1. Andrew WK shout-out
2. Nostalgia
3. Construx Cat Interviews
4. PB&J Nightmare Series
6. Hipster PSA
8. "You Blew It!"
9. Paul is Dead (Ian's Confessions)
10. Woods Madness II
All of these albums I picked are all according to my tastes. What else can I say? This year started pretty slow with music, where I almost gave up looking for good music, but the second half of the year came on very strong. This was a great year for hip-hop and I'm happy bands are going back to making fun up-beat music instead of pretentious drag garbage. This was again a year of wonderfully eclectic musical tastes, def something to please everyone. All in all, music treated us (me) well this year and this is my favorite 10 albums of the year. Enjoy!
1. tUnE-yArDs - W H O K I L L
This is such a fun album from start to finish, and what I like probably the most is that you can't describe the style to anyone. They are an absolute force in music right now, starting from submitting a cassette tape to a record company to now infusing themselves into the scene. Drum machines, saxophones, ukeleles, make this album stand out from all the rest of them this year.
2. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
This is a critic's darling this year, and for good reason. This album makes babies, simple as that. Imagine coming from a night at the strip club at 4am driving at night with the windows down and put it on a CD. This whole album is smooth and sexy, but it leaves you feeling dirty when you're through.
3. James Blake - James Blake
This album took me a little bit to get into, and to a casual listener it would be easy to pass right over, but James Blake put out a masterpiece of music this year. What can be described as minimalist dubstep, I describe as a soundtrack to a fruity loops soft core porn. Sweet lyrics distorted over uncomfortable beats create something unworldly and awesome.
4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
I will say right now "Helplessness Blues" has to be one of my fav songs this year. They are no longer a band that "sounds like (classic rock band)" they have carved out their own distinct sound. The song writing is top notch, paired with the emotional howling of real feelings, makes it impossible not to love.
5. Danger Mouse/Daniele Luppi - Rome
When Quentin Tarantino visualizes tries to pick music for his movies, this is the band that encompasses that vibe to a tee. Danger Mouse is very hot and cold for me, and this album is brilliant. Spaghetti Western meets Lounge meets Hip-Hop with a dash of romance.
6. Bright Eyes - The People's Key
I'm biased with my previous lust for Mr. Obherst's song writing but after Cassadega he had some making up to do. This album goes back to what he does best, simple, sweet songs that are sincere and threaded together with eloquent metaphors. This one is solid from front to back.
7. Tech N9ne - All 6's and 7's
I'm not going to lie and say I've been down with Tech N9ne for year, and I'm ashamed I've deprived myself of his enormous talent. From what I've read this is his "dark" album, and I have to say it works beautifully. Tech is one of the quickest, most gifted rappers in the game. With an all-star guest list, with his razor sharp rhymes this blew me away.
8. The Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
I am very grateful for this album. It's raw, it's danceable, and it's FUN. Coming from their previous work it seems like the band wanted to make music for the fans, not themselves. A lot of their fans have turned their backs for "selling out" but this is pure post punk magic. No gimmicks just rock music to dance to.
9. Fitz and the Tantrums - Pickin' Up the Pieces
This album came out very late 2010, and I missed the boat completely. This rock-soul infusion follows suit with Gnarls Barkley and Cee-Lo with bringing back a modern Marvin Gaye vibe. This is another amazing album with saxophones galore, full back-up singer ensemble, and a huge 60's sound. If you need something to get you moving and impromptu hairbrush karaoke this is a perfect soundtrack.
10.Das Racist - Relax
We have made it known at construx that we are huge Das Racist fans, and when they dropped their first "offical" album I was ecstatic. They are so talented between the clever rhymes, under the guise of two dudes just waking up at 3pm. I love that their talent overshadows the intentional heir of not trying hard. You never know if they are joking or if you are the joke. Don't believe me? Explain this:
We
shit
shit
You do not want to live my life.
Great videos from a horrible person...
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I always take alot of pride of this every year. This being the 3rd year of me doing this, I am very happy to watch the music industry evolve like it has. Hip-hop is definitely having the best year since the days of Kangols and sucka MC's. Chill and down-tempo have really risen to the top of the critics heart's this year, and dubstep is becoming a mainstay influence in the entire music scene.
I love all music, and I listen to about 200-300 songs in 10 second intervals every month. I know its easy to miss some, but I believe a truly exceptional song can grab someone's attention right away without the need of a second chance or a warming up period.
This playlist really has everything this year, and I mean everything. If you click on the arrow before the song you can listen to it in its entirety. If you right click the arrow and select "watch on youtube" you can watch the video if you are interested.
If you live near me, I will be giving out free MP3 CDs, and all you have to do is ask. If not, and there is interest I will put up a torrent of the entire playlist - of course - for free.
This does in fact take me an entire year to compile, and consider and I hope my hard work translates into the enjoyment of this playlist.
