2010 rundown

well, at least this time i made it before january 1st.

this year was... weird. it was a year of little drastic changes and a lot of gradual changes for me. i see myself at a vastly different position but more or less still the same person. which you can clearly see at how often i update this thing.
this is the year i started writing for the viennese magazine TBA and have gotten a fuckload of health issues long overdue taken care of (some still being worked out in january 2011 and hopefully not much longer than that). apart from that nothing big has happened to me. which is weird since so much is different now. i'm repeating myself, blah blah, on with the music already.


-Top Records of the Year-
at least this time i could narrow it down to two. that's something, i guess.

The Green Apple Sea - Northern Sky, Southern Sky
this probably isn't much of a surprise to anyone. and i still stand behind every word i have written, said or uttered in some other way about this record. it is incredibly sad and tragic but doesn't feel that way at all. it sounds light and relaxing but has so much meaning and actual life in it. you'll find yourself humming these songs about death and loss as if they were about candy canes. this record came out of nowhere, aimed for the number one position and hasn't left it eversince.
get this record as soon as you can or you really missing out on a marvellous piece of music.

Union Town - blinding lights 7"
i have proclaimed my love for this band over and over again and their latest 7" has them in top gear as always. and of course any band with such a prominent mission of burma influence gets my absolute approval. the reason it didn't cause that much of a stir is probably how much more subdued and strangely quiet it is compared to their stellar debut lp. which is not to say that it lacks the lp's energy but people probably didn't realise it as much. sadly, they seem to have been rather inactive eversince. which is a real shame.


-Other Awesome Albums-

Beach House - teen dream
this year they graduated from hipster insider's tip to full blown hipster top reference name. but who cares, since it's soo soothing and captivating. without being nervewrecking.

Blessure Grave - judged by twelve, carried by six
t. grave buried the grave (had to go there, sorry) this year. maybe it was for the better, this lp was very good but this should have been better. still it's an enjoyable reverb-drenched neo-goth record.

Double Negative - daydreamnation
my hardcore record of the year. fast and loose early 80's style hardcore punk with riffs that barely make sense, delivered with an urgency and power as if this was reagan's america all over again and they all just lost their unemployment checks.

The Estranged - the subliminal man
dirtnap delivers quality garage punk, that much is known. but when dirtnap delivers us a wave record it's incredible. after the masterful PONYS album a couple of years ago, this band comes along, mixes WIPERS with CHRISTIAN DEATH and nails it.

Francis International Airport - in the woods
detailed, dreamy indie pop, infused with a lot of the best names the genre has to offer and tons of guitar work straight out of the edge's toolbox. this is the smiths for the stadium and in a way: the austrian COLDPLAY, just - you know - not crap.

Fucked Up - year of the ox 12"
after a straight record, here they go off the deep end again. dual male/female shouts and shrieks (the female part from some random hipster band singer, of course!) over the trademark FU psych-hc/punk. and the title track is over eleven minutes long. sigh, at least it's just two tracks this time.

Holmes - have i told you lately, that i loathe you
the subdued, serious swedish country ensemble have managed to be even quieter on this one, their winter record. it came out in summer, which was bad, bad timing. it is still a very good listen, though.

Lilium - felt
Mose - self-titled
two very minimal lovely post-country records. concerning the vorarlberg ultra-minimalism of MOSE i already wrote everything here. but pascal humbert also made another awesome record no one will appreciate. i, too, completely forgot about it until compiling this list. mea culpa.

Puerto Rico Flowers - 4 12"
a lovely reverb neo-goth EP caught up right in the middle between IRON CURTAIN and FLIPPER, dirge-y and cold. it - along with the previous 7" plainly called "2" - made me search all along the internet like a motherfucker for "1" and "3" until i found out the names of the 7" and the 12" only correspond to how many songs they have. and then i felt incredibly feckin stupid.

