Best Of 2010 12-9

12) Wild Nothing - Live In Dreams

Wild Nothing is the solo project of a young chap from Virginia called Jack Tatum.  Live In Dreams is the opening track of his well received debut album Gemini, which was released earlier in the year.  Tatum has a knack of crafting sincere and melodic pop songs and Live In Dreams is a perfect example of this.  Dreamy vocals over soft electronics and guitars, all of which are soaked in nostalgia.  Lyrically he displays maturity beyond his years.   Lines like “Our lips won’t last forever and that’s exactly why, I’d rather live in dreams and I’d rather die” manage to convey a great deal of emotion while remaining genuine and heartfelt.

11) How To Dress Well - You Won’t Need Me Where I’m Goin’

How To Dress Well AKA Tom Krell is somewhat of an interesting gentleman.  Currently a research fellow translating a book of post-Kantian philosophy in Germany but also, more importantly the creator of one of the very finest debut records in years.  His album Love Remains is a masterpiece, full of his lo-fi take on R&B.  You Won’t Need Me Where I’m Goin’ is my personal favourite track from the record, it showcases his beautiful, fragile voice perfectly over crackly electronics and static.  Strangely beautiful. 

10) Salem - King Night

If I happen to be around when the apocalypse arrives, this is what I want it to sound like.  King Night is the sound of the world ending.  The angelic, haunting chorus at the heart of this apocalypse anthem is basically an utterly fucked up version of “O Holy Night”, distorted to within an inch of it’s life via a completely brutal drum beat and some massive, terrifying synths.  Original, exhilarating, distinctive and yes quite terrifying but undeniably brilliant. 

9) Battles - The Line

Despite their rather questionable choice of movies to soundtrack (The Line is a bonus track on the soundtrack for the third Twilight film) it was with open arms I welcomed back Battles.  The song starts fairly calmly (at least by Battles manic standards) with a strong vocal which get this, is actually distinctly audible and without a drop of helium in sight!  Being Battles, this feeling of calm of course cannot last long and the track begins to progress rapidly building momentum as drums and chord progressions become quicker before really bursting into life about half way through.  Incredible energy, bizarre chanting, a ridiculously fast drum beat, frequent key changes and we are very much back into familiar territory.  Magnificent.  New record now please.

Best Of 2010 16-13

16) The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio

The National are probably my favourite band of all time.  Since first hearing their album Alligator a number of years ago, they along with one or two other artists have meant more to me than I ever thought any band could.  So it was with obvious apprehension that I downloaded this track back in March.  Did the band have it in them to produce yet another incredible record?  As soon as I heard the opening few seconds of Bloodbuzz Ohio with it’s utterly compelling drum beat, I felt embarrassed that I had ever doubted my musical heroes.  The lyrical depth was there, as was Matt Berninger’s stunning deep baritone, as heart-wrenching as it ever had been.  Tense, epic and oh so grand.  The track just like the rest of their fifth record High Violet was an absolutely triumph.

15) Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

While perhaps not quite as bizarre as previous Yeasayer entry O.N.E. this track is just as good, in fact it’s even better.  Ambling Alp is highly infectious, bright, uplifting and just ever so slightly odd.  Chris Keating’s vocals are intriguing, as are the falsetto vocal harmonies introduced as the track develops.  The band have always augmented strong vocal performances with a variety of layered and textured sounds and Ambling Alp is no different with horn arrangements, electronics and distinctive drum beats working in tandem with the gorgeous vocals to create the band’s best track to date. 

14) Robyn - Dancing On My Own

When Robyn first announced she planned to release three albums in 2010 I, like I presume a lot of others, was rather skeptical as to whether this would ever materialise and also if it did, what the quality of these three records would be like.  Well safe to say after repeated listens to the Body Talk series in their entirety (Body Talk Part 1, Body Talk Part 2 and Body Talk) Robyn was right and I was completely wrong to have doubted her.  Three great records with a couple of genuinely stunning standout tracks of which Dancing On My Own is one.  Lyrically it was vulnerable and poignant.  Musically it was breathless and exhilarating.  A pulsing synth beat, keyboard chimes and of course her incredibly addictive vocal hook helped create a heartbreakingly sad piece of pop music.

