Tag: songs

Top 15 Songs of 2012

These are my favorite songs that came out last year, many of which I found because of your comments. I hope you find a few new loves here, and that when you hear one of these songs years from now, you think of this time in your life fondly.

Top 15 Songs of 2012 on Spotify
50 Best Songs of 2012 on Spotify
(This includes the 15 featured here and more, for the completists among us.)


1. The Lumineers – Ho Hey
Photo source.


2. Fiona Apple – Hot Knife
Photo by Jason LaVeris


3. Sarah Jaffe – Shut It Down
Photo by Felicia Graham.


4. Audra Mae & The Almighty Sound – Little Red Wagon
Photo source.


5. Daughter – Candles
Photo by Geoff Lung


6. Mat Kearney – Hey Mama
Photo by Abby Gillardi


7. Ben Howard – Black Flies
Photo source.


8. Band Of Skulls – Sweet Sour
Photo from Corner Shop Studios


9. Frank Ocean – Bad Religion
Photo source.


10. Delta Rae – Bottom Of The River
Photo by Dennis Pillion


11. Dry the River – New Ceremony
Photo by Kristen Winter.


12. Die Antwoord – Fatty Boom Boom
Photo by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin.


13. Keaton Henson – You Don’t Know How Lucky You Are
Photo source.


14. Michael Kiwanuka – I’m Getting Ready
Photo source.


15. FOE – The Black Lodge
Photo source.

What did I miss? What was your favorite song of 2012?

Listen to 1,000 New Songs? Check.

We did it!

About a year ago, I added “Listen to 1,000 New Songs to my Life List, and started in. You guys sent me music, I listened to a lot of Pandora, and ten months later here we are. This project has enriched my life, so I’d like to do something on the site with music from now on, I’m just thinking about the best way to do it — please let me know if you have ideas in comments. For now, here’s a list of all my favorites over the past year.

These are my top ten:

1. All Summer from Best Coast, Kid Cudi and Vampire Weekend’s Rostam
2. Home from Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
3. Hand Me Down from Visqueen
4. Invincible from OK Go
5. Dominos from The Big Pink
6. Like a G6 from Far East Movement
7. When the Night Comes from Dan Auerbach
8. Dirty Laundry from Bitter:Sweet
9. Make You Feel My Love cover from Adele
10. Those to Come from The Shins

And here are the rest of the songs I linked to over the course of the 1,000 Songs Project. I’ve bolded more favorites:

