Just in the nick of time, Music Muse sent us her favorite Top 20 songs from 2010. She’s been our inspiration all year long and she’s been reading and following since Day One! We love her and we love her picks.
Top 20 Tracks of 2010
20. Miniature Tigers – “Goldskull”
19. The Mynabirds – “Let the Record Go”
18. Tennis – “Marathon”
17. Cocoon – “Hummingbird”
16. Lost in the Trees – “A Walk Around the Lake”
15. Ferraby Lionheart – “Harry and Bess”
14. PS I love You – “Facelove”
13. Breathe Owl Breathe – Swimming
12. Adam Kesher – Hour of the Wolf
11. The Fresh & Onlys – Waterfall
10. Foreign Born – Early Warnings
9. Chief – In the Valley
8. Slow club – Giving Up on Love
7. Harlem – Someday Soon
6. The Tallest Man on Earth – King of Spain
5. Morning Benders – Excuses
4. Real Estate – Beach Comber
3. Chappo – Come Home
2. Dark Dark Dark – In Your Dreams
1. Efterklang – Modern Drift
I know these are too mainstream for NBD, but these were two of my favorite tracks of 2010:
Broken Social Scene – “Ungrateful Little Father”
Black Keys – “Everlasting Light” – Umm this was a VERY IMPORTANT Song for us in 2010
Read our Music Excavators Picks:
Editor Gems (Albums)
Editor Gems (Songs)
Arizona Turk Gems (Albums)
Arizona Turk Gems (Songs)
Music Muse Gems (Songs)
The Tallest Man on Earth changed our world that's why he is the Hummingbird
Best New Bands of 2010 Hummingbird Award: #1 The Tallest Man on Earth
Yep, this is it…the Number 1 Hummingbird. The voice, the songwriting, the perfection that is the final Hummingbird is The Tallest Man on Earth. Why, you ask? Well, the Swedes dominated music this year, with artists like The Radio Dept., Sambassadeur and Little Children being a key source of our favorite bands. Hell, two out of our top three Hummingbirds come from Sweden. Kristian Matsson is an exquisite songwriter/poet:
Why are you stabbing my illusion?
Just cause I stole some eagle’s wings
Because you named me as your lover
Well, I thought I could be anything.
His lyrics stitch together stories of potentially impeded regal dreams, the coming of Odin’s Wild Hunt, death, heartbreak and love diverted. His voice is ashy, with a nasal flare, similar to great Dylan tracks, but when you hear his live sessions, he loses the falsetto and you hear a pure beauty. His comparison to Dylan is not just of the vocal nature, but how he exposes you to the colors of words through song. You get lost in his words forgetting it’s just a man with a guitar, he’s a story-teller. This was a year that The Music Muse and I went to many shows, but no other show captured our souls more than seeing TTMOE at the Brookdale Lodge in the Santa Cruz mountains. He wrapped his words around the crowd of 200 and we were all shaken. He didn’t stop creating either, he did showcases, EPs, LPs, etc. He produced quality music the entire year.
He is the reason why I love music, why I love to share music, why we endure the crap…he is the gem that was excavated one Winter morning back in February, and now he is THE MOST IMPORTANT NEW ARTIST OF 2010. Thank you Kristian for making and creating.
Vitals:
Hometown: Dalarna, Sweden
Members: Kristian Mattson
Sonic Soulmates: Bob Dylan, John Vanderslice not too many others can be compared to him
Tracks of the Year:
“King of Spain” – Regal dreams are the best dreams, but not when you’re lover is trying to hold you down.
“You’re Going Back” – Seriously this is just one guy and his guitar.
“The Wild Hunt” – One of the greatest opening tracks of an album. He’s waiting for Odin to arrive and he’ll be leaving in the fall.
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