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| From | "Jeff Brenneman" <monets_house@yahoo.com> |
| Subject | Re: Audities Best of 2010 |
| Date | Tue, 14 Dec 2010 23:13:20 -0000 |
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Matt (and the rest of the audities family...)
Since I've sadly come to the realization that I will not be making any more 2010 release purchases this year, I will post my top 11 2010 faves:
My Favorite 2010 CD's
I realize that these aren't the "Best Of" 2010, but they are certainly my favorites, especially if number of plays was the determining factor.
1. FURIOUS SEASONS – "Thank You For Saturday"
I've been a David Steinhart (Pop Art, Smart Brown Handbag, Solo and now Furious Seasons) fan since the mid-80's when our Engineer, Ethan James (R.I.P. Buddy!) turned me on to Pop Art. You won't get anything terribly different from one Steinhart release to the next, just solid personal songwriting. Every few years, however, David pulls out something that really stands out for me, and this year's submission absolutely fell into that category. The unfortunate death of long time drummer Slim inspired more than a few touching gems on TYfS.
2. GRANT LEE PHILLIPS – "Little Moon"
Met Grant when he was playing with label-mates Shiva Burlesque circa '88 and have been following his work since. The last couple of GLP CD's feel short for me, relatively speaking, but "Little Moon" shows what a great songwriter he truly, truly is.
3. BROKEN BELLS – S/T
Being a fan of The Shins, I was excited to hear that frontman James Mercer was breaking out to take a stab at something new. Loved his collaborations here with Danger Mouse on this debut release. Both artists' exhibit their signature skills.
4. NEW PORNOGRAPHERS – "Together"
This was a grower for me. I'm a huge (t)NP fan, but my initial thought after listening to "Together" was that there was nothing special about it. After repeated listens, these songs have attached their `lil hooks into me, although I stand by the "nothing special" comment.
5. MILES KUROSKY – "The Desert of Shallow Effects"
Was very curious to hear this from Beulah frontman. My hero-worship was crushed when I saw the Beulah last tour documentary, but their music remains some of my favorite pop music of the last decade. I think Miles' songwriting is quite strong. In fact, there are a few Beulah alumni on the disc as well.
6. NATALIE MERCHANT – "Leave Your Sleep"
I have yet to take the time to investigate what tracks the single disc version has as I had purchased the 2 disc special edition. Ms. Merchant has been silent for the last few years (and there are quite a few who wish she would remain so.) These songs were apparently intended to be lullabies for Natalie's daughter. Although the songs do not work well together in my opinion (the styles vary quite a bit.) Absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I'm a stickler for flow. That would be my one "complaint" which in fact is not a complaint at all. Again, the single disc editing may have taken on this quibble.
7. CULT WITH NO NAME – "Adrenalin"
My Trakwerx label-mates across the pond have released what I believe is their best out of their 4 releases. I still maintain that ccwn sound like a mix between Badly Drawn Boy and Al Stewart. .-)
I have to honest here, these last 4 entries have not received the time that I believe they deserve, but initial plays have been very enjoyable listens:
8. VAMPIRE WEEKEND – "Contra"
Got this solely on a YouTube recommendation that compared VW to early James, UK Manchester band. I think the comparison has some merit.
9. OKGO – "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky"
10. DR. DOG – "Shame, Shame"
11. BELLE & SEBASTIAN – "Write About Love"
Looking forward to seeing what y'all loved this year!
-Jeff Brenneman
http://www.myspace.com/17Pygmies
<-- New CD due 01/01/11. Who releases a CD on a Saturday?! I guess the label just likes the date 1-1-11. .-)
http://www.myspace.com/Smoldering_Ashes
<-- New CD out Spring 2011
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