Songs I Discovered in 2010, Part III

This may be the last pop music mix I post here. My old desktop computer at home is officially out of memory and adding more memory would only make it run slower. My CD burner is dying but I don't really need tangible copies of my MP3s anyway since my car has an iPod jack. Over my last ten mixes, I started to notice that I've cycled back through a lot of the same artists I first discovered five to ten years ago (see my 8/19/08 & 9/9/08 posts for artists featured again below: MGMT, Robyn, Diplo, Flying Lotus & Daedelus). It's going to be okay though. I think I'm finally going to get around to just researching 20th century composers like I resolved to do at the start of this year. That being said, the following songs are (still) 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. "Absolute Beginners" - The Jam; I discovered this song on a recent, direct-to-DVD movie merely called Coach, then I borrowed a greatest hits compliation CD of The Jam from a coworker who was raised in London in the late '70s punk era; funny thing is that when she hears The Smiths, she thinks of young, American me, and that makes me proud

2. "As We Enter" - Nas & Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley; I loved Nas' "Hip Hop Is Dead" and Marley's "Welcome to Jamrock;" combine those and add cartoon sound effects and you get the best rap song out there right now

3. "Blessa" - Toro Y Moi; will get me through till Panda Bear's next album becomes available

4. "Dancehall Queen (feat. Diplo)" - Robyn; I don't know why her stuff takes so long to come stateside

5. "The Eraser" - Christian Scott; you may think jazz is boring, but what I think is boring are the stagnant basslines on most pop songs; everything else can act as the rhythm section (piano or even sax included) but the bassline has to MOVE

6. "Exodus Honey" - Honeycut; also from the movie, Coach; white boy funk; opened for Cake; this song was used in an old iMac commercial

7. "Gone Forever (Robin Guthrie Version)" - Ulrich Schnauss; see also "My Top 20 Cocteau Twins Songs" (6/20/10)

8. "How Are You? (feat. Nellie McKay)" - David Byrne & Fatboy Slim; after Rosalia de Souza introduced me to electro-bossa, my wife has been so into it

9. "It's a Shame" - Paul Jackson, Jr.; a smooth jazz radio staple here in San Diego; I prefer this to the original by The Spinners

10. "Jail La La" - Dum Dum Girls; the thing with them & Vivian Girls is that it sounds so joyful to me

11. "Just the Same But Brand New" - St. Vincent; compare the warble here to the one on Local Natives' "Shape Shifter"

12. "Moses" - Elizabeth Fraser; normally I don't like the accordion, but this is the lead singer from the Cocteau Twins gone solo; can you tell what I've been mostly listening to lately?

13. "Nothing But Change Part II" - Harlem Shakes; also from the movie, Coach; can you tell I listen closely to soundtracks?

14. "Nyckel" - Loess; stands here as a representive of all the electronic artists my youngest brother has introduced me to over the years (Andrew WK, Ferry Corsten, 4 Strings)

15. "One Plus One Equals Three or More" - Mahogany; I've listened to this song I don't know how many times & I still can't think of anything to say, but I like it

16. "Ready to Start" - Arcade Fire; from the forthcoming album, The Suburbs

17. "Rill Rill" - Sleigh Bells; did your parents ever tell you that your kids would play music that would sound like nothing more than noise to you? Well, I've finally heard what they were talking about but I kinda like it (not so much on this song but definitely on "Straight-A's" & "Tell Em")

18. "Someone's Missing" - MGMT; reminds me of Grizzly Bear but without any of the disturbing lyrics

19. "Table Tennis (feat. Laura Darlington)" - Flying Lotus; Laura Darlington is the wife of Alfred Darlington (AKA Daedelus); I liked her on the song, "The Art of Kissing" but this one's more chill

20. "Tired of Being Alone" - Al Green; I can see how critics of Macy Gray may not get into his falsetto here