Pure Funk Top 20 Albums of 2010 (10-6)

Every year the major online music sites count down what they think are the best albums and songs of the year.  Who's to say they're right?  I've been reading these lists for years now and figured it's about time to put my money where my mouth is and write my own damn list!

So all this week we'll be counting down our favourites, starting with numbers 20-16.  Feel free to comment and to suggest your own favourite music of this year.  My feeling about these lists is that at the end of the day they're just showcasing some good music you may have missed out on during the year.  So I hope you find something here that fits that description, and let me know if there's some awesome stuff that I need to catch up on.

DJ Bobz  purefunk.com.au

10. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

Two years ago, Canada’s Crystal Castles came out of the corner in a flurry of 8-bit punches, toying with the idea of what electronica could be and basically causing truckloads of trouble.  There were mixed expectations for their second, self-titled long player.  Was the whole video game aesthetic a worn-out gimmick, would we be sick of lead singer Alice Castle’s frequent hissy-fits?

Well, a funny thing happened on the way to Toronto.  The wall of static sound was still there, but along with it came dancefloor-leaning bass-lines and a more melodic sound.  Celestica was the lead single, and a great one at that, a classic even.  It set the template for the album.  One part haunted house tunes, one part shrieking vocals and you have a total of one banging tune.  

Vietnam, Baptism and Empathy all shared the same lineage, half scaring the pants off you and the other half too busy nodding it’s head to care.  Not in Love was so good that Robert Smith of the Cure jumped on a remix of it and made it even better.

The notion that Crystal Castles are an acquired taste used to have some value, but I dare say that anyone who still thinks that probably wasn’t born in the 80’s, and needs to re-evaluate their tastes.  This is a progressive work of an exciting band, one that doesn’t tailor its style for anyone, and that should be applauded.

9. Janelle Monae - The Arch Android

Who is Janelle Monae?  I bet she asks herself that question a lot.  On this album she's a sexy cyborg, a persona that many a pop princess has adopted throughout the years, usually without much success.  

That’s not the case with this album.  There’s so much going on here that you kind of forget that she is a robot.  There’s nimble Hip-Hop tracks, funk and folk extravaganza’s and beat poetry from Saul Williams and guess what?  Not one track sounds out of place.  You get the feeling that Monae is a fan of all of these styles and not just a genre-hopping hipster out for a quick nostalgic reference to boost her cred.


Cold War is a whirlwind fire starter, Tightrope Hip-Hop’s along at a breakneck pace, Wondaland is a beautiful peace of retro-pop and Make the bus is a psychedelic wonder.  Monae may act the android, but in real life she’s one of the most vital voices in music today.
 

8. Girl Talk - All Day

I was hesitant to listen to Greg Gillis’s latest opus, I have to admit.  Am I over the whole Top 40 mash-up concept?  Has the world moved on?  The answer to both is no, and even better, Gillis has refined his unique technique even further and made a party inducing mission statement.  He even seems more commercial than before, if that’s possible, with the samples even more recognizable and danceable than his previous efforts.


He leans more on 90's alternative rock and Southern Hip-Hop than other genre’s but that’s no knock as they both lend themselves beautifully to most of the mash-ups they find themselves in, such as when you find Twista nimbly rapping over the U2 classic With or Without You.  It should be sacrilege, but in the words of Homer Simpson, it’s Sacrilicious.  And pairing Imagine with the syrupy vocals of UGK hard nut Bun B shouldn’t work so well or feel so right.  


What sets Gillis apart from the millions of bedroom DJ’s around is that technique of his, the sample based construction that’s framed on algorithms borne out of Gillis’s former profession as a engineer. As yet no-one seems willing to try and match Gillis styles and he stands tall as the scion of the mash-up community.
 

The rest of us will just have to settle for losing our fricking minds.

Download the mixtape for free HERE

7. Vampire Weekend - Contra

Those preppy guys in the polo shirts and boat shoes were back, and they had some new sounds.  Contra felt more like an international travelogue than O-week at an Ivy League school.  The african influences were more overt, and Ezra Koenig’s lyrics were designed to reach a wider audience without losing the inclusiveness that makes them unique. 


What also made them one of a kind was their sense of fun.  Whether they were extolling the virtues of the humble holiday on Holiday or contemplating the life of a Diplomat’s Son, they sounded like they were having fun.  There was no better example of their humorous side than the video for Giving up the Gun, featuring a drunk Jake Gyllenhaal, and RZA from the Wu-Tang Clan as a net judge at a tennis match.  This was also their best track, a shining example of their willingness to stretch out of their comfort zone, easily keeping up with a beefed up rhythm section. 


Contra was an exciting second release for the four-piece, and the enduring freshness of its sound ensures that it will probably be sound-tracking parties this summer too.

 

6. Hot Chip - One Life Stand

The chippers have always deviated from the normal.  They’d kick out awesome tracks like Boy from School and Ready for the floor, only to baffle us with oddities like Bendable Poseable and Shake a Fist.  This is the album where they blended all their influences and delivered an LP full of affecting dance tunes.


I feel Better works so well as both a video clip and live staple, that it’s easy to forget that as a song, it’s just awesome as it is.  One Life Stand makes the idea of lifelong commitment look a hell of lot more appealing than it should, whilst Brothers is one of the few songs ever made that celebrates male bonding as a real emotional attachment and not just two dudes clanging beer cans together.  


Whilst the Chip’s consistency across this album made it easier to listen to all the way through, bringing the heart that they’ve always displayed prominently on their sleeves is what makes it a classic.