Albums of the year: 50-41

Hey. It’s finally time for my Albums of the year. Enjoy!

(Note: You may have noticed the lack of posts lately. The reason: I got the flu some days ago. Today I’m feeling slightly better, but no new blog posts until I recover. See you soon.)

50. Twin Tigers – Gray Waves
49. Andreya Triana – Lost Where I Belong
48. Y La Bamba – Lupon
47. Anna von Hausswolff – Singing From The Grave
46. Matthew Dear – Black City
45. Sleigh Bells – Treats
44. Klaus & Kinski – Tierra, Trágalos
43. Lower Dens – Twin-Hand Movement
42. Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
41. The Walkmen – Lisbon

Best Album Covers of 2010: part 2

Howdy folks. It’s time for my top four album covers of 2010 (part 1: here). See you in a couple of days. Merry Christmas!

(Note: Part one of my top50 albums of the year will be posted on Sunday if I manage to get myself safely back home from my Christmas adventures.)

(Maybe I long for the summer…)

4.

Air Waves – Dungeon Dots

3.

The Morning Benders – Big Echo

2.

Agnes Obel – Philharmonics

1.

S. Carey – All We Grow

Best Album Covers of 2010: part 1

Hey there. This is the first part featuring my favourite album covers of 2010*. My top four selected album covers will be presented tomorrow, which means that the covers below all share fifth place so to speak. Enjoy!

(*To make my task easier, I decided to only consider albums I had previously written about this year.)

Matthew Dear – Black City
Philip Jeck – An Ark For the Listener
Tomas Andersson Wij – Spår
Pantha du Prince – Black Noise
Nazca – Out

Air Waves – Dungeon Dots

Good evening. The fantastic new album by Air Waves was added to the Spotify library a couple of weeks ago. Genre: folk/surf-rock. Read this review and enjoy!

Air Waves – Dungeon Dots

20. Top Of The Pops

Hi. This is the last part of the 2010 Mega Project. As you can see in the project’s playlist, only one album has been removed. 99 albums remain for you to explore. Enjoy!

(Note: Spotinews schedule. Dec 21-22: Best Album Covers of 2010. Dec 25-29: Spotinews Top 50 Albums and Top 20 Tracks of the Year. That’s it folks!)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. “This four track EP has the overall feel of floating through the ocean with a giant smile on your face.” (review)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – Horse Power EP

Las Robertas. Genre: garage/noise pop. Go Costa Rica!

Las Robertas – Cry Out Loud

Math and Physics Club. “While some may seek some sort of artistic virtuosity, it is often the band’s like Math and Physics Club that make the most delicious records. They’re not trying to win any awards, they just want you to enjoy great pop tunes, and on that basis alone, this record is a huge success.” (review)

Math and Physics Club – I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do

Transmittens. Genre: twee pop. Now they are Seapony.

Transmittens – Snow Day

19. A Different World

Hey there. Today I bring you some odds and ends from my forgotten albums. The 2010 Mega Project is almost over. The last update will happen tomorrow. Enjoy!

(Note: To present five of these six artists I give you the top three last.fm tags. Just remember that you can’t really trust all the tags all of the time. Most of the time they are just fine though.)

(Note #2: The easiest way to quickly get an idea of how these artists sound would be to subscribe to the 2010 Mega Project playlist.)

Aboombong. Experimental, drone, noise.

Aboombong – Asynchronic

Adebisi Shank. Math rock, experimental, instrumental.

Adebisi Shank – This is the second album of a band called Adebisi Shank

Heavy Hawaii. Surf, psychedelic, goth.

Heavy Hawaii – HH

Juliette Commagère. The tags were not that good here. She is a pop singer-songwriter.

Juliette Commagère – The Procession

Triángulo De Amor Bizarro. Indie, indie rock, shoegaze.

Triángulo De Amor Bizarro – Año Santo

Tweak Bird. Stoner rock, psychedelic, psychedelic rock.

Tweak Bird – Tweak Bird

18. Just Dreams

Hello. This is part 18 of the 2010 Mega Project. Enjoy!

(Note: Today I noticed that I just had 99 selected albums. In order to solve that problem the Miko album was added to this theme.)

Clem Leek. Genre: ambient. “From the opening clock chime to the closing string cadence, “Holly Lane” is soaked in atmosphere and emotion; be it despair, fear, love or confusion, it’s all here on this album.” (review)

Clem Leek – Holly Lane

Fredrik. Genre: ambient/electronic/folk. “Trilogi, a collection of three limited-edition EPs doubling as a sophomore LP, has a sneaky, consistent sound that’s immediate and yet full of surprises.” (review)

Fredrik – Trilogi

Houses. Genre: chillwave/electronic. “This is a lovestruck, tender debut, shrouded in optimism and dying to get intimate.” (review)

Houses – All Night

Miko. Genre: singer-songwriter/experimental pop. “Sophomore album Chandelier, like Kosemura’s excellent Polaroid Piano from last year, takes a turn toward the organic. The result shapes restrained, homespun instrumentation into something at once quaint and futuristic.” (review)

