The Jester One Music Countdown By The Numbers - #17

#17

2009 - DevilDriver - Another Night In London

Album: Pray for Villains

Pray for Villains ended up being a surprisingly good album for me. After DevilDriver released The Last Kind Words I kind of wrote them off as having two great albums and then fading into mediocrity. Fortunately, I was mistaken. This was a good year for listening to a lot of metal, as I was still working for BE and still filled with a whole lot of anger. I distinctly remember sitting out by the pond behind my apartment under a tree while having a cold, listening to this record. I just wanted to be outside after being sick for a few days and this record essentially rocked me into feeling better. The rest, as they say, is history. Unfortunately, I haven't cared for a lot of what DD has done recently, but they've got an intriguing album coming up, covering old outlaw country hits. We'll see, Dez. 

2010 - Slash - Baby Can't Drive (featuring Alice Cooper and Nicole Scherzinger)

Album: Slash

Slash's Snakepit was okay. Velvet Revolver had a few hits. But before he acquired the services of Myles Kennedy, Slash put out his own solo record which was fantastic. He had some of the best names in rock and metal as guest vocalists (Ozzy, Iggy Pop, Lemmy) as well as some big name popstars too (Adam Levine, Fergie, Kid Rock...). It ended up sounding excellent all the way through, even including the singers I wasn't too particularly fond of... which of course leads us to this track. It was a bonus track on the record, featuring one of my all-time favorites (Alice) and someone who I would honestly never listen to (Nicole). In listening to the song now, I remember the allure of it but I don't remember Nicole sounding so bad. Woof. Still a fun song to kick while speeding down the highway.

2011 - The Lonely Island - Jack Sparrow (featuring Michael Bolton)

Album: Turtleneck and Chain

My goodness. I still don't understand how the guys over at The Lonely Island are so good at this. Perhaps it's the sheer absurdity of their music, but the fact that people like Natalie Portman, Michael Bolton, and otherwise unsuspecting artists agree to participate in songs like this just boggles the mind.

With all that being said, this is truly the jam and I have no idea how it was only 17. Maybe because TLI are just too much sometimes, maybe because 2011 was just all jams. Either way, a great memory and I'm glad it actually made it to the Countdown that year.

2012 - Morning Parade - Headlights

Album: Morning Parade

Before Morning Theft, we had Morning Parade, who are obviously not from Columbus, haha. The band had 2 albums and have 2 songs that I liked, both of which made the Countdown and made a big impact on their respective years. Go big or go home, I suppose, but the band has broken up now (like many other J1 alums) and are simply a fantastic memory for me. This was another song that was a good one to crank while driving. I remember the first few times I heard this song I was driving to work and kind of thought it was dumb, but it hit me driving home late one night and from there it was etched into my brain.  Maybe they'll reunite some day, but until then this is what we have. Rabbits in headlights.

2013 - Sevendust - Decay

Album: Black Out The Sun

Life, death, and a Sevendust album every two years. Some things are just that consistent, except that Sevendust took a little time between their previous effort, Cold Day Memory and Black Out The Sun. Cold Day Memory featured a track called "Ride Insane" that just missed in 2010, but there was no way BOTS would miss out. It was truly packed with hard hitters (as any 7D record should be) and Decay hit the hardest of all. It was the first single released and showed that the group still had plenty of aggression and crushing licks to share. They missed out in 2016 and have a new record this year which I'm somewhat undecided in - it's not bad but it's not nearly as catchy as I've come to expect. At least they haven't barrelled out of control like a lot of the other hard rock/metal groups from my teenage years.

2014 - Foster the People - Coming of Age

Album: Supermodel

I'll admit, I was late to the Foster the People discussion. I remember thinking "Pumped Up Kicks" was a cute song and being annoyed by the other 3 singles off of Torches, but upon hearing Coming of Age I had to go back and do a double take. As it turns out, I really only cared for one other song on that record ("Helena Beat", of course), but it made me appreciate the strangeness that Mark Foster brings to the table. I haven't really liked much since this song either, but it's a real dandy. Sometimes you have to get over his hilariously high-pitched voice and 80s grooves and see through to some seriously poignant lyrics. Coming of Age is a goodie and fits just about any mood I'm feeling.

