The Best of 2010 Pt. 0: Intro.

So 2010 totally just happened… yes, of course we’re still talking about this. I didn’t do much writing last year and didn’t cover anything music related that happened last year in my writing that I did do. So while I’m tackling other topics, I’m also going to take you back through my 20 favorite records (with additional two special prizes) of 2010 in reverse order. A lot of fantastic music was released last year and it’s given 2011 a high standard to rise to. By the by, If you think 20 records is a long list, keep in mind I was paring it down from about 50 or 60. OK. So on to criteria be in the Top 20:

• The record had to be originally released in 2010. So no re-releases.
• I have to have heard the record in full. If I didn’t hear it, I can’t count it now can I?
• I have to have heard the record in 2010. (There is a special exception.)

Not that hard as you see. Mostly, I just had to like the record enough to listen to it multiple times and not get sick of it. This series of articles will feature two records every post counting down from 20. I hope that you find something you like in all of this. You never know, you might find something cool you missed out on. So here goes. But first, I’d like to award the special prizes.

The Best Of 2010 Pt. 0: Special Prizes.

22: BlackTusk

Album: Taste The Sin

Genre: Swamp Metal

Label: Relapse

Special Prize Awarded: Because I didn’t hear it until 2011.

Savannah, Georgia is home to a powerful trifecta of Metal bands. Baroness is likely their most well known export with Kylesa second behind them. But my favorite of the moment is a decidedly vicious trio called BlackTusk who, while sharing similar roots with their hometown brethren, traffic in a much doomier, swampy kind of Metal than either of the aforementioned bands. Taste The Sin, BlackTusk’s third LP, finds the group pummeling their way through ten aggressive thunderers that will leave you shaking in your boots or pumping your fist in the air. Whichever comes first.

BlackTusk’s particular aesthetic takes many cues from their contemporaries (High On Fire being one example,) but they also trace their style back to the Hardcore Punk of Black Flag and the more Classic Metal of bands like Motorhead. The blend of methods results in an album rife with deep, grooving riffs, beastly drumming and war crying vocals. The best example of this combination comes with the song “Way Of Horse And Bow” an anthem of horsemanship during a time of war with an utterly ferocious riff backing it up. When BlackTusk cries “Mount! Your! Steed!” you better already be in the damn saddle. The song arches nicely through speed and aggression, ending with slow, punishing Metal glory.

The other best track is the scathing betrayal tirade of “Twist The Knife” a muckier piece than “Way Of Horse And Bow” the song thrashes around while the three members of BlackTusk bellow scornful roars against the one who has betrayed them, declaring this enemy to have words of shit as they twist the knife again and again, further undercutting their reliability.

In closing, if you like Swampy, Sludgy, Hardcore influenced Metal music, then you will certainly enjoy BlackTusk’s Taste The Sin. I felt they deserved an honorary prize, because if I had heard this record last year, it certainly would have made the Top 20.

Top Tracks: “Way Of Horse And Bow” & “Twist The Knife.”

21: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Album: VS. Redux

Genre: Northwest Hip-Hop

Label: Self-Released

Special Prize Awarded: Because it’s a Remix EP.

Last year… whoops… two years ago now, local emcee & producer duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis dropped their debut collaboration; the impeccable VS. EP. The EP combined Macklemore’s downright wholesome, self-portrait style of rapping with Ryan Lewis’s Indie Rock sample heavy production to create one of the best local releases of 2009 and just one of the best collections of songs I’d heard all year. And one of the best parts was they released it for free. Fast forward to 2010. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis re-release the VS EP as the VS Redux, with additional remixed tracks by Jake One, Budo, P Smoov, Sabzi and Ryan Lewis himself.

The VS Redux has done quite well by them, even charting to the Top 10 on iTunes soon after it’s release. Now, the only thing that keeps this record from the Top 20 is that it is both a re-release and a remix album. But it’s still fantastic. The original seven songs from the VS. EP are all quite strong by themselves and the additional content shapes this up to one of the best Hip-Hop records in local memory.

The strongest of the Remixes is probably Ryan Lewis’s tormentingly gorgeous remix of “Otherside” Macklemore’s painful tale of his drug addiction (he’s now over two years sober.) This version of the song does away with the Red Hot Chili Peppers bass sample and builds a more live band arrangement with an additional chorus provided by local singer-songwriter Fences, which serves to add to the haunting loneliness of the song. In severe contrast, P Smoov of Mad Rad and Fresh Espresso comes in to add some much needed levity with his decidedly lighthearted remix of “Irish Celebration” which takes Mack’s send up of his Irish heritage and turns it from a more refined barroom cheer along to a mad dance spectacle. After “Otherside,” though, the break is much needed.

Jake One contributes a solid remix of “Crew Cuts,” Budo turns “The End” into an even more beautiful song, but my favorite song from the EP is without a doubt Sabzi of The Blue Scholars reinvented version of Macklemore’s “The Town” possibly the most heartfelt song I’ve ever heard about Seattle and the history of it’s Hip-Hop scene. Not many pieces of music have ever moved me to tears, but “The Town” comes damn close. If you are a fan of Hip-Hop or want to hear one of the best artists local to Seattle, then get thee to whatever music outlet you use and cop the VS. Redux. You will not be disappointed.

Top Tracks: "Otherside (Feat. Fences) [Ryan Lewis Remix]" & "The Town (Sabzi Remix)"

To be continued...