Rachel's Highlights of 2010

I am suffering end of year blues. No, I think I am suffering severe post-holiday blues. Going back to work this week after three weeks in Thailand has not helped this. Making a list of my favourite songs of the year has helped this marginally - trawling my ipod and listening to so much amazing music - but somehow made it worse too. How the fuck am I supposed to narrow this year down to ten songs, so overwhelming, what happened to the year, who am i, where am i, why am i sitting at a desk at work, what day is it, what am i supposed to do when a new year starts, oh god.


1. It seems that Steve and I concur that Twin Shadow was one of the best artists to come out of 2010. Have you googled a picture of him? He is also the best things to come out of 2010 aesthetically.

Twin Shadow - At My Heels


2. Kisses were also another 2010 love affair for me. I thought the dreampop shoegazey year of 2009 would blissfully float away to another glo-fi time and space continuum in 2010 but I was wrong and it was very much here to stay. The Hot Chip remix of this track is amazeballs as well.

Kisses - Kisses

Kisses - Kisses (Hot Chip Remix)


3. I do not care for indie street cred and love this next song to bits. The number of strange corners of the world in which I heard this song this year only made me love it more. The fact that Dcup is a blouse man only makes it better even though it needed no extra levels of betterness. This song is going to do down in dance music history like Drop the Pressure.

DCup and Yolanda Be Cool - We No Speak Americano


4. Tame Impala's album Innerspeaker was Australia's 2010 obsession apparently. There is something annoyingly good about their music. It's like, I don't like the fact that I like it. Is that weird? I think it's because every time I've seen them live they've been poo. And they're young and blaze and seem to not give a shit. But then their music is the shit. So confused. Lucidity was a fave but I am a sucker for a sick instrumental and this is the instrumental of the year.

Tame Impala - Jeremy's Storm


5. Delorean was my live music experience of the year and therefore deserves a spot. I saw them play at a club in Shibuya in Tokyo which was surreal in itself but complete with dancing Japanese hipsters and that guy who goes nuts on the keyboard and Ibiza-stylez electronic music in the middle of downtown Nippon, it was too good. This is the standout from their 2010 album Subiza I think.

Delorean - Stay Close


6. 7. 8. and 9. Sydney pumped out so much good music this year! Not that it ever doesn't but Jinja Safari, Bag Raiders, Flight Facilities and Boy and Bear stole my attention this year. These four tracks were on high rotation on the local dial. Have you heard tropical house done as good as Snake Chalmers? Or carefree summertime disco-pop as good as Crave You? And Jinja Safari even had their own genre made up for them - "forest rock" or some shit like that. As for Boy and Bear, you make my heart melt.

Bag Raiders - Snake Chalmers

Jinja Safari - Peter Pan

Boy and Bear - Mexican Mavis

Flight Facilities - Crave You

Flight Facilities - Crave You (C90 Remix)


10. And if you want to know who will be at the top of the Australian music scene in a couple of years time it is this dude. This is the first taste we have had of Joyride & The Accidents and it made my year. Feeling a little excitable for what is to come.

Joyride & The Accidents - This Is It


11. Kanye (another one you hate to love) really sucked me in this year and it seems the rest of the world too. This song is bananas. So beautiful, so effortlessly cool and something that just makes you shake your head and think how does he keep on doing it?

Kanye West - Lost in the World


12. I know I'm now up to number 12 in my top 10 and being self indulgent with what the above average music lover will deem a below average list of favourites but whatevs. Yeasayer are my all timers. It'd be easy to choose One as the standout from Odd Blood but Madder Red is so sick, it gives me chills down my spine. My sister has declared that she wants this song played at her funeral procession as her body is slowly paraded through the crowds on the shoulders of red indians.

Yeasayer - Madder Red

And here are all the tracks in a zip file via mediafire


Love you 2010 and love you blouse readers. Sending much love over the seas and cities and the radio waves xxxxxx

i would like to teleport all tall people standing in front of me at concerts outside

god bless splendour 2010. while i didnt get to go, i did benefit from the stellar lineup in many other ways. while it is definitely true that i did get to see a few amazing sideshows, it was the other peripheral music that i was exposed to which i really appreciated.

while i was checking out some yeasayer remixes in the leadup to their show, i came across this mix that canadian artist teen daze made of "o.n.e.".. it instantly caught my full attention with its simplistic yet powerful melodies, catchy vocal hooks and overall lushness. the french/valerie-esque twist that he puts on, whilst still retaining so much vibe of the original song is ingenious.

Yeasayer - O.N.E. (Teen Daze Remix)

i was so captivated by the teen daze sound that i went and downloaded his album "four more years" straight after hearing this remix.
as a massive washed out fan, these beats are right up my alley: sun-drenched, deckchair lounging melodies with echoing, far-way vocals perfect for the summer that we havent quite reached. it is beautiful music that sits in a place that is housier and more upbeat than washed out, and poppier and d-floor friendly than toro y moi. it might be place where i want to go for a swim.

Teen Daze - No Regrets

grab '4 more years' by teen daze here.

im pretty ashamed to admit that i hadnt really heard much of matthew dear prior to the lcd soundsystem/hot chip gig from a few weeks ago. it took me overhearing someone mentioning how much better he was than hot chip to get me curious. and it turned out to be a pretty perfect time to get curious, as he had just released a new album, which he called "black city".
i came from an interesting perspective when first listening to this album, as i had extremely high expectations, yet had hardly heard any of his music. and after devouring black city, i must say that i was both satisfied and impressed.

Matthew Dear - Slowdance

to my untrained ear, dear slots into a similar yet slightly more "grown-up" world to hot chip.. and while he may lack some of their bounce and fun, he makes up it with his baritone swagger and sophistication.
'black city' is a dark, quirky and compelling effort - a genre bending album of many sides, as evidenced by the sex and grime of 'you put a smell on me', the house infusion of 'little people (black city)' or my slower paced personal highlight 'slowdance'.
i feel like it is an album that doesnt give it all up on first listens.. there may be accessible parts on this record, but i think that it is the challenging moments that reward the most. this is definitely an album that i will enjoy for a while to come.

Matthew Dear - Little People (Black City)

grab 'black city' by matthew dear here..