It seems like yesterday that Julian Casablancas first stepped onto the scene, straggly hair and denim jacket, forever changing the music scene with the Strokes’ first (and flawless) album Is This It? That was August 2001, and somehow in a vacuum of time we have found ourselves on the cusp of 2011.

A decade has passed and we have yet to experience an album with the same degree of musical brilliance and unintentional awesome-ness since “Is This It?” blew out our speakers for the first time. However, music has never been quite the same. The past few years have opened the door of anything-goes, allowing for musical experimentation that defines our generation with bands like Passion Pit, Grizzly Bear, Yeasayer and Animal Collective.

2010, however, hasn’t necessarily been trademarked by the new-ageness (no that’s not a word) that you might have expected when music underwent such a swift revolution in the past decade. Rather, 2010 burst to the scene a slew of throwback bands that seem to fumble to recall the lost memories of our preceding generations, attempting to replicate sounds of the ‘60’s, ‘70s and most profoundly—the ‘80s. Lo-fi synth bands likes Wavves and Neon Indian dominated the scene—Wavves with its sophomore album King of The Beach and Neon Indian with its debut Psychic Chasms.

The indie world shared in the guilty pleasure of folk bands such as Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ Up From Below and Delta Spirit’s History From Below. I don’t know exactly what it is that lies “below” that drives these bands but whatever it is….it’s working.

I could continue writing about the past 365 days worth of music, but in that case I might as well write book. Instead of testing your attention spans, I’ve listed my top ten most played tracks from the year. These tracks and the bands that bestowed them speak for themselves. Enjoy.

-Witler

Top 10 Indie/Alternative Tracks of 2010

10. Post Acid —Wavves
9. Don’t Cry—Deerhunter
8. Madder Red—Yeasayer
7. Boy—Ra Ra Riot
6. Everlasting Light—The Black Keys
5. Laredo—Band of Horses
4. 40 Day Dream—Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
3. Floating Vibes—Surfer Blood
2. Excuses—The Morning Benders
1. Bambi—Tokyo Police Club

So I’m about to commence the end of the year activities, and I’m happy to have finally decided on which albums made 2010 that much more memorable. I put together all the albums I picked up this year (which came to 40) and broke it down to a top 20. For the past couple weeks I’ve been shuffling through nothing but these albums to try and make it easier to decide which albums came out on top. Definitely didn’t help as much as I would have liked, because this was an especially monumental year for music. Maybe it’s just me. All these albums are worth a run through. Be safe in your year ending endeavors! Here’s to my last post of the year:

Top 10 of 2010

10. Wavves – King of the Beach (Surf Rock/Alternative/Punk)

Wavves ditches his old lo-fi sound and brings about a newer, clearer, more fresh look at his unique style in his third project. Throws in a some electronic samples and rocks out through the whole album. Tries to make it apparent that he DGAFs, so let it be known that he actually doesn’t.
Wavves – Green Eyes

9. Beach Fossils – Beach Fossils (LoFi/Indie/Surf)

It’s a sunny, mellow day and you’re wanting to have some “you” time as you lounge on the sand at the beach. This album is all the company you need. Brings about some positive, nostalgic vibes and is bound to make you appreciate the little things.
Beach Fossils – Youth

8. Ty Segall – Melted (Rock/LoFi/Punk)

Oh man, Ty’s third and best album yet. A rock lovers dream come true in the form of an eleven song LP. Just makes you want to get drunk and break beer bottles on your downstairs neighbors patio…not that I’ve done that before or anything.
Ty Segall – Girlfriend

7. Ratatat – LP4 (Electronic/Indie/Alternative)

The dynamic duo from New York came at us harder than ever with this release. They blessed us with the fourth installment of their guitarriffic, electron-tastic classic sound that had us hooked with “Seventeen Years,” “Wildcat” and “Loud Pipes” to name a few. They have a style of producing beats that’s unparalleled by any one else I’ve heard. This album doesn’t have singles to the magnitude of the songs I listed, but overall tops any of their other projects. Definitely my first choice of music when it came to sneaking my iPod into midterms and finals. Big thanks to helping me get those A’s, boys. LP4 flows from beginning to end with really sweet samples and an overall sound that’s come together better than ever before.
Ratatat – Party With Children

6. Harlem – Hippies (Rock/LoFi/Indie)

These guys took me by complete surprise when they entered the depths of my library nearly a year ago. Harlem hails from Austin, Texas, where the beer runs like water and “discretion” is sharpied out of any dictionary you can get your hands on. The carefree and YOLO attitude seeps through your speakers as their chanting voices and free spirited jams nestle comfortably on your ear drums. It’s all about a good time with Harlem, and I’m definitely looking forward to future hangovers with them playing in the background.
Harlem – Gay Human Bones

