Dec 282010
Most horrifying image of 2010.
I hate year-end “best of” lists (in part, I’m sure, because of the disappointment of never finding my own works on them) but I love you, so let this be your place for listing your best, worst, and whatever of 2010!
Best RTH Group Achievement: Completing the R ‘n R Timeline in Song Titles
Best Reason to Conclude the Fat Lady Has Sung: Costello’s last album.
What’s the deal with that Elton John and Leon Russell record? Anybody heard it? Know anything?
I really like the newest Neil Young record. There.
TB
I bought that Elton-Leon record for my uncle. I’ll have to check it out next time I see him. I was curious about getting it for myself, too.
Best album: Emma Pollock’s The Law of Large Numbers
Best single (and video): Janelle Monae’s “Tightrope”
Best press announcement: Pulp’s reunion via pulppeople.com
Best old band I discovered this year: Eleventh Dream Day
Best album I didn’t want to like because of hype, but wound up enjoying: Best Coast’s Crazy for You
Best music blog I discovered this year: doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com
Best overall music blog: RTH!
Best live show: Teenage Fanclub at the Troc, early October
Best Proof That You No Longer Live In The Present: not being able to name ten albums released this year without looking them up, much less name the ten best you heard from this year.
Oats said:
Best single (and video): Janelle Monae’s “Tightrope”
I say:
We REACH!
Rock on!
Best Concert of 2010 – Crowded House @ The Tabernacle. Atlanta, GA (and I got to meet Neil Finn)
Best Reissue Box Set (tie) Darkness on The Edge of Town / Get Yer Ya-Ya’s Out
Best Music Program on TV – John Lennon on PBS
Best Band I listened to for the 1st time in 2010 and then bought all of their records – The Black Keys
Best new album by a classic rock artist – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ MOJO
Best Music Video – The Black Keys – Tighten Up
Best Music Book – Life by Keith Richards
Best New(ish) band I like this year – The Gaslight Anthem (American Slang CD)
I though it was good but dull. I think I can’t get into the T-Bone Burnett production…makes me sleepy
Best podcasts — tie — The Current’s “Song of the Day” and KEXP “Song of the Day.” Free new music single every day — keep what you like, delete the rest.
Best pay music streaming site — MOG — after quite a few years, I dropped Rhapsody this year!
Best free album streaming site — Spinner.com — new albums every week – including some by “classic rock” artists.
Best song I liked that my wife also liked “California Zephyr” by Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard.
Best rock album — Heaven is Wherever — The Hold Steady. Won’t find this on many best of 2010 lists, but I liked it
Best sort of folkie album — Lissie — Catching a Tiger. A very promising new singer.
Best alt-country song — The Mermaid Parade — Phosphorescent
Best swan song box set — Time Flies – Oasis. I, for one, will miss them.
Just listened to Emma Pollock — she was featured in the Washington Post’s overlooked albums of 2010 feature today.
OK, I’m mostly talking movies with my entry.
Best Rock Show I saw: Tie: Marah (sweaty, terrific show) at 400 Bar and Stew/TNP at the Dakota.
Best Film: “Winter’s Bone” (I’ve not yet seen the recent releases such as Black Swan, True Grit, etc)
Best Foreign film: “Mother”. Korean film with a touch of Hitchcock influence.
Most overrated film: “Inception”. Really, I loved Memento but this one he is trying way to hard. Not a bad film but for all they hype…rather forgettable.
Best “classic” film I watched on DVD: Le Trou (The Hole). Love this quiet, methodical, prison break film.
Lame movie trailer of the year: “The Tourist”. Angelina Jolie…She’s so into her efforts to look lovely and regal she “acts” like a mannequin. Get over yourself already.
They were great here in SF, too.
We can work on this! 2011 could be the year of…the 2011 albums.
It’s funny because it’s true…
Best release was actually a rerelease – The Clash’s “Cut the Crap”.When Strummer ditched Jonesy, he finally got the rock and roll band he’d been dreaming about. Call me ballzy, but “Crap” is right up there with all the pre Sire Replacements stuff. No holds barred and what not. Powerful shit indeed.
E. Pluribus
“Powerful shit indeed.” Well, that’s half right, anyway.
Nice! Found the review. Good to see her getting any press at all in the U.S., even if it is late.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/clicktrack/2010/12/lost_tracks_emma_pollock_the_l.html
Oohhhhhhhh, snap!
I will admit it. I do like one track on “Cut the Crap.”
I didn’t make a list this year, and I usually do, but I just didn’t.
Best reissue – Exile on Main St.
Albums I really liked this year:
Peter Case – Wig!
The Posies – Blood/Candy
Paul Collins – The King of Power Pop!
Parting Gifts – Strychnine Dandelion
New Pornographers – Together
Deer Tick – The Black Dirt Sessions
Album I forgot how much I liked and played every day for a week – The James Gang – Live in Concert
Artist I figured I’d outgrown but have bought albums by – Neil Young
The “Holy Shit! A Slickee Boys Album for three bucks!” award – Uh Oh…..No Breaks!
Oh E! How much did Mr. Mod pay you to show up and post that!?
