The Best of 2010.
Year end list, six years and counting. To get it out of the way before we start: I have terrible taste and I mainline pop culture. Don't let any of the length explanations below confuse you: I really only just know what I like, and sometimes I'm able to offer some reasons why I do. By no means is anything I say below the be all and end all explanation for why I do or don't like something. It's just something tangible to express the intangible way these things make me feel, for you to understand. Qualifiers, I guess, because I'm concerned with communication, and none of y'all are fucking mind readers or whatever.
- Top Ten Albums 2010
10. Neon Trees - Habits / CATCHY AS FUCK. Is this even a record, or just an EP? Whatever, catchy has never paid off more, and they bring it live, too.
9. Hanson - Shout It Out / What can I say, I'll be a Hanson fan until the day I die. Or when they stop writing such a fucking good pop songs, whichever comes first. I think this record shows a narrower range than The Walk, but it's a very poised, tight sound. I'm missing the feel good moments on the last record. There's no "Georgia" here, no "Been There Before," and that's sad. There's also no edge? No "Great Divide" that made me so excited to hear music from them again. It' still a good pop record, but too much filler, too many forgettable songs.
8. You, Me, & Everyone We Know - Some Things Don't Wash Out / Wish the record was a little stronger, but it's still pretty great. YM&EWK has a very specific feel: sorta pissed off, bursting full of a thirst for life. They're great when they deviate from the typical pop-punk sound, but some of the most formulaic songs on this record are some of the best. EXCEPT THAT TERRIBLE RE-MASTER OF LIVIN' TH' DREAM. WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?
7. Hellogoodye - Would It Kill You? / Unexpectedly good. A total sound rehab from the last record, and Forrest brings an old school sweetness to the entire record. It makes you feel good to listen to, and has infinite deployability. I know, because I once listened to it ten times in a row.
6. My Chemical Romance - Danger Days / Never in a million years would I have imagined listing a My Chem record. Not that they don't do their thing, but I've never been that kind of fan. I've looked at them as more of a novelty, which is unfair. Because this record is fucking good. One of the things I've always admired about My Chem is their face-melting guitar work, and this record doesn't disappoint. There is nothing like coming off a chorus and going into a blistering solo. There's fantastic range: the ballad, the singalong, the shoutalong, the dance track, the totally lose your shit track. There are SO MANY GOOD SONGS on this record that I like it more and more every single time I listen to it. As proof: when I first wrote this list, this was at number nine. Now it's number six.
5. Four Year Strong - Enemy of the World / FYS don't play. If you want to rage, bring your mosh windmills to the breakdowns and RAAAAGE. They bring fun and positivity to the hardcore mentality, and they make it sound good. I don't think it's as strong a record as Rise or Die Trying, but it shows more range.
4. Eric & Magill - All Those I Know / The best record you have never heard of. I can't even remember where I stumbled across this band, maybe some music blog, but I got a free download off their site, and was just floored. Sweet harmonies, sleepy summery soundscapes, and gentle melodies.
3. Steel Train - Steel Train / They get better with every new record. Spirit, joy, and a classic rock and roll sensibility that makes listening to this a true joy. Jack Antonoff's vocals are like a fever.
2. Tokyo Police Club - Champ / Blew me the fuck away. This band's been on my radar for awhile, but the last record didn't really catch my attention, but this. Anthemic, fevered, almost galactic with its riffs and sonic resonance. If Tigers Jaw wasn't so fucking good, this would easily take the number 1 spot.
1. Tigers Jaw / No album named because they re-released one record and released a split EP and a full-length this year, and they are all GOLD. The self-titled re-released is one of the best records I have ever heard in my entire life, and that's not even hyperbole. They're like 2001 Brand New and 2002 Taking Back Sunday had a glorious lovechild and gave it guitars and amps and left me screaming the lyrics in my car. LIE TO ME! LIKE YOU USED TO! TELL ME EVERYTHING IS HOW IT SHOULD BE! Fuck, no record in the last five years has ANYTHING on how fucking amazing the self-titled is. I know the emo whine of the vocals is an acquired taste, but THIS! THIS THIS THIS! No other record has meant more to me this year, has helped me weather storms. Thank you, Tigers Jaw, for existing.
- Honorable Mentions:
Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard / Strong melodies.
Travis McCoy - Lazarus / Wish it was better, but there are some great tracks on here.
Sleigh Bells - Treats / Fresh, sexy, and fun to fake cheerleading practice to.
The Gay Blades - Savages / Waiting for the TGB record that will really pop. Great guys, just waiting for the right record.
Girl Talk - All Day / Mash-ups don't get any more legit than this.
LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening / Not usually my thing, but this is infectious.
