1) Cool - Gyrate Plus - Pylon

Delving into old bands can be a dangerous proposition, but getting to rediscover something like Pylon is what it’s all about. Simultaneously caustic and captivating, Pylon still has a jarring freshness to modern ears.

2) The Wicked Messenger - I’m Not There - The Black Keys

There’s a ton of great material on the I’m Not There soundtrack, but I love the Keys because they make their cover completely unDylanesque (hello, completely made-up word). While everyone is coming an inch short of doing actual Dylan impersonations, Auerbach and Carney are grinding out bog heavy blues as they are wont to do.

3) This Time Tomorrow - The Darjeeling Limited - The Kinks

This was already a classic track, but whenever Wes Anderson really nails a song placement he claims a little piece of it. Just hearing it makes me visualize everyone running in slow motion… is that just me?

4) Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe - The Stage Names - Okkervil River

I’m a big fan of someone trying to do an extended metaphor in their song lyrics, but film references is dicey. It’s just too easy to sound like video store clerk poetry. Despite shoehorning the word IMAX into the song, Will Sheff does admirably. I’m pretty close to calling Stage Names my favorite record of the year.

5) Sci-Fi Kid - Wild Mountain Nation - Blitzen Trapper

Most of Wild Mountain Nation has a folksy throwback country sound to it, but this song merges humble roots music with spacey keyboards and random digital samples to create their own space oddity.

6) Man - Please Clap Your Hands - The Bird And The Bee

The Bird and The Bee is a little bit trip hop and a little bossa nova. Their dreamy lounge music spikes with danceable beats and sharp melodies but is just slightly more interesting than your standard cutesy electronica.

7) Butterfly Nets - The Broken String - Bishop Allen

This is one of the few Bishop Allen tracks with Darbie Nowotka on lead vocal, and one of their most beautiful and fragile numbers. Even the trombone solo has a trembling frailty, which is stunning in its subtlety.

8) White Wedding (Billy Idol Cover) - Bridging The Distance - Whip

Buried in the middle of the Portland covers compilation, The Whip makes Billy Idol’s hit into a darkly beautiful murder ballad.

9) The Bleeding Heart Show - Twin Cinema - New Pornographers

I was revisiting Twin Cinema, and I was shocked to find that this didn’t sneak onto any my monthly mixes the year it came out. Despite being attached to a horrible Phoenix University commercial, it’s still one of the best New Porn tracks. The build and layering are tremendous, with the band going into Polyphonic Spree territory only to have Neko Case blast through the mix.

10) I Give Up - Live Shit - Quasi

The actual proper “song” is only the last half of the track, with a 90 second instrumental intro featuring the wacky drum stylings of Janet Weiss. Great intro, great song. It also captures the weakest audience reaction on a live album I’ve ever heard. To be fair, this was live IN STUDIO and not in a club, so the clapping is probably just three guys in a booth at Jackpot Records.

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For anyone that didn’t know, I finally got naturalized as an American citizen a few weeks ago. It’s a pretty short ceremony, where you renounce your allegiances to any foreign prince, rock the pledge of allegiance and then they play this song:

I kinda wished they showed this instead:

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I cross the 500 point barrier for the first time, hitting 5 bingos in one game: ENPLANED, VARIANCE, NANOTUBE, ISOMERIC and CROSSTIE. I can get maybe one bingo per game, but five was completely out of control.

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In all fairness to Microsoft, I received a new 360 three weeks after I called in my red ring problem. Just in time for some Call of Duty 4.

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