The 25 Best Songs of 2010… Since Then (July-Dec.)

Here it is, for better or worse, for agreement or not, my list of the top 25 jams that rocked and/or rolled my ass during the second half of 2010. This is the 4th such list in TBE history and by far the most quality collection. There were  so many tracks that didn’t make the cut, and so many more that I think should be ranked higher. Can’t put ’em all in the top 10, now can I? Anyway, like all my lists, the ranking is loose. The quality, however, is tight as a drum… a tom-tom drum, perhaps…

25. ♫ Wiz Khalifa – Black & Yellow / Annnnd, this is why we don’t do year end lists before the YEAR ENDS. A late entry to my iTunes and an instant favorite. Swagger city up in this one! Push to start!

24. ♫ Fabolous – You Be Killin Em / Naw, Fabo, YOU be killen ’em. Niiice.

23. ♫ Muscles – Girl Crazy Go / Should be called “Brandon Crazy Go” cause that’s what happens. It’s like strobe lights for the ears. Awesome.

22. ♫ AWOLNATION – Burn It Down / Definitely makes me want to run around burning things. A party anthem for the pyro in all of us.

21. ♫ Dam Funk – Hood Pass Intact, featuring MC Eiht / That crisp throwback beat is like a slap on the ass reminding me to put a little dip in my step and stay true to my old hood.

20. ♫ Trophy Wife -Microlite / If fog had fingers and stuck to the ground like moss then it would sound like this when the wind blew. Dunno what that means but I love this song.

19. ♫ A-Trak – Ray Ban Vision (feat. CyHi Da Prynce) / Well, you can’t fault CyHi for his honesty. And I won’t fault you for busting moves you didn’t know you had to this knee-breaking beat. A-Trak kiiiiils it.

18. ♫ Baths – Aminals / So many funky beats all at once it’s hard not to get swept up in the bounce and clack of this one.

17. ♫ Depressed Buttons – Ow! / Huge beat, semi-orgasmic vocal sample, and a variety of tweaked lazer noises. Blend on high. Serve with a straw so as to not spill on the dance floor.

16. ♫ Geographer – Kites / From that first listen to right now this has been a constant spine-tingler. The vocals make it. Or maybe that piano! Damn.

15. ♫ Generationals – Trust / They’re baaack! The best band out of New Orleans today is still killing it under radars everywhere. Recognize, people!

14. ♫ The Thermals – Never Listen To Me / Ride that guitar! Ride it! Wooo! Soo groovy!

13. ♫ Twin Shadow – Slow / Took me a while to get on board with this one but once I did, let me tell ya, once I did… But seriously, vocals, drums, lyrics, guitar, reverb, everything is sooo niiicee.

12. ♫ Big K.R.I.T. – Hometown Hero / Krizzle continues his I-do-it-all boast-fest with a jam that tunes down the aggression for something a little more straight to the heart. And he nails it.

11. ♫ Grouplove – Colours / Crazy British spelling aside, this jam does everything right, starting slow and taking us on a climactic journey to full on sing-along excitement. Well, yell-along really.

10. ♫ The-Dream – Yamaha / Cause sometimes a girl’s real name just isn’t as appropriate as a 123 year old Japanese keyboard/motorcycle company. And cause sometimes you gotta use phrases like “turn that motherfucker out” when referring to the act of lovemaking.

9. ♫ When Saints Go Machine – Fail Forever / Another late-year addition to the site sprints up the list with non-stop plays and a minty fresh feeling with every listen. A perfect vocal/music combo.

8. ♫ The Naked And Famous – Girls Like You / The longest track on this list by over a minute and I’ve not once felt that it was dragging. It’s like sex in a song. It warms you up, gets down to business for a bit, then cuddles with you as you drift to sleep.*

7. ♫ Kanye West – All Of The Lights / Oh Kanye, you done done it again. First “Monster” had me wondering if you could really pull this whole thing off and then this jam dropped and it was like woah. Like woah.

6. ♫ Hurts – Stay / Don’t just wear your heart on your sleeve, make a handkerchief out of it that you can cry into as you spill your guts to that perfect angel. If you are gonna do this love thing then do it right, dammit! (Sidenote: This was the first song I went to when testing out the sweet new headphones I got for Christmas.)

5. ♫ Brandon Flowers – Only The Young / There are a lot of great things about this track but perhaps the best is that it’s a song we would have never gotten from The Killers. More of Flowers’ album should have played with this kind of tender attention to detail and emotion.

4. ♫ Wolf Gang – Lions In Cages / Wolf Gang steps up his game to a whole new level on a track that does it all brilliantly. Attempting to not “wooooaah, oooohhhh, ooooh” along is simply futile. Love it.

3. ♫ Gotye – Eyes Wide Open / Probably the only song from last year that you could brush it’s hair, feed a carrot to, throw a saddle on, and actually ride. Now that’s a jam.

2. ♫ Bedouin Soundclash – Brutal Hearts (Ft Coeur de Pirate) / Nothing like real life lovers singing to each other about how neither is looking for love. Relationships are never easy, man. Good thing we have this aural ointment to sooth the pain.

1. ♫ The Hundred In The Hands – Tom Tom / Holy crap. This jam still rocks my socks like the first time I heard it! Landing in mid-July, it’s the oldest jam on this list but considering it’s heads-above play count and the fact that it got love from me on the regular, I am more than stoked to name this my favorite song of the second half of 2010. Now if only their debut LP was close to this good…

––>  Get The Best Songs of 2010… Since Then in a zip file!  <––

Be sure to catch all the 2010 “best of” lists!

• Best Albums
• Best Songs – Pt. 1 (Jan-June)
• Best Songs – Pt.2 (July-Dec) — YOU ARE HERE!
• Best Remixes - Pt. 1 (Jan-June)
• Best Remixes – Pt.2 (July-Dec)
• Best Cover Songs
• Best Party Songs

*possibly the worst metaphor ever but whatever. This jam is definitely better than bad sex, so that’s something.