Thanks for the tip on that blog, Oats. One of the things linked there is a mono version of Safe As Milk:
http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/2352749099/safe-as-milk-captain-beefheart-and-his-magic
Apparently someone got hold of a mono copy of the vinyl LP, and it sounds like whoever did the vinyl rip did a little remastering too, because it sounds really great. I’ve loved the stereo version for decades, but it does have unfortunate stereo imaging sometimes, like vocals or drums panned hard right or left, as was often done in those days.
I heartily recommend this download for those who already know and love the album, as well as for people who want to check out Beefheart’s most accessible LP.
Hey, Plurbie — you still want this Scuffy Shew 45?
2010:
Mulatiu Astatke – MULATU STEPS AHEAD (Strut)
Billy Bang – Prayer For Peace (Tum)
Phil Cohran and the Artistic Heritage Ensemble – THE SPANISH SUITE (Katalyst)
Lil B – RAIN IN ENGLAND (Weird Forest)
William Parker Organ Quartet – UNCLE JOE’S SPIRIT HOUSE (Centering)
Gil Scott-Heron – I’M NEW HERE (XL)
Sleigh Bells – TREATS (Mom & Pop)
Various – SHAGAAN ELECTRO (Honest Jon’s)
Kanye West – MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY
Richard Youngs and Simon Wickham Smith – 20 YEARS (VHF)
REISSUES:
Roy Brooks and the Artistic Truth – ETHNIC EXPRESSIONS (Jazzman)
Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir – LIKE A SHIP WITHOUT A SAIL (Light in the Attic)
Sound of Liberation – SOUNDS OF LIBERATION (Porter)
P.E. Hewitt Jazz Ensemble – WINTER WINDS: THE COMPLETE WORKS 1968-70
Walter Gibbons – JUNGLE MUSIC (Strut)
Kenny Graham and His Satellites – MOONDOG & SUNCAT SUITES (Trunk)
Les Railles Denudes – HEAVIER THAN A DEATH IN THE FAMILY (Phoenix)
Love Cry Want – LOVE CRY WANT (Weird Forest)
The Psychedelic Aliens – PSYCHO AFRICAN BEAT (Academy)
Strapping Fieldhands – DISCUS (Shangri-La)
I waited till the last minute, but I finally finished my year-end list of my favorite albums. These are not in ranked order. It’s hard enough making the list without ranking them. I usually include compilations and reissues on my list, because that accounts for a lot of my listening, but this year that’s going to have to be a separate list, because I already had a hard time getting it down to twenty.
Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse, Dark Night of the Soul
Bryan Ferry, Olympia
LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening
Caribou, Swim
Deerhunter, Halcyon Digest
Flying Lotus, Cosmogramma
The Fall, Your Future Our Clutter
Tony Allen, Secret Agent
Four Tet, There Is Love in You
Shackleton, Fabric 55
Wire, Red Barked Tree
Grinderman, Grinderman 2
Pantha du Prince, Black Noise
Mulatu Astatke, Mulatu Steps Ahead
Lil’ Band o’ Gold. The Promised Land
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
Gorillaz, Plastic Beach
Richard Thompson, Dream Attic
Teenage Fanclub, Shadows
Superchunk, Majesty Shredding
Just for completeness, and because I know y’all are waiting with bated breath, here’s my list of the best compilations and reissues of 2010. Unranked of course, this is just kind of a big grab bag of all the non-current stuff I was listening to this year.
Afro Baby: The Evolution of the Afro-Sound in Nigeria 1970-79
Afro-Beat Airways
Deutsche Elektronische Musik (Soul Jazz)
R.E.M., Fables of the Reconstruction (Deluxe Edition)
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds reissues (The Good Son, Tender Prey, Henry’s Dream)
Rolling Stones reissues (Beggars Banquet through Undercover, especially Exile on Main St.)
Next Stop … Soweto: Township Sounds from The Golden Age Of Mbaqanga
Queens of the Stone Age, Rated R (Deluxe Edition)
Raw Power (Legacy Edition)
Shangaan Electro New Wave Dance Music From South Africa
Palenque Palenque: Champeta Criolla & Afro Roots in Colombia 1975-1991
The World Ends: Afro Rock and Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria
D.O. Misani/Shirati Jazz, The King Of History: Classic 1970s Benga Beats From Kenya
The World Is Shaking: Cubanismo From The Congo, 1954-55
Scientists, Blood Red River 1982-84
Madness, deluxe reissues of all 6 of their albums
Bruce Springsteen, The Promise/Darkness on the Edge of Town remaster
Psychedelic Aliens, Psycho Afro Beat
Angola Soundtrack: The Unique Sound Of Luanda 1968-1976
Tabu Ley Rochereau, The Voice of Lightness Vol.2
Orange Juice, Coals To Newcastle
Bob Dylan, mono remasters series
Egypt Noir: Nubian Soul Treasures
PlastikMan, Sheet One (remastered)
Future Bass (Soul Jazz)
Thank you, BigSteve. The New Year may now proceed!
I wish I had a “Best of 2010” list to share. I barely bought any new albums that I loved, and I can’t recall what new stuff I acquired that was actually from 2009 and didn’t sink in until this year. Then there’s old stuff I picked up used, which often turns out to be the best “new” stuff I’ve added to my collection.
I did get a new piece of gear that deserves a mention: a tiny tube amp and really good, little speakers that my brother bought me as a gift either last Christmas or for my birthday. I keep it in our bedroom and run my iPod through it. It sounds amazing, with much warmth and definition, and it looks great.