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Category: best songs 2010

Listmas 2010: The Top 50 Songs of 2010 [#10-1]

We’ve made it! After one really long week and a TON of writing, this is the final section of Faronheit’s Top 50 Songs of 2010. It’s been a wild ride, we’ve gone through 40 individual artists and songs so far, and I couldn’t be more pleased to put this to bed. Typically there’s at least one artist that has two songs on this countdown every year, but I’m pleased to say that this year there are 50 songs by 50 different artists. All of them are blockbusters, and if you haven’t heard them, I do recommend downloading either for free from the links I’ve provided below (when available), or buying the music via some sort of retailer. Next week begins Faronheit’s Top 50 Albums of 2010, and that’s another gigantic adventure unto itself. Thanks for sticking around and reading this week, hopefully you’ve learned something and discovered something too. Here’s the quick links for a rundown of what we’ve covered so far:

Top Songs #50-41
Top Songs #40-31
Top Songs #30-21
Top Songs #20-11

So without further ado, I’m proud to present my Top 10 Songs of 2010! Oh, and as always I’m interested to hear your comments on this list or your personal list. Just leave them below. Thanks!

Listmas 2010: The Top 50 Songs of 2010 [#20-11]

We’re over the hill and racing towards the inevitable conclusion of Faronheit’s Top 50 Songs of 2010. There’s been a lot of fun music so far, but naturally, the best is yet to come. Today features one of the biggest hits of the year, to the point where the kids from “Glee” have already covered it. Hopefully that’ll be the first and last time such a crossover between that show and this website occurs. There’s also a few pretty hot new artists showing up here that you might also expect to see again next week when the Top 50 Albums of 2010 list gets published. If you’ve yet to see/read about a lot of the other songs in this Top 50 Songs countdown thus far, let me catch you up with some links:

Top 50 Songs #50-41
Top 50 Songs #40-31
Top 50 Songs #30-21

I’m continuing to solicit any comments on things you see on this list or just your own personal opinions on some great songs this past year. As usual, where I’m allowed to offer a free mp3 to you, I have done so. Tomorrow is the Top 10 Songs of 2010, be sure to check back in for those!

Listmas 2010: The Top 50 Songs of 2010 [#30-21]

With mid-week comes the middle of Faronheit’s Top 50 Songs list. Inside today’s 10 songs you’ll find the longest song on the entire list, a couple of serious dance tracks as well as some lo-fi stuff too. If there’s a “theme” that can be derived from most of the songs listed here, it’s that they’re fun and very well constructed. I sincerely hope you’re able to discover something new from this as well. If you’ve not yet done so, feel free to have a look at the other songs among this Top 50 list so far.
Top 50 Songs #50-41
Top 50 Songs #40-31

Once again, if you have any comments, either in regards to this list or just want to talk about some of your favorite tracks from 2010, feel free to leave those below. Also, I’m continuing to include mp3s of the individual songs on this list wherever possible. Just know if I had it my way, you’d be able to download them all without restriction. So here we go, Faronheit’s Top 50 Songs of 2010, #30-21!

Listmas 2010: The Top 50 Songs of 2010 [#40-31]

Listmas 2010 continues again today with the second installment of Faronheit’s Top 50 Songs of 2010. Today there’s a hefty dose of longer songs, that is to say a few of them actually soar above the 5 minute mark. As usual, there are mp3s available for download whenever possible. If you’d like to read yesterday’s entry, Songs #50-41, that can be viewed here. In that post I also provide a good introduction to this list and explain the criterion for making this list. I hope you like what you’ve read so far, and that today’s set of songs will be equally as interesting. As usual, I’d like to hear what some of your favorite songs of the year have been, so comment if you wish. Join me after the jump for the continuation of my Top 50 Songs of 2010 #40-31!

Listmas 2010: The Top 50 Songs of 2010 [#50-41]

Welcome to Listmas 2010! Listmas is an annual tradition on Faronheit that dates all the way back to the crazy year known as 2008. In previous incarnations, Listmas has lasted a total of 3 weeks across December, spending a whole lot of time counting down the year’s best EPs, reissues, movies, TV shows, songs and albums. It’s a hefty task, but also a whole lot of fun. With a somewhat odd way the weeks have lined up this year (or maybe it’s just the economy), Listmas has been reduced down to 2 weeks. As such, the focus will be entirely on two lists, each revealed over the course of one week’s time. This week it begins with Faronheit’s Top 50 Songs of 2010. Of all the lists every year, this is the toughest one to crack. The simplest reason as to why is that for every album and EP released this year, there’s at least ten times the number of songs. We’re overwhelmed by songs should we choose to be, but thankfully some stand out as being better than others. Of course other times an entire record is filled to the brim with strong songs and picking a highlight is near (if not) impossible. So it does stand to reason that though this list is supposed to count down the 50 best songs of the year, if an entire record is mindblowing perhaps the artist or a single song from that album won’t be represented on this list. There are a few steadfast rules I keep for my Top 50 Songs list. They are as follows:

-To be eligible for this list, a song must have appeared on an album, EP, or standalone 7″ single with a 2010 release date. If a song originally appeared on a 2009 album/EP or will appear on a 2011 album/EP, it is not eligible to be included on this list.
-If an artist self-releases an album, EP or 7″ and then signs to a label later in the year, the self-released stuff is eligible for this list provided a tracklisting for a forthcoming label effort has no crossover. If there is overlap between a self-released 2010 piece of music and a label-released 2011 piece of music, the label-released (see: more widely available) music automatically disqualifies the original or demo recordings from this list. If an unsigned artist signs to a label but has not revealed details on any forthcoming releases, the original self-released recordings stand and remain eligible for the list. Should a self-released song make the list one year, the same song released on a label the following year becomes ineligible. The only exception is if the original self-released version of a song vastly differs from the professionally recorded, label-released version.
-To help keep this list as diverse as possible, there is a 2 song limit per artist release. Better translated, you won’t see 3 songs from any one album, but if an artist put out an album AND an EP or 7″ this year and there’s 3 AMAZING songs between them, then it’s okay.

All that said and hopefully clarified, writing this year’s list of the Top 50 Songs was a beast and a half. I doubt I’ve had a tougher time coming up with a final list that met with my total satisfaction. So after multiple writes and re-writes, I’m proud to present the first 10 tracks of my Top 50 Songs of 2010. Each day, I’ll be revealing 10 new songs until we reach the Top 10 on Friday. I will also be sure to include free mp3s whenever possible. I hope you enjoy this list, and discover some new music as a result of it. If you’ve got a list of your own, or a song suggestion I might have missed, or just a general argument against the placement of a certain song, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!

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