I and Love and You from The Avett Brothers
I Thought of You Last Night from Jeri Southern
Him from Lily Allen
Vanilla Twilight from Owl City
Listomania from Phoenix
La Alergía from Very Be Careful
The High Road from Danger Mouse and James Mercer on the Broken Bells Album
Young Forever from Jay-Z and Mr. Hudson
Hologram from Katie Herzig
Safety in Numbers from Stars of Track and Field
Horchata from Vampire Weekend
Book of Love cover from Nataly Dawn
Oh Yeah! from Housse De Racket
Boy (extended mix) from Book of Love
Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare) from Kid Cudi, MGMT, and Ratatat
Two Weeks from Grizzly Bear
Undercover Martyn from Two Door Cinema Club
Brand New Shoes from She and Him
Let Me Down Easy from Bettye Lavette
San Francisco from Brett Dennen
5 More Minutes Please from Meghan Smith
Balloons from The Postmarks
French Navy from Camera Obscura
Away with Murder from Camera Obscura
How You Like Me Now from The Heavy
I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked from Ida Maria
Meet Me In The City from The Black Keys
Runaway from the National
God Help the Girl from God Help the Girl
Do You Love Me from Amanda Jenssen
Destroy Everything You Touch from Ladytron
Idlewild from Julia Kent
You’re Not All That (Feat. Jessica Darling) from The Herbaliser
Ik wil alleen maar zwemmen from Spinvis
Not California from Hem
Ce Jeu from Yelle
Comme des Enfants from Couer de Pirate
Robots from Dan Mangan
Cavalier Eternal from Against Me!
Welcome Home from Radical Face
Summer Sun from Koop
Swim from Surfer Blood
Summertime from Josh Rouse
Catch the Sun from Doves
Sweet Disposition by Temper Trap
Know How by Kings of Convenience
The Great Escape from The Rifles
Call and Response from Or, the Whale
My Good Gal from Old Crow Medicine Show
Laundry Room from The Avett Brothers
White Winter Hymnal from Fleet Foxes
Steady Rollin’ from Two Gallants
No Ceiling from Eddie Vedder
So Bad from Arum Rae
Air Plane from Local Natives
You and I from Ingrid Michaelson
In My Cup from Richie Loops
Samson from Regina Spector
Le Moulin from Yann Tiersen
Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk from Rufus Wainwright
Rhythm of Love by Plain White T’s
I don’t know from Lisa Hannigan
There is a Light (but it’s not for everyone) from Rae Spoon
You Turned my Head Around from Dean & Britta
I Sing I Swim from Seabear
Quiet from Non Tiq
Don’t Save Me from Marit Larsen
Cry Me a River from Julie London
Bag of Hammers from Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
I know how you are going to die tonight. from Chris Bathgate
So Sleepy from Fiona Apple
God Loves You Micheal Chang from Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele
Modern Man from Arcade Fire
Good Enough from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Come Alive from Janelle Monae
Shine On from Seth Bernard and Daisy May
There’s An Arc from Hey Rosetta!
Conversation 16 from The National
Summer Special from Land of Talk
Ambling Alp from Yeasayer
Trashcan from Delta Spirit
Don’t Bother Me from the Blakes
Dirty City from Kids and Animals
Roll Away Your Stone from Mumford and Sons
Nothing Else Matters covered by Lissie
The Start of Something from Voxtrot
Just Impolite from Plushgun
Help, I’m Alive from Metric
Lauren Marie from Girls
Fix Up, Look Sharp from Dizzee Rascal
Oh My God from Ida Maria
Lost Cause from Beck
Don’t Stop from Brazilian Girls
Wish Someone Would Care from Irma Thomas
The Garden from Mirah
The Weather from Built to Spill
Acts of Man from Midlake
Little Bit of Feel Good from Jamie Lidell
Such Great Heights cover from Iron and Wine
You’re Gonna Miss Me from Lulu and the Lampshades
Rolling in the Deep from Adele
Be My Thrill from The Weepies
Lover Gone from Peggy Sue and the Pirates
The Rhythm You Started from Sophie Madeleine
Clementine from Sarah Jaffe
One Day from Sharon Van Etten
Smoke a Little Smoke from Eric Church
Before I’m Old from Fictionist
Bullfighter Jacket from Miniature Tigers
Big Jet Plane from Angus and Julia Stone
Holding Us Back from Katie Herzig
Via Con Me from Paolo Conte
I Love You More Than You’ll Ever Know from Donny Hathaway
Two of Those Two from Maria Taylor
Doo Wah Doo from Kate Nash
That Day from The Villagers
Firework from Katy Perry
<a href="http://blip.fm/profile/MaggieMason/blip/61824479/BoB–The+Kids+(feat.+Janelle+Monáe)+(Musikal+Tube)+%7C+Lyrics” target=”_blank”>The Kids from B.o.B. featuring Janelle Monae
It All from Lou Rhodes
Capturing Moods from Rilo Kiley
Black and Yellow from Wiz Khalifa
Sugar from Dan Wilson

Thanks again for your emails, comments, and mixtapes over the course of the project. The CDs you’ve made me have been particularly touching. I like you.

And again, let me know if you have an idea of what you’d like to see in as a music feature on Mighty Girl from here on out.

1,000 Songs Project: Friday Mixtape

I’ve always wished I knew more about music, and this is part of my Life List project to listen to 1,000 new songs. Right now I’m up to 993(!), and on Fridays I share some of my new favorites. If you’d like to share some music with me, please link to your picks in comments, and I will listen to them.

Broken Headlights from Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale
(Thanks, Danielle York!)

Washing Day from Amber Rubarth
(Danielle recommended this one too.)

Laura from Girls

California from Joey Ryan

Seven Nation Army cover from Ben l’Oncle Soul
(Thanks, Rosecrans.)

