Every year dating back to 2008 I compile a list of the 500 best songs I've heard from the preceding year. It's a long process that's detailed in other posts on this blog. I'll now be presenting the countdown of the top 500 songs in increments of 10. Hopefully I'll post 10 a day, but I'm sure there will be days when I don't get around to it, so bear with me if this takes awhile.
#501 Dada Trash Collage - "Worlds Fair 1964" from "Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist" - As usual the IRP provided me with around 20 songs in my top 500 that wouldn't have been heard otherwise. It's a free and legal monthly playlist that's available to download on a blog of the same name. If you like indie rock such as this quirky Animal Collective-esque track, check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBq39OrLW4Q
#500 Morcheeba - "Crimson" from "Blood Like Lemonade" - The best comparison for this song would be to trip hop legends such as Massive Attack or Tricky. The song has a slow tempo and an eerie vocal track. It's unique sound was what led me to name it as the last song in the official countdown.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOgNFaRMpLM
#499 Portugal The Man - "The Dead Dog" from "American Ghetto" - Portugal The Man had a breakthrough hit in 2011 with "People Say" off of their 2010 album. "The Dead Dog" is an excellent follow-up track off of their 2010 album, "American Ghetto".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcqB3_MUXlc
#498 John Legend And The Roots - "Hard Times" from "Wake Up" - 2011 was a big year for The Roots, as several songs from their own album made the countdown along with some from their team-up with John Legend including this track, which features a rap verse from Black Thought.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOgkRniSNTs
#497 Athlete - "The Getaway" from "Black Swan" - A sweeping slow-build song from Athelete, a solid band that specializes in that sort of thing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB0RYMSNgLg
#496 Against Me! - "One By One" from "White Crosses" - Against Me! is a great band because they take the style, content and attitude of punk bands like Fugazi or Anti-Flag and combine with the kind of near-pop hooks to create the kind of anthems with complex social and political messages that you can sing along with.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNMddbK3uWw
#495 The Arcade Fire - "Wasted Hours" from "The Suburbs" - The first of a year-leading 11 songs on the countdown (tied with Big Boi, Kanye West and Vampire Weekend) for The Arcade Fire this year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cuT8tSaxQc
#494 Bad Religion - "Ad Hominem" from "The Dissent Of Man" - Every Bad Religion album has about a half dozen songs the boil just under the top 500 level. "Ad Hominem" just beat out "Avalon" to make the list as this album's representative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgRLG1tl9DE
#493 Fefe Dobson - "Stuttering" from "Joy" - Fefe Dobson is a pop artist (from Canada?) that I had never heard of before listening to here 2010 album "Joy". Maybe it's because I haven't heard her music a million times before, but it always seems like the pop music that doesn't make it big turns out to be much better than what does.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmb8_KsrNSQ
#492 Waka Flocka Flame - "Hard In Da Paint" from "Blalock's Indie Rock Playlist" - Waka Flocka Flame is one of the hottest up-and-coming rappers in the game right now and this was his biggest track of 2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkkC9cK8Hz0
#491 Stone Temple Pilots - "Hazy Daze" from "Stone Temple Pilots" - STP continue to keep the glam rock flame alive with their self-titled comeback album and "Hazy Daze" is one of the best examples of STP's take on the genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRCYEsGjnKo
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