The A.V. Club’s top 15 Madison songs of 2010

15. Samantha Glass, “Relaxation Colors”
“Relaxation Colors” kicks off Samantha Glass’ Secret Parking Lot tape in contradiction to its name, gradually conjuring mountains of distorted bass, extended keyboard notes, and echo chamber vocals into a big ball of danger. The colors are richly displayed on this psychedelic slasher, but panic is more in tune with the feeling it promotes.

14. Screamin’ Cyn-Cyn And The Pons, “Special”
“Special” immediately jumps up and grabs listeners with a simple, one-note keyboard needling the crunchy guitars and martial beats, but what really holds listeners’ attention—once they know the surprising Jesus and Judas inspiration behind this stalker anthem—is how delighted the whole band seems to be, cackling “Someone thinks your special,” along with Shane O’Neill’s operatic expressions of unrequited admiration.
Listen to “Special” live on A.V. Sessions

13. Chants, “Vilas Victoria”
The first track from Chants’ (a.k.a. Jordan Cohen’s) debut album, Onlooker, starts out well enough as a bass-heavy slab of electronic music, banging and clattering against what sounds like everything in the kitchen. But once it downshifts to introduce a line of chopped-up vocal samples, it gains much more steam and reveals itself as a wholly organic form of beat making.

12. The Cemetery Improvement Society, “Behind The Green Door”
Amidst a dizzying barrage of samples and alarming reality on Cemetery Improvement Society’s J.A.N.E. sits “Behind The Green Door,” a relatively restrained and patient tune that lets an intricate guitar part develop before finally snapping the calm. But as is the theme of the record, what starts as excitement quickly dissolves into something much more sinister.
Listen to “Behind The Green Door” live on A.V. Sessions

11. Tom Teslik, “Get To Know You Song”
As the poppier half of a recent split single with Meteorade bandmate Ben Knollenberg, Tom Teslik’s “Get To Know You Song” matches jangling guitars and rollicking rhythms with impossibly sweet wishes to make friends and hopefully boost self-confidence. But the darker turn the song takes near the end reveals the slightly self-centered nature of those sentiments.
Download “Get To Know You Song” by Tom Teslik

10. Mike Behrends, “Dead Men Don’t”
“Dead Men Don’t” tells a sad story, but we wouldn’t care nearly as much about the nameless characters if it weren’t for the creaking ache in Mike Behrends’ voice elegantly transcribing all the details. He makes us feel the loss throughout his rumbling folk narrative, but perhaps never more than when he abandons words at the end and lets out the emotion, one drawn-out sigh at a time.

9. Null Device/The Dark Clan, “Fading Belief”
The question shouldn’t be “Are these guys for real?” Instead, you should really be asking yourself, “How am I going to get this unbelievably catchy, undeniably uplifting afro-pop blast out of my head?” But if the feeling of your heart soaring above the clouds like a majestic bird isn’t your thing, maybe it’s best to stay away from “Fading Belief,” because it’s bound to get you right here [points to chest].
Download “Fading Belief” by Null Device/The Dark Clan

8. MC Starr, “Thru The Light”
It’s important to remember that no amount of dazzling production will save a rap song if the drums aren’t right. “Thru The Light” proves that. Even though the warm vocal and horn samples smoothly slide beneath a vinyl crackle to provide the soul, it’s the boom-bap beat that keeps us coming back to listen to MC Starr’s easy flow.
Download “Thru The Light” by MC Starr

7. Burial Hex/Kinit Her, “Dawn”
Like a dark harbinger of doom, the ominous chants in “Dawn” arrive on lightning bolt shards of guitar stabs and ceremonial drums. Compiling the dread are the terrifying yelps that punctuate the final minute of this fearsome metal ritual, making for some of the more frighteningly intense moments on Burial Hex and Kinit Her’s recent split, Vedic Hymns.

6. IceMantis, “Analyze This”
Over Man Mantis’ shimmering beat, DLO easily refutes the mixed messages over the course of a single chorus, “Being intelligent means you a sucka / being wild as hell means you a smart mothefucker, wrong / analyze songs nowadays / you gots to analyze songs nowadays.” It’s a good reminder and a valuable lesson disguised as an infectious slice of hip-hop.
Listen to “Analyze This” live on A.V. Sessions

5. Billie James Project, “Good Morning Heartache, Goodbye Billie”
Barely long enough to be considered a song, “Good Morning Heartache, Goodbye Billie” probably represents the best single window into all that the stunning Billie James Is Not Your Lover EP holds. A well-worn, dusty sample sculpted into choppy beat provides a platform for Dudu Stinks to blow the door wide open with just one short, knockout verse, inviting the listener into a dense, difficult world.

4. Zola Jesus, “Night”
In “Night,” Zola Jesus’ breakthrough track from 2010’s Stridulum EP, mastermind Nika Roza Danilova’s urgent crooning swims upstream on a deep river of droning synthesizer to escape the tune’s stalking rhythms. Danilova’s tireless struggle coaxes the listener not to worry, that “at the end of the night, I’ll be with you.”

3. Icarus Himself, “Digging Holes”
By now, whether you’re hanging out in the front room of Mickey’s or sitting on the Terrace, when the instantly recognizable chiming keys of “Digging Holes” start, you know you’re in for a delightful dirge of swirling electronics, low-hanging clouds of organ, scratchy guitar, outbursts of trumpet, and Nick Whetro’s pained confessions.

2. Stükenberg, “Concussions In Heaven”
Almost pretty to a fault, “Concussions In Heaven” seems like such a conscious effort to be gorgeous that it can be initially off-putting. But it’s impossible to deny the story arc the song is able to build over a slender, 5-minute running time. Starting as a rather nebulous (and beautiful) choral arrangement, the song subtly incorporates sharply plucked strