musicAddicted

5. Nico Muhly - I Drink the Air Before Me
4. Erik K Skodvin - Flare
3. Marcus Fjellström - Schattenspieler
2. Greg Haines - Until the Point of Hushed Support
1. Nest - Retold

(Listen to the albums & read my thoughts on them below;
Don’t forget to check ranks 16-11 & ranks 10-6. Also, there’s a chart of top pop albums of 2010 along with the best pop singles. Enjoy.)

5. Nico Muhly - I Drink the Air Before Me

Despite his deserved stardom status and workaholism earned for his spread across indie rock, choral, film, opera and modern instrumental music, I Drink the Air Before Me is just the third Muhly’s recording for Bedroom Community. Almost impossibly prolific Muhly composed this score for a dance piece celebrating Stephen Petronio’s 25th anniversary; the celebratory mood ranging from the extremes of tender romanticism to cruel unbearable ecstasy aptly express the gargantuan emotional scale of the play. In the highest peaks the music feels over the top a bit, combining children’s choir, orchestra and spiritual background, but that’s not just the intention, but also its inner, brutal and delicious beauty. Maximalism and high concept are just the means as well as the colourful instrumental spectrum. The essence of I Drink the Air Before Me is the diversity of emotions: massive, giant, enormous. This recording is not for simple listening, it’s for exploring and enjoying.

4. Erik K Skodvin - Flare

On Flare, Skodvin discovers, analyses and builds new kind of darkness we are used to expect from him. Eeriness and horror-like scare are somehow smothered by the natural, real and palpable one; you can touch the piano, you can feel the operatic vibrato, you can swallow the notable guitar’s drones. Flare is a small spark of light in this darkness; flicker of hope that leads you and before the end vanishes. Don’t be afraid, Skodvin’s sense for perfection will take care of you.

3. Marcus Fjellström - Schattenspieler

Professional composer of film music found his true, artistic home at Miasmah, Erik Skodvin’s label releasing dark, experimental music and subsequently made Schattenspieler Miasmah’s landmark. It’s a noir affair that will haunt you and dive deep under its uneasy and restless surface into the dark kingdom of cinematic hallucinations and dark, dramatic mirages. Schattenspieler’s means range from manipulated orchestrations to murky hisses and noises to electronic filtrations that multiply the mystery. Fjellström’s music resembles an old movie you’ve seen many times but you need to fall in its mystery over again to find out what’s hidden under the drapery of darkness.

2. Greg Haines - Until the Point of Hushed Support

All four parts that Until the Point of Hushed Support, released through superb Sonic Pieces label, consists of are sovereign artistic statements that show various Haines’ musical talents; dark and sparse minimalism, calm melancholy, majestic megalomania, terrifying perfection. Its undefinable nature and amazing detail multiplied by ghostly acoustics of Grunewald Church make the listening to Haines‘ artistic thoughts a wonderful trip. 

1. Nest - Retold

Released in the beginning of 2010, Retold, released through Serein, not only survived the pace of time that persistently bring new, excellent music, but also confirmed its inner supremacy and astonishing beauty. Retold sounds as if you always known it and been listening for years. Well-known motives appear, float through space and fall back into oblivion to come back and flicker with every following listening. Those bare and simple melodies are like pearls that decorate the music and give it unforgettable splendour. Retold is a lyric story that consists of half-static, half-floating pictures flowing in the space. Otto Totland’s typical piano, that resembles his work at Deaf Center, is amazingly full and deep and the instrumental textures around it masterfully complement it. You may call it ambient, contemporary classical or cinematic, but it’s more than that. Retold is combination of lyric perceptions transformed into epic imaginative story of the silent world around us. Nest created essential piece of art that sounds already in 2010 as unforgettable classic.

Another two amazing and unforgettable records of 2010 are Daníel Bjarnason’s Processions and Supersilent’s 10. Both are missing in altAddicted chart as they already successfully topped my previous, more pop oriented 2010’s summary.