Top Ten Songs of the Week 8/9/10

Here’s this week’s version of what Billboard should be paying attention to: we try to mix it up, offer a little something for everyone, sad songs, funny songs, upbeat songs, quieter stuff, you name it. This time we’re cheating a little: a whole concert along with the funniest, most vengefully satisfying youtube clip we’ve seen in awhile. If you don’t like one of these, you can always go on to the next one: every link here will take you to each individual song. As always, the #1 song here will appear on our Best Songs of 2010 list at the end of the year.

1. Rick Barry – Atlantis

Nightmare apocalyptic scenario set to artsy folk-rock, kinda like the Strawbs, from this Asbury Park songwriter.

2. Norden Bombsight – Help Desk

Cool video (a mini-movie, actually) set during the Depression: a woman suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder searches for her missing husband. Great song, too, from these darkly ornate Brooklyn art-rockers.

3. JD Allen live at this year’s Newport Jazz Festival

Has anybody besides us noticed how many unbelievable live shows are archived up on NPR’s site? You can get lost in this one: practically a whole hour of this era’s preeminent tenor sax player/composer and his ferocious, mind-melting trio with Gregg August on bass and the phenomenal Rudy Royston on drums. If you have the equipment, you’ll want to hook up your machine to a recording device of some kind because you’ll want to hear the whole thing again.

4. Kreptatka Bar Band – Kreptashaqula

Amazing Balkan punk rock.

5. El Pueblo – Legalize It

Latin-tinged rocksteady version of the Peter Tosh classic. It’s not on their new cd Isla, one of the best reggae albums to come out in a long time.

6. The Builders and the Butchers – Down in the Hole

Creepy Waits-ish noir.

7. Fyrepyle – The Age of Unlightenment

Woozy hypnotic Mogwai dirge as done in somebody’s bedroom on protools. Hang with it, it grows on you.

8. Robin McKelle – Everybody Knows

Aretha-style soul version of the Leonard Cohen classic – not as good as Penelope Houston’s version but still cool.

9. Grace – Wonderful

JP Jones’ band before he met Chrissie Hynde – snarling lyric, good post-Radiohead anthem.

10. Justin Bieber gets hit by a water bottle

You’ve probably seen this. At least he doesn’t cry – on camera at least.

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Top Ten Songs of the Week 6/8/09

We do this every week. You’ll see this week’s #1 song on our Best 100 songs of 2009 list at the end of December, along with maybe some of the rest of these too. This is strictly for fun – it’s Lucid Culture’s tribute to Kasey Kasem and a way to spread the word about some of the great music out there that’s too edgy for the corporate media and their imitators in the blogosphere. Every link here will take you to each individual song.

 

1. Botanica – How

About time we had a Botanica song at #1 here – this is a blistering version of the politically-fueled gypsy rocker from their killer new live album americanundone. Frontman Paul Wallfisch’s weekly Small Beast show upstairs at the Delancey resumes on 6/22 at 8:30ish.

 

2. Serena Jost – Vertical World

Deliciously smart, artsy pop song by the art-rock siren, live on the radio with her band. Other good stuff here too!

 

3. Jason Rigby – Moon Goddess

Quietly hypnotic, very pretty modal jazz. The sax player is at Cornelia St. Cafe on 6/12 at 9.

 

4. Bodies Full of Magic – La Fin Du

Catchy acoustic-based, Americana-inflected, lyrical pop from South Carolina. A little earnest but ultimately spot-on. They’re at Arlene’s on 6/18 at 7.

 

5. Tribella – Saucer Eyes

Girl power, fun jangly stuff from Austin. “Get her offstage, get her offstage.” They’re at Arlene’s at 8 on 6/22

 

6. Ghost Ghost – St. Valentine’s Day Massacre

Driving, percussive indie rock motoring along with a killer rhyhtm section and a dark lyrical sensibility – like early Wire but with more balls.

 

7. Mayaeni – All the Time

Smartly aware, bluesy acoustic soul song. She’s at Drom on 6/16 at 11 with her band.

 

8. The Five Points Band – I’m Funny

Maybe in a dark and sick way. Good, creepy stuff. They’re at Rodeo Bar on 6/18 at 10:30ish

 

9. Woodhands – I Kissed a Girl

Two gay Canadian guys doing an absolutely hilarious over-the-top disco version of the odious Katy Perry radio commercial, um, corporate radio hit

 

10. Zane Alan – Boone’s Farm

Sounds like he had a few bottles before recording this. He’s at Arlene’s on 6/20 at 7.