Thursday, December 30, 2010

 
The Top 20 of 2010 (with videos)



Physical State: over-chocolated
Mental State: hazy
Music: Baths - Cerulean
Fashion sense: jeans, polar fleece

Second year in a row I have decided to let you guys in on my Top 20 picks for the year.
I added videos for the artists as well. Here are some releases that stood out for me in
2010 (in no particular order). Enjoy!


01. The Arcade Fire - The Suburbs - Ready To Start



The Montreal megaband are back at it with by far the best album of the year, huge
and orchestral. The Suburbs builds on the strength of Neon Bible but more so on their
debut Funeral in its grandiosity. The album is a love letter (both reverent and solemn)
to brothers Win and Will Butler’s suburban upbringing in Houston, Texas.

02. Spoon - Transference - Got Nuffin



Originally Austin, TX fixtures now transplanted to Portland, OR, Spoon is and will always
remain one of my favourite bands of all time. Transference seems to be more of an album
for the devoted fan than for the newbies, building on their trademark sounds but in a
more subtle way this time out. At the heart of every great Spoon song is the cleanest
drumming of any band courtesy of the masterful Jim Eno.

03. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening - Drunk Girls



James Murphy has proclaimed that this third album from his Brooklyn collective will be
their last. Shame because he has finally reached the apex of his danceable and intelligent
indie rock hybrid. These are songs written with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour and
existential sadness while also managing to be incredibly catchy. Influences range from
the fuzzy guitar glam of Bowie and Roxy Music, the baritone of Human League’s Phil Oakey
on One Touch or the dancey brilliance of a New Order tune circa Technique.

04. The Black Keys - Brothers - Too Afraid To Love You



Akron, Ohio’s blues-rock duo extraordinaire of Pat Carney and Dan Auerbach are back
again with probably the most consistent album of the year. From beginning to end this is
one big black Cadillac of an album. Recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL their southern trip was
not wasted as they fully embraced the southern soul tradition and stirred it up with their
greasy fuzzy blues rock style.

05. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - I Learned The Hard Way - I Learned The Hard Way



Sharon Jones might possibly be the greatest soul singer of my generation. The skillful
backing of the ever amazing Dap Kings allows Sharon Jones to recreate her beautiful
early 70s style soul coming straight out of a blacksploitation flick. Emotional and sweaty,
these songs prove she might just be the James Brown of female singers working today.

06. Best Coast - Crazy For You - When I'm With You



Garage rock bands come and go but rarely are the tunes both incredibly melodic and
sung by a singer who has a sweet and timeless voice. Best Coast manages to have both
in Bethany Cosentino with a voice as memorable and fine as any Spector-era singer.
Their simple and straight ahead surfy love songs are pure California sunshine.

07. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest - Helicopter



Bradford Cox is a man who just never stops recording and performing both in his solo
guise as Atlas Sound or with his band Deerhunter. A bit more focused and simplified this
time out, Deerhunter’s Halcyon Digest is the band at the top of their game, here
incorporating incredible vocal harmonies and incredible production work.

08. Foals - Total Life Forever - Blue Blood



I was introduced to this album from a friend who was playing it in her car. At first I was
thinking, “alright these guys are ok, we’ll see” but by the end of the ride I was like
“I need this record now!” This Oxford band manages to combine emotional vocals with
mathy guitar jags and tight dancey percussion. At times Yannis Philippakis reminded me
of Robert Smith of The Cure both in his singing style and in his heartfelt vocal delivery.

09. Holy Fuck - Latin - Red Lights



Toronto’s instrumental electronic band with a memorable name are truly something to
behold live. Brian Borcherdt and Graham Walsh beating their keyboards and mixers into
submission are topped only by one booty-shaking bass and drums combo. Tip for
videomakers out there: cute cats always make great stand-ins for the band.

