Tag Archives: Scissor Sisters

The best albums of 2010

Here it is, finally, my list of the best discs of the year…

15. Teenage Fanclub, Shadows

14.The Delta Mirror, Machines That Listen

The Delta Mirror, Going to Town

13. The Radio Dept, Clinging to a Scheme

12. Sleigh Bells, Treats

11. Chemical Brothers, Further

10. M.I.A., ///Y/

9. Belle and Sebastian, Write About Love

8. Shout Out Louds, Work

7. Underworld, Barking

6. Vampire Weekend, Contra

5. Goldfrapp, Head First
Solid pop tunes with an 80’s sensibility.

4. Scissor Sisters, Night Work
Never sexier and just what the disco doctor recommends.

3. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
Listening to this the other day, it truly does make sense from end to end. A little heavy towards the late half of the disc, but very good over all.

Arcade Fire, Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

2. Beach House, Teen Dream
Dreamy, beautiful, haunting.

1. LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening
Hands down, from start to finish, the best disc of the year. It’s smart, catchy, infectious.

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    And now, the Why? Awards…

Most boring disc, or Haven’t we heard this before? award:
Interpol, S/T
Bad production and mediocre song writing. And we wonder why Carlos D. left the group.

It’s so bad that it’s funny award:
Liz Phair, Funstyle
She raps on it, and I think that should say it all.

Great song but worst title award:
Kele, Tenderoni
Just bad. So bad, that Kele doesn’t even say it in the song. He has to spell it.

Overrated and full of shit award:
Kanye West
Just because. It’s funny ’cause it’s true.
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    and finally…

Best reissue of the year- TIE:
The Cure, Disintegration
Nine Inch Nails, Pretty Hate Machine

A great trip back to 1989

The best in music 2010 part 2

Here we are again, this time bringing you my top 10 songs of 2010. They are all awesome tracks. My top 5 was the toughest to make finite, simply because I’m so torn between the tracks depending on my mood. So sit back and listen, and enjoy!

and just a remind, Jon’s blog is a Beiber-free zone…

10. Shout Out Louds, Walls

…feel so much better now, getting rid of my rage…

9.Kylie Minogue, All The Lovers

… dance, it’s all I want to do, so dance…

8. M.I.A., Born Free
(Warning, video content is explicit and disturbing, NSFW)

…I throw this shit in your face when I see ya, cause I got something to say…

7.Goldfrapp, Head First

…my whole world in light, head first in love…

6. Underworld, Diamond Jigsaw

…premium tequila, diamond jigsaw makes me feel fine…

5. Robyn, Dancing On My Own

…yeah I know it’s stupid, I just gotta see it for myself…

4. Beach House, 10 Mile Stereo

…they say we can throw far but we don’t know how far we throw…

3. Scissor Sisters, Invisible Light

…painted whores, sexual gladiators, fizz filled party children…

2. Arcade Fire, We Used To Wait

… but stranger still, is how something so small can keep you alive…

1. LCD Soundsystem, Home

…Forget your past, this is your last chance now/And we can break the rules, like nothing will last…

A Decade in Music: The best of 2000-2009

On the final day of the year and of the decade, I finally get around to sharing with you all what I consider the stand outs, the dare I say classics to be, of the decade that is about to be.
The albums speak for themselves. Each one, I can go back to again and again. Every one has a moment or moments that I associate it to, and whether the moment was great or not, they are locked to my memories. Each one is artistically impeccable.
The singles are those that get stuck in your head and are still rattling around years later. They are tracks that when I hear them when I’m at a party or at a bar, I’m giddy. They are the most played in my collection, some I will just listen to on repeat depending on the mood.
Ok, enough preamble. Here they are:

The Best Albums of the Decade
1. Arcade Fire, Funeral (2004)


2. Doves, The Last Broadcast (2002)

3. Radiohead, In Rainbows (2007)

4. Bloc Party, Silent Alarm (2005)

5. Interpol, Turn On The Bright Lights (2004)

6. Cut Copy, In Ghost Colours (2008)

7. M.I.A., Kala (2007)

8. Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer?(2007)

9. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver (2007)

10a. The Killers, Hot Fuss (2004)

10b. Scissor Sister, Scissor Sisters (2004)


Singles of The Decade
(other than my top three, not necessarily in order. Maybe. Not exactly)
1.Daft Punk, One More Time (2000)- Everytime I hear this I just want to dance. Sheer joy.


