Women Of The World – Take Over: 2010’s music

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As has become habit for me, I grabbed my end of year charts from last.fm

Last.fm charts 2010: My Top 10 Artists

Eno at the top, Bowie close behind – unassailable by now.

While Eno, and The Black Keys have put new records out in 2010, Four Tet is the only act that can really claim to have dented my 2010 with music from 2010.

Last.fm charts 2010: My Top 10 Albums

“There is love in you” dominated my 2010.

Walking music, working music – dancing-round-the-kitchen-cooking music. It’s a cracker. Best Coast’s debut album “Crazy for you” gets in there too. More of them later.

Last.fm charts 2010: My Top 10 Tracks

“Sing” from that album got heaviest-rotation, and coincidentally right below it is the snappily-titled “OAR003-B” by Oni Ahyhun (otherwise known as Olof from The Knife) which I think I first heard on a mix by Keiran Hebden (Fourtet) in close aural proximity to his track.

But for various boring reasons (mainly how much I listen to music on my phone), the last.fm stats don’t really tell the story of the albums of 2010 that made the greatest impression on me this year.

And, they’re overwhelmingly by female-led acts.

She and Him: Vol 2

A lovely record, associated with driving through Wales to some of my favourite places – Aberdovey, Cardigan, Laugharne – and climbing Snowdon on our wedding anniversary.

Best Coast: Crazy for You

Sing-along slabs of fried sunshine. Seems to be on constant loop in our local, The Book Club.

Sleigh Bells
But I think the crown has to go to Sleigh Bells.

Not only incredible pop, but incredible pop that couldn’t have come from anywhen but 2010. I loved all of “Treats”, especially “Infinity Guitars” and “Riot Rhythm” – but the opening track, and debut single “Tell ‘Em” grabs you with it’s incredible intro: all-together now – “SPUGGA-DUGGA! BEW!!! BEW!!!”

Also worth trawling youtube for the seemingly-ever-multiplying Sleigh Bells Vs … remixes…

Let’s give some too-early-to-tell-honourable-mentions to Warpaint…

…Twin Sister


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..and Guards…

But, I’ll finish up with two beauties.

Firstly, “Further” by The Chemical Brothers… especially “Swoon”

I’m liking the hyperdrive MBV-ness of your late-period Chems.

Not shoegaze, but… Screengaze?

Ahem.

Anyway…

Finally, probably my absolute favourite album of the year is the beautiful, hauntological post-ambirock soundtrack “Man of Aran” by British Sea Power.

Huge grey oceans, dark arcologies of cloud, massive shear cliff faces and dazzling bursts of sunlight – all in your ears.

“Come Wander With Me” is the one I find myself humming nearly everyday.

I’m cheating – “Man of Aran” came out in 2009, but hey – It’s 2011 already and it’s staying…

Leg godt

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Breakfast, Saturday: Pat Kane, Malcolm McCullough

Pat Kane reflects on 10 years of The Play Ethic

The very energies of play – not exclusively our own as a species, but something we uniquely retain right to the end of our lives – shows that we are a radical animal. Play gives us the capacity to flexibly respond to almost any situation that our environment throws at us.

Pat’s thinking and book (and the other thinkers and books it led to) was pretty defining for me over the last half of the decade we’re saying goodbye to this evening. I’m sure the thoughts at the core of his passage above will only become more important in the next ten years.

Thanks Pat.

“Work as if you lived in the early days of a better nation.”

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…is a quote attributed to Alasdair Gray

Below, a quote from Charlie Stross’ latest blog post – “Utopia”.

“…we badly need more utopian speculation. The consensus future we read about in the media and that we’re driving towards is a roiling, turbulent fogbank beset by half-glimpsed demons: climate change, resource depletion, peak oil, mass extinction, collapse of the oceanic food chain, overpopulation, terrorism, foreigners who want to come here and steal our women jobs. It’s not a nice place to be; if the past is another country, the consensus view of the future currently looks like a favela with raw sewage running in the streets. Conservativism — standing on the brake pedal — is a natural reaction to this vision; but it’s a maladaptive one, because it makes it harder to respond effectively to new and unprecedented problems. We can’t stop, we can only go forward; so it is up to us to choose a direction.”

I like the Scots.

Checking in, and checking out…

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John Thackara writes in his always-excellent Doors Of Perception newsletter, that he may have finally squared-the-circle of the environmental impact of travelling to events to speak about environmental impacts…

After years traveling the world in airplanes to speak at sustainability events, my low-emission online alternative is now available. In recent weeks I was compelled by a family matter to substitute my physical presence with a virtual one in Austria, China, Canada, the USA, and Brazil (Curitiba and Rio). These online encounters have a simple format: I make a customized-for-you 20 minute pre-recorded talk, which is downloaded in advance; this film is then shown at an event; this is followed by a live conversation between me and your group via Skype or POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). The films are neither fancy nor glossy, but this simple combination seems to work well.

It occurs to me though, that part of the pleasure – and reward – of travel to conferences (apart from the well-documented serendipity of what happens outside of the scheduled sessions) is the chance to visit a new city and experience it’s culture.

Often, if you are lucky, this is in the company of locals that you have met at the conference, who will show you ‘their’ city rather than the official version.

I wonder if John has considered asking the those locals at the conferences he will ‘attend’ via video, to send him back a 20 minute customised-for-him film of their city or town?

Might work nicely, no?