STRICTLY GLOBAL

It's not just the end of another year, it's the end of a decade, and the lists have gone nuts all over the media with year/decade-end best/worst/whatever lists.  And I'm joining in, cause guess what? I friggin' love lists.  They make you dig back in your brain and rediscover things you may have completely forgotten about.  Sure, everyone is doing it- but how many of those lists are globally focused, hmm?  Here's my take on the decade, all youtubed out for your viewing pleasure.  (You can also listen to everything on this list and more on our Blip.fm channel now!)

2000:  Oh gees, that was so long ago, and honestly, in those days if it wasn't old school punk, oi!, or hardcore, I wasn't interested.  Had I not been stuck in my ways, I would have sooner discovered musical gems from that year including Canada's Peaches "F*%& the Pain Away", the French group Air with "Playground Love", or the Finnish vampy rockers HIM and their album Razorblade Romance.  But to sum up that year, I have to give it to an early-runner who produced this track towards the tail-end of '99:  and that would be NYC's Le Tigre with "Deceptacon."  What's so global about it? The song was later used in the Norwegian film Reprise.

2001:  This was the year that one band changed my whole perspective on life.  I'm super super serial.  This was the year that I lived, ate, drank, and breathed nothing but the Strokes.  They remain my favorite band to this day, Is This It the greatest album of all time, and "Hard To Explain" the greatest song that has ever existed, ever.  Infinity.  What makes this NYC band so global?  They were definitely huger over in the UK/Euro before they were here.  Other mentionables of this year: France's Daft Punk with "Digital Love" and "One More Time", as well as NYC's Fischerspooner with "Emerge."  But I was too busy listening to this track over and over...

2002:  More awesome music started piling in, as my several copies of Is This It became too worn and skippy in the stereo.  Such as the Swedish garage-punk rock band the Hives, who'd been around since the early 90's, and finally got some stateside attention after releasing a greatest hits album, Your New Favourite Band.  They are so rad live.  More props for that year: Minnesota's hip-hop group Atmosphere with "Modern Man's Hustle", and the UK electronica group Ladytron with "Seventeen."  That song was featured in the insanely awesome soundtrack to the insanely awesome movie Party Monster.  Ok, so standout artist of this year, again goes to another NYC based band- Interpol!  What makes 'em global?  The album Turn on the Bright Lights reached #10 on NME's list of top albums in 2002.  And this song is off it:

2003:  I could probably make double-sided mixtapes with all the awesome music that came out this year.  But if I had to narrow it down to just 3 albums, I'd go with the Canadian rockers Broken Social Scene's You Forget It In People, French electronic shoegazers M83 with Dead Cities, Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts, and best album of the year to, surprise surprise: another NYC band, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Fever to Tell.  Even NME rated it #5 Best Album of the Decade.  Aces.  One of the best songs that year though, that you probably couldn't get out of your head thanks to all those iPod commercials, has to go to Swedish garage rockers- the Caesars' with "Jerk It Out." Remember the commercials?  Well here it is again...

2004:  A friggin' huge year for music around the world, from Austrailia (Cut Copy and Wolfmother) to the UK (Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand, and the Prodigy), totally.  Ugh, so hard to boil it down to a select few... The definite standouts from NYC that year were self-titled debut albums from Asobi Seksu (Japan represent!), and Scissor Sisters (who were huger over in the UK before they were here.)  The best song of the year, I'd have to give to the Walkmen with "The Rat."  Word up.  Best album is too tough, so it's a tie between the rad American shoegazer Dykehouse with Midrange, and Canada's now defunct duo rockers Death From Above 1979 with You're a Woman, I'm a Machine.  I'll keep dreaming for a reunion.  Here's a video from that album...

2005:   More worldwide awesomeness came this year from Norway (Annie) to Jamaica (Damian Marley) and in between.  Billy Corgan went solo from the Smashing Pumpkins and did a heartbreaking cover of the BeeGee's "To Love Somebody" alongside the Cure's frontman Robert Smith.  But it was the UK that shone the brightest that year with new music from Hard-Fi, the Editors, Gorillaz, the Doves, and the Go! Team.  Hands down, best album of the year that lead the way to indie rock being remixed for dancefloors: Bloc Party with Silent Alarm.  But in a very close race, was Sri Lanka native M.I.A with her debut Arular, and a much deserved song of the year "Bucky Done Gun." Holler!

2006:  Awww, this was a tragic year for the record industry as we lost my fave chain; Tower Records. :( Even more so, was the loss of one of the greatest hip-hop artists who made the sickest beats ever, J Dilla.   But it was also a breakout year for Brazil's CSS with their debut album Cansei de Ser Sexy, and from the wintry wonderland Denmark was Mew with impressive singles like "Special" and "Apocalypso."  American goodies included the Gossip's "Standing in the Way of Control", and also the only indie-folk band I can get down with, Band of Horses.  Best album of the year? I'd have to give it to Sweden's Peter Bjorn & John's Writer's Block.  I couldn't get their single "Young Folks" out of my head for days.  And that was a good thing.  For the best song of the year, I'd have to give it Muse's (UK) "Knights of Cydonia" 'cause the video rules all, and that breakdown towards the end... stellar.

