 The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die - Whenever, If Ever I meant to post this months ago but things got just a little hectic around here. The number one song of the 2010s? Well what else could it be but the band that inspired my debut novel (I Will Be Okay) and was the soundtrack to my first summer here in Hoboken back in 2013, where I got the life I'd always wanted to live and the man I'd always wanted to love and I still remember walking the streets with this song in my ears and the summer sun shining and thinking, all of this is everything. #1. Getting Sodas - The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die (2013) #2. Beach Life in Death - Car Seat Headrest (2018) #3. I Ain't Around Much - Frog Eyes (2015) #4. A Flower in a Glove - Frog Eyes (2010) #5. Barnes' Yard - The Rural Alberta Advantage (2011) #6. Mouth Guards of the Apocalypse - Broken Social Scene (2017) #7. You as You Were - Shearwater (2012) #8. Rip Down the Fences that Fence the Garden - Frog Eyes (2015) #9. Old Dead Young - Broken Social Scene (2018) #10. We're Not Done - Mogwai (2018) #11. Not - Big Thief (2019) #12. Octavio Paz - Be Still, Cody (2013) #13. Vulcan AB - The Rural Alberta Advantage (2014) #14. Younger Us - Japandroids (2012) #15. The Chuckler - Protomartyr (2017) #16. Terrible Love - The National (2010) #17. Drunk Drivers / Killers Whales - Car Seat Headrest (2016) #18. Waitress - Hop Along (2016) #19. Graceless - The National (2013) #20. Drag - Day Wave (2015) "Drag" and all of Day Wave's music has been the anthem to my frequent trips to Southern California (mostly Manhattan Beach and Huntington Beach but also LA and San Diego and points in between). I first heard "Drag" on SiriusXMU some five years ago while I was in Manhattan Beach and the casual beach vibe was what I was there for and what I live for and what is strongly compelling me to relocate there (at least in a bi-coastal way) in the coming years. And Day Wave has a lot to do with that, which is impressive enough to make the top 20 of the decade. #21. On the Rocks - The Rural Alberta Advantage (2014) #22. Alexander the Pretty Good - Be Still, Cody (2013) #23. Bodys - Car Seat Headrest (2018) #24. Wasted Days - Cloud Nothings (2012) #25. Stamp - The Rural Alberta Advantage (2011) #26. The Left is Right - Desaparecidos (2013) #27. Empty Room - Arcade Fire (2010) #28. Derailed - Joyce Manor (2011) I mosh pitted to this song in November because it was the encore and it's my favorite song of theirs and who gives a fuck that I'm old, right? Also I first learned of Joyce Manor while attending a Desaparecidos show in January 2013 (their first shows in NY/NJ after a decade-long absence), and it was literally my first show after a year plus absence due to toe surgery. I was still in toe pain (but recovering) and Joyce Manor opened the night and the blast of youthful punk made me feel alive in a way I hadn't in a year and a half of being mostly stuck inside in the suburbs of NJ and the rest (the move to Hoboken, the renewed concert attendance, the published novels, everything good) came after that first show in Asbury Park at the Stone Pony when I was introduced to the wonder that is Joyce Manor, another California band. #29. Wait...What? - The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die (2011). (the song that inspired the title of my forthcoming novel) #30. Seventeen - Sharon Von Etton (2019) #31. Temple Grandin - Andrew Jackson Jihad (2014) #32. High to Death - Car Seat Headrest (2018) #33. Letting Go - The Rural Alberta Advantage (2017) #34. Should Have Known Better - Sufjan Stevens (2015) #35. I'm Not Part of Me - Cloud Nothings (2014) #36. Yulia - Wolf Parade (2010) #37. Edge of Town - Middle Kids (2017) #38. Christmas Card - Joyce Manor #39. Victim Kin Seek Suit (2016 Version) - The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die (2016) #40. Myth - Beach House (2012) Remember when David Letterman was on the air? Remember when we (or I) moved from Dave to The Daily Show and Colbert Report and used to record them every night and watch the next day on DVR like clockwork. Remember when those shows were still on the air? Remember when television was a thing you'd watch live, or record, not "stream"? It wasn't that long ago... And it wasn't all a myth. 41. White - Okkervil River (2013) 42. Fast Peter - Moonface (2011) 43. Come to