My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #1 (+ more!)

We’ve finally arrived at the end of this listing. It may have taken a lot longer than I ever expected to (it should have only been 100 days!)  but we got there! I hope you’ve enjoyed this listing and I’m sure you want to know what my favourite song has been over the Last Half Decade. Before we get there, I’d just like to recap the whole listing from #100 to #2…

#100: Madness – Muse
#99: Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites – Skrillex
#98: Neat Little Rows – Elbow
#97: No Reflection - Marilyn Manson
#96: Explain My Heart - Saul Williams
#95: I'm in the Mood... For Beards - The Beards
#94: She's Not Gone Yet But She's Leaving - The Fratellis
#93: Shotgun - Limp Bizkit
#92: Can't Rely on You - Paloma Faith
#91: Blue Blood Blues - The Dead Weather
#90: Rebellion - Linkin Park (feat. Daron Malakian)
#89: Paradise – Coldplay
#88: Sing - Ed Sheeran
#87: Mein Land – Rammstein
#86: Elephant - Tame Impala
#85: Love Turns to Hate - The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
#84: On Top of the World - Imagine Dragons
#83: G.D.F.R. - Flo Rida
#82: Evil Eye - Franz Ferdinand
#81: Little Monster - Royal Blood
#80: Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke
#79: Brendan's Death Song - Red Hot Chili Peppers
#78: Go Kindergarten - The Lonely Island (feat. Robyn)
#77: The Negative One – Slipknot
#76: Royals – Lorde
#75: Government Trash - Death From Above 1979
#74: Survival – Eminem
#73: Sick Bubblegum - Rob Zombie
#72: Gentleman – PSY
#71: Go Right Ahead - The Hives
#70: These Days - Foo Fighters
#69: Word Crimes - Weird Al Yankovic
#68: One for the Road - Arctic Monkeys
#67: Nightmare - Avenged Sevenfold
#66: Princess of China – Coldplay (feat. Rihanna)
#65: Kill the Power – Skindred
#64: Where's Your Car Debbie? – Slaves
#63: Suit and Tie - Justin Timberlake (feat. Jay-Z)
#62: Stevie – Kasabian
#61: Narcissistic Cannibal – KoRn (feat. Skrillex and Kill the Noise)
#60: Bad Girls - M.I.A.
#59: Devil in I – Slipknot
#58: Tighten Up - The Black Keys
#57: QWERTY – Mushroomhead
#56: Radioactive - Imagine Dragons
#55: Dibby Dibby Sound - DJ Fresh vs Jay Fay feat. Ms Dynamite
#54: Came Back Haunted - Nine Inch Nails
#53: Gangnam Style – PSY
#52: Warning – Skindred
#51: Bassline Junkie - Dizzee Rascal
#50: Fat Around the Heart - King 810
#49: Supremacy – Muse
#48: Bridge Burning - Foo Fighters
#47: Never Never – KoRn
#46: Sandpaper – Fozzy (feat. M Shadows)
#45: Out of the Black - Royal Blood
#44: Eez-eh – Kasabian
#43: Sweet Sour - Band of Skulls
#42: Berzerk – Eminem
#41: Santo Domingo - Jon Fratelli
#40: Talk Dirty - Jason Derulo
#39: 99 Percenters – Ministry
#38: The Vampyre of Time and Memory - The Queens of the Stone Age
#37: Right Now – PSY
#36: Panic Station – Muse
#35: Figure it Out - Serj Tankian
#34: Lonely Boy - The Black Keys
#33: Low Hangin' Fruit - Tenacious D
#32: Days Are Forgotten – Kasabian
#31: Figure it Out - Royal Blood
#30: It Gets Worse - Mindless Self Indulgence
#29: Karma - Jamie N Commons
#28: Get Up! – KoRn (feat. Skrillex)
#27: Snap Out of It - Arctic Monkeys
#26: Hey – Slaves
#25: Thrift Shop – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
#24: Megatron - Crazy Town
#23: If I Had a Tail - The Queens of the Stone Age
#22: House of Pain - Hot Action Cop
#21: Howlin' For You - The Black Keys
#20: Something From Nothing - Foo Fighters
#19: Thieves - Limp Bizkit
#18: Jack Sparrow - The Lonely Island
#17: Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys
#16: Blame it on the Boom Boom - Black Stone Cherry
#15: Black Skinhead - Kanye West
#14: Baby We're Refugees! - Jon Fratelli
#13: The Island - Pt II (Dusk) – Pendulum
#12: Dance - Saul Williams
#11: Ain't No Grave - Johnny Cash
#10: Niggas in Paris - Jay-Z and Kanye West
#9: Smooth Sailing - The Queens of the Stone Age
#8: Rap God – Eminem
#7: Custer – Slipknot
#6: I Just Had Sex - The Lonely Island (feat. Akon)
#5: Killem All - King 810
#4: Jungle (Remix) - Jamie N Commons and the X-Ambassadors (feat. Jay-Z)
#3: Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson (feat. Bruno Mars)
#2: Bangarang – Skrillex (feat. Sirah)

