Remembering 2010: Darkstar - North

Electronica can be a cold, dark, and desolate place sometimes. Then the wind comes in and blows everything away. Since 2007, Darkstar have been releasing singles and receiving acclaim far beyond their dubstep community. Their 2009 track, "Aidys Girl is a Computer" (included here), managed to sneak into Pitchfork.com's Top 100 Tracks of 2009. As Darkstar were recording their debut album, they scrapped the entire project and recruited in vocalist James Buttery to shore up the original duo of James Young and Aiden Whalley. Instead of a typical dubstep release, the trio instead came out with one that has more in tune with trip hop and downtempo.

"In The Way" starts off North with a sound reminiscent of an 80s horror movie before the strings and piano are brought in midway through to bring in some light. An old Human League B-side gets the cover treatment with "Gold". A compressed, slow roll through the original's upbeat facade gives North one of its standout tracks. "Under One Roof" contains a beat that sounds like a spastic ping pong ball being knocked back and forth and features the album's finest vocal performance. Elsewhere, glitchy vocals are hung over quiet, hymnal like tracks with the odd synthesizer wash.

On a whole, North can at times get bogged down by its own bleakness. However, Darkstar clearly have their sights set on knocking down genres and blurring lines. Here's to hoping they never take the path that is expected of them.

6.5/10

Lights: The King's Speech

Sublime, visually stunning, dramatic, poignant, sad, and proud - The King's Speech is a wonder.

Raiding the Past - Best of the Old Discoveries 2010 (and One Rediscovery)

1. Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
Perhaps a bit of an odd choice considering our love of Kate Bush that seems to grow every year and the fact this is her biggest hit having gone to #1 in several countries in 1978. After playing The Hounds of Love over and over and over again in the last few years we finally branched out to pick up her debut, The Kick Inside, featuring the centrepiece "Wuthering Heights". Written, of course, about the famous Emily Bronte novel, the song "Wuthering Heights" is able to capture the emotion of the book as well as the damp, bleakness that it often conveys. Written from Catherine's point of view, it is easy to picture her wandering the desolate moors of not so jolly old England. 'How could you leave me when I needed to posses you? I hated you, I loved you too'.

I read the book in and around 1999 but it didn't resonate with me at the time so I re-read it again a few years later. I told a friend I was re-reading it to which she asked, "isn't that a book for teenage girls?". Yes, it probably is but after listening to this song endlessly in 2010, I'm going to read it again... and perhaps get a Wuthering Heights tattoo. 'Heathcliff, it's me Cathy, I've come home, I'm so cold, let me in in a your window'. Please do, Heathcliff, she's clearly earned it.

(Two vidoes were made for "Wuthering Heights", we prefer the completely bizzare red dress version made for the US. And to think she was only 18/19 years old at the time...)




#2 Cocteau Twins - From the Flagstones
Originally released on the Sunburst and Snowblind EP in 1983 and was then included on the Pink Opaque compilation as well as the BBC Sessions and Lullabies to Violaine which is were we rediscovered it. We would have originally heard it 10 years earlier on the BBC Sessions released in 1999 but could never get into that double disc... like a number of the Cocteau Twins releases. Their early 90s album Heaven or Las Vegas will most likely forever be in our Top 50 of all time but the rest of the Twins' catalogue can be hit or miss to our ears, or at the very least take a long time to really penetrate our hearts and minds.

It was the same with the Lullabies to Violaine compilation. Purchased early in 2010 it didn't get full spins until that summer. I remember specifically walking to a lounge in the sweltering heat to watch the World Cup final with The Cocteau Twins playing on the ipod. It was here, while walking down Nassau that "From the Flagstones" finally hit. Coming in with shimmering bells and a flanged out guitar, Liz Fraser's voice comes in almost right away. The track has us reach for the dictionary as we try to follow Fraser's vocal gymnastics. With their usual vague lyrics that mean everything and nothing all at once, the sadness of the track comes through.