13) Kanye West - All Of The Lights

Kanye’s brilliance continues.  Before I go any further I best get the list of the ensemble cast that feature on All Of The Lights out the way.   Rihanna, Alicia Keys, John Legend, The Dream, Fergie, Kid Cudi, Ryan Leslie, Charlie Wilson, Tony Williams, La Roux’s Elly Jackson, and Elton John all play a part, or as one review put it “half of the musical world”.  http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/jngw  I think the most important thing to say about All Of The Lights is that it manages to flow incredibly well and avoid sounding over crowded despite the impressive guest roster.  Rihanna features more prominently than most of the other guest artists, taking control of the choruses with an catchy, addictive hook, while Kanye works his magic over the verses, rapping over a magnificent tribal beat.  I find the way the track was constructed fascinating.  While it is hard to pick out exactly who is who during parts of it, every vocal sounds so layered and textured that it really doesn’t matter.  I genuinely think that Kanye West is about the only pop star in the world with the audacity to even attempt something like this and it is to his immense credit that it works so well and sounds basically perfect.

Best of 2010 20-17

20) James Blake - I Only Know (What I Know Now)

I genuinely don’t think any new act impressed me as much this year, as twenty-two year old James Blake.  Three stunning EP’s all sounding completely different from one another plus a quite brilliant cover of Feist’s Limit To Your Love, not a bad effort I think you would agree.   I Only Know (What I Know Now) is from his third EP release of the year, the Klavierwerke EP.  Blake’s trademark of messing up and distorting vocal samples and then adding all manners of diverse instrumentation is again present in this track but it feels more sparse than previous efforts.  While the eerie, clipped vocal samples are very much ever present throughout the track, the instrumentation is very minimal Blake just utilising a small collection of sounds to create a distorted masterpiece.  For something that is essentially a bit of bass, cymbal and piano with some weird vocal samples looped over it, it is quite astonishing how gorgeous it actually is.

19) Zola Jesus - Sea Talk

As good as previous Zola Jesus entry Night was, it is this track Sea Talk that I feel is her best work to date.  Essentially a love song (albeit a very dark sounding one) about the breakdown of a relationship, it's vaguely unsettling yet at the same time utterly beautiful.  Her voice, as usual, is the star of the show, heavily reverbed, soaring and wailing over some almost military-esque drums and some dark synths.  Stunning.

18) Kele - Everything You Wanted

Everything You Wanted  was the second single released from Kele’s debut solo album The Boxer.  I found the record as a whole somewhat of a frustrating experience.  There were elements of certain tracks that I liked, but I found it horribly inconsistent and most importantly very hard to connect with.  None of this applies to Everything You Wanted.  Unlike the rest of the record, it feels honest and heartfelt.  All the synths in the world cannot compensate for a direct emotional connection and this is why it works so well.  From the opening line of “I can see the bags in the empty hallway.  I can tell that something has changed” one cannot help but feel, that this isn’t forced or contrived, but genuine, raw emotion.  Tribal drums, an addictive piano line, and some dark electronics enhance the poignancy of the track, providing an excellent background to Kele’s pleading, yelping vocals.

17) Big Boi (feat Andre 3000 and Sleepy Brown)  - Looking For Ya

Due to label disputes this Outkast reunion was left off Big Boi’s magnificent Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty album, which is a great shame as it is absolutely incredible.  Boi-1da is on production duties and his synthy beat is perfectly good but it is Big Boi and Andre 3000’s verses that are the real stars of the show.  Sounding like a perfect mix of The Love Below and Speakerboxx their delivery is quick, witty, intelligent and engaging as always.   There are genuinely very few people in modern music as innovative as these two men.  Sleepy Brown’s smooth chorus ensures the track flows and links everything together very nicely indeed.  A new Outkast album now please gentlemen.

Best of 2010 24-21

24) Broken Social Scene - World Sick

World Sick is the opening track of Forgiveness Rock Record, which marked the very welcome return of the magnificent Broken Social Scene.  In the five years that have passed since the band’s last LP, a lot has changed.  However as this track highlights Broken Social Scene’s ability to create beautiful, melodic and uplifting pop music has not.  While this is unmistakably Broken Social Scene, World Sick like the rest of the record does sound a tad more focused and direct than previous efforts.  New producer John McEntire perhaps deserves a lot of this credit, assisting the band develop this more concise sound.  Regardless of where credit is due, World Sick is pretty much perfect and up there with the band’s very best material.