Okay so my favourite song over the Last Half Decade is…

#1 “The Hunter” by Slaves
Released: 17/11/14
Album: Are You Satisfied?

If you know me well, chances are high you probably had an inkling that this would be #1 on my list. And you know what? I actually debated putting it lower in the list because of the fact that it was an obvious choice for me. But when it comes down to it, there is only one song that stands out to me as above and beyond anything else released over this five year period.

I absolutely love this song. I absolutely love this band. I’m so happy I got to see them last month, they were incredible. I love the riff, I love how the song builds up, the video is pretty cool too, it’s discretely catchy and it’s… just… so… cool. I’m not a massive punk rock fan but with Slaves making garage rock merge with punk (a formula done by other bands, I’m not saying they’re the first) they have something that does sound raw and passionate and it packs a massive punch. I do encourage anyone who likes British rock, or punk, or garage rock a listen to this band. Seriously they’re one of the coolest new bands out there, and this is their biggest hit to date, and, clearly in my opinion, the best too.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

And that’s it! Many thanks for putting up for my long periods of absences in the making of this listing. I’ll probably do a Top 100 Favourite Music Singles of the Decade of 2010-19 in the year 2021 or something. Here’s some nerdy stats of my listing if it appeals to you:

Annual breakdown of music singles:
2010 – 9
2011 – 21
2012 – 16
2013 – 27
2014 – 27

First and last singles on the list in chronological order:
First: “Sick Bubblegum” by Rob Zombie – released 11^th January 2010 (#73)
Last: “Megatron” by Crazy Town – released 17^th December 2014 (#24)

Artists with Two Entries:
Coldplay (#66, #89); Imagine Dragons (#56, #84); Jamie N Commons (#4, #29); Jon Fratelli (#14, #41); King 810 (#5, #50); Limp Bizkit (#19, #93); Saul Williams (#12, #96); Skindred (#52, #65); Skrillex (#2, #99)

Artists with Three Entries (maximum cap):
Arctic Monkeys (#17, #27, #68); The Black Keys (#21, #34, #58); Eminem (#8, #42, #74); Foo Fighters (#20, #48, #70); Kasabian (#32, #44, #64); KoRn (#28, #47, #61); The Lonely Island (#6, #18, #78); Muse (#36, #49, #100); PSY (#37, #53, #72); The Queens of the Stone Age (##9, #23, #38); Royal Blood (#31, #45, #81); Slaves (#1, #26, #64); Slipknot (#7, #59, #77)

Albums with Two Entries:
48:13 by Kasabian (#44, #62); Are You Satisfied? by Slaves (#1, #26); Brothers by The Black Keys (#21, #58); Memoirs of a Murderer by King 810 (#5, #50); (Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay (#66, #89); Night Visions by Imagine Dragons (#56, #84); The Path of Totality by KoRn (#28, #61); Psycho Jukebox by Jon Fratelli (#14, #41); Turtleneck and Chain by The Lonely Island (#6, #18); Volcanic Sunlight by Saul Williams (#12, #96)

