Top 10's

Seeing as it's the end of 2010, I thought I'd do lists of all sorts of Top 10s. And without further adieu, let's begin with the Top 10 Albums of 2010 (In my humble opinion).

Top 10 Albums of 2010

1. Sleigh Bells - Treats

This album changed what live music meant to me. Their concert was mind blowing, a moment I don't think I can soon forget. They are one of the few bands that 'own' a particular sound. No one I've ever heard sounds like this, and anyone in the future who does will certainly have been influenced by this album. Give it a listen

Highlights - Everything except Rachel and Run the Heart is jaw dropping-ly great.

2. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

The album that I keep on coming back to the most. Whenever people say that music nowadays is shit, I tell them that only the music they hear on the radio is shit, and I tell them to listen to this album. If it doesn't win album of the year (it's up against Eminem's Recovery and Katie Perry's album [who cares what its called]), than the Grammy's will have completed its final transformation into becoming the MTV Music Awards.

Highlights - The Suburbs, Modern Man, Empty Room, Wasted Hours, Deep Blue, Sprawl II, We Used To Wait, City With No Children

3. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

This album might have the two best songs of the year (Dance Yrself Clean and Home). If you haven't listened to LCD Soundsystem, than you haven't listened to one of the best bands of our generation. Too bad this is their last album. Thank God I got to see them live before they disband. For some reason James Murphy, the frontman and brains behind LCD, reminds me of David Byrne. LCD is the perfect mix between real band and electronic. I dare you to listen to Dance Yrself Clean and not like it.

Highlights - Dance Yrself Clean, All I Want, I Can Change, Pow Pow, Home

4. Broken Bells - Broken Bells

This band is a collaboration between Danger Mouse and the front man for the Shins, (Brian Burton and James Mercer respectively). I saw them at the 9 30 club earlier this year and it was an insane show. Danger Mouse would wander from instrument to instrument, playing the drums, piano, and guitar during different songs and jam out.

Highlights - The High Road, Vaporize, Citizen, Ocober, The Mall & Misery

5. J. Period & K'Naan - The Messengers

Earlier this year, J. Period and K'Naan released a mixtape dubbed "The Messengers". It features two discs, One a set of covers/remixes of Bob Marley songs, the other of Bob Dylan songs. When I first heard of the album, I thought that it couldn't possibly live up to the greatness of the songs they were copying, but I was blown away by how the material is dealt with. You can get this album for free at http://www.jperiod.com/knaan/, I'd get it now if I were you. The Dylan side is also stronger than the Marley side. Listen to that one first and DONT skip the intro's to songs, theyre great.

Highlights - My Country/Small Axe, Fatima/Stir It Up, Don't Think Twice, Relationships Lay, Hard Rain, It's Alright, Ma

6. Vampire Weekend - Contra

Highlights - White Sky, Giving Up The Gun, Diplomat's Son (one of the best songs of the year)

7. Beach House - Teen Dream

Highlights - Zebra, Norway, Walk In The Park, 10 Mile Stereo

8. The National - High Violet

Highlights - Terrible Love, Afraid of Everyone, Bloodbuzz Ohio, England, Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks

9. Das Racist - Sit Down, Man

Highlights - All Tan Everything, Commercial, Luv It Mayne, Rapping 2 U, Return to Innocence

10. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor

Highlights - Wide Eyes, Airplanes, Sun Hands, World News, Cards and Quarters

Honorable Mentions

Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon pt 2

Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz

The Third Twin - Homemade

Tame Impala - Innerspeaker

Hot Chip - One Life Stand

Delorean - Subiza

Surfer Blood - Astro Coast

MGMT - Congratulations

What would your top 10 be?

Colorado On My Mind

Tonight marks the beginning of the end of the semester. This bi-annual occurrence comes to let us 'people of leisure' know there 'ain't no such thing as a free lunch'. (Especially for us English majors who don't do any work other than papers that seem to pile up like a cars in a Blues Brothers chase scene). But I knew this would happen. Trust me, I am well aware of what a week in hell feels like. It's 12:30AM, I've got an 8-10 page paper due tomorrow that I haven't started, and I'm actually doing this post as a way to procrastinate the paper (two birds with one stone if you ask me). Hopefully that doesn't reflect poorly on me. But anyways, back to the matter at hand. So I've got this damn paper due and a whole slew of papers and exams and presentations and all nighters and all day-ers and chewed pencaps and pages and pages of boringness that I have to somehow find meaning in to conquer over the next two weeks and the only reason I can think of to go through with it all is to get to Colorado. That's actually kind of a lie, Christmas is pretty awesome. But that's expected. So I'm thinking of Colorado. And Snow. And a wooden lodge in a tiny town on the side of a mountain.