'At times I've seen you from the balustrade
At times I've seen you from the flagstones'



#3 Absolute Body Control - Figures
Somewhere along the way in 2010 we discovered the genre of Cold Wave (or Minimal Wave) which lead us right to The Minimal Wave Show on East Village Radio.com hosted by the effortlessly cool Veronica Vasicka. Within a few months of each other, two cold wave compilations were released in 2010 - The Minimal Wave Tapes vol 1 and Cold Wave and Minimal Electronics vol 1 both of which could be looked at as the Northern Soul of late 70s/early 80s electronica, overlooked gems that deserve further investigation.

The first track on the Cold Wave compiltion was from the Belgium group, Absolute Body Control with their 80s track, "Figures". The compilation is solid top to bottom with many treasures buried within. We're not sure what it is about "Figures" that makes it standout, perhaps its the familiar synths, the catchy '12345' build up in the lyrics, or perhaps its just because its the first track. Either way, its fast become a favourite of our 80s synth pop to be held up alongside Depeche Mode, The Human League and New Order.

(The video version is slightly different from what appears on the compilation listed above)



#4 Dave Brubeck - Blue Rondo A La Turk
Last August we made our first trek to Chicago from our homebase in Winnipeg, Canada. With that we made a stop at the legendary Jazz Record Mart. Now, we're not going to claim to know much about jazz or jazz stores other than the usual indie rock entry points such as Miles, Coltrane, Mingus, etc. However, what we have, we love so this stop was essential among attending Lollapalooza, and seeing the Cubs, Sox, art galleries, etc.

After searching the racks for close to an hour we then walked over to the "Killers" section for the essentials. There we purchased more Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, and The Dave Brubeck Quartet's classic Time Out. This album contains the jazz standard "Take Five" which is undeniable with its ultra cool 50s groove. However, by the time we get there our hearts have already been captured by "Blue Rondo A La Turk". A frenzied piano to bring in the low riding bass then the accompanying sax to match the piano lines. Ooooohhhh, this is magic. The cymbal ride, the piano which sounds like the theme to W5, and then at the 1:52 mark the tension finally lets up to bring in a relaxed swing. This is truly a wonderful piece of music.



#5 Red House Painters - Katy Song
Last summer we flipped through one of our Uncut magazines and read up on the ins and outs of the various recordings by Mark Kozelek - his solo work as well as Sun Kil Moon and the classic 90s band Red House Painters. RHP are a band we read about all through that decade but never really heard their music even though I'm sure we danced around them many times. With a stop at Minneapolis' Cheapo Discs, we threw the self titled disc (aka Rollercoaster) from the band in our basket.

What we discovered from that moment, that others knew 17 years earlier, was the beauty of the track "Katy Song". Coming in at over eight minutes, the song feels like it lasts about three. The crushingly heartbreaking lyrics are what first grab hold - 'I know tomorrow you will be somewhere in london, living with someone, you've got some kind of family there to turn to, and that's more than I could ever give you'. Meandering guitar lines, the subtle smacking of a drum, and the sung harmonies that close the song with several minutes to go brings an end a memorable journey.




The Re-discovery:

National Velvet - Flesh Under Skin
Back in the late 80s, early 90s MuchMusic in Canada would run hours upon hours of videos which seems foreign now... I assume, I haven't watched the station in years. The best were always the Spotlight shows featuring a full half hour of videos from one band. It's here we discovered and fell for The Ramones, Jesus and Mary Chain, Jane's Addiction, R.E.M, etc. Another band that would feature quite often was Toronto’s National Velvet.

We purchased their Courage tape in 1990 and listened to it quite often while delivering newspapers on our skateboard. There was one song though that always caught our attention that was on their first self titled debut, it was “Flesh Under Skin”. The track sounds of its time combining goth, dance, and hard rock all given a pop sheen. The video featuring singer Maria Del Mar, who could not be more sexy yet somehow approachable at the same time, was quite memorable to young eyes. “I feel flesh under skin, I feel the conflict of sin, I feel lava turn to ice, I feel… no one’s love tonight”. If I was a 20 year old living in Toronto in 1988 I’m sure this would have been my soundtrack. National Velvet is one of those bands where looking back its still a wonder they did not hit bigger if even for a moment. Here’s our small way of giving them at least a bit of their due.

