Here is the final post in this week’s look back at the best music from 2010. Unlike my difficulty in choosing top records, choosing my 5 favorite songs of 2010 was relatively easy. It’s interesting how certain songs just grab onto and won’t let go, while others simply fade from memory. These are the ones that will be stuck in my mind for many years to come…share your favorite tracks of 2010 here or on our facebook page!
***Honorable Mentions: The Walkmen – “Victory,” The Strange Boys – “Between Us,” Chicano Batman – “Itotiani,” Bonobo – “El Toro,” Dungen – “Soda,” Corin Tucker Band – “Doubt,” Adam Franklin – “Carousel City,” M.I.A. – “Born Free”
5. Real Estate – “Reservoir” – Out Of Tune 7” (True Panther Sounds)
I happened upon Real Estate completely by chance in 2009, barely hearing some instrumental sounds through the static of KXLU’s signal. They now stand as one of my favorite contemporary indie-rock groups. In truth I could have just as easily chosen the flipside of this 7″, “Out Of Tune,” to be on this list, it’s also an amazing song, but I love “Reservoir” just a bit more for the way it seems to evoke a distinctly late summer suburban vibe that reminds me of my youth, as I mentioned in my original comments:
Every time I hear this song from Real Estate, it makes me smile, widely. For me it’s got a very specific kind of vibe, late summer, when you’re 18 and everything in the world is full of wild promise and anxious uncertainty at the same time. I’ve loved just about everything I’ve heard from this band, but this song might just be one of my favorites of this year.
4. Best Coast – “Boyfriend” – Crazy For You (Mexican Summer)
Best Coast was one of the buzziest bands of 2010, but it’s clear they have their best work ahead of them. Beth Consentino of Best Coast is a very talented woman. As a songwriter she’s still got some growing to do, but she’s clearly got the goods vocally and recent performances seem to suggest that she’s barely tapped into her potential. “Boyfriend” represents a glimpse of what she’s capable of, great hooks, great sentiment, and those vocals…in my mind I swear it’s like they never stop, as if she’s employing some kind of circular breathing technique ala Roland Kirk. Gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling inside every time.
3. Gonjasufi – “Sheep” – A Sufi & A Killer (Warp)
From a brilliantly bizarre album, comes this track where Gonjasufi appears to ruminate on the dreams of a Lion who momentarily wishes he wasn’t the King of the Jungle, but instead a meek, lowly and peaceful sheep. Production work from Gaslamp Killer expertly fits the dreamy musings, especially in the final minute when it seems that the Lion comes to his senses and fully embraces his identity. Absolutely bloody brilliant.
2. Broken Social Scene – “Sentimental X’s” – Forgiveness Rock Record (Arts & Crafts)
Broken Social Scene – Sentimental X’s
Here’s what I originally had to say about this song back in May when I first came to love it:
I love how lyrically it’s based on fairly simple phrases, but sometimes they are reversed or changed slightly which changes the overall meaning too (for example “Off and On is what we Want,” “What We Want Is Off and On,”). Something about the way it ends with the phrase “All Of You” becoming “I Love You” at times, admist that huge wash of sound, seems to capture the big message out of the LOST finale last night. Though these feelings might wash off in a day or two, this one is still likely to be a contender for song of the year come December.
6+ months later, I clearly still agree with those sentiments. I do wonder whether or not the BSS heard Deerhunter’s own lovely exercise in alliteration, “Agoraphobia,” and decided to mess around with phrases on this one. Even if its genesis was related to another song (and I have no idea if it actually is) “X’s” is more of an achievement because ever single line of the song is built on alliterations, which in some cases radically alter the potential meaning, such as when the “a friend, a friend you used to call” line loses the “to call” at the end. The song shifts from sentimental remembrances to perhaps something more sinister, at least emotionally. Nothing beats the closing 2 minutes of the song, especially that gorgeous “All of You/I Love You” ending. Best song I’ve heard from Broken Social Scene or virtually anyone else in the last several years.
1. El Guincho – “Bombay” – Pop Negro (Young Turks)
For the second time in a year, my favorite song of the year is in Spanish. My wife and I didn’t meet on the roof of a hotel in Barcelona, but if we had this is the song that would be playing and I’d try to make her stay with me as long as possible just the same way the singer wants his love to stay with him. Interestingly enough, when I played this song for my wife, she had almost the exact same vision. The song just screams sunshine, a gorgeous city beneath you and all the possibilities inherent in an uncertain but exciting future. An absolutely perfect pop song.
…and “Bombay” also wins hands down for having the most bizarre and definitely not safe for work (even in this “clean” version) video too: