The Christmas wishes of That's Entertainment are accompanied this year by a special list of the debuts album that stood out in 2010.As you may have noticed, I have a special place in my heart and in my monthly lists for debut albums. The debut is the all-important first impression that can make or break a young band's career. It’s the statement of intend that defines the path of new artists and even when they're not exactly hitting the bull’s eye in their first effort, their debut gives us those all-important clues as to what to expect for the future. And sometimes, in those special occasions when the newcomer actually hits the target in one go, the debut album can have the power to define a whole era - think Sex Pistols or The Clash in the 70s, The Smiths or Jesus And Mary Chain in the 80s, or, more recently, The Strokes, Interpol or Arcade Fire.
Although we didn’t have any breakthrough debuts of such magnitude in 2010, we did have quite an impressive number of excellent first efforts that made their impact felt and hinted that greater things are coming. The following list contains the 15 debuts that impressed me the most this year and is complemented by 5 recent discoveries that deserve attention:
Top 15 Debuts
1. Ring - GLASSER ( link ) 2. I Will Be - DUM DUM GIRLS ( link1 , link2 )
3. Treats - SLEIGH BELLS ( link )
4. King Night - SALEM ( link )
5. The Fool - WARPAINT ( link )
6. Nerve Up - LONELADY ( link )
7. Gemini - WILD NOTHING
8. Crazy For You - BEST COAST ( link )
9. The Soft Pack - THE SOFT PACK
10. Innerspeaker - TAME IMPALA
11. The Drums - THE DRUMS ( link )
12. Avi Buffalo - AVI BUFFALO
13. Forget - TWIN SHADOW
14. The Hundred In The Hands - THE HUNDRED IN THE HANDS
15. Nothing Hurts - MALE BONDING
And the 5 new additions:
Dagger Paths - FOREST SWORDS
Untitled - FACTORY FLOOR
Relayted - GAYNGS
The Waves - TAMARYN
O Children - O CHILDREN
You are going to read elsewhere about what happened in the Greek music scene this year, but I can tell you right now that the local debuts that got the vote of That's Entertainment for 2010 are "Modern celibacy" by Berlin Brides and "All great events" by My Wet Calvin.
The lists of the favorite singles and albums of the year for this column are going to be revealed in the coming weeks. Until then, listen to Glasser performing live one of the stand-out tracks from "Ring", our debut album of the year:
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