I love you all.
| The Accusers | Casting Grey | 3:14 |
| Acres Of Lions | Reaction | 2:52 |
| Ana Tijoux | 1977 | 3:22 |
| Andrew W.K. | Party All Goddamn Night | 3:23 |
| The Antlers | I Don't Want Love | 3:19 |
| Araab Muzik | Streetz Tonight | 3:35 |
| Atari Teenage Riot | Black Flags (Andy's iLL Remix) | 5:18 |
| AWOLNATION | Burn It Down | 2:49 |
| Bassnectar | The Matrix | 4:25 |
| Battles | Ice Cream (ft. Matias Aguayo) | 4:37 |
| Beastie Boys | Make Some Noise | 3:31 |
| Beck | Wish Coin (Go It Alone) (Diplo Remix) | 3:46 |
| Beirut | Vagabond | 3:19 |
| Benny Benassi feat. Gary Go | Cinema (Skrillex Remix) | 5:08 |
| Black Devil Disco Club | To Ardent (Ft. Nancy Sinatra) | 3:20 |
| The Black Keys | Lonely Boy | 3:13 |
| The Black Lips | Modern Art | 1:59 |
| Blacklisted Individuals | Dance Sucka! | 3:57 |
| Born Gold | That Way | 4:13 |
| Bronze Radio Return | Rough Town | 3:46 |
| Burial | Street Halo | 6:43 |
| Busta Rhymes | Dangerous (RUN DMT Moombahcore Remix) | 3:23 |
| Cerebral Ballzy | On The Run | 2:03 |
| Charles Bradley | Heartaches And Pain | 2:56 |
| Childish Gambino | Heartbeat | 4:30 |
| Chromeo | When The Night Falls | 3:45 |
| The Civil Wars | I've Got This Friend | 3:24 |
| Clock Opera | Belongings | 4:51 |
| Cold Cave | The Great Pan Is Dead | 4:06 |
| Crystal Fighters | Plage | 3:36 |
| The Crystal Method feat. The Heavy | Play For Real (Dirtyphonics Remix) | 4:57 |
| Dance Laury Dance | Living For The Roll | 4:02 |
| Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi | Two Against One | 2:21 |
| Danny Brown | Monopoly | 2:45 |
| Das Racist | Michael Jackson | 4:17 |
| The Dears | Omega Dog | 5:01 |
| The Death Set | They Come To Get Us | 1:50 |
| Death To Kids | Cornflakes | 3:06 |
| The Decemberists | Calamity Song | 3:50 |
| Dirty Vegas | Electric Love | 2:40 |
| Foster the People | Pumped Up Kicks | 3:42 |
| The Drums | Money | 4:00 |
| Elbow | Open Arms | 4:54 |
| EMA | California | 4:35 |
| Emalkay | Fabrication | 3:09 |
| EMMURE | I THOUGHT YOU MET TELLY AND TURNED ME INTO CASPER | 2:51 |
| Fleet Foxes | Helplessness Blues | 5:47 |
| Fitz and The Tantrums | Money Grabber | 3:10 |
| Generationals | Ten-Twenty-Ten | 3:23 |
| Girls | Honey Bunny | 2:31 |
| Givers | Up Up Up | 3:39 |
| Gotye | Somebody That I Used To Know | 4:04 |
| Graffiti 6 | Stare Into The Sun | 3:23 |
| Hard-Fi | Good For Nothing | 3:47 |
| Hope And Social | Sleep Sound | 3:21 |
| The Beastie Boys (feat. Santogold and Major Lazer) | Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win | 4:30 |
| iSquare | Hey Sexy Lady (Skrillex Remix) | 5:25 |
| James Blake | Unluck | 3:04 |
| James Blake | The Wilhelm Scream | 4:36 |
| Jay-Z & Kanye West | Otis (feat. Otis Redding) | 3:01 |
| The Jim Jones Revue | High Horse | 2:40 |
| Justice | Audio, Video, Disco | 4:52 |
| LANA DEL REY | VIDEO GAMES | 4:49 |
| LMFAO | Party Rock Anthem | 4:23 |
| M.I.A. | Gen -N-E-Y | 3:12 |
| M83 | Midnight City | 4:00 |
| MIddle Brother | Daydreaming | 4:50 |
| Miles Kane | Kingcrawler | 3:37 |
| Miwa Gemini | Goodnight Trail | 5:29 |
| Mr. Lewis & The Funeral 5 | Alcohol | 3:25 |
| Mr. Little Jeans | The Suburbs (Arcade Fire Cover) | 5:12 |
| The National | Exile Vilify (From the Game Portal 2) | 4:45 |
| The National | Think You Can Wait | 4:34 |
| The Novocaines | Cup Of Coffee | 1:32 |
| Peelander-Z | Go! Rio! | 2:37 |
| Peter, Bjorn and John | Dig A Little Deeper | 3:50 |
| A Place to Bury Strangers | Ego Death | 5:44 |
| Plan B | She Said | 3:27 |
| The Rapture | Miss You | 4:11 |
| Ricky Eat Acid | ONLY GIRL | 3:10 |
| Romeo + Juliet | Red & Black | 3:30 |
| SBTRKT | Wildfire | 3:25 |
| Shabazz Palaces | An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum | 3:16 |
| Smith Westerns | All Die Young | 3:45 |
| Squirrel Nut Zippers | Ghost of Stephen Foster | 3:33 |
| St Vincent | Surgeon | 4:25 |
| The Strokes | Under Cover Of Darkness | 3:56 |
| Sun Glitters | 2:59 | |
| Tech N9ne Ft. Blind Fury & Mackenzie O'Guin | So Lonely (Prod by. Wyshmaster | 3:54 |
| TV On The Radio | Will Do | 3:44 |
| Tyler, The Creator | Yonkers | 4:09 |
| The Vaccines | If you wanna | 2:54 |
| The Weeknd | What You Need | 3:26 |
| The Weeknd | High For This | 4:09 |
| Wild Orchid Children | Ahead Of Us The Secret | 6:03 |
| Wooden Shjips | Lazy Bones | 3:54 |
| Wu LYF | DIRT | 3:23 |
| Wye Oak | Civilian | 3:41 |
| Xiu Xiu | Hi (Acoustic) | 3:27 |
| Young the Giant | Cough Syrup | 4:11 |
