Mid-December and things are gettin' kind of hectic, but The List is always front-of-mind, so while the upper echelons are still being shuffled and tweaked I wanted to start things off before somebody posted this shit on WikiLeaks.
This year's list carries the subheading "Stop Me if You Think That You've Heard This One Before" because, g-darnit, I'm in my mid-30s and the road behind me is long, and discovering new artists? That takes time, son, a product I find hard to source. So guess what? A ton of the acts on TiOM: 2010 have appeared on past lists. The more repeats that appear, the deeper I sink into the morass of my own hermetically-sealed world. Symtom or cause -- that's a tough one to sort, but regardless, I'm approaching full-on stasis mode, like when your dad picked up an Abba record at Sam's and knew he never again had to worry about finding new music, because for this moment he was hip, and he would remember this feeling for the rest of his days, and that was going to have to be enough.
Yes, there are new names, enough to prevent the amber from solidifying over these bones, if only temporarily. There are still discoveries to be made.
Had enough? Here we go:
30. Budos Band, Budos Band III
29. Josh Ritter, So Runs the World Away
28. Fond of Tigers, Continent and Western
27. Gil Scott-Heron, I'm New Here
26. Aeroplane Trio, Naranja Ha
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3 comments:
Hey, at least you're trying to find new albums, period. I've heard The Suburbs...and that's about it. Oh, and This is Happening. I'm trying to get my hands on a free copy of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy if only for archival purposes, when Margo is older and we can point to it as a (THE?) seminal/defining record of 2010. By that time Kanye West will be in his super-crazy Lee Perry phase, anyway.
!!!SPOILERS!!!
Kanye is not on this list. For as much as I might find a hook or two in the singles, I can't get over his ego. Or more to the point, HE can't get over his own ego. Enough, dude. Tortured artist, whatevs. The clock is definitely ticking on Kanye. Perfect 10, my ass, Pitchfork. But in terms of defining 2010 for future generations, you might be dead right about that. And yeah, I definitely see an unkempt beard and druggy studio effects in his future.
Also, LCD Soundsystem? Not on the list. Still love "Losing My Edge" though. Love it!
This is Happening is also a Pitchfork favourite, as well as a favourite on other 2010 lists. I wasn't blown away on the first listen, but maybe I need more time with it. "Tribulations" hit me immediately, so hard, that I suppose I was hoping for another pop hit like that one. But he is not trying to please fluff lovers like me!
Patrick has the same problem with Kanye. I can see it. Yet it results in things like Kanye West New Yorker tweets (http://boingboing.net/2010/08/03/kanye-west-tweets-as.html), so I know there's a place for it. haha
His most recent Saturday Night Live performance is what won me over, at least as far as the new record is concerned. It really was, for me, breathtaking. Witness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e1B2YMQNlU and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-jr8ft7br8.
But yeah, he's going to set fire to his own studio one day.
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