We'll kick off our Best of 2010 coverage with our favorite artist discoveries today and continue with the best studio records and best live shows later next week.
Thanks to our friends over at Review Shine, we discovered a little more in terms of new artists in 2010 than previous years.
Sara Petite (site)
Redeye Junction (bandcamp)
Otis Gibbs (site)
Tim Harwill (site)
The Tallest Man On Earth (site)
Mat D. (site)
Mike & The Moonpies (more of a rediscovery) (site)
American Aquarium (site)
Wrinkle Neck Mules (site)
james Keyes (site)
Jacob Jones (site)
Kasey Anderson (site)
Overmountain Men (site)
Tim Barry (site)
The Fox Hunt (site)
We say it every year, but it bears repeating. Fuckin' A. What a great year for live music in Austin and the surrounding Hill Country. And We even missed most of SXSW.
We didn't hit up too many of the really huge shows (skipped ACL and the aforementioned SXSW miss due to vacation) but we packed in a boatload of high quality local and smaller touring acts.
Here are some of our favorite shows. Links to the audio of the shows are provided where possible.
Leo Rondeau & Mike & The Moonpies at the Mohawk on 2010.01.01 (Leo's set, Moonpies set)
Scott Miller at the Cactus Cafe on 2010.01.19
Chris Wall at Our House Concert on 2010.01.30
Justin Townes Earle at Stubb's BBQ on 2010.02.04
The Gourds & Otis Gibbs at the Cactus Cafe on 2010.02.19 (the Gourds set, Otis Gibbs' set)
Cory Branan & Tumbledown at the Mohawk on 2010.04.12 (Cory's set, Tumbledown's set)
Roger Alan Wade and Friends at the Mean Eyed Cat on 2010.04.14
The Railbenders at Herman's Hideaway on 2010.04.23
The Gourds at Threadgill's South on 2010.05.28
Mark Jungers and Houston Marchman at Gruene Hall 2010.06.18 (Mark's set, Houston's set)
James Hyland & The Joint Chiefs at the Mean Eyed Cat on 2010.07.10
Shinyribs at the Belmont on 2010.08.03
The Sons Of Bill at Emo's on 2010.08.29
Chris Knight at the Cactus Cafe on 2010.09.18
The Old 97s at the Ghost Room on 2010.10.13
Whitey Morgan and the 78s at Lovejoy's on 2010.10.21
Joe Pug at the Cactus Cafe on 2010.11.06
Various Artists performing the Last Waltz at Club Deville on 2010.11.21
Mike & The Moonpies happy hour run at the Mohawk during September (2010.09.02 & 2010.09.30)
#0120
A hip-hop gem covered by Shinyribs (aka Kevin Russell from the Gourds).
Artist: Shinyribs
Date: 2010.08,03
Venue: The Belmont
Track: Buy U A Drank
Enjoy. And support your local music.
2010 was an interesting year for us here at the alt512. Lots of our favorite traditional OKOM powerhouses are in between records (some moreso than others - Slaid, Hayes, Corb, Charlie Robison) which really allowed us to focus on some more of the truly independent and self-produced music that came out this year.
Our favorite individual track was a toss up between Roger Alan Wade's "Deguello Motel", JTE's "Harlem River Blues" and Josh Ritter's "Folk Bloodbath". Great fucking songs.
It's hard for us to narrow the best of 2010 down to a single favorite because all of these records are so good but Hyland's Celestial Navigation really blew us away.
Alt512's Top Eight:
James Hyland & The Joint Chiefs Celestial Navigation
Shinyribs Well After A While
Red Eye Junction Better Days
James Keyes Ruminations
Sara Petite Doghouse Rose
The Fox Hunt Long Way To Go -- Late addition to the list, like 12/31 late
Tim Harwill The Wander Man Revisited
Mike & The Moonpies The Real Country
The Best Of The Rest:
Roger Alan Wade Deguello Motel
Buchanan Suit Of Lights
Josh Ritter So Runs The World Away
Various Artists Broken Hearts And Dirty Windows: Songs Of John Prine
Tim Hus Hockeytown
Justin Townes Earle Harlem River Blues
Overmountain Men Glorious Day
Adam Carroll & Michael O'Connor Hard Times
The Tallest Man On Earth The Wild Hunt
