Tracks of your Years
Ok so it’s almost the end of the year and a natural time for reflection, so I want to list some tracks that were released in 2010 that I absolutely love and for which at times this year I could simply not contemplate having a break from listening to them, if mp3′s were perishable they’d be dust right now. I wanna try to explain why I love them and to introduce them to you if you don’t know them so that hopefully you can enjoy them too.
Summer Holiday by Wild Nothing
I’ve come across Wild Nothing only very recently, I saw them listed in Rough Trade’s top 10 albums of the year and thought that on the back of that they’d be a good band to check out. I immediately loved their album Gemini but this was the track that really struck me the most from the album. I think the thing that I like about the track the most is actually how everything is made to sound, the real percussive nature of the bass that sounds like the way Brian Wilson got the bass sounding on Pet Sounds, the way the lead guitar sounds sort of keyboardy, the drums, inparticularly the presence of the ride cymbal that sounds like it’s next to you when you’re listening to it. The vocals particularly on the breakdown halfway through are so beautifully dreamy and it’s an upbeat song…perfect!
Night Air by Jamie Woon
Post dubstep is a term banded around but I’m not really sure what it means, I think this is classed as post dubstep, most importantly I think it’s a really beautifully dark track. The track itself conjures up the feeling of the night, maybe of walking home in quiet, deserted city streets at 3am, if you do that kind of thing!Ultimately, he has a great voice that whilst being soulful isn’t pushing the boundaries of taste and has a certain understatement that many bombastic UK soul singers could learn a lot from.
Stay Close by Delorean
This song gives me the kind of feeling that Urban Cookie Collective’s ‘The Key the Secret’ did when I was a teenager. It’s persistant and euphoric and makes me wanna get up and do something…usually dance! The rest of the album is also really strong and I swear it gives off some kind of happiness hormone!
Constellations by Darwin Deez
Whilst catchy might be a word my Mum would use to describe the latest James Blunt song and is not ultimately the word I’m quite reaching for here, it’s the one I’m gonna go with for now to describe the song. I was really hooked on this song for about 3 days straight and listened to it none stop, often having to get that quick listen in before going out and invariably being late cos I wanted to listen to it again. I love the guitar riff, the handclaps, his voice and the way he looks a little like Napolean Dynamite.
Boyfriend by Best Coast
Blown away by this track when I heard it and smashed by the album too. Bethany Consentino’s vocals totally hit the spot, beyond that I find it really hard to elucidate why I love this track. That’s a stupid thing to admit when writing about music but sometimes and in the words of Elvis Costello ‘Writing about music is like dancing about architecture – it’s a really stupid thing to want to do!’
Revival by Deerhunter
I like the lilt of this song, which although being an adjective that a music critic might’ve used to describe the latest Guy Lombardo hit in the 1930′s, sums up the feeling I get when hearing the intro and how the drums, bass and guitar interact.
Undertow by Warpaint
This track builds brilliantly and is sung beautifully, every word that comes out is so rounded and delivered perfectly. I also love the kind of echo on the vocals that sounds like the same voice but in your head…er…sort of!
Undercover Martyn by Two Door Cinema Club
I completely did these guys down when I first listened to them, which is strange cos I really liked it. I felt that they were fairly one dimensional and that like a lot of the stuff I was listening to at the time it would have a limited appeal and I’d soon get bored by it. Actually, it’s lasted the course for me and I really like the album, it’s energy, guitar hooks and the way they sort of sound a bit like a British version of Phoenix.
Northern Skies by I am Kloot
This track is typical of an album that is honest and full of more stories than are actually told. The strings augment the whole thing by giving it more depth and atmosphere….just a beautiful track.
My KZ, UR BF by Everything Everything
Despite the title containing the kind of ‘text speak’ that makes me want to forcible confiscate offending people’s mobile phones and throw them into the nearest incinerator, it’s actually rather good. Jon Everything’s vocals are as always going to either grate you or excite you, but in the context of this type of song I think it’s definitely the latter for me. Harmonies, sounds and synths and a great singable chorus is all I have to add.