And since I'm not writing my paper right now, I'm putting together a playlist for Eff-POP (and for myself) of songs that I will be pumping through my IPOD as I hike/ski/atv through the Colorado wilderness.

Bruce Springsteen

The release of the Promise is the closest I will ever come to time traveling. Other than of course 'actually' time traveling which I plan on doing when I'm older. Bruce fan's were able to hear some new 'old' Bruce songs, not that I don't like his new music (I even love Devils and Dust). But it's certainly better than Outlaw Pete. I still have no idea why Bruce chose that as one of his staple tour songs. These songs though, make you feel like you're hearing something trapped since the mid 70s. The type of songwriting that can only happen during Bruce's early career, when life was as abtruse as it was poignant. Some of the songs us hardcore fans have most assuredly already heard (Racing In the Street, Rendezvous, Because the Night), but there are a few that I can't believe I ever lived without. I should probably start off by saying that I am a die hard Bruce fan. From my senior year of high school to my junior year of college I saw him eight times in five different states, one which included a 10 minute guitar battle with Tre Anasatasio to Wilson Pickett's cover of Mustang Sally and an amazing rendition of Bobby Jean with all of Phish. I could write a 50 page paper about how the Boss's music is important, but seeing as how I have to write a 8 page paper on Asians in American Film I'm just gonna list my two favorite songs from the Promise.

Ain't Good Enough For You

(Jimmy Iovine, the person he pokes fun of, was Bruce's producer. Fun fact, he was credited with giving Dr. Dre Eminem's rap mixtape. No Bruce, No Iovine. No Iovine, No Eminem. Just wanna make that clear.)

City At Night

Taxi Cab, Taxi Cab, at the light

Won’t you take me on a ride through this city of night
I got some money and I’m feeling fine
I ain’t in no hurry so just take your time
Some people wanna die young and gloriously
But Taxi Cab driver, well that ain’t me
I got a cute little baby down at 12th and Vine
And she opens for business just about closing time

It don't get no better than that.

Das Racist

I got to meet these three ridiculous rappers (actually just two of them) at SXSW for a short minute after they played a set in some Billiards bar. My friend Mike went to Wesleyan with them and has been pushin for me to listen to them for a while. After he sent me their 'Sit Down Man' Mix tape, I've been playin them almost constantly. This is a new song I just found today, it's great. I love when they just ramble with pointless noises, who cares what they're saying, it sounds great. Oh and if you do care what they're saying, it's still great music. It's like stupid smart people music. That's the best way I can put it.

You Oughta Know

Mr. Little Jeans

I don't know much about Mr. Little Jeans, but this song is as hot as Dylon from Chappelle show and this girl spits hot fire. That might throw you off a bit with how the song really is, but who cares. You should probably just listen to it.

Rescue Song (RAC Remix)

Bloodhound Gang

You can 'do it like they do' in a whole new way with this song. Super legit dubstep remix, for all those nice winter parties.

The Bad Touch

Broken Social Scene

I don't know much about this band, the only thing I really know about them is a guy I know hooked up with the girl in it (there might be a bunch, theres like 20 people in the band), but I always hear people talking about them. I guess our paths never crossed, until this song. It's pretty legit, and it's already gotten me to start listening to BSS.

Art House Director

Alexander

Alexander is the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero's, or really Alex Ebert's side project (the Jesus lookin lead singer). I don't know much about Alexander, but they've released a few singles that I've heard. This song is amazing. It's one of my brother's picks for song of the year, and though I'm not sure yet if I'd put it up there I will say that it's great and only getting better with each listen.

Truth

White Lies

In the summer of 2009, I somehow, despite the rigorous London School of Economics academic schedule, was fortunate enough to hang out with a great group of Londoners at the Secret Garden Party in Huntington. One of them ended up coming to DC to intern for the North Dakota Senator and a few crazy stories happened throughout that season. While we were talking about music, I asked if they had heard of White Lies because I knew they were British. It was kind of a rhetorical question, because their debut album had taken the #1 spot from U2's newest one. But I found out that two of the members went to school with most of the kids and that they were all friends. There were some dreams of being able to go to a concert and party like a rockstar, but those were for the birds. (They ended up touring throughout Asia while we were there). I was amazed cause they have the sound of a band that's been jamming for at least 10 years. The lead singer sounds much older than 23. Anyways, this is one of their new songs and it's a mother effin jam. This type of rock is really dead in America. It died sometime in the late 90s. Great mother effin decade.

Bigger Than Us

(Yay! Real Music Video!)

Celebrity Playlists

If you're ever searching around the iTunes store you've probably stumbled across their 'Celebrity Playlists' section. Apple gets a certain celebrity to give them a list of songs they listen to and they then give them to us. I guess people think it's cool to be listening to the music that a celebrity listens to. I for one find the celebrity culture in America to be ridiculous, and hate celebrity news more than anything. (I will never understand why people care about what celebrities are doing). The one thing I find neat about these playlists is that they tell us more about the person. You can understand a lot about a person by knowing the music they listen to.

But then again, the playlists include lists from great bands/musicians that most likely have music you would like (if you like that band that is).

Well here's a list of what I think celebrities would listen to. And by think, I mean I know. They told me.

Mel Gibson

When most people wake up, they like to greet the morning in a soothing manner. They might have a soft alarm clock, or one of those 'nature' sound things. When Mel Gibson wakes up, he takes a shot of everclear that he poured in advance when he went to sleep and blasts these angry ass songs. Maybe those crazy parents are right, if you listen to angry music, you'll end up punching women who are holding your baby.

Static X - Push It

Disturbed - Down With The Sickness

Eminem - Kim (Explicit Lyrics)

Christian Bale

Another very angry Celebrity. Christian actually released a song with Kid Cudi and Chip Tha Ripper recently. Check it out, I heard that Bale actually got the entire thing done in one take. What a pro. And yes, Christian Bale is a narcissist, so he only listens to songs that he's in.

Bill Murray

(Image From the film "Coffee and Cigarettes")

In case you didn't know, Bill Murray is a straight up thug. The definition of a 'G'. When he's not takin over bars with RZA and GZA, or drivin slow and sippin' on Hennessy in a golf cart, he's listening to these dope rhymes and fat beats.

Mac Miller - Knock Knock

(Like Mac says, both he and Bill are "white boy awesome")

Das Racist - All Tan Everything

Chip Tha Ripper - Feel Good

Immortal Technique - Industrial Revolution

Jedi Mind Tricks - I Against I

Humphrey Bogart

Most people my age haven't seen his films, and if they have they've probably only seen Casablanca. Humphrey was more than a great actor, his presence extended past the screen. He was the ideal 'man', meaning he was a badass. One of my favorite quotes by him is "The problem with the world is that it's three drinks behind". He did what he wanted, and he was cool for doing it.

Louie Armstrong - La Vie En Rose

Peggy Lee - Is That All There Is?

(This very simple video is chillingly strange. It's like a David Lynch film)

Glen Miller - In The Mood

Billie Holiday - Easy Living

Disney Remixes - Pogo Is A Golden God

When I was little I was the biggest Disney fan in the world. Ask any of my friends, it was probably really annoying. I knew everything there was to know about the parks and I absolutely loved the films. I still do and Pixar is probably the strongest film studio right now. They're movies and shorts never cease to amaze.

I stumbled across these Disney remixes by Pogo, and immediately had to share them with you. You will love them, and if you don't, then you suck. I was gonna try to order them from my least to most favorite, but thats impossible. They are all literally AMAZING. LISTEN TO EVERY ONE OF THEM RIGHT NOW. NO MATTER WHAT ELSE YOU ARE DOING. I'd start with Buzzwing or Wishery.

He uses only sounds from the films and maybe an occasional cymbal or drum beat and spins them into these amazing songs.

Bangarang - From Hook

UPular - From Up

Toyz Noize - From Toy Story

Expialidocious - From Mary Poppins

Buzzwing - From Toy Story

Wishery - From Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

Alice - From Alice in Wonderland

And just for something extra, Jeesh, a Pogo inspired fan, made this song from the amazing Robin Hood cartoon .

The Undisputed Greatest Thanksgiving Movie Of All Time

I was thinking earlier today that this is the only category that I can do this in. That is, select a single film that is the 'greatest' without a doubt in a certain category. For example, 'Christmas' could go to Home Alone, Die Hard (yes, Die Hard is a Christmas movie), It's A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, or Scrooged. But not Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is claimed by Steve Martin and John Candy.

Planes Trains and Automobiles. Done and done. The most heartfelt comedy there is. Every Thanksgiving, after I dominate my brothers in our eating competition, my family retires to the basement and watches Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and it never gets old.

Directed by John Hughes in 1987 (the best year of the 80s), it's got that classic and cozy 80s feeling that is simply gone from today's films. In PTA, Neal Page (Steve Martin) is trying to get home to his family for Thanksgiving when problems start to occur. After his flight gets diverted due to bad weather, he teams up with Del Griffith (John Candy), a talkative and unkempt Shower Curtain Ring Salesman and the two of them try all sorts of ways to get home.

I could go on and on about this film. About how John Candy deserves an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, about how everyone should respect the fact that John Hughes refused to appeal to the studio and kept one scene that makes the film R instead of PG (the word 'fucking' is used 18 times in 60 seconds), about the hundreds of quotable lines ("We'd have better luck playing pick up sticks with your buttcheeks than we will getting a flight out of here") (I just laughed reading that), about it's rumored three-hour cut which if released would make me crap my pants, or about how it's Steve Martin's favorite film of his own.

But all you have to do is watch it and you'd already understand all of that. It's a work of art. AND...the music is pretty dope.

Here's the trailer.

Which brings me to two great "Thanksgiving" songs in the film. They aren't really "Thanksgiving" in the traditional sense, but after watching this film every year at Thanksgiving, they just only feel right when played around the holiday.

Blue Room - Everytime You Go Away

Originally on a Hall & Oates Album, the song was covered by Blue Room (Who's lead singer is Paul Young) for PTA. This is kinda the 'theme' song of PTA. A classic 80s jam.

Ray Charles - The Mess Around

This song plays during a great scene when John Candy is driving. If you've seen the film you know what I'm talking about. It's just John Candy with a cheesy mustache puffin on a cig and jammin out, and what more could you ask for. The progression from Candy's 'oh this is a pretty good song' to full on dashboard jam sesh gets me everytime. His facial expressions could not be funnier. This is one of my favorite songs and John Candy is one of my favorite actors. I don't think anybody can think about him and not be a little happier. He's one of those people who you never heard anything bad about. Based on his film choices, he also seems like he cared deeply. About what, I don't know. But I do know that he was a great guy and that there's nobody else like him.

10 Great Study/Thinking Songs

I've pulled three all nighters in the past two weeks. It seems like tonight I am going to make it four. I've come to accept the fact that this is simply how I work. For me, it is impossible to study/work more than one day before said work is due. But so far, it's worked out pretty well. Which leads me to the conclusion that work is best done between the hours of 1 and 6 am.

In light of that, I have been compiling a pretty amazing study playlist. During any all nighter, music is crucial. Especially when studying. The music needs to be enlightening without being too distracting. Sort of background music, but too good to be lumped in with that category. Without further adue, here are 10 of my favorite songs to listen to while studying.

10. Bob Dylan - Boots of Spanish Leather

Bob Dylan is the most influential musician of the past 100 years. No questions asked. In the future, I will have to do a full post exclusive to Bob; his music deserves it. It's the type of music you can listen to for 10 years (I would say longer but I'd be guessing) and it keeps on feeling brand new.

This song, Boots of Spanish Leather, is in my top 10 favorite Dylan songs. Released in 1964 on his The Times They Are A-Changin' album, this song is an old ballad you have heard many times. The classic tale of two-lovers separated from each other. Critics say that it is about Dylan's past girlfriend Suze Rotolo and when she left him to live in Italy. The song plays out as an incredibly heartfelt dialogue between the man and woman. It's relaxing as music gets. If you're not trying to listen to music to keep you awake, I'd assume that you would have other things like coffee for that ; ), than give this a listen. It blends in well with the background while you're trying to concentrate on something else.

9. John Cale - Big White Cloud

John Cale was part of the Velvet Underground, one of the greatest bands ever, in the 60s. After Lou Reed and Nico, Cale was the third most famous person in the band. Meaning he wasn't really 'that' famous. But his music is great. This song, Big White Cloud, is just great. I've been addicted to it for the past month now. From the music I've heard of Cale, it seems like he loves talking about being outside during a beautiful day, which is cool with me.

