Monday 6th December 2010

BEST OF 2010 – PART I

Adding to the flood of self-serving year-end lists, here’s part I of our songs of the year. No order. No rules (really). No problem.

Note that we’ve not included anything we released, as that’s bordering a little too close to nepotism.

1. LIL WAYNE FEAT DRAKE – “RIGHT ABOVE IT”

You are a human being, Weezy. Just like Jeff Goldblum in The Fly.

DOWNLOAD:
Lil’ Wayne feat Drake – “Right Above It”

2. CATWALK – “PLEASE DON’T BREAK ME”

If only the world were as soft as lace, Catwalk wouldn’t splinter into a million pieces at the very thought of it. Every lovelorn sigh a gale force bone(r) crusher.

DOWNLOAD:
Catwalk – “Please Don’t Break Me”

3. HOW TO DRESS WELL – “READY FOR THE WORLD”

Where “Ready For The World” starts and the rest of music ends is proof that the human race will never run out of music.

DOWNLOAD:
How To Dress Well & Cokc Dokc – “Ready For The World”

4. JAI PAUL – “BTSTU”

Don’t fuck with Jai Paul. Ignore the Chelsea shirt and knock off DVD aesthetic, this boy will kill you with the sweetest threats whispered through gritted gold teeth.

DOWNLOAD:
Jai Paul – “BTSTU”

5. KILLER MIKE – “SWIMMING”

When hyper-precocious teen hip hop collective Odd Future made their UK debut in October this year, it wasn’t their cartoon violence or swagged out confidence that shone brightest. It was their borrowing of the Flying Lotus beat “Camera Man” that Killer Mike lazed over on “Swimming”. Women to Killer Mike were like milk to Cleopatra: the guy was bathing in excess. But it was FlyLo that really kept it fluid when the sweat bubbled like champagne.

DOWNLOAD:
Killer Mike – “Swimming”

6. DEERHUNTER – “HE WOULD HAVE LAUGHED”

Leonard Cohen and Mick Jagger are to excessive sexual conquests as Bradford Cox is to ruthless bedroom based songwriting efficiency. But final track from Halcyon Digest was a nose in front of even himself, 8+ minutes of elegy and indecision in tribute to Jay Reatard. And fittingly, Cox’ prolific music making does feel like a fuck you to death.

STREAM:
Deerhunter – “He Would Have Laughed”

7. KORALLREVEN – “THE TRUEST FAITH”

It’s easier to love the beach when you don’t have to endure its grit and toxic waters. Unlike most others who chose to look inwards and/or back to nostalgically fetishise the coast, for Korallreven the beach was more a otherworldly means to escaping yourself. On the wings of tomorrow’s dream, Korallreven just had to believe to get out. And as such, for all its blonde glamour, Sweden never sounded so golden.

DOWNLOAD:
Korallreven – “The Truest Faith”

8. DRAKE – “9AM IN DALLAS”

October’s very own delivered this jam on the birthday of May’s very own – AKA yours truly. And just as the lines drew deeper on my face throughout the year, this stayed resolutely, defiantly box fresh. Then Thank Me Later dropped along with the scales from my eyes. Before you release another hugely boring album Drake, remember one word: Wale. And then revisit “9AM In Dallas”, just like I have every day for the past seven months.

DOWNLOAD:
Drake – “9AM In Dallas”

9. RADIANT DRAGON – “PRESELI”

If you’ve ever spent an ATP lost in between the endzones of night and day massaging away fragments of self with alcohol and coastal wind, you’ll have already heard “Preseli” before. Destined to soundtrack faintly horrifying memories you’ll spend a lifetime trying to pretend into rich experience.

DOWNLOAD:
Radiant Dragon – “Preseli”

10. DUCKTAILS – “ART VANDELAY”

When I retire, I’ll buy a chair. A recliner at a size incongruous to both my body and the rest of the room. And the rest will be sitting. Only then will I be both as chill and weighed down by the impossibility of competing against the ravages of time as Ducktails.

DOWNLOAD:
Ducktails – “Art Vandelay”