| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |
It's done.
We noticed one somewhat glaring omission so far... "Let’s Get Lost" by Bat For Lashes and Beck from the most recent Twilight CD, which would've been in the lower half of the list anyway so it doesn't really matter. Most of the other stuff that got the most spins at our offices in 2010 was late-2009 music... In fact, here’s a quick top 10 of that before moving forward (in no particular order)...
2009 Shit With Lots Of 2010 Spins
- Japandroids Post-Nothing
- DJ Burn-One & Pill 4180: The Prescription
- Neon Indian “Should’ve Taken Acid With You” & “Deadbeat Summer”
- BEAK> BEAK>
- The XX XX
- Black Dice Repo
- The Hood Internet
- Silversun Pickups “It’s Nice To Know You Work Alone”
- Clipse “I’m Good”
Can’t recall much else receiving extensive spins... Perhaps ’09 was weaker than we thought.. Moving on now with the top 10, as promised... This shit took fucking forever to finish and no one’s ever going to read it. Awesome...
10 Earl Sweatshirt “Earl”
For a lot of us, it seems like the “Earl” video may have been OFWGKTA’s gateway moment, or their equivalent to “Teen Spirit.” Mainstream hiphop needs a Nirvana very badly, and this could be it. Because of internet and faster exposure, it’s become more difficult than ever for any kind of Nirvana-moment to happen ever again in rock music. However, chronologically speaking, the history of rock and hiphop have unfolded very similarly. such as the naivety matching 50’s rock and sunshiny 80’s hiphop.. And the same goes for the “arrival” moments, when it was finally no longer just for the kids.. which happened to rock in the late 60’s and hiphop in the early 90’s. If Odd Future is any indication, the future of underground hiphop might be able to eradicate its bad name, and maybe the future will repeat itself. A huge part of Nirvana’s success was due to proper timing. If the cards are played correctly, Odd Future couldn’t have arrived at a better time. P.S. FUCK STEVE HARVEY. THAT NIGGA CAN’T READ.09 Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti “Round And Round”
“Back in the 70’s, it was all about the drugs” (From the intro of Kool Keith’s “Drugs” off the Spankmaster LP). Ariel Pink has managed to tap into all aspects of what was happening in music in 1978 (the year he was born) and place them into a single song, including but not limited to the soft rock of Paul Davis, the campiness of Bat Out Of Hell, the chill-aura of Bob Marley, the falsetto of the BeeGees, the non-conformist but more mature post-punk attitude of Wire and Television, the vocal harmonies of Steely Dan, the disco of Solid Gold, the sweeping lush and complex arrangements of E.L.O., and the saxophone solos of “Baker Street” (R.I.P. Gerry Rafferty), among many others. And this mostly persists throughout the entirety of Before Today - quite an achievement considering the strength of its songwriting. We’re tempted to label it Ariel Pink’s Sgt. Pepper. 08 Japandroids “Art Czars”
Japandroids seem to have built their own bizarro-universe with the release of “Art Czars.” In this world, Japandroids have achieved a similar fate to Green Day, in which they their punk-rock origins eventually resulted in them becoming the biggest band in the world, responding to the fans cries of “SELL OUT” with this single, containing the chorus “Here’s your money back! Here’s your punk rock back!” It might be a vengeful attack (almost as brutal as this song’s intro) against those who previously depended on them, which can also be applied to any situation of vengeful heartbreak. “I’m really sorry that you thought this feeling / Was the fire keeping your heart beating?” Also within this bizarro-universe, scientific journals have published several articles displaying proof that Post-Nothing contains the best Side B since G’N’R Lies, which is possibly true in our universe as well.07 Big Boi “Shutterbug”
I know the issue was mostly label bullshit, but still, six years is way too long to have to wait for a new record. Outkast released four amazing albums within their first seven years. Tracks like “Shutterbug” prove that Big Boi’s still got what it takes to create some new magic. Southern rap has mostly turned to shit over the past year, and Outkast needs to understand their importance here, and produce some worthy comeback singles. Pleeeeease make it happen??06 The Arcade Fire “The Suburbs”
Back in like 2004/2005, these dudes were pretty amazing. I recall being genuinely jealous as fuck after learning that people I know got to see the Central Park show where they were joined by David Bowie. Then Neon Bible happened... They got all dramatic. Most fans still totally dug it for some reason, even though their influences switched from awesome Echo & The Bunnymen shit to significantly less awesome Bruce Springsteen shit. And then last year they re-recorded “Wake Up” in the style of Neon Bible so that it could be included in the movie Emo Island Adventures, whose title was later changed to Where The Wild Things Are, which was incidentally the least fun children’s movie of alltime. So by the time The Suburbs was announced, a lot of people cared, but likely not those who enjoyed the rock aura on Funeral. It didn’t seem likely that they could possibly redeem themselves by borrowing some laziness from The Kinks’ “Sunny Afternoon,” but oddly enough that’s exactly what ended up happening with the song “The Suburbs.” Intensified a few months later by an outstanding video, Arcade Fire are now very relevant again in our estimation. And since our opinion matters the most, we congratulate them on a job well done.05 No Age “Glitter”