5. Born Ruffians – Say It (Indie/Alternative/Rock)

Undoubtedly my most anticipated album of the year. After I fell in love with their first full length Red, Yellow & Blue, my expectations were higher than normal on this release. Although this album didn’t match up to the former, it sheds lights on their more developed sound. Luke Lalonde’s voice will woo you even against your utmost resistance. They rock about love, good times, and the bullshit we go through every day. Born Ruffians are on our side! I got to finally see them at the Troubador, and I snagged a video that pretty genuinely encompasses their glory. Check it out here.
Born Ruffians – Nova-Leigh

4. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (Indie/Alternative/Rock)

There’s nothing like expecting the world and getting back the solar system in return. Arcade Fire always leaves me feeling like happiness is as easily attainable as pressing “play” at the beginning of one of their albums. The Suburbs is more than an album. It’s a story about life. It’s a vacation right on the borders of your comfort zone. It’s everything we could have asked for from an all ready established band. They had nothing else to prove, but went on and proved it anyway. STRONGLY recommend their debut album Funeral as well if you haven’t heard it yet, for whatever reason.
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

3. The Growlers – Are You In Or Out? (Surf/Rock/Psychadelic)

Costa Mesa’s very own makes it into the top 3! I wasn’t sure where I was going to end up putting these guys, but it didn’t take more than a few tracks to remind me just how beautifully they came together on this album. Are You In Or Out? is the Growlers first legit complete album. It seems as though they got more serious with this one, and it paid off in more ways than one. The Growlers sound like they’re straight out of beach craze era of the 70s..except on a whole lot more drugs with back to back handle pulls of Jim Beam. Their timeless sound makes it enjoyable for most, but necessary for the people who’ve been following them for the past few years. Don’t be surprised if you start fiending their sound after a few listens.
The Growlers – Acid Rain

2. The Black Keys – Brothers (Rock/Blues)

When I first got the Black Keys discography a few years back, I didn’t really know where to start. They have a handful of albums which always makes it overwhelming when you want to get a feel for a new band’s sound. All the years of soulful blues, outrageously creative guitar rifts and toe-tapping drum beats have prepared them to produce a rock album that ranks among some of the best I’ve ever heard. Brothers is the perfect intro for the virgin ears of someone who’s been robbed of hearing the true glory of extraordinary rock talent that is the Black Keys. I wanted so badly to put this at #1, but it’ll have to take a loss by a hair to the next album.
The Black Keys – Everlasting Light

1. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest (Art Rock/Indie/Psychadelic)

It didn’t take long after I decided I wanted to make a “top 10” for me to realize that Halcyon Digest was going to be #1. After finding out about Deerhunter last year and listening to their former album Microcastle, I wasn’t expecting to ever truly get into them. There was something missing. Something I didn’t understand. Something that I could feel was there, just didn’t know what or why I felt that way. Bradley Cox’s voice was all I had to make sense of the acid trip sound atop the catchy guitar and bass riffs they weave through your ears and into your mind. Halcyon Digest was the missing piece that put everything into perspective. The album starts off with “Earthquake” that could have easily been omitted from the final project, but goes on to 10 tracks that have something different to attach yourself to. Halcyon Digest is an album for the human. The joys of life become highlighted through tracks like “Don’t Cry” and “Revival.” What goes up must come down. Bradley makes this clear with tracks like “Sailing” and “He Would Have Laughed.” The “he” is most likely referring to former garage rock icon and good friend Jay Reatard who passed away weeks before the release of the complete album. Deerhunter attacks all angles of life and what is inevitably encountered on everyone’s journeys. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: this album is necessary for anyone with ears.
Deerhunter – Revival

-Skinny Genes

Click to Download

Gorillaz front man Damon Albarn released the long awaited “iPad album” we were hearing about earlier this Fall on Christmas day for free. A very merry Christmas indeed! The entire album was recorded while on their American tour on nothing but an iPad. I’m still going through it as I post. Haven’t been blown away necessarily, but it’s a pretty cool concept to think about as you listen.

Albarn was quoted, “I wanted to make sure that it came out at the end of the tour because I don’t want anyone to think I’d tampered with it. I literally made it on the road in America over a month. I didn’t write it before; I didn’t prepare it. I just did it day by day as a kind of diary of my experience in America. If I left it until the New Year to release it, then the cynics out there would say, ‘Oh well, it’s been tampered with.’ But if I put it out now, they’d know that I haven’t done anything because I’ve been on tour ever since.”