Albums with Three Entries:
…Like Clockwork by The Queens of the Stone Age (##9, #23, #38); The 2^nd Law by Muse (#36, #49, #100); .5: The Gray Chapter by Slipknot (#7, #59, #77); AM by the Arctic Monkeys (#17, #27, #68); The Marshall Mathers LP 2 by Eminem (#8, #42, #74); Royal Blood (#31, #45, #81)

I thought I’d do a Mixtape Playlist so if you wanted to listen to the “Best Of” in one go, you can do now this way. I’ve set a cap of only one song per artist. Not familiar with my Mixtapes, here’s a description of what one is:

A Mixtape is a playlist of a certain genre, band or era. The list is generally 80 minutes long, the same length of a blank CD, with further recommendations if some of the songs aren't to your taste. Remember kids, downloading is wrong!

The Best of The Last Half Decade (2010-14)

1.       Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson (feat. Bruno Mars)

2.       Jungle (Remix) - Jamie N Commons and the X-Ambassadors (feat. Jay-Z)

3.       Black Skinhead - Kanye West

4.       I Just Had Sex - The Lonely Island (feat. Akon)

5.       Rap God – Eminem

6.       The Island - Pt II (Dusk) – Pendulum

7.       Bangarang – Skrillex (feat. Sirah)

8.       Niggas in Paris - Jay-Z and Kanye West

9.       Dance - Saul Williams

10.   Ain't No Grave - Johnny Cash

11.   Baby We're Refugees! - Jon Fratelli

12.   Howlin' For You - The Black Keys

13.   Do I Wanna Know? - Arctic Monkeys

14.   Smooth Sailing - The Queens of the Stone Age

15.   Something From Nothing - Foo Fighters

16.   The Hunter – Slaves

17.   Blame it on the Boom Boom - Black Stone Cherry

18.   Thieves - Limp Bizkit

19.   Custer – Slipknot

20.   Killem All - King 810

And here are your five alternatives:

1.       House of Pain - Hot Action Cop

2.       Megatron - Crazy Town

3.       Thrift Shop – Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

4.       Get Up! – KoRn (feat. Skrillex)

5.       It Gets Worse - Mindless Self Indulgence

I’ve also made this Mixtape on YouTube, you can view and listen to it there if you want by clicking here!

And… that’s the end! Thank you all so much for reading and following this listing. Check out the Music tab above for anything else on music I’ve covered over the last five or six years on this website if you haven’t already. It’s nearly Christmas so I’ll take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

If you missed #2 go here - or go back to #100 by going here.

For the latest updates on my work, including all my latest radio shows, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #14

#14 “Baby We’re Refugees!” by Jon Fratelli

Released: 12/6/11

Album: Psycho Jukebox

 

In a sweet bit of coincidence I’m actually seeing The Fratellis tonight live in Liverpool on their “Costello Music” 10 year anniversary tour. Can’t wait!

 

Anyway, this is the second time Jon Fratelli has hit this Top 100 – in fact he’s only released two singles as a solo artist and both make the Top 100. His only album to date, “Psycho Jukebox” was a tremendous piece of work and in fact, frankly, nothing The Fratellis have done as a band since have matched how good Jon’s solo album was. This was the last piece of true magic Jon has released as an artist in my opinion, band or solo artist. And “Baby We’re Refugees!” is a heck of a good single. It’s one of the best anthems no one has heard, and it’s over before you know it too, it’s that short a song. The song builds up for just over two minutes and when we finally get the chorus, it’s just magical. As I said it’s just a shame because by the time the chorus kicks in the song is over, but again, that’s the sign of a good song, when you wished it went on for longer than it did. If you ever liked The Fratellis, seriously, listen to Jon Fratelli’s album, and start by listening to this little ditty, it’s underappreciated, truly.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #15 go here.

For the latest updates on my work, including all my latest radio shows, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!

My Top 100 Favourite Songs 2010-14 Edition: #41

#41. "Santo Domingo" – Jon Fratelli

Released: 28/2/11

Album: Psycho Jukebox

Despite it getting mixed reviews, I absolutely LOVED Jon Fratelli's debut album. I reviewed it for this website and to this day it's one of my favourite albums so far this decade. I can't believe it's now five years old. But, just like the first two Fratellis albums, Jon Fratelli's solo project was also terribly underrated, I shouldn't be surprised now.

Anyway "Santo Domingo", the lead single off the album is one of the better songs on the album and, with the video as you can see below, you can clearly see the Americana influences in Jon's writing for this album. He clearly became infatuated with American rock, the desert session and Las Vegas while writing this album. "Santo Domingo" is a great introduction into any attempts to like Jon Fratellis' solo work, so I can't recommend enough for you to check the track out below.

Here's the video if you want to hear it!

If you missed #42 go here.

For the latest updates on my work, including all my latest radio shows, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!

Music Album Review: Psycho Jukebox by Jon Fratelli

Has Jon Fratelli gone from Glasgow to Vegas? No; he’s moved across the street, but it doesn’t matter, it’s a damn good album.

Psycho Jukebox was released two months ago, and is Jon Fratelli’s debut album. This isn’t his first venture into music however, you may be more familiar with a band he fronted a few years, called The Fratellis. The band have been put on hiatus for a few years now, and since then Jon Fratelli formed a duo with a lady called Lou Hickey, and they called themselves the Codeine Velvet Club. After that, Jon Fratelli started to hint at a solo career, before going to Los Angeles to start working on a solo album. ”Psycho Jukebox” is the result of that project.

Starting with the extremely simple and catchy “Tell Me Honey”, Jon Fratelli’s debut work feels like familiar territory. The brit-pop/punk hybrid elements are there, and to put simply, if the song was stamped with “The Fratellis” rather than “Jon Fratelli” you wouldn’t have known any different. It’s a great track, one of the best on the album and is very typical of Jon’s previous work with his previous band.

We then continue on with “Daddy Won't Pay Your Bill", which starts to show a slightly different side to Jon’s repertoire. It’s a softer sound; there’s more of an indie sound in the music and there’s an added sincerity to the vocals he uses. Not to say there’s been no sincerity in his music before; there are certain tracks in his previous work that encompasses this trait, it’s just that he doesn’t often keep the upbeat tempo to his music whilst doing so, where as he does just that in this song. The track nicely combines a topic of a stern nature with a certain amount of affection. One thing I’ve always loved about Jon Fratelli is his fantastic raspy voice, and it’s definitely on show here.

Track three is the first single off the album, “Santo Domingo”, which was actually released earlier in the year in February. This is a track that could have easily fit into the nineties, with its Brit-Pop elements, something that I personally have associated with Jon’s previous band The Fratellis many times. Both The Fratellis, and in certain cases in this album, there is this odd feeling of familiarity with music fifteen years ago. That’s not a criticism, it’s an observation. “Santo Domingo” regardless is a great song, rightfully chosen as one of the singles for its cheeriness.

"Rhythm Doesn't Make You a Dancer", track four, is definitely an eclectic sound for Jon Fratelli. It’s a very bumpy track, yet it’s really cool as well. The chorus sounds great and there’s a decent guitar solo in there as well. One of my personal favourite tracks is “She’s My Shaker”, track seven, as it just sounds like a proper little indie anthem. There chorus is simple again. “And they went la la la la la, la la la-la la...”, yet it sounds fricking awesome. There’s nothing diverse really about the sound of the song, yet catchy songs like this just make me happy personally. One thing I will say about the track is that the lyrics are very reminiscent of the type of lyrics used probably in the sixties, mixing innuendo with happiness, to cover up the true meaning of the track. It’s a quality song.

