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.