Sweet deal if you ask me. I wasn’t really into Plastic Beach, so I’m hoping this gives me a little something extra. All the while, I’m keeping my expectations low because he did put minimal effort into it overall..or so it seems. The tracklist on the album website breaks it down to where he was as he laid down a track. Lovin’ the free music that’s been coming out lately! Including but not limited to the Klaxons release of Landmarks of Lunacy that you can get by clicking the link.

If you’re affluent enough to own an iPad..here are the apps he used. Maybe you could make it big at the comfort of your living room couch:

Speak It! / SoundyThingie / Mugician / Solo Synth / Synth / Funk Box / Gliss / AmpliTube / Xenon / iElectribe / BS-16i / M3000 HD / Cleartune / iOrgel HD / Olsynth / StudioMiniXI / BassLine / Harmonizer / Dub Siren Pro / Moog Filatron

-Skinny Genes

Tracklist

1. PHONER TO ARIZONA Delightful Choice!
Recorded in Montreal on 3rd October
2. REVOLVING DOORS
Recorded in Boston on 5th October
3. HILLBILLY MAN
Recorded in New Jersey and Virginia on 10th and 11th October
Additional Guitar: Mick Jones
4. DETROIT
Recorded in Detroit on 13th October
5. SHY-TOWN
Recorded in Chicago on 15th October
6. LITTLE PINK PLASTIC BAGS Delightful Choice!
Recorded in Chicago on 16th October
Additional Keyboards: Jesse Hackett
7. THE JOPLIN SPIDER
Recorded in Joplin on 18th October
Additional conversations with: Darren ‘Smoggy’ Evans
8. THE PARISH OF SPACE DUST
Recorded in Houston on 19th October
9. THE SNAKE IN DALLAS Delightful Choice!
Recorded in Dallas on 20th October
10. AMARILLO
Recorded in Amarillo on 23rd October
11. THE SPEAK IT MOUNTAINS
Recorded in Denver on 24th October
Stream and forest recorded in Santa Fe on 25th October by Mike Smith
12. ASPEN FOREST
Recorded in Santa Fe on 25th October and in Vancouver on 3rd November
Additional Bass: Paul Simonon
Additional Qanun: James R Grippo
13. BOBBY IN PHOENIX
Recorded in Phoenix on 26th October
Vocals and Guitar: Bobby Womack
14. CALIFORNIA AND THE SLIPPING OF THE SUN
Recorded in Oakland on 30th October
Train station announcement recorded at LA Train Station. Additional conversation with: Darren ‘Smoggy’ Evans, Mick Jones, Jamie Hewlett and Tanyel Vahdettin.
15. SEATTLE YODEL
Recorded in Seattle on 2nd November

NY NYE

Wrapping up the 2010 YOLO Lists with #23. Been in deep consideration mode the past couple weeks shuffling through nothing but albums I thought to be in the top 20 of all albums released this year. I can really tell that this is going to be one of the harder things I’ll have to do. It seems as though, this year especially, there is too much good music to choose between. Maybe I’m just more aware…who knows. Chronic Mncher and Witler have been working on a top 20 lists for electronic and alternative tracks respectively, so we’ll be shooting those over as the week goes by.

Anyhow, this week’s list consists mainly of songs from the top albums of the year along with some electronic/bassy jams we all can’t do without. Especially considering Together As One is like a light at the end of a tunnel as we near the end of the year. YES! I hope everyone had a safe holiday celebration, and now for the 23rd set of weekly treats from me to you.

-Skinny Genes

YOLO 23

Vampire Weekend – Holiday (iTunes Session) (Indie/Alternative)
Wavves – Idiot (Garage Rock/Rock)
The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa (Ft. Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend) (World/Alternative)
The Very Best – Julia (World/Alternative)
The Black Keys – Too Afraid To Love You (iTunes Session) (Rock/Blues)
The Growlers – Barnacle Beat (Rock/Surf Rock)
Dizzee Rascal vs. Duck Sauce – Bonkers Streisand (Bootleg) (MashUp/Electronic)
Afrojack – Bubble Gum (Original Mix) (Dutch House/Electronic)
Afrojack – Daft Sound (Original Mix) (Dutch House/Electronic)
Skrillex – Cat Rats (Electronic)
Herbie Hancock – Hang Up your Hang Ups (Les Petits Pilous edit) (Electronic/Funk)
Justice – Sure You Will (Electronic/Soul)
**First track Justice ever released. Let’s just say they’ve come a looooooooong way.

Snag the whole list if you’re with me: click here.