Remembering 2010: Twin Shadow - Forget

Born in the Dominican Republic, raised in Florida and now living in Brooklyn NY (of course), George Lewis Jr. , aka, Twin Shadow released this debut in the late fall/early winter of 2010 to much critical acclaim. Catching the attention of Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, who produced and released the album on his Terrible Records imprint in North America, Forget explores the classier side of electronica and would not sound out of place alongside late 70s/early 80s Bowie, Roxy Music, OMD, etc.

"Tyrant Destroyed" ushers in the listener with the use of a slow, slightly distorted bass drum to create a woozy dreamlike sound while the lyrics recall a fading love ('love and darkness, such a tyrant destroyer, as you sat sinking in my head).

"Shooting Holes" aims for the dancefloor with its shuffling beat, a synthesizer that may have been swiped from Grand Master Flash's "The Message", and lyrics that would make Morrissey proud - 'Bite the hand I know she doesn't care, leave a trail the hounds will find us anywhere'.

While many of the sounds found on Forget recall the 80s, songs such as "Castles in the Snow" and "Tether Beat" have hazy, ghost in the machine synthesized moments that have much in common with 2010 chillwave bands Salem and oOooOO. "For Now" on the other hand sounds like it could have been written by fellow Brooklynites, Yeasayer.

There is much to like on Twin Shadow's debut and would be one of the top albums of 2010 if it had one or two hits such as Sam Sparro's "Black and Gold" or The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights". Without those songs though, sometimes it feels like looking at a calm lake that resembles a sheet of ice; very nice but could use a few waves of excitement to break it up.

7/10

Remembering 2010: The Best Coast - Crazy For You

Over 30 years ago The Ramones combined their love of 60s girl groups, surf rock, and bubblegum pop to straight ahead lyrics and sped the whole thing up. Voila, instant classics. In 2009 Bethany Cosentino returned home to LA after attending school in New York City and immediately started a new band with Bobb Bruno called Best Coast. The songs on the debut, Crazy For You share similar influences as The Ramones but with a dash of early 90s college rock thrown in for good measure.

“Boyfriend” would not have sounded out of place leading off Liz Phair’s classic album, Exile in Guyville. The straightforward lyrics capture the uncertainty of liking someone while wondering how they feel, the worry of not measuring up and the dreaming of what it would be like to be with them. Entire novels are written about the same topics and “Boyfriend” manages to cover the same ground in under three minutes. Elsewhere, much has been said of the instant classic line of ‘I lost my job, I miss my Mom, I wish my cat could talk’ from “Goodbye”, another track that hits the slacker generation of the late 20th century square in the heart.

With most songs coming in at about two and a half minutes, they come fast and furious but will stick in your head for days. The entire album is held together by Cosentino’s wonderful voice which could hold its own with any of the great singers of the day for the past 40 years. There is a longing and something country like in many of the vocals especially in songs such as “Our Deal” and “I Want You”. It would not be surprising if in years to come, that is the direction that Cosentino follows similar to the path that Neko Case has walked in the past decade.

In the hands of others, this Keep It Simple Stupid approach would be of zero interest but with Best Coast it works wonders as they constantly hit the right notes. Without a week track on the album, Crazy for You holds up as one of the best albums of 2010. Would it have hit our Top 15 if listened to earlier? With a bullet.

9/10

Top Singles of 2010

Still working with the premise that we haven't heard every great song from the past year, this is a good smattering of some of our favourites.

1. Crystal Castles - Not In Love
I don't think anyone could have predicted Canadian duo Crystal Castles scoring a hit with a Platinum Blonde cover but that is exactly what they did in 2010. While the single version featuring the Cure's Robert Smith is the one that gets more attention, the original is our favourite from the past year.