This popped up on youtube while I was searching, pretty cool, give it a listen. It's the 'trippy' version of Big White Cloud, which is already pretty trippy.

8. Nujabes - Feather (Featuring Cise Starr & Akin from CYNE), Aruarian Dance, and Counting Stars

Last week I found out that Japanese producer Nujabes, real name Jun Seba, died in a car accident earlier this year. I had no idea. A friend casually lamented his death while we were listening to one of his songs and I simply couldn't believe it. Seeing him live was up there in my list of things to do before I die. It sucks how something like that can one day just become impossible. He died in a traffic accident while getting off the Metro in Japan. It's so sad, and just seems to random to happen to such a genius. I guess that's just life being a bitch. He gets my vote for favorite hip-hop producer, if you can even call him that. His music is nothing short of amazing, incredible, spectacular. There are no words, which might be why he didn't use any either. Nujabes fused jazz and hip hop seemlessly and created his own style. A style I haven't heard anywhere else. It was something more than hip-hop. It's more than music, it's art. I'd go so far as to say that it's philosophical. At some point during my all nighters one Nujabes record always gets played through. Feather is the song that got me hooked, but it's not his best (though I'd still listen to it first if I were you). His music has an essence of redemption that you just can't understand until you listen to it.

On another note, I just saw under the 'Counting Stars' comments that one person said "Nujabes ain't dead, just push play". Amen to that.

RIP Nujabes, you will be missed.

Feather

Aruarian Dance

Counting Stars

7. Van Morrison - Sweet Thing

Van is my pick for greatest singer of all time. Sweet Thing, which is on his album Astral Weeks, definitely one of the ten greatest albums of all time, is one of my favorite Van songs. He's an Irish alcoholic with the most soulful voice I've ever heard. His music has feeling, and you can tell he's going through a rollercoaster of emotion when he's singing. If all you think of is Brown Eyed Girl when you think of Van Morrison, you need to give him a listen. I'll definitely have a Van post up in the future, don't worry.

6. Mayer Hawthorne - Just Ain't Gonna Work Out

Mayer Hawthorne is coming up and starting to get big. He just played at the Black Cat in DC and I'm really mad that I missed it. This song is probably my favorite of his. He's one of those musicians who stuns you after seeing a picture of what they look like. I'm also amazed at how recent his music is, it sounds like it was made in the 70s. This is also a really well shot video. The black and white fits well with Mayer's nostalgic sound. Give it a listen.

5. The Morning Benders - Mother and Child Reunion

I saw the Morning Benders open for Broken Bells, and even though we got there late, had a terrible spot, and were dead sober, it was a really great concert. This song is from there album The Bedroom Covers, which is obviously an album of covers. Mother and Child Reunion is originally a Paul Simon song, and it's probably my favorite of all the Simon and Garfunkel covers (even though it's not a Garfunkel song).

(sorry, there's no video on youtube of this song)

http://hypem.com/track/1110489/The+Morning+Benders+-+Mother+and+Child+Reunion+Paul+Simon+Cover+

4. Claude Debussy - Clair de Lune

I know that people don't listen to classical music these days, but some of it is really good. Like possibly best music ever good. There's something special about a song that holds your attention without any vocals. I'm partial to classical piano because my parents forced all of us to learn it on the piano, and I'm really glad that they did. Immediately after hearing this song I learned how to play it. After hearing this I started listening to a lot of Debussy and he's rediculous. Unless you're one of those people who's already decided that instrumental music sucks, it's pretty much impossible to not like this song.

3. Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up (Drop Out Orchestra Dub)

Another instrumental song. This time to a beat that you already know and love. It's pretty awesome and further proves Rick Astley's awesomeness. I don't know much about Drop Out Orchestra but after hearing this they seem pretty good.

2. The Action - Brain

The Action were a 1960s Brit pop/rock band that started their career along with other similar British bands like The Beatles (the greatest band of all time). They were also signed to EMI, the Beatles label in the mid 60s, and were hoped to ride the British Music invasion wave that the Beatles dominated, except they never charted a single during the two years they were with EMI. Which amazes me, because Brain is one of my favorite Classic Rock songs. I love the lyrics

Hang your brain up in the sky

Hang it up, hang it high.

Remember me, remember me

'Cause I'm the one who made you see.

Grab your brain and give it a listen.

1. Bob Marley & The Wailers - African Herbsman

Bob Marley is great everything music. Great for partying, great for chilling, great for long drives, and especially great for studying or just thinking in general. I went to Jamaica for spring break my sophomore year and it was probably the best vacation I've ever been on. Bob Marley there is like George Washington here. He's the only musician like that in the world. His music is so good, that every other musician doesn't bother playing reggae cause they know that it would never even compare and that people would just go back to listening to Bob. This song is one of his lesser known ones, a hidden gem.

Lupe's Back BOY-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

(Photo taken from last.fm)

Lupe Fiasco is the best rapper alive. I said it. Right now, only Kid Cudi is givin Lupe a run for his money. Move aside Wayne, you've sided too much with Drake (the 13 year old girl's rapper). Lupe's first two albums, Food and Liquor and The Cool, are two of the best rap albums made in the past ten years and based on this track, the third, Lasers, doesn't look to disappoint. I heard from someone that he is only doing three albums and then he's retiring his solo career. If this is true, and this third album is anywhere near as good as his first two, I guarantee that he will be remembered as one of the greats. He's the only popular rapper who actually raps about 'stuff'. Not just 'gettin low' on some 'ice cream paint job' with some guy named Dougie. His songs have social and cultural relevance that hip/hop seems to have abandoned since Tupac and Biggy were alive. Lupe toes the line between pop and rap. His music definitely has that radio appeal quality to it, but when listening to it, I feel like these songs have some actual meaning that pop music either ignores or simplifies. His rhymes cover rough and raw material, and I'm not talking about how rappers talk about how they kill people or the stupid feuds they start (remember when feuds used to be cool? Like Nas and Jay-Z or Tupac and Biggy. The last 'beef' I can remember is between Eminem and Mariah Carey, proof enough that Eminem completely sucks now). Lupe raps about IMPORTANT stuff. About our society's definition of what's 'cool' or about the war. And yea, his music is fairly biased/liberal, but he is definitely intelligent, you can tell just by reading his lyrics.

n**** they ain't living properly
break 'em off a little democracy
turn their whole culture to a mockery
give 'em Coca-Cola for their property
give 'em gum, give 'em guns, get 'em young, give 'em fun
if they ain't giving it up, then they ain't getting none

and don't give 'em all naw, man, just give 'em some

Here's some of his older songs, all of them amazing.

Dumb It Down

Daydreamin' (His best song)

Little Weapon

Gold Watch

American Terrorist (Feat. Matthew Santos)

*****

And now, on to his new ish. It literally came out yesterday. It uses the melody from one of my favorite songs, Float On by Modest Mouse. Get on it quick before the radio grabs hold and plays it to death. It's a definite possibility.

The Show Goes On *NEW*

Massive Attack - Angel

Six Scary Songs/Music Videos

Halloween is fast approaching. You can already see the decorations in stores and bars, the skeletons and spiderwebs that adorn the windows brings that first notion that fall is well on it's way and summer is long gone. Though the weather is downhill from here (other than snow, oh how I love snow), the coming of cold means the beginning of holiday season. I mean, honestly, the cold sucks which is why man has filled the fall and winter with football and holidays. That's what we really love. And Halloween is the first of those.

Personally, I am a huge fan of horror. Horror films (don't worry we'll get to that later this week) and horror songs. What exactly is a horror song? Let's just say, it's the type of song that, if you were woken up by it in the middle of the night, you would start to get worried. Some of these have scary music videos to accompany them, but some were made before music videos existed. Without further a due, here's six scary ass songs.

6. Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead

I got a record player two Christmases ago and one of the records my oldest brother gave me was by Bauhaus. The first time I put it on, I was with one of my best friends, and we were immediately thinking "What the hell is this?" It's not your average music. It doesn't even contain any of the average sounds you hear in music. Bauhaus is named after the German art school, and rightly so. To put it simply, they are both very strange and weird. Bauhaus the band has got a dark post-punk Cure style sound that's gloomy and grungy. Just see how creepy it all is right here.

5. Electric Light Orchestra - Fire On High (No Video)

ELO, one of those classic rock bands that deserves more attention. Their sound is so grand and their music so distinguishable I have yet to hear a band I could compare them to. They were a 70s British Rock band that brilliantly incorporated the sounds of Rock, Pop, and Classical. I'm sure you've heard their song Mr. Blue Sky, definitely their most popular. This song, Fire On High, starts out like a nightmare. It is how I'd imagine the music that they play like in hell sounds, only to be pulled out of the darkness by soaring violins and rhythmic guitars. A journey through hell, give it a listen.

