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

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

Best Albums of 2009

2009 was a great year in music. There was new music from great new bands (The xx, Japandroids, etc.), bands we already knew and loved (Grizzly Bear, YYY's, etc.) and surprisingly great music from bands that some of us had almost written off (The Horrors, The Maccabees, etc.). People keep saying that the album format is dying or, more drastically, that the whole music business is dying, but from the evidence of the past few years it is only getting better.

1. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
In a year of many great albums, Two Dancers was the one that really stood out. Wild Beasts caught my attention with their debut album, but it was with this, their sophomore, that I became a fan. Admittedly, the band is very much an acquired taste with the extensive – but never excessive – use of Hayden Thorpe’s falsetto. However, I personally find that it adds both quirkiness and a lot expression to the music. Over the ten songs on the album you get the finest indie rock of 2009, with one of the best rhythm sections I have heard in a while. The bass is always sharp and bubbly, while the drumming is simply fantastic (case in point; This Is Our Lot). Wild Beasts may be an acquired taste, but what fantastic taste it is. 

Wild Beasts - This Is Our Lot


2. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Grizzly Bear was all over the place this year and was – along with Phoenix – the indie break-out of the year. When you have got Jay-Z and Beyoncé singing your praises, then you know you have made it (yes, you have). This acclaim could come to no more deserving band, as the music really is fantastic. Veckatimest has no weak points and to top it off contains three of the best songs released in 2009 with While You Wait For The Others, Two Weeks and Ready, Able.

Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks


3 The Horrors - Primary Colours
When Sea Within A Sea was released as the first single off The Horrors' second album, Primary Colours, it was a very pleasant surprise. Gone was the horror-punk schtick of their first album and instead they treated us with some of the finest krautrock heard in years. Even better, the rest of Primary Colours did not disappoint either. The album mixes psych-rock with post-punk with brilliant results and shows a band that has matured immensely since their debut. Musically, without a doubt the best surprise of 2009.
  
The Horrors - Who Can Say

4 Au Revoir Simone - Still Night Still Light
Personally, I have a bit of a soft spot for Au Revoir Simone (I am smitten). There is just something so great about seeing and hearing three girls, each with their own keyboard, sing about love and love lost. But it is not just that, they also write brilliant songs with great melodies and beautiful harmonies (smitten, I tell ya). Every single song on the Still Night Still Light is a great pop song from the lush synths on opener Another Likely Story to the very organic and sparse Take Me As I Am to album closer Tell Me. From beginning to end a great album (so very smitten).

Au Revoir Simone - Shadows


5 The xx – xx
The xx draw on a lot of contemporary genres in their music, but somehow manage to sound like nothing else. The music is minimalistic indie rock with a definite R’n’B influence carrying through (underlined by their cover of Aaliyah’s Hot Like Fire). What makes the music so interesting, though, is the band's use of space in their songs. The songs are sparse and very restrained in their instrumentation, which allows for the music to sink in. It is this, which makes xx such a great and personal listening experience. In 2009 there were a lot of great debuts – several on this list even – but one was just a cut above the rest.

The xx - Basic Space


6. Micachu and the Shapes - Jewellery
7. Japandroids - Post- Nothing
8. Lushlife - Cassette City
9. Washed Out - Life of Leisure
10. Girls - Album
11. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
12. Antlers - Hospice
13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz
14. The Thermals - Now We Can See
15. Snake and Jet’s Amazing Bullit Band – Peace Boat
16. Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health
17. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
18. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
19. Taken By Trees - East of Eden
20. tUnE-yArDs - BiRd-BrAiNs

Honourable Mentions:
Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth, Staff Benda Bilili - Très Très Fort, Jim Callahan - Sometimes I wish I were an Eagle, Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeues Phoenix, Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms, YACHT - See Mystery Lights, Fever Ray - Fever Ray, Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx Part II, Oh No Ono – Eggs, Crystal Antlers – Tentacles, HEALTH – Get Color, Doom - Born Like This, Cass McCombs - Catacombs

Best Songs of 2009

2009 was a great year in music. There was new music from great new bands (The xx, Japandroids, etc.), bands we already knew and loved (Grizzly Bear, YYY's, etc.) and surprisingly great music from bands that some of us had almost written off (The Horrors, The Maccabees, etc.). People keep saying that the album format is dying or, more drastically, that the whole music business is dying, but from the evidence of the past few years it is only getting better.

This year there is simply a Top 15 list for songs, a Top 20 for albums and a newly added Top 3 for remixes. The lists have been split into to two posts, one for songs and one for albums. The reasoning is simple and obvious. The greatest songs do not always come from the greatest albums and vice versa.

Disclaimer: A song does not have to have been released as a single to make the list. Rather, it is a list of my favourite individual songs of the year.