2.Arcade Fire, Neighborhood #1 (2004)

3. Bloc Party, This Modern Love (2005) – reminds me of the summer Alan and I trained for the North Shore Century, riding our bikes through the forest preserve.

M.I.A., Paper Planes (2007)

Doves, There Goes The Fear (2002) – January ’02 after the Super Bowl, sitting in Alan and Erin’s kitchen above the funeral home;Alan introduced me to this for the first time. Still amazing.

Interpol, NYC (2002)- The guitars get me everytime, just the ache of the song. Brilliant.

Ladytron, Destroy Everything You Touch (2005)- Venomous and electric. Janada and I bonded over this at Big Chicks one nights.

James, Hey Ma (2008)- I think this video that a YouTuber made completely embodies the meaning of the song.

Kelly Clarkson, Since U Been Gone (2004)- bubblegum and still delicious.

Fischerspooner, The 15th (2003)

Silversun Pickups, Lazy Eye (2006)- Billy Corgan wishes he was as good as this song…Thanks Frank for the intro.

MGMT, Kids (2008)

Ting Tings, Great DJ (2008)- Another Big Chicks Wednesday night memory.

Saint Etienne, Stars Above Us (2005)

Avalanches, Since I Left You (2000)

Lady Gaga, Bad Romance (2009)-No apologies about this. She is spectacle, she is artistic, and damn is this song the catchiest thing ever (even more than Poker Face)

The Killers, All These Things That I Have Done (2004)

Madonna, Hung Up (2005)- The best thing she has done in years.

Chemical Brothers, Star Guitar (2002)

Coldplay, Lovers In Japan (2008)- The original video is terrible, but someone made one using Lost In Translation, check it at You Tube…

Jurgen Paape, So Weit Wie Noch Nie (2004)

Missy Elliot, Work It and Gossip Folks (2002)- couldn’t make up my mind on these two, they are both genius. Wednesday nights before euchre, Chris C and I loved these two tracks. Good times. Love Ludacris’ rhyme!

Modest Mouse, Float On (2004)

Basement Jaxx, Romeo (2001)

The Rapture, Out Of The Races And Onto The Track (2001)

Mew, Comforting Sounds (2003)- Epic. To hear this track live literally brought me to tears.

Nine Inch Nails, Beside You in Time (2005)

Pink, So What (2008)

Underworld, Two Months Off (2002)- Euphoric.


Phoenix, 1901 (2009)- My favorite of ’09 deserves a spot in the best of the decade too…

And with that we say goodnight to a decade gone by. Here’s to the next one…

A Decade in Music part 5: 2006

We’re going to keep this train rolling along…

As we approach the last few years in this decade, my best of music from those years get easier and easier to post. Mostly because I was already blogging them on MySpace or sharing them via email with my friends, and for some reason I kept the documents on my computer. So while to some this is cheating, to me this is actually like opening a time capsule. There are things I disagree with now, of course, but I think this is a best way to capture a snapshot of what i really was listening to back then: from my own words, thoughts and writings from that year. So like 2005, I present a re-post of my favorite discs and tracks from 2006.
Let’s hop in the way back machine, Mr. Peabody…

*****************************************************
Jon’s Best of 2006
In a year saturated with so much, it was hard to narrow things down to a top 10, so I went with 15. Here is my best of the best.
Some of you will hate my decisions and my taste, so all I can say is… fuck off, I like what I like.

1. Scissor Sisters, Ta-Dah
2. Silversun Pickups, Carnavas
3. CSS, Cansei de ser Sexy
4. Thom York, The Eraser
5. Belle and Sebastian, The Life Pursuit
6. Band Of Horses, Everything All the Time
7. Keane, Under the Iron Sea
8. Mew, And the Glass Handed Kites
9. Yo La Tengo, I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
10. I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness, Fear is On Our Side
11. The Flaming Lips, At War With The Mystics
12. Goldfrapp, Supernature
13. Pink, I’m Not Dead
14. The Knife, Silent Shout
15. Junior Boys, So This Is Goodbye

The Honor Roll….

