Top 5 Songs of 2010

If you look back at my obligatory introduction, you'll see that one of the many topics I envision covering on this blog is music. I haven't gotten any chance to explore that part of pop-culture here (same as comic books, which is also mentioned in the introduction), so I figured there's no better time to finally do so then as a part of my Year Endies set of lists. That's right--it's time for my Top 5 Songs of 2010.

I feel nearly hesitant to even produce such a list. I vehemently stand by my belief that modern music is equivalent to horse excrement and that quality music died during the turn of the new millennium.

Case in point.

However, every year I continue to be astonished by the select catalog of actually good music. Half the time I'm nearly embarrassed to admit it, especially when the songs are in genres that I frankly bitch about. Be they rap, or pop, or whatever. That's not to say that in general modern music isn't dreadful, particularly in comparison to the "Golden Days" of music in the 20th Century, but there are still those actually producing good music these days, and no matter how hard I try and forget this to defend my status on modern music, there's still quite a few triumphs out there.

5. "Fuck You!" by Cee Lo Green

Cee Lo Green, whoever the hell you are, THANK YOU. Thank you for bringing soul back to a generation of Beliebers and California Gurls. Thank you for writing a song about getting rejected that isn't mournful or deep. And thank you for making a really bitching song in the form of "Fuck You!"

"Fuck You!" (or "Forget You!", "F**k You!", "F You!", "Fox News!") is a soul song from Cee Lo Green, some guy I've never heard of but (as stated) I am very thankful for. It explores Cee Lo getting rejected in his attempts to enchant a cute girl, and expresses his anguish in the most cheerful, profane way possible. It's like if Al Green had turrets, but in a really good way. Lyrically, it's outstanding, with clever hooks, inventive rhymes, and actually really nice uses of its profanity, while there's a catchy sound to it and Cee Lo delivers outstanding range and pitch. It all adds up to this incredible sense of liveliness and exuberance. And seriously--IT'S A 21st CENTURY SOUL SONG THAT'S ACTUALLY MAINSTREAM. I love this world sometimes. "Fuck You!" is fucking awesome.



4. "Tighten Up" by The Black Keys

Like Cee Lo Green above, I've never heard of The Black Keys, but I'm truly thankful for them for bringing quality incarnations of old genres (in this case, blues rock) into the mainstream. Their 2010 hit, "Tighten Up", is a top-notch piece of work that flew high this year, peaking at number 1 on the Alternative Rock charts.

"Tighten Up"'s lyrical basis is simple--it's about love, young and old, and your desperation for it--but The Black Keys are able to breath new life into it. The best part of this song is its sound; drummer Patrick Carney and guitarist Dan Auerbach combine to form a garage-style mix of noise that's psychedelic while remaining true to its blues core. Auerbach is an impressive vocalist, truly evocative of the intensity of blues artists like Robert Johnson. I hope these types of songs continue to slip into mainstream, because some nice nostalgia splattered on Billboard is appreciated for us stubborn folks who most of the time want to "turn off that racket!!"

3. "Power" by Kanye West

Stupid Kanye West. Being a complete douchebag that I hate, being apart of a stupid genre of music that I hate...And then pulling out Goddamn MASTERPIECES, like the entirety of his 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and the single from it, "Power."

"Power" is a simply beautiful song; West uses its lyrics to brilliantly convey a self-deprecating message about how much of a douchebag he is ("I'm livin' in the 21st century, doin' something mean to it") and how hated he is ("And they say I was the abomination of Obama's nation / Well, that's a pretty bad way to start a conversation"). I despised how much I loved this song, because it's rap and I hate rap, and it's hip and modern and I hate hip and modern, and it's freaking Kanye West and I hate freaking Kaye West (at least, as a human being).

But "Power" is just so entrancing, so beautifully theatrical, so powerful (boooooo~), it's irresistible. The entirety of "Power" is backed by a chorus of clapping women chanting "Aaaah eh eh", and sliced with samples of King Crimson's "21st Schitzoid Man", Continent Number 6's "Afromerica", and Cold Gits' "It's Your Thing", all while filtering a sort of twisted apology/reflection from Kanye West. It's the most ambitious song of the year and it comes together so perfectly. "I guess every superhero needs his theme music"; which ends up blowing up my expectations of hip hop and becoming a beautifully crafted, ambitious work of ark. You win this round Kanye West.

