Ladies and Gents, Your Winners
That time of the year again, amigos. 2010 was good in some ways, bad in plenty of others but it was a solid year as far as the musics go, right? As usual we’ll be looking at music that is actually good…none of this challenging, art-for-art’s sake type of stuff with an emphasis always given to radical songwriting and destructive guitars. Anything from the latter half of 2009 that I missed when it first came out is up for debate too, so no nitpicking. Also music that I got into this year that I just totally gassed on from the last few years would be lovely twangy rock of Drag the River (thank you Lisa Marie, I owe you for that one) and the truly genius and haunted strains of Bon Iver (watch that video for Wolves, you will flip). That Justin Vernon kid is a genius; did you catch him on the new Kanye album? That is when you know you’re big time. Straight up. Below are the best records of the year, listed in reverse order. Oh, my jury is still out on Titus Andronicus, by the way.
This is a great record for a lot of reasons but possibly the main one is that your girlfriend will like it since it’s super dancey and it works for a fun car drive and also makes you want to shake it on the dance floor.
You take the singer from The Shins and the DJ from Danger Mouse and you get a hit record. At least I think this was a hit, wasn’t it? I think so. It should have been, at least. James Mercer has a lot of soul for a white guy and this albums works as a great backdrop to your next dinner get together. Because you’re always looking for music for those sorts of things, aren’t you?
The folk bug is rolling around Santa Barbara at the moment—with lyrics like these and some twangy ass guitars can you really do better? I say no.
I don’t know one person that has watched this video and not been impressed. Wait, I saw these guys this year, did I ever write that up? Let’s check…yep, here you go. And you’re welcome.
Better than their last one (which wasn’t bad at all) and another glitzy record with everything you’d expect from them, and even a random F-bomb which sort of surprised me. There’s the harmonies you’d expect and the sneakily incendiary guitar riffs lurking. Jimmy Eat World is sort of the Chipotle of the Indie rock world and I mean that as a positive.
Two Gallants will forever be one of the greatest bands of all time and Adam’s solo act is right there. In the hands of a lesser artist anger sounds like nothing more than anger…Adam elevates his feelings somewhere far north of that, achieving a mix of wistful rumination blended with smoldering self-loathing. Just take a listen to this version of Second Mind and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
Classic Wolf Parade. Can something be classic when it’s only been around for like 5 years? In 2006 were we saying, “49 HRs, 137 RBI, .431 OBP…classic Pujols”? Yes, I think we were. “Expo 86” has a strong contender for song of the year in Yulia and enough of your precious indie rock mayhem that you’ve got to listen to it about five times before you start hearing everything there is to hear.
For whatever reason they released Those Lungs and the incredible Kick Rocks as B-sides but they might be two of the better songs on the album. But still, Off the Map and Dine, Dine My Darling are worth the price of admission alone. This extends their consecutive streak of being awesome to infinity, just for the record.
You know how I know this is a good album? I don’t know any of the song names. Why bother to learn which song is which when the whole album kills it? Just about any other year this would be an easy choice for #1 on a Best Of list and this is coming from a guy who didn’t even think their first few albums were that impressive. Just a totally amazing record from start to finish that doesn’t go down the maudlin route some of their older tracks are guilty of and the songwriting has gotten crisp like an overcooked tortilla (I’m making Mexican Tortilla Soup tonight if any of you are interested, by the way—the trick to good soup is Chelada beer but keep it like a secret). I can’t tell you sick this album is: big, gritty guitars and some of the raddest harmonies you’ll find anywhere. Really, random internet guy who gave this a 3 star review? You should have your internet privileges taken away.
The Arcade Fire “The Suburbs”You know you’ve done something right when you’re an indie and you move one million units. And are nominated for a Grammy. Not that Grammies are cool but still, that is worth something. Will you hear a better song than Half Light II (No Celebration) this year? No. No you will not. In fact you would be lucky if you ever heard a song even half as good. And while you can sit around and play is-this-song-better-than-that-song until the cows come home the bottom line is this is the best concept album since Bloc Party’s “A Weekend in the City” which is a top 5 album of all time so draw your own conclusions.
Am I forgetting anything? Yeah, probably. I’m not totally sure about the Mumford & Sons record that everybody flips for but there’s a chance that it makes my list for next year, along with the news of the new Bright Eyes out in February which is of course a shoe in. Bust of the year goes to Kele’s solo record which is probably the biggest letdown of the year, followed closely by Blitzen Trapper’s “Destroyer of the Void” which is flat out hippie and Band of Horses’ “Infinite Arms” which is softer than the Houston Texan’s secondary. I’m not linking to those busters because I don’t want to funnel any traffic their way, google them for your own damn self if you are really curious.