Best Reissue of the Year that you must own:
Chavez, Better Days Will Haunt You
Biggest Disappointment of the Year, or the WTF award:
the Killers, Sam’s Town
Cool disc that was so hyped and overexposed so I hate it now:
Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
Best Bootleg of the Year that will be fierce IF and when it ever gets released:
Guns and Roses, Chinese Democracy (Here’s hoping the March 6, 2007 release date actually holds) (authors’ 2009 note: LMAO, we know what a bomb this ended up being!)
Best disc of the year… not from this year:
Mew, Frengers (from 2003- and it’s almost better
than And the Glass Handed Kites)

Jon’s Best songs of 2006:

So these don’t necessarily have to be singles, single the concept of radio friendly singles is bullshit. But these are songs that definitely grooved me this year:

1. CSS, Alala / Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above
2. Scissor Sisters, I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’/ I Can’t Decide
3. Silversun Pickups, Lazy Eye
4. Madonna, Jump
5. Arty Fufkin, Atoms for Idols (Thom York vs. Kelly Clarkson mash up)
6. Band Of Horses, The Funeral
7. Lady Sovereign, Love Me or Hate Me
8. Keane, Nothing In My Way
9. Yo La Tengo, Mr. Tough
10. Belle and Sebastian, Act of the Apostle
11. Basement Jaxx, Hush Boy
12. Nelly Furtado, Maneater
13. Muse, Starlight
14. Goldfrapp, Ride a White Horse
15. Paul Oakenfold featuring Brittney Murphy, Faster Kill Pussycat (just because of Brittney)

Honorable mentions (Not really from this year but loved them anyway):
Chavez, the Guard Attacks
Mew, Comforting Sounds
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Noticably missing from my track list, and in hindsight would have been on it:
Amy Winehouse- Rehab
Gnarls Barkley- Crazy
Gossip- Standing in The Way of Control
Hard Fi- Hard to Beat
Thom York- Harrowdown Hill

Getting closer every time…

A Decade in Music, Part 3: 2004


Welcome to part 3 of our continuing journey down musical memory lane, as I revisit songs and albums that, for me, personified the decade that is just about to wrap up. We’ve already seen the first 4 years in our previous two installments. Now, welcome back to 2004.
2004 ended up being a breakthrough year for several artist. American Idol season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson released her second disc, the aptly titled Breakaway, scored with 3 top 10 singles, and proved herself outside of the view of Simon Cowell’s grumpy scowl. Montreal’s Arcade Fire and Scotland’s Franz Ferdinand broke out with a one/two punch of the most brilliant debut albums in years and brought indie back to the mainstream, while Las Vegas’ The Killers took us back to the 80’s with their glitzy-retro sensibilities. Emerging from New York and bringing disco/glam/gay sensationalism back to the radio was Scissor Sisters, fronted by the charismatic Jake Shears and the always sexy Ana Matronic. And indie darlings Modest Mouse crossed over to mainstream popularity with their effervescent single Float On.

The best singles of 2004
Alanis Morissette- Everything
Annie- Chewing Gum
Arcade Fire- Rebellion(Lies)


Bloc Party- Banquet
Cut Copy- Saturdays
Death from Above 1979- Black History Month
The Delays- Long Time Coming
Dirty Sanchez- Fucking on the Dancefloor
Elbow- Grace Under Pressure
Fountains of Wayne- Stacey’s Mom
Franz Ferdinand- Take Me Out
The Go! Team- Ladyflash

I Am the World Trade Center- Future Sightings
Interpol- Not Even Jail
Jem-Wish I
Jurgen Paape- So Weit Wie Noch Nie
Keane- Everybody’s Changing
Kelly Clarkson- Since U Been Gone, Breakaway
The Killers- All These Things That I’ve Done
Kylie Minogue- I Believe In You
Modest Mouse- Float On
Morissey- First of the Gang to Die
Scissor Sisters- Laura
Stars- Ageless Beauty
Starsailor- Silence is Easy

The 10 best Albums of 2004
Arcade Fire, Funeral
Franz Ferdinand, S/T
The Go! Team, Thunder Lightening Strikes
Interpol, Antics
Kelly Clarkson, Breakaway
The Killers, Hot Fuss
Modest Mouse, Good News for People Who Love Bad News
Scissor Sisters, S/T
Starsailor, Silence is Easy
VHS or Beta, Night on Fire