4. Massive Attack - Angel

I actually filmed a short horror film this past summer in USC and used this song for the background music. After adding it, the film was 10 times scarier. Massive Attack was able to get that feeling of growing worry and the director did a great job of putting a visual handle on that. Just read the comments on youtube, they get it perfectly. If we run away from our fears, they'll just grow and grow to the point where they overwhelm us. I couldn't embed the video directly so I'll put it in a different post.

3. Michael Jackson - Thriller

Of course. Thriller. And yes, I know Michael Jackson is the King of 'Pop', but come on, he's the scariest, or was the scariest, looking person IN THE WORLD. Of all the people in the entire world, if I woke up and found someone standing at the foot of my bed, Michael Jackson would by far be the most terrifying. I wouldn't even think about it, I would just jump straight out of my window (and I live on the 16th floor).

(Picture taken from Google Images)

Even though this is the definition of a pop song from a pop artist, it's still the greatest music video every made, and you can't make a scary music video list without putting it somewhere on it. You just can't.

2. Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

Weird. Creepy. Exactly what this song needed. When I was little I was a huge Soundgarden fan, I still remember sitting in my old 80s style kitchen (before our house was renovated) and hearing on MTV that they broke up. Though I'm not really sure what's going on in this music video, I know that the place depicted might be the worst neighborhood to live in. The scariest part is their weird creepy smiles. Something about a smile that's just too big is terrifying.

1. Rammstein - Du Hast

This was the one music video that was able to ruin my childhood. Everytime it was on TV, I couldn't help but watch it while hiding under my bed (what can I say, I liked being scared), but it would scare the poop out of me. For those of us who can remember beach week, I'm sure they can't hear Du Hast without wanting to run the other direction. Though it doesn't hold quite the same scare factor that it did when I was eight, I will forever remember it as the scariest music video of all time.

Dirty. Filthy. Melt Your Face Off Tuesdays

So for all of you who haven't gotten into this new music called Dubstep, this post is for you. It's that type of music that if your parents heard, they would think you were listening to pure noise. At times it even sounds like noise... but its melodic noise. That melodic WOMP WOMP WOMP that you feel in your body.

Too often now I'll be driving with a friend looking for a song to play and ask him/her "Do you like dubstep?" and they'll say "What's dubstep?" It's almost 2011 damnit, people need to hear this.

This is the future. This is what you will be hearing throughout the bars and clubs in under five years. First the rap/hip-hop genre will adopt it and then BOOM it's gonna be everywhere. That's my prediction. In fact, it's even started to happen a little.

So here, get a heads up, and LISTEN to these amazing songs. I'll ease you into it with the more radio friendly songs towards the top of the list.

Matisyahu feat. Akon - One Day Jakwob Remix

This is one of those Dubstep songs that could be easily played on the radio and people would love it. But for some reason, you'll never hear it. Instead, they'll choose to cycle between the same terrible five songs all day. Well anyways, this song is worth a listen to, in fact, I haven't met anybody who hasn't liked it yet.

White Lies - Death (Chase & Status Remix)

A friend who lives in London introduced me to White Lies. He went to high school with them and was telling me that they were about to blow up, and the summer of 09 they did. In England, their album overtook U2's No Line On the Horizon, and deservedly so. I was amazed by the fact that this band was my age, as the singer sounds like a 35 year old man. But they definitely know how to jam. Though this song doesn't really do White Lies justice, since its pretty much just the vocals being used, it's still a good introduction to both the band and Dubstep. So enjoy, this one is dirty, great workout song.

La Roux - Bulletproof (Chrispy Dubstep Remix)

One of the few good pop songs of 2009 (I'll admit, I liked it) and Chrispy makes it even better. This is a great song to ease someone, if thats even possible, into dubstep. Oh, also, don't bother listening to any of these on laptop speakers, you need to be able to get that low bass sound which you need with semi good speakers or else you'll be ruining the experience.

Lil Wayne - Lollipop (Nasty Ways Remix)

First I need to say Lollipop is probably my least favorite Wayne song and Kanye might be my least favorite rapper (other than his first album, honestly, could someone suck more as a person). But this beat is the definition of dirty and here the verse/flow accompanies the music.