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Social Network OST / Instant classic.
Two Door Cinema Club - Tourist History / Good, but not great.
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor / Indie cred.
The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt / Moar indie cred.
- Biggest Letdowns:
Jimmy Eat World - Invented / They haven't released a record I've liked since Bleed American. Even Futures only had a two or three truly great songs. Sorry guys. The string arrangements I heard are devastatingly gorgeous, but they're drowned out on the record's production. There's no beauty, no wonder.
Hottest Tracks:
Neon Trees - Animal / CATCHY!
Click to viewNelly - Just a Dream / If you ever loved somebody, put ya hands up…
Cee Lo Green - Fuck You
Eric & Magill - Grandpa's Pink Wine
Far East Movement - Like a G6
Taio Cruz - Dynamite
Kanye West - Lost In The World / Unexpectedly good. Bon Iver is on this track.
Crystal Castles ft. Robert Smith - Not In Love
Sky Ferreira - One
Lights - My Boots / lol, yes.
The Naked and Famous - Young Blood
B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams - Airplanes
Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are / To be honest, everything Bruno Mars touched this year was gold. Travie, B.o.B, and his own second single. Great vocals on this guy.
Kid Cudi - Pursuit of Happiness (Steve Aoki remix) / The og is okay, but the remix is AMAZING.
Travis McCoy ft. Bruno Mars - Billionaire
Chris Brown - Yeah 3X / The ninja shit in this video is fucking hilarious. I LOVE THIS FUCKING SONG. I like music that makes me feel better just by listening to it, and I don't care if Chris Brown beat Rihanna, this song is still good.
Massive Attack - Paradise Circus / I wrote to this a lot in 2010. I don't think I told anyone that.
- Don't Get The Hype:
The National - High Violet / Those vocals, that sleep indie bullshit. NO.
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs / Not doing it for me.
Eminem - Recovery / I like Eminem when he isn't so srs, and this is so srs bsns it gets tiring. And fuck Rihanna.
- Top Ten Films of 2009:
10. Easy A - I GOTTA POCKET GOTTA POCKET FULL OF SUNSHINE~! Smart writing, and just the right kind of insightful funny that teen comedies so often miss (for a rare exception see: Mean Girls) in favor of parody or slapstick. Emma Stone is fantastic.
9. The Fighter - Christian Bale, you slimy bastard. No matter how hard I try to hate you, you keep giving these astounding performances. Mark Wahlberg is utterly believable, and goddamn that body. That's not movie magic, that's gifted genes pushed to their limit. Amy Adams, who I've never seen in a serious role, is also believable. For an actress that's cute and sweet and Giselle in Enchanted, that's high praise, indeed.
8. Catfish - Chilling, moving. It speaks to anyone who's ever fallen in love on the Internet. Why do people lie? If there's a reason, does it make it okay? Sometimes the simplest questions are the most important, and Catfish addresses them. See it, let it break your heart, let it make you feel uncomfortable.
7. The Town - I am so weak for this goddamn Boston accent, for the soft-hearted tough guy trying to make good. Ben Affleck isn't my type at all, but something in his performance grabs at your heart. AND SERENA VAN DER WOODSEN! She was fantastically sleazy, spread legged and Oxy'd up. Predictable plotting, but that just gives the actors elbow room to blow the audience away.
6. Kick-Ass - Pushes the envelope and doesn't give a fuck that it does. I laughed hard, cheered hard, and had a good time. Was Nicholas Cage weird? Yes, but that's ok.
5. Inception - Nolan makes good films, that's non-arguable, but that might also be his downfall, and it's certainly why this film doesn't list higher. Inception has a fantastic mythos, and I like the world (and the dreams) it inhabits, but it feels directed with a hand that's so strict that it forgets to have fun. The beauty of even the most interesting looking scenes are muted by severity. It's too heavy-handed to be that great… and that doesn't taken into account its most glaring flaw: the film's catalyst is its plot. For me, this is the quickest way to be forgotten. Without characters to give a damn about, a movie is all technique and the hangings of a director's imagination. Nolan's is a fine imagination, and the acting is good, but who cares? The characters are all pawns on Nolan's board, they are all the things he uses to tell the story he wants with his strict, obsessive narrative. Even Leo, who is such a fine actor, is just a pawn. The only character I found worthwhile, the only one who didn't fit into a role (The Extractor, The Point Man--these are all great for the mythos, but each character has fallen into the static trap of being named, of being labeled), was Mal. Tragic, vengeful, and always always beautiful, Marion Cotillard brings the film much needed warmth and spontaneity. Ironic, considering her character is dead. Too severe for its own good, but still a good film. I wish the ensemble was better, wish the characters were more than pawns for the plot, because this could've been a great, classic films. Alas.
