THE 2010 REVIEW
By themilkman
Posted on Dec 19th 2010 08:49 pm
Filed in Albums,Best Of The Year | Tags: Andrea Ferraris, Andrea Serrapiglio, Arandel, Autechre, BJ Nilsen, Chris Abrahams, CocoRosie, David Daniell, Dawn Of Midi, Erik K. Skodvin, Fennesz, Food, K11, Lawrence English, Mains De Givre, Matteo Uggeri, Minamo, Mujika Easel, Pan Sonic, Philippe Petit, Phonophani, Pietro Riparbelli, Rene Hell, Solo Andata, Stian Westerhus, Supersilent, Tony Buck
Comments (7)
As 2010 bows out, it is time to look back on a year that has been rich in new music, some from very well established artists, and some from entirely new comers. Here are themilkfactory’s twenty favourite records of the year, and this year for the first time, this list is augmented with thirty other records that have marked the year.
With no less than four albums in the top 20, the year belonged to Rune Grammofon, and more particularly to Supersilent, who occupy two places, including the top spot. Room40 also place two albums in the twenty best records on 2010, while new imprints Desire Path, Hibernate and Textura also feature with some strong releases.
1.
SUPERSILENT
10
Rune Grammofon
2.
CHRIS ABRAHAMS
Play Scar
Room40
3.
PHONOPHANI
Kreken
Rune Grammofon
4.
STIAN WESTERHUS
Pitch Black Star Spangled
Rune Grammofon
5.
SOLO ANDATA
Ritual
Desire Path Recordings
6.
RENE HELL
Porcelain Opera
Type Recordings
7.
PAN SONIC
Gravitoni
Blast First Petite
8.
FENNESZ DANIELL BUCK
Knoxville
Thrill Jockey
9.
K11/PIETRO RIPARBELLI & PHILIPE PETIT
The Haunting Triptych
Boring Machines
10.
ERIK K. SKODVIN
Flare
Sonic Pieces
11.
COCOROSIE
Grey Oceans
PIAS Recordings
12.
SUPERSILENT
11
Rune Grammofon
13.
MINAMO + LAWRENCE ENGLISH
A Path Less Travelled
Room40
14.
BJ NILSEN
The Invisible City
Touch
15.
ARANDEL
In D
InFiné
16.
FOOD
Quiet Inlet
ECM Records
17.
ANDREA FERRARIS & MATTEO UGGERI WITH MUJIKA EASEL & ANDREA SERRAPIGLIO
Autumn Is Coming, We’re All In Slow Motion
Hibernate Recordings
18.
AUTECHRE
Oversteps
Warp Records
19.
MAINS DE GIVRE
Esther Marie
Textura
20.
