Song of the Day: Fell On Black Days

Buried amidst the year-end top 10 lists in the past couple of weeks was a little tidbit of actual music news that looked ahead to 2010 rather than back at 2009: the announcement that the original members of grunge outfit Soundgarden would be reuniting. Exciting news — especially because this might be an indication that Chris Cornell will never. ever. work with Timbaland again (EVER! Seriously, Chris.).

Take a trip down '90s memory lane with "Fell On Black Days," from the band's 1994 juggernaut of an album, "Superunknown."

Attention, New Yorkers - as an added bonus, the song's title coincidentally ties in with the upcoming "Rage Against the Dying of the Light" kickoff party at Brooklyn's Bell House this Thursday, which will feature DJ sets from soldout's own Russ and Ben.

Nice when things work out like that, huh?

Soundgarden - "Fell On Black Days"

Liz's Best Albums of the Decade

If you couldn't already tell, I enjoy lists. Here (presented in no order other than alphabetical, because it was hard enough to choose 25, let alone rank them) are my top 25 albums of the aughts. I should note that this doesn't mean I think these were the best 25 albums of the past 10 years, musically or technically speaking (though some are), but a more personal list of albums that had special meaning to me during specific times in my life over the past decade. Don't judge.

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Liz's Best Music of 2009

Each year around November, my stress level spikes as I begin frantically trying to catch up on everything I feel I've missed in music from the previous 10 months. This year, that consisted of lots of iTunes downloading, blog reading, and making one final last-ditch effort to understand what is so great about Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear (conclusion: nothing.)

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Try Harder: A.F.I.

One of the albums I fully anticipated to be on my (forthcoming) year-end top 10 list was A.F.I.'s "Crash Love," which instead ended up being one of the biggest musical disappointments of the year, in my opinion.

Coming on the heels of their exceptional previous release, 2006's "Decemberunderground" (which will be on my also yet-to-be-written Best of the Decade list), "Crash Love" had a high standard to live up to. And there's a few great songs on the album, most notably "End Transmission" (see link below). But for the first time, in my opinion, Davey Havok and company just seem to be ... well, uninspired. Like they're phoning it in.

And I know that's harsh, and untrue. Having seen the band perform live last month, I can say with confidence that they're just as passionate about their music as ever. I just wish I was as well.

Portishead Partners with Amnesty International

Portishead - Chase The Tear from Mintonfilm on Vimeo.

Yesterday was International Human Rights Day, celebrating the 61st anniversary of the UN's "Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

To mark the occasion, the English trio Portishead released a new single called "Chase the Tear" (tear as in paper, not crying), the proceeds of which will benefit Amnesty International.

Download the song here.