2015 - Big Data - The Business of Emotion (featuring White Sea)

Album: 2.0

We sure do have a lot of guests on tracks at #17, huh? Here's a fun piece of information. Perhaps my least favorite song of this time period? "Dangerous" by, you guessed it, Big Data. I essentially wrote off anything from this record before even giving it another half-spin just because of the absolute inundation of that annoying song from 2014 onward. And then, one evening I was driving home from work (when I was still at Gahanna, must've been late fall) and CD102.5 was doing a double exposure on Big Data. I caught the end of the aforementioned "Dangerous" and then the beginning synths of "The Business of Emotion" started, and I was hooked. I got home as quick as I could to figure out what the hell I had just listened to, and from then on this song bolted through the ranks, ending at 17. 

Now, I still think Big Data is annoying and blame him for making Joywave famous, and I have no feelings for White Sea either. This song is tremendous regardless of all of that, which I believe is the true beauty of music.

2016 - Trivium - Until The World Goes Cold

Album: Silence in the Snow

This one kind of came as a surprise to me. I hadn't given Trivium a serious listen since 2008, but I happened to be listening to an internet station specializing in new rock and metal when the thundering opening riff of this song came on. It's weird to think that Matt Heafy is a month younger than me, seeing as how Trivium have been a massive article in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene since 2005 and are still kicking it hard. I didn't enjoy their newest record as much but I'm sure they'll still be around for quite some time.

2017 - Tinashe - Flame

Album: Flame (single)

And... then we have this. Well, I'd say 17 has definitely been the strangest number so far. I don't know if that's good or bad, but here's Tinashe. I suppose this is still a pretty good song, even if it was a surprising one to catch my ear. It seems like it would've been a more relevant song for me if I was dealing with relationship issues, but it's here just the same. I mean, I guess if this is what pop music is now, eventually a song or two will catch me.

The Jester One Music Countdown By The Numbers - #18

#18

2009 - Sick Puppies - I Hate You
Album: Tri-Polar

It's interesting that "I Hate You" ended up being the song for this year. Tri-Polar is a tremendous follow-up to Dressed Up As Life, even if it's slightly less fucked up. Looking back on it, "Riptide" is the song I like the best, and "You're Going Down" is the song that probably has gotten the most play over the years. "I Hate You" is a good song, yes, and is super relevant to the relationship I had just escaped. It's just intriguing that it was the one at the time. It's just a shame that Sick Puppies disintegrated after this record and put out an extremely horrendous piece of safe garbage in "Connect" before firing Shim Moore. So much potential, but I guess I can lean on two really great records.


2010 - Rammstein - Frühling in Paris
Album: Liebe ist fur alle da

I mean, obviously there was going to be a Rammstein song in the 2010 Countdown, right? It took me a long time to really get into "Liebe..." but in the end it's really a great record. Like 2009, I had a couple of choices from the band for this, including "B*******" and "Mehr". "Frühling in Paris" just happened to be the jam that fit at the time. I was still riding pretty high off of what "Wo Bist Du" had done for me with my parents breaking up, so it only made sense that it would be a slower song that would catch my ear first.  Sadly, it's been 8 years and we're still holding on for one last R+ record.


2011 - House of Heroes - Galveston
Album: Suburba (Re-Release)

Oh, I dunno. I think this song could've been a little higher on the 2011 list. Obviously Suburba came out in 2010 but in 2011 House of Heroes re-released it with a few bonus tracks that eventually made their way to their b-side album The Knock-Down Drag-Outs. Anyways, Obadiah played this song on the Riot after the re-release happened and I was instantly hooked. I remember that I was driving to pick up my (at the time) girlfriend and immediately had to find the song. The rest, as they say is history. Surprisingly, nothing off of their follow-up record made it to the 2012 but they did return in 2016 with... well, give me just a minute.


2012 - Santigold - Disparate Youth
Album: Master of My Make-Believe

Have I said before that 2012 was the best year for the J1 Countdown? It honestly doesn't get much better, top to bottom, than in that year. "Disparate Youth" was a song that I listened to constantly from the first time I heard it on CD101 until... well, just the past few years really. It's still one that immediately catches my ear and makes me want to listen to it six more times. Unlike the other 18's so far, this one is not from an artist I love and not from a record I enjoyed. It is, however, the best song Santigold ever released and is definitely one of my favorite songs from the Countdown Era (2009-current).