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows pt. 1 - Typically I list HP movies as a matter of obligation, but this is the first HP film that I've found, even without upholding the mantle of the entire series, a genuinely well-executed film. The acting is spot on, the writing isn't as cringe-worthy as it's been in the past, and that one scene with Harry and Hermione dancing will forever, forever, forever be etched onto my heart. The entire film is shot bleak and unforgiving--a treatment that translates clearly the cold and cruel beauty that the final book deserves.
2. Black Swan - Yes, there's a tie for second place. Aronofsky has the cinematic midas touch (for proof: he produced 2010's The Figher, also listed here). He has discerning taste, and that means all his films must reach a certain standard, and this film does it with the first scene alone. Natalie Portman is annoying and unlikeable and frail and stupid and repressed and gives a fantastic, backbreaking performance. The film is casted perfectly, acted passionately, and balances on the precipice between reality and fantasy as precariously as a ballerina performing a pirouette.
2. Never Let Me Go - Horrendously moving, beautifully acted, and the look of the film speaks to every aesthetic level that exists, addressing each one delicately and with a care that's akin to, instead of creating something from within a space, enhancing what already exists in that space and drawing it to the reader's eye--a careful softening, blurring, and sharpening. Carey Mulligan is, as always, astounding. She draws the eye, not because she's beautiful or anything, but because there is something in her that demands your attention. Or, at least, it demands mine.
1. The Social Network - The opening five minutes of this film are PURE GENIUS. And then, the rest of the entire fucking film follows suit. Writing: GOLD. Acting: GOLD. Soundtrack: GOLD. Directing: FUCKING GOLD! I LOVE YOU, DAVID FINCHER! NEVER STOP MAKING FILMS! Everyone who is putting off seeing this because it's the "Facebook movie, how fucking stupid" is a true retard. It's the kind of film that forever leaves an imprint on the face of cinema, it's that good.
- Honorable Mentions:
Despicable Me - HE'S SO FLUFFY I'M GUNNA DIE! Smart writing, clean animating. Steve Carell's voice is auto lolz.
Alice in Wonderland - I went in expecting to be bored, but the film surprised me. The girl playing Alice was very watchable, though I can't say much for Depp's Hatter--something about the creepy pedophiliac nutcase vibe rubs me the wrong way.
TRON: Legacy - Listed probably solely for the performance of Garret Hedlund. I haven't liked him in any films previously, but he was fantastic in this.
Let Me In - Not quite the original, but I don't think it's bad for what it is. It's hard to make a bad film when your source code is already so fantastic. Should they have remade the film in the first place? No.
Shutter Island - Chilling, fantastic acting. I have a weakness for Scorsese.
- Biggest Film Disappointments:
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World - Edgar Wright is typically fantastic, and while I do think the film is funny, it's definitely not as funny as I expected. My expectations were not met, and I realize that's a fault of my own and not the film's, but this is my list so fuck you.
Love and Other Drugs - SO DISAPPOINTED! I instantly fell in love with the trailer, and I can't stand Hathaway or Gyllenhaal as actors, but the film was so… devoid of real spark, almost. I mean it was watchable, but it didn't quite breach its romantic comedy medium. I thought it would have some guts, and it had some, but not enough.
- Films I Didn't Make It To, But Might Have Listed:
127 Hours
Somewhere
Blue Valentine
Winter's Bone
Toy Story 3
I also read nineteen books in 2010! Not even half as many as I did in 2008 (like 68? 70?), but a vast improvement over the mere four books I read in 2009. Being out of college and having weird work hours (for the first part of the year I worked two jobs, one of them full-time, and now I work over 60 hours a week) subtracts the time necessary for the endless book reading I used to do. It's easy to see why people get stupider after they leave school. I did read a lot of fanfic, as always, but I'm a firm proponent of that Not Counting. I read so much YA this year, and I loved every fucking minute of it. For a list (and reviews!), you can check out my lame joint tumblr account with my good friend: http://fourrightchords.tumblr.com/.
So there's that. 2010 was fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. Full of life changes and life affirmations and love and good friends. Yes, and bad ones, but that's how it goes. I finished A Lesser Beauty, watched more anime than I have in my entire life, devoured San Francisco with my kid sister, moved away from my city love, scored my dream job, and am becoming, becoming, becoming. I have never been more sure of exactly who I am and exactly what I want, and I've never been more prepared to get it. I am imperfect, my chemistry is out to get me, but that's just how it goes. I'm still here, and I will remain here.
It's three days into 2011, and it's already one of the best years of my entire life. I hope the rest of the year gets the memo.