TRL's Top Tens of 2010

Survivalist Tales!
by Holy Sons

• Balmorhea - Constellations (Western Vinyl)
• Bonnie 'Prince' Billy & The Cairo Gang - Wonder Show of the World (Drag City)
• Caribou - Swim (Merge)
• Holy Sons - Survivalist Tales! (Partisan)
• John Grant - Queen of Denmark (Bella Union)
• Nightlands - Forget The Mantra (Secretly Canadian)
• The Rangers - Suburban Tours (Olde English Spelling Bee)
• The Soft Moon - S/T (Captured Tracks)
• Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky (Young God)
• Three Mile Pilot - The Inevitable Past Is The Future Forgotten (TRL)

Carry On, Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse

top records books life without order

• arp - "the soft wave" (smalltown supersound) as well as "arp and anthony moore" (rvng)
• owen pallett - "heartland" (domino)
• rafael anton irisarri - "the north bend" (room40)
• p.g. wodehouse
• jonathan franzen
• my new juicer
• breakfasts with jeremy in new york
• touring a pop record with friends
• cfcf - "the river" (rvng)
• wild nothing - "gemini" (captured tracks)
• four tet and zammuto eluvium remixes
• four tet - "there is love in you" (domino)
• the books - "the way out"
• working on new music collaborations
• free ping pong table

Chuy's Mexican Food

MUSIC

Because I listened to and reviewed over 700 demos on Twitter this year, I didn’t have much time to keep up on new releases, but I liked these quite a bit:

• Justin Bieber – U Smile 800% Slower (Soundcloud viral mystery)
• Eluvium – Static Nocturne (Self-released)
• Eminem – Recovery (Shady/Aftermath)
• Roky Erickson With Okkervill River – True Love Casts Out All Evil (Anti-)
• Four Tet – There Is Love In You (Domino)
• Frightened Rabbit – The Winter Of Mixed Drinks (Fat Cat)
• Peter Gordon – Love of Life Orchestra (DFA)
• Grails – Black Tar Prophecies Vol. 4 (Important)
• LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening (DFA/Virgin)
• Shipping News – One Less Heartless To Fear (Noise Pollution/Karate Body)

FILM

Because I was either mixing an album or designing an album cover (usually both at the same time), I missed a lot of new movies this year. These are the ones I loved or hope to love very soon:

• Black Swan
• Catfish
• Inception
• Jackass 3-D
• The Fighter
• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
• The Girl Who Played With Fire
• The King’s Speech
• The Social Network
• The Town
• Toy Story 3
• True Grit
• Winnebago Man
• Winter’s Bone

FOOD

• Chuy’s (Austin, Birmingham, Louisville)
• El Rey Burrito Lounge (Montgomery, AL)
• Egg (Brooklyn, NY)
• Life Café (Brooklyn, NY)
• Mellow Mushroom (Tuscaloosa, Anniston, AL)
• Meskerem (New York, NY)
• Paradox Café (Portland, OR)
• Ramsi’s Café of the World (Louisville, KY)
• Roberta’s (Brooklyn, NY)
• Sitar (Tuscaloosa, AL)

LIFE

• My Bama Belle
• West coast road trip
• Southeast road trip
• Signing the Books, Coliseum, Kenseth Thibideau and My Disco
• Alfie joining Team TRL
• Touring with Envy
• Mixing the new Maserati record
• Mixing the new Young Widows record
• Finally hatching plans for Bitch Magnet and The Telephone Man reissues
• Melatonin (I can finally sleep again, sort of!)

The Rings of Saturn
by Christoph Heemann

Can't really think of 10 records I loved above all others but the Arp / Anthony Moore collaboration was just what I wanted to hear without knowing it, and one I keep going back to. Got me listening to (more) Anthony Moore, Slapp Happy & Henry Cow records, all of which are endlessly good. Clogs 'The Creatures In the Garden of Lady Walton' is another I enjoyed alot & inspired me to dig out Meredith Monk's 'Dolman Music' which i'd picked up as a $2 lp around the same time & have been into since. Been jogging / running alot this year with a revolving soundtrack of (mostly) Emeralds 'Does it Look Like I'm Here', Mount Kimbie 'Crooks & Lovers', Efdemin's 'Chicago', Joshua Abrams 'Natural Information' & Kanye West. December has it heavy on J Mascis's 'Several Shades of Why' (lucky to get an advance, out in March - so good! ) & Sun City Girls 'Funeral Mariachi'. Was fortunate enough to catch Christoph Heemann on tour here in western Mass and pick up his 'Rings of Saturn' lp - some of the most genuinely original music I heard all year.

Nakatomi POP SUB Series
“...these nuggets of screen printed genius make me squeal whenever the new installment arrives in the office.”

Top 10 Records in alphabetical order

• The Alps - Le Voyage (Type)
• Anika - s/t (Stones Throw)
• Barn Owl - Ancestral Star (Thrill Jockey)
• The Body - All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood (At a Loss)
• Bottomless Pit - Blood Under The Bridge (Comedy Minus One)
• Castevet - Mounds of Ash (Profound Lore)
• Deathspell Omega - Paracletus (Season of Mist)
• Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here (Editions Mego)
• Four Tet - There is Love in You (Domino)
• LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening (DFA/Virgin)

The Year 2010

The Stooges "Raw Power" followed by Sleep "Holy Mountain" at ATP New York 2010

I was told that the sound system in the main space was actually meant for outdoors. Sleep was so incredibly loud and heavy that their face-hurting, bone-rattling set shook off the residual sweat acquired from The Stooges. Props to the older blonde bartender lady who hooked it up with the $9 Jamesons.