The Marvelettes - Please Mr. Postman (Cragga Dubstep Remix)

One of my favorite oldies remixes. When I was young, my parents would only play oldies in the car, so I love stumbling across these types of songs. They have an ability to bring you back while also giving you that constant barrage of the senses that our generation loves. I might even dedicate an entire day to oldies remixes, we'll see.

M.I.A. - Steppin' Up (Young Live Dubstep Remix)

I like MIA's music, but for some reason, all of the songs I like are remixes. So I guess I don't really know if I like her music. I also hear that she puts on a terrible concert. But even so, lots of her songs are turned into amazing songs. And this is one of them. One of those, drivin through the ghetto windows tinted out drivin slow in a low rider songs. Oh, I couldn't find it on youtube, so just click on this link and it'll take you to a website where you can hear it.

http://www.soundcloud.com/younglive/m-i-a-steppin-up-young-live-hard-l-a-m-i-a-dubstep-remix

Sky Ferreira - Animal (Young Live Dubstep Remix)

Sky Ferreira, the up and coming queen of electropop. If you haven't heard her single 'One' yet, go get dat 'ish now. This is a remix of her song Animal, done amazingly well by Young Live. My favorite remix of her songs so far. Young Live, please, come out with more music.

Modestep - Sunlight

I had never heard of Modestep before a friend gave me this song a few weeks ago, but so far they are pretty nasty. Just give it a listen. It's the perfect song to blast at 6 am when you're trying to party and the sun's being a party pooper.

Bassnectar - Massive Attack Remix

Bassnectar is pretty popular right now, or he's gaining popularity. He is definitely one of the best out there, though I hear he talks to much during his concerts (saying stuff like "YEAH! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!) when everybody's tryin to get their thang on. Really, nobody likes hearing people talk during songs, which is half of the reason why rap concerts are generally terrible, with the exception of Jay-Z who I need to see very badly. But anyways, this song is redic. Just wait till Wayne starts rapping and you'll be addicted.

Mr. Bass Line JunkE - Dreamer (Dave Dialect Dubstep Remix)

One of my favorite dubstep songs. "You're nothin but a dreamer", and that's alright with me. Just give it a listen.

DJ Fresh - Gold Dust (Flux Pavillion Remix)

This song is so filthy that you'll need to take a shower after you hear it. That is all that needs to be said.

And that's it. I'm thinking of making every tuesday Dirty.Filthy. Melt Your Face Off Tuesday. If you guys like what you hear, let me know, and it will be done.

My First Post

So this is going to be the first thing I ever post on a blog. To all you in my class, I know, this is a really late start. But hopefully I'll make up for it. Here's a song for starters. I've been addicted to this for the past week. It's a remix of Nico's 'These Days' by Shinichi Ochawa. Someone spliced in footage from The Royal Tenenbaums (which is definitely worth a view). It does and doesn't work with the song but it's something to look at.

(AND THATS HOW IT WORKS! You come here and click a button and for the rest of you're life you have a great song/film)

Anyways, now that you've got a song to listen to and you'll probably have to stick on this page as is plays out, here's some information about Eff-POP.

Eff-POP is a music and film blog that brings to you the songs and films that you never hear about unless you look for them. We'll I've done plenty of searching and whoever finds this blog won't be disappointed. Promise. (Unless you're favorite song is Beyonce's Single Ladies or Black Eyed Peas 'I Gotta Feelin', which if it is the latter, than you'll love this remix of it)

Now, back to Beyonce. For me, the whole mindset that popular music is at an all time low began because of her. Or because of Rolling Stone really. Of all the amazing songs from 2008, a great year for music, Rolling Stone labeled Single Ladies the greatest of them all. OH. MY. GOD. This is the type of song that makes me cringe when it's played at the bars. That makes me think, what the hell am I doing in a place like this? I'm not saying that Beyonce's a bad singer, she has an amazing voice, but this is the type of song that makes me appreciate silence. When I'm on a 10 hour plane ride and my IPOD dies in the first 10 minutes, I can find some comfort in the fact that at least this song isn't being blasted on the speakers.

Ironically, this is something I just noticed, Rolling Stone labeled the Santogold song remixed above, LES Artists, as the second best single of 2008. So yes, we know that there is good music out there and that people do have good taste.

So it isn't the music that's bad. It's the music were being fed thats bad.

So I'm here to try and help you get out of the 99.5 radio muck and away from the Twilight screenings. (Far away)

So turn on, tune in, and let's do this.