Surprise!

Tuesday marked the "no-go" list. Wednesday marks the "pass go and collect 200 dollars" list. I came across a lot of stuff I will pretend I never heard. But also I came across a lot of musicians that are now on my to-be-worshiped list. It reinforces my love for music and how organic music is. Music is a constantly changing force, where no two (good) songs should be alike. After all, there are only so many notes and chords to choose from. Yet under those limited circumstances, these musicians have chosen to chart further than those expectations. Given those sets of notes, they've crafted unique songs that set my heart on fire. (Granted, I can hear inspiration of past bands in certain songs but we'll call that admiration.) That's why I love music so much. It's unpredictable. It's shape shifts more often than public opinion. And it's a labor of love.

I'm officially a fan of Phoenix as of last Monday. I don't listen to the radio so I never heard their radio friendly singles: Lisztomania and 1901. After much convincing, I used Google's friendly music search function and instantly fell in love after five seconds of Lisztomania. Those initial five seconds are two repeated notes but they set the tone for the rest of the album. It's head swaying, seat bouncing summer sunshine pop goodness. I'm not talking boyband sex driven lyrics pop, I'm talking exceptional rock n roll hit the switch pop.

Hey Marasilles is an orchestral folk pop band from Seattle, which is not surprising as the Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, the Builders and the Butchers, and Loch Lomond are from the Northwest and orchestral folk pop bands tend to emerge from that area like dandelions in open fields. I'll write a further blurb on this band next year but trust me when I say, start listening to them now.

Dead Man's Bones proved that Ryan Gosling needs to propose to me.* I feared this band would go the way of Jared Leto or Juliette Lewis' dive into music: annoying and unnecessary. But Gosling bucked the trend of actors-cum-musicians to craft a handful of Halloween singalongs, treading the path of broken hearts with werewolves, ghost ships, and graves. Kudos for including the Silverlake Conservatory of Music Children's Choir. Though Gosling's been getting most of the press, I have to give Zach Shields three thumbs up for being a grand bandmate, co-songwriter, and vocalist. His track  "Pa Pa Power" is easily my favorite with its upbeat intro and chant-along lyrics.

*what a marriage proposal has to do with anything music-related is anyone's guess, but indulge me for a second here

Friendly Fires will round out the list and they are cute enough to kidnap, especially guitarist Edd Gibson. But that is a scheme to be detailed another day. These St Albans boys have managed to fuse a bunch of labels together: indie dance rock synth pop. I'm not sure how they managed that but imagine Bloc Party to a less screeching degree. Vocalist Ed Macfarlane is a crooner and will swoon dive you with tales of girls and downtrodden romances. The man who keeps it all together is their drummer Jack Savidge, who sidelines as a cowbell player. I saw these boys play during the summer and the only thing that kept me from bum-rushing the stage and dancing my pants off along side Edd Gibson was my dignity (and sobriety). They're bloody brilliant and I hope 2010 has greater things in store. But when you reach certified gold, have a Mercury prize nomination, and played at Glastonbury, things should be pretty great as is.