SCAD Atlanta Radio is our partner here at Student Media. Recently, we dropped by the studio at Spring House and met up with Dylan Fagan, Music Director, and Matthias Brown, Assistant Music Director.
You can check out Dylan and Matthias live — “MD” airs Sunday nights, from 8 p.m. – 11 p.m. right here.
When we caught up with the guys, they were discussing the top songs and albums of 2010. Their observations were so insightful, we had to bring them directly to you. Enjoy their picks for last year’s top songs — top albums will post tomorrow.
Top five songs of 2010
By Dylan Fagan and Matthias Brown
1. “50’s” by Pomegranates off of their album “One of Us”
Matthias: The first thing I remember about this song is that I accidentally played it a few days earlier than when it was actually released. Which I could argue is a result of me being so excited I couldn’t wait, but it was simply an accident.
Dylan: A “happy accident” as Bob Ross would say. I really enjoy the way this song goes from being sparse to a full-on anthem. It has great drumming and a big chorus. Plus, it’s always nice to hear a guy embrace his falsetto.
M: Somewhat of a Phil Spector sound at points, but also, as you said, quite sparse in the beginning. Saying “falsetto” makes me think of the Bee Gees and select Josh Homme songs.
D: Me, too. I think of Justin Timberlake, who I think helped bring back the falsetto a few years back; FalsettoBack, you could say.
2. “Runaway” by Kanye West, from “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”
M: I heard he loves corn. You might even say he’s the corn of hip hop right now.
D: The “creamed corn of the crop?”
M: Or you could say he has influence all over the U.S. in the same way that corn is all over America.
D: I would have to agree.
M: Let’s not “Runaway” from this next segue.
D: Yes, I think that we should talk about “Runaway” as i believe it is the centerpiece of the album. The song is a long one, for anyone who has only heard the single version.
M: It starts off with a single piano key played for a good 20 seconds
D: Like many Kanye songs, it went through subtle revisions between the time it was released as a single and the time that the album came out. The same can be said about “Power,” “Robocop,” “Stronger” and “Love Lockdown.”
M: It would be hard to promote a nine minute single.
D: That is true. This song wraps up Kanye pretty well; it is layered musically, it portrays his inner conflicts through the lyrics and it is both a rejection and acceptance of Auto-Tune.
M: I didn’t realize the first time through how much the constant, albeit limited, piano is manipulated as the song progresses.
D: It is a song with a more haunting melody that affects the way the lyrics are portrayed. Pusha T’s verse is boastful, but with the accompanying track, it sounds more somber.
3. “Shutterbugg” by Big Boi, from “Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty”
M: I would say that this song is the most immediately accessible song on our top five list.
D: I’d say it’s even catchier than some OutKast singles.
M: I would agree. The constant clap helps.
D: It is also one of surprisingly three songs I loved this year [that] involve real vocoder, well, talk box. Do you know who Scott Storch is?
M: No, but I hope you were able to come up with the name Scott Storch and he’s not a real person.
D: He is a pretty generic producer, who worked with many bad rappers and he produced “Shutterbugg.” It’s the best thing he’s ever done.
M: It’s not a complex beat, but I think that’s a major strength. It helps to showcase Big Boi’s rapping.
D: Yes, this is some of Big Boi at his finest.
M: His speed and rhyming style is dying out, and much slower, less complex rappers have been taking over — to the point where I often can’t follow because it’s moving too slow and I get bored with it. But not Sir Lucious.
D: No, he’s still very much into wordplay and rhythmic patterns and I applaud that.
M: I miss the wordplay where the same phrase is repeated twice with a different emphasis to have a different meaning. I like wordplay I may or may not catch the first time. As an added bonus, there are a number of puppets in the video for Shutterbug. It makes me so happy I could fly away.
D: I bet that’s why got it nominated for a Grammy.
4 & 5. “Mmmhmm” (feat. Thundercat) and “Do the Astral Plane” by Flying Lotus, on the “Cosmogramma” album
M: These songs work well together.
D: I think “Cosmogramma,” like many of my favorite albums, was meant to be listened to as a whole. There is so much thought that goes into that.
M: I think that these two songs show a lot of Flying Lotus’ style in a short period of time. He’s in the style of other alternative instrumental hip hop artists, like Madlib or Metal Fingers (aka MF Doom), in that his foundations are in traditional sampling, but also includes sounds not necessarily intended for music.
D: He does “found sound” in a way that appeals to me.
M: And part of why I enjoy it is seeing how those sounds are incorporated into a genre that has become more and more digitized over the last several years. “Mmmhmm” is airy and dreamlike.
D: Not to overuse the word, but I think it’s fitting — it’s a more organic approach
M: The percussion and overall beat meld into the song. It’s not a rigid snare meant to clearly mark the measures of the song, but a necessary part of the song and its purpose.
D: He let the percussion fall into place and evolve over a song and “Mmmhmm” is really driven by a great bassline.
M: “Do the Astral Plane” is a little bit more rigid and includes more digital noise. But they compliment one another in a way that is hard to explain when not listening to the songs one after the other.
D: It feels like a take on another decade
M: It’s more disco
D: The vocal samples remind me of the 1950s and 1960s. It’s a bit jazzy.
M: He’s related to John Coltrane.
D: I did not know that, that is very interesting.
M: I listened to an interview with him where he talked about his relationship with his great aunt Alice Coltrane, it was on “The Sound of Young America.”
D: Great podcast that you should listen to when SCAD Atlanta Radio is not accessible.