The albums true moment of shine really is “Baby, We’re Refugees!”, track eight, which was the second single off the album. If “She’s My Shaker” was anthem-like, then this song is a true winner. It’s the shortest track on the album, as it has a verse, a bridge, another verse, a pre-chorus and then the chorus. The verses build the song up really nicely for the climatic chorus, which is a pure chant of “carry me home, carry me home, carry me…” It’s just a piece of excellence, simple excellence at that really shows how Jon Fratelli can create great music at times with considerable ease.

I read a few of the reviews for this album before showcasing my thoughts on it. I was quite surprised to see many critics showing mixed reviews for the material on show. The main criticism is that Jon Fratelli claims to have changed his sound; put more of his personal touch to the music, which many critics have disagreed with. On the whole, I agree, he hasn’t changed dramatically what was essentially The Fratellis. You could put a stamp on most of the tracks with the The Fratellis and no one would bat an eyelid. That isn’t a criticism for me in terms of the quality of the music however. The music on this album is great, I thoroughly enjoyed this album. But… has Jon Fratelli created a different sound? A sound he’s never been associated with before? On the whole, the answer is no. There is however, a very discrete touch to the music on offer that has an influence from other eras and genres. As I said “She’s My Shaker” lyrically, could have easily have been written a good fifty years ago. There are other examples too, track ten, “Oh Shangri La", definitely has a Vegas/Presley feel to it. It’s one of the more diverse tracks, with a lot of rock ‘n’ roll feeling in it, particularly from the early to mid seventies. You could make an argument that “Cavemen”, track eight, has a certain twinge of The Doors in there, lyrically and in certain phases musically, although for the most part it’s just a typical indie track. The final track off the album, "Sometimes You Just Can't Win", starts with a piano that is not too dissimilar to “Let it Be” by The Beatles, but then it just turns into a song that sounds exactly like the final track off “Here We Stand”, the second Fratellis album, which was called “Milk and Money”, apart from “Milk and Money” for me personally is a much better quality track and the song changes its tempo turns a bit buoyant for the finale.

All in all this is a great album. It’s actually for me, my summer album, I listened to it more than any other album over the past two months and I take pride in that. It’s fantastic. But the main problem here lies in the message that Jon Fratelli has conveyed. It’s not a different sound to The Fratellis. It’s an extension of that project. More proof is that he has since recruited Mince Fratelli, the drummer from the band. Also Tony Hoffer, the producer, worked on The Fratelli’s debut album. Only Barry Fratelli, on bass, is missing really. I don’t want this to be a criticism. The material on show here is of decent quality, on a personal level it’s only a notch down from The Fratellis as a band. I thoroughly enjoy this album and Jon Fratelli is a very talented man, it’s a credit to him in a certain way that he made an album without the help of his previous band mates (Mince didn’t work on the album, he’s there for touring) that is of such good class. But the message is incorrect, because on the whole, this isn’t a break in musical change; it’s an expansion from The Fratellis.

In theory what Jon Fratelli is saying is that he’s gone from Glasgow to Vegas, but in reality, he’s just moved house across the street. But don’t let that taint anything on show, because what is available is grand, and I thoroughly recommend you give it a try if you like The Fratellis.

Rating: ****1/4 stars

Stand out tracks: “Baby, We're Refugees!”, “She's My Shaker”, “Santo Domingo”

Here's the music video for "Baby, We're Refugees!":

Bitesize: #6

Hey there, welcome to another edition of Bitesize. Just in case you're not too familiar, my bitesize posts are there to talk about a group of things in one go, either because a lot has happened and I haven't the time to touch on all of it in great detail, or to announce site news.

