A Few Definites For The Year-End CD

After going through my music files, I have settled on a handful of songs that are definitely going on the CD. There are a few good ones missing here, thanks to the total computer meltdown I had in the middle of the year, which means I'm going to have to go through the physical music files as well...and buy a new burner. Sigh.

Anyhow, when I try to sum up this year, it feels like it should be with a combination of angry punk, rocking anthems of hope, a few mellow chill-out songs, and a few other random songs that are good just because they're good. I think that's represented in this list, presented in no particular order:

The Kills - URA Fever: I think I listened to this song 100 times on repeat in my lime green rental car over the summer. Hypnotically catchy.



Elbow - The Bones of You: I woke up to this song playing on my alarm clock one morning, and by that evening I owned the CD. The lyrics are about the nostalgia a song can induce in you...I wonder what nostalgia this song will one day induce in me? Listen to a live version here.

Michael Franti - Remote Control. Heard this song live at All Points West. What a great election-year anthem.

TI featuring Rihanna: Live Your Life. This song has been stuck in my head, off and on, for months now. It should be illegal to be so catchy. I'm not even going to post it here lest it get caught in your head too.

Kings of Leon - Closer. Didn't really get into these guys until I saw them at All Points West. That, plus this song - one of the 10 sexiest ever, I think - converted me. Listen here.

Catherine A.D. - Carry Your Heart. Love the creepy minor key modulations in her voice. And the lyrics. Put one foot in front of the other and pray that nobody will ask how you carry your heart. That one, and another one, here.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Colour Television. I don't know anything about these guys, but this song is like an updated, wiser "57 Channels and Nothing On". Available here.

Calexico - Two Silver Trees. I love everything Calexico does, but I particularly love this windswept song.

Lil Wayne - A Milli. I had this album on non-stop for a while this summer, but it somehow feels already like a relic of the past. This live version with ?uestlove of The Roots doing the "A Milli" chorus is inCREDible. Listen to the banter at the end.