Your voices have been heard, fair readers,and here are the Top Ten Songs of 2010, according to YOU!

#10: “SILVIA” BY MIIKE SNOW AND “AIRPLANES” BY LOCAL NATIVES– TIE

In an interview with Todd Prodanovich last September, Local Natives band member Taylor Rice said:

“Airplanes” has been a song that has really connected with a lot of people for us, and just been one of the most enthusiastically received songs live at a lot of our shows. People tend to know it, and it’s so interesting because it’s a song that was on the chopping block originally when we were making the album. We were like, ‘It’s not coming together, I don’t know if this song is going to make the record,’ and then last minute everything came together. It’s just been, I think, one of our strongest songs in terms of that connection, its kind of immedia[cy].

Read the rest of the interview here.

 

#9: “THE GHOST INSIDE” BY BROKEN BELLS AND “HELICOPTER” BY DEERHUNTER– TIE

Kelly Montgomery previewed a Portland appearance by Broken Bells earlier this month, saying:

Despite the fact that Broken Bells only announced themselves as a project just over a year ago, the duo has exploded onto the scene with force and an eclectic new sound. Broken Bells is the now familiar name of Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) and James Mercer, frontman of the Pacific Northwest indie band The Shins. The two met at the Roskilde music festival in Denmark in 2004, but waiting another four years before embarking on their new collaborative project. With the release of their self-titled debut, Broken Bells introduced their experimental pop sound to the indie world and let’s just say it didn’t take long for new fans to accumulate.

To read the rest of Kelly’s piece, click HERE.

Todd Prodanovich also reviewed Deerhunter’s latest album, Halcyon Digest, and had this to say:

Halcyon Digest is a shockingly beautiful album. It sounds as if Deerhunter simultaneously mellowed-out and became more ambitious than ever before. Nothing ever sounds forced, even though their music has a whole new dimension of complexity and tiny nuances to keep your ears guessing. Deerhunter took the lofty expectations that everyone had based on their previous albums and completely surpassed them with what is arguably their career-defining work.

Read the rest of Todd’s review here.

#8: “EXCUSES” BY THE MORNING BENDERS

Sherene Hilal profiled The Morning Benders in November, saying:

Meet The Morning Benders; a quartet reminiscent of another out-of-this world quartet with the same wide-eyed charm, but instead of a wide-eyed innocence they approach their sound with the wide-eyes of shock-and-awe. Their sound is smooth and holds the uncanny weight of a sound-track orchestra, but the songs themselves are filled with all the jaded jagged edges that make us scoff at the naïve sentiments crooned by 60’s rock.

Sherene’s also snagged us this MP3 of “Excuses,” which you can enjoy here or in her original piece.

#7: “ISLAND” BY THE XX

Surprisingly, being nominated and selected for the Top Ten Songs of 2010 is the first time The xx has appeared on BestNewBands.com. We’ll keep a better eye on them next year!

#6: “SATICOY” BY FIGHT FROM ABOVE

Lauren Novik caught up with Fight From Above’s drummer, Dave Schechtman, for a quick chat about their next album at an LA show in October. Here’s an excerpt from their talk:

BNB:  Fave part of the recording process?

DS:  The breakfast burritos.  I love being in the studio…it’s stress and bliss mixed into one. Tracking drums is usually not a problem until our producer throws a new beat idea out of left field (ie: Saticoy chorus) and that just adds more time to the process but it also creates a much better song! I look forward to the new and exciting additions that will come for our new songs.

BNB:  Any pre recording vices or rituals?!

DS:  Breathing and meditating. Just kidding: FEELING TIRED.

BNB:  LA kids was pretty dark- which was awesome- Anything change with the new songs?

DS:  Not to be repetitive but I think these songs will juxtapose the dark and pop much like our last album, but we all feel stronger musically and hope that our songs will be another level above last time.

To read the rest of the interview, click HERE.

#5: “BABY DRUGS” BY TRISTEN

Laurel Kathleen talked with Tristen recently asking her about “Baby Drugs” and more. Here’s a little of their conversation:

You just released a seven inch called Eager For Your Love, featuring introspective lyrics and titles like ‘Baby Drugs’, and ‘Cheatin’, and of course the title track. Are all of your songs autobiographical? 

All of them are very personal, and they’re about things I’m interested in or are experienceing. Or I know someone who’s experiencing something, or I saw a movie that made me think about that kind of person. But yes, they’re all very personal.

Is your full length album Charlatans at the Garden Gate still scheduled to be released in January? What’s the recording process been like?

It’s actually coming out February 1^st. I recorded it at Battle Tapes, a home studio in Nashville with Jeremy Ferguson. We spent a good part of a year and half recording: recording a lot of songs, tearing them down, fixing them up. And then we had it mixed, and now it’s done.

How do you feel about its release? Excited? Relieved?

I’m never relieved, because by the time you’re halfway done you’re already onto the next record. But I totally like it, so it’s okay. I feel good, like it’s perfect. Exactly what it was supposed to be.

To read the full interview, click HERE.

#4: “NOW I DON’T” BY MA’AYAN CASTEL

Ma’ayan Castel makes her debut on BestNewBands.com with her nomination and selection for the Top Ten Songs of the year. We hope to see more of her in 2011!

#3: “JUST CAN’T SLEEP” BY THE AIKIU

Todd Prodanovich interviewed Alex Aikiu in August and said:

The Aikiu is the musical concoction that occurs when you add two parts disco and one part electronic pop into a boiling pot with a classical broth. That’s because Alex Aikiu was trained in classical piano, learning the ropes by practicing the work of Chopin and Mozart before ever hearing the more dance worthy tracks of his real musical heroes like Michael Jackson and Nile Rodge

To read the interview, click HERE.

#2: “HERE WE NEVER DIE” BY SISTER CRAYON

Laurel Kathleen reviewed Sister Crayon’s LA show with Fol Chen in August, and here’s a little of what she had to say:

When Sister Crayon, took the stage, I was charmed by lead singer Terra Lopez’s relaxed manner onstage. She thanked us for being here, asked us how we were feeling, and when someone asked how she was feeling she laughed, surprised. “No one ever asks us that question!” She admitted.

But when she began to sing and fiddle with an unusual array of electronic devices, she transformed into an incredibly magnetic frontwoman. The first song they played nearly knocked me down with the intense, eerie mood it created. With three synth/keys players and both live and electronic drums, there was no limit to the variety of sounds that Sister Crayon produced. At times they gave me goosebumps with haunted trip hop, at others breaking my heart with Terra’s soulful, Bjork-like intonations and timbre. Her voice could go from airy to rich and moody, and I was reminded of Portishead‘s eponymous album.

To read the full review, click HERE.

#1: “BABIES” BY VIA AUDIO

Congratulations to Via Audio on “Babies” being the Number One song of 2010! Jesse Diener-Bennett saw them play the Brooklyn Bowl recently, and here’s what he had to say about it:

What really makes Via Audio shine is the constant counterpoint between Deis and Martin. In some of the band’s best moments, Deis doubles Martin’s vocals with his guitar. This grounds some of the more adventurous melodies and adds punctuation to the end of her phrases.

To read the full review, click HERE, and tune in next week for a more in-depth profile on the band!

This article includes text by Leona Laurie and Monica Christoffels.