list season: the top 10 songs on "funeral"

you know it, i know it, bethanne knows it. funeral by the arcade fire was the best album of last year. so, in a move that usually isn't typical of many bloggers, i'm going to skip back an entire calendar year, and give you my favorite tracks from this classic album.

10. "haiti"-
out of the dark tracks, the anthemic tracks, the uplifiting ones, a pop song doesn't really fit. even though it's one of the best pop songs of the year.

9. "neighborhood #3 (power out)"-
doing a list like this is like ranking your children. it's blasphemous, but i told myself that i was going to do it. i'd have to say that the only downside to this song is the vocals. i can't sing along to screaming. haha.

8. "neighborhood #2 (laika)"-
everytime i play this song around my sister/roommate, she goes, "what the hell is that white guy screaming about?" once again, you can't sing along to screaming. but, like "#3", this is a good song, and it's agonizing for me to point out the things i dislike about the songs.

7. "une annee sans lamiere"-
i can't sing along to french. maybe if it were spanish..

6. "rebellion (lies)"-
when the drum kick from "haiti" continues, everyone knows where it's going. the 90's alt-rock-equse bassline kicks in, and win's calmest vocals on the record float through the first verse. when win's vocals get more impassionate, i get goosebumps.

5. "neighborhood #4 (7 kettles)"-
maybe i like this track because it screams "fresh cherries from yakima"! the sparse acoustic guitar line, the kettles in the background, the cymbal flourishes. it sounds like a song i'd record if i had the money and extraordinarily talented musicians around me. plus, the lyric "you can't raise a baby on motor oil" is obvious, but uplifiting at the same time.

4. "in the backseat"-
one of the best album closers ever, it has regine on vocals, and her wail at the end give me chills. the musicial build-up to the end makes for the most climactic moment on the album.

3. "wake up"-
uplifting record. i can't say enough good things about them, so i won't even start. but, i do have to say the tempo change at the end to the motown-esque jam is one of the best moments i've heard in indie rock in a loooong time.

2. "neighborhood #1 (tunnels)"-
without a doubt the best lyrical performance on the album ("yeah, i'll build a tunnel, from my window to yours"), the narrative of building a city on top of the snowed-in town is probably the best concept i've ever heard, and i'm jealous i didn't write it.

1. "crown of love"-
a perfect song. harmonies, melodies, instrumentation, everything. especially when they speed up the tempo at the end.