‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes Of The Decade: The Top Twenty!!
This time with a complete Spotify list of the whole megillah!
But first, once again for you latecomers, all that has preceded the climax!:
20. (2017) I love the David Lynch vibe of this one:
19. (2016)
18. (2014) Ya wanna see the very moment when a band breaks through? This was when it happened for Lake Street Dive:
17. (2015) Love the community theatre feel…
16. (2017) I think that Moses Sumney will become one of the most intriguing artists of the 2020’s. This one shows that he has no limits:
15. (2015) Son of a bitch!
14. (2019) He’s an Arden fave, and he put this one into his permanent pantheon this year. BTW, how does this have only 8500 views?:
13. (2019) I would hate to imagine this decade w/o Brittany Howard:
12. (2011)
11. (2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiLqAu4s-_s
10. (2013) I could easily have chosen three other Jason Isbell songs for this list, and I doubt that anyone would have complained b/c he wrote so many great songs during the decade. Here is my favorite. For today at least:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIQ1NHa0g6A
9. (2014) One advantage that this has over Spotify is that I can choose just the right version of a song. Mavis Staples brings unmitigated joy to this. I can’t get enough of it:
8. (2018) A great decade for Philly music. This was my highest-ranked song from the Philly scene. Just amazing:
7. (2015) I could have easily chosen a bleepload of Josh Ritter songs as well.
6. (2011) All just personal faves from now on…
5. (2012) Did I mention that the decade would have been even bleaker w/o Brittany Howard?:
4. (2015) This song is about how John Darnielle, as a kid, was able to escape into fantasy for awhile from his abusive father. And hey, it’s got a pro rasslin’ theme:
3. (2013) From the first time I heard this song, I knew that Kacey Musgraves was someone special. ‘Same trailer, different park’ indeed:
2. (2014) Alynda Segarra is one of the most important voices of our time. On this incredible song, she turns the tables on the perpetrators of violence in murder ballads. I love everything she does and everything she stands for:
1. (2010) From the beginning of the decade comes the ultimate kiss-off to the ending of the decade:
And because you demanded it, here are my fave 100 (actually 101, it’s a long story) songs of the decade in Spotify form, in no particular order! Pleasepleasepleasemake this go viral:
Nice. Hadn’t really thought about M83 or Ariel Pink in a while. Good Jason Isbell choice. Really like Moses Sumney but this might not be the song I’d pick. Phoebe Bridgers fits here nicely, and you can’t go wrong with Nathaniel Rateliff. Not a huge fan of three of your Top 4 but No. 1 is inspired. You have others on the total list I could easily see in the Top 4. I think I’m in love with the singer from Lake Street Dive.
Thanks, I always value your feedback. I love all of those songs in the Top 4, perhaps because they blew me away when I first heard them, and still do.
I considered ‘Rank And File’ by Moses Sumney, but I just liked this one better.
You know how much I love Lake Street Drive. What follows is a true story. Well, maybe I’ll tell two true stories:
(1) Bridget Kearney, who is the bass player, was in another great band also featured in my Top 100, Joy Kills Sorrow. I booked them twice at the Gild Hall. The first time was as an opener to the Punch Brothers. While the other members of the band arrived in a car that was too small for them, I actually had to pick Bridget up at the bus station in…Marcus Hook. She had apparently had a gig with LSD (which was not at the time a full-time gig) the night before.
The entire band then rehearsed in our living room, and most of them spent the night there since we couldn’t afford hotel rooms for them.
(2) About two years ago, my youngest daughter Rachel, who is a huge fan of Lake Street Dive, saw them in concert out in Oregon. After the show, she gets in Bridget’s line for an autograph. She tells Bridget about the time they rehearsed in our living room. Bridget gets up, gets all the band members to sign a set list, and gives her a copy of their new CD. My point being, Lake Street Dive are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. I’m so thrilled that they’ve been so successful. They deserve it.
I saw LSD last year at the Tower, and I’m going to see them again in April at the Keswick. The band is magic. I keep thinking they should be much bigger than they are, but I’m happy to keep seeing them in these smaller venues.
They’re a WHOLE lot bigger than they were. I saw ’em upstairs at the Queen. Maybe 45 people there. They built their fan base organically. They’re not an arena band. Don’t think they’d want to be.
BTW, check this out, it’s so cool. Members of BOTH Lake Street Dive and Joy Kills Sorrow performing together at Bridget’s parents’ house in Iowa:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySt_VVZqcNk
Very nice video.
I saw one of those Arden shows and really enjoyed it.