100 Favourite Tracks of 2010: Part VI

A great painter one day, high up on the scaffold, began moving backward to view better his finished fresco. The next receding step would have taken him over, and, as a warning cry might be fatal, his apprentice had the presence of mind to sling the contents of a pail at the masterpiece. Very funny! But how much funnier still, had the rapt master been left to walk back into nothing - with, incidentally, the spectators expecting the pail. The art of caricature, as Rex understood it, was thus based (apart from its synthetic, fooled-again nature) on the contrast between cruelty on one side and credulity on the other.

- Vladimir Nabokov's Laughter in the Dark


The Walkmen - Stranded
You look at the small puddles formed on the cobbled streets of somewhere in Europe, a gentle drizzle falling on your overcoat as you're trudging aimlessly. The evening sun casts a deep amber hue over the low rooftops around you while you ponder with a listless look on your face. Suddenly you hear horns so warm and regal in the distance, Hamilton Leithauser's vocals rising above the orchestration, seemingly coaxing you that everything is alright, and suddenly you know where you should be walking to.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

The Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire (mp3)
It really reminds me of The Honeydrip's Fall From a Height, but less use of vocal samples. Notably, they both are from Sweden. And where Fall From a Height was more pensive and romantic, Heaven's on Fire is vague-ish and seems to be indirectly criticising the music industry. The entire layered arrangement fleshes out the song as Johan Duncanson muffles hazily throughout the song. Love them swedes.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Spoon - The Mystery Zone
The feel good beat, well, feels good as you just bop to the song. Undeniably catchy in a reserved way, it kinda worms it's way into your consciousness and as the song ends abruptly, it still continues in your head "mystery zone, ooh! the mystery zone. maybe all he wants, maybe all he needs"
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Avi Buffalo - Remember Last Time (mp3)
With the spread of the memory-dulled hazy shoegaze/dreampop that has been going around, it's a nice reprieve from all that with one that actually recalls something - a past love. Excellent extended guitar jam preceded by a gentle solo strum accompanied by softly spoken words around the one third mark of the song.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Local Natives - World News
Oh yeah, it's Local Natives again, this time with World News. These guys are awesome I tell you, the lyricism present in the song is ingenious. An entire song about being inside a car, which is the most mundane thing one can sing about, yet made so meaningful, catchy and most of all, interesting. I adore the first stanza the most, thinking about where you first started. Of course, how can I miss out the do-do-do-do-do?
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

MGMT - Flash Delirium
Delving into the world of all things weird and mindblowing, they deliver a punchy pop rendition that graduates into delirious punk rock(?), with the video ending in a flash.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Basia Bulat - Once More For The Dollhouse
Folk-inspired and heart-achingly bittersweet.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Chew Lips - Karen
Groovy and catchy with slick guitars and bouncy drumbeats that give due weight to the song.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Teen Daze - Let's Fall Asleep Together
Sigh, it's songs like this that make a bland day seem blander than it should be. Life should be like the sunny carefree depiction in this swell number. He says, "I really came to fall in love with the whole lo-fi pop scene this summer, and I wanted to see what I could come up with. After writing “Let’s Fall Asleep Together”, the last three just sort of happened in the span of a few days." From an aptly titled EP "Beach Dreams", it makes me wanna return to the sprawling beach of Nice with fine sand between your toes and sunlight sparkling in the sea like diamonds.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Cults - Go Outside
The glockenspiel works up a delight in this charming cut from Brooklyn duo Cults. Semi-chanting, semi singing, it's a swell to be listening to this on a nice spring day. So, refrain from going outside until you've finished this song. That said, I'm pretty sure you'd be wanting to take this along your jaunt.
[bandcamp] [last.fm]

i'll be the one to show you the way

Holiday for Strings - particles
Hello, I'm Alice and welcome to woozy wooonderland. That's exactly what I feel about this song. HfS is a quintet with Pony who also drums for Thieves Like Us. Also on board is John from Swedish band Peter, Bjorn and John. The remaining 3 guys are from professions you'd least expect. All 3 are professional chefs! How funky is that? How's that for good food on the road while touring.

Chew Lips - Karen
Check out the latest drop from Chew Lips. I don't understand what's all the bashing and hate going on, while the video isn't spectacular or outstanding, one has to realise the strength of Chew Lips lies in Tig's voice. Gee, music is all about expression. But I don't think expression of hate is the way to go. I read that they just blow you away live, while I prolly don't have the chance to hear them live just yet, but if they are anything like The xx, I'm pretty sure they're damn good.

Lovvers - OCD GO GO Girls
Buzzy voice which brings to mind those scratchy tapes from the 40s or 50s, and the jumpy mood brought about by rabid drumming and bouncy riffs. The first few seconds into the song sounded uncannily like Kings of Leon's Sex on Fire but all similarity ends there.

Kings of Leon - The Bucket
Old stuff is gold.

love's like a pantheon, it carries on forever

Photo courtesy of Stephane Rotureau.

