Top Ten of 2010 - the Songs!

Lists, lists and more lists!  Everyone publishes year-end lists. Top tens, best of's, worst of's, likes, dislikes and so on... I want to play!

Here are my Top Ten songs of 2010.  The criteria is simple - I bought and/or downloaded the song and it was released in 2010 and it found itself in very heavy rotation on my iPod.

1. F*ck You - Cee Lo Green
Maybe the only time the "F-Word" sounds so happy and cheeky.  The Gnarls Barkley vocalist sings an ode to rejection and recovery.  The "clean" version was everywhere this summer and even covered by Gwyneth Paltrow on Glee!  Musically, it wouldn't be out of place in 1974.

2. How I Got Over - the Roots
The best live band in Hip-Hop and maybe in America, as well as Jimmy Fallon's house band.  Cool Philly soul, with a Rap breakdown in the bridge propels this contemporary urban protest song.

3. Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na) - My Chemical Romance
An ear-worm of the worst kind!  I challenge you to get this chorus out of your head. Bubblegum pop meets alt-rock meets post apocalyptic comic book adventure.  MCR comes roaring back from the Black Parade!

4. Paris (Ooh La La) - Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
My Break Out artist of the year!  Grace Potter and her band the Nocturnals are just starting to get the national exposure they so richly deserve.  Featured on VH1's latest Diva concert, Grace stole the show and duetted with the Wilson sisters of Heart.

5. What We Do - Devo
Everyone's favorite De-Evolutionists from Akron Ohio are back.  Unmistakably Devo and catchy as hell!

6. This Too Shall Pass - OK GO!
Maybe the coolest video of the year, and an amazingly well crafted pop nugget.

7. American Slang - The Gaslight Anthem
An E Street band for the 21st century?  The Gaslight Anthem lives up to the hype, if not that tag.  This is the song that the Boss would have recorded if he had fronted the Clash instead of that little combo from Asbury Park.

8. Hold On - All That Remains
Heavy metal continues to make inroads into the mainstream and this song from the Massachusetts metalcore outfit shows why.

9. Say You'll Haunt Me - Stone Sour
Stone Sour is the side project of Slipknot's lead singer.  Yeah, Slipknot - that scary, mask wearing band from Iowa.  Who imagined that a singer in a thrash band could have such a well developed pop sensibility and gift for melody?

10. Darling, It's True - Locksley
I discovered this power pop band from Madison Wisconsin while listening to Little Steven's Underground Garage.  The legacy of the British Invasion lives.

Honorable Mentions;
Zebra - Beach House
Hailing from Baltimore, Beach House's sound is a shimmering haze of soundscapes.

Let's Go Surfing - The Drums
You've heard this song... now you know who it is.  You're welcome.