2010 was an amazing year for music and many brilliant new bands surfaced. This is a list for those bands who didn’t release full lengths but cranked out some amazing 7”s.

10. Mind Spiders :: Mind Spiders 

Mind Spiders is the solo project of Mark Ryan, guitarist/vocalist for The Marked Men. This gem of a solo piece was released in the beginning of the year and it totally shreds. Fast, crisp punk that shows flashes and nuances from fuzz blasted contemporaries like Burnt Ones and Wavves as well as harking back to old Minor Threat and Black Flag style riffs and chord structures. Available on Dirtnap Records. Also, the full-length debut is going to drop on January 25th, so get excited.

  Mind Spiders - Worlds Destroyed by Roll Over Beethoven

9. Pure Ecstasy :: Voices

One of the most beautiful independent labels to really its stride this year is Acéphale Records. With their strong ear for good music and an appreciation of good looking records, Texas based Pure Ecstasy was a prime choice. The band’s mellow guitar mosey and entrancing lyrics pull the listener into a calm, peaceful mind space. The vinyl itself is a beautiful rose/beige blend wax and looks so nice spinning on the record player.

Pure Ecstasy- Voices by siouxsiebee

8. Craft Spells :: Party Talk

Brooklyn’s Captured Tracks put this two song lo-fi rock 7” out earlier this year and it turned a whole lot of heads. Craft Spells are from California and make that Highway-1, surfin’, sunglasses pop-rock that just makes you want to drive your car for miles and miles, cranking it on the stereo with a cigarette and one hand and a little lady leaning on your shoulder.

  Craft Spells - Party Talk by Ragged Words

7. Gauntlet Hair :: I Was Thinking…

Forest Family Records was definitely a breakout label of the year, and this 7” for Colorado noise pop rockers Gauntlet Hair sealed the deal and sold out almost instantly. With a swagger inducing drum beat kicking off the A-side and an ass kicking rocker on the B-side, this is a powerful release. No wonder this duo hit if off with the music world almost immediately. Seriously awesome.

01 Gauntlet Hair - I Was Thinking… by Happy Horrors

6. Grouper :: Hold/Sick

Grouper, aka Elizabeth Harris, is a stripped down, ambient acoustic maestro and this year’s 7” release just seals the deal. The songs are layers and layers of sounds, croons, chord bursts, and a driving strumming that creates and atmosphere of constant rhythm. As Harris puts it,“They’re about feeling like an observer of one’s owns emotions. You’re in that space where you’re not sure whether to follow or reel them in.” Aussie label Room 40 Records put this out as a super limited press and it’s already long gone.

Grouper - Hold by Sound Summit

5. Mathemagic / Young Prisms :: split

French record label Atelier Ciseaux put out this split 7” between two peaceful slow jazz musicians, Canadian duo Mathemagic and Californian rockers Young Prisms, to create a totally blissed out 10 minutes of summer time wave riding snow melt music. Sadly the 7”s are long sold out, but you can listen to the two songs below, with a cool video to go along with the Young Prisms track.

Mathemagic :: Breaststroke by Beachtapes

Young Prisms - These Daze from EyeBodega on Vimeo.

4. White Ring / oOoOO :: Emotions

2010 was the year of the witch house, a year in which people both loved and despised the blown out, slowed down, phase shift driven sounds blasting out their headphones. As far as splits go, this one showcases two of the most prominent musicians in the drag scene - Brooklyn’s White Ring and San Francisco’s oOoOO. Masters of the dark art, so to speak, these two create some really gloomy and mysterious pieces of work. This 7”, released on Emotion, is no exception.

Seaww by oOoOO

White Ring - Roses by majorrager

3. Disclosure :: Offline Dexterity/ Street Light Chronicle

The UK is the hotbed of dubstep and electronic music and these two brothers, 18 and 15, have joined creative forces as Disclosure. Somewhere between Burial, Pariah, and Four Tet, the two teens make some amazing and popping music. This is their wax debut on Moshi Moshi Records and it is certainly solid. I expect amazing things to keep coming from these two.

Disclosure - Offline Dexterity by The Big Beat

2. Wild Nothing :: Cloudbusting

As an avid Kate Bush fanatic and Captured Tracks enthusiast, this release from Virginia native Wild Nothing, aka Jack Tatum, absolutely blew me away. His rendition of Cloudbusting is a poignant and gripping A-side and the B-side Promise is a desperately emotional plea for a night of passion. Made while he was still a solo musician, this release showcases Mr.Tatum’s sharp ear and musical finesse. It’s no wonder that his debut full length was one of the albums of the year.

Wild Nothing - Cloudbusting (Kate Bush Cover) by musicmule

1. Holy Other :: We Over

And then out of nowhere there was a sound I’d never heard before, and something gripped my heart and my brain and transported me, and Holy Other was there. At least that’s how it seemed at the time, sitting on my computer looking at music and being absolutely floored by this Berlin based ghost. Dark, ominous, ruminating, and introspective, this 7” nearly was worn down from such heavy rotation on my record player. The A-side We Over is a haunting tale of love ending while the B-side Yr Love is a sad cry for what is lost. Truly amazing. Available from Transparent Records in limited amounts so act fast. Also, pick up the split cassette Holy Other did with Indigo Child through Svn Sns Records. You will not regret a thing.