{a rare Popfest sight - an empty 40 Watt, by Rich Guiterrez}

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Athens Popfest is always the best week of the year for indie pop nerds, and this year was no exception. Think five days straight of raging shows, surrounded by so many old and new favorite bands and your "camp buddies" you only see once a year + 100 (or more) degree heat and southern humidity + cheap booze + insane nerdery. All I can really say is that it was epic, for so many reasons. Here are a few highlights.

Top five favorite bands:
1. Go Sailor
There was kind of no way that this wasn't going to be my favorite, as I'm a die hard Go Sailor fan, but their set was amplified by me and about 20 other die hard Go Sailor fans screaming along every word to every song. You just can't buy that kind of camaraderie and sense of community. At that moment, Go Sailor were our Beatles. We spent the whole set singing specific favorite lyrics to each other and jumping up and down and dancing our asses off. I consequently spent the rest of popfest without a voice. It was totally worth it. Their whole set was recorded and is on youtube, but here's my favorite song of the set "A Fine Day For Sailing". (That's us in the background.)

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{stylish photo by nancyo23}

I hope I'm not getting too granular with my listage, but given the empowering nature of  turning the page on the decade, I can't help myself--I wanted to make sure that that certain song gems didn't go unrewarded for their brilliance.

Thusly, I compiled the below list of songs released in the last decade that are total A+++, but who's album didn't make it on my favs of the decade list... either because the song is from an EP or single; the album is good, but not as solid as the 75 albums that made my list; a bunch of other albums by the band/artists appeared on the list; or I just was bad with tabulating and this should have been on the list based on the strength of said song alone.

Please enjoy the below a recap of the top 10 songs from the last decade that amaze me beyond belief (and didn't make my favorite albums of the decade list). What amazing splashes of song brilliance rocked your 2000-2009? I bet between all of us we could make the most amazing quad-mix cd ever!

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Austin's indie pop darlings cum Myspace band who used to be everywhere for like 10 minutes haven't disappeared!

Check out the new Voxtrot song, "Trepanation Party"! It's got kind of a Depeche Mode feel, and frankly, it's no "Raised by Wolves", but if you're a fan, it'll hopefully satisfy your craving until their new album comes out.

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at Neumo's

No one was singing along and most people watched with rapt attention. I wasn’t quite sure if they were indifferent, tired, or enthralled.

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Saundrah is an amazing string player and always lends an understated elegance to every show, and she will be sorely missed!

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We've got a pair of tickets to the KILLER Voxtrot / Division Day / Tullycraft / Math & Physics Club show at Neumo's this Tuesday (December 4th)!!! Enter to win before 10a - Monday, December 3rd.

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This Saturday night the ever-hyped but always big fun Arctic Monkeys will play at the Paramount with long-time TIG faves the Coral and Voxtrot. The show is all-ages, and the lineup, completely swoon-worthy.

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Voxtrot comes out of the gate not on a full sprint, but trotting on its own hype-driven laurels.

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It seems like indie-darlings Voxtrot have been riding the success of their EPs (which some consider only singles) for a while now. It is with a sigh of relief that I report that they've finally announced the details for a full-length album of their very own.

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