2013 - Biffy Clyro - Black Chandelier
Album: Opposites

Biffy Clyro has exploded in the rock scene ever since dropped Opposites in 2013. It was a really great record and the boys from Scotland are helping hold the flag for what rock music should sound like in the 2010s. I don't think either of their most recent records reach where they were on Opposites, but "Black Chandelier" was a wonderfully melancholy song in a year where I was either super high or super low most of the time. A breathe of fresh air, if you will, and another gem that fell to me from CD102.5 (which was still hard to say after the sudden frequency change).

2014 - Bleachers - I Wanna Get Better
Album: Strange Desire

In retrospect, I'm somewhat surprised that I liked this album as much as I did at the time. I'm sitting here typing this while I listen to it again, and it's not... well, it's not terrible. It's not great but it is good, and it's certainly less poppy than the album Jack put out last year. If I had my way, I'd just put Fun. back together and not have the rest of them worrying about their overly poppy side projects. On the flipside, "I Wanna Get Better" is still lyrically brilliant and catchy, even if it is overly sugary and bubbly for what I wanted it to be. I'm gonna stop on this one because I feel utterly perplexed.

2015 - New Found Glory - Selfless
Album: Resurrection

Ah, New Found Glory. I was shocked that this album was so good, and I'm still somewhat caught off-guard that any band that I loved way back in the day is still worthwhile in the late 2010s. As it stands, this was the first song that made it onto the radar of the 2015 list (at the end of 2014) and that ended up being more of a curse than a blessing. The song just kind of fizzled out at the year went on after starting strong and slid back to #18 while bigger and better songs took its place. It's still a fantastic jam and a welcome addition to a great catalogue from a wonderful bunch of pop-punkers.

2016 - House of Heroes - In The End
Album: Colors

Oh, hey House of Heroes, there you are. I was just talking about you. No, it wasn't anything bad. But twice you've made it and twice you've been at #18. Isn't that special? I think it's great!

I've heard people say that this is the best House of Heroes album yet. I don't necessarily believe that, but I can also say that there really isn't a bad song off of this record. "God" and "Colors Run" would definitely be my other favorites, and it's almost shocking to listen to this record when you realize it was crowd-funded.  Just a great effort and a great song from a great group of dudes doing Columbus, Ohio proud.


2017 - Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Fire Escape
Album: Zombies on Broadway

It's 2017 and I'm still embarrassed for liking Andrew McMahon. He's the anti-Jester, truly, but he's made a few catchy songs and two of them have made their way into the Countdown. It is what it is, and I'm afraid that in 2018 there'll be another McJam from McMahon... (see what he's doing to me!?). Anyways, this one still has my favorite video of the year and is still a really fun and great song, I'm just glad it didn't end up as high as "Cecilia..." did a few years ago. The jury is still out on 2018... stay tuned!

The Jester One Music Countdown By The Numbers - #19

#19

2009 - Parachute - She Is Love (Band Version)

Album: Losing Sleep 

Amusingly, I really can't stand the acoustic version of this song. This was one that I first heard on the work muzak at the Bob Evans I was working at at that time. The downside of the full band version is that it always sounds like it was recorded at a lower bit-rate without being remastered. It's still a great song and I didn't take it off my Walkman for several years after this. In fact, I think that old mp3 player broke before I could get this song out of my rotation. It's still a great jam and it's one of the first "love" songs that I associated with being with my wife.  Parachute isn't really a band I care terribly much for, and there are so many clones floating around like The Script that they're essentially dime a dozen, but for a long time this was absolutely my jam. In 2009, it was only my 19th best jam, though, which just goes to show how time causes us to appreciate things.

2010 - Demon Hunter - Collapsing (ft Bjorn Strid)

Album: The World Is A Thorn

Another year, another DH album on the countdown. Technically, this was the first Demon Hunter song on a countdown, but that's only because this was only the second countdown. I've said it before but I'm almost certain that "My Heartstrings Come Undone" and "Not I" and even "Thorns" would have been top 3 for the years that each of their albums were released. As it stands, this was a solid song off of what I consider the last really good Demon Hunter album. Sure, I like the 3 that have been released since, but it's just not the same anymore. TWIAT has some real bangers though, and I initially thought it would be "Shallow Water" or "Driving Nails" that were going to make the countdown. I remember my (future) mother-in-law being upset that I was blaring this song while driving up to their house a few times. Haha.