Raw Nerve - self-titled
this year was a baaad one for CULT RITUAL rip-off bands (or vice hardcore as j. calls it), with the disastrous TOTAL ABUSE euro-tour and a thousand shitty bands cheapening the "raw, noisy and fast" sound. this fast, vibrant smasher of an lp was the notable exception.

Sex Jams / Les Trucs - split 7"
the two SEX JAMS tracks here completely slay their lp, which showed how much potential this band has but ultimately failed to fully hold up to their promise. if you've seen the noise chaos showcase this now-five-piece is at the moment, you know they will continue to get even fucking better.

Sleep ∞ Over - outer limits 7"
fuck witch house. srsly, all these MSV or oOoOO projects are the most unsubstantial music since fucking LIMP BIZKIT. this 7", which was swept up with the hype rules though. primarily because it doesn't sound like some jackass doing macbook/protools experiment number five fucking billion but like rachel goswell and the redheaded woman from LUSH teaming up to do a couple of COCTEAU TWINS and SIOUXSIE covers. while high on purple drank.

Sun Kil Moon - admiral fell promises
aw, come on. you are all aware of my gay boner for everything mark kozelek does. ok, so he's gotten a bit too much into classical guitar stuff on this record. "alesund" is still one of the best songs he's ever written and the other songs live up to this standard as well.

Swans - my father will guide me up a rope to the sky
more or less picking up where he left with "the great annihilator" (with a few lessons learned from the ANGELS OF LIGHT), gira delivers a very pointed, surprisingly precise and forceful record full of hate and twisted sprituality. also, as the live show at the arena taught us all, he really likes to grab his weiner.

Television Personalities - a memory is better than nothing
dan treacy, saddest man in post-punk. it must really suck for him, everyone reducing him to "part-time punks", but in the end it's probably for the best. i guess, these people are better off not hearing these sad, yearning songs about childhood and lost love. the feel bad record of the year. and oh so lovely.

Tran/Nachbagauer/Keppel/Hölzel - live at sommersilfestival 2010
aw, who cares if georg's vocals are all over the place. four guys playing the entirety of WEEZER's blue album to a shed full of enthusiastic people is just way too much fun to not mention.

Westblock - wir alle warten nur noch auf dich
unexpected reunion record of the year. crazy post-punk with a rhythm section that probably pounds through five snares a rehearsal. and remember: UNS GEHTS GUAD!

Yamon Yamon - this wilderlessness
i always find it hard to write something insightful or at least mildly amusing about well-crafted, well thought out mathrock/postrock/indiemo crossover records like this. they are from sweden and they don't sound swedish at all, which is a good thing. was that amusing enough? probably not, but it'll have to do.

honorable mentions go to deerhunter, drake, male bonding, no age, sex church, weekend nachos, wild nothing and wino for records that either didn't make the cut while editing this list or for me simply failing to really listen to their albums often enough to make an informed decision. expect at least two of them to make an appearance in next year's list.

-"What is this shit?" of the Year-

Salem - king night
i mean, come on... forget all about this witch house hype shit. it's a mixture between southern hip-hop (hyphy or something? i'm completely lost in this genre), shoegaze, dubstep and goth, stirred with a shrill white trash hipster style, incredibly laughable live performances and a video that my good friend w. called "a snuff movie without a murder". i think most people just like this because it's so highly baffling. i know i do.


-Songs of the Year-

A.R.E. Weapons - de-educator
this band has finally found it's sound. brainless half-RAMONES, half-SUICIDE stompers. the album was good but this track is killer. "gonna stay in school and get stoned"

Beach House - walk in the park
jus' chiiiiiiiiill

the Brian Jonestown Massacre - this is the one thing we did not...
mix "she's lost control" with "i remember nothing", stirr for seven minutes.

the Green Apple Sea - golden morning
i wish someone writes such a beautiful sing about my death. pure beauty.

the Green Apple Sea - northern sky
the opener to the perfect album of the year. the gentlest build up of the year by far.

Killing Joke - ghost of ladbroke grove
you know the term "apocalyptic folk"? this is "apocalyptic reggae". the apocalypse is still near, by the way.