Whoever said No Age isn't for the kids? I mean, it says right in their album title.. "Everything Be Tweens." jklol. One can only imagine the excitement in the studio when slowly discovering more and more layers to add onto the intro of “Glitter,” starting with a familiar drumbeat that may or may not have been stolen from Toni Basil, but is possibly from some 60’s jam. The noise layer matches the song’s title, just before a huge distorted C-chord tops it all off. The dark combination backs up the monotone vocals, whose lyrics echo most of Everything In Between’s self-doubt and yearning... “I don’t fear nothing / unless it’s broke” and possibly longing for a time when life felt larger, returning to someone or something that physically or emotionally was felt deep down: “I want you back underneath my skin.” This muddy volcano cannot be tamed.04 Japandroids “Younger Us”
Bittersweet nostalgia... Based on the guitar chords and the yearning vocals, we’re gonna take a wild guess that the era referred to in “Younger Us” is circa-2000, around the time of The Anniversary and Jimmy Eat World. The majority of Japandroids’ catalogue (so far) does not sound like this, although this is turning out to be one of their most popular songs, so it’s not a huge surprise that douchebag naysayers have been dismissing them with a scoff claming that they’re too emo or whatever... These people should stick to the concerts where everyone stands around with their arms folded and stay the fuck away from truly ass kicking rock.. Do the kids a favor and GTFO. One of our associates asked us to submit “Give me that naked new skin rush” as one of the best lyrics of 2010. This song might also now possibly surpass “I Quit Girls” as Japandroids’ best ballad (albeit a faster than average ballad). There’s a old story regarding John Peel: He was driving one day in 1978, previewing some music he had been sent, and he finally got around to hearing The Undertones’ “Teenage Kicks” for the first time. The song so strongly affected his emotions that he could barely see the road and was forced to pull over his car to collect his composure. I’m pretty sure he would’ve dug “Younger Us.”03 Merchandise “I Locked The Door”
Interpol’s weird bass player dude quit the band this summer, and their last 2 albums have been less than impressive. However, if Merchandise might find some good management, they could fill Interpol’s void tremendously, as they are undoubtedly the most impressive of any recent 80’s-goth-sounding group. “I Locked The Door” is driving way too fast down a vacant 3AM highway, combining the Bauhaus/Ian Curtis elements with the immense weight and loudness of The Jesus And Mary Chain and a tremendously strong vocal melody vaguely reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine’s “You Never Should,” but not so similar that it raises any suspicions. If I worked at a big label, I’d snatch these dudes the fuck up, like NOW.02 Tyler, The Creator feat. Hodgy Beats “French”
Earl Sweatshirt’s still apparently grounded. His parents haven’t allowed him out since last summer. In the months since whatever incident resulted in this, “FREE EARL” t-shirts and tweets have been unrelentingly ubiquitous to any fans of OFWGKTA, as well as being a common chant at their concerts. His “missing in action” status has done wonders for their mystique. Earl’s brother Tyler is relatively out-of-his-fucking-mind bonkers, so Earl must be doing time for some dark shit. Whether Tyler’s antics are an act or not, there exists a strong possibility that he’s a motherfucking genius, and probably the most impressively prolific human currently producing hiphop. (And no, we haven’t forgotten that Lil Wayne released 12 mixtapes in 2008. How many people actually still listen to any of those? Besides Da Drought 2.. that one was pretty tight...) “I’m opening a church to sell coke and Led Zeppelin...” 90% of Tyler’s lyrics are strong enough that really any of them could have been considered for the best songs of 2010, but at the moment, “French” is the stand out since it’s their nastiest backing track - distorted synth-bass tones designed to vibrate cars at top volume. It’s very difficult to not turn this shit up… like all the way up...01 The Arcade Fire “We Used To Wait”
Ali G used to call it “techmology.” Apparently it’s been improving. Was anyone aware of this? Apparently “we used to write letters,” and now we text our friends instead, because it’s infinitely more convenient, albeit far less romantic. Granted, all these constant upgrades can definitely become overwhelming after a while. Strangely enough, this seems to be a common theme on third albums... Not sure if anyone remembers this, but another weird band used a similar theme a few years back on some record called OK Computer, which may or may not have been a huge influence on Arcade Fire’s “We Used To Wait,” lyrically and structurally. On “The Tourist,” Radiohead sang “Hey man, slow down...” whereas Arcade Fire sings “Now our lives are changing fast...” While its theme isn’t exactly among the uncharted waters of alt-rock, it’s become as universally meaningful to our lives as songs about love, or say, religious speculation. OK Computer and “We Used To Wait” also both have multiple sick-as-fuck bass lines. Arcade Fire teases the listener into waiting for the amazingly all too brief chorus that appears early in the song, and then again towards the middle, never to return. 
However, those cheaters instead inserted a Chorus B (“Ooohh, we used to wait...”) and then close the song with a huge sweeping coda (not unlike the structure of “Karma Police”). I suppose they could have placed Chorus A just once at the beginning, which would have been almost as frustrating as the “Patience” episode of Wonder Showzen. “WAIT FOR IT!”| #100 - 91 | #90 - 81 | #80 - 71 | #70 - 61 | #60 - 51 |
| #50 - 41 | #40 - 31 | #30 - 21 | #20 - 11 | #10 - 1 |
No comments:
Post a Comment