The Best Of 2010 (and Merry Christmas)

01 MASSIMO VOLUME
Cattive Abitudini
 
02 GABRIELLES WISH
Processed
 
03 MARLENE KUNTZ
Ricoveri Virtuali E Sexy Solitudini

04 Skarnemurta - Traffic

05 Freebass - It's A Beautiful Life

06 Beautiful - Beautiful

07 Kalevala - Musicanti Di Brema

08 Exit Calm - Exit Calm

09 Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle

10 Jungle Radio - Live Session

11 Serena-Maneesh - S-M 2: Abyss In B Minor
12 Culpable - Culpable
13 Section 25 - Retrofit
14 Pet Shop Boys - Ultimate
15 Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - History Of Modern

This year has been a weird mix of different trends for me. I've been discovering artists I've been guilty of overlooking in the past which haven't released albums this year, like the years of Brian Wilson as a genius in The Beach Boys (second half of the 60s) and Maxwell, a genius of contemporary black music. I've also been hearing a lot of singles released in the past few years in the Fidget house scene, especially Brooklyn artists like AC Slater and Udachi, who are doing the most inventive music heard (and danced) in this century so far.
I've also discovered 4AD (which was a cult label in the 80s with bands like Cocteau Twins and Pixies) is still releasing great albums, this year with bands like Blonde Redhead (who are progressing further in refining their sophisticated and melancholic synth pop) and Serena-Maneesh (who try too often to sound like My Bloody Valentine but still show a lot of talent, especially when doing something more personal).
Then we've had great comebacks, reissues or compilations of bands which have been around for ages. Massimo Volume came back with a studio album after 11 years. They had been playing half of the new songs in concert so we expected the new album would have been great, but nobody was really ready to hear their best album ever. Gabrielles Wish released for the first time on CD their excellent lost debut album, recorded 13 years ago, adding some bonus tracks. Marlene Kuntz involved production genius Howie B (he did Bjork's most inventive albums in the 90s) and he produced their less commercial album ever, a record full of ideas daring to take many different directions, mostly unconventional, with some wonderful sounds enhancing the formula. The collaboration went further in the project Beautiful (which sounds even more experimental), where Howie B plays keyboards and bass legend Gianni Maroccolo (formerly in Litfiba and CSI) comes back to complete the line-up and release the album on his own label Al-Kemi. Peter Hook finally released, after an EP with guest vocalists like Tim Burgess from The Charlatans) the Freebass debut album which is great, pity the band have already split. Another long awaited debut came from Exit Calm and, even if they haven't included all their best songs in the tracklists, the album is good enough to say they're the best new band in this century so far.
Section 25 survived the death of singer Larry Cassidy, his daughter Beth sings now, and have released an album with re-recordings of their classics. Pet Shop Boys released a compilation of hits missing some important singles but including their excellent new single Together, which also has a really beautiful video.
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark came back with a new studio album after 14 years and it's alright but unfortunately, just like their last album before this long time off, shows their best inspiration is long gone, though it tries a return to the sound of their former glories.
2010 has also been a great year in my local scene in Parma. There are other great bands who haven't released records playing fantastic gigs, there are cool DJs in the dance scene, and we've had also some excellent releases. Skarnemurta had another triumphant tour in Ukraine and repackaged their last album and EP with a bonus track on one CD while recording a new album which should follow in a couple of months. Kalevala are selling promo copies of their astonishing and truly inspired new album while waiting for a wider release next year. Jungle Radio emerged with their inventive blend of DJ set and live performance and Culpable finally made available on iTunes the studio recordings of the wonderful songs they've been playing live for years.
Merry Christmas and Happy 2011, hoping to hear more great new music!

The Best Of 2006 (and Merry Christmas)

01 GABRIELLES WISH
Reformer
02 DONALD FAGEN
Morph The Cat
03 MEW
And The Glass Handed Kites
04 SKARNEMURTA
Oilà Masnada
05 DELTA V
Pioggia Rosso Acciaio
06 MARLENE KUNTZ : S-Low
07 PET SHOP BOYS : Fundamental
08 FRANK BLACK : Fast Man Raider Man
09 MORRISSEY : Ringleader Of The Tormentors
10 FEDERICO FIUMANI : Donne Mie



Not many records this year, I wish I could have heard more, this chart is obviously based on the few I've heard.
I guess there have been other great records released this year but my priority was on the artists I already love, I've bought quite some other albums but they've all been released in the past.
For example how could I buy an album released this year by anyone when I hadn't yet the excellent Fin by Crispy Ambulance?
Also no New Order as we were expecting, in fact the band seems about to split, as you can read on New Order Online.
Still, I don't complain as Gabrielles Wish came back with what's probably the best record released in this decade so far, and I don't say this because I'm their webmaster, honest!
I also do the site for Skarnemurta but they're not number 2... well, their excellent album couldn't appear nowhere below number 5 in this chart, actually. It's packed with killer tunes and it's the first for a proper label and distributed nation-wide so they're a sort of best new band for the general audience in Italy.
Personally, Mew have been a great find. Describing them as My Bloody Valentine going prog while meeting Prefab Sprout doesn't even do justice to the innovative vision of pop and rock they have, they're that rare. They've made other albums before, which are definitely worth to have.
Few records, but high quality. And if you're going to talk about high quality you're going to mention the god of quality pop, Donald Fagen from the mighty Steely Dan. Other great frontmen made their solo comebacks: Frank Black from the legendary Pixies, Morrissey (20 years ago The Smiths were about to split) and Federico Fiumani, usually known as Diaframma.
Marlene Kuntz released a fantastic live album and Riccardo Tesio found the time to produce Un Altro Giorno D'Amore, the wonderful debut album by Kessler which almost made the Top 10.
Another great album bubbling under is Incontri A Metà Strada by Riccardo Sinigallia, the genius behind many beautiful records of the Roman scene (from Tiromancino to Niccolò Fabi and Max Gazzè).
The top 10 is completed by two fabulous synth pop albums: from England we have the return to form of Pet Shop Boys and in Italy we've had yet another great album from Delta V.
I've also downloaded quite some tracks from iTunes, both old and new, for example I have the original vinyl of Crispy Ambulance's The Plateau Phase, which doesn't include the bonus tracks of the CD, which I have downloaded from iTunes, I'm definitely more willing to spend 3 Euros on tracks I want than buying the entire CD or downloading them from illegal file sharing. Also, while I'm not entirely convinced to buy the new Robbie Williams album I firmly believe his cover of Lewis Taylor's Lovelight is one of the best songs of the year, definitely worth to be downloaded.

Merry Christmas and a Happy 2007, hoping to continue the tradition seeing every year finishing with 7 bringing great music.
Check the Records Of The Years section in Mick's Mix to see the previous years charts since 2001.