Still looking for more music? Here you go: Mixtape 1, Mixtape 2, Mixtape 3, Mixtape 4, Mixtape 5, Mixtape 6, Mixtape 7, Mixtape 8, Mixtape 9, Mixtape 10, Mixtape 11, Mixtape 12, Mixtape 13, Mixtape 14, Mixtape 15 , Mixtape 16 , Mixtape 17 , Mixtape 18, Mixtape 19, Mixtape 20, Mixtape 21, Mixtape 22, Mixtape 23, Mixtape 24, Mixtape 25, Mixtape 26, Mixtape 27, Mixtape 28

1,000 Songs Project: Friday Mixtape

I’ve always wished I knew more about music, and this is part of my Life List project to listen to 1,000 new songs. Right now I’m up to 976, and on Fridays I share some of my new favorites. If you’d like to share some music with me, please link to your picks in comments, and I will listen to them.

Those to Come from The Shins

Two of Those Two by Maria Taylor

Doo Wah Doo from Kate Nash (Thanks, Molly.)

That Day from The Villagers (Thanks, Jan.)

Firework from Katy Perry. I know you’ve heard this. I don’t care. Let’s do this.

Still looking for more music? Here you go: Mixtape 1, Mixtape 2, Mixtape 3, Mixtape 4, Mixtape 5, Mixtape 6, Mixtape 7, Mixtape 8, Mixtape 9, Mixtape 10, Mixtape 11, Mixtape 12, Mixtape 13, Mixtape 14, Mixtape 15 , Mixtape 16 , Mixtape 17 , Mixtape 18, Mixtape 19, Mixtape 20, Mixtape 21, Mixtape 22, Mixtape 23, Mixtape 24, Mixtape 25, Mixtape 26, Mixtape 27

1,000 Songs Project: Friday Mixtape

I’ve always wished I knew more about music, and this is part of my Life List project to listen to 1,000 new songs. Right now I’m up to 832, and on Fridays I share some of my new favorites. If you’d like to share some music with me, please send your picks to maggie at mighty girl dot com, and I will listen to them.

Snowfall from Ingrid Michaealson
(via Tess Evans, who you may remember from Friday Mixtape 19. Tess apparently has exactly the same taste in music as me, to a creepy level. This means we should be friends, unless she is a serial killer. Are you a serial killer, Tess? Check yes or no, and then check your email.)

Dying is Fine from Ra Ra Riot

(This and the next three are from a mix my friend Rachel made me. Thanks, Rae!)

Your Ex Lover is Dead from The Stars

I’m good. I’m gone. from Lykke Li

Because it’s Not Love (But it’s Still a Feeling) from The Pipettes

Still looking for more music? Here you go: Mixtape 1, Mixtape 2, Mixtape 3, Mixtape 4, Mixtape 5, Mixtape 6, Mixtape 7, Mixtape 8, Mixtape 9, Mixtape 10, Mixtape 11, Mixtape 12, Mixtape 13, Mixtape 14, Mixtape 15 , Mixtape 16 , Mixtape 17 , Mixtape 18, Mixtape 19, Mixtape 20, Mixtape 21, Mixtape 22, Mixtape 23

Friday Mixtape

I’ve always wished I knew more about music, and this is part of my Life List project to listen to 1,000 new songs. Right now I’m up to 678, and on Fridays I share some of my new favorites. If you’d like to share some music with me, please send your picks to maggie at mighty girl dot com, and I will listen to them.


When the Night Comes from Dan Auerbach


Help, I’m Alive from Metric
(via 826 Valencia’s benefit CD Give, Listen, Help)


Lauren Marie from Girls


Fix Up, Look Sharp from Dizzee Rascal


Oh My God from Ida Maria

Still looking for more music? Here you go: Mixtape 1, Mixtape 2, Mixtape 3, Mixtape 4, Mixtape 5, Mixtape 6, Mixtape 7, Mixtape 8, Mixtape 9, Mixtape 10, Mixtape 11, Mixtape 12, Mixtape 13, Mixtape 14, Mixtape 15 , Mixtape 16 , Mixtape 17 , Mixtape 18, Mixtape 19 , Mixtape 20

Friday Mixtape!

I’ve always wished I knew more about music, and this is part of my Life List project to listen to 1,000 new songs. Right now I’m up to 513, and on Fridays I share some of my new favorites. If you’d like to share some music with me, please send your picks to maggie at mighty girl dot com, and I will listen to them.

All of this music is from Tess Evans, who sent me a CD. I’ve been getting lots of CDs in the mail, and they make me so nostalgic and happy. Thanks to everyone who has sent one. You are rad.

Conversation 16 from The National
“I figured out what we’re missing
I tell you miserable things after you are asleep.”

Dominos from The Big Pink
“As soon as I love her it’s been too long.”

Summer Special from Land of Talk

Ambling Alp from Yeasayer

Trashcan from Delta Spirit

Don’t Bother Me from the Blakes

Dirty City from Kids and Animals

Still looking for more music? Here you go: Mixtape 1, Mixtape 2, Mixtape 3, Mixtape 4, Mixtape 5, Mixtape 6, Mixtape 7, Mixtape 8, Mixtape 9, Mixtape 10, Mixtape 11, Mixtape 12, Mixtape 13, Mixtape 14, Mixtape 15 , Mixtape 16 , Mixtape 17 , Mixtape 18

More Life

Just added four more things to the Mighty Life List:

Hear 1,000 new songs.
I want to know more about music, and I want to find easier, more automatic ways to incorporate it into my life. It feels like I have to go through ten steps to find a song I want to hear and listen to it on a device with worthwhile sound quality. I miss my record player. Plus, I’m beginning to feel like I’ve run out of fresh tunes to hum, which feels gross. Fortunately, I already have some friends enlisted to help.

Wear a sequined bikini to Carnival in Trinidad.
This scares the crap out of me. The last time I wore a bikini in public I was sixteen and blinded an entire small town in Mexico. Thank goodness for rum and Karen Walrond.

Go on a night dive with Manta Rays in Hawaii.
Liz wrote that post and it sounded so magic. As does almost everything about the ocean. It’s like visiting outer space.

Make a font.
I’ve always loved hand-painted signs and studying handwriting, and it seems like making a font would be so satisfyingly meticulous. Of course, the urge has only gotten stronger working in the same office with the Typekit team all day.

What have you added to your list recently?

Young Love Unrequited, The Soundtrack

This is the last gift sponsored by Sandisk slotRadio, so I thought we might actually talk about music. Since John Hughes passed, I’ve been thinking about how much more I enjoy movies when a director is passionate about the soundtrack.

My favorite Hughes scenes are about the music that’s playing in his characters’ lives. Remember Duckie lip-syncing to “Try a little Tenderness?”

Or Ferris Bueller’s “Danke Schoen” cum “Twist and Shout” on the parade float:

And of course, The Breakfast Club dance scene:

Then there are the Hughes songs that knock you flat and replay footage of your bedroom ceiling, circa 1985.

“Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds

“If You Were Here” by the Thompson Twins

“If You Leave” by OMD

So this present celebrates the music Mr. Hughes brought into our lives. If you win, I’ll send you everything you need for a nostalgic movie night.

The Ringwald holy trinity:

breakfast
The Breakfast Club

16candles
Sixteen Candles

prettyinpink
Pretty in Pink

An absurdly large box of Watermelon Flavored Pop Rocks, (Purchased after I ate the packages I bought for you at the corner store. Taste the Explosion!):

poprocks

And, of course, a Sandisk slotRadio:
slotradio

It comes with a bunch of songs already, but also gives you the option of picking your own music. Before you load your workout mix, I’d like you to check into these:

The Ultimate John Hughes Playlist
John Hughes Movie Soundtrack Hits

Leave a comment below, bonus points if you tell me about your favorite music-related movie scene. Be sure to include your email address in the field provided (so I can reach you if you win) by August 14 at 5 p.m. PST. Just one comment, please — I have to delete duplicates for fairness. Random.org will decide who wins. I’ll contact the lucky via email, and I’ll also tell you who won here.

Danke schoen to Sandisk for making this gift project a go. It’s been fun.