As the year concludes, we find ourselves taking a wistful look back at the music that’s been produced and launched forth over the last twelve months. From a list of thousands we filtered it down to hundreds, and finally down to the forty that made the End Of Year polls. Whether you agree with the choices or not, it’s hard to argue the quality line-up compiled for this download album, an exclusive extract of those very choices.
In association with AllSaints and Clash, these are fourteen tracks that exemplify 2010′s place in music history.
Download, enjoy, and dance your merry way into January.

LCD Soundsystem – All I Want

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/01 I Can Change (Live).mp3
So farewell, then, James Murphy. After helping to redefine dance music in the Noughties via LCD Soundsystem the DFA don has decided to pack up and move to pastures new. Confirming a farewell tour with Hot Chip, LCD Soundsystem leave on a high with ‘This Is Happening’. Rightly acclaimed, James Murphy’s production has rarely been so searching, so emotive and so self-assured. A vital album from a truly seminal group.

Chrome Hoof – Crystalline

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/02%20Crystalline.mp3
Electro-rock is a much abused term. Away from the world of Delphic, Two Door Cinema Club & Co. sit the adventurous sonic explorations of Chrome Hoof. Taking the genre to mean ‘electronic rock’ the multi-limbed London collective melt synths down into sparkling new shapes. Returning with their new album ‘Crush Depth’ the band have honed their often bewildering material into something approaching coherency. The sudden twists and time signature changes are still there, but Chrome Hoof simply have more light and shade, more depth to their experimentation.

High Places – Can’t Feel Nothing

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/03%20Can_t%20Feel%20Nothing%20remix.mp3
Originally from Brooklyn, High Places are an example of the exploration going on in American music right now. The duo mix acoustic instruments with electronic loops, abandoning buzz terms for something more worthwhile. New album ’High Places vs Man Kind’ was ambitious both in a sonic sense and its apparent need to retain a common humanity. Rightly praised, High Places are almost impossible to classify yet difficult to discount.

Lissie – In Sleep (Live)

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/04%20In%20Sleep.mp3
From Marianne Faithful to Cat Power, female songwriters have matched stunning beauty with tender songwriting. The next in that illustrious line could well be Lissie, whose debut album ‘Catching A Tiger’ is a deeply honest vision of Americana. Moving from alt country to sweet 60s pop, Lissie’s debut album is more than a mere conglomerate of styles. Rather, what emerges is a unique voice gathering together component parts. A stunning first step, ‘Catching A Tiger’ is made all the more effective by hinting at the glories which could follow.

The Phantom Band – Walls

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/05%20Walls.mp3
Enshrined as a hub of indie pop, Glasgow can be a tough place for guitar groups. The Phantom Band are about as far away from twee as it is possible to get, with their second album ‘The Wants’ being a Krautrock inspired journey through exhausting emotional terrain. Somehow eclipsing their critically acclaimed debut album, The Phantom Band have also opened up new avenues for exploration. Drenched in stark, folk derived influences what emerges as a brave, distinct new voice.

Matthew Dear – Slowdance

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/06%20Slowdance.mp3
Techno is built on maverick spirits. Attracted to Michigan to be closer to techno’s Motorik roots, Matthew Dear is one of the most strikingly out there talents in dance music. Signed to Ghostly International, the producer returned this year with the nightmare oscillations of ‘Black City’. Easily his most accomplished work to date, Matthew Dear effortlessly combined the physical with the ethereal in an expression of 21st century gloom.

Perfume Genius – Mr Peterson

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/07%20Mr%20Peterson.mp3
A Seattle based solo artist, Perfume Genius specialises in the kind of skin crawling songwriting Nick Cave is capable of producing. With the same gleefully lo-fi attitude to production as a young Beck, Perfume Genius crafts material which is unexpectedly bizarre. ‘Mr Peterson’ is a twisted song about lost youth, spend in the company of a mentor who introduces the songwriter to weed and Joy Division. The homoerotic – even paedophilic – undertones are too strong to ignore, with the track ending in Mr Peterson’s suicide. Chilling, and difficult to forget.

Max Richter – Journey 1

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/08%20Journey%201.mp3
A classically trained composer, German born Max Richter is one of the few genuinely unclassifiable artists working today. Moving between electronic composition and daring avant garde pieces the producer is passionate about breaking down barriers between styles, genres and disciplines. Returning with ‘Infra’ Max Richter has once again challenged both himself and the listener, pushing his thought provoking compositions into new and exciting areas.

Walls – Gaberdine

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/09%20Gaberdine.mp3
An internet fuelled success story, London duo Walls released a handful of free downloads last year. Attracting the attention of German imprint Kompakt, the duo were able to work on a full length album. Glitchy techno, Walls absorb a diverse set of influences while still retaining their own voice. That rare beast, a side project which overshadows its parents, will Walls match demand for more material?

Avi Buffalo – What’s In It For?

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/10%20What_s%20In%20It%20For_.mp3
One of the year’s most prominent newcomers, Sub Pop signings Avi Buffalo do a neat line in intelligent post-Shins songsmithery. Hailing from California, the group have sunshine pouring through their music but it is a wrought with the darkness often associated with the West Coast. Alt rock noir, the band’s self-titled debut album has been justifiably lauded as one of the finest efforts.

The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/11%20American%20Slang.mp3With the rise of groups such as Animal Collective, Gang Gang Dance et al there is a danger that simple, American blue collar rock could be forgotten about. Not with The Gaslight Anthem around, though, with the New Jersey group blasting back with their new album ‘American Slang’. Indebted to Springsteen’s legacy, The Gaslight Anthem add a punk urgency to the American liberal tradition. A hard working band for hard working times.

Male Bonding – Year’s Not Long

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/12%20Year_s%20Not%20Long.mp3What with the deluge of indie rock emerging from the United States its easy to ignore groups closer to home. Male Bonding hail from Dalston and despite sounding like Husker Du trapped in reverb drenched cathedral epitomise a new confidence in British guitar music. Debut album ‘Weird Feelings’ was striking, confused and deeply inspiration.

Maps & Atlases – Solid Ground

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/13%20Solid%20Ground.mp3Though their initial EPs marked them out as math rock stylists, Maps & Atlases broke down those preconceptions on their debut album ‘Perch Patchwork’. Sure, there is still plenty of math in there but above all Maps & Atlases are striving to find their own sound. Deeply ambitious, ‘Perch Patchwork’ was a triumph of new ideas and classic soundwriting, with Maps & Atlases balancing the two with rare grace and understanding.

No Age – Glitter

http://stream.unknownclubberz.org/AllSaints-Clash-Presents-The-Best-Of-2010/14%20Glitter.mp3
Sure ’Nouns’ was a good album, maybe even a great one but ‘Glitter’ took No Age into entirely new dimensions. Adding a sampler, a hell of a lot of feedback and an increasing sense of daring and the Los Angeles duo were able to cough up their finest work yet. Mixing electronics with post-hardcore riffs, No Age never forget the human dimension, wearing their hearts on their sleeves in a sentimental yet entirely unforced way.

[CD1] 13 F**king New Tracks

[CD2] 12 F**king Classics

cheers,

G-Stone Recordings Team

To this end, we present a round up of this year’s Cross Section download albums. Each bursting with a month’s worth of tunes from the band’s we write about.

Check out your favourites and discover 2009′s wealth of great, new talent.

Visite www.clashmusic.com