2010 started off strong, producing some of our favorite tracks off the summer playlist. As the weather heated up, things fell into a summer doldrum. Now, as we develop our end-of-the-year lists, we’re finding the year coming to a conspicuous end. Similar to 2009, the list is somewhat album-heavy, as we were drawn to several stand-out records among our favorite artists. Here is our very biased list of our 50 favorite tracks from 2010 (give the page a minute to load the SoundClouds):
1. LCD Soundsystem – “Dance Yrself Clean”
2. Caribou – “Odessa”
3. Sufjan Stevens – “I Walked”
4. Deerhunter – “Helicopter”
5. HEALTH – “USA Boys”
6. LCD Soundsystem – “I Can Change”
7. Crystal Castles – “Empathy”
8. Avey Tare – “Laughing Hieroglyphic”
9. Broken Social Scene – ‘World Sick”
10. Owen Pallett – “Lewis Takes Off His Shirt”
11. The National – “Afraid of Everyone”
12. Autolux – “Transit, Transit”
13. Sufjan Stevens – “Impossible Soul”
14. Jonsi – “Boy Lilikoi”
15. Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs”
16. Sufjan Stevens – “Vesuvius”
17. Caribou – “Jamelia”
18. Crystal Castles – “Not In Love (feat. Robert Smith)”
19. Beach House – “Norway”
20. Arcade Fire – “We Used To Wait”
21. The Black Keys – Tighten Up
22. Yeasayer – “Mondegreen”
23. Deerhunter – “He Would Have Laughed”
24. Owen Pallett – “Midnight Directives”
25. The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
26. Crystal Castles – “Vietnam”
27. How To Destroy Angels – “Fur-Lined”
28. The National – “Terrible Love”
29. Sufjan Stevens – “Too Much”
30. White Lies – “Bigger Than Us”
31. Panda Bear – “Slow Motion”
32. Avey Tare – “Lucky 1″
33. Liars – “Scarecrows on a Killer Slant”
34. Dr. Dog – “Jackie Wants A Black Eye”
35. Ratatat – “Party With Children”
36. Tobacco – “Lamborghini Meltdown”
37. The Walkmen – “Angela Surf City”
38. Middle Class Rut – “New Low”
39. HEALTH – “Before Tigers (Gold Panda Remix)”
40. Four Tet – “Plastic People”
41. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – “Bright Lit Blue Skies”
42. Jonsi – “Tornado”
43. Menomena – “Five Little Rooms”
44. Yeasayer – “ONE”
45. Of Montreal – “Like a Tourist”
46. Matthew Dear – “You Put a Smell On Me”
47. Delta Spirit – “Bushwick Blues”
48. Avey Tare – “Oliver Twist”
49. MGMT – “Flash Delirium”
50. Flying Lotus – “…And The World Laughs With You (Ft. Thom Yorke)”

The Flaming Lips never cease to amaze me. Every album is a completely different take on the musical genius of the entire band. Though many songs from the Lips discography seem to lead the band in an unpopular direction, commercially speaking, they have definitely done things right with their latest release, Embryonic. Wayne Coyne has taken a step back from center stage and joined the rest of the band. Though they have lost most of the ‘sing-song’ qualities in these songs, Embryonic succeeds on many levels. The record seems to have fallen into darker, more psychedelic territory. Other Lips albums explored psychedelics, but it was always hidden behind the leading narrative of each story in those songs.
Kevin Barnes has created a indie-pop masterpiece that picks up where Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? left off and grows new limbs in a genre that is ripe for something original. Barnes wrote everything on the album and plays most of the instruments in his studio, which is located in the attic of his Athens home. His touring band consists of musicians and visual artists that include painters, and sculptors for the elaborate stage show.
Lyrically, this album teeters on the dark side of Barnes’ inner consciousness and sexual fantasies while keeping the listener unaware of what is coming next. The vocal rich songs follow the sexual exploits of Georgie Fruit as he/she contemplates sex or suicide. Kevin Barnes pens the lyrics of the year with, “We can do it soft-core if you want, but you should know I take it both ways.” The genius of the lyrics is Barnes ability to write in a way that will purposely confuse so that you have no idea what will follow. A perfect example is “St. Exquisite’s Confessions” which starts off with the smooth soul sound of one of Barry White’s ‘I want to make love to you all night’ songs. And the lyrics juxtapose this soulful style when Barnes opens the song with “I’m so sick of sucking the dick . . . of this cruel, cruel city.” And later “Maybe I’ll blow you . . . what ever kind of kisses you want, because you’ve got so much in common with my big cock creator.” Barnes seems to have traded in most of his depression and angst for sex and lust — and it works, although songs like “Touched Something’s Hollow” are dark enough to make that jump from the 31st floor look inviting.
