So 2010 has been over for over a week now. I believe the lateness of this post though reflects concentration and devotion to the music of 2010, and making sure the best songs were selected. Or I may have just been busy. Here's Warchild's Top 10 Tracks of 2010.
10. “On Melancholy Hill” - Gorillaz
What is this? What's this synth-happy freak doing? Sure, as soon as that first chord chimes the next one can be simply predicted by the ear but when those pure, melodic notes eloquently present themselves all sense of cliché is completely lost. Gorillaz made a beautiful, heartfelt tune here that should make its way onto the mixtapes of hip teens everywhere.
(Image taken from http://www.live4ever.uk.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/gorillaz.jpg)
9. “Dance Yrself Clean” - LCD Soundsystem
Initial thought process on this song: “Alright, stop, James Murphy. This song was done a minute through...oh shit, what was that?”
This song probably won't win you over until about a third of the way in, since James Murphy drones at first. However, moments later, those fantastic, dance-y sensibilities of Murphy's work come through and you can't help but release a sigh of relief. Relief because this song represents Murphy's reconnection to the spirit of the tunes he wrote on LCD Soundsystem's first album, and to the spirit of everything that grooves.
(Image taken from http://stereogum.com/img/lcd_soundsystem-big_ideas.jpg)
8. “Rococo” - Arcade Fire
Simple question-- what's your favorite song off of your favorite album of the year? Well, uh...
I answered this question with the jam that pierced. Win Butler makes you sting with the way he eerily chants “Rococo” while you slowly but surely nod your head in agreement to the melody. The song gives its listeners a sense of fear that just becomes stronger, as each verse and chorus push the next section that follows. In this respect, Arcade Fire succeeded in making a song so incredibly disorienting that you're an unfinished puzzle when it's playing and you are not content again until the next song plays. And that's exactly why I love it.
7. “Norway” - Beach House
Dream-pop, or dream-anything for that matter, is always fun. Beach House's “Norway” exemplifies all that I love about the genre. There's vocal melodies bouncing everywhere, the kind that come from your speakers or headphones, into your ears, then into the atrium of your brain where they continue to bounce around. “Norway” is definitely one of the most resonating songs of the year, with the way it will keep the listener's eyes closed and mind open, after having been reached out to by Victoria Legrand's "sweep-you-off-your-reality" vocals.
6. “Helicopter” - Deerhunter
This song puts a smile on my face, but upon further listen, I realize this song capitalizes on our imminent doom. Bradford Cox asks listeners to “pray” as Deerhunter describes falling away and the feeling one gets when he or she has exhausted their presence. We have all been spun around, felt tired and needy, attempting to just get through each day with little conflict; “Helicopter” describes this emotion with extreme intimacy.
5. “Born Free” - M.I.A.
This track off of M.I.A.'s new release Maya is a spectacle to me. It doesn't only showcase Maya's, or M.I.A.'s, superior knack for sampling and production but also is the epitome of M.I.A. as a musician. There's the clear political message. There's the abrasive, catchy, stereo-pounding instrumentation. Put it together, and you've got an M.I.A. track. “Born Free” is both of those things, combined with almost a punk energy and a head-banging sensibility. (Watch the video here.)
4. “Infinity Guitars” - Sleigh Bells
Sleigh Bells makes me rage in the way Rage Against the Machine did back when I was fourteen (though I still love me some RATM.) Listening to this track by Sleigh Bells is comparable to sticking your head in a microwave, after popping an entire bottle of caffeine pills. Especially the last thirty or so seconds. “Infinity Guitars” is my ultimate party song for the year, refueling the energy meter in any person that gives it a listen. (Watch the video here.)
3. “Bloodbuzz Ohio” - The National
When the National came to Columbus, Ohio in August, Matt Berninger announced that this song was for Andyman, a local radio DJ that had recently passed away. It was touching to say the least, as associating things with the death of an individual is often a simple way of making something more serious than it actually may be, however I find that this song is a best friend for people undergoing the more brutal aspects of life. The reference to Andyman also greatly backed up the performance of this song. The combination of the National's voices, from Berninger to the Dessner brothers, make this song everything but cheery...yet, it creates resolution. (Watch the video here.)
2. “A More Perfect Union” - Titus Andronicus
This song is the opening to a battle. It is the drum-line that introduces war one may fantasize about during the battles that occurred in the past. It is that inspirational speech that Mel Gibson gives in Braveheart-- the cynical version that he would give for the malcontent. After all, in reference to fellow Jersey-local Springsteen, Patrick Stickles shouts “Tramps like us/Baby, we were born to die.” It's in this nature that Titus Andronicus probably would make soldiers weep.
The war-march-like music that comes in the last half of the song is just too sonically irresistible, as well as the solo guitar that interlocks with the percussion. Altogether, it sounds like what I think it's supposed to represent: a bunch of young men getting themselves into something with no idea what will happen. They are naïve, but they're determined and ready for whatever they will undergo. (Watch the single-version video here.)
1. “Runaway” - Kanye West Feat. Pusha-T
As if Kanye's new stuff couldn't be thrown in your face enough, right? But the hype the album and it's single “Runaway” received and continues to receive is well deserved. This song is really quite simple, which is probably the beauty of it; the number of notes on that piano part can be counted on one hand. The beat doesn't even really have that much syncopation. The simplicity of the music mixes with Kanye's words perfectly-- words that were constructed to be a rude awakening for listeners with any sense of regret. But, perhaps most importantly, words that will continue to be alluded to and sung for quite sometime. (Watch the single-version video here.)
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