Tuesday, December 7, 2010

[BEST OF 2010] The year's best EPs

blog 2010/12/07 - [BEST OF 2010]  The best EPs of the year!

The EP has always been one of my favourite musical mediums.   It was what the fans sought out when they craved more.  It held rare nuggets, odd remixes, live versions, and often allowed the artist far more freedoms that a record label would allow on a full length LP.  They were the limited edition 7"s that I flipped through for gems and would randomly purchase because they just had an amazing cover.  If you want to discover more about your favourite artists, or hear the sound of the upcoming year, focus on the EPs.


THE BEST EPS OF 2010

Antony and the Johnsons - Thank You for Your Love EP
Balam Acab - See Birds
Chronomad - Sayeh
Crystal Castles - Celestica EP
Entertainment For The Braindead - Roadkill
Gobble Gobble - Becoming Legion 7"
Gobble Gobble - Lawn Knives 7"
Gobble Gobble - Wrinklecarver 7"
GuMMy†Be?R! - Spectral Analysis EP
Iron and Wine - Walking Far From Home EP
oOoOO - oOoOO EP
Rae Spoon & CPI - thereisafire
Robyn - Body Talk Pt 1
Robyn - Body Talk Pt 2
Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP
The Tallest Man On Earth - Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird
Taylor Deupree - Snow (Dusk, Dawn)
tUnE-YaRdS - Bird-Droppings EP
Wye Oak - My Neighbor, My Creator EP
Yellow Ostrich - Whalemary 7"



Antony and the Johnsons - Thank You for Your Love EP
Antony has always made sure that the Eps are a critical portion of the back catalouge.  Each Antony and the Johnsons EP is an essential document adding to their total ouvre.  Each one contains gems that I could never live without.  From I Fell In Love With A Dead Boy, to Shake That Devil, and now the cover of Dylan's Pressing On, this EP is as essential as the others.

Balam Acab - See Birds
Dreamy downtempo that probably should have been released on Anticon.  Much respect given to DJ Screw and Boards Of Canada equally, here.

Chronomad - Sayeh
Having put out some of the most unique and untouchable electronic music in the past, it is an incredible pleasure to have Chronomad back in my life.  Asylon here is an epic journey that sends the witchhouse kids back to school.

Crystal Castles - Celestica EP
While their new LP is great, it is this EP which is almost perfect.  The lush and pretty single Celestica is here, but it's the lo-fi 8-bit goodness on here that really makes it special.  Total overload rush happiness.

Entertainment For The Braindead - Roadkill
On a bed of what sounds to be a plinky banjos played with all the might of a ukulele rests some fabulous folk that almost reminds me of Gaelic traditional songcraft.  Even though this is the worst bandname I discovered this year, the songs are gorgeous and tranquil, with enough play to avoid any recoil at earnestness.  They call it an EP, but it feels like a full album worth of joy.  The best part?  You can download it for free online at http://www.aaahh-records.net/entertainment-for-the-braindead-roadkill/

Gobble Gobble - Becoming Legion 7"
When I had just turned 15 Beck just started getting on Much Music and the first thing I picked up by him was the Beercan EP, and my life was never the same thanks to that genius little CD.  I feel the same way about Gobble Gobble.  It is bursting with vitality and beauty that makes me excited about pop music and electronic music again.

Gobble Gobble - Lawn Knives 7"
I am putting these Eps up in full because Gobble Gobble linked to the digital copies in full on their own tumblr, so I am assuming they just want to spread the love.  The 7"s might even still be out there!   Rub them all over your trembling flesh!

Gobble Gobble - Wrinklecarver 7"
Seriously people, Gobble Gobble is, hands-down, the best new artist of 2010.

GuMMy†Be?R! - Spectral Analysis EP
Like Balam Acab, but with obvious digital particles from the timestretching and more overloaded compression.  Not too far away from 80s synth pop melodies, this is a fine mix of the absurd and awesome.  And awesomely absurd.

Iron and Wine - Walking Far From Home EP
Taking notes from the likes of Yeasayver, Iron & Wine sneaked this out at the end of 2010 as a burst of joyous hallelujah pop for the cold season.  Indeed this is their poppiest record and it has the emotional earnestness of gospel, but you can't deny it's addictiveness, and it still has much of the classic Iron & Wine you love.

oOoOO - oOoOO EP
Like a more angsty take on the witchhousey brethren.  A bit less DJ Screw and a bit more Bat For Lashes going on here, with some pretty fabulous synth work to boot.

Rae Spoon & CPI - thereisafire
I have no shame in this, since I think it's actually a damn good EP.  Rae's hit single from 2009 gets flipped up for the indie dance floor, and his fan-favourite There Is A Light (But It's Not For Everyone) goes electro pop.  Delicious.