DAWN OF MIDI
First
Accretions
… AND 30 MORE ESSENTIAL ALBUMS
21. BENOIT PIOULARD Lasted (Kranky)
22. PHILIPPE PETIT & FRIENDS A Scent Of Garmambrosia (Aagoo Records)
23. K-X-P K-X-P (Smalltown Supersound)
24. CLEM LEEK Holly Lane (Hibernate Recordings)
25. TO ROCOCO ROT Speculation (Domino Recordings Co.)
26. ANDREA MARUTTI/FAUSTO BALBO Detrimental Dialogue (AEF Records/Boring Machines/Fratto9 Under The Sky)
27. TAYLOR DEUPREE Shoals (12K)
28. K11 Metaphonic Portrait: 1230 A.D. (Actual Noise Records)
29. HAUSCHKA Foreign Landscapes (130701/Fat-Cat Records)
30. THE BLACK DOG Music For Real Airports (Soma Recording)
31. CHICAGO UNDERGROUND DUO Boca Negra (Thrill Jockey)
32. LUGANO FELL Slice Repair (Baskaru)
33. TVO/THE VILLAGE ORCHESTRA We Can Remember It For You Wholesale (Broken20)
34. JOANNA NEWSOM Have One On Me (Drag City)
35. ICARUS All Is For The Best In The Best Of All Possible Worlds (Not Applicable)
36. ESKMO Eskmo (Ninja Tune)
37. ROOF LIGHT Kirkwood Gaps (Highpoint Lowlife)
38. NIK BÄRTSCH’S RONIN Llyrìa (ECM Records)
39. ON Something That Has Form And That Does Not (Type Recordings)
40. JÓHANN JÓHANNSSON And In The Endless Pause There Came The Sound Of Bees (Type Recordings)
41. SEELAND How To Live (LoAF)
42. DANÃEL BJARNASON Processions (Bedroom Community)
43. STRIË Sléptis (Soundscaping Records)
44. BILL WELLS & STEFAN SCHNEIDER Pianotapes (Karaoke Kalk)
45. TALVIHORROS Music In Four Movements (Hibernate Recordings)
46. MARCUS FJELLSTRÖM Schattenspieler (Miasmah Recordings)
47. MAX RICHTER Infra (130701/Fat-Cat Records)
48. RJ VALEO Atman (Io Records)
49. RICHARD SKELTON Landings (Type Recordings)
50. BIRD SHOW BAND Bird Show Band (Amish Records)
Filed in Albums,Best Of The Year | Tags: Andrea Ferraris, Andrea Serrapiglio, Arandel, Autechre, BJ Nilsen, Chris Abrahams, CocoRosie, David Daniell, Dawn Of Midi, Erik K. Skodvin, Fennesz, Food, K11, Lawrence English, Mains De Givre, Matteo Uggeri, Minamo, Mujika Easel, Pan Sonic, Philippe Petit, Phonophani, Pietro Riparbelli, Rene Hell, Solo Andata, Stian Westerhus, Supersilent, Tony Buck
Comments (7)
7 Responses to “THE 2010 REVIEW”
A superbly exhaustive list – better than ever. Much of it is new to me, so I’ll have to spend some time scouring through it. I thought the Autechre releases this year were recondite and too consciously difficult to be very enjoyable. It’s good to see Lawrence English getting some long overdue credit this year, and it was good to see Black Dog make a comeback. But no Oneohtrix on your list? I think Returnal was less daring (although more consistent) than the Rifts material, but it’s still a good record to my mind.
But the very diversity of your list, and the number of artists on it I know little about, is in a way a sign of the rich health that electronic music is in at the moment.
Hi Robert, good to hear from you, and thanks for the kind words. Very interesting to read that you thought the Autechre releases were difficult. I think Move Of 10 had possibly a fair bit in common with some of their more complex work (Draft 7.30, Untilted). Oversteps on the other hand was suprisingly simple and musical in many ways I though, and the absence of beats in many of the tracks made it even more so. It’s yet another direction for them, possibly not quite the most interesting they’ve been into, at least so far, but I’m curious to see where they go from here.
I need to catch up on some Oneohtrix stuff I think, that’s kinda passed me by a bit. The more you get to hear stuff, but more you seem to miss, or at least that’s the impression that I get very regularly. I’ve been meaning to check Returnal out though, so thanks for bringing it back to my attention. I’ve been checking out quite a few end of the year lists, and there is definitely plenty for me to discover.
The *only* list I encountered so far mentioning the superb
“Invisible City” by BJ Nilsen. The drawback of releasing an album
in January?
I must admit that I am surprised it hasn’t been included in more end of year lists, including some of my very good friends. Perhaps indeed releasing an album early in the year can make it become less conspicuous.
It is perhaps not an album that I’ve played as much as some others in my list, at least in recent months, but one listen of it when I was going through everything I’d reviewed over the year brought back just how great a record it is.
I’ve actually had to check when it was released to make sure it hadn’t actually come out at the end of last year.
… and I thought I was alone in loving the BJ Nilsen and Phonophani albums. What a great list. One person missing – Bvdub who’s latest album is my favourite of the year.
For me, 2010 was a year of Sonic Pieces. Greg Haines and
Erik K Skodvin topped my year in alternative music as well as two
releases from Serein (Nest and Olan Mill) and Marcus Fjellström’s
debut for Miasmah. I think these three labels have very much in
common: picking artists that operate somewhere between contemporary
classical music, ambient and film music, creating highly
imaginative and rightly dark music. DanÃel Bjarnason’s Processions
and Supersilent’s 10 are awesome records too. I feel that 2010 was
a great year in music. Daring, thoughtful and rich. I hope that
2011 will be as fertile as the one that just ended. Finally, your
list is amazing. It confirms me once again why I love this page and
belong to my top musical references and sources of inspiration.
Thanks for your deep and thoughtful reviews.
Excellent list!!! A lot on here I’ve missed, which makes it even more worthwhile for me to pursue. I agree on your Autechre observations. As for BJ Nilsen – he’s on one of my lists, but I haven’t published it yet ;p … Sonic Pieces definitely had an amazing year, and so did Serein! Thank you for all the great reviews and recommendations of the year. Looking forward to 2011! Always a fan! ~HC