2011 - The Knux - Razorblade

Album: Eraser

Every now and then CD102.5 plays some great rap music mixed in with their "alternative" jams. The Knux were one that caught me totally by surprise. "They found you on a milk carton, performing disappearing acts" - what a great line. It's nothing but excellent lines all the way through the song, even if the album doesn't really live up to the hype this song created. Sadly, The Knux have only released one album since Eraser and it took them 5 years to do that. All the same, it was nice to hear a rap group that wasn't all autotune and crappy lyrics.

2012 - Silversun Pickups - Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)

Album: Neck Of The Woods

Here's a scary thought - "Bloody Mary" was only #19 in 2012! I've spoken about this countdown before and how it was one of the truly amazing ones in the history of J1, and this just goes to show how deep things were (even if Reptar was the throw-away #20). What made 2012 different from 2011 and 2013, I have no idea. But this is one of SSPU's greatest tracks and it's mind-altering to think that something with as influential of a bassline as this one would only come in at #19. 

With that being said, Neck Of The Woods showed a newer, more poppy direction for the Pickups. There were still great tracks like "Skin Graph" and "Gun-Shy Sunshine", but then you hear the 2nd single "The Pit" and you realize that the group and their label decided on a certain flair to follow, and that's essentially all they've done since.  Of course, they self-produced their most recent record, and it would be unfair to hold any record against Swoon, but I guess that's just music for you.

2013 - Relient K - PTL

Album: Collapsible Lung

Haha, what? Relient K, the group I saw at a tiny church way back in 2001? Yep, that Relient K. The one who made it HUGE with "Be My Escape", was absorbed into a pop label and lost all of their punk-rock elements while churning out two trash albums, returned with Collapsible Lung, which by all accounts was still massively poppy but sounded significantly better (and less manufactured) than their previous two efforts. I'm not sure what caught me on PTL; maybe the falsetto chorus, maybe the hand-claps, maybe the obviously relevant subject line. But there it is. #19 in 2013 - a year where I must've only ever listened to Cd102.5 because it's nothing but Alt-rock and a few metal gems. Oh, and PTL. Who knows. It's kind of a fun song, right?

2014 - Destiny Potato - Take A Picture

Album: Lun

I didn't even bother checking out anything about Destiny Potato before downloading this album. I only needed to know the name and the fact that they were similar to other djent acts that I liked, except with a female lead. Come to find out this is a band from Serbia and have wonderful accents. Their music was good enough, although they've essentially gone dark the past few years except for a hint on their Facebook page posted a few months ago referencing a new page titled "Sordid Pink".

Lun sounds like what most other djent bands were producing at the time - a mash-up up Periphery, TesseracT and Veil of Maya, except for the whole female singer part. Take A Picture kicked hard and had cute lyrics, but didn't have enough depth to get further than #19 in 2014. I'd love to hear some sort of follow-up from these guys.

2015 - The Frozen Ocean - Kerosene

Album: Skeleton Key

The Frozen Ocean is David Swanson, a musician from Connecticut. David Swanson is a phenomenally talented human being with a beautiful soul. I've told this story a dozen times but it always bears repeating - I was a fan of his from years ago and was super excited when he started recording this record. His self-titled disc still stands as one of my all-time favorites, and 7 years later I was dying for more. For whatever reason I missed the pre-order on the album and I just kept forgetting to order it. When I finally did. I received an e-mail the next day from Dave saying that he was just about to launch a sale on his website and wanted to send me a free shirt as a thank you for ordering the record.

He didn't have to do that. He's a musician who probably makes his living off of sales like that, but it goes to show his character that he would take the time to reach out and do that for me. Annnnyways, Kerosene is one of several fantastically unique songs off of Skeleton Key, including the title track, "Light Years", "Grey Town", and an outstanding re-imagining of CCR's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain". Well worth the wait and equally deserving of a spot on my Top 20 that year.

