Monday, December 13, 2010

The Year in Review: A Complicated Viking Tale...'s 2010 Music Lists of Lisztomania

Top 10 Albums of the 2010 (according to me)

10. The New Pornographers - Together
9. Vampire Weekend - Contra
8. Yeasayer - Odd Blood 
7. Robyn – Body Talk
6. Best Coast – Crazy For You
5. Sleigh Bells – Treats
4. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
3. LCD Soundsystem - This Is It  
2. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
1. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Noted albums I have not listened to: Drake - Thank Me Later, Joanna Newson - Have One On Me, Girls - Broken Dreams Club EP, Wavves - King Of The Beach The Walkman - Lisbon, or Deerhunter - Halycon Digest. Forgive Me.

My 30 Favorite Songs of 2010

I'm New Here: also the winner of Best Album Design.


I'm going to try to add more as the week goes on as to why I've picked these songs, but for now I'm just trying to get my official list out there before before music juggernaut Pitchfork publishes their best songs of 2010 list. Here's mine...

30. Little Lion Man - Mumford and Sons
29.  Need You Know - Lady Antebellum
28. Bottled In Cork - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
27. Written In Reverse - Spoon  
26. Dancing On My Own - Robyn
25. I Feel Better - Hot Chip
24. Zebra - Beach House    
23. Beverly Kills - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti  
22. U Should Know Better - Robyn (Feat. Snoop Dogg)
21. Not In Love - Crystal Castles (Feat. Robert Smith)
20. Cousins - Vampire Weekend
19. Janelle Monáe (Feat. Big Boi) – “Tightrope”

18. Only Girl (In The World) - Rihanna
17. Drunk Girls - LCD Soundsystem
16. DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again - Usher
15. In The Sun - She & Him
14. Fever Dreaming - No Age

13. Weekend - Smith Westerns 
12. We Used To Wait - Arcade Fire  
11. Afraid of Everyone - The National  
10. Hell Of A Life - Kanye West

There's a weird moment when hearing a track for the first time when there's an "oh maaaaann this is amazing" moment, and then the chorus comes in with "no more drugs for me / pussy and religion is all I need" and then Hell Of A Life becames one of the top songs of the year. And it just gets better with each listen. The beat, the song, Kanye West... I think I just fell in love with a Superstar.

9. Shutterbugg - Big Boi
8. O.N.E. - Yeasayer
7. Rill Rill - Sleigh Bells
6. Boyfriend - Best Coast
5. Hang With Me (acoustic) - Robyn
4. Round and Round - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
3. Dance Yrself Clean - LCD Soundsystem
2. Runaway - Kanye West 

Without a doubt I believe that Runwaway is the most important song of 2010, and on top of it being the most important it's also totally fucking awesome. It's an anthem of redemption, and it's an anthem for anyone who's ever fucked up. The fact that the full version is nine minutes long doesn't even bother me. It's one of those songs that applies to pretty much everyone, but still feels deeply personal every time it pops on.

1. I'm New Here - Gil Scott Heron

Never in my life have I had such a personal reaction to song. It's my favorite song of 2010 because it's the most personal song of 2010, at least to me it is. It's not the "applies to almost everyone song" that like Runwaway; it's a song that feels like it was written to me. The first time I listened the it I almost cried. The second time I did cry. It's that rare instance when a song gathers so much meaning over your life that it's scary, and in three minutes and thirty-three freaking seconds. What more can I say? I cried. The End. 

Joel Samson Berntsen (Pretty Girls Make Graves - The Smiths)

5 comments:

Classic Brian said...

1) Interested in Gil-Scott Heron now.

2) Never realized until all these year-end lists that Ariel Pink actually meant something. I kind of discarded them after seeing them live.

Anonymous said...

the mumford song is little lion MAN, not boy. if you're gonna love it, love it right.

Joel Samson Berntsen said...

Ariel Pink live is weird/easy to dismiss, but man, I love that album.
Also, Classic Brian commented on my blog. Holy Shit.

Apologies anonymous. When I made the list I knew that wasn't right, but I never went back and checked. My bad. It's fixed now.

Classic Brian said...

Members of Classic Brian should identify themselves when posting on shit. I assume that was Eliot up there.

- Conor

Brandon Foster said...

Spelling Notes: "Rihanna" and "LCD Soundsystem."

- The Ever-Adoring Copy Editor of Your Life