(I accompanied this entry with the mesmerizing music video for the song, but that's actually only 2 minutes of it, so here's the song in its entirety)

2. "Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)" by My Chemical Romance

My Chemical Romance is a band I'm sometimes embarrassed to say is one of my favorites, mainly because people have this silly assertion that they are a prime figure in the "emo" movement. That's not true though. 

The evolution of MCR's musical styling is astonishing--they began with songs that, yes, exemplify the masses' interpretation of emoism, but slowly but surely the band grew more creative, and their music became varying renditions of rock, pop, grunge, even ragtime, and now, punk. Their 2010 album Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys is the essentially the new American Idiot--it's a theatrical story that borders on a rock opera oozing with punk awesomeness. A polarizing listen, some songs border on hit-or-miss territory, but what this album succeeds best at are its energetically charged fast punk ballads, like its single "Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)".

"Na Na Na" is one of MCR's finest pieces; its lyrics are wild and eclectic, its sound is phenomenal with excellent instrumental work from all members of the band, and washes away all previous interpretations of the band's misinterpreted dark image by producing a loud punk anthem for the ages. There's blistering guitar riffs, the classically snide delivery of Gerard Way, and a beautifully orchestrated arena-filled chanting of the titular na's. "Na Na Na" is an incredible change of pace for MCR, but it's all apart of the band's sense of growth as musicians, and yet it maintains an in-your-face attitude that's like something off of '90s MTV. It's rebellious and genius, like MCR themselves.

And finally, number one...

1. "Cousins" by Vampire Weekend

I hesitated putting this as number one, because I felt as if it was cheating; "Cousins" was released as a single in 2009, but its actual album was released in January of 2010. So basically the single release was a "preview" of the album, so it still counts as a 2010 song and I can continue this post without any guilt strings dragging me down.

"Cousins" is a song from Vampire Weekend, an indie band you might know as "those guys who did the 'Holiday' song for the Honda commercials" (the inclusion of which ruined that song for me). You know that old saying "toe-tapping"? This is it, baby, in all its glory. "Cousins" is ridiculously fast, loud, and unbelievably tightly written. It's electrifying, engrossing, and happy. You come into "Cousins" unknowing of how much joy shall be released onto you by the time it's over; right off the bat it explodes in an eclectic mix of insanely-fast drum beats and insanely-fast guitar riffs. 

In the end, the lyrical meaning of the song would be almost pointless in the sum of its parts (and fittingly, its a celebration of effortless hipsterism) because it's so tightly written and so exuberantly intentioned that the only plausible interpretation of its purpose is to entice you with pure, unbridled, electrifying glee. Music has always been a form of expression, and like most forms of pop-culture its intention is to take you out of reality and make you feel better about yourself; "Cousins" goes one step beyond. It slams your jaw to the floor, then reassembles it before it slits a massive smile onto your face. It's a perfect song in every and exemplifies quality, modern music.

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As usual, this is all my opinion, so please don't flame me for having it. Maybe you've heard this songs, maybe you haven't, in which case I'm happy that I've introduced you to them, as they're all brilliant pieces from a generation where music has hit a rut. Next up is the conclusion of my Year Endies set: "Top 10 Films of 2010". See you then.

Top 5 TV Shows of 2010

And after a particularly smelly month-long-hiatus, "...And You Smell Like One Too" is back (in black). And ya know folks, I really love this time of year. Not just because there's the wonderfully cheery sense of Christmastime and holiday spirit, or the plethora of holiday specials to sink my teeth in. But because this is the time when we look back and review this year in any aspect we want. And since this is a pop-culture blog, that means I get to follow the leader and present my "year-endies" (to steal from The Rotten Tomatoes Show), better known as my Top 5 Whatever of 2010!

"And there was much rejoicing." "Yaaaaaay."

Yes, this is just an excuse for me to list things (an admitted easier thing to do than articles and review), but in a time when the new Yogi Bear movie actually exists, Glenn Beck is alive, and Spider-Man actors are falling from the sky in greater numbers than rain, we need some basic structure. It's been a big year for television: Glee dominated the world with an iron fist (while singing "I've Got the Whole World in My Hands" I presume), Betty White appeared in just about everything, etc. So I figure what better place to start a year-endie set of lists than with my personal Top 5 TV Shows of 2010.

5. The Rotten Tomatoes Show (Current TV)

Here was an exquisite find I found one day early this year while flipping through channels; I can say that the majority of people who are reading this, or perhaps stumbled upon it, might have never even heard of this show. Like its title suggests, The Rotten Tomatoes Show is a television series spun off from the popular internet review aggregator RottenTomatoes.com. Naturally, it's a review show, and for a long time during 2010, the only one on television. 

Think At the Movies meets Saturday Night Live, the show was a clever, hilarious, vibrant commentary on cinema. The hosts, Ellen Fox and Brett Erlich, are astonishingly remarkable, embodying personas that seem to be a mix between their actual personalities and scripted exaggerations, all while maintaining a charming chemistry. Throughout 2010, The Rotten Tomatoes Show went from the bottom of the barrel to the tippity top, providing well-thought out, hilarious commentary on films that came out that week. Intertwining all this were snazzy segments ranging from sketches to Top 5 lists (metaaaa~), all bolstered by surprisingly sharp one-liners that would otherwise seem forced and derivative had they not been delivered by charming leads and polished by a hairbrained but brilliant writing staff.

2010 was an interesting year for The Rotten Tomatoes Show: originally featuring webcam reviews sent in from viewers, online critics, and independent filmmakers mixed in with Brett and Ellen's own reviews in a hyper-edited ensemble sequence, somewhere about half-way through the season, the show decided to change the format. Now, it would review films a week before they came out, i.e., from their viewpoints as critic screenings. Thus, webcam reviews were removed and all reviewers were professional critics. Needless to say, fans bitched a lot.

But they all jeered their bitchings (and rightfully so) to a new development: the unannounced, unexplained canning of the show. In the last 1 minute of their "The Town, I'm Still Here, & Easy A" episode, Brett and Ellen casually announced the episode was the last of the show and that it was now being transferred over to Current TV's other (and now only) non-news program (though technically it's still a satirical news show), infoMania. RUINED FOREVER didn't even cut it; this new segment was atrocious, abridged to now freaking end, and a mind-boggling move on Current TV's part. Luckily, they grew some brains and released 3-minute review-only episodes of the show on On Demand and the internet. It's not the same, but it's better than the alternative.

The Rotten Tomatoes Show had a stellar, if controversial, run in 2010, supplying the boob tube a funny, quick-paced romp through movies. Truly a case of Too Good To Last at its saddest.

BEST 2010 EPISODE: "Alice in Wonderland, Stolen, & Brooklyn's Finest" (March 12, 2010) - Featuring (duh) reviews of Alice in Wonderland, Stolen, and Brooklyn's Finest, this episode showed RT at its finest--sharp, clever writing, a smartly analytical ensemble review (including one of Stolen, the only movie in the whole show's history to have a 0% Tomatoemeter rating, the announcement of which leads to a classically deadpan "Wow" from Brett), and a cavalcade of good segments. Classic lines are littered throughout this episode (such as Brett's "...or you can watch us on TV, because staring at us through our window all night--while flattering--is getting creepy"), plus a fascinating Favorite Films list from Stanely Tucci, a sketch featuring Brett as a judge declaring if actors known prominently for playing good guys make a solid turn into a villain role, and a hilarious cutaway to Ellen giving a toast at a wedding.

4. Futurama (Comedy Central)

Futurama ended its run in 2003, during its fourth season (as so many things are on FOX do), but the cult bravado of the science fiction comedy elevated the show to slowly rise from the grave. In 2008, the first of four direct-to-DVD Futurama movies began to be released, encompassing what became the fifth production season of the show. Fans cheered, but not as much as in 2010, when Comedy Central effectively brought Futurama back onto the airwaves. ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD COMEDY CENTRAL!

This new season of Futurama was spectacular. The show is, and has always been, like the early days of The Simpsons--consistently funny, yet still retaining an enormous heart and several poignant moments. The 2010 season was no different, featuring hysterical jokes, the characters that we known and love, and all the heartwarming, character-driven moments that lend the show to their success. The animation, provided by Rough Draft Studios, is stellar, even better than the days of old; especially now that the show is broadcast in HD.

Futurama's plots this season were twisty, trippy, and complicated--and deliciously so. Always interesting and unpredictable to watch, the show offered a healthy balance of comedy and character-driven, heartwarming moments. The show's a bit more edgy now that it's on cable, but that actually allows it for the show to be creatively more daring and explore new, risque plots (such as an entire episode where Leela and Zapp's private parts are covered only by small leaves). It's hilarious, unpredictable, trippy, and heartwarming, all at once.

