2010 artist favorites

Favourite new record:
Sufjan Stevens, All Delighted People

Favourite reissue:
Dolly Mixture, Everything and More

Favourite old record:
Nico, The Marble Index

Favourite show:
Hot Club of Cowtown, the Cellar, Oxford

Favourite film:
A Single Man

Best book I read:
W. G. Sebald, Austerlitz

Albums:
Allo Darlin’ – Allo Darlin’
The Drums – The Drums
Darren Hanlon – I Will Love You At All
Bubblegum Lemonade – Sophomore Release

Songs:
Zorbing – Stornoway
Kiss Your Lips – Allo Darlin’
Fifteen – Standard Fare
Book of Stories – The Drums
Out of Sight – Electric Pop Group
Life Returns to Normal – Northern Portrait
Caroline’s Radio – Bubblegum Lemonade
Dreaming – Seapony

Other favorites:
True Blood
Glee
Lost
Avatar Special Edition 3-D
Social Network
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows
Molly Moon’s Ice Cream

Songs:
Goodbye England – Laura Marling
Darling Please Come Home – Math and Physics Club
Suicide Girl – Belle and Sebastian
Stills – God Help The Girl
Bad scene, everybody’s fault – Jawbreaker

Albums:
Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Taken By Trees – East of Eden
Jawbreaker – Dear You
Rumer – Seasons of My Soul
God Help the Girl – Stills EP
Belle and Sebastian – Write About Love
The Pixies – Doolittle

Books:
Wrestling with the angel A life of Janet Frame – Michael King
Faces in the Water – Janet Frame

Gigs:
Belle and Sebastian at the Barrowlands in Glasgow
The Power Cut Choir at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow
Playing with The Specific Heats at the Forrest Cafe in Edinburgh

Films:
Red Door
Babel
Juno
A mighty heart

Other stuff:
Collaborating with Jeremy Jensen and Jake Hite from The Very Most to release downloadable ep on Eardrum Records. This included a cover of ‘Darling Please Come Home’ by Math and Physics Club. I’m looking forward to more musical collaborations with Jeremy in 2011. Hopefully this year will see the recording and release of some more Hermit Crabs songs.

Lots of reissues of note this year; Obviously the el records Blueboy re release schedule was a peak – the fine people at Cherry Red did a fine job and I was proud to play a very small part in the process of gathering memorabilia for the sleevenotes. This was around the same time as the well worth revisiting Harvey Williams re release and the excellent Razorcuts reissues. The year of reissues ended well with Volwert Records Laughing Apple / Biff Bang Pow! singles collection. Truly a great nostalgia fest.

Other great CDs this year included The Drums (my overall favourite debut album for many many years), Trembling Blue Stars, The Clientele, Teenage Fanclub, Kings of Convenience, The Orchids, El Perro Del Mar, and Belle and Sebastian. Honorable mentions also to the Radio Dept. and Club 8.

Favourites anno MMX (in no particular order)

Gigs:
Chris Isaak, Copenhagen
Pooh Sticks, Indietracks
Wedding Present, Copenhagen
Tender Trap, Indietracks
The Electric Pop Group, Hamburg

Records:
Seconds, The Electric Pop Group
I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do, Math and Physics Club
Dansette Dansette, Tender Trap
Sophomore Release, Bubblegum Lemonade
-apart from those lovely records I have mainly been listening to old stuff this year.

Films:
I suppose ’A Single Man’ was one of them

Restaurants:
For lunch in Copenhagen ’Fremtiden’ is still quite a nice place, but let me recommend ’Lumskebugten’, ’Told&Snaps’ and ’Toldbod Bodega’ too.

And sorry for probably forgetting some obvious ones.

I didn’t think that 2010 could top 2009, but it did. I’ve gone crazy for Best Coast, had a passion for Liechtenstein and been cured by the Vaccines. Roll on 2011.

If you have Spotify, you can hear most of them here.

So my favourites of 2010 (in no particular order):
Liechtenstein – Passion For Water
Edwyn Collins – Losing Sleep
Caribou – Odessa
Best Coast – Boyfriend
Emmy The Great – Edward Is Deadward
Sufjan Stevens – Chicago
School Of Seven Bells – Windstorm
Caribou – Sun
Surfer Blood – Floating Vibes
Divine Comedy – I Like
The Electric Pop Group – Out Of Sight
Beach House – Lover Of Mine
Lonely Drifter Karen – Show Us Your Colours
Male Bonding – Weird Feeling
Summer Camp – Round The Moon
Holly F**k – Lovely Allen
Math And Physics Club – Jimmy Had A Polaroid
Cloud Nothings – Old Street
Best Coast – Crazy For You
The Hundred In The Hand – Pigeons
Ben Folds / Nick Hornby – From Above
School Of Seven Bells – ILU
Northern Portrait – Life Returns To Normal
Let’s Wrestle – We Are The Men You’ll Grow To Love Soon
John Grant And Midlake – I Wanna Go To Marz
Twin Sister – All Around And Away We Go
Pale Sunday – Shooting Star
Warpaint – Undertow
Frankie Rose And The Outs – Girlfriend Island
Slow Club – Given Up On Love
The Vaccines – Wreckin’ Bar (Ra Ra Ra)
Tame Impala – Lucidity
Gruff Rhys – Shark Ridden Waters
Badly Drawn Boy – Too Many Miracles
Belle And Sebastian – Write About Love
Chemical Brothers – Swoon