2. These New Puritans - Three Thousand
As far as we here at The Light Appears can tell, the third track off of These New Puritan's sophomore album was not even released as a single, however, for us it was the high point of their 2010 release. The clattering beat makes it sound like the band is preparing for battle. Rough, angry, and full of menace - "Three Thousand" is perfect for preparing for a night out.


3. Avi Buffalo - What's In It For
The first single released for Long Beach's Avi Buffalo was a perfect slice of Californian slacker greatness. Equal parts simple and epic, it captures young adult confusion in love with great skill. Wise beyond their years, first line "I walked in on a plan to dissolve all of your wishes" was in our head for months.


4. Vampire Weekend - Giving Up the Gun
One of the most memorable musical moments on the recent season of SNL was Vampire Weekend performing "Giving Up The Gun". A definite highlight from their sophomore release, Contra, the debate about the song's meaning went on for quite a while at songmeanings.net. While there are many different interpretations of the lyrics, we loved the darker musical edge the band showed on this single.


5. Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill
While this NY's duo debut album Treats was filled with much noise, this track "Rill Rill" cut through all of that. The use of a Funkadelic sample for the basis of the guitar line works perfectly with the Brill Building like vocals. The breakdown at 2:39 is our favourite sugar rush of the year. 'Keep thinking about every straight face yes, wonder what your boyfriend thinks about your braces/what about them?/I'm all about them/six sets straight ace cut em in the bathroom' Perfect.


6. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round and Round
In mid December, Pitchfork.com announced that this single by Ariel Pink's was their song of the year. Hard to argue, this song was everywhere in indie circles and for good reason. The first release for the band on record label 4AD this track quite possibly has the chorus of the year. Could have been a hit in any decade, this single has a timeless quality to it - long may it live.


7. The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio/Terrible Love
While slightly cheating by slinging two songs together, The National's 2010 release High Violet makes this possible as each of the songs on the album flow into one another extremely well. 'I still owe money to the money I owe' from "Bloodbuzz.." is a line that most of us can relate to while both songs capture the uncertainty of growing older. The 'It takes an ocean not to break' refrain from Terrible Love is an unlikely anthem but like R.E.M's finest moments from the 80s/90s, the darkness can sometimes bring unity.



8. Lady GaGa (Feat. Beyonce) - Telephone
Meat dresses, tabloid headlines, ridiculous videos with pointless product placement, etc can obscure the fact that Lady GaGa has consistently been putting out some of the best singles of the last few years. Nothing more can be said that hasn't already been said about GaGa. Can almost 99 million youtube fans be wrong?


9. LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change
I'm sure at some point it went through Soundsystem's James Murphy's head, 'how do I follow up the brilliance of single "All My Friends"?' Well, he need not worry as "I Can Change" comes very close to matching that 2007 single. The chorus of - "I can change I can change... if it helps you fall in love" is both the most uplifting and the saddest line of the year but it works as we've all had that feeling at some point in our lives.


10. Kanye West (Feat. Pusha T) - Runaway
Another memorable moment from SNL in 2010 was Kanye West performing "Runaway". Self deprecating, funny, emotional, and highly aware - this is Kanye at his best. Is it going too far to say he's this generation's Miles Davis?


11. The Drums - Me and the Moon
Sounding like it could have been released as a one off single on Rough Trade Records back in 1984, The Drums released this in 2010 as one of the last singles off of their debut self-titled album. "But you still sleep with your back to me/is it me and you or is it really nothing?" Pretty boys singing about losing in love, it doesn't get any more indie rock than this... (indie on a major label of course!)


12. M.I.A - XXXO
One of the strongest songs on M.I.A's much maligned 2010 release, MAYA, this captures M.I.A at her most danceable and defiant. "You want me be somebody I'm really not" can be heard as a call out to a boy or equally as a shot to her critics. Like Kanye, M.I.A defies to be pigeonholed into a specific category. Full of contradictions and complexities, long may M.I.A roll.