2007:   This is the longest blog ever... On that note, this year can be summed up with simply three tops.  First, the most impressive debut was the mashing of metal and rave in the creation of the French group known as Justice.  They are apparently working on a new album for 2010! Giddy giddy giddy right here.  Best album of the year goes to M.I.A. of course!!!  Kala is right up there with Is This It in my book.  Mmm-hmm.  But the song of the year, straight up belongs to German electronic masters Digitalism with "Pogo."  I still toss this on every mix CD I make for my buds.  And it was even remixed by other sweet bands like CSS and the Horrors.  Check out the video...

2008:  This was a fun year in music.  Girl Talk played in larger venues so that hoardes of sweaty people could get down to 20 second sample mash-ups of everything from Big Country to Three 6 Mafia.  Tennessee and Connecticut came together in a group known as MGMT (who are wicked huge in Australia too) and created the awesome video "Electric Feel" which featured my favorite childhood band from Showbiz Pizza. ;)  As far as best album of the year... it's a 3 way tie, cause it's too hard to choose.  That would be Crystal Castles S/T (Canada), Ladyhawke S/T (New Zealand), and Friendly Fires S/T (UK.)  All three albums are still in repetition in my car stereo, for seriously.  Best song of the year, is gonna have to be a remix that Crystal Castles did for the UK band White Lies song "Death."  Inspiring enough to go skydiving, I swears. 

2009:  Friggin' finally right?   This year saw a rise in the Scotland music scene with a spunky gem "Quiet Little Voices" from We Were Promised Jetpacks.  Punk rave legends the Prodigy (UK) returned to their roots and delivered an album, Invaders Must Die,  that could transport you back to the early 90's.  And overall it was a tug'o'war battle between the UK and US with shining examples from my idol Julian Casablancas' solo project Phrazes for the Young, and don't forget the breathy and haunting voice of Bat For Lashes in "Daniel."  The battle continued between the coasts for best album of the year.  Surf goth on one side, math noise on the other.  It was a tough fight between UK's the Horrors Primary Colors and the US's HEALTH Get Color, but overall The Horrors severly shined on their second studio release.  Hooray.

All the songs on this list and more are now streaming for free on our blip.fm channel, so check that out, and let us know your decade faves!!!

It's gross, cold, and wet outside.  I'm drinking coffee and somewhere in the distance I hear the new Pearl Jam and the new Flaming Lips being blasted simultaneously.  Where am I? Early 90's Seattle?  Nah, I'm rockin' a cup of folgers alongside the Lips' latest Embryonic. Meanwhile, the east coast is completely disgusting outside which is just gonna ruin moving day for me, ugh!!!  So, Scotland's Twin Atlantic, to answer your question, "What is Light? Where is Laughter?", I just don't know.  But I'll watch your video anyway, smiley.  In fact, there will be plenty of weather distractions on this week's episode, including an artist spotlight on Cuba/Canada's Alex Cuba, and much more.

Like brand new Múm for starters, cause there's nothing like experimental electronic glitchness to score a gloomy day.  (Well, doom metal and shoegaze are some top competitors in that category!)  Anyway, Múm, (pronounced moom), from Iceland, have been together since 1997, and they've recently released their 6th studio album Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know.  Don't you hate going to a show and getting stuck either behind: {a} the tallest person in the room (sorry that was me ;P), {b} the drunkest person in the room that you have to keep at bay with your fist, {c} the person who is recording the entire show on their iphone therefore blocking your view with cheap recording technology, and {d} the person who is shouting along to lyrics, even though the band just announced they just wrote that song five minutes before the set and wants to test it out on the audience.  Yeah, I hate that too, and while I'm at it, can people like just not text on their cellphones when out at a movie, geeeees.

Back to global matters, this week we got a ditty from Siberian songstress Irene Nelson.  Now this chick used to be the lead singer of one of Russia's hugest pop acts, Reflex.  Getting to that point of her musical career was totally triumphant when it comes to where she was before.  Check this out.  Irene grew up in a poor little village in Siberia, and was totally pursuant on a musical education.  She couldn't afford a piano, so she drew a keyboard on piece of paper and practiced that way!  After graduating, she joined a jazz band and toured with them, which is how Reflex discovered her.  So, anyway, she eventually broke away from the band and secluded herself in the mountains of United Arab Emirates, meditating amongst the lack of electricity and running water.  She makes her U.S. debut this month, with an album that has yet to be named,  but we got her video premiere up this week.  Holler.

Lastly, my absolute fave video of the hour comes from the Los Angeles based noise rock band HEALTH.  It is insanely awesome.  These guys used to play gigs for free, which drew in crowds, obviously, and eventually lead to clubs begging them to play.  Later down the road, they would open up for Nine Inch Nails!  And they collaborated with Canada's Crystal Castles (love them), back in 2007 to create the track "Crimewaves" which got them major noteriety abroad, a la #9 on the UK indie singles chart.  This summer they played all across the U.S. among noise fests, including one here in DC where they opened for krautrock legends Faust.  I'm still kicking myself for not going to that, but hey, I was sick.  And besides, I might have gotten stuck behind {a},{b},{c}, or {d}.