can handle that... if not, don't fret... just click the 1-CLICK-DL button and enjoy the others). I also threw in a remix of Taken Away, one of my favorites of Digitalism's tracks, that I recently found. Check'em out!





Like them? Well, these tracks are not nearly as good as the ones I couldn't post [ZDRLT & Taken Away (radio edit) are amazing!] because SoundCloud sucks big balls.

fresh: La Roux gets loose

3rd Annual Dirty Dozen (2010) - WORST OF 2010

Here is my favorite part of the year-end round-up: The WORST of the year. These are the moments that turn my stomach, make me angry, or simply leave me befuddled in the worst possible way.

12. Kelis - Live
Now, say what you will about Kelis' great album (after all, I rank it #4 of 2010), but I had the chance to see her live twice this summer... and she was simply not good. She wasn't the worst act I'd ever seen, but she wasn't far behind. Her fantastic album was made flaccid by a blatant lack of enthusiasm, stuffed into a turquoise spandex sausage-casing of an outfit (thanks Cass!) and topped with a wig made of metallic pom-pom. She looked like the ghost of cassette tape past, while singing (though she wasn't ALWAYS off-key) poorly in comparison to the album. Let-down. Ugh, indeed.

11. Jimmy Eat World's Comeback
I was a rather big J.E.W. fan for a long time. I suspected their last album was simply a flop in pop-rock, and that they'd come back swinging punches of indie-rock ferocity. Instead, they cranked out an album that sounded like a b-sides collection, with only 3 songs tolerable enough for me to play. This is a lot to swallow from a band that threw out three fantastic front-to-back albums with Clarity, Bleed American, and Futures. Hot vomit.

10. LA Riots Abandon Indie Dance
I love watching LA riots spin; I really do. They have a great stage presence, play well, and get the crowd into their sets. Sadly, though, since the DJ duo has reformatted, they have abandoned the sound that made them popular, as evidenced by their big remixes of acts such as The Ting Tings, Kylie Minogue, Heartsrevolution, VHS or Beta and Scanners. Now, they aren't absolutely obnoxiously terrible.. they simply aren't exceptional. They are status quo, and that's just plain sad.

09. Usher Goes Gay
Did anyone else notice that the above-average-talented Usher gave up on making meaningful pop and instead made a fleet (enema) of gay dancefloor-centric crappers? The remixed versions of his tunes were his only saving grace, which has zero to do with him. Yes, I enjoy a gay club dancefloor sometimes, but every time his songs would come on, my stomach would turn. They auto-tuned the hell out of him, when he does have a voice in a lower range that is just fine how it is, and they made him sound like a black Richard Simmons. Blichard Simmons, heyyyyy.

08. Lady Gaga's Janky-Ass Teeth
No, not her actually dental issues. God knows she's finally got those fixed. I'm talking about her allowing this video to be made. It's fucking awful gaysploitation for the status quo idiot who falls over anything of lowest common denominator sexuality. I don't even want to drink Veuve now, it upsets me so. Stupid stupid stupid. Major points lost for an artist who had been batting nearly a thousand. I am pretty sure she didn't pay the actors. She just went into West Hollywood and picked up two past-prime go go dancers who still have dreams of making it modeling in something other than a Sean Cody video.

07. Interpol's Producing Debut
Interpol came back, had a great deal of hoopla surrounding their self-titled album, blatantly expressed to the world that it was their producing debut, and then shat out an album that couldn't wipe the perineum of its last three albums. Granted, we all know that their first two albums were timeless, Turn on the Bright Lights and Antics, but I expected them to up their game after a decent but not spectacular third outing, Our Love To Admire. It was especially upsetting since Julian Plenti's (lead singer's solo project) album was so surprisingly good in the interim. Alas....this was terrible. Hire someone to produce, or go the way of the buffalo. This was especially upsetting for me, as I waited so long and anticipated so much... only to be left with my **** in my hand.

06. Soundcloud Squeezes Its Snatch
So, I've used Soundcloud for a long time. It's an amazing way to get music out there for people to listen and enjoy. You have an option of allowing or disallowing a track to be downloaded via the listening wave, but in recent months this has basically all-but-stopped. Soundcloud will not let you upload ANYTHING that is attached to a record company. I know I know... blah blah blah copyright... but copyright can suck my sack. Soundcloud needs to realize how it's going to lose lots of customers because they can't spread music around, and that its squeeze on such is going to basically make them obsolete long before they should have become such. The black market of music runs the show. It makes stars out of nobodies, and forces artists to make their money performing their songs, therefore creating a sense of accountability in the music community. Suck. It. Soundcloud.

05. Ke$ha's Rise
There are many reasons why it is hard to grasp why Ke$ha is relevant. It pains me writing this, really. She's stolen every page out of every book that was ever written on how to make a pop starlet. She is a fairly horrible singer... which pales in comparison to her actual songwriting. She put a dollar sign in her name to replace an "s" (so original). She is gutter-trash chic (actually, I like that part of her). She has only been tolerable, much like Usher, through the hard work of remix artists like Fred Falke, DJ Kue, and Bimbo Jones. As much as she is a guilty pleasure of mine, I must say I pray she may she go the way of Chumbawamba as soon as possible.

04. Little Boots Cancels For Cuntchella
In what, to me, was the line-up of the year: Little Boots, French Horn Rebellion, and Dragonette, actually became the year's biggest cocktease. Little Boots, who is exceptional live, with the high-energy, always amazing Dragonette set to play just prior was enough... but then they added French Horn Rebellion, one of the best young bands around. It was a $15 show at 930 Club that didn't happen. Damn you Coachella for asking her to headline! In retrospect, maybe it would have ruined how good the shows were the rest of the year, but I didn't care. What a letdown! Yeah... that's all I got on that one. Just pissed. Cuntchella.
03. Like a G6
Awful. Terrible. Dreadful. Ghastly. Foul. Substandard. Abysmal. Pathetic. Grave. Vile. Abominable. Those are the descriptors of Far East Movement's Like A G6. The song is essentially awful. The bass line is catchy. The hook is below par. Lastly, it all is made worse by the fact that it was SO popular! WTF?! What is wrong with popular dance music? I hope this song ceases to be relevant in the next few months... 'else I may refuse to eat rice for a year in protest. Take that.

02. Xtina Comeback Sucks Big Balls
There were few things worse than Christina Aguilera's comeback... who knows what she was thinking. Her songs were somewhat catchy, but mostly forgettable. She sold the soul of her voice for a place back in the spotlight... only to realize that she was ill-advised and may have well destroyed her own career in the process. She has a voice, refused to use it, and now is seen as a has-been by those who aren't in love with her from the 90's. I think the rest of my feelings can be summed up in my review of her first single this year HERE. R.I.P. Genie... Enjoy your next job hosting a reality show.

01. Four Words... Katy Perry, in general
She was so bad. SOOOOOO bad. She made me more sad than upset in 2010. She produced single after single of overly produced tracks that put her boobs center-stage, and expanding the minds of her listeners somewhere backstage under of a pile of spanx and waterbras. Yes, we all sorta loved the pop aspects of her songs. The produced tracks sounded decent... but that's what's so upsetting. She is a fraud of an artist. She can't sing her tracks, and is simply getting by on her looks, wannabe P!nk-esque attitude, and producers' talents. Katy... please... just stop.

Release: HAPPY ENDING @ Town Tavern on Saturday!


Give all your new beginnings a happy ending! We have special for you. Love you long time.



..let's take over this bar, show it a good time, and finish it off with a proper HAPPY ENDING!

3rd Annual Dirty Dozen (2010) - ALBUMS

Previous Top 5's
2009:
05. Lungs - Florence + The Machine
04. Civilized - Stellastarr*
03. Tonight... - Franz Ferdinand
02. La Roux - La Roux
01. Fantasies - Metric
2008:
05. Modern Guilt - Beck
04. The Rhumb Line - Ra Ra Riot
03. Way To Normal - Ben Folds
02. Apocalypso - The Presets
01. Keep Your Eyes Ahead - The Helio Sequence

This year was full of singles, not albums, of note. It was a year when it became quite evident that the Long Player is slowly becoming a thing of the past. These are the albums that rose against that trend. It is not a surprise who is #1 on here, as the lovely queen of 2010 was impossible to overturn.

Beach House and Freelance Whales reminded us that Indie Rock is alive and well. Kylie Minogue took fluff to its optimal level of enjoyability. Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem proved how consistently brilliant they are, and why they top so many year-end lists. Azure Ray and The National brought back their unique, somber sounds in a big way for all the cutters out there. And, Robyn , Marina & The Diamonds, Kelis and Dan Black showed us how pop music should exist. Period. It was a great year for these albums, and if you don't own any of them, just let me know. We can work something out.
12. Teen Dream - Beach House
11. Drawing Down The Moon - Azure Ray
10. Aphrodite - Kylie Minogue
09. Tourist History - Two Door Cinema Club
08. Weathervanes - Freelance Whales
07. UN - Dan Black
06. The Suburbs - Arcade Fire
05. This Is Happening - LCD Soundsystem
04. Flesh Tone - Kelis
03. High Violet - The National
02. The Family Jewels - Marina & The Diamonds
01. Body Talk - Robyn

3rd Annual Dirty Dozen (2010) - REMIXES

Previous Top 3's:
2009:
03. "We Bite (Designer Drugs remix)" - Spencer Product
02. "Boombox (LA Riots remix)" - Kylie Minogue
01. "Love Get Out Of My Way (Designer Drugs remix)" - Milke
2008:
03. "Tenderoni (MSTRKRFT remix)" - Chromeo
02. "Take On Me (The Twelves remix)" - A-Ha
01. "Danse en France (D.I.M. remix)" - Fischerspooner
Unlike last year when Designer Drugs dominated with 4 remixes in the top 12, 2010 saw a more diverse, more progressive group of DJ's take the spotlight. Everyone from old standbys like Tiesto and LA Riots, to the exciting LAZRtag and Fake Blood. 2010 was a year when heavy, hard dance took just as much spotlight as beautifully done softer remixes. That is no more evident than in my top four.

Tiesto once again proved he can make a solid trance/house fusion of a remix. He's been reliable for this for well over a decade. LA Riots proved that, though they are changing (and I'm not a fan of that in this case), they can still reconstruct a track with the best of them (seriously... try listening to the original of this one). WAWA & MMB proved that Kylie's All The Lovers didn't have to be taken out of its own melody to be a dance anthem (and NO ONE did it better for this over-remixed single). Sultan & Ned Shepard produced a remix so good of the summer's biggest dance anthem Fire In Your New Shoes, that Kaskade himself wound up spinning it live. Alex Metric, LAZRtag and Fake Blood have proven themselves over and over to be the best at producing aggressive electro remixes that make me want to dance AND cause bodily harm. Hooray! OCD Automatic made me finally want to dance with somebody. Buffetlibre, once again, produced the most beautiful remix of the year (slightly better than Fred Falke... again). Last year's production of Dragonette's Easy was topped this year by Plushgun's brilliant Mixtapes. It's lush indie-pop, through and through.

...And then it became decision time. Armand Van Helden's vocal remix of ADD SUV is the best dance remix of the year, hands-down (and 2nd best dance song all year). But, I had to really evaluate what was the best, most-moving remix of 2010 for me. In the end, it was difficult, but I could not deny the one remix all year that not only was beautiful, reflective and inspiring... but it also made me want to jump up and down and dance for hours. Andrew W.K. surprised everyone with this amazing reconstruction of an indie rock tune and finally, 10 years later, gave me respect for him as an artist. If Freddie Mercury had been a producing DJ in 2010, this is what he would make a remix sound like.
12. These New Knights (Tiesto remix) - Ou Est La Swimming Pool
11. Cat & Mouse (LA Riots remix) - Nikki & Rich
10. All The Lovers (WAWA & MMB remix) - Kylie Minogue
09. Clap Your Hands (Fred Falke remix) - Sia
08. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (OCD Automatic remix) - Whitney Houston
07. Fire In Your New Shoes (Sultan & Ned Shepard remix) - Kaskade ft. Dragonette
06. Under Control (Alex Metric remix) - Adam Freeland
05. Restless (Fake Blood remix) - UNKLE
04. We Never Close Our Eyes (LAZRtag remix) - Scanners
03. Mixtapes (Buffetlibre remix) - Plushgun
02. ADD SUV (Armand Van Helden remix) - Uffie ft. Pharrell
01. Even Think (Andrew W.K. remix) - Drink Up Buttercup

Stay tuned for more DIRTY DOZENS as we tell you all of SHIFT's 2010 favorites...
TUE: Best Albums
WED: Worst of 2010
THR: Best Songs
FRI: Honorable Mentions

remix monday: two door cinema club invades your jogpod

Two Door Cinema Club is an act to which (or whom, rather) I've slowly become attracted. From Northern Ireland, they have made a quick mark on the Euro Alt/Rock Indie scene with a sound that is delightfully familiar, without boring the hell out of its audience. Pop-heavy, but not rotund, they show signs of great promise for a band that has been together only three years. Keljet has been mentioned a few times on here before. Once again, they have worked some fantastic magic here with what is to be Two Door Cinema Club's next single, What You Know. This will be one of those moments, I'm sure, where the remix actually makes me like the original track more that I would have otherwise. Additionally, the remixed song becomes addictive much the way that its band has: it is pure without simplicity and challenging without becoming arduous. Well done. Oh, and I definitely recommend this song to start your jogging mix. No joke.

random holiday laughs

Take a good look at the singers... and then realize this is at Liberty University... love it.

fresh: DJ Kue makes Far East Movement tolerable

DJ Kue (Mike Morales of Sunnyvale, CA) has apparently made a wonderful practice out of making terrible pop songs tolerable to me. This is yet another example of his wonderful sense of electro-pop humbling my oft-hatred for radio pop. Far East Movement blows something terrible, I have to admit, and the original version (see video below) of this song is no less terrible, but Kue makes me hate it a lot less. Vocals are provided by Ryan Tedder, who recently has become known as the lead singer of OneRepublic (also known as shoot me in the face right now), but years ago did a lot of vocals for Paul Oakenfold. Alas, I think this video would have been much better served if they just would have played it over the Kill Bill fight scene between Black Mamba and O-ren Ishii where Lucy Liu gets her head cut in half. YES! That would have been amazing. Check it out!

flashback: Janet "You"

Doesn't she look happy?
2nd best live show I've ever seen. No joke. I was 16 and was absolutely floored by her show(wo)manship. Insane. I have seen her twice since, and each time was great... but The Velvet Rope tour was the best. Absolutely flawless. This track, You, was intense live. I was at the Nissan Pavilion show the day before this one was aired live from Madison Square Garden.

essentials: Midnite Vultures (Beck)

...and then there was Midnite Vultures. Beck changed everything with this album. He proved he could bring funk back in a big way, as well as properly infuse it with everything from heavy electro to a goddamn banjo! He also gave the how's your father to those that said he'd never top Odelay. And, lastly, he made me love everything about him. This album is amazing. Here are two tastes... and if you are ever so daring, a link to download the entire album. You know you won't regret it.

remix monday: think it OoOover

Everyone loves a little disco, especially when it's The Supremes at the helm. Alloinyx remixed this tune properly, and I would have more to say about the remixologist if such was available on the interwebs... or if I cared more. There isn't much to say otherwise about this tune except that you should turn it up and appreciate the amount of depth added to this 45+ year old track. Enjoy, crackahs.

get ready.

3 tracks - snow patrol


So, it's snowin'... how about that? Despite how much I detest any kind of precipitation, it did get me in the mood to listen to some beautiful music. Snow Patrol popped directly in my head, so for this week's 3-track-Thursday, we dive into my favorite Snow Patrol songs.

These tracks come from one of the best indie/alt-rock albums ever, Snow Patrol's first major label release, Final Straw. This album was the band's third, but first to be picked up by the big boys. Granted (probably due to a shuffling of members) the band's output has decreased in quality, but I'll forgive them that. Final Straw was simply magic. It slowly leads you in with How To Be Dead, remains solid, and then hits you with the 1-2-3 punch of Spitting Games, Chocolate, and Run. Here are three tracks from Final Straw and additionally, I wanted to put down the one track that I love the most of their remaining work (they've had two somewhat unbecoming albums since), a tune called You Could Be Happy... which had to be the Irish cutter's anthem of 2006. Hooray!

Anyway, the Final Straw album is definitely worth owning. So, go do that.

fresh: lykke li gets her some

Lykke Li, Sweden's (god they keep producing good artists, don't they?!) 24-year-old indie darling released a new track this week that is completely ruining me in all the best ways. A preview for her upcoming sophomore release, Wounded Rhymes, Get Some is the perfect direction for a star whose first album's popularity did just enough hint that she was capable of great things. I hope she keeps producing quality tracks, as this song is infectious enough to get (even) me excited. I also attached a remix by one of my gods, Beck, which is definitely worth a listen... but the original takes the proverbial cake. When is someone going to throw a Swedish dance party? Let's call it MEATBALL... no?...

essentials: bronski beat & erasure

It is no secret that I love me some New Order, Depeche Mode, and Tears For Fears, and often play them in my SHIFT sets when they're remixed properly. The big three faces of the New Wave movement definitely are a staple for any fan of the genre, but (sadly) there are two bands who deserve as much recognition: Bronski Beat and Erasure. For those of you that love modern new wave, synth-pop, and what-have-you similar genres... you owe a great deal to the work of these two acts. For those that love openly gay (and also activist) groups out there... you owe a massive amount to the pioneer efforts of these two acts. They gave a giant 'fuck you' to the mold of hetero-normative rock and roll and, above all else, produced great songs that did what punk rock often failed at: demanded more of what inspired you.

remix monday: adele gets danceable

Keljet, who did a hell of a remix of Any Which Way, by Scissor Sisters, returns to make a gem out of this Adele track. Definitely check this one out. I love it, and it has definitely made me like Adele a great deal more. Sing it out, woman! God I dig this track... I don't know why, either. I figure maybe it makes the deeply-rooted soulful angry bitch inside me bawl out like a retarded siren.

The song, by the way, Rolling In The Deep, is the first single off Adele's new album, 21, which hits stores February 22, 2011. I think it might just be great. Who knows? I don't really care... I just love this remix. Big THUMBS UP to Keljet. This is the second remix I've heard by Keljet... and the 2nd one I love. Kudos y'all! All I really know about Keljet is that it's a duo from Nijmegen, Netherlands, who create some proper shit. Hooray REMIX MONDAY!

the killers do xmas.... again

So, The Killers have often done Christmas tunes, and I (mostly) applaud them on such a trademark move... but the jury's still out on this new one, titled Boots. So, before you boo the fact that the song is a bit of a drag, the video isn't well shot, and the rest of the band is not in said video (though we do love us some Brandon Flowers... despite the cowboy neck thingy he wears that's getting old)... I've added two great Killers xmas songs to make up for it! Woot! I love A Great Big Sled the most, I have to say... but Don't Shoot Me Santa is disjointed in all the right ways (very trademark Killers... when they choose not to suck) and fun. Definitely my kinda Xmas. Happy holidays and all that cheery shit.