10. Teenage Fanclub - Shadows - Baby Lee



Usually when a band from the early 90s releases an album after many years most
people believe that its all a stab at trying to regain past glories. Glasgow’s Teenage
Fanclub have never stopped creating amazing work since Bandwagonesque and have
created in my mind one of the most beautiful records of the year (and of their career).
Mature, brilliant and beautiful Shadows shows they have no signs of slowing down
and are aging well.

11. Beach House - Teen Dream - Used To Be



Victoria LeGrand and Alex Scally have finally realized a sleepy and melodic masterpiece
3 albums in. The sound is much more deep and complex but still hazy and lovely.
LeGrand has one of those amazing voices like Marianne Faithful or Dusty Springfield
that manages to marry a certain sadness with a haunting quality that is missing from
a lot of music today.

12. Evening Hymns - Spirit Guides - Lanterns



Mostly the project of Jonas Bonnetta, this is an album that I picked up based on a bit
of buzz and didn’t think much of at first. It was only on a trip to Calgary that rained
the entire week that I started to listen to this album more intently. After about 4 listens
from beginning to end I realized what a true masterpiece this album is. Big things ahead.

13. Sharon Van Etten - epic - Love More



Speaking of albums that crept up on me in a really quiet way, Sharon Van Etten titled her
sophomore album epic (lower case e intended). It was an album I just kept coming back
to over and over. This album documents a break-up that is messy and emotional but
shows some light ahead and a chance for closure. Her vocals are naked and sleepy and
the album is a great warm blanket to wrap up in on a wintry day. Great solo performance
of this song at The Legendary Horseshoe earlier this year.

14. Brian McBride - The Effective Disconnect - Mélodrames Télégraphiés (In B Major 7th) Part 1



As the more active half of Austin, TX ambient master duo Stars of The Lid, Brian McBride
here creates a thought-provoking sonic canvas on this album for the documentary film
Vanishing of the Bees. Not a day goes by lately that I am not reminded of how there is a
place for Stars of The Lid and artists like Brian McBride in my world and its been made
all the more peaceful for it. Films and Stars of The Lid seem to be a suitable match.

15. Four Tet - There Is Love In You - She Just Likes To Fight



Kieran Hebdan has once again created a work that demonstrates that he remains the
master (along with Caribou) of that genre of electronic music that manages to sound
incredibly organic while being subtley groovy as well. Being a drummer its no surprise
he continues to make percussion the heart of his work but this time incorporating
moody Papa M-style guitar loops, digital squiggles and also ghostly vocal loops
as ingredients.

16. Caribou - Swim - Odessa



Taking his Polaris prize-winning Andorra money, Dan Snaith hired a varied horn
section and then manipulated these jazzy recordings in his trademark remixing
style. An album of incredible texture and density while still remaining frenetic
and improvisational.

17. The Books - The Way Out - A Cold Freezin' Night



My favourite sound collagists are back with more incredible sample manipulation
(this time looking at the areas of psychology and human motivation). On The Way
Out
they proffer a pastiche of hypnosis therapy recordings, motivational
messages, social commentary and their ever-present sense of humour. This song,
of kids explaining how they would commit murder, is both disturbing and incredibly
darkly humourous.

18. Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here? - Double Helix



This is the first album that I bought from this instrumental Cleveland trio after
hearing them in a podcast. They are already being cited as masters of the retro
proggy synth revival à la Pink Floyd. I was also reminded at times of classic
I-Robot era Alan Parsons Project and Tangerine Dream too.

19. Pantha Du Prince - Black Noise - Lay in a Shimmer



Techno master Hendrik Weber here turns in an incredible instrumental dance
record that much like Four Tet relies heavily on organic percussion micro
samples. I love the way that each song starts off simply and hypnotically
unfolds revealing new audio treasures along the way.

20. Loscil - Endless Falls - Endless Falls



Yes he is the drummer for Destroyer but this is a million miles away from that.
These are beautiful drones and strings that build in such a lovely meditative
way. Each of his albums built around a concept, this time “rain.” There is nothing
quite like Loscil out there these days. A true beginning-to-end masterpiece and
reflective headphone record.

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?