According to my chart on last.fm, 2010 was won by Sigur Rós. I’ve just done some research: it turns out that I discovered them in May ’09, just before going to Iceland. Being there I think I understood their music better than I had before. Since then I’ve listened to them every couple of days and every time I hear these sounds, I realize how I miss this beautiful yet deserted island. Jónsi and his friends share what’s in their souls, they don’t play to be listened to, they just do what they love and you can hear this. Recently I’ve seen a movie Heima about their unannounced concerts around Iceland that gathered lots of local people, from little children to grannies. I wish I could attend them – I’ve never seen such cheerful and joyful events. Besides, they played outstandingly! By the way, when I went to a pub in Reykjavik with my couchsurfing friends, we met Jón there. I was surprised how they treated him as one of them: no pictures or autographs, he was just standing there chatting like everyone. Icelanders, I admire your attitude!
It was not the best year for Muse and Pink Floyd, the latter being my personal #1. But the last.fm chart is not really appropriate, as it contains only the music I listen to at home. In fact I listen almost twice as much on my DAP, but it’s not being scrobbled. Therefore my chart tends to be calmer and quieter – I wouldn’t like to listen to Sigur Rós when I’m cycling because I would barely hear it.
2010 brought some discoveries as well. In January I saw someone wrote that he’d already found his album of the year: it was IRM by Charlotte Gainsbourg. I listened to it out of curiosity and I must admin I liked it but, frankly speaking, French songs for me are good just because… they are sung in French. In my yearly ranking the album ended up on #7. I have an impression that she has a lot of anti-fans in her country as I met quite a few Frenchmen who said they detested her. For me IRM is a compilation of relaxing, non-disturbing songs perfect for quiet evenings and dark Sunday mornings in the winter.
The next artist added to my music library is Caroline Esmeralda van der Leeuw, better known as Caro Emerald. Around last summer, one of my favorite radio presenters, Wojciech Mann, aired two or three of her songs in his program. Before that of course I’d heard her single A Night like This because it was widespread in Polish radio stations those days. After hearing the single, my feelings were similar to the presenter’s: I liked the song, it was one of those easy to remember and inevitable to sing while taking a shower, but I thought probably it was an one-single artist. What a surprise came when I heard the album: it’s diverse, swingy-jazzy-poppy, seductive, amusing, a real candy for my ears. The lyrics are not a masterpiece though, but you can’t have everything these days!
But 2010 was also Chopin‘s year because of the 200th anniversary of his birth. It was also a kind of discovery to me – I’d known most of his waltzes and nocturnes but it had been only a fraction of what I know now. Thanks to TVP Kultura I was able to stream the whole XVI Chopin Competition for free and in a great audio/video quality! So I did: in October I watched it almost every afternoon, choosing my favorites and reading stories about particular compositions. The choosing was not an easy task, as for me almost everyone played beautifully. Despite playing piano amateurishly, sometimes I was surprised by experts’ opinions. I guess the level of the competition is so high that some nuances are essential to win. If you’re reading this and you haven’t ever heard Fryderyk’s concertos, do it immediately!
Florence and the Machine will always remind me of Cyprus because we listened to them much during our short trip to this beautiful island. Sting and his Symphonicities was not a discovery at all, but still pleased my ears and gave me an opportunity to see him live. Sarah McLachlan accompanied us during Christmas – now it’s become a tradition. The Blind Boys of Alabama also weren’t new for me, although with only one album listened to last year (Duets) they ranked #6! It’s an amazing collection of songs recorded with artists such as Ben Harper and Lou Reed, absolutely worth recommending.
Year 2011, what will you bring to me?
If you enter the year with music, it will bring you lots of good sounds, definitely
But what “it brings” depends on what you absorb. And I hope those would be good things, great experiences and interesting trips!
I’m glad I posted it – after reading this, a friend of mine recommended múm. According to last.fm, I’ve listened to them more than 400 times