Robyn - Body Talk Pt 1
Robyn - Body Talk Pt 2

Wait, what are these doing here?  Isn't there a full length album called "Body Talk" out there now that collects most of these tracks?   Yes.  The answer is yes and dammit you know that's the answer.  But it was these EPs that were the magic rush.  Robyn did things differently, releasing the 2 EPs before adding a few songs and making it all a full length, and it was a genius marketing strategy with Robyn rocking our mp3 players all year long, saying nothing of the constant stream of remixes that flooded the web as well.  You should probably just get the full length at this point, but my favourite tracks are on the first 2 EPs.  This is totally indulgent cheese pop confidently executed by our hipster hair goddess.  Seriously, who has better hair and catchier tunes?  Buy all 3 EPs for the extras, or buy the LP.  Either way, this is the goodness you've been craving ever since you played Konichiwa Bitches to death.

Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP
This is music for schizophrenic fits.  I want to thrash and cry and feel like others are conspiring in the universe in a way that affects me profoundly.  There is just so much to feel here, and it comes at you from all angles, that it can be overwhelming.  But the throes and cries are also ecstatic and fascinating and we all need to get on board this rock opera cum...  EP?  Yes, this EP (59 minutes!) surpasses the duration of most albums.  Yes it ends with a 17 minute epic.  Yes, the title track appears twice in slightly different versions for a total of 20 minutes, but when it comes back in it feels like a reprise and it's even that much more ecstatic in it's careful parsing of Simon & Garfunkel collding with the 21st century.  Essential for every Sufjan fan.

The Tallest Man On Earth - Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird
Speaking of essential!  Holy shit.  EPs usually wet our appetite for the full length, but this came out afterwards like an echo, and it's some of his best work yet.

Taylor Deupree - Snow (Dusk, Dawn)
I was drooling over the full length in my post of best experimental music, but I couldn't ignore this one-track EP that just shimmered it's way in to my heart.

tUnE-YaRdS - Bird-Droppings EP
Sometimes I can listen to this and imagine that Mr. Bungle have got a female singer and continued their sweet spot.  Trey Spruance should totally hook up with this person.

Wye Oak - My Neighbor, My Creator EP
There hasn't been such a pitch-perfect mope-rock EP since last year's Yeah Yeah Yeahs acoustic disc.  They tap so many aspects of rock n roll that just give me the chills, wheher it's the earnest rocker, the that dog. Catharsis, or Zola Jesus self reflection.  And aside from a questionable hiphop verse tossed on the remix, it's pretty frickin' perfect.

Yellow Ostrich - Whalemary 7"
A stunning 7" of lofi rock goodness.  If the track Whale doesn't make you want to shake yr indierock booty, you have no heart.



THIS WEEK'S TRACKS

Antony and the Johnsons - Pressing On
Antony and the Johnsons - You Are The Treasure
Balam Acab - Big Boy
Balam Acab - See Birds (moon)
Chronomad - Asylon
Crystal Castles - Insectica
Crystal Castles - Seed
Entertainment For The Braindead - Dry Wood
Entertainment For The Braindead - Patience
Entertainment For The Braindead - Pirates
Gobble Gobble - Becoming Legion
Gobble Gobble - Cat Eggs
Gobble Gobble - End of Days
Gobble Gobble - Lawn Knives
Gobble Gobble - Nemo
Gobble Gobble - Wrinklecarver
GuMMy†Be?R! - GURL
GuMMy†Be?R! - The Elders pt 2
Iron & Wine - Summer In Savannah
Iron & Wine - Walking Far From Home
oOoOO - Burnout Eyess
oOoOO - Hearts
Rae Spoon - Come On Forest Fire Burn The Disco Down (CPI Remix)
Rae Spoon - There is a light, but it's not for everyone
Robyn - Criminal Intent
Robyn - Dancing On My Own
Robyn - Include Me Out
Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People (Classic Rock Version)
Sufjan Stevens - From The Mouth Of Gabriel
Taylor Deupree - Snow (Dusk, Dawn) (extract)
The Tallest Man On Earth - Like the Wheel
The Tallest Man On Earth - The Dreamer
tUnE-YaRdS - Hatari (The Small Is Beautiful Remix)
tUnE-YaRdS - Real Live Flesh
Wye Oak - I Hope You Die
Wye Oak - My Neighbor
Yellow Ostrich - Whale


It's always the smaller doses that catch you with your defenses down:  http://thetastates.com/mp3s/blog/blog20101207.zip


Stay on top of everything new at http://djcpi.blogspot.com

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Enjoy!
~CPI

2 comments:

  1. awesome to see that there is no crossover with our list: http://glofimustdie.com/post/2329012078/top-eps-of-2010-best-of-tanlines-brothertiger-keepaway-t

    that's the beauty of living in 2010!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice. There sure is no shortage of goodness.
    Reply to the top 10 album post when your list of best albums is up, too.

    ReplyDelete