Kevin’s Top EPs and Cassettes of 2010

So to get things on the roll, I decided to start these end of the year lists off with the Top EPs and Cassettes of 2010. It was going to just be EPs, but I realized I had nowhere to put all of the good jams I heard through my newly purchased tape deck.

10. Gorillaz – iTunes Sessions

Damon Albarn had a pretty kicking year. He made an album that’s made mostly everyone’s end of the year lists, and to top it off he’s made basically a live best of compilation, filled with classics like “Clint Eastwood” and “Feel Good, Inc”

9. Active Child – Curtis Lane

We heard lots of changes on this wonderful little EP. Slower, more dense tracks and  quicker, and dancier ones with influences coming from groups like M83 and New Order, it made for one of the more eclectic releases of the year.

8. Twin Sister – Color Your Life

Twin Sister’s songs are gleaming with romance and again, dense feelings. They have this sort of overwhelming power to them that makes you want them to keep going and develop more.

7. Raindeer – Raindeer EP

Filled with elements of Prog Rock, Dance music, and pop music, Raindeer seemed to take a wide collection of music, and make it into one incredibly awesome cohesive album.

6. Highlife – Best Bless

When I first saw Highlife at Floristree before Deakin, it was an incredibly peppy solo acoustic show, but when you add on all of the African highlife (get it?) drums and claps on the albums, it adds a whole new element.

5. Winks – Winks

Chase O’Hara’s effort with Winks was incredibly lo-fi. Like, recorded on a karaoke machine lo-fi. And yet, with its ‘80s cop movie glam, it creates this epic, almost aura like sound that is simply amazing.

4. Sufjan Stevens – All Delighted People

It was probably my surprise of the year, Sufjan’s comeback. And he started it off by saying things weren’t going to be as familiar as they once were. The titular first track slowly goes from a traditional, softer Sufjan song into an intense, glitch-filled jam, and the rest of it continues in the pattern.

3. INEVERYROOM – INEVERYROOM

It’s been about two years since Merriweather Post Pavilion and we are still hearing its influences, especially on the cassette from Baltimore act INEVERYROOM. It combines wonderful arpeggiated synths with intense tribal drumming and great vocals from Chase O’Hara

2. Girls – Broken Dreams Club

Heartbreak is Girls. It’s really all the band is about; heart-wrenchingly sad lyrics. But that would get old after a while, so Christopher Owens and the rest of the group added some wonderful horns, steel guitar, and shoegaze elements to this 6 song set.

1. Double Dagger – Masks

This is hands down the best thing to ever come out of Baltimore, at least so far. All of the tracks are literally the best that the local trio have assembled. From the screams of “Pillow Talk” to the almost abrasive instrumental of “Song for S” it covers everything I love about the group.

-Kevin

Deakin, Highlife, Weyes Blood and Jason Urick at Floristree

Back on Friday I headed down to Baltimore to see a little last minute show at the beloved Floristree. The only thing I really needed to know is that Deakin was playing, who I’ve seen 4 previous times this year [new record!], but add in Jason Urick in his last show as a resident of Charm City, and I was set.

Jason Urick set up his Mac Book to the right of the stage, and started his layers of digital feedback and delay. It seemed more special then usual, knowing the long-time resident and iconoclast for the Baltimore music scene wouldn’t be playing as a resident for a long time [he’s headed off to an Asian tour and settling down in Oregon]. His beautiful drone kept going for 45 minutes without any interruption at all. He’ll truly be missed here in Baltimore.

Next, some acts that I wasn’t really familiar with took the stage. Weyes Blood, the solo project of ex-Jackie-O Motherfucker bass player Natalie Mering came on with a keyboard and a guitar. It was like a moodier Beach House if that is even possible. The keyboard came swirling out of the speaker with simple chord progressions overtop, and a voice like… well… Victoria Legrand. The lyrics were dark and melancholic, and just as soon as it began, it was over. I hope to be hearing more from her in the next few months.

Highlife came on next. I had been familiar with the name prior to this, and had expected something of a Ghanian highlife sound from him. And as far as guitar went, this is sort of what we got, but without the heavy drum part that flourished on his Best Bliss EP, it seemed sort of freak folk-ish. Vocally, David Gray came to mind, although I’m sure he wouldn’t particularly appreciate me saying that [kudos to Brandon for that]. His fairly short set seemed to be cascaded with songs about heartbreak and loss, however the guitar part added this sense of happiness to it. Handclapping in wonderful little beats wouldn’t really seem out of place.

Finally, Deakin set up his samplers, guitar, et cetera, but this time was different from the previous experiences as he had added someone to help him with drum beats [someone from Gang Gang Dance apparently]. At first these beats seemed out of place in the first song, which has evolved greatly since the first time I had seen him to a more droney, pitch shifted song. The percussion was out of this world by the end of it, probably in the most literal sense possible. Literally, I had never heard any sort of sounds like those, which is sort of what made it out of place. That and it had this sort of delay effect to it, which bothered me for some reason. Eventually these beats came into pace, and filled in greatly with Deakin’s angry, psychedelic sound. One thing I noticed is that Josh is now completely comfortable with his vocals and melody, which he seemed to have some major issues with previous times.

Overall it was a fun night, but lasted a bit long, causing me to leave about 10 minutes before Deakin ended his set, which is a little unfortunate, but hey, its the 6th time I’ve seen him, and probably not the last.

-Kevin