2016 - Metric - The Shade

Album: Pagans in Vegas

I'm not sure how I had never seriously listened to Metric before 2009, because right now they're one of my all-time favorite bands. Well, let me rephrase that. Fantasties and Synthetica are two timeless records for me. Pagans in Vegas had exactly one song that I liked, and I didn't even like it until well after the album was released. It's the "bloop bloops", and we all know it.  Well. somewhere along the line they released a version without them and I was actually able to listen to the entire song without interruption. And it turns out that it's a pretty great song, lyrically. Musically it's somewhat annoying and my wife refers to it as "that terrible I Want It All song with the whiny girl singer", but it's here and that cannot be changed. I can only hope that Metric recovers for a better record next time around.

2017 - The Head and The Heart - Rhythm and Blues

Album: Signs of Light

Folksy alternative has made a massive explosion in recent years thanks to the likes of The Head and The Heart, The Lumineers, The Avett Brothers, and others. It's not really my style but man, THATH do a really great job of making beautiful and catchy music without a lot of glitz or polish. Signs of Light is just another solidly built record that shows that they have staying power despite their own personal struggles. "Rhythm and Blues" has so much feeling on it, it's a wonder it wasn't featured higher last year. 

But, I guess we'll talk about that more in the coming weeks. Stay tuned next Tuesday for the 18s!

The Jester One Music Countdown By The Numbers - #20

#20

Obviously, you have to start at the beginning right? Let's jump right in!

2009 - Collective Soul - Staring Down

Album: Collective Soul

I do remember at this time that I still enjoyed watching the VH1 Top 20 Video Countdown. The hosts were interesting, they played all 20 of the videos (in a 2 hour episode) and they had loads of interesting content to fill the rest of the time. Somewhere along the way VH1 shortened things down and in 2016 they got rid of music all together, but for a while there it was a great show. And it was on this show that I first learned that Collective Soul was still making music, despite not charting since 2009. I didn't really listen to the album much because it just didn't have the feel of the '90s grunge-era Collective Soul, but I did enjoy "Staring Down" a lot. Listening to it now, it has a good nostalgia feel to it but I can't put my finger on it otherwise why I liked it so much. 

The majority of my music listening at the time was built around stuff I heard at work, the Top 20 countdown, and listening to the radio in my spare time. If you've ever lived in Columbus, you know that my options for new music were therefor quite limited. But, this was the first of the last... or the first... well, however you want to look at it.

2010 - Dark Tranquility - The Fatalist

Album: We Are The Void

There used to be this torrent website called RockBox which almost exclusively featured metal torrents. I found most of my newer metal addictions through that site, and Dark Tranquility is a perfect example of it. I'd click on the site, listen to the track that was featured, read the bio, and decide if I wanted to listen to the rest of the album. There wasn't Spotify or other streaming platforms at the time. File-sharing was the way to go, and torrents were the easiest way to find what you wanted. These days the internet (at least for me) has shifted away from that, and I barely even spend any time on my computer any more.  As it stands, "The Fatalist" was the track previewed on the album page, and I listened to it heavily for several months. The album was garbage and even listening to the song now, I'm barely even able to recognize what I liked about it. Really, it's just a good solid metal chorus. I haven't enjoyed anything else they released, but there will always be this song, I guess... haha

2011 - Avril Lavigne - What The Hell

Album: Goodbye Lullaby

Oh man. My love affair with Avril started in high school and burned bright for several years. In many ways, Goodbye Lullaby was the end of that. Her previous effort The Best Damn Thing was overly poppy and her sound had completely morphed into bad bubblegum by 2011. But "What the Hell" hearkened back to what she used to be, and it stuck around in my head during that year long enough to break into the countdown. 2011 was a really really great year for the countdown, and starting with Avril definitely didn't hurt. I think the thing I remember the most about this song was that it was a favorite of the girl I was with at the time, before I started dating my (eventual) wife. Thanks for two great albums, Avril!

2012 - Reptar - Stuck In My Id

Album: Oblangle Fizz, Y'all

I'm somewhat embarrassed by this one. Not because it's a bad song or anything, but because this song was basically a last second addition because I had a spot that needed filled. I hadn't done my research and another song that I had been jamming to (I can't remember specifically which song off the top of my head) had been in the countdown up until the day that I was doing my final research and making sure all of my ducks were in a row. I realized that the song I had initially had was two years old and therefor ineligible for the 2012 Countdown. I had to scramble and just threw in the first song I had liked from that year. Obviously, I wasn't as meticulous about the countdown at the time, and I changed how I did my data compilation after that.

