New Music
Best New Songs of 2010
Actually, that ramble isn't entirely accurate. I've mainly been intending to post how good Hot Chip's I Feel Better is for months, and now that it has an epic video I feel the need to get my opinion out there. Also that video stars someone that looks like Jonno which I feel I'd be remiss not to include as he only reads my site to check if I mention him.
Hot Chip - I Feel Better [Buy]
Hot Chip's new video for I Feel Better might be awesome - and star someone who looks like a guy from my high school - but it actually does the arrangement of this tune a disservice. In its intended, extended form it's a constantly accelerating burst of energy that leads to a final minute that might be the best instrumentation Hot Chip have ever done. The song starts off innocuously, with perky filtered strings and auto-tuned lyrics that drag you unsuspectingly into the song's first bridge. Then those strings swell and that drum loop kicks in and you're already into the descent. A slow, rhythmic build up to a crescendo of synths, steel drums and auto tune abused as an instrument in the same way Tom Morello uses a guitar for its intended purpose. Way, freaking, cool.
Yeasayer - Madder Red [Buy]
A few years ago Yeasayer were Brooklyn indie battlers, making an album that would get them comparisons to TV on the Radio in 2007. What they really wanted to do was make an album that would make other bands be compared to Yeasayer. Their new record, Odd Blood, aimed high and to the joy of music reviewers everywhere, reached it! They took their TVotR/World Music vibe, slammed some Tears for Fears and MGMT into it and then kept pumping until their arms got sore. The result was an album full of highlights, none as deliciously gigantic and smooth as Madder Red.
The Sunshine Underground - We've Always Been Your Friends [Buy]
The Sunshine Underground battled even harder against "they sound likes" than Yeasayer in 2007, which probably comes with the territory being an indie-rock group, with dance influences... from the UK. Probably motivated by being stuck in a very long line to be the next Klaxons, new album Nobody's Coming To Save You shows a rapid maturity and growth to their musical repertoire. They'd always been loaded with punchy hooks and crunching guitar finales, but now it's like they're ready to take on headlining.
Plus also these tracks are pretty sweet:
Marina and the Diamonds - Mowgli's Road [Buy]
RJD2 feat. The Catalyst, Illogic & NP - A Son's Cycle [Buy]
Frightened Rabbit - The Wrestle [Buy]
Broken Bells - The Mall & The Misery [Buy]
Finally - if you thought these were good - this year has already seen a new album by Spoon and Frightened Rabbit, the first new single from The Hold Steady and Wikipedia assures me that Ratatat, The Chemical Brothers and Aesop Rock have all committed to release dates for new albums this year. So if they're your favourite bands this looks like a great year! (Heck yes, me!)(All I need now is for Talking Heads to reform and Stuart Adamson to come back from the dead.)
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