Best.Of.2010 # 1,2&3

#1

#2

#3


Yeah, this was just getting out of hand. If I didn't do something quick like this, it was never gonna get finished and this blog prolly would have ground to a halt. Still can't write anything coherent about my favorite album of the year. For those wanting insight into what it is, please read this fantastic series of essays on it. As for why its the best, simply it had more ambition than anything else this year and pulled it off, like an Olympic diver doing something with the highest degree of difficulty and landing it with minimal splash.

The other two albums here are simply awesome. I love them and have given them ample burn in the car, ipod and laptop this year. One is a bands promising debut, the other is a bands apparent farewell. One is the fresh sound of of NY, the other is the local boys making good. Both are examples of awesome songwriting and staggering prodcution. 2010 was a brilliant year for music. Can't wait to see what 2011 has to offer.

Top 10 Moments of Southbound 2011

For the uninitiated and foreign, Southbound is a 3 day camping and music festival about 3 hours south of Perth. Its about a third of the size of a festival like Bonnaroo, but keeps a similar chilled vibe, yet far stricter and has a major population of those under 18. None the less its fun weekend and a great way to start the year. Here are my top ten moments from this years edition.

10. Cloud Controls use of Pepper by Butthole Surfers for ‘Gold Canary’. 90’s gold, pure and simple. Expression of pure joy on my face, confusion for everyone else around me.

9. The Bamboos covering King of the Rodeo by Kings of Leon. God I miss old Kings of Leon. Aha Shake Heartbreak sound tracked the end of high school for me. This was a reminder of better times.


8. The sing-a-long to Morning Benders ‘Excuses’. The friends that I was staying with taught me this song over the weekend. They’re harmony nerds, but even I can appreciate how dope this song is. Even better live too with a virtuosic use of a loop pedal.


7. Interpol actually acknowledging the crowd. OMG THEY SPOKE TO US!!!!!

6. Sampology’s amazing VJ set. Saw the crowd probably quadruple in size over the course of his insane party. Highlight would have to be the Dr. Dre vs Tom Hanks section….


5. Tame Impala's sublime sunset set on the final night. Just too good. Perfect timing. Loved the ten minute jam during Half Full Glass of Wine.


4. The bulk cowbell dance session for The Rapture. We were knackered after 3 days of music. Still managed to find a bit more energy for a dance to the boys from NYC


3. A–Trak's closing set insanity. The final act for the festival saw the tent transformed into an impromptu beach rave with giant beach balls, a large beach umbrella complete with an absolute clinic in DJing from the Fool’s Gold bossman. Set had to be stopped momentarily due to one punter thinking it was a good idea to climb one of the 30m pillars of the tent. Trizzy did an excellent job of talking him down with promises of icecream.


2. Matt Berninger's onstage drunkenness and banter. A National gig is always an excersize in controlled insanity with the lead singer, as my mate put it, being like a Labrador puppy in the care of the two sets of brothers, and often likes to go walkabouts and occasionally misbehave.


1. A strangely clock-less Flava Flav asking the crowd to do his catchphrase before revealing the clock he had hidden under his shirt all along. Crowd proceeded to go ham, myself included.

Best.Of.2010 Honorable Mention - Illumination

While the songs from this album have found a permanent home on the high rotation list on Triple J, it seems like the rest of the world has really slept on this fantastic release from Australia’s Miami Horror. What started as a started as a solo producer in the blog house craze of a few years ago (his Music Sounds Better With You remix is a classic) has transformed into a full live band, making dreamy disco pop in the same vein as genre heavyweights Cut Copy. And while they haven’t made a classic straight of the bat like the Cutters did with Bright Like Neon Love, Miami Horror’s debut Illumination is an album that is choc-full of pop gems and one of the best of the year for me.

Utilizing vocals from both band members and guests (Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo and Kimbra are highlights), the album is a psychedelic pop odyssey through an Australian summer. While Tame Impala used classic and psychedelic rock, and Muscles (on Guns, Babes and Lemonade) used electro to make their versions of Australia, Miami Horror instead uses disco and chillwave instead to great effect. Despite Palomo’s presence on the record, he is most definitely not responsible for the chillwave influence, his tracks being more reminiscent of his work as the electro tinged VEGA. Yet for those who find the genre to be a total drag, don’t worry, the disco and pop keeps it from ever slowing the pace of the album.

Ultimately this is an absolute cracker of a record, which was unfairly slept on by the rest of the world. Its one of those albums which sneaks up on you, it will play through before you realized you never felt the need to skip a track. If you’re currently residing in a northern hemisphere winter, do yourself a favor and cop this album. It will melt a hole through that snow for you to escape to a killer summer.

Miami Horror - I Look To You (Feat. Kimbra)

BONUS
Holidays - Miami Horror and Cassian Remix by cassian88

Canyons - My Rescue

It takes alot to distract me from constantly geeking out over nothing but Curren$y, Kanye West and Animal Collective, but leave it to my favorite disco-psychedelic outfit, Australia's own Canyons to remind me how out there people can go, just for the hell of it.

My Rescue is a pretty sweet track as is. It plays more to their psychedelic side seen on their Tame Impala remixes than their usual disco fare but its just as good. Summery and getting good rotation on Triple J, its a real winner.

However they had to go and top themselves with a batshit crazy video for it, featuring a hammer-mace wielding barbarian fighting his way through the streets of a modern city. Bravo gentlemen, cudos. You don't see Bag Raiders doing shit like this, that's for sure.

Also, sorry I'd provide an MP3 but there doesn't seem to be one available yet. Just gonna have to wait till November 5th in Australia (a little bit later everywhere else) to cop it I guess.

Canyons x Tame Impala

Really excited for the new Canyons song and album coming out. Thanks Modular for the update. They're one of my favorite Australian acts today, making consistently solid disco and psychedelica for the people. They're even from Perth!

This of course has reminded me of their most quality lines of work to date, namely their remixing of pretty much every Tame Impala song, their label mates and buddies back in Perth. None of these reworks are the same in genre. It ranges from the delirium of 41 Mosquitoes to the poolside wonder of Solitude is Bliss, the disco stomp of Half Full Glass of Wine and the epic camel ride through the desert that is their Sundown Syndrome remix. However they all seem to embody this feeling of 40 degree heat and general psychadellica, a spirit which makes it true Australian music.

Its starting to heat up here in Perth, unseasonably early too. I'm fine with this, cause while I'm not fine with being back in Perth itself (no shots), it's a lot better when it is distinctively Perth. This means scorching 40 degree days, car rides with the window down and Triple J playing loud, parties, festivals and occasionally the beach. It's what I missed when I was away. Perth summers aren't for the faint of heart. But these songs will soundtrack it for you in style.

Tame Impala - Half Full Glass of Wine (Canyons Drunken Rage)
Tame Impala - Solitude Is Bliss (Canyons Remix)
Tame Impala - 41 Mosquitos (Canyons 41 Mojitos Poolside Mix)

SORRY LINKS REMOVED. FIND EM YOURSELF!

Pitch Perfect w. Canyons

Found this cheeky little mix over at the Fader. They got this new series with Nike where they commission artists to create mixes for the 6 continents of the world for the World Cup. And lo and behold, disco mavens Canyons have been chosen to do the one for Australia. The resulting mix contains a long forgotten track from the avalanches (WHERE THE FUCK IS THEIR NEW ALBUM?!?), Tame Impala, Tame Impala side project POND and Canyons themselves and is perfect for a delirious Australian summer (or the current 40 degree heat that I find myself bathing in in Nevada right now.

Cop it HERE at The FADER.