Songs I Discovered (and Rediscovered) in 2010, Part II

I think it's funny that BT's new album was called These Hopeful Machines because it was his previous album that gave me hope for the future of the music industry. While I admit the most progressive part the new album is the coloring of the CDs and the design of their plastic case, we're still talking about a music artist who has his own software company and made an app for the iPhone. If you're looking for progressive, maybe you'll find it below. Then again, maybe you'll go back in time to rediscover some middle-of-the-road stuff from 20-30 years ago. The following songs are the ABSOLUTE best songs I have come across in the last couple of months. I GUARANTEE they're all worth downloading, and for each artist featured, there are many more songs to check out. Don't get bogged down by the sheer volume of artists though - each one is different from the rest, so variety is the spice of this playlist:

1. "Ambling Alp (Memory Tapes Remix)" - Yeasayer; it sounds like The Psychadelic Furs in places; I especially like the piano and background voices at the 2:45 mark

2. "Brand New Shoes" - She & Him; as much as I like Zooey Deschanel, I disliked her last movie and her voice on every other song from the same album; this one reminds me of the waltz at the end of the movie, Before Sunset

3. "Danse Flat" - Freelance Whales; music boxes - one of my favorite things

4. "Dear Prudence" - Siouxsie & the Banshees; discovered after I did my "Better Than The Beatles" post

5. "Flying" - Secret Machines; from the movie, Across the Universe (which I walked out of to go see 3:10 to Yuma, by the way)

6. "Four By Four" - Shout Out Louds; much like Band of Horses, I want to call them "my newest favorite band" but then they're too close to country

7. "Glass Printer" - The Besnard Lakes; the band itself may be a good follow-up to my "Prog, Krautrock, and Power Pop" research but this song is all shoegaze

8. "Heroes" - David Bowie; rediscovered over the end credits of the Oscar nominated documentary, The Cove

9. "Heroes" - TV on the Radio; rediscovered that I already owned this cover after I went to search for the original version

10. "Heroes (Extended Version)" - David Bowie vs. David Guetta; rediscovered that I already owned this remix after I went to search for the original version

11. "Lust for Life" - Iggy Pop; rediscovered who did this song after I was discussing the movie Trainspotting with a coworker

12. "New in Town" - Little Boots; love the intro

13. "No One's Little Girl" - The Raincoats; one of Kurt Cobain's favorite groups; I finally got the Postpunk Chronicles CDs I asked for back on 1/20/09 post

14. "Pink Frost" - The Chills; this was best discovery on the Postpunk series

15. "Somebody to Love" - Justin Bieber; I don't care about any of the drama surrounding this kid - I JUST like the synths on this one song

16. "Summer Babe (Live Brixton Academy, London, Dec. 14, 1992)" - Pavement; supposedly their cult following all comes down to their amazing live performances, and this version is definitely better than the studio single

17. "Two Hearts" - Phil Collins; rediscovered who did this song after I woke up humming it one night

18. "Up on the Roof" - The Drifters; on a recent trip to my parents, we ate at Cracker Barrel three times in less than a week; this is the only song I hadn't heard on their American Music Legends compilation CD

19. "Walk of Life" - Dire Straits; in the UK they label things as "Americana" or "urban;" I just call this "good ol' boy" music

20. "White Flag (feat. Bashy, Kano & The National Orchestra for Arabic Music)" - Gorillaz; who cares about Gorillaz, gimme more National Orchestra for Arabic Music!