2012: Top Songs

1. Ladyhawke- Black White & Blue
Did people loose interest in Ladyhawke this year? I must have missed the memo because this song is tremendous. Was there another single so strong, so immediate and demanding of attention as this released this year? If so, I haven't heard it yet.

2. Underworld- Caliban's Dream
As luck would have it the London Olympic Games placed the world's spotlight on many of the musicians who provided the soundtrack to my formative years. While the prospect Underworld scoring the Opening Ceremonies was exciting, the execution exceeded my expectations and cemented one of this year's most concrete collective memories.

3. Meiko- Leave The Lights On
This Is My Jam has been my go to music destination on the web since I joined back in January and the site's social nature has help expose me to all sorts of great music I might not have heard otherwise.  Of everything I have listened to, nothing hit me like the New Order-tinged "Leave The Lights On" which @april jammed back in the spring.

4. The Killers- Runaways
This might be the weakest lead single from The Killers to date, yet it still spins endlessly in my mind half a year later.

5. The Chemical Brothers- Theme For Velodrome
The second London Games track to make an appearance on this list find the brothers chemical Ed & Tom channeling Kraftwerk on this bicycling inspired track (who would have thought to make that connection) to great effect.

6. Saint Etienne- Tonight
Not that there was anything wrong with their post-Too Young To Die efforts, but Saint Etienne finally got down to the business of making brilliant pop this year.  This is just one of the high points.

7. Van She- Jamaica
The Austrialian electropop group have been creating underground buzz over the past few years but took a huge leap forward with this tropically flavored single.

8. School Of Seven Bells- Lafaye
The dreampop of my dreams.

9. Scissor Sisters- Let's Have A Kiki
One of the two self-produced tracks on the all-over-the-place Magic Hour had all of the charm you could want from a Scissor Sisters jam. Popservations has the track's history.

10. Soulsavers featuring Dave Gahan- Longest Day
Let's hope there is something near the emotional honesty of "Longest Day" on DM's upcoming long-player.

Jam On It

This Is My Jam call themselves "a place to put your favorite song of the moment & hear great music, handpicked every day by friends".  Once you are signed up for the site, which can by done by way of facebook or twitter, you can pick a song that is your "jam" for up to a week and are given 110 characters to say something about it.  What brings the site to life is the social component which allows you to follow people based on their musical taste whose jams populate your timeline in a streamable playlist.  I have been using the site with my phone for about a month now and have found it to be a fantastic soundtrack to my commute.  By following people with similar musical taste, some who I know through twitter and others who I have discovered through the site's suggested people widget, there is an mix of familiar songs and music new to me that tickles my interests.  For example my current timeline has Nine Inch Nails "We're In This Together Now", a song that I haven't listened to in years even though I own the CD single, and Poolside's "Do You Believe" which is a new to me but very much in vein of what I am interested in.  Any site that can bring balance to my musical taste is a rare thing and worth a look.

Check out my jams at http://www.thisismyjam.com/discomonk.

2011: Top Songs

1. M83- Midnight City
2. Depeche Mode- Puppets (Röyksopp Remix)
3. Foster The People- Helena Beat
4. The Drums- Money
5. The Rapture- How Deep Is Your Love?

30 Day Song Challenge - Index

Index
Day 01: Your Favorite Song Depeche Mode "Enjoy The Silence" 1990
Day 02: Your Least Favorite Song Deep Blue Something "Breakfast At Tiffany's" 1995
Day 03: A Song That Makes You Happy Bad Manners "Bang On The Drum All Day" 1985
Day 04: A Song That Makes You Sad Robyn "Call Your Girlfriend" 2010
Day 05: A Song That Reminds You Of Someone The Smiths "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" 1984
Day 06: A Song That Reminds You Of Somewhere The Wiseguys "Start The Commotion" 1999
Day 07: A Song That Reminds You Of A Certain Event Client "Radio" 2004
Day 08: A Song You Know All The Words To Oliva Theme Song 2009
Day 09: A Song You Can Dance To Kings Of Convenience "I'd Rather Dance With You" 2004
Day 10: A Song That Makes You Fall Asleep New Order "Video 5 8 6" 1982
Day 11: A Song From Your Favorite Band New Order "Every Little Counts" 1986
Day 12: A Song From A Band You Hate Dave Mathews Band "You & Me" 2009
Day 13: A Song That Is A Guilty Pleasure Ace Of Base "The Sign" 1993
Day 14: A Song That No One Would Expect You To Love ODB "Got Your Money" 1999
Day 15: A Song That Describes You Pet Shop Boys "Too Many People" 1993
Day 16: A Song That You Used To Love But Now Hate The Bravery "An Honest Mistake" 2005
Day 17: A Song That You Hear Often On The Radio Adele "Rolling In The Deep" 2010
Day 18: A Song You Wish You Heard On The Radio The Auteurs "Lenny Valentino" 1994
Day 19: A Song From Your Favorite Album Pet Shop Boys "It's Only The Wind" 1990
Day 20: A Song That You Listen To When You're Angry Nine Inch Nails "Wish" 1992
Day 21: A Song That You Listen To When You're Happy Junior Senior "Move Your Feet" 2002
Day 22: A Song That You Listen To When You're Sad Moby "Natural Blues" 1999
Day 23: A Song That You Want To Play At Your Wedding Freelance Hellraiser "A Stroke Of Genius" 2002
Day 24: A Song That You Want To Play At Your Funeral Fake Tupac "I Wrote This Song In '94" 2006
Day 25: A Song That Makes You Laugh R. Kelly "Trapped In A Closet" 2005
Day 26: A Song That You Play On An Instrument Edvard Grieg "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" 1876
Day 27: A Song That You Wish You Could Play The Killers "Human" 2008
Day 28: A Song That Makes You Feel Guilty Harry Chapin "Cat's In The Cradle" 1974
Day 29: A Song From Your Childhood Lionel Richie "Say You, Say Me" 1985
Day 30: Your Favorite Song At This Time Last Year Brandon Flowers "Crossfire" 2010