Minks - funeral song
a lovely goth-y and wave-y pop tune. by the name of "funeral song". i think i will like this band.

the National - sorrow
the album is really good but none of the other songs caught me the way this did. also, every other list of 2010 has this album, so why should mine as well?

Perfume Genius - lookout, lookout
this reeks of XIU XIU LOOKITMEIMANARTISTIHAVEPAIN bullshit, but this guy has so much real concern for the safety of his loved ones in his voice when he sings "lookout, lookout, there are murders" i just can't be mad at him.

Plaided - i say
a smashing noisy pop song about how no means no. so, basically regular feminist vienna. except that the song kick ass.

Robotra - tobago
ROBOTRA really fucking rule. they're a punk band at heart but equipped with a guitarist who can't be bothered to play faster. which can be really annoying when you just sense how incredible a song they play would be at twice the speed. on "tobago" the dirge tempo works though. the ridiculously directionless lead guitar line stumbles around drunk while bass and drums plod along and thomas just whirls TOBAAAAAGOOOOO over all of it. perfect.

Shores - one palm sunday
the lp still hasn't fully grown on me, which is why i didn't feel comfortable including it in the album list. a couple of the songs are definitely among the best stuff released this year, for example this little 3/4 ditty that channels CODEINE through CURSIVE and somehow makes it work.

Teenage Fanclub - sometimes i don't need to believe in anything
the album was good (even if it deteriorated with each listen) but the opener is perfect.

Television Personalities - my new tattoo
this song exemplifies the brilliance of the tv personalities with it's almost eternal instrumental passage of offkey psychedelia filtered through the sound of a garage band entirely out of 14-year-olds, concluding with the heartfelt whimpered line "...and i sincereley hope you like my new tattoo"

Television Personalities - the good anarchist
if you aren't reduced to tears by dan treacy singing about a fan who finds out her band idol has gone insane, you really didn't get music at all. just leave.

Washed Out & the chick from Chairlift - you and i
jus' chiiiiiiiill, part two


-Letdowns of the Year-

Azure Ray - drawing down the moon
there is a fine line between subdued and boring. they found it.

Blessure Grave - judged by twelve, carried by six
for afformentioned reasons. srsly, this should have been the record of the millenium.

Reaching Away - push away the moon
after these incredible roger king solo videos, this relatively run of the mill acoustic rock album just didn't cut it for me.

Vague Angels - the sunny day i caught tintarella de luna...
chris leo really shouldn't sing.


-"I just don't know..." of the Year-

Destroy, Munich - don't forget the birthday cake
did you ever say a word so often it lost all its meaning? that is this record for me. i know it's real good stuff since it was real good stuff when i first heard it but by now i really can't care about these songs anymore. still, these songs rule and if you haven't seen them for two million times already, you'll love their multi-faceted, sweet indie pop songs.

Mutter - trinken, singen, schießen
well, i love MUTTER and the music alone is very good. but MUTTER have never been just about the music but also about the lyrics. and max müller just doesn't do it for me here. while the lyrics were always direct and "simple", they never sounded banal. on here they often do. sorry.


-Best records of 2009 I haven't heard until 2010-

Meth Teeth - self-titled
the band name and song titles alone are awesome ("unemployment forever" and "never been to church" are the obvious favorites) but the incredible mix between DINOSAUR JR. melodic indie rock noise and garage rock's rancid punch are just too good to pass up.

Wavves - wavvves
oh, shut up, all of you. at least i'm admitting it.


so yhea, that's it basically. let's hope 2011 brings a lot of incredible records (MINKS and BRITISH SEA POWER are some early contenders).
as always i hope you give a few of these records a listen, since this isn't about me showing off my superior taste in music (everyone should be aware of that by now) but about giving some overlooked artists a spotlight, as tiny as it might be.

seriously, fucking dan treacy made one of the best records of his life. hasn't he suffered enough already? listen to it!