My favorite X records of the year.
- Erykah Badu - New Amerykah, Pt.2
Jazzy, freaky soul. Pretty wild stuff. Way outside my normal zone, but it's awesome. Gonna have to get some more of her stuff.
- LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening. Feels strange to be listening to something, in 2010, that sounds so much like it could've been made in 1988. But, my only real complaint is the length of the songs: half of them are over 7 minutes long. Other than that, it's catchy, clever, fun and doesn't scare my wife out of the room. Win!
- Spoon - Transference. For some reason I always think I dislike this. But then I play it and realize it's actually pretty good.
- Carolina Chocolate Drops - Genuine Negro Jig. A mix of old-time jug band, bluegrass, traditional Piedmont folk. It's got a nice spontaneous feel and sounds like they had fun playing this.
- Vampire Weekend - Contra. Though that Honda commercial is quickly killing the song "Holiday" for me, it's still a fun record.
- Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
It usually loses me in the second half, but I really like the first half.
- Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest. Sounds like a mixture of a bunch of things that I love but could only find in bands that either don't exist anymore (Syd Barret, Neutral Milk Hotel) or don't sound like that anymore (Rogue Wave). They all combine to form a sound I wish more bands would pick up. Until some do, this will suffice.
I’ll add some in no particular order:
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way
Kaki King – Junior Bonus video from an earlier album. Added because of Cleek’s adventures in animation. 5000 frames shot on a D30.
Neil Young – Le Noise
Janelle Monáe – Archandroid
Honorable mentions (stuff not to overlook even if not the best)
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals – Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
The National – High Violet
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Let it Sway
The Hold Steady – Heaven is Whenever
Arcade Fire
Belle & Sebastian
Gaslight Anthem
(Sorry, tiring of looking up vids)
I feel like the New Pornographers should be in there. It’s not bad. But that’s not particularly high praise for a band that I played to death a few years ago. I don’t know if it’s you or if it’s me, but somehow I feel like this isn’t going anywhere. Perhaps their next album will be their answer the door in saran wrap album.
This exercise reminded me how much I hate it when reissues are tagged with the rerelease date. Grrr. Live at Leeds is a seminal album, but not of 2010.
Sadly only Janelle Monáe in that list was a new artist.
“5000 frames shot on a D30.”
OMG.
The lighting is what’s amazing. All those special effects are people holding lights. There’s a “making of” video somewhere.
Wow that video is stellar. I’ve been crazy busy. Want to post something like this myself and am still working on a music quiz. Perhaps after Christmas.