Postscript
Having completed the 30 Day Song Challenge I feel compelled to comment on it.  I'm pleased that it forced me to "write" 30 entries, more than I did in the past year and half, because I had a deadline and I appreciate that it approached music at a different angle than I take. However, I can't but feel I failed because about halfway through, which is about how far I had written in advance, my entries became distinctly shorter and less interesting. Were the questions less inspiring? Perhaps, but it had more to do with fatigue creeping in while I found myself very busy with work which left the challenge on the back burner. I certainly failed at my original vision which was to tweet the challenge with links. I only managed to tweet 4 days of the challenge.
It came as a surprise that, as someone who is their mid 30's, my pics did indeed span my lifetime rather than just becoming a snapshot of my teen years.

Discovering that both of my favorite song and album were released in 1990 must be some sort of cosmic coincidence. I'm sure the same wouldn't happen to you, were you to attempt such a challenge.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 30: Your Favorite Song At This Time Last Year

Brandon Flower's "Crossfire" was my summer jam of 2010.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 29: A Song From Your Childhood

In my elementary school days I was convinced that every contemporary song on the radio was sung by the same person. I was wrong, there were actually two people. Phil Collins and Lionel Richie. Richie's "Say You, Say Me" takes me back...

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 28: A Song That Makes You Feel Guilty

I have an amazing relationship with my father and my kids receive all my attention as they are the most important thing in my life but still Harry Chapin's "Cat's In The Cradle" leaves me wracked with guilt every time I hear it. No link, so you're on your own if you feel the need to listen to this one...

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 27: A Song That You Wish You Could Play

If I could play The Killers "Human" like the fellow in this video my life would be complete.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 26: A Song That You Play On An Instrument

As a live musician my technique is limited at best and so is my repertoire but the teacher of my high school electronic music class gave me the task of learning Edvard Grieg's "In The Hall Of The Mountain King". To this day I can play the piece by memory with both hands on the piano.  I programmed two versions of the song for the class creating a traditional orchestral arrangement and a "rock" arrangement.  This version is better than both of my takes.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 25: A Song That Makes You Laugh

R Kelly's "Trapped In A Closet" is a full exploration of one of the most original song concepts ever.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 24: A Song That You Want To Play At Your Funeral

I can not approach this question with any sort of seriousness because I'm just not built that way but the topic is still an interesting one.  L7's "Pretend We're Dead" immediately springs to mind as do a couple of songs from The Smiths.  "Cemetery Gates" would be a nice choice and "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" would be amazing if I died in a very specific manner.  The over top emo thing to do would to drop John Cage's "4'33"" so everyone has to drink in the silence, but ultimately I would have to go with the fake Tupac song from Chapelle's Show.  It was the dopest song I ever wrote.



Chappelle's Show - Tupac is Alive from Dundy on Vimeo.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 23: A Song That You Want To Play At Your Wedding

I've been married for ages and didn't pay much attention to the music at our wedding. However, if I were to go back in time I would slip Freelance Hellraiser's "A Stroke Of Genius" on the soundsystem because marriage brings together two different people to create something better than they are alone.  Also this would rock a dance floor.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 22: A Song That You Listen To When You're Sad

Drink in the sadness listening to Moby's "Natural Blues".

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 21: A Song That You Listen To When You're Happy

Junior Senior "Move Your Feet" is fantastic when I am happy and not nearly as good when I am moody.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 20: A Song That You Listen To When You're Angry

Nine Inch Nails "Wish" is a great way to release some anger.  Actually, the he whole Broken EP is a cathartic experience.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 19: A Song From Your Favorite Album

Pet Shop Boys Behavior is my favorite album.  It's "Only The Wind".

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 18: A Song You Wish You Heard On The Radio

The year is 1993 and I am faithfully listening, as I did most Saturday mornings, to Rock Over London on Live 105 when I first heard this amazing blast of a song. Having listened to the show for some years at this point I knew that it often took awhile for the songs featured on the show to make it to the station's playlist. I waited patiently to hear The Auteurs "Lenny Valentino" on the radio again but that time never came.  Was this due to the increasingly US-centric content of the Modern Rock station as grunge took over?  I don't know, but I do know that I am still wishing this song received more than one spin on air nearly 20 years later. Listen and then tell me that I'm wrong.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 17: A Song That You Hear Often On The Radio

Is there any other song so popular across the radio dial in 2011 than Adele's "Rolling In The Deep"?  You can hear it playing on one station flip the dial and finish the song on another frequency. I can't knock the song's success even though it's not my cup of tea if only because some of my favorite bloggers proclaimed the genius of the song a year ago.  Sometimes the public does get it right.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 16: A Song That You Used To Love But Now Hate

Was there a time when I liked The Bravery's "An Honest Mistake"?  Embarrassingly, the answer is yes.  Picking up their album after I bought into the hype, strong write-ups in NME and the familiarity of the music what I discovered was the work of uninspired bandwagon jumpers.  I'm not a fan of the former Skabba The Hut.

30 Day Song Challenge - Day 15: A Song That Describes You

There are times when I think that Pet Shop Boys "Too Many People" describes me well.  Not all the time though.



Just as an afterthought, if you do not own Alternative then you should do yourself a favor and buy it today.