As promised in the previous post: The second part of our top five digital releases in 2010. This time Christian took some time to think of his favourite netaudio music of the year 2010.
“The wild things” by the swedish act Moon and Sun was one of the latest albums in 2010 and at this time of the year i did not expect to find a release that would make it into my personal top five of 2010. not only speaking of digital or netaudio releases but speaking of musical releases in general. The wild things EP by this wondeful swedish artist got me right away and i could tell after listening just for a few seconds that i would truly fall in love with this music, reminding me of big and established indie artists like Cat Power, Bat for lashes or Warpaint, Moon and Sun have this strange beauty that is hard to explain with words. The music just speaks for itself and if you can, you should really get your hands on the limited 10 inch vinyl EP that comes along with the free digital download, released by the Utrecht based label beep beep back up the truck.
Another release that hit me right away from the first day of its release this year comes from our beloved friends from 12rec. The russian duo Monokle & Galun created some great piece of art that is equally hard to describe as the mentioned before Moon and Sun. Their “In Frame” album just won’t fit in any musical frame. There is some indietronics that fiddles around in a strange and beautiful way with hip hop beats and pop like vocal harmonies. It’s a bitter sweet pill that hooks you up right away. It’s that dangerously addictive of sound that made the album a great companion in 2010 for me. Always ready to be played, never leaving the flash drive of my mp3 player.
The next 2010 highlight is not a single release, an album or an ep, it is an entire back catalogue by a fabulous netlabel that did not only introduce me to a new musical world but also put the netaudio quality bar up, showing the world that netlabelism and professional music publishing must not be an antagonism, I am talking about Error Broadcast and their 21st century beat music that is best described with the following two words: fucking brilliant. The releases by pixelord, aeed and shlomo are instant classics and i keep my fingers crossed for those talented and ground breaking musical heroes. I am sure there is a lot more to be heard of those guys.
The next big up goes to Iceland. I guess… It’s not quite clear where the following netlabel is based and it is also not clear who is behind all the buzz. But one thing is certain: There is a bad panda out there that is digging the web for some wonderful music and is releasing it to the world every monday. Utidur, Frederik Teige and Louis Aguilar are just a few examples for the good taste of that strange panda bear that gets me excited again and again and again. Please dont stop doing what you do. A am so much looking forward to what these guys are coming up with in 2011. You should also check out their latest label compilation that is a good introduction to the work of bad panda records and its artists.
One more thing to mention to get together the fifth and last part of my top five digital releases in 2010. To be honest, it does not make much sense to think of five things only, because there are many other netlabels and releases that astounded and fascinated me this year. That’s why i decided to do some name dropping to thank at least some of the people whose work i appreciate so much. Everyone should check out at least the following (and i am sure i forgot many): 23 seconds, myuzyk, diym, peppermill records, beko-dsl, brennnessel, lost children, bedroom research, black lantern music, budabeats, and like i said i am sure i forgot many others and there are even more out there that are worth checking out!