13. Beach House - Zebra
Quite possibly the prettiest song released in 2010. Beach House's Teen Dream album received acclaim all year from critics, fans, and fellow musicians. "Zebra" opens up Teen Dream and immediately sets the mood. Haunting, dreamy, and whimsical this is one to come back to time and time again.


14. Akai - Satellite
Back in the late spring I had the pleasure of reviewing this album from St Paul's Akai for earshot-online.com. I enjoyed the album on the first several listens but it wasn't until a few months later with itunes running in the background of an afternoon spent at home that it really hit me. I've always been a sucker for boy/girl harmonies and "Satellite" has that in spades. While it doesn't sound dissimilar to a million other songs, "Satellite" has a charm all its own.


15. Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill
Watching the video to this track instantly brought me back to seeing them at the Target Center in Minneapolis in mid October. Cartoon videos playing above a stage filled with heroes of the last 30 years (Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Mick Jones, Simon Tong, Bobby Womack, De La Soul, sigh, etc). "On Melancholy Hill" is a standout from the Plastic Beach album what with its simple melody and plink-plonky keyboard parts. Damon Albarn continues to make it all sound so easy.

Top Albums of 2010

Fully realizing we still have a few 2010 selections to check out, this is where we're at in December 2010. There may be a few additions and subtractions to come at some point but we're confident these will stand up fairly well as highlights from the past year.

1.The National - High Violet
Following up 2007's highly rated album The Boxer was always going to be difficult for the Ohio via Brooklyn NY band but they did it admirably with High Violet. Opening the album with one of the songs of the year, "Terrible Love" starts things off with a high. From there the album is an embarrassment of riches from "Afraid of Everyone" to "Lemonworld" to first single "Bloodbuzz Ohio". While it may not be as loved as The Boxer, High Violet is a very successful follow-up.

2. Beach House - Teen Dream
Right from its early 2010 release, Beach House's Teen Dream was an early contender for album of the year. Full of longing, the tone of the album fit perfectly for cold wintry nights. This was exemplified with the band's appearance on Pitchfork.tv surrounded by fake fur and a sparse all white set. The run of songs from the single "Zebra" right through to "Lover of Mine" might just be the strongest set of songs on any album released this year.

3. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
It just wouldn't be a "best of year end list" without an appearance from Bradford Cox. Deerhunter's Microcastle was a highlight of 2008 just as his side project Atlas Sound's Logos was a bright spot of 2009. Featuring such highlights as "Revival", "Helicopter" and "Fountain Stairs", Bradford Cox and Deerhunter consistently jump from strength to strength.

4. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Kanye West's last album, 808's and Heartbreak, separated his fans into two camps - ones that wanted him to strictly stick to hip hop and ones that wanted him to keep exploring his many emotions and styles. My Beautiful brought these two camps together by marrying some of the best beats of the year to his all over the place thoughts. Confident, confused, full of contradictions, sad, brash, and star-studded - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy continues Kanye's ascent as the most important artist of the last 10 years.

5. M.I.A - MAYA
It's been a rough year for Maya Arulpragasam. First a NY Times article tried its very best to tear her down then the video for "Born Free" came under heavy criticism for its violence and lastly the album was met with much derision from music critics. The album expected to push M.I.A further into the mainstream instead pushed her further to its fringes. However, people that were listening without prejudice found many gems hidden within its noise and harsh beats. "XXXO" is one of the best dance singles of the year, "It Takes a Muscle" with its faux reggae beat is a top rate pop song and "Space" closes the album with a dreamlike quality. Great album for those who looked past the headlines.

6. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
If we're to believe Soundsystem leader James Murphy, this is the band's swansong and they will now hang up their synthesizers. If this is true, millions of fans and music writers will be wiping away tears for years to come. It's hard to believe that this could be it what with the indie dance perfection of "I Can Change", "You Wanted a Hit" and "Dance Yrslf Clean". No, this can't be it but if it is then cherish these songs long after the band has disappeared.