1. The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea

There was never any doubt in my mind when I had to choose a favourite song of the year. That this song comes courtesy of The Horrors is surprising, to say the least, considering that their debut album was decent at best. But lo and behold, the band has matured (immensely) and produced a revelation of an album in Primary Colours. Sea Within A Sea was the first single and what a single it is. The song clocks in at 7:57, but at no point do you feel like it is too long. The song sounds like a great long lost Can or NEU! (with vocals) song  and is easily the best krautrock in years. What really makes this the best song of 2009, though, is how it climaxes. When they break it down at around the 3:30 mark and the synth line kicks in, you know something great is about to happen. And it only gets better from then... I don't know if it is more Geoff Barrow than The Horrors, but I know for sure that this is the best song of the year.

2. Wavves - Cool Jumper

This was a tricky one. At first listen the song struck me as being too cluttered and chaotic. Then I gave it a second listen and for some reason everything clicked and it just made sense. There is a lot going on in the song and taking it all in takes a listen or two. But this is exactly what is the strength of the song, as each listen unravels another layer of chaos and in the end you have a really f'ng great song. I am not a big fan of Wavves’ other songs (too stoned for my liking), but adding Zach Hill's ADD drumming takes the song to a whole new level. The laid back 60s surf vocals of Wavves mixed with the distorted guitar, synths and the aforementioned drumming all combines to make a wonderfully vibrant yet dark 'pop' song.

3. Vivian Girls - Lake House

This is simply C86 and surf combined to perfection. I was a fan of the Vivian Girl's self titled debut from 2008, but I always had a feeling that their songs could be a little bit more. Lake House has that little bit more – that extra magic. To me the song is one long chorus, kicking off at full speed with a change of pace midway through before powering on again after about a minute of soloing. Clocking in at 2:05, it is the perfect little 'pop' song. Just long enough for you to love it, but also short enough for you to want to hear it over and over again. The song even came out early '09, so it is a testament to it that I still love it to this day (what can I say, I move fast). It is simple stuff, but it just works so well.

4. Tiny Vipers - Dreamer

This song is all about the intensity and sincerity with which it is sung. Jesy Fontino has a great voice and puts it to such hauntingly beautiful use in Dreamer. It is the little things that make this song work and stand out. It is the care with which she pronounces each word and the way she changes pitch at the end to startling effect. You really feel her pain.

"I'm going to live, but I'm living far away/ I'm going to die. I'm dying for a way out" 

I do not normally care much for singer-songwriters, but Tiny Vipers get me. It is intense and I feel it deep deep down. It touches me and I love that (I swear I'll cut back on the cheese from now on).

5. Grizzly Bear - While You Wait For The Others

Grizzly Bear really had a break out year in 2009 (in indie terms) and understandably so. Veckatemist was song for song an incredible album that can compare with best of any year. In my humble opinion, the album had two stand out songs: While You Wait For The Others and Ready, Able. To be honest I had this #5 down as a tie, but forced to pick one I went for WYWFTO. The song displays what it is that makes Grizzly Bear such a great band and Veckatimest such a fantastic album. Everything, from the slow build to the immaculate harmonies in the choruses, is so perfectly crafted and wonderfully executed.

6 VEGA - No Reasons  

7 Micachu and the Shapes - Lips 

8 Wild Beasts - Hooting and Howling 

9 Golden Filter - Thunderbird 

10 YACHT - The Afterlife 

11 Lushlife - The Kindness 

12 Japandroids - Young Hearts Spark Fire 

13 The Big Pink - Velvet

14 The xx - Islands 

15 Bat for Lashes - Daniel

Honourable Mentions:

Beach Fossils - Vacation, Ellie Goulding - Under the Sheets, Siriusmo - High Together, The Thermals - When We Were Alive, Phoenix - Lizstomania, Sleigh Bells - Crown to the Ground, Staff Benda Bilili - Polio, Fever Ray - If I Had A Heart, Fuck Buttons - Olympians, The Decemberists - The Rake Song, Harlem Shakes - Strictly Game, Port O'Brien - My Will is Good, Marina and the Diamonds - Obsessions, Atlas Sound - Logos, Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension, Lars and the Hands of Light - Hey Lover (Hey Love!), Snake And Jet's Amazing Bullit Band - Smiling Makes Bitter, Oh No Ono - Hoplessly Young, Delorean - Deli, Hospitality - Betty Wang, Dead Man's Bones - Pa Pa Power

Best Remixes of 2009

The remix Top 3 was added mainly due to the brilliance of the Top 2. The remixes of You've Got The Love and In For The Kill took the respective songs and turned them on their head. Even more so, though, the remixers managed to take songs that were good, but not spectacular, and make something much better (read: great) of them, and that is something to be applauded.

1. Florence and the Machine - You've Got The Love (XX Remix)

2. La Roux - In For The Kill (Skream Remix)

3. The Gossip - Heavy Cross (BURNS Remix)