BEST 2010 EPISODE: "The Late Phillip J. Fry" (July 29, 2010): One of the things Futurama does best, like I said above, in balancing its insane, science-fiction-based comedy with genuine heart and honest character moments. "The Late Phillip J. Fry" is this season's most triumphant example of this; Fry, due to circumstances usually beyond his control, keeps showing up late to his dates with Leela. This escalates even further when he, Bender, and Professor Farnsworth become entrapped in time when going in the Professor's new time machine that only travels forward into time. What results is a beautiful, heartwarming meditation, filled with stunning visuals, thought-provoking observations on the universe, funny jokes not at the expense of the story's tone, and creative plotting. It's one of Futurama's most mesmerizing episodes, and when we're discussing this show (and this season) that's saying something.  

3. Louie (FX)

 

It's a concept that sounds a lot like Seinfeld (New York comedian playing a characture of himself book ended by the titular comedian's stand-up routine) and a credits list rivaling a Tommy Wiseau film (starring, written by, directed by, and edited by Louis C.K.), but FX's Louie is greater than anything you could put on paper. 

Labeled as a sitcom starring and almost entirely hemmed by comedian Louis C.K., the series actually turned out to be more like a set of short films exploring deep, personal topics like death, religion, humanity, mortality, and life, while still being really damn hysterical. C.K. plays himself, an aging New York stand-up comic raising two little girls on his own while trying to find a happy medium between a good relationship with his kids and a decent sex life.

On display throughout Louie's debut 2010 season is a touching, hilarious portrait of self; it's a cringe-inducing, sometimes vulgar, always funny look on life told through the eyes of a stand-up comic. It's a no-budget series that consistently delivers laughs, all while showing C.K. toying with the craft, finding new ways to balance acrid depictions of his interactions with others with bleak, yet somewhat poignant, self-deprecation, all while providing consistently funny jokes, during the spectrum of both his stand-up and vignettes.  

The first season of Louie consisted of 13 episodes, all airing rather late at night, and usually only being viewed by under 1 million viewers. It's a small show, yes, with a small audience, yes, but the impression it leaves is visceral; it's filled with non-stop laughter, and also a touch of beauty and poignancy. 

BEST 2010 EPISODE: "Heckler/Cop Movie" (July 27, 2010) - In the first vignette, Louis viciously verbally attacks a truly atrocious audience member (the titular "heckler"), and in the second, he submits to his late agent's last request that he perform in a remake of The Godfather directed by Mathew Brodrick. This episode offered a consistent stream of laughs, with a hilariously ironic ending to "Heckler" with Louis realizing that he almost had a chance to bone the heckler, but the majority of glory comes from the "Cop Movie" segment. From C.K.'s agent insanely loud insistence that Louis does the movie, to the mere concept of the remake of The Godfather (where "they're all Jews"), to Louis's impossibly bad performance in the movie. It was Louie at its funniest, and while not quite as deep as episodes like "Bully" or "God", this set featured a comedic level not many shows can measure up to.

2. Phineas and Ferb (Disney XD)

I know what you're thinking: A Disney Channel show, a children's card game cartoon on your list of the Top 5 TV Shows of 2010? Surely you can't be serious! Well I am serious. And don't call me 'Shirley.'

I'm sure people have told you about this show before: Two step brothers (the titular Phineas and Ferb) are on summer vacation and decide to do reality-defying acts to stretch the most out of their vacation. Meanwhile, their sister, Candace, tries to tattle on them to their mother, who always arrives just too late to witness the boys' in the act, and the family's domesticated platypus Perry is secretly a spy fighting the maniacal yet incompetent Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

I'm also sure that if you've heard about this show, you know how unbelievably good it is. In the vein of '90s cartoon classics like Animaniacs and Freakazoid!, Phineas and Ferb is not actually made for kids. It's made for anyone who's watching, but chooses to not exclude children that are technically the program's demographics. The show is astonishingly smart, witty, and hilarious--any given episode will contain copious amounts of pop-culture references, satire, crap-getting-past-the-radar, and several other things that will (being unable to avoid the cliched term) soar right over kids' heads. All the while packing in likable, memorable characters and impossibly catchy original songs.

2010 was a great year for the show: continuing what is approaching to be aHOLY SHITthree-year-long second season, Phineas and Ferb returned after a brief two month hiatus following the spectacular Christmas special, "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation". Every episode this year packed a solid punch, delivering on the laughs, joy, and clever animation that we've been expecting. The songs might have had a bumpy road this season, varying from weak to orgasmically epic. It all accumulated with stellar special guest appearances from the likes of Seth MacFarlane, Ben Stiller, Clay Aiken, Chaka Khan, amongst others, increased publicity, a Daytime Emmy Award, and some of the best episodes in the show's broadcast history.

