20 Favourite Albums of 2010: Part II

It's the last day of 2010 and it's been one eventful year. I hope the musical offerings in Singapore get better and better, like it is now, and cheaper too! Go easy on my pocket, you know.

All the best to whoever's reading this and have a rockin' and awesome 2011.



The Morning Benders "Big Echo"


Toro Y Moi "Causers of This"


The National "High Violet"


Sufjan Stevens "The Age of Adz"


Spoon "Transference"


Pantha du Prince "Black Noise"


Delphic "Acolyte"


Delorean "Subiza"


Deerhunter "Halcyon Digest"


Broken Social Scene "Forgiveness Rock Record"


Drop a comment about what YOUR favourite albums are!

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]

100 Favourite Tracks of 2010: Part I

So the year is coming to a close again, and it's almost ritualistic that one has to consider his/her favourite songs in the past year. 2010 was quite a bumper year, different from 2009 though in the type of music that were released. 2009 saw it's fair share of experimental stuff and folk-inspired rock. Also, indie pop reigned while there was the usual electronic/electropop stuff. Contrastingly, 2010 would likely go down as a bumper year for a particular subgenre called chillwave/dreampop/shoegaze/hypnagogic/psychedelic/you-name-it, and this list clearly reflects that since I so happen to take to this genre. A lot. This year also saw the likes of The National, Spoon, Arcade Fire releasing solid follow ups while there's the same old indie pop and electronic stuff. Without further ado, I present to you my list of 100 tracks, in 10 parts and in no particular order, of 2010.

Note (i): These are my favourite tracks for the year, i.e. I checked my most played on itunes and sorted out those that were released this year. So they might not be the best songs around, but they sure were my most listened to. And I self-imposed a cap of 2 songs max per band/singer.

Note (ii): I was just musing over the fact that Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus can attain such fame from the general populace of the world, while honest to goodness awesome, fantastic, fabulous, you get what I'm saying, music can remain untouched and unappreciated. It's not to say indie music is better then mainstream music, it's just a little sad that only those who are signed to major record labels and are exposed to mainstream media that get such recognition, and many of them might not even write their own music. It's a very interesting phenomenon, that on Youtube, Bieber's highly watched videos, numbering up to hundreds of millions of views, have more dislikes then likes, obviously a concerted effort/campaign by detractors and haters. In a similar vein, many music videos that have garnered dislikes would be met with "x number of justin bieber fans?" So anyway, I have no idea why I have such an intense dislike for Bieber or Cyrus, maybe it just stems from the fact that indie music is definitely not inferior to their music, and yet they are not getting as much attention or regard. And to what end? Cyrus is spotted smoking salvia. Though legal, it does not set a good example to the young kids who idolise her, young American kids and kids everywhere else that the American culture has propagated to. Smoking is legal too, but is it encouraged or healthy? No, definitely not. But then again, if I think about it, quite a lot of indie artists engage in all sorts of raucous stuff which they would have to cut down or do without if they were in the spotlight. That way, they'd prolly rather stay indie, which renders my thoughts moot.

Tell me about your favourite songs or just drop some comments!


The Morning Benders - Excuses
This song really makes you feel warm inside. A wonderfully crafted indiepop gem that is beautiful as it is touching. And this Yours Truly session really shows how tightly knit the indie community is, surely eliciting a smile or two.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Spoon - Out Go The Lights
I love this stand out track from "Transference", very soft rock and tender vocals from Britt Daniel.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Beach House - Norway (mp3)
I still remember when Norway was dropped as a lead in to the album, definitely a huge teaser for the new album. I was extremely stoked too because the same dreamy evocative melodies were still there, better in fact, coupled by Alex taking the vocal lead in this song. Beautiful.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
Matt's baritone is definitely one of the reasons why I listen to The National. And this mellow tune is deeply affecting. Maybe that's why it's often on repeat.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Broken Social Scene - Sweetest Kill
Soft with a little reverb, it's one of the awesome tracks in a fantastic follow up to well, Broken Social Scene.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Sun Airway - Put The Days Away
When this bliss pop outfit put out their little 4 track EP, "Oh, Naoko", I was pleasantly surprised by what they had in them. Their debut album, which features the entire EP, "Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier" definitely doesn't let down. The whole song feels very orchestral-ish with the strong backing which culminates in spectacular fashion at the end. It starts around the 3:15 mark, the strings? and everything else building up steadily to a crescendo and suddenly dips to a murmur after a minute plus. Mmhm.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Vampire Weekend - White Sky
What's Vampire Weekend without preppy catchy uber fun pop hits? White Sky doesn't detract much from their recipe and turns out to be a delightful sing-along song. The high pitch ows and oohs that punctuate a quirky twist in the song.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

