List: Most Memorable Shows of 2010

(Reposted from the End of 2010 Lists)
These six shows are the ones that will stick with me; the ones most deeply etched, the ones the crawled in the farthest and wrapped themselves around the wiring.

Owen Pallett @ The Lincoln Alexander Theatre, February 27
"As you watch him build, construct, and compile the bold threads of each layered composition, there's a sense of awe and wonder. You want to crawl inside his head and see the parts; watch the delicate machinery of his classical mind as the string lines, percussion and vocals are choreographed into a fervent swelling existence."
[http://livemusicproject.blogspot.com/2010/03/show-29-february-27-2010-owen-pallett.html]

Fucked Up @ The Opera House,
February 26
"It felt as though 9,999 of the 10,000 watts in The Opera House were slowly being pumped into the atmosphere. You felt it more and more in your body. It swelled and grew in your gut. Bodies continued flying from the stage, some hitting the hands of waiting caregivers, others hitting with clenched jaws and pained expressions."
[http://livemusicproject.blogspot.com/2010/02/show-28-february-26-2010-fucked-up.html]

Titus Andronicus @ Sneeky Dee's,
April 9
"I found myself moving in pulses, holding firm to the speaker as the intermittent waves from the pit sent me sideways and over it. I held my ground in a small pocket of us who wanted to enjoy, and bask in the incandescent flow."
[http://livemusicproject.blogspot.com/2010/04/show-42-april-9-2010-titus-andronicus.html]

Frightened Rabbit @ The Opera House, May 4

"We beam as Hutchison steps forward of the monitors and unplugs his guitar, leaves the mic behind and with a chorus of kindred, sings soft "oohs" aside lyrics of memory and loss. It's our soundtrack, but his life."

[http://livemusicproject.blogspot.com/2010/05/show-45-may-4-2010-frightened-rabbit.html]

Bass Lions @ 30 Garfield,
November 13
"Faces close together, expectant, as you’re bathed in the simultaneous sound, unable to turn away as you look for signs of connection. It’s intimate and stripping but strengthens and emboldens our desire."
[http://livemusicproject.blogspot.com/2010/11/live-review-bass-lions-and-monster-show.html]

Ra Ra Riot @ The Mod Club,
December 1
"The songs bruise hearts as ripe peaches, plucked at their peak, gentle pressure softening an unrecoverable small portion. Pangs, pains, furrowed expressions, elation and reminiscence as my hand clutched across to my shoulder or beat in perfect synch against my chest."

[http://livemusicproject.blogspot.com/2010/12/show-74-on-my-heels-ra-ra-riot-mod-club.html]

List: Top 8 Albums of 2010

2010 was a fantastic year. Here's the soundtrack (in no particular order)....

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Fol Chen
Pt. II: The New December
(Asthmatic Kitty, July 6)

"There's a monument that they say they'll build to the way things were. But we can't return." The apocolypse has come. Fol Chen holds our hand through the new world - ashen and acidic - they, the insurgents railing against the authority. It's Les Mis in the wastelands. A virus has been unleashed in The New December. It consumes words and sounds - syllables and notes skitter and jerk across the songs as the instrumentation bends and twists. Small moments lend to the grand imagery; a march, a quiet acoustic guitar and a reminiscently French folk melody, a dirge welcoming the green daylight through clouds on a broken path, parties in the underground. This album is a work of narrative art and the songs find strength through pure pop and funk dressed in the patina of a crumbling world.

Also Listed: Top 25 Tracks of 2010 - #10 "The Holograms"
More Info: http://asthmatickitty.com/musicians.php?artistID=27
Album Review(s): http://www.metacritic.com/music/part-ii-the-new-december/fol-chen
For Example...


And then...

List: Top 25 Tracks of 2010

Hit up the hit counter. Spun most frequently in the year that was, though not always of it...

*This is how it goes: "Track" - Artist (Play Count) from Album [link to review] (Year of Release) - "Lyrics."

1. "Do You Remember" - Ra Ra Riot (95) from The Orchard (2010) - "Do you remember what you said to me then, under the oak trees with their leaves withering..."
2. "Ransom The Sunset" - Bass Lions (59) from More Than Islands (2007) - "So watch for me in the east, I'll be coming 'round again between the earth and the heavens."
3. "Fish In A Womb" - The Faint (43) from Fasciinatiion (2008) - "That slice in my neck, it's oozing jelly clear as glass. Between my finger and my thumb, it'll stretch for inches between them both."
4. "Bang Bang Bang" - Mark Ronson and The Business Intl. ft. Q-Tip (41) from Record Collection (2010) - "You live the shitty life we live the bomb-bomb vie. Hotter than your boudoir we rock the TV."
5. "How To Bicycle Home From Downtown..." - The Monster Show (41) from And In Our Final Days As Archipelago (2009) - "Put on your red flashing tail-light, brake only with your right hand. Carry the records in a recycled white grocery bag with your left."
   
   
   

Download: Germany, Germany "New Year"

After several free EPs, and this year's brilliant Radiowaves, the generosity of Drew Harris with his art continues. A two track pack of digital bliss is up on the Distorted Disco site for the freeness. The pulsing acceleration of the single "New Year" and a re-up of the already phenomenal sounds of Death Cab for Cutie's "The New Year" ache for a bleary eyed 2011 morning, remembering the year that passed in smiling, broken fragments through thin morning light.

Head to: http://distorteddisco.com/releases/artist/germanygermany to download it now.

Happy New Year people.