2010 has been a fantastic year for music lovers everywhere, almost every genre saw new talent and even forgotten mediums saw a reboot. No matter what kind of year you had, we bet there was an awesome soundtrack running along side it. So keep reading as we go through the highlights and best bits music had to offer us this year…
Photo by Dan (freedigitalphotos.net)
Break out bands:
Fresh talent came thick and fast as we saw a range of new bands dominating the charts. The year’s favourite band has to be The XX. Releasing their first album in 2009, it was this year the band truly flourished. You couldn’t switch the TV on without hearing another song of theirs appearing on swanky TV ads, and to top it off the band were this years Mercury Prize winners.
Another act worthy of a mention has to be The Drums. Bursting onto our airwaves with their 50′s surf style beats, the bands EP, ‘Summertime’ became the only soundtrack to summer 2010.
Other talented newcomers this year included the brilliant Everything Everything with their début album ‘Man Alive’, Local Natives with a stunning début- ‘Gorilla Manor’ and Hurts with their directional album, ‘Happiness’. Solo acts saw success as Cee Lo Green hit the charts with ‘Forget You’ (and its ruder version..), Bruno Mars made girls swoon and Tinie Tempah became the prince of pop.
A New Love for Folk:
A slightly forgotten genre found rejuvenation this year with a string of artists coming out from the wood work. Lissie broke out her bluesy vocals and intricate guitar work with ‘Catching a Tiger’ while Laura Marling found mainstream success with ‘I Speak Because I Can’. Mumford and Son’s gained even more notoriety for their début album ‘Sigh no More’ and Bon Ivor transcended genres as his single ‘Woods’ got a hip hop remix by Kanye West.
The Return of the Boyband:
Yep, just when we thought the notion of the boyband was on its way out, 2010 changed everything. New ones formed and old ones re-formed to the delight of teens everywhere.
The newbies: JLS have to be mentioned here. Releasing their first album in 2009, this year saw them start work on their plot to take over the world. Along side JLS fellow boyband newbies included The Wanted and even One Direction from this years X Factor.
The old hands: Two words- Take That. Even before Robbie chose to re-join, the band owned 2010. The addition of Robbie prompted more TV appearances, making Saturday night TV one long Take That fest. Other man-bands from yesteryear coming back in 2010 included Boyzone and Westlife, returning to the music biz with varying success.
Girl Power:
No the spice girls didn’t come back from the dead for the millionth time- I’m talking about the female domination of the charts this year. Ellie Goulding surely deserves the top spot here- with her début album ‘Bright Lights’ the star rocked our worlds with her catchy tunes and ethereal vocals, 2010 was her year.
Rihanna gave us some of her best material to date with ‘Rude Boy’, ‘Love the Way you Lie’ and recent chart topper ‘Only Girl in the World’. This girl was hitting her stride in style in 2010.
Katy Perry became the official princess of pop, hitting the headlines for her marriage to Russell Brand and releasing her best received album yet- ‘Teenage Dream’.
Other girls that deserve a shout out from 2010 include Pixie Lott, Paloma Faith, Marina and the Diamonds and pop sensation Cheryl Cole who managed to stay on top despite catching Malaria… impressive!
Top Festival Moments:
Summer saw heat waves and music collide in style at festivals around the country. Here are the highlights from musics greatest parties…
Glastonbury: Celebrating it’s 40th birthday, Glastonbury enjoyed a rare heat wave this year. The festivals top moment has been given to Kylie Minogue, who made a surprise appearance during the Scissor Sisters headlining act.
Bestival: Becoming more and more revered for its line-up and intimacy, Bestivals top moment went to Dizzee Rascal who had the pleasure of dealing with a flasher during his performance.
Reading / Leeds: This year was all about Diva’s and reunions at Reading. Axl Rose became the ultimate Diva as the band turned up late and had their set cut short as a result. The band staged a sit-in in protest…the crowd was not amused. Reunions took place as The Libertines re-formed, welcoming Pete Doherty back to the delight of fans in the crowd.
Isle of White: Another surprise act as Kanye West made an appearance during Jay Z’s headlining set.
And the Rest:
Xfactor fever took over (Gamu-Gate, Katie Waissel, Wagner etc.), The Beatles joined the 21st century via iTunes, Glee mania hit the UK, Justin Beiber also caused some sort of fever, Eminem returned to music, Kanye joined Twitter and caused offence, (again), and X Factor winner Matt Cardle became the Christmas number 1 despite many protest buyers.
Phew. Wonder what 2011 has to offer?