23) The Twilight Sad - The Wrong Car

At this juncture it is impossible to tell if The Wrong Car will be considered an important turning point in the career of The Twilight Sad.  While the pounding drums, and James Graham’s soaring Scottish brogue are exactly what we have come expect from the band, the addition of some fairly grand string arrangements does mark a departure for the band.  Whether this is the shape of things to come we as yet don’t know, but for the moment this slight deviation of the usual Twilight Sad formula will do me very nicely indeed.  Wonderful.

22) Gold Panda - Snow & Taxis

Despite being calmer and more minimal than previous Gold Panda efforts Snow & Taxis, just like previous material, is stunning.  Repetition of samples and loops is the order of the day, as bells, strings, soft synths and a heavy, stuttering drum beat are effortlessly played and messed about with, making it feel incredibly natural and organic.  Despite the repetition it is utterly uplifting and strangely hypnotic.  This is British dance music at it’s very best.

21) Yeasayer - O.N.E.

Yeasayer’s second record Odd Blood was pretty bloody good, and this is (nearly) the highlight of it.  Sounding like it was made at least two hundred years in the future, O.N.E. is totally unclassifiable, mad alien/future synth pop anyone?  Na me neither.  Whatever musical bracket it needs to be filed under, it’s unpredictable and uncoordinated but in a completely brilliant way, if that’s even possible.  Just when you think you have an idea where the track is going, it ends up going in completely the opposite direction.  Mad, energetic, charming and brilliant.  Goes without saying but the video is obviously totally mental as well. 

Best Of 2010 28-25

28) LCD Soundsystem - All I Want

I really don’t care if All I Want sounds like James Murphy giving Bowie’s Heroes a 21^st century makeover.  It is one of the best things LCD Soundsystem have ever done, which is high praise indeed, as well as being one of Murphy’s best vocal performances of his whole career.  It starts quietly, with his vulnerable vocal crooning over a loopping guitar, bass and drum beat.  Eventually keys and synths are introduced to the mix, and it develops into a song just as epic and emotional as All My Friends or indeed Heroes for that matter.  There is a line in the Pitchfork review of this song that sums it up, far better than I ever could.  When dealing with the comparisons with Heroes “It's the ultimate tribute, finer than a million covers.” http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11881-all-i-want/.

27) Foals - Spanish Sahara

Although This Orient was the fist single released from Foals’ second album Total Life Forever.  It was Spanish Sahara that was the first song released to the public from the record and gave fans their first opportunity to hear what Yannis and co had been up to for the past couple of years.  I think I can speak for most when saying this is not what we were expecting.  It starts quietly with Yannis’ gentle vocals doing most of the work.  As the song progresses, it becomes less minimal.  The guitars and keyboards come to life and you begin to notice the drum beat.  It moves along beautifully, remaining emotionally raw, the many layers of the song gradually revealing themselves.  But it isn’t until just after the four minute mark when the song bursts into life, and becomes a totally different beast.  Yannis’ vocals erupt, the electronics come alive and the guitars take off in to a direction, that just like this comeback, no one saw coming.  Staggering.    

26) The Vaccines - If You Wanna’

Arriving out of nowhere during the summer, amidst a considerable amount of hype,  The Vaccines are four young chaps from London.  While hype does not of course guarantee quality (The Twang anyone?) these lads seem to have something rather promising about them.  Lead singer Justin Young used to make music as Jay Jay Pistolet but ditched his acoustic guitar and country/folky sound for something quite different.  If You Wanna’ is short, sweet, bold and exiting.  At just over 3 minutes it zips along at breakneck speed, sounding like Phil Spector era Ramones with a bit of The Beach Boys and The Jesus And The Mary Chain thrown in for good measure.  I have no idea if they will go on to fulfill the potential that is so obviously on show here, but maybe this once we should, if not believe the hype at least take notice of it.


The video is an excellent version of the track taken from Jools Holland.

25) Freddie Gibbs - National Anthem (Fuck The World)

Freddie Gibbs clearly has something to prove.  He was previously signed to Interscope Records before being dropped, without a single record released.  National Anthem is his literal ‘Fuck You’ to Interscope and pretty much everyone else who ever doubted his talents.  Lyrically it is what one would expect with such a title.  Major labels, radio DJ’s and industry politics are all on the receiving end of Gibbs’ wrath while he details his hometown, his dismissal from Interscope and the struggles he has endured since.  While LA Riots’ beat is great, it is Gibbs that shines.  Every single aspect of his rapping is technically, absolutely spot on.  He changes the pace of his delivery regularly during the track, but every single time it feels completely effortless.  A phrase from Gibbs himself, “nobody had a flow quite like mine” seems entirely apt, some of the rapping is technically astonishing.  Ah well Interscope’s loss.

Best Of 2010 30-29

30) Delorean - Stay Close

Due to time constraints I am going to keep today’s entries short and sweet.  Delorean remind me of the summer.  A lot.  The band, hailing from Barcelona, have a knack of creating pop songs that sound as if they were created solely to soundtrack the most perfect summer you could imagine.  Stay Close is my highlight of their truly wonderful third album Subiza.  It’s blissful and euphoric, dreamy and gorgeous.  Close your eyes and pretend your watching the sun set on a beach in Ibiza, perfection.        

29) The Tallest Man On Earth - King Of Spain

King Of Spain was the standout track from The Tallest Man On Earth AKA Kristian Matsson’s second LP The Wild Hunt which was released earlier in the year.  Mattsson’s raspy and gruff vocal is very Dylan-esque, (he even references Dylan himself in this song with his ‘boots of Spanish leather’ lyric) but it works magnificently well as a striking contrast to the guitar work and the storytelling that he gets across so well with his lyrics.  Exciting and beautiful in equal measure, folk music hasn’t sounded this good for some time.

Best Of 2010 32-31

32) Kanye West (feat Bon Iver & Gil Scot-Heron) - Lost In The World

Anyone who has spent any time with me in the past few months will have known that it was only a matter of time before Kanye West made an appearance in this list.  Since Kanye started releasing music via GOOD Fridays earlier in the year I have been utterly hooked by virtually everything he has released and have bored anyone who’ll listen with my opinions of just how absolutely magnificent some of these songs are.  I openly admit I was skeptical to say the least, when I heard that Kanye would be recruiting Justin Vernon of Bon Iver fame for a collaboration.  I was at a loss to comprehend how such a collaboration would even begin to sound.  However about a minute into my first spin of the track I knew that any fears I had were misplaced.  It was simply stunning. The track is built around a slightly eerie and heavily auto-tuned version of Bon Iver’s Woods.  However this is a far-cry from Bon Iver’s original.  Kanye has turned the track on it’s head, forging an absolute monster of a track from two styles of music that are about as different from each other as humanly possible.

I usually passionately hate the use of auto-tune, however on this occasion it really is a work of genius, helping transform Bon Iver’s haunting and fragile original vocal into something that you easily imagine slaying a dance floor.  This fusing of two very different musical styles is testament to just how talented Kanye West actually is.  The concept still sounds absurd but to have the open mindedness to even attempt this, never mind make it work so damn well, is just pretty incredible.  I could genuinely go on about this track for paragraphs and paragraphs but I will control myself, there is after all more Kanye to come.  Just a couple more things to comment on, the beat itself is very bassy and just a bit brilliant, Kanye’s verses are great, the chanting choir as bizarre as that sounds works incredibly well and the Gil Scot-Heron sample, well just like every other aspect of the tracks, is magnificent.

On the album version Gil Scot-Heron’s spoken word section is separated into another song, aptly titled Who Will Survive In America I however preferred the GOOD Friday version in which his monologue is integrated into the track.

31) Local Natives - Airplanes

While the pedantic among you may argue that this, strictly speaking was released last year, (Gorilla Manor, the album containing Airplanes was released in the UK last November) it was released in the US in February so technically speaking it was released in 2010.  Regardless of release date Airplanes itself is a beautiful little track, a tribute to  singer/keyboardist Kelcey Ayer’s grandfather.  He explains it’s about “longing to have met my grandfather, a great man and pilot, who died before I was born.” (AltSounds).  It is a genuinely moving and tender piece of work.  The vocal harmonies are absolutely gorgeous augmenting the sentimental lyrical theme of the track perfectly, the catchy guitar hooks and piano keys combined with layered percussion complete a fitting tribute.

Best Of 2010 34-33

34) The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart - Heart In Your Heartbreak

Heart In You Heartbreak is the first single from The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s second album Belong, due some time next year.  It continues exactly where last year’s wonderful self-titled debut left off.  When it comes to addictive, sugary, sweet indie-pop the band have the formula down to a tee and Heart In You Heartbreak is everything you’ve come to expect from the band, albeit with a slightly crisper sound.  Kip Berman’s voice is as smooth as it always was and twinned with Peggy Wang’s harmonies the vocals are absolutely gorgeous.  Alex Naidus and Kurt Feldman’s excellent rhythm section keeps the track zipping along at a lovely quick pace.  Throw is some dreamy, stop-start guitars, synths and the occasional hand-clap and you have yourself a thoroughly brilliant little pop song.

