SONGS OF THE DECADE #35 [For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List] Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth (2005) The Skin Of My Yellow Country ... Four years later, "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" still sounds like one of the better songs of the decade, which is rather remarkable. In hindsight, what bothers me so much about the fate of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is not that they were overhyped, nor that they were the first to ... Read Full Story

SONGS OF THE DECADE #36 [For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List] Battles - Atlas (2007) I'm all for looking beyond a rockist viewpoint, but in order to declare music "post-rock," you have to ignore the good qualities of rock: it's ability to be loud, dangerous, fun, and enthralling. It makes sense that post-rock would need at least a decade to regain its willingness to use muscle; the genre errs on the side of brains at the expense of brawn. In perhaps ... Read Full Story

SONGS OF THE DECADE #37 [For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List] Mannequin Men- We Are Free (2007) We Are Free - Mannequin Men If the New Sincerity would ever let itself organize like the White Panthers (but that'd require meetings), Mannequin Men would be its MC5, and the line "we may be mannequin men/ but we can move/ we are free/ are you?" would hit the gut just as hard as the word "motherfucker" did 40 years ago. A free-thinking, unpretentious band... Read Full Story

SONGS OF THE DECADE #38 [For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List] Art Brut - Formed a Band (2005) Formed A Band - Art Brut What I want from art more than anything else is its ability to foster more art; inspiring creativity however one gets is the only thing I have found to be a consistent quality of all works of art. "Formed A Band" was all inspiration without the creativity, which is perhaps why I found myself so in love with "Formed a Band" as a coll... Read Full Story

SONGS OF THE DECADE #39 [For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List] Be Your Own Pet - Becky (2008) Becky - Be Your Own Pet If all of life is an extended version of high school, than Be Your Own Pet's swan song is about as universally relatable as rock 'n' roll gets. It takes backstabbing back to its roots: teen-on-teen crime. It also shows how emotional vulnerability can destroy an otherwise innocent life. Most of all, it doesn't ignore the fact that the... Read Full Story

SONGS OF THE DECADE #40 [For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List] TV On The Radio - Wolf Like Me (2006) Wolf Like Me - TV On The Radio As soon as TV on The Radio established their battle plan at beginning of Return To Cookie Mountain with "I Was A Lover," it was clear that the band needed a war cry. TVOTR, smart enough to know the perils of being bold in a culture that generally discourages it, put their avalanche of sound to the background for one trac... Read Full Story

SONGS OF THE DECADE #41 [For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List] Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty (2004) Ocean Breathes Salty (Album Ve... Personally, I've always preferred Modest Mouse at their loud-mouthed, snarky best, which is why I've rarely enjoyed anything the band has put out post-Lonesome Crowded West. That kind of raw sarcasm is difficult to achieve when you've "matured" like Modest Mouse did with The Moon and Antartica, but it provides p... Read Full Story

SONGS OF THE DECADE #42 [For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List] Radiohead - All I Need (2007) All I Need - Radiohead What happens when the best band of the worst half-decade in rock n roll history (and one of the best half-decades in American history) has to deal with the fact that boring people aren't really the biggest enemy anymore? You can turn to generic Bush/Blair bashing, as Radiohead did on Hail to the Thief, or you can mature your art at the ... Read Full Story

SONGS OF THE DECADE #43 [For more info, read the Ground Rules of The Song of The Decade List] Lambchop - Paperback Bible (2006) One perpetual problem in music criticism (addressed consistently throughout this list) is the fact that the primary audience for music fans is so different from those who review music for a living. The irresistible rise of dad rock has filtered down to punk and indie rock, which has led Yo La Tengo, the Flaming Lips, Built to Spill, to receive praise that'... Read Full Story

It's not surprising that, when The 39 Steps premiered on Broadway, some critics were outraged that a play lacking any focus on plot would be any sort of success. The outrage was less palpable when the play made it to Broadway, where it has become a smash success, outlasting every play from its season, including the more beloved farce of Boeing Boeing and the endless (and deservedly) awarded play August: Osage County. Two years later; it is easy to see why; what The 39 Steps lacked in drama ... Read Full Story