Chew Lips - Karen
Tigs voice has a very alluring quality that silently reels you in. However, listening to their songs, you'd realise they sound very similar to each other, and this recipe of building on her vocals with synths and the keyboard are repeated.

Beach House - 10 Mile Stereo
Oh yeah, I certainly could leave this on repeat for a 10 mile drive. It's secretly addictive as they don't waste time and open with the line "the heart is a stone and this is a stone that we throw" singing of casting the heart away. The whole dreamy soundscape produced by the synths has become their trademark, and it's what makes this song so lovely. A very peculiar love song that only Legrand and Scally would know the meaning of, while we indulge in said song.

Class Actress - Let Me Take You Out
If I had to describe this song as a woman, it would be a one who is quite pretty, but therein doesn't like the beauty. It's her eyes, the sparkle and the youth emanating from those eyes. That's what this song is like.

Blue Roses - Does Anyone Love Me now
Oh how she reaches those high notes perfectly. As she goes "ohohohohohoh", sighing delicately while trying to find answers about her burning question from the deep sea.

This is said of Blue Roses on their official site, "Instant praise is neither expected nor sought; Blue Roses is not the stuff of lists, tip offs or hollow press recommendations; this is not recollection, it is realisation. It is not music to be forced onto the public for social measurements, or on the merit of affiliation. Blue Roses is to be found, kept and cherished; it is to be absent as the dust begins to settle, and longed for as ambience resumes. Blue Roses is the serendipity that can only happen when you thought you’d stopped looking; as you realise how life sounds without it, you begin again."

How true. Give me a moment to ponder while I click play again and leave her to enchant me beyond measure.

i can't help this feeling

Chew Lips - Rising Tide
Very lovely electronic ballad. But what a feature on Guardian said is true, there's no lack of electro bands out there right now, and how is she(Tigs and for that matter Chew Lips as a band) gonna differentiate themselves? My money is on them to stand out this year though. Look out for their release of "Unicorn" on 25 Jan.

Chew Lips - Solo
Check out this blasting awesome single of theirs as well!

Discovery - So Insane
Well, clearly they have polarised opinion just like Dirty Projector's "Bitte Orca", many have lauded "Bitte Orca" but some have panned it, simply put as sounding like crap (for the record, i think DP's are really really good). Discovery's apparently down the same lane, but well, I love this song! While it's not insane, the beats are pretty catchy and Rostam's (of Vampire Weekend) vocals kinda work. He's teamed up with Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles. Ohh, and it's fitting that Angel Deradoorian of Dirty Projectors features in one of the track's in their LP.

Princeton - Calypso Gold(mp3)
From the band's own site.

The Saturday Mix #26

Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk (Crystal Fighters Remix)

Chew Lips - Salt Air (Plastician Remix)

Chew Lips - Salt Air (Jupiter Remix)
I wonder which of the two do you guys think is better. My dollar is on Jupiter's remix.

Crystal Fighters - I Love London (In Flagranti Vintage Mix)
Ooh, I totally dig this remix. It's funky, swashbuckling and unrestrained. And that "doooh" sound, what instrument makes that sound? the keyboard?

Magic Wands - Black Magic (Crystal Fighters Remix)
More Crystal Fighters. They're pretty deft at churning out dancefloor stuff.

Chromeo - Night by Night
Canadian artists Chromeo present you Night by Night. And here's what they have to say about this track, "It's both more disco and more classic rock than our previous stuff. It's also the first time we try singing falsetto. We wanted a powerful, heroic track designed to provoke pelvic thrusting, coupled with sensitive lyrics about the fragility of relationships. Oh, and we had to get some talkbox in there, too. This was produced using nothing but analog gear in our new Montreal studio, and mixed in Paris by our cohort Philippe Zdar over the summer. With love, always."

Chromeo - Night by Night (Skream Remix)
This is good stuff by Skream.

don't want nothing but the callousness i had

Two Door Cinema Club - I Can Talk
Two doors but three people with the help of technology and a thirst for anything quirky. This electropop outfit utilises catchy lyrics and riffs, overloading you in the chorus with "Now I can talk/No one gets off". But when you hear things like "It's hard to compromise/When I see through your eyes", you know they aren't as flippant as they seem to be. Anyhow, it's more like they are just having fun making music, quite evident from the whole mood of the song. Uplifting riffs and outrageous use of the electronica makes for quite the recipe.

Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work
Here's another highly enjoyable piece from them.

There's a spanner in the works, you know/You gotta step up your game to make it to the top

Chew Lips - Salt Air

Chew Lips - Slick
This song is so totally ripe for dancing. Could break into a dance any moment. I love Tig's vocals. It's clear and crisp, could be better than La Roux. Both La Roux and Chew Lips are fronted by pretty interesting women, strong personalities. I'm so in love with their brand of dance-pop. It's really really really really danceable. The synths and keyboards complement her voice very nicely, wrapping around her vocals which is the main driving force of their songs. Chew Lips are vocalist Tigs, and multi-instrumentalists Will Sanderson and James Watkins.