33) Zola Jesus - Night

Night is the opening track to Zola Jesus AKA 21 year old American singer/songwriter Nika Roza Danilova’s Stridulum EP and album Stridulum II.  Night is just about as dark as pop music gets.  Despite everything that is going on in the track; a steady repeating drum beat, layers and layers of sound, pretty terrifying background howls, not to mention the themes of loneliness and desperation that are lyrically evident, it is Danilova’s absolutely stunning voice that is the real highlight of this track.  Managing to be both powerful and vulnerable in equal measure her vocal performance on Night is an absolute pleasure to listen to and augments every other terrifying aspect of the track perfectly.

Best Of 2010 38-35

38) Theophilus London - Humdrum Town

Theophilus London is a Brooklyn based rapper, songwriter and producer.  Humdrum Town was his debut single (released on Green Label Sound, a free download singles label).  As a track it is distinctly difficult to pigeonhole.  London’s raps echo back to hip-hop of the past yet he contrasts this wonderfully by injecting unquestionably contemporary and modern pop sensibilities.  It is a smooth and soulful pop song that also, unlike many of his contemporaries, has a great deal of lyrical depth to it.  Second single Flying Overseas featuring Dev Hynes of Test Icicles and Lightspeed Champion fame and Solange Knowles of being Beyonce’s sister fame, is also well worth checking out. 

37) The Unwinding Hours - Knut

The only real positive of Glasgow’s brilliant Aerogramme splitting in 2007 was the emergence of Iain Cook and Craig B’s new project The Unwinding Hours.  The band formed in 2008, waiting until 2009 until officially announcing the project before releasing their self-titled debut album in February of this year.  Album opener Knut is a beautiful six minute masterpiece that feels like a natural progression from where Aerogramme left off.  It starts off so incredibly quietly, that the natural reaction is to wonder whether your speakers are even on, before gradually building up and getting louder before hitting the listener with an absolutely beautiful, yet inevitable wall of noise.  Everything I loved about Aerogramme is present in Knut; Craig B’s haunting and distinct vocals, the quiet/loud aesthetic, the powerful and honest lyrical content.  However, like I said earlier, it does feel like a progression rather than a mere attempt to cling onto former glories by re-hashing the same ideas that worked so well for Aerogramme.

36) Jónsi - Go Do

Jón Þór Birgisson, aka Jónsi is the vocalist and guitarist for Icelandic’s finest export Sigur Ros.  He has also released music as Riceboy Sleeps a joint venture with boyfriend Alex Somers.  His debut album Go, however marked his first release as a solo musician.  However a lot of the record is indebted to Nico Muhly, an American composer responsible for the record’s wonderful arrangements.  Go Do like everything Jónsi has worked on before, is heavily reliant on his absolutely stunning voice, which is one of the most distinct and I would argue, best in modern music.  The sheer beauty he can get across with his vocals make his voice a incredibly powerful instrument in itself.  The track like most of his debut record combines this stunning voice with a wealth of beautiful instrumentation.  Beginning with a shrill birdsong, it does not take long before it explodes into life with a stomping drum beat and a flute before Jónsi’s other-worldly vocal begins.  The rest of the track continues in a similar vein, Jónsi’s uplifting vocal continues to be utterly compelling contrasting magnificently with heavy percussion and soft, jittery electronics.  Absolutely gorgeous.   

35) Django Django - Wor

I first came across Django Django in The Guardian’s ‘New Band of the Day’ section on the newspaper’s website (the band were ‘new band 570’ for interested parties).  The piece, when trying to describe Django Django’s sound said this - ‘In fact, it's quite tricky to explain quite what it is that Django Django do, which is good, because it suggests they're doing something a little bit different.’  If a respected music journalist for a broadsheet newspaper found it difficult to describe the band’s sound, then I have very little chance but I’ll have a go at trying to get across just how magnificent this year’s WOR is.  The track begins with an air-raid/ambulance siren and progresses in the bizarre manner one might expect from a song that begins in such a way.  Spiky, stop-start guitars and some great percussion give the song a magnificent sense of rhythm and energy, allowing it to zip along at an almost ridiculous pace allowing the listener very little time to establish what the hell is actually going on.  Absolutely magic.