It's a smart show, a hilarious, witty show that's formulaic and yet mind-bogglingly creative and unpredictable, off-the-wall yet stylishly grounded, satirical and almost edgy, colorful, bright, fun...There are 104 days of Summer vacation, and you'll want to spend every day with Phineas and Ferb.

BEST 2010 EPISODE: "Nerds of a Feather" (August 16, 2010) - I border on considering this the single finest installment of the series in its run. "Nerds of a Feather" features the boys attending a science-fiction/fantasy convention in hopes of meeting a their idol, special effects guru (Kevin Smith). Instead, they get caught in midst between a acrid feud between sci-fi fans and fantasy fans. The results are beyond hysterical; scattered throughout are sharp parodies of everything the two genres have to offer, including even a reference to the quality of Star Trek films (evens=good, odds=bad, sans Nemesis [even, but bad] and Star Trek [odd, but great]). There's also a subplot featuring Doofenshmirtz pitching a '70s-cop-esque TV show to an executive producer (Seth MacFarlane) starring himself and Perry. It's something so outstanding you have to see it to believe it. The entire episode is loaded with great satire, hilarious gags both visual and verbal, and fantastic songs.

1. Community (NBC)

The best show on television (according to me), Community, holds such a title for many reasons. For one thing, like many shows on this list, it surpasses the restrictions of quality of its premise. Like a probably-superior Best 2010 TV Shows list from The A.V. Club noted, it's "better suited to a 90-minute Adam Sandler movie than a TV show". Instead, it's a hilarious, heartwarming show that's incredibly character-driven and not afraid to take risks. For another, it's got probably the single most perfect ensemble on television who breathe life into their ingeniously crafted characters. 

And perhaps, most importantly: It's really, really, really funny. 

In the show, a thirtysomething lawyer named Jeff Winger attends a crappy community college after he's been ratted out for having a fake college degree. While trying to get into the pants of a classmate, he ends up joining an unlikely family in the form of a neurotic study group. And unlike most sitcoms on TV these days, Community's writing staff knows what the hell it's doing, and is completely unafraid to try new, creative things. What started as a simple show about a selfish guy trying to get laid exploded into a metafictional, satirical exploration rooted strongly in its increasingly interesting characters. It's like Arrested Development that way, and also just like AD, the show is the best thing on television that nobody's watching, and critic's will like to remind you that as much as they can.

During 2010, Community shoved out the best half-hours of television of the year, be they small, character-driven bottle episodes or grand, over-the-top genre parodies. Each episode is unpredictable and inventive, with the writers taking new strides to allow each episode to feel fresh and not bleed into one another. It delivers on the laughs while still being surprisingly sentimental (sometimes even dramatic) and fair to its characters. When the show wants to deliver you a message, it will, but what's so great about it is that it will acknowledge the hell out of it without seeming derivative or pretentious. It's self-aware and satirical, but the reason it stays fresh is that it's able to be so while still being unpredictable and honest. And funny. Really freaking funny.

BEST 2010 EPISODE: "Contemporary American Poultry" (April 22, 2010) - "Contemporary American Poultry" was Community's first dive into over-the-top genre parodies that have defined other outstanding 2010 episodes such as "Modern Warfare" and "Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design." In it, the gang become tired of the cafeteria's shortage of chicken fingers and descend into a GoodFellas-inspired conspiracy iron-fisted by Abed. This episode is flawless. Just going to get that out of the way. Maybe I'm biased because GoodFellas is one of my favorite movies, but screw it. This episode is one of the perfect examples of what Community is all about--it's covered in hilarious, over-the-top parody, but at its core, it's an examination of one of the show's most complex characters, Abed. The episode is loaded with sharp directing and great lines; hell, this is the one where Troy remarks, "If God were edible, not that I'm Catholic, but if it were cool to eat God, he'd be a chicken finger." I might as well stop there. Community is the best show on television, and nothing proves that better than "Contemporary American Poultry."

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And there you have it. I'll be doing more of these, because they're fun (yet admittedly exhausting), and because it's a perfect way to round out the year in pop-culture. 'Till next time, happy holidays and keep on keeping it, keepers.