Credit: Jason Shindler

Slow week for music. Spent the week out of town, but came home to see AC Slater and Drop The Lime at Control. They’re playing tonight at Sutra in Newport Beach, CA at a new event called Battery. The DJs who spin Control Fridays will be at Battery the following Sundays. Saves me the trip to LA…I wasn’t as blown away as I wanted to be by AC Slater, but it could have just been the 12 hour drive that kept me from full appreciation. I got videos of both of them, and they’ll be on our facebook page later tonight, so you can be the judge.

-Skinny Genes

YOLO 22

Savoy – Back to Basics(Progressive House/Electronic)
Savoy – Life of the Party(Progressive House/Electronic)
RJD2 – Chicken Bone Circuit(Hip Hop/Electronic)
James Curd – Got To Have (Flight Facilities Remix) (Electronic/Indie)
Harlem Shakes – Nothing But Change, Part II (Alternative/Indie)
Rusko – Oy (feat. Crookers) (Dubstep)
Justice – Phantom Pt. II (Soulwax Remix) (Electronic)
Hockey – Song Away (Alternative Rock)
The Black Keys – Till I Get My Way (Rock/Blues)
We Barbarians – Walls (Rock/Blues)

Or if you’re willing to take a chance with them all –> click here.

YOLO Mentions bring attention to special
songs featured in that week’s YOLO List. Get the latest list here!

The transition to understanding and respecting folk music is an interesting one. When people answer the question “What type of music do you like?” nine times out of ten you’ll get the “Pretty much everything but country” answer. The thing about folk music is that it’s country music’s hot cousin you met Thanksgiving break that you want to get to know a little better. Assuming and hoping you’re not related to country music. Delta Spirit will make it that much easier for you. They put together a mixture of indie, rock and folk that shows you just how necessary it is for your soul. Delta Spirit has opened for the likes of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Cold War Kids, and Dr. Dog which should give you a good idea of what these guys are about. (If you haven’t heard those bands they’ve been on previous YOLO lists and I highly recommend them.)

They picked up their lead singer Matthew Vasquez performing on the streets of San Diego, where they formed. The band would be a completely different story without him. The guy is the final recipe they needed to be complete, and together they put on a show that levels up to some of the best rock concerts I’ve been a part of. Their energy and passion flows through you as they play new songs and classics. Including “Gimme Some Motivation,” which was the first song they wrote. Their debut album Ode To Sunshine was one of the most anticipated debut albums of 2008 and scored among the most plays of all albums that I own. It’ll do the trick.

-Skinny Genes

Delightful Treats

Delta Spirit – Gimme Some Motivation
**Featured in YOLO21
Delta Spirit – Streetwalker
**Featured in YOLO21
Delta Spirit – Tomorrow Goes Away
**Delightful Choice!
Delta Spirit – Strange Vine
**My most played song, and by good reason.

Steve Aoki @ Coachella

I get the chills instantly when I look at that picture, because as of two days ago tickets for Coachella have gone on sale! They’ve given us the option of paying for our ticket in installments so you don’t have to take that $300 hit on the spot. Pretty cool if you ask me. I hate when someone can’t experience something like this because of the cost. Take it from me though, it’s worth every penny. Undoubtedly one of the best festivals in the world in every aspect: vibes, music, location, experience, etc., etc. In the spirit of Coachella, I’ve put up some tracks of rumors I hope to be true about 2011’s headliners: Daft Punk, Arcade Fire, Beastie Boys. I said RUMORS, people.

Also, I’ve been getting some feedback on the structure of the YOLO list, after only 21 weeks (-_-), and decided to be less lazy and make every song playable before you download it. For the old YOLO lists you have, I intended for you to put them all in a playlist and just shuffle through them and stumble on something new. It’s all good. Let me know if ever you think there’s a way for me to improve the site. It’s all for you guys.

YOLO 21

Piper and Fernandez – Rockstar (DCUP Remix) (Disco House/Electronic)
Afrojack – Replica (Original Mix) (Dutch House)
Arcade Fire – Neighborhood #2 (Laika) (Indie/Alternative/Rock)
Akron/Family – Set ’em Free Pt 1 (Folk/Rock)
N.E.R.D. – Hypnotize U (Yuksek Remix) (Disco House)
Delta Spirit – Gimme Some Motivation (Indie/Folk/Rock)
Delta Spirit – Streetwalker (Indie/Folk/Rock)
Bonobo – Kong (Experimental/Trip Hop)
Alexisonfire – Pulmonary Archery (Post Hardcore)
Beastie Boys – Sabotage (Alex Metric Re-Edit) (Rock/Electronic)
Fred Falke, Burns – Y.S.L.M. (You Stopped Loving Me) (Treasure Fingers Remix) (Disco House)
Nero – This Way (Dubstep)
Daft Punk – Human After All (Justice Remix) (Electronic)