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| Hadouken!: PLEASE MAKE IT STOP... |
Amidst the abundance of wonderful, inspiring records released in 2010, there were also a handful of stinkers so unspeakably bad that they deserve to be shamed. Some were merely coma-inducingly tedious, others were self-important in epic proportions; the worst were so sadistically unlistenable they would cause nightmares for even the least discerning of listeners. Be warned: approach this catalogue of horror at your peril...
10. Blonde Redhead – Penny Sparkle (4AD)
Ditched guitars for electronica and experimental self-indulgence. Failed to sparkle.
9. Interpol – Interpol (Matador)
Gloomy post-punk and droning baritone stuck to type, but this time: no songs.
8. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles (Fiction)
Destined henceforth to be scene but not heard.
7. Teenage Fanclub – Shadows (PeMa)
Ageing early fans cooed – proving a band now better suited to dinner parties than teenage fanclubs.
6. The Miserable Rich – Of Flight and Fury (Humble Soul)
Throttled the tongue-in cheek whimsy out of Neil Hannon’s chamber/baroque shtick. The bon mots and personality, too.
5. The National – High Violet (4AD)
Insipid, lumbering (and critically acclaimed) heartland-post-punk guff made by the most boring people in the world for the most boring people in the world.
4. Midlake – The Courage Of Others (Bella Union)
Wearisome, timid progressive folk drivel made by the most boring people in the world for the most boring people in the world. No great critical kudos, either.
3. The Courteeners – Falcon (Polydor)
A record so aggressively dreadful musically that you would be forgiven for missing Liam Fray’s wretched, misogynistic lyrics and nauseating cornball delivery.
2. Tobacco – Maniac Meat (Anticon)
Genuinely murderous faux-rap/crap-hop/psycho-rock effort from screw-loose loon Tom Fec. Impossible even to make it through one full play of two cuts featuring Beck’s moderating influence.
1. Hadouken! – For The Masses (Noisia)
The Leeds quintet proved their shamelessly disgusting genre-hopping trend-following bandwagon-jumping ‘career’ had run it’s course with this risible dance dirge which even the most chemically elevated scenesters couldn’t dance to, and the horrified casual radio listener couldn’t avoid given a chart placing (#19) which categorically proves the record buying public can’t be trusted. One positive: bad enough to give genuine hope there won’t be a next time.
Try some better records released in 2010 or check out the best songs of the year.
