By KCRW Social Media host, Betsy Moyer
I am flattered that RR asked me to contribute my top 10 of 2010 with you here! I’ve certainly enjoyed her picks as well as the music discoveries I’ve made perusing the KCRW DJ’s Top 10 Albums of 2010 lists! I LOVE that new music discovery process so much and since the LPs were so adequately covered, I thought I’d share with you my selections of favorite EPs of 2010. I believe that I discovered every single one of these EPs online! Let’s see!
1. Dale Earnhart Jr. Jr.: HorsePower EP
RR wrote about Dale Earnhart Jr. Jr. here on this very blog back in July and it caught my ear due to the clever name. Check out the remix of My Love is Easy and read more about that here.
2. Gordon Voidwell: Ivy League Circus EP
Again this came to me by way of the KCRW music blog, thanks to Dan Wilcox. He discovered Gordon Voidwell quite by accident at SXSW. Read his account here and listen to my fav slow jam, Cloud 9 Vertigo here!
3. The Smiles: Hermosa EP
Believe it or not, this band came my way via Twitter. Will Sturgeon steadfastly communicated with me and he was sure to send along the EP once it was available. I gave it a quick listen and immediately thought it was special. Throughout the year, each time one of their songs has popped up in my playlist I’ve been reminded of what a lucky summer find this EP was! Thanks Will!
4. The Generationals: Trust EP
This is another fav – brought to me by one of the DJs here at KCRW. I spend a lot of time in the KCRW Music Library talking shop with Eric (specifically about Pop music, Pastiche, and subtle or not electronics), but he didn’t even slide me this CD until AFTER he wrote about it and I saw it climbing the HypeM.com popular charts. Hear the title track Trust.
5. Sufjan Stevens: All Delighted People EP
Sufjan Stevens put out the best full length album of the year (IMO), but just prior to that he surprised us all (and took the music blogosphere by storm) with his delightfully free release of All Delighted People. Hear the sickeningly sweet Heirloom here.
6. James Blake: Klavierwerke EP
This UK artist released numerous EPs in 2010, but he caught my attention with a Feist Cover of Limit to Your Love. Keep your ear to the ground on this one. His new album is due early 2011. I heard it just this week, and suffice to say, he’s likely to be a top 10 of 2011 as well.
7. Morose: The Morose Project EP
Another example of music discovery ala social networking! This is an artist that hit me up with a Facebook invite. I got my ears on a soundcloud file that was attached and liked what I heard, very much. I hit share and got their attention! The CDs came in the mail, I popped one on Raul & Eric’s desks and they made it on air! Voila!! When the music is good, it does the work for itself. Hear my fav track, Tired.
8. Girls: Broken Dreams Club
A gypsy rambler that I know rolled into town from the Bay area and parked himself in LA for a little while. With him, he brought a love for San Francisco favs Girls, so I was keen to check out the EP released in November. No disappointment here! Here’s a free download for ya!
Lastly……
These last two have did not release a full EP in 2010, but their singles have impressed me nonetheless… I’m expecting big things in 2011….
Bosco Delrey: Racecar
Eric put this on one of his monthly singles mix that he hands out to all of the DJ’s for air-play consideration. It was my ‘gettin ready to go out’ jam for many a weekend there for awhile! Thanks Eric! Listen to Bosco Delrey on his Facebook page!
Reptar: Houseboat Babies
I just about lost my mind the first time I heard Reptar. Its anthemic and The Curish. I learned that they just recently wrapped up an EP w/ producer Ben H. Allen (Animal Collective). If these guys don’t grow too big for their Athens britches in 2011 I’ll be surprised. Let me know if you agree after you stream Houseboat Babies!