As we hurtle towards 2012 and the holiday season, TheVine has asked its critics to give us their Top 10 best music "things" from over the past year -- whatever the hell they may be and in whatever haphazard fashion they so declare. Go.
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Say what you like about Sydney and our shitty transport system (true), overpriced alcohol (also true) and ridiculous ticket prices, but the one thing we did right this year was luring serious global talent to our shores.
It’s actually hard to pick out only ten from some festivals that were literally oozing with first-class talent, particularly Vivid Live and Harvest, which surpassed all expectations. But some solo shows shone, too, particularly Foo Fighters top-secret
Wasting Light premiere which used Sydney Harbour as a backdrop to pummel out three hours of glorious rock. I’ve seen more great live performances on the whole than I’ve heard good albums this year, and that’s a very rare thing indeed.
10. Tame Impala at Field Day
The start of year was a bit of a drag, with a whole bunch of tired acts dropping the same records at Field Day while everyone pretended to care. Credit to
Tame Impala, then, who simply got on stage and did what they did best. The dynamic between the band was great to watch and those gorgeous guitar tones from Kevin Parker were a treat to hear in the flesh. It’s little wonder they spent most of the year overseas, these guys are destined for greatness.
9. Papa Vs Pretty at Homebake
Robbed of a number of awards that they should have won this year, with a good and proper rock record,
Papa Vs Pretty made up for lost time by drawing what seemed like half of Homebake into the tiny Roland S. Howard tent and blitzing the shit out of it. Anyone who came in doubtful left a convert, thanks to Tom Rawle’s unbelievable guitar playing and the young trio’s infectious energy. Watch out for them in 2012.
8. SebastiAn at Parklife
Scary as all hell and effortlessly cooler-than-thou,
SebastiAn ruled Parklife with an authoritatively raised fist and a perpetually lit cigarette. A glorious audio-visual massacre, his set broke new ground in the tired French electro sphere that his contemporaries had established and it was an awesome spectacle that could not possibly be matched, even by Diplo.
7. Ben Folds at The State Theatre (
Brisbane review)
Ben Folds just keeps on getting better with age. Keeping the piano rock flame burning for nearly two decades, Folds is a seasoned performer and this tour regaled his audience with anecdotes about new songwriting partner Nick Hornby and duetted with Kate Miller-Heidke, to great success.
6. Warpaint at Laneway Festival
I’ve seen
Warpaint three times in three different countries this year and they just keep on improving. Replacing a movie star drummer with Sydney gun Stella Mozgawa was probably the best thing this L.A. quartet did, as the new version of the band upped their chops and engrossed the audience at Laneway, who even stopped rolling cigarettes in order to catch a better view of Jenny Lee Lindberg striding around barefoot and wielding those bass lines of death. The tightest unit on the Laneway tour by far, and a welcome addition.
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