If this year’s HARD Summer Festival theme had to be summed up in one word, it would have to be “naked.” On Saturday, the celebrated electronic music festival brought thousands of music lovers to Los Angeles’s Downtown Historic Park for the sold out music fest. Swarms of festival goers arrived in their rave-worthy best; dressed in the smallest amount of clothing they could get by in without earning them a police record.
Friday you have boundless energy. Saturday you’re crisp from the sun and mildly hoarse, but you’ve still got your legs underneath you. Sunday, however, is when the battle is won or lost; when true heroes are made (or broken) on the grassy proving ground of the Indio desert. It’s Day Three. Do you know where you parked your car?
In the continuing spirit of our big 2010 send-off, we’d like to present you with another Top 10 list that celebrates the best of what music had to offer this past year, this time in the form of music videos. Some of these are beautifully stunning creations, many of them will cause you to LOL, but whatever their intent, chances are you’ve wasted a substantial portion of your work day checking them out at some point over the last 365 days. We just thought we’d pick the best and put ‘em in one place.
2010 was a banner year for music in general, and it’s now clear that the doomsayer rumors about the inevitable implosion of the industry were greatly exaggerated. Being a dedicated devotee to the mid-’90s, true-school era of hip-hop, it was great to see that the resurgence of supreme lyrics and raw beats started by Raekwon’s excellent OB4CL2 continued all the way through 2010. Overall, it seems a taste level and “hunger for more” has crept back into the music game, and as you’ll see in my Best Of list, I give massive props to quite a few deserving overachievers. It’s fun being a music fan again and let’s hope this trend continues into the new year. What are you waiting for? Pop the lid below to see who rocked my eardrums the hardest this year.
When I first heard Ratatat, I figured all they were was just another MGMT, but Ratatat injects that hackneyed formula of sample-laden laptop buggery and spinning with enough absurdest humor for those of us who like (need) some distraction with their electronica music. The New York City duo call to mind France’s The Young Gods — and a lot of the more sample-obsessed groups who utilize distorted guitars and bass lines, most of it at the press of a workstation button. Yes, Ratatat is hip enough to be loved by the elite know-it-alls of the industry, but tracks like ‘Lex’ and the single ‘Wildcat’ garnered them a lot of fans who were happy to know that sample-based electronic musicians could still play their instruments. Judging by their live shows, it’s a near-seamless blend of Gibson SGs and those aforementioned sampling techniques that make it such an entertaining show. Weird visuals that resemble detonating bombs and Hitchcock films floating on a screen behind them doesn’t hurt either. So stop reading about samples and get yourself some on Red Bull Music Academy Radio, haha.