San Juan, Puerto Rico

Of course New York has awesome ceviche, real pina coladas, and cute boys at Starbucks, as well. But nothing in New York City can encapsulate twenty years of missing your grandfather like having "Guantanamera" sang to you like he used to in an Old San Juan cantina.

Baltimore, MD

I'm a sucker for anything Twin Peaks related so the Owl Bar was an amazing treat not only of sight but of price. $3 Makers Mark cocktails? Shut the fuck up, Baltimore! Also, despite what New York has told me most of my life, Baltimore has the best bagels.

Enoteca Maria

I WILL FIGHT YOU if you're not from the five boroughs/maybe NJ and you dare diss Staten Island. But seriously, what you need to do to paint over the unflattering Staten picture you may have in your mind is to hop on the free Staten Island ferry and take advantage of the sights and cheap booze. Then trek over to Enoteca Maria and have one of their rotating Italian grandma cooks to prepare the best meal you'll ever have. Get your shit together and go!

Woven Hand and Swans live

Seeing these two bands less than a week apart from each other only made my longing for a Lungfish reunion even worse. A Lungfish show to close off the trinity of the heavy, the intense and the repetitive may have been too much for my psyche to take but I'd gladly let my mind descend further at the cost of that possibility.

Monk

I've only seen a couple of Monk episodes before Netflix granted/cursed me with the option to stream every single episode. The core story of the show is truly dark but the execution is lighthearted and unchallenging which made for the best viewing for winding down. The show possessed the delightfully retro sensibility that I'll miss once I'm done streaming.

Sweatpants

Cuz fuck it. So much packing. So warm. So comfy. My Noo Yawk accent is neutralized but you can't completely take Staten Island out of the girl.

Dag Nasty Halloween

Pete Cortner performed with a Dag Nasty cover band during my Halloween.

Nakatomi POP SUB Series

I love screen prints and these nuggets of screen printed genius make me squeal whenever the new installment arrives in the office. They're the ones behind the Costanzig and Larrydavhead prints.

Floor, Man is the Bastard, Grails hang time, Pumps, Patron and Pan Sonic synced to Planet Earth in one night.

Love is a Stream
by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma

1. Golden Retriever (Root Strata)
2. JD Emmanuel - Wizards Reissue (Important)
3. Beach House - Teen Dream (Sub Pop)
4. Date Palms - of Psalms (Root Strata)
5. Paul Clipson / Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Within Mirrors (Students of Decay)
6. Daniel Higgs - Say God (Thrill Jockey)
7. Emeralds - Does it look like I'm here? (editions Mego)
8. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - Love is a Stream (type)
9. Barn Owl - Ancestral Star (Thrill Jockey)
10. Golden Retriever - 2 (Bucket Factory)

Spiritualized
at Radio City Music Hall

2010 RECORDS

• Four Tet – There Is Love In You (Domino)
• Emeralds – Does It Look Like I’m Here? (Editions Mego)
• Grinderman – Grinderman 2 (Anti)
• Amen Dunes – Murder Dull Mind EP (Sacred Bones)
• Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma (Warp)
• The Soft Pack – The Soft Pack (Kemado)
• Luke Abbott – Holkham Drones (Border Community)
• Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest (4AD)
• Autolux – Transit Transit (ATP Recordings)
• Sparklehorse - It's A Wonderful Life (Capitol) - Obviously, this didn't come out this year, but I probably listened to this more than anything else.

2010 SHOWS

• Spiritualized @ Radio City Music Hall (performing "Ladies and Gentlemen...")
• Forgetters @ Generation Records
• GZA, the Stooges @ ATP NY
• Guided By Voices @ T5
• Sharon Jones @ Apollo Theatre

2010 FOODS

• Kuma's Corner (Chicago, IL)
• The County Line (Austin, TX)
• Fatty Cue (Williamsburg, BK)
• Robertas Pizza Power Lunches (Bushwick, BK)
• Three's Company (Greenpoint, BK)

Coliseum

• Getting married, my wife, my home, my life.
• Joining the Temporary Residence family and releasing House With A Curse.
• Mike Pascal & Carter Wilson, the best bandmates I could imagine.
• Great new albums from The Estranged, Complications, Shipping News, Swans, Superchunk, Killing Joke, Grinderman, Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse, among many others.
• Wonderful films: I Am Love, Never Let Me Go, The White Ribbon, An Education, Un Prophete, and I'm assuming True Grit and Tree Of Life will not disappoint.
• Prague.
• J. Robbins
• Recording with Kevin Ratterman at his Funeral Home studio.
• Recording at Inner Ear Studios.
• Sam Velde
• Tours with the great people in Burning Love, Bison BC and Kvelertak.
• Amazing friends across the globe.
• A safe and healthy extended family.

(More than ten, deal with it!)

Recording at Inner Ear

Subiza
by Delorean

• Twin Shadow - Forget
• Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
• Givers - live in concert
• Caribou - Swim
• Four Tet - There Is Love In You
• Yeasayer - Odd Blood
• Toro Y Moi - Causers of This
• Delorean - Subiza
• Aloe Blacc - Good Things
• Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
• Foster The People - misc
• Cults - misc
• The Naked And Famous - misc
• Smith Westerns - misc
• Best Coast - Crazy For You
• Floating Points - misc
• Mount Kimbie - Crooks & Lovers
• Autolux - Transit Transit
• The Books - The Way Out