"Stuck In My Id" is a fun song, but I didn't like anything else from the band and I don't much care for them now either. It's more of an eye-roll to me now, but it doesn't hurt what was the tremendous year for the Countdown.

2013 - Grouplove - Ways To Go

Album: Spreading Rumours

Grouplove is one of the ultimate love-hate groups in my life. I cannot stand either of the vocalists and I feel like their music is cliche and dopey. Every new album they release, I roll my eyes as I hear them take over alt-rock stations and get played far more than they ever should be. Somehow, somehow each of their albums has produced exactly 1 song that I totally enjoy, and for Spreading Rumours it was "Ways To Go". The next single off of the album was titled "Shark Attack" and it still stands as one of the *worst* song I've ever heard on the radio. The part that I liked the most on "Ways To Go" was the part where Hannah sings after the chorus. That's basically it. The song has barely any substance and when I heard them performing it live I immediately was disgusted by it and really haven't been able to listen to it since. The end. Lol

2014 - I, The Breather - Swine:Cult (featuring Ricky Armellino)

Album: Life Reaper

Now we're talking! Here's an album I greatly enjoyed from a group that I also happened to like. It's a shame they broke up after this disc dropped, because I really felt like they had a chance to blow up after it was all said and done. "Swine:Cult" was my favorite thumping track on an album of absolute bangers. This was one that I'd turn up all the way in my car and just head-bang my brains out on. Ricky Armellino can be heard screaming and laughing on the 2nd verse. 2014 was a tremendous year for metal songs and "Swine:Cult" was the perfect kicker to get things started.

2015 - Florence + The Machine - Ship To Wreck

Album: How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

I can remember listening to this album on my way to work one day and just falling in love with this song. If you've followed the Countdown for any amount of time you know that Florence + Co are a staple here and I 1000% guarantee you will see her on the 2018 edition. The lyric: "What's with the long face, do you want more, thousands of red-eyed mice scratching at the door" always catches me. Florence paints a wonderful picture on this song, as she often does. 

2015 had so many songs that could've been in the top 10 or 5 at any point, that I was wondering at one point if Ship To Wreck was even going to make it. She beat out Papa Roach, Genevieve, and Walk The Moon to just squeak in, but honestly what would be the Countdown be without her?

2016 - Safemode - Hold On

Album: Colodblind

Unlike the two previous years, it wasn't a huge battle of big songs trying to claw their way into the Top 20. Safemode and several other metal songs were kind of kicking around at the end of the year and they just happened to be the one that got the nod. It's not my favorite album of the year or one that even stuck out to me, but it did end up being a really solid song. Safemode always brings really good harmonies and pretty guitars to their songs while throwing in chunky breakdowns and pulsing drums. I haven't heard much from them since this album came out, and hopefully they'll have new music brewing soon.

2017 - Liam Gallagher - Wall of Glass

Album: As You Were

This one is pretty fresh so I don't have a ton to say about it. I'm kind of excited that both of the Gallagher boys have been putting out their own music in the past year and a half, but I'd really rather the two of them worked together and put their differences aside to make great Oasis music again. Haha.... right. I guess I should just be grateful that I got to hear Liam's voice again, even if it were just a solo shot. As You Were is a fairly good album, but "Wall of Glass" is really the only song that I took much out of on it. I only just recently shuffled it out of my usual rotation of goodies on Spotify. 

There you have it. The history of the number 20. Haha. I think I'll make this a bi-weekly thing, say Tuesdays and Fridays? See you in a few days!

 

#tbt Jester One Music Top 20 Countdown: By The Numbers

Hello friends, I hope you're having a wonderful 2018 so far. I know things have been quiet on this site in regards to the 2018 Countdown, but rest assured things are going ahead just as they do every year. 2018 marks the 10th year of compiling songs for a year-end excursion, and I've been trying to think what I could do to mark that occasion. I've done #TBTs in previous years, covering older countdowns by year and such, and I figured this year I could do something cool and look at the individual places where each song landed.

I might come up with other ideas along the way, but I felt like this would be a fun one to do. See you next week with #20!!