49. “Still Fighting It” – Ben Folds
I first heard this song outside Jamie’s house after a party or something. Jordan (formerly of OMJ and currently of The Gorgeous Hussies/Wailing O’Sheas) played it for us on his car radio. I was hooked immediately and jumped on napster (or possibly limewire) to get the album as soon as I got home.
I have since legally purchased it.
48. “Bleeder” – Emiliana Torrini
Another musician from Iceland, which has such a great musical culture. This is quite simple, relying on only a small smattering of instruments and beautiful lyrics to make it’s point. If you don’t listen to anything in this round, make sure to listen to this one.
47. “Flugeldar” – Johann Johannsson
More Icelandic music. This is a beautiful piano piece that builds to something spectacular. I wish I could find the sheet music for this so I could learn to play it.
46. “UK” – Burial
A great, short introduction to the Dubstep genre and Burial as an artist. Dark, gritty, sparse, glitch, haunting. Give it a listen.
45. “Stockholm Syndrome” – Muse
This has one of the best guitar intros around. Best to download it and listen to it on the best speakers you have.
44. “O’er Frozen Caps” – Johan the Angel
This is a band out of Provo…sorta, and instantly one of my favourites. I love the instrumentation in this one, especially with the amazing vocal work on top of it. If there was ever a song for a winters night, this would be it.
43. “Looking For a Good Place to Land” – Jim Lauderdale
Bluegrass, plain and simple.
42. “Casanova, Baby!” – The Gaslight Anthem
More of that Jersey Shore sound done right.
41. “The Airway” – Owl City
This was the only song I had ever heard from Owl City for a long time, and has always been my favourite.
40. “Comfy in Nautica” – Panda Bear
I can’t even describe this. Sounds like a mix of experimental electronica and an old 50′s/60′s surf movie soundtrack.
39. “Song for a Young Queen” – Chris Thile
More bluegrass, this time done by 1/3 of Nickel Creek. Rumour has it that this song was inspired for Natalie Portman’s portrayal of Queen Amidala in the Star Wars prequels.
38. “Sam Malone” – City and Colour
City and Colour is the alias for Dallas Green (get it?), guitarist from Alexisonfire. This is definitely sad music, but quite enjoyable.
37. “Heads Roll Off” – Frightened Rabbit
More indie rock, this time from Selkirk, Scotland. Great song about having faith. The line “while I’m alive I’ll make tiny changes to Earth” is one of the best I have ever heard. Probably a motto we all need to live by.
36. “The Most Beautiful Girl (in the room)” – Flight of the Conchords
This was my first introduction to Flight of the Conchords and had me from the start. Hilarious!
35. “Monster Ballads” – Josh Ritter
If you can’t tell already, I am a big fan of the folk rock scene. This is a great song that sounds even better in person.
34. “Into the Woods” – My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket + M. Ward + Andrew Bird = fantastic music.
33. “Sleepyhead (Landau Mix)” – Passion Pit
I know Passion Pit has kinda exploded all over the scene lately, but I have been jamming to this song since 2007. Highly recommended electropop.
32. “Download This Song” – MC Lars
This whole album is amazing, but this song is the icing on the cake. Yes, I did download it. “Post-punk laptop rap” is what he calls this genre.
31. “Spacewalk” – Lemon Jelly
Downtempo…trip hop…whatever you want to call this, I don’t care. This is just a beautiful song with samples taken from a NASA recording of an actual spacewalk.
30. “Blue Eyes” – Cary Brothers
Another great song from the Garden State soundtrack. Judging purely from a musical standpoint, Zach Braff and I would get along great.
29. “A Comet Appears” – The Shins
I first heard of The Shins from watching Garden State, and I fell in love with this song the first time I ever heard it. “I’ve never worked so long and hard to cement a failure” has been a theme I’ve felt often in the last decade.
28. “Arrival in Sydney Harbor” – Port Blue
Port Blue is another project of Adam Young (the man behind Owl City and Swimming with Dolphins). This is the album I turn to when I need to relax and breathe.
27. “Nothing Better” – The Postal Service
I thought this was the perfect collaboration between the IDM music of DNTEL and the indie rock and story telling lyrics of Ben Gibbard.
26. “Transatlanticism” – Death Cab for Cutie
Speaking of the story telling lyrics of Ben Gibbard… This song is quite possibly my favourite DCFC song of all time. I love the simple chords of the piano which everything else builds upon.
25. “Screaming Infidelities” – Dashboard Confessional
I didn’t think this song would even make the list till I thought about it a lot. This was one of the first DC songs I had ever heard (from the Swiss Army Romance album). This is what emo used to be about (at least in my world).
24. “Heysátan” – Heysátan
Meaning “Haystacks” in Icelandic, this song is about an old farmer looking out as his fields at the end of his life. You don’t have to speak Icelandic to appreciate the beauty here.
23. “Flume” – Bon Iver
This was the first song on the album, and the first song I ever heard. This is haunting and beautiful at the same time.
22. “Get Up, Get Up, Get Up” – Barcelona
This is another song I would love to learn to play on the piano.
21. “Black Rain, Black Rain” – A. A. Bondy
More folk rock, this time in the vein of Nick Drake. In fact, the reason I first really got into A. A. Bondy was he reminded me so much of Nick.
Wow lots of goods here! Emiliana Torrini’s voice on the song for the Two Towers movie was amazing and fitting. That was the first I had heard her (Rumor has it they wanted Bjork but she couldn’t do it)
Comfy in Nautica rules!
Flight of the Conchords haha yes! I love that song
Heysatan I’ve never heard of, but Sigur Ros does have a great song with the same title.
Nice man!