The Top Fifty Favorite Songs Of 2005 - Pt.4

20. “Tell Me I’m Wrong” by Longwave
Opening with a gurgle of electro-blippery and a slick guitar riff, “Tell Me I’m Wrong” seems to be a terribly contrived, bandwagon-jumpin’ track (Longwave may think they are the next Killers). The first verse does nothing to assuage this (“It’s time to sink or swim” – Longwave, you get a big fat, “Come on!”). It’s really awful to pass such judgment on a song after only a minute, but I do it anyway. Lucky for me, and you, discerning music listener, I let it roll: the song redeems itself when the band launches into the chorus, and they blast past the hit-making stratosphere, into bliss-drenched-pop-oblivion, playing the loud-soft dynamics with effortless control and palatability. Before, I go on to the next song; this song does not save the rest of Longwave’s long-player (There’s A Fire) from being a whipping-track for my snob-elitist tendencies. What a steaming peanut-strewn …

19. “I Predict A Riot” by Kaiser Chiefs
Continuing the insanity of my countdown, these post-post-punkers/former-Strokes-clones made the best Franz Ferdinand song this year. The thing that is so damn surprising about this track is the lack of that Gang Of Four-by-Franz disco beat. This thing is straight up nth-wave Mod revival. The entire length of the track is nothing short of an infectious assault on your cerebral cortex, a veritable rape of your auditory system. Precise and uptight; energetic and choppy; catchy and abrasive, this song is great and it’s rock n roll.

18. “So Begins Our Alabee” by Of Montreal
Another track with a stellar intro – this time it’s weird electronic wankery (beats and chords) and layered-n-looped vocals that segue easily to the meat of the song. The whole track ransacks pop tradition, stealing everything from “ba-bahs” to pop-reggae-beats to 80s synth pop. It’s with this synth pop where Kevin Barnes recites a mantra: “So begins, begins our odyssey” that abruptly rams into a post-pop-chorus brimming with idiosyncratic word play. When nuttiness is this accessible, it’s gotta hit the Top Twenty. Of course.

17. “Fallen Leaves” by Teenage Fanclub
The big-Byrds-fuzzed-guitar intro trips into a mellow-sweet verse, and the whole vibe is anticlimactic. Before disappointment sets in, the first verse ends and the chorus takes off with a killer series of understated guitar strums and Hammond-like keyboards. That chorus then ends with a series of snare-bang-tom pounds and a sick lead guitar riff. While this is cool and all (indeed!), it’s the Gerry Love crafted melody that is so spot on, and a hook that is utterly memorable. The minute-plus outro is one of the most transcendent jamz of 2005.

16. “Snarly Yow” by Black Dice
Don’t get me wrong, “Smiling Off” is a great track, just not my favorite. Black Dice songs can meander in ambience or they can assault your senses with noise or they can totally fuck with the dance music paradigm. “Snarly Yow” does it all. The best part of this song is when they interject a four-on-the-floor-house beat that is overtaken by an insane guitar riff that evaporates into the most hypnotizing synth repetition that is periodically interrupted by blasts of noise from sick robot birds, alien catatonic scales, and pure industrial junk. Wow.

15. “Chewing Gum” by Annie
Annie was anointed a Princess by Pitchfork last year (I’m late to the game, but I’m counting this because it’s the U.S. release *natch*), thus, immediately making me skeptical about this Norwegian pop phenom. My skepticism wasn’t enough to kill my curiosity. “Chewing Gum” is easily the best track off of Anniemal, for a variety of reasons, most of all, totally silly, entirely sexy. It’s this mix of silliness and sexiness combined with a great melody that makes this track so hot.

14. “Free Me” by Emma Bunton
I will not resist … Baby Spice is all grown up! Shoo-oot. This track (and half of her debut solo record, Emma) is so far from anything the Spice Girls even thought of doing. “Free Me” has Emma cooing and sighing on the verses about her longing; strings swell, horns ebb and flow, and the beat pulsates (it’s obvious her songwriters were going for some Bacharach here) perfectly reflecting the emotions of the lyrics. When the chorus comes, the song heaves forward, unbridled and aggressive as our Emma sings, “Let me loose to love you, how I long to seduce you” – on paper, it’s comical, but when hearing the song it’s pure passion.

13. “Gold Digger” by Kanye West
Not to be lazy, but I just like this track. No, I love this track. I, being one of the biggest Kanye poo-pooers in the world, I actually hated the track the first twenty times I heard it. The thing that hooked me? No, not Jamie Foxx’s retro, “I-I-I-wanna-testa-FY!!” bizzaro vocals. It was the freaking beat – that bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum. The lyrics are silly, goofy, sort of a 21st Century take on Eddie Murphy. Maybe it’s base, maybe it’s stupid, but the beat, West’s flow, and the overall production equal great.

12. “Paper Cuts” by The Boy Least Likely To
Usually a song like this is called “delightful”, “precious”, “cute”, “indie-pop”, “sunshine”, etc. and I'd have to admit, yeah, that would be correct. What makes “Paper Cuts” better than your standard Belle & Sebastian (or even Teenage Fanclub, Beat Happening) wannabe, is a super-strong melody with a great performance (the guitars, the keys, the drums, all are executed flawlessly). Check out the bridge! Awesome! When I hear a song this delightful and precious, I fall in love with cute sunshine-y indie pop all over again.

11. “Face B” by Isolee
Nearly six minutes of electronic perfection. It’s juxtaposition of incompatible sounds and soundscapes that render Isolee’s Rajko Müller productions nothing short of brilliant. The mix of a steady beat and oddly placed accents, the application of crescendo-decrescendo, the buried semi-melody, the barely-there vocals all create a track that is so bleak, yet so funky; relaxing as it is tense; cold as death, but full of life. Really, this has to be heard to truly be appreciated.
->