band of horses

The Rob Scrawl: The 10 Best Tracks of 2010

in: heavy rotation, in: tens

Hoorah! What a marvelous day – a dual (a double, not a challenge) post. It’s a Dunce Cap top ten, the best tracks of the year (in my personal opinion). It’s a Rob Scrawl with a twist: An in tens (too cheesy?) playlist capturing the best songs of the year (as determined July 19, 2010). And, of course, WordPress still isn’t permitting users to embed 8tracks into a new post, so hosting on the other site’ll have to suffice.

Click the photo or link below to listen.

The best font ever!, courtesy of Core77

The Dunce Cap Special Edition: 10 Best of ’10: It’s a Hollywood summer. You never believe the shitty thoughts I think. We belong in a movie. (listen to mix via 8tracks)

My 10 favorite tracks of the year:

1. “O.N.E.” – Yeasayer
2. “Factory” – Band of Horses
3. “Good to Be” – Magic Kids
4. “Conversation 16” – The National
5. “Someday Soon” – Harlem
6. “Don’t Look Back” – She & Him
7. “Excuses” – The Morning Benders
8. “Crazy for You” – Best Coast
9. “Gold Skull” – Miniature Tigers
10. “Pretty Melody” – Butch Walker

This isn’t a playlist in need of too much explanation, so give the pretty list a whirl. 2010’s been a fair year for music, and a lot of my favorite artists were back in full force. The rest of the year is sure to be kind to my ears, with upcoming releases from Arcade Fire, Wavves, Klaxons, Of Montreal, Belle & Sebastian and many, many more (Pitbull!). And that Miniature Tigers album is going to be bomb. I fell in love with Tell it to the Volcano after seeing the band open for Bishop Allen, and the early sounds of Fortress, which hits stores Tuesday, seem even more mature and catchier than their first full-length.

And speaking of albums, I do, as a matter of fact, have a list of my favorite albums of the year thus far!

Critical darlings The Hold Steady, whose sonorous Heaven is Whenever made my Top 10 list.

My 10 favorite albums of the year:

LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
The National – High Violet
The Hold Steady – Heaven is Whenever
Beach House – Teen Dream
Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
The Morning Benders – Big Echo
Jonsi – Go
Marina & the Diamonds – The Family Jewels
Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

And a hilarious piece from Saturday’s Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! featuring The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn: Craig Finn of The Hold Steady Plays Not My Job

What do you think?
What are your favorite tracks/albums of the year thus far?

The Dunce Cap: June 28, 2010

in: heavy rotation

From Anchor Tattoos and Piercings

The Dunce Cap, Vol. 14: I like the face you make and when you dance with me. (mix via 8tracks)

1. “Factory” – Band of Horses
2. “Boyfriend” – Best Coast
3. “She’s Electric” – Oasis
4. “You Always Make Me Smile” – Kyle Andrews
5. “Doctor My Eyes” – Jackson Browne
6. “Get You Back” – Oh Mercy
7. “Can You Tell” – Ra Ra Riot
8. “Fireworks” – Tender Trap
9. “Be Here Now” – Ray LaMontagne
10. “Rainbow Everywhere” – Wavves

Sorry this one’s coming oh-so-late, folks. It’s been a hectic week.

This week’s mix is a grab bag of songs n’ handclaps. We start off with the first single from the killer new Band of Horses album, Infinite Arms. Band of Horses is a band I’ve really been digging for a while now. They have a really reverb-y sound that allows for these soaring choruses and rushing guitar lines (see their excellent track “Is There a Ghost?” from 2007’s Cease to Begin), and they manage to convey emotion without sounding too heady. Then there’s a really terrific diddy from L.A.’s Pitchfork darlings Best Coast, an adorably cheeky song reminiscent of early girl groups. There’s my favorite Ra Ra Riot track (for the Duckster, of course), a cool Tender Trap track (say that five times fast!) and an entirely endearing song from Oh Mercy, a band I stumbled across while watching – like every other preteen in America…oh, wait – ABCFamily’s “Pretty Little Liars.”

It’s a playlist with a lot more sappy emotion than I usually permit, but, I suppose, I’m missing a certain someone, and it’s starting to show in my recent mixes. You’d like him too, y’know. Try not to gag; it’s really not too totally saccharine. Nothing with Wavves can really ever be marred – even by Jackson Browne.

Happy listening.

(editor’s note – this photo comes from Ryan and Brooke Cook. Happy Fourth. Stay safe and enjoy some of the Dunce Cap while you’re grilling out!)