2010 was, without question, the greatest year in the history of years. I, through the use of artwork, music videos, science, deduction and obfuscation will prove it beyond a shadow of a doubt... after the jump.
"Wha?" you may ask. "How could that possibly be true?" My reply? "Of course, It's true." Let's break it down... First, some of the usual suspects:
3500 BC— GREAT year, no doubt. What with the invention of the wheel and the plough. But the fun quotient was diminished by the glaring absence of the iPad and a lack of good college radio stations.
1600 BC— Beginning of Greek civilization (is there any any other kind?). The Greeks gave us the root of mathematics, philosophy, amazing politics, great stories, awesome gods (so good the Romans pillaged them wholesale... but couldn't come up with another name for Apollo.), the Olympics, the first marathon not won by a Kenyan. They punk'd the Trojans with a fake horse, were the first to serve feta with olives and invented ouzo. Now that's a great year. Only problem was the 3,600 year wait to win the European Cup football title.
753 BC— The founding of Rome. OK. Did you not read the part about being unable to come up with another name for Apollo?
551 BC— Confucius was born. A giant of philosophy. Look, this year would rank much, much higher in my book if I hadn't had a really bad meal at Panda Express a few months ago. The less we talk about it, the more you'll thank me later.
486 BC— Pro: Birth of Buddha Con: Roman Consul Cassius proposed a law to assist needy plebeians. The measure was violently opposed by the upper crust, who then had Cassius condemned and executed. (and here I thought the Tea Party started just a few years back.)
0— Birth of Jesus. Awesome! But after years and years of the telephone game, beautiful message of hope and redemption degenerated into the Inquisition, "Moral Majority" and the idiotic Westboro Baptist Clown Show.
1455— Gutenberg's moveable type press.... sounds impressive until you spend five minutes with Adobe InDesign. How did Gutenberg get such glowing reviews without Text Frame Options or a Drop Shadow button?
1776— Great year... Our country was created. Declaration of Independence, Thomas Paine's Common Sense, Father Francisco Palou "discovers" San Francisco, "These are the times that try men's souls," blah, blah, blah... all well and good... however: it was a leap year that started on a Monday... they hung Nathan Hale, they didn't have baseball but they did have slavery. Forget it.
1859— Publication of Darwin's The Origin of the Species. Sounds good until you spend five minutes listening to Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck and then you seriously begin to question the whole human's evolving thing.
2009— Barack Obama sworn in as the first African American President of the United States. Democrats control both houses of Congress. My artwork is chosen as the cover of The Nation magazine Inaugural issue. Peace envelopes the world. Single-payer health care reform sweeps through both houses of Congress. Fox "News" files for Chapter 11. Goldman Sachs and United Healthcare CEOs turn themselves in to Federal Authorities. Scalia and Thomas busted for pleasuring themselves to a dog-eared copy of "The Fountainhead" ... huh?.. what? ...oh. Well... at least we got to see the awesome Battlestar Galactica finale.
So... that leaves us with 2010... Let's take a look.
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First off: the wonderful year of 2010 in music.
FRIGHTENED RABBIT THE WINTER OF MIXED DRINKS
Glagow, Scotland band produces my Album of the Year.
I'm simply blown away by these soul-raising tunes.
Swim Until You Can't See Land, Things and The Lonliness and the Scream are mesmerizing pieces which deserve your full attention.
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BEACH HOUSE TEEN DREAM
Shimmering and beautiful music.
Baltimore's Beach House delivers its SubPop debut and lives up to the hype... excellent shoe-gazey tunes for any time of year...
Victoria Legrand's vocals are reminiscent of Nico's work with the Velvet Underground....
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MENOMENA MINES
With a completely unique yet strangely familiar cacophony of sound, this Porland trio has been making a wonderful racket for a while now.
Repeated listening brings fresh appreciation. They JUST broke up, so get a taste of what made them so great.
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THE NATIONAL HIGH VIOLET
Band with the buzz, puts out highly-anticipated follow up to critically-acclaimed previous album (Boxer)... and a world rejoices.
This might be off the beaten path, but I think this is what a band fronted by Edward R. Murrow would sound like...
This voice demands attention. Haunting melodies, tight musicianship and deft lyrical curves form to perfect effect.
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NEW PORNOGRAPHERS TOGETHER
Canada has this pop supergroup that you may or may not be aware of... Ho Hum... another great New Pornographer's album sprinkled with brilliant pop songs (Moves, Crash Years) and a haunting masterpiece (My Shepard with vocals by the hypnotizing Neko Case).
Pass the salt.
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DEERHUNTER HALCYON DIGEST
I kept seeing their name around... people talked... and I finally listened.
wow. Songs like Revival and Memory Boy top the list.
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VAMPIRE WEEKEND CONTRA
Literate, beautiful work that easily reflects the great Paul Simon's "Graceland."
...and here's the poster I did for their Miami Fillmore show... limited-edition of 100, silk screen. 18 x 24...
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EMMA POLLOCK THE LAW OF LARGE NUMBERS
Wonderful singer / songwriter /guitarist from Scotland's best kept secret (The Delgados) releases her second album and it's what one would expect... topnotch. You'll be humming the memorable songs like "I Could Be A Saint" with great lines like "How you gonna break my heart, when you've never even made my day?" and "The Loop"... I can't find a video with any of my favorites from this album, but here's a great example of how wonderfully talented Emma is with a song from her first solo album (also great): Here's Paper and Glue...
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JÓNSI GO
I almost missed this. My (almost) loss.
Sigur Rós singer / guitarist steps out and creates a masterwork in his own right.
A swirling cacophony of sound that compares most favorably with an Icelandic Sufjan Stevens. Here's a video that makes me want to jump around the room and celebrate life in all its glory...
Here's some (of my) art for the year:
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To further bolster my claim for 2010's superiority over every other year, I add the following: 2010 started on a Friday (TGIF!), Winter Olympics!, World Cup!, Chilean Miners rescued!, Democratic African-American President!, Democratic Senate, Democratic House of Representatives run by the first woman Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi!, End of DADT, Health Care Reform (such as it was) passed!, Ricky Gervais show on HBO debuts!, Rachel Maddow rocks the whole year!, Toy Story 3!, The King's Speech, The Social Network, Exit Through The Gift Shop!, Agora!, I listened to every Beatles album again and Pet Sounds about 20 times!...
I also saw my beloved San Francisco Giants do something they've never done:
THEY WON THE WORLD SERIES! WOOO HOOO!!!! (a collection of misfits, castoffs and personality blending into the perfect reflection of the city of San Francisco!)
The Giants beat the Texas Rangers (who I have a ton of respect for, just not their former owner!). Here's a couple of animations I made while going through what we Giants' fans lovingly refer to as "Torture!"...
(no horses were actually hurt in the making of this animation.)
...and finally... the greatest reason of all. A reason so great that Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Fox "news" and the Republican House Takeover all rolled into one could not tip the balance against 2010. It was the year my daughter, Athena, was born! (yay!)
If, at the end of all this, you say "But isn't this just a glorified way for you to get your top albums of the year out there... and to show pictures of your artwork, hype up your favorite team and show off your new baby??!!"... To this, sir or madam, to this, I say: "yup."