The Pass - Colors
Delectable synthpop with catchy beats display dance music sensibilities that make The Pass an awesome boppy listen.
[myspace] [last.fm]

Small Black - Despicable Dogs (mp3)
One of the many in this whole chillwave movement, Despicable Dogs presents a trippy psychedelic journey to a fantasy land of huge mushrooms and fancy little elves that populate said land. They say, "Take a bite of them mushrooms." "Go on," as you hesistate. And then you realise these mushrooms are exactly what the song does, different means, same end.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

Toro Y Moi - Low Shoulder
Less dense than the above, featuring heavily on a strong bass that rattles my CPU instead, along with squeaky loops that might egg you into a dance. There's reason why these chillwave-y songs hit home with me. Much love.
[official] [myspace] [last.fm]

got nothing to lose but loneliness and patterns

Spoon - Got Nuffin
Spanking kick ass new track hot off their latest album "Transference". For all the fans of Spoon, who think "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" can't topped, I think "Transference" could give it a run for it's money. The solid riffs a contrast to the forlorn longing of love, but somehow it seems right as Britt Daniel lets his emotions loose in a controlled manner.

Sam Isaac - Bears
And all along the front of this stage there will be fairy lights/as bright as any city night.

Very nice synth rock? song, hear the synth in the background if you take a close listen. Almost cathartic if not for the title. Bears, what?

Barcelona - Please Don't Go
This trio of Brian Fennell, Chris Bristol and Rhett Stonelake make absolutely (coincidentally, "Absolutes" is the title of the album this song is from) the most beautiful piano-infused rock (mostly). When there's no piano involved, it's pretty much good awesome rock. There's elements of Keane and Coldplay, only that they're not even 1% as well known as their counterparts. Their songs are gems just waiting to be uncovered, and it's been taking a while.

THIS MONTH: Music of 2010

It's been a long road, 2009 was a bumper year for music, with so many fantastic albums being churned out by bands, but I won't be going into that. There will be more of that in the month to come, as I might be reviewing albums and songs of this year. That said, I'll be discussing releases for next year, whether some bands are going to live up to their billing, what we could be looking forward to etc.

Here's a couple I'm looking forward to.



Vampire Weekend - Contra (12 Jan)

First up, there's New York indie rockers Vampire Weekend with sophomore effort "Contra". Their much fancied self-titled debut album received rave reviews, and stand out tracks included Oxford Comma and A-Punk. This is what some people said,

Rolling Stone: On their debut, Vampire Weekend mostly earn points the old-fashioned way: by writing likable songs you'll be glad to revisit next month.

The Guardian: Behind the penny loafers and songs about commas, there's a bold band that can balance dextrous originality with an innate pop sensibility.

Boston Globe: At its best, Vampire Weekend takes the exceedingly familiar template of indie rock and invigorates it with a chiming guitar sound that suggests the band has been spending its downtime browsing afropop.org.

Personally, I quite liked the fresh and preppy feel, and it was injected with so much fun. And with Horchata, also available as a free download at their official site, their sophomore effort is really one to look out for.




Beach House - Teen Dream (25 Jan)

Victoria Legrand (fresh off her collaboration with Grizzly Bear on Slow Life, off the soundtrack of Twilight: New Moon) and Alex Scally present to us "Teen Dream". Also included is the single Used To Be released in Oct 2008 and the leaked track Norway that has gotten many raving about their third outing. And I take back what I said previously "I don't actually always pick out their songs to particularly listen to". They're nearly on constant rotation right now. Peachy!

Beach House Norway



OK go - Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (12 Jan)
OK go of Here It Goes Again fame (remember the treadmill video?), is back with a new album titled "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky", taken from the book The Influence of the Blue Ray of the Sunlight and of the Blue Color of the Sky, about how illness can be cured by blue light.

OK go - Skyscrapers


Spoon - Transference (19 Jan)
How exciting is this, Spoon's new album after their 2007 awesome release "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga". I'm pretty ooshed just thinking about their new album.

Los Campesinos! - Romance Is Boring (26 Jan)
Los Campesinos! - There Are Listed Buildings

Lifehouse - Smoke and Mirrors (2 Feb)
Lifehouse - Halfway Gone

Hot Chip - One Life Stand (8 Feb)
With dancefloor hits Ready For The Floor and One Pure Thought, the slow groove Over and Over, I'm all set for "One Life Stand".
Hot Chip - Alley Cats (Live)

Shearwater - The Golden Archipelago (End Feb)

Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks (Early Mar)

A few others, such as "Congratulations" by MGMT, un-named albums by Secondhand Serenade, Panic! At The Disco and a couple more, are to be released in first quarter of 2010.


Note: I apologise for the sloppy post, been a bit busy with stuff.