the City - The War on Drugs (2011) 44. No Future Part Three: Escape from No Future - Titus Andronicus (2010) - this video is awesome and includes a scene at Rutgers and at Asbury Park and in Jersey City so basically as New Jersey as me. 45. Something Soon - Car Seat Headrest (2015) 46. Death with Dignity - Sufjan Stevens (2015) 47. Undone Melody - Plants and Animals (2010) 48. White Lights - The Rural Alberta Advantage (2017) 49. Can't Find My Heart - Broken Social Scene (2019) 50. Erasure - Superchunk (2018) 51. Ohm - Yo La Tengo (2013) 52. Last Known Surroundings - Explosions in the Sky (2011) 53. The House That Heaven Built - Japandroids (2012) 54. Heartbeat in the Brain - The World is a Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid to Die (2013) 55. Stay Useless - Cloud Nothings (2012) 56. Cave-O-Sapien - Wolf Parade (2010) 57. Forgotten Eyes - Big Thief (2019) 58. Cold Apartment - Vagabon (2017) 59. Mistake - Middle Kids (2018) 60. Depreston - Courtney Barnett (2015) 61. It's Real - Real Estate (2011) 62. No Halo - Sorority Noise (2017) 63. Drug with Friends - Car Seat Headrest (2016) 64. Beverly Wyatt - The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die 65. Ceremony - Day Wave (2015) 66. Animal Life.- Shearwater (2012) 67. You Had Your Soul with You - The National (2019) 68. Catalina Fight Song - Joyce Manor (2014) 69. Fill in the Blank - Car Seat Headrest (2016) 70. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire (2010) 71. Midnight City - M83 (2011) 72. Natural Light - Sun Kil Moon (2010) "Natural Light" is actually a cover of a Casiotone for the Painfully Alone song, but the spared down version typical of Mark Kozelek's singing here is so brilliantly sad, I can't help but put it on the list. I can't tell you how many nights in the early part of last decade I played this song to go to sleep to, and how I look back now and try to remember what it was like, glad that I've forgotten what it felt like to feel this song so deeply. (Ed. Note: you have to start the video at 5:38 to see "Natural Light," not sure why I can't do that in the embed sorry) I’ve got some news on you from a friend You’re in Charlotte again Teaching Spanish at high school They said you’re going by “Joy” You cut your hair like a boy And you don’t talk to your old friends I found a picture from before the fight We’re in natural light And you’re sitting on my lap like everything’s all right I’ve walked around with you on my mind The names we used at the time You know I’ve changed myself since then I thought on things that we said What if we’d had the kid I guess he’d be fifteen I found a picture from before the fight We’re in natural light And you’re sitting on my lap like everything’s all right 73. Goshen '97 - Strand of Oaks (2014) 74. Coma Summer - Weekend (2010) 75. Continuous Thunder - Japandroids (2012) 76. PDA - Day Wave and Hazel English (2017) 77. Teary Eyes & Bloody Lips - Moonface (2012) 78. Island Ridin' - So So Glos (2013) 79. Big Jacket - Car Seat Headrest (2013) 80. There is a Light - A Silver Mt. Zion (2010) 81. Children of God - Andrew Jackson Jihad (2014) 82. No Stranger - Small Black (2013) 83. Come Home Now - Day Wave (2015) 84. Walking Far From Home - Iron & Wine (2011) 85. Anonymous - Desaparecidos (2013) 86. Horseshoe Crab - Slothrust (2016) 87. Red Eyes - The War on Drugs (2014) 88. Imbecile Thoughts - Siskiyou (2015) 89. Sharpteeth - The Octopus Project (2013) 90. Infamous - Basia Bulat (2016) 91. Eyjafjallajokull Dance [2016 Version] - The World is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die 92. My Gap Feels Weird - Superchunk (2010) 93. Famous Prophets (Stars) - Car Seat Headrest (2018) 94. King of Piss and Paper - Wolf Parade (2017) 95. Faith - Bon Ever (2019) 96. Heavenward Grand Prix - Japandroids 97. Mermaid - Okkervil River (2011) 98. I Should Live in Salt - The National (2013) 99. Body is Dead - Funeral Advantage (2015) 100. JM - Strand of Oaks (2014) This song is a tribute to Jason Molina, the brilliant songwriter and musician from Songs:Ohia and many other projects, who died in 2013, and when I started this list I didn't think I'd end on this kind of sad note but then when I started this list we weren't quarantined due to Coronavirus, so things have certainly taken a darker tone. Be safe and be well readers. Hope this list brings you some joy. Comments are closed.
|
RSS Feed