Best Songs of 2010

[Important note: As always, song titles link to video]

1. Glasser – Apply
Apply was the standout track from Glasser's debut album, Ring, and it still wins every time I hear it. The song opens with a huge sounding carnival drum rhythm and a deep imposing synth. It would be easy for a singer to get lost in this cacophony, but not here. Here it only serves as the perfect backdrop for Cameron Mesirow's siren-meets-jungle-queen vocals. She dominates the song and oozes the sort of confidence and strength that it demands, but at the same conveys a sense of intimacy and grace. The final result is a fantastic song that gets better for every listen.




2. HEALTH - USA BOYS
Die Slow indicated a less nihilistic approach to crafting music and a greater focus on melody for HEALTH, and on USA BOYS the noisy pop sound is perfected. The song opens with a roar- like synth and then grooves along with a fantastic beat, consisting of hiphop- style programmed drums, a stuttering synth and a warm yet booming bass. On top of that you then have the trademark airy and shoegaze-y vocals, which gives the song an ethereal feel despite the loudness. Add it all together and you have one of the best pop (I use the term loosely) songs of 2010.





3. Here We Go Magic - Casual
Beautiful in its fragility, “Casual” grooves with a soft yet commanding drum and a propulsive bass that belies how breezy the song actually is. Constantly ascending, layer upon layer of synth, acoustic guitar and other effects are added on top as the song builds and finally peaks with a swirling guitar at the 3:45 mark. In the middle of all this lush orchestration you have Luke Temple softly singing “It’s Casual /Not Heartbreaking /Just Casual /Not Mind Shaking”, leaving it lyrically very open to interpretation. Is it about the end of a relationship or maybe even about abortion? I don't know, but whatever meaning you attach to the words, there is no doubt that this is a truly beautiful song.



4. Four Tet - Love Cry
Love Cry was the go- to song last year whenever I needed a mental break. The song is built around a pulsing and quite funky drum break yet possesses a very meditative quality. The song slowly builds over its 9 minutes and 13 seconds with small stabs of synth and acoustic guitar licks, but never wanders off course. It is this sense of perpetual motion that I find it incredibly relaxing. There is a fine art to sounding like something could just go on forever without being boring or aimless, and Four Tet hits the nail on the head with this gem of a song.



5. Fresh and Onlys - Waterfall
If there was to be made a manual on how to write a garage pop song, you need look no further than Waterfall. Once the song kicks off it never let’s go or even slows down, it just grooves along with the by far strongest melody of last year(in my humble opinion). A song so great you will never get tired of listening to it.



6. Caribou - Odessa
7. Drake - Karaoke
8. Beach House - Walk In the Park
9. LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
10. Deerhunter - Desire Lines
11. Earl Sweatshirt - EARL
12.  Janelle Monae - Faster
13. James Blake - Limit To Your Love
14. Kanye West - Monster (Feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver)
15. Harlem - Someday Soon
16. Warpaint - Undertow
17. White Hinterland - Icarus
18. Gorillaz - Empire Ants
19. Gauntlet Hair - I Was Just Thinking
20. The Samps - F.N.X.C.

Honourable Mentions (Aplphabetic Order):
Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round, ARMS - Emily Sue, Pt 2, Big K.R.I.T. - Children of the World, Born Ruffians - Sole Brother, Broken Bells - The High Road, Count & Sinden - After Dark (feat. Mystery Jets), Diamond Rings - Something Else, Foals - Spanish Sahara, Gil Scott- Heron - New York Is Killing Me, Golden Triangle – Jinx, How to Dress Well & cokc dokc - Ready For the World, Japandroids - Younger Us, Jay Electronica - Exhibit C, Jessica Lea Mayfield - Our Hearts Are Wrong, Katy B - Katy On A Mission, Kenton Slash Demon – Sun, Laura Marling - Alpha Shallows, Les Savy Fav - Let's Get Out Of Here, Male Bonding - Year's Not Long, Owen Pallet - A Man With No Ankles, Robyn - Dancing On My Own, Society of Rockets – We, The Soft Pack – Answer to Yourself, Suckers - Black Sheep, Tame Impala - Solitude is Bliss, Tennis – Marathon, Tensnake - Coma Cat, The Mantles - Lily Never Married, These New Puritans - Hologram (Salem Remix), These New Puritans - Three Thousand, Twin Shadow – Slow, Twin Sister - All Around and Away We Go, Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work, Tyler, the Creator – Bastard, Wacka Flocka Flame - Hard in da Paint, Wavves - Post- Acid, Wild Nothing – Chinatown, Women – Eyesore, Woodsman – Serfer, Yeasayer – O.N.E., Zola Jesus - I Can't Stand

Jag Kommer

Not to be one of those that get all up in arms over similarities in songs (who cares really?), but just as an observation the new Veronica Maggio single Jag Kommer sounds a lot like Reptilia (@ 1:14) by The Strokes. I'm a huge fan of the latter, so I can see why one would take inspiration from that song, and the Maggio single is quite decent - catchy and the sexual undertones are almost funny. But still, it's pretty darn close, right?

Veronica Maggio - Jag Kommer


The Strokes - Reptilia

Present Company, The Best That You Can Find

This is just great. Not just another Muppets video for LCD Soundsystem, but a Muppets video to one of my favorite songs from last year. What is not to love here?

LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean

He's Lost Control

As covers go this is pretty great. Strike that, as songs go this is pretty great. It's not exactly better than the original (really, what is?), but it does however bring something new to the table. It has that eerie and haunting tone, which is perfect for the lyrics, but in a new electronic almost dance-y setting. Couple that with the B/W video and you have something which is beautifully luring yet discomforting in the best way possible. Great stuff.

Spoek Mathambo - Control

Best Albums of 2010

Another year has passed and it is time for a look back at what was a great year in musical terms. I've tried to list it in the order of what I've enjoyed the most over the course of the year, and what I imagine I will return to the most in the future.

Unfortunately, I can't listen to everything (hard as I may try), and there are a number of albums I know I will love once I get them, but have yet to get my filthy hands on. Specifically I’m thinking of Caribou's Swim, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti's Before Today, These New Puritans' Hidden, Women’s Public Strain, and Tame Impala’s Innerspeaker. That said, it's been a great year and there will always be music that I'll miss out on, so enough on that and on to the important stuff…

Best Albums of 2010
1. Beach House - Teen Dream
On Teen Dream, Beach House perfected the hazy indie pop sound that they had shown on their first two albums, making my pick for number one easy. There had always been a dreamy quality to Beach House’s music, but on Teen Dream that quality is fleshed out and used to its full potential. Victoria Legrand’s vocals are as before soulful and intense like few others can, but here drawn to the front where it should be. Throughout the album she sounds at once fragile and strong among Alex Scala’s swirling guitars and her own reverb- drenched organ. The album was and is perfect for the quiet mornings, dreamy afternoons and late nights, where you can allow yourself to be transported to another place. 

2. Harlem – Hippies
Hippies is simply put, great garage rock. Better yet, it is great songwriting made to sound effortless. That said, there is an incredible tightness to the careless sound, so it never seems lack effort. Someday Soon is the song that perfectly sums up the album, with lyrics about not wanting to put out a friend on fire, a great hook, and a breakdown that brilliantly features an almost stumbling guitar. It’s ramshackle in the best way possible, and that feel continues throughout making it, to me, the feel- good album of the year.

3. Four Tet - There Is Love In You
There Is Love In You is not your ordinary electronic album. The music sounds and feels organic, with its live drumming and great use of vocal samples.  Love Cry is a brilliant example, as he builds the whole song around a pulsing drum break, onto which he adds a chopped vocal sample, synths, acoustic guitar and what appears to be the sound of an old 56k modem. The song has an almost zen- like quality, and in this way, TILIY has become my go-to album for taking breaks. The music is clean and perfect for moments where you need to clear your head.

4. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
Quieter than Microcastle/ Weird Era Continued, but equally great, Halcyon Digest has underlined Deerhunter’s status as one of the best bands around right now. Bradford Cox has always been the leader, but here the best song – the fantastic Desire Lines - was written and sung by guitarist Lockett Pundt, showing that the group is all talent. In the end it comes down to the songs, and here they’re all great without exception.

5. Janelle Monae - The Arch Android
The Arch Android is both a brilliant r’n’b/soul album and the story of Cindi Merryweather - an android sent to the future city of Metropolis to save us all. Sci- fi storyline aside this is an album littered with great pop songs and it is beyond me that songs like Cold War, Faster and Tightrope did not make more of a chart impact. In any case, on The Arch Android Janelle Monae has managed to perfect the sound of modern funk and R’n’B, by clearly drawing on the old school á la James Brown (right down to the cape- wearing), and combined it with the more modern hiphop sound á la Outkast. A superb album.

6. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
7. Earl Sweatshirt - EARL
8. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
9. The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack
10. Warpaint - The Fool
11. Spoon - Transference
12. Les Savy Fav - Root For Ruin
13. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Nightmare
14. The Walkmen - Lisbon
15. Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz
16. Vampire Weekend - Contra
17. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
18. Gorillaz - Plastic Island
19. Foals - Total Life Forever
20. Tyler, the Creator - Bastard

Best Danish Album Of 2010

The Malpractice - Tectonics
Heavily biased on this one, but it really is excellent and, in my humble opinion, by far the best Danish album of 2010. If I were to put it in my overall list then it would definitely make the Top 10 - I just don't know who I would take out, so I'll chicken out and do this special mention instead.

Honourable Mentions (Alphabetic Order)
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today, Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot, Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils, Caribou – Swim, CFCF - The River, Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II), Girl Talk - All Day,  Glasser – Ring, Good Shoes - No Hope No Future, Gonjasufi - A Sufi & A Killer, MGMT – Congratulations, Mystery Jets – Serotonin, The National - High Violet, No Age - Everything In Between, Tame Impala – Innerspeaker, Twin Shadow – Forget, Women - Public Strain, Yeasayer - Odd Blood

We Tried Each Other, Let's Try Another

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have developed their sound and I love it. Gone is the C86 sound, and instead we get noisy rock that sounds like everything that was great about 90's grunge and post- grunge. I love how underneith the heavily distorted and really quite heavy riff there's a beautiful melody and a chorus just made for singing (/shouting) along to.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Belong
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Belong by Slumberland Records

This is just perfect in every single way.