The Stripwax Top Ten Trax Of 2010
Tis the season for Top Ten lists, so here she is: The Official Stripwax Top Ten Trax of 2010.
Majestic slab of pop-rock bliss wedged between many other slabs of pop-rock bliss from the superfantastic Superchunk. Turn it on, turn it up, and feel good.
09) Reeling The Liars In – Swans, from My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
We western-cultured, 21st Century humans, with all of our gadgets and technology and whatnot have forgotten that, when the shit hits the fan, we will kill and eat each other to stay alive. Neanderthals did it, the first pilgrims did it, and they do it in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. This song, according to Swans leader Michael Gira in an interview with The Quietus, imagined this song being sung around a bonfire of burning human liars, set afire to keep warm. This is primal, scary stuff, wrapped up nicely in a calming hymnal. In other words, it’s another classic mindfuck from Gira. Merry Christmas.
08) The Dada Polka – The Magnetic Fields, from Realism
Stephin Merritt urges on the people of earth to do something strange. Not bad strange. Good strange. Merritt knows the benefits. You probably do, too.
07) Bottled In Cork – Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, from The Brutalist Bricks
Starts out in a flurry of fury on the floor of the United Nations, then calms down while drinking in Copenhagen and Sweden, where the bartenders give away complimentary mugs and mop up the mess you leave behind after you pour out yer heart and soul. This is one of Ted Leo’s best.
06) With An Axe – Foxy Shazam, from Au Contraire
Sean Eric Nally does vocal backflips all over this while vamping like the camp-tramp he is, as the rest of the band turns a music store upside down, empties it of its contents, and plays the daylight out of every instrument they can find. It’s like Little Richard meets Hedwig on the set of Rocky Horror Picture Show.
05) Mexico Wax Solvent – The Fall, from Our Future, Your Clutter
This is a delicious stream-of-conscious ramble from Mark E. Smith on Britain’s part in the great global economic race to the bottom. The sound: Wheezing banks of synth and guitars that glisten, all riding on a monster beat and bowel-shaking bass. And the rest of the elpee is great too.
04) Breakdown Into The Resolve – Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, from III/IV
This one came late – just last week – and totally resonated with me. It’s a straight-ahead power rocker about fear, self-loathing, highs, lows, and that human stuff we all struggle through. Here’s what I wrote to a friend who understands: Years (and years!) ago you sent me a fun package of music and stuff and one of the things in the package was a Whiskeytown ceedee. That was my introduction to Ryan Adams. Thanks for introducing me to Ryan Adams. The track posted is exactly where I am (and probably where I’ve always been, and always will be) and it’s the only song I want to hear until another one comes along.
03) Worm Tamer – Grinderman, from Grinderman 2
This is the best, most recent artifact Nick Cave has re-emerged to the surface with, following his dive into the primordial American Blues muck with Grinderman. Bo Diddley rhythms are sprayed with noise here, and Cave spits out more male-member euphemisms than you can shake yer stick at. Haw haw.
02) London Dreamer – Audio Bullys, from Higher Than The Eiffel
Chinese epic and spaghetti western film soundtrack samples, swaggering bass and drum rhythm, punctuated by more samples of some Asian porn star obviously in the throes of carnal ecstasy. This track generates enough heat and humidity to fog up the Mitchell Park Domes, and I could not stop listening to it.
01) Daddy Learned To Fly – The Drive-By Truckers, from The Big To-Do
I heard this one for the first time at 35,000 feet on my way to California to see my Dad, who has always been a sort of invincible blue collar god to me, but for the first time in my life he was showing signs that he is not, in fact, immortal. That was the reason for my trip. “Daddy Learned To Fly” is about the death of the narrator’s Dad. It’s big, loud, and powerful, and it’s my favorite song of 2010.