Fave albums

The Ancients — 2
Jonathan Richman — O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth
Key Losers — Adjust
Personal & the Pizzas — Raw Pie
Math & Physics Club — I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do
Television Personalities — A Memory is Better Than Nothing
Darren Hanlon — I Will Love You At All
Love Is All — Two Thousand and Ten Injuries
Beach House — Teen Dream

Fave singles

Milk Teddy — Going to Sri Lanka
Crystal Stilts — Shake the Shackles

Fave eBay purchase — 1962 Guild Jetstar guitar. HOT!

Favorite songs not released on Matinée in 2010:

Bart & Friends – These Words Are Too Small (Lost & Lonesome)
The Drums – I Felt Stupid (Moshi Moshi)
The School – Tell Me (Elefant)
Tracey Thorn – Oh, The Divorces! (Merge)
The Radio Dept. – Never Follow Suit (Labrador)
Catwalk – (Please) Don’t Break Me (Captured Tracks)
Blur – Fool’s Day (Parlophone)
The Drums – Best Friend (Island)
Belle and Sebastian – I Want The World To Stop (Rough Trade)
Summer Fiction – Chandeliers (self released)
Baffin Island – You Make Two Weeks Two Days (Eardrums Pop)

Other highlights of the year:
Finally getting the complete Arts & Architecture reprint
Cats on Fire / Math and Physics Club at San Francisco Popfest
More being a kid again at Legoland

EPs
1. Manatee — Indecision — Slumberland
2. Sourpatch — Mira Mija EP — Happy Happy Birthday To Me
3. Sweater Girls — Pretty When You Smile — Happy Happy Birthday To Me
4. Onward Chariots — New Adventures In Pop EP — Elefant
5. Gold-Bears — Tally — Magic Marker
6. Bubblegum Lemonade — Caroline’s Radio — Matinee
7. Gray Goods — Color Divide — Acapulco Gold
8. Various — How / Boyracer — 555
9. Summer Cats — Your Timetable — Slumberland
10. Sweater Girls — Do The Sweater — Happy Happy Birthday To Me
11. Various — Golden Triangle / Fresh & Onlys — Hardly Art
12. Liechtenstein — Passion For Water — Fraction
13. Northern Portrait — Life Returns To Normal — Matinee
14. World Atlas — World Atlas — Magic Marker
15. Cafeteria Dance Fever — Where’s My Bleach? EP — Hovercraft
16. Transmittens — We Disappear — Wee Pop
17. My Teenage Stride — Creep Academy — Flea Circus
18. Besties — Terrible And True — Art Of The Underground
19. International Waters — Flashes — no label
20. Various — Dude Japan / Weed Hounds — Rok Lok

LPs
1. Superchunk — Majesty Shredding — Merge
2. Unnatural Helpers — Cracked Love & Other Drugs — Hardly Art
3. Math And Physics Club — I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do — Matinee
4. Orca Team — Let It Go — no label
5. Magic Kids — Memphis — True Panther
6. Tours — Album Of The Year…(That Never Was) — Cherry Red
7. Pangea — Pangea — Lost Sound
8. Soft Pack — Soft Pack — Kemado
9. Jaill — That’s How We Burn — Sub Pop
10. Electric Pop Group — Seconds — Matinee
11. Male Bonding — Nothing Hurts — Sub Pop
12. Teenage Fanclub — Shadows — Merge
13. Standard Fare — The Noyelle Beat — Bar/None
14. Swiss Dots — Glaciers — Vinahyde
15. Cats On Fire — Dealing In Antiques — Matinee
16. School — Loveless Unbeliever — Elefant
17. Bubblegum Lemonade — Sophomore Release — Matinee
18. Thermals — Personal Life — Kill Rock Stars
19. One Happy Island — One Happy Island — Odd Box
20. Der Englische Garten — Der Englische Garten — Firestation

Honorable mentions:
Gazatteers — We Are Here — Jigsaw (and all the other Jigsaw releases, of course!)
Dolly Mixture — Everything And More — no label
Thrush Hermit — The Complete Recordings — New Scotland