Falling and Laughing

Best-of lists! Who isn’t addicted to them? And yet who isn’t so burned out on them? As if the usual year-end deluge isn’t bad enough, we also have to deal with decade-end lists? Good gravy! Out of consideration for everyone’s list-fatigue and limited attention span, Falling + Laughing hereby presents:

The Top 10 10-Second Moments from 2009 Songs [press play above to hear them in order, or click the bracketed links for individual clips]

10. [0:06-0:16] “Action/Reaction”, Choir of Young Believers
Curiously, the rest of this song (except for the moment midway through where this jawdropping opening is briefly reprised) really bugs me.

09. [0:39-0:49] “She Wolf”, Shakira
On a related note, this song is #1 on the only end-of-decade list I’m making: “Top One Song to Prominently Feature the Word ‘Lycanthropy.’”

08. [Approx 4 hours into an epic 6-hour Best Show-4 hours + 10 seconds] “Jazz Fart”, Jon Wurster as “Bryce” as Frank Zappa
Technically this shouldn’t be on my list as (1) it is a fictional song and (2) if it weren’t fictional, it wouldn’t have been released in this century. But I include it because it made me laugh harder than anything else this year.

07. [1:37-1:47] “Sun Was High (and So Was I)”, Best Coast
Single most blissed out moment of 2009. This will always be the soundtrack to my first summer with Gemma, and taking her to the beach, and watching her plunge into the waves, all-heart.

06. [1:53-2:03] “Islands,” xx
What is a sexier than one Romy Madley Croft voice? Two Romy Madley Croft voices calling-and-responsing [sic] each other.

05. [0:36-0:46] “You Belong with Me,” Taylor Swift
The 10 seconds that were stuck in my head most tenaciously for at least 3 months of this year. It is the chewing gum you can’t get off the sole of your shoe (and secretly don’t want to). Don’t judge YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT.

04. [3:10-3:20] “Useful Chamber,” Dirty Projectors
There are certain moments on Bitte Orca where the achievement of Dave Longstreth and his hocketing seraphs can only be understood in terms of “science fiction.” This is one of them.

03. [0:16-0:26] “Honey in the Sun,” Camera Obscura
“A half-full moon in Mexico city / I think of you.” O Tracyanne Campbell, you have my very favorite voice of anyone. And this melody! Honey in the sun 4 real.

02. [3:04-3:14] “Ring Ring,” Sleigh Bells
So sweet and breathtaking when the beat kicks back in. Alexis Krauss singlehandedly redeems the otherwise odious “hipsters-wearing-metallic-tights” trend. Also, a resolution of mine for 2010 is to never use the word “hipster” again.

01. [4:22-4:32] “Freak Train”, Kurt Vile
By this point in the song, Kurt Vile has whipped himself into a high lather. His tossed off “Shit!” is the perfect release to a song that has thus far been all chugging buildup. For better or worse, in its various meanings, “Shit!” also seems like the perfect one-syllable summation of my 2009. [You should listen to all of “Freak Train” here.]