Let's start off with the wrestling. Night of Champions was on Sunday and then Raw was yesterday. Both shows were mediocre, which is a shame as the WWE was on a decent roll until then. Let's hope it's a blip. My main topic to do with wrestling is the booking. There has been some questionable booking on both shows in the past two days. Let's start with John Cena winning his twelfth world title. I mean that's just stupid saying it. He's now on par with Hulk Hogan in total title reigns, and one behind Triple H, and four behind Ric Flair. And he's only 34. It's just a pathetic statistic really. An even worse statistic? He's won the title three times in four months. Even more pathetic.

I've talked about my feelings on John Cena before. Yes his in ring ability sometimes leaves a lot to be desired (not to say he can't wrestle, his matches with CM Punk shows he can, but sometimes he has to depend on a good quality opponent for him to demonstrate how good he is), but he's today's biggest star for the right reasons. He makes the most money. He's the biggest role model for the business. He can be great on the mic. I have no problems with Cena being the main man most of the time. But he's already up there with Hogan, Flair and Hunter. At the age of 34 it's just not right. He could continue wrestling into his forties if he wants to. He's in great shape, and has been more fortunate than others with injuries. Where does it end? At this rate he could be at World Title #25 before he's fourty. He's won these twelve titles in six years. Who's to say he won't win another thirteen in the next six? It's not an unrealistic statistic.

Another booking decision I wasn't happy with was the divas match.In the words of Booker T, "whut da hayle"? Why book Beth Phoenix and Natalya like dominant women bullying barbies and then when the matches occur have them lose? It doesn't make sense. No one is going to buy "The Divas of Doom" if they don't win matches. Yes, these two PPV matches between Beth and Kelly Kelly have been relatively entertaining, and Kelly Kelly has won with a rollup in them. But she still won. Twice. It makes her look like the better wrestler. If she's the better wrestler, how is she being bullied? Bullies are strong. They are brutes. They lack intelligence, but they are brutes. Having Kelly Kelly win all the time yet still be scared of the bullies lacks logic. It would have been a brilliant storyline for Beth Phoenix to win the title, and The Divas of Doom just wreck havoc on the division. In a few months time Kelly Kelly starts to stand up to these bullies and eventually wins her title back. It would in the long term make Kelly Kelly look good to stand up to these bullies after months of relentless punishment. But now we have two big girls who talk big and lose matches. It's just silly booking.


Okay enough about wrestling. Onto video games. I played a bit of Dead Island the other day and while I don't want to do any mini review on it just yet on this site, it's worth picking up and renting at least, if you like FPS games. It's like a mixture of Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising and Borderlands in one. If you've been unsure whether or not you'll like it, rent it instead. It's worth the risk of renting at least, trust me. I'm going to buy a copy in the next few months, when I can afford to anyway!


Another video game I'm going to get is Resident Evil 4 in HD. I got a lovely HD TV the other month and playing what I believe is one of the best games of all time in true HD sounds fantastic. I'll probably do a review on that, despite the game being a few years old now. I'm not afraid to review old games or albums. It's something I'm thinking of doing more in a few months. I'll be reviewing Super Street Fighter 4 in the next fortnight. Not sure on when yet. I have a few other things I want to get through first before getting stuck into that.


In music, I'll be posting my "Psycho Jukebox" review probably towards the weekend. That's the debut album by Jon Fratelli, lead singer of The Fratellis going solo. I hope you'll enjoy that. As always at the start of each month I'm continuing to do my Yearly Music Review and October's year is 1997. It was a decent year now that I'm close to finishing writing it up. I preferred it to 1998. That should be good too I hope.


Last but not least is football. I don't really want to discuss much more about the Liverpool match we had on Sunday, primarily because I covered it live here, but also because it was an awful performance. Tomorrow I'll be covering the match against Brighton, where I'm hoping we can bounce back quickly and prepare for the match against Wolves with aplomb. Fingers crossed.


Well that's all from me in this edition of Bitesize. I'll be back tomorrow with my Live Thoughts against Brighton. Fingers crossed on Friday I'll have my "Psycho Jukebox" album review ready. Keep coming on my site for my views on music, wrestling, football and video games. Have a good night.