TOP 2010 SONGS: Shea

Hey doggies! Honestly, I've been kind of dreading this end-of-year list season, partly because the whole process of ranking music always feels pretty unnatural to me, but I also thought it could be a struggle finding enough material that I felt truly excited about. I think for the most part I felt pretty jaded about a lot of music in 2010, but looking back and putting together this list made me realize there was still a whole bunch of stuff that is really exciting, forward-looking and fun. Like Richard, my list ended up being super Olde English Spelling Bee heavy, but what can ya do, "label of da year" and all! Enjoy:

10. Bathcrones - False Teeth
Psychorama out through No Pain In Pop // myspace

"Infusing those shimmering club-friendly beats with the mesmeric positivity of new age synth muzik never felt so right or so real; a track to be played at clubs with skyward waterfalls and inter-dimensional soundsystems".

9. Hype Williams - Untitled 03
S/T 12" out through Carnivals // myspace

Real potent jammer from these masters of the mystique, whose material feels indebted to weird mass internet culture and their subsequent hacking of it. Slowed down, codeine-fuelled drawl, decaying vocal jibberish and dank beats infused with Eastern bombast; this is dense listening for sure.

8. Autre Ne Veut - OMG
S/T out through Olde English Spelling Bee // myspace

"O.M.G."; who would've thought big kaleidoscopic blooms of synth-pop and super sensual off-kilter R n' B grooves would sound this great together?!

7. Gem Jones - Glows Dim
Gem Jones / Part Time Cruiser split out through CGIF // myspace

"Gem Jones imbues his reels with a strange 80s pop sheen which still manages to shimmer through all the murky tape dust, sounding like a lost Ariel Pink demo with its star-strewn synths and perfect bassline bounce"

6. Coyote Clean Up - Pollution Shampoo
2010 CE out through Deathbomb Arc // myspace

Glowing, blissed out club that looks like pink clouds and sounds like giddy light-headedness

5. Dirty Beaches - True Blue
True Blue 7" released through Zoo Music (SOLD OUT) // myspace

Seriously, after listening to this croony ballad on repeat for months and then seeing him swigging whiskey from a hipflask, pulling a comb from his top pocket and slicking his hair back "Live In Concert", I'm starting to think Alex Hungtai is a bona fide outsider Elvis and this is his "Blue Moon".

4. Ducktails - Hamilton Road
Hamilton Road 7" out through Olde English Spelling Bee // myspace

Richard is right-on with "picket fence pop"; this is the coziest hit of 2010!

3. Rangers - Deerfield Village
Suburban Tours out through Olde English Spelling Bee // myspace

Totally evocative, sepia-tinged opener to one of my top LPs of '10. Moves at a real comfortable pace just like a Sunday night suburban family drive.

2. Greatest Hits - (You're Just An) Uptown Girl
Digital single out through Olde English Spelling Bee // myspace

Straight glam and maximal F.U.N. from these Bushwick popstars; "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" but these boys just wanna hang at the mall w/ babes and do drugs at dance parties.

1. Outer Limits Recordings - $20 Dollar Bill
Unreleased; other 7"s out through Transparent & OESB // youtube channel

Easily my top-played jam of the year, and it's not surprising with a big goofy care-free hook like that, loose falsettos all over the place, held together by a classic pop structure and rendered real murky but still golden.

As Max and I had the same #1, here's the video for my #2>

GREATEST HITS "UPTOWN GIRL" from OLDE ENGLISH SPELLING BEE on Vimeo.

OTHER FAVES:
Big Troubles - Bite Yr Tongue
The Sweethearts - Burnin Through the Nite
Teengirl Fantasy - Vibes
Wild Nothing - Live in Dreams
Golden Axe - Free Time
Salem - Asia
Jeans Wilder - Sparkler