Songs of 2010 - "I Think Ur A Contra"

And no, I have no real idea what that means. I just like the song, a lot, even if the album left me somewhat cold.

Songs of 2010 - "The Wig He Made Her Wear"

Two versions:



The second, being a "webisode" produced by the band:



It's just a great, great song, the highlight of their 2010 album, "The Big To-Do." I'm just sorry they didn't play it the night I saw them in Chicago!

Songs of 2010 - "Crystalised"

Another 2009 song, but one that I didn't really get into until 2010 - "Crystalised," by The xx.

Songs of 2010 - "Lasso"

And now, we're getting down to the real nitty-gritty: the songs that always perked me up when I was down, the songs I turned up loud when they came on the radio, and the songs that most frequently made it onto my MP3 playlists.

The first of those is "Lasso," by Phoenix.

Songs of 2010 - "Kick Drum Heart"

I could have chosen a lot of different Avett Bros. songs for the best-of list this year, even though none of them were released in 2010. But I didn't discover the duo until last Fall, and chose this song for two reasons - it came close to being released in 2010, and it comes as close as anything I've seen to capturing the exuberance and joy of their live shows. I was lucky enough to see them in April during their visit to Sacramento, and hope to see them again someday.

Songs of 2010 - "No Better Than This"

Ol' John had gotten a little boring on his recent releases, but "No Better Than This" was a great comeback - even though it sounded old, it never sounded less than vital.

And I don't know if the woman dancing in this video was planned or spontaneous, but either way, it works beautifully.

Songs of 2010 - "Bloodbuzz Ohio"

As I have noted elsewhere, I really like the sound of this band, which is encapsulated quite neatly in this song.

Songs of 2010 - "Hey Ahab"

"The Union" was surely the best album that either Elton John or Leon Russell has released in over 30 years. While I'd still like to spend more time with it before I render a final opinion, there's no question that "Hey Ahab" is a terrific song - one of the best of the year.

Songs of 2010 - "Flume"

Peter Gabriel's album of cover versions, "Scratch My Back," was a bit of a mixed bag, but at least three songs were spectacular - Elbow's "Mirrorball," Talking Heads' "Listening Wind," and this one - Bon Iver's "Flume."

And for comparison, the original:

Songs of 2010 - "Silver Rider"

It was a pretty damn good year for the old white guys, as I like to call them. John Hiatt, Elton John & Leon Russell, John Mellencamp...and Robert Plant.

Robert made a great album with a host of southern and folk luminaries, and here he is joined by the great Patty Griffin on a terrific live version of "Silver Rider," my favorite song on his album "Band of Joy."

Songs of 2010 - "XXXO"

M.I.A.'s "Maya" was another album I didn't quite get into like its immediate predecessor ("Kala"). But "XXXO" jumped out of the earbuds on first listen, and after six months is still sounding great. And it's bound to sound great one, five and ten years from now.

Songs of 2010 - "Get Downtown"

A year ago at this time, I'd never heard a single song by the Drive-By Truckers. Now, they may be my favorite band.

Their 2010 album, "The Big To-Do," was not their best, but it was 3/4 of a great album. The strength of the band is that they have two terrific songwriters and singers, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, whose styles are very different but complement each other perfectly.

This won't be the only DBT song on the list, but we'll start with a great Cooley rocker - "Get Downtown."

Songs of 2010 - "We End Up Together"

"Challengers" was one of my favorite albums of the last decade, but the new one, "Together," didn't quite click for me the same way. I'm still holding out hope, because it took a LONG time for "Challengers" to sink in.

But no matter how you cut it, "We End Up Together" is a great song, and a perfect example of what the band does so well.

This clip was filmed at The Vic Theater in Chicago, where I was lucky enough to catch Drive-By Truckers in April. More on that later.

Songs of 2010 - "My Mother and My Sweetheart"

This is actually a song that was released last year, but I didn't get around to buying the album until this year - Loudon Wainwright III's "High Wide and Handsome - The Charlie Poole Project." On the album, Loudon sings it, but the only version on YouTube is the one above, with Rufus handling the vocal with Loudon playing guitar. I don't know what it is about this song, but it never failed to bring a smile to my face - even though it is a bit of a sad one.

Songs of the Year 2010

From now until the end of the year, I'm going to be posting videos of what became my favorite songs of the year.

I think 2010 was the year that I finally allowed the MP3 revolution to overtake the way I listen to music - I've always been an album man, but now the bulk of my listening is on my MP3 player (usually when I'm running), and I find that for the most part I lack the patience to listen through an album in one sitting. That makes me a bit sad, because I think there are still a lot of great albums out there, but when I'm out running, what I really want is variety.

So instead of listing my top albums of the year, I'm going to share my favorite songs - the songs that defined the year for me.

Leading off, the great Johnny Cash, from what I assume will be the last Rick Rubin collaboration that gets released. "Ain't No Grave," the terrific title track from American VI.

Merry Christmas!

Everyone should have Santa socks and Merry Christmas slippers.