7. Vampire Weekend - Contra
Two years on from their debut, Vampire Weekend continue to be loved and hated in equal measure. Without making a major departure from their signature sound (African rhythms with a generous dash of indie rock), Contra continues to explore avenues already taken with a few new stops. "Horchata" is a giddy rush of a first single while "Giving Up the Gun" adds a dancefloor ready beat to their sound. A strong sophomore album to prove their debut was not a fluke.

8. Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love
Four years on from their last album, 2006's The Life Pursuit, Belle & Sebastian return with another collection of 60's indebted Scottish pop. While Write About Love feels more like a compilation than a cohesive album and doesn't quite reach the highs of their last two releases, the fact that B & S are able to continue making such strong songs at this stage of their career is simply astonishing.

9. Sleigh Bells - Treats
Plenty of noise in the debut from this New York duo. Mixing rough and ready dancebeats, female vocals, and crunching guitar stabs saw Treats make quite the splash when released in the early summer of 2010. While it can sound a bit samey in some areas there are enough hands in the air great moments to see the listener through. And with a bit of foresight, songs like "Rill Rill" and "Riot Rhythm" could be hits for a pop starlet in the hands of the right producer.

10. The Drums - The Drums
Every once in a while the NME gets it bang on and they did so in spades by heavily promoting this American band in mid 2009. Following up the Summertime EP, The Drums released their debut this year to a fair amount of hype. The songs sound like lost indie treasures found on early 80s teen drama soundtracks which in our opinion is a compliment to the highest order. And while its hard to fight comparisons to 90s chancers Menswe@r, well, let's just say we liked them too.

11. These New Puritans - Hidden
The NME album of the year for 2010 makes an appearance on our list as well. Another band that avoided the dreaded sophomore slump, These New Puritans brought the racket of war mixed in with classical interludes. "We Want War" mixes all the best elements of the album while "Three-Thousand" was our pregame track to kickstart many nights out. Ridiculous in spots? Oh yes, but gloriously so.

12. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles II
With all the hype Crystal Castles brought with them in 2008, its surprising their debut didn't desintegrate upon release. Instead, it was one of the brightest lights from that year. Two years later, the Canadian duo are back to slay the indie dancefloor... and with a slightly more polished sound, they did! "Baptism" and "Pap Smear" are two of the darkest dancefloor fillers from the past year while the inspired Platinum Blonde cover "Not In Love" was our favourite track of 2010. Cold, eerie, and angry in places - Crystal Castles's continue their assault on listener's ears.


13. Phosphorescent - Here's To Taking It Easy
Not the most likely performer to be based out of New York but Matthew Houck holds up that city's wealth of transplanted talent quite well. Tinges of country mixes in with 70s soft rock. One of the most immediately likeable albums of 2010, Here's to Taking it Easy is a breezy filled joy.

14. Maximum Balloon - Maximum Balloon
Like Bradford Cox from Deerhunter/Atlas Sound, Dave Sitek, the mastermind behind Maximum Balloon, is no stranger to year end lists with his band TV on the Radio and in the producer's chair for bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Maximum Balloon is his first solo album and features both of his band mate singers from TVOTR as well as Karen O from YYY and the Talking Heads' David Byrne. Katrina Ford somewhat steals the show from bigger names with second track "Young Love". While the album does start to fade towards the end, there is still a considerable wealth of interesting music to explore.

15. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
Yet another band who had the task of following up a successful debut, Yeasayer's second album Odd Blood did a fine job way back in the early winter of 2010. The rush of tracks from "The Children" through to "O.N.E" may only have been matched by Beach House in 2010. As we mentioned in our review of the album on Earshot-Online.com, the second half doesn't quite match the greatness of the first half of songs but even so, Odd Blood is still a memorable listen from 2010.