Miko – Chandelier

Noveller. Genre: experimental/ambient. “Desert Fires is Lipstate’s most diverse effort yet, while also being her most quiet. It maintains an equal balance of both variety and cohesion; each track goes through changes, but just enough to ease smoothly into the next.” (review)

Noveller – Desert Fires

Solar Bears. Genre: electronic/shoegaze. “Listening to “Coloured” is not unlike being a child and looking into kaleidoscope with sounds acting as a replacement for colors. There’s all those tiny loops and effects, that, when put together, create those terrific little compositions.” (review)

Solar Bears – She Was Coloured In

17. Folk Folk Folk

Hey. The 2010 Mega Project is soon going to end. After this folk update we only have three more parts to go. Time flies. Enjoy!

Dark Dark Dark. “An emotional outpouring from its opening bars, Bright Bright Bright’s poignant contrasts and haunting revelations seek to soothe the pangs of regret, remorse and rejection that streak this wrenching saga.” (review)

Dark Dark Dark – Bright Bright Bright

Futurebirds. “Though it certainly has some down home hard drinkin’ sass, Futurebirds’ sound is also painstakingly crafted and considerably dense. Pedal steel laps up against banjo, piano, mandolin and psychedelic guitar – and the mile wide reverb blends everything into a weighty alt-country sound that evokes a meeting of early My Morning Jacket and Uncle Tupelo.” (review)

Futurebirds – Hampton’s Lullaby

Los Mil Jinetes. “Reconoceronte is a major accomplishment, brave, catchy and simply beautiful.” (review)

Los Mil Jinetes – Reconoceronte

Peggy Sue. “Like the mythical sirens, Rosa Slade and Katy Young – the London-born, Brighton-based frontwomen of Peggy Sue – sing with a lilting sweetness that is wholly deceptive, belying the undercurrent of fury in their lyrics, the agitations of their music.” (review)

Peggy Sue – Fossils And Other Phantoms

Smoke Fairies. “Through Low Light And Trees is a beautifully crafted, rewarding album. Refined, enchanting, unworldly and heavily atmospheric, it’s everything the work of Fairies should be.” (review)

Smoke Fairies – Through Low Light And Trees

16. Even More Degrees Of Rock

Howdy. It’s time for another rock update in the 2010 Mega Project. Many of these selections should be familiar to you already, but they are still great. Also, don’t forget to check out the 2010 Mega Project playlist. Enjoy!

Quest For Fire. “The band once again delve into eight lengthy jams on their new album, which covers a bit of classic rock, ‘60’s inspired psychedelic rock, stoner grooves and a bit of progressive pop, all of which results in a truly captivating album.” (review)

Quest For Fire – Lights From Paradise

The Strange Death Of Liberal England. “Not the sweetest record of the year, probably not the most challenging, but certainly the most affecting. Drown Your Heart Again is beguiling, troubling even and leaves me, to some degree, concerned for its creator.” (review)

The Strange Death Of Liberal England – Drown Your Heart Again

Surf City. “In Kudos, Surf City have engineered a rare double: a debut album that’s both timeless, and out-of-time. There’s only one word for it, but they’ve already taken it for their album title.” (review)

Surf City – Kudos

Twin Tigers. “This record moves back and forth between several musical spectrums, often times within the same song; in following this formula the group has constructed one of the most creative straight-ahead rock records in recent memory.” (review)

Twin Tigers – Gray Waves

Voice of The Seven Thunders. “Voice of the Seven Thunders is a fine album, one which retains all manner of mystery even after repeated listens.” (review)

Voice of The Seven Thunders – Voice of The Seven Thunders

15. Sway

Evening. This is day 15 of the 2010 Mega Project. Enjoy!

The dreamy chillwave of Blue Hawaii is yet another Canadian wonder. Some Swedish listeners may sadly come to think of this song when they observe the band name.

Blue Hawaii – Blooming Summer

When I was a teenager I had dominant legs, but that’s all I’m going to share. If you want to hear some delicate modern pop tunes – with retro synth sounds, diverse drums and gorgeous harmonies – this EP by Dominant Legs is a must.

Dominant Legs – Young at Love and Life

This release by Fops is a solid electro-kraut-pop album that I like quite a bit.

Fops – Yeth Yeth Yeth

From the rave/rock scene in Puerto Rico in the early 2000s to trendy Brooklyn in 2010. The music of Kordan is a sensational mix of post-punk, shoegaze and electro-pop.

Kordan – The Longing

Nite Jewel, aka Ramona Gonzalez, has a very bright future ahead of her. Instead of describing her music I give you the top five last.fm tags: electronic, avant-garde, indie, synth, new weird america. Not bad!

Nite Jewel – Am I Real? EP

True Womanhood, the band, is not that easy to categorize. Should it be “experimental art pop meets dream rock” or perhaps “experimental art rock meets dream pop”? I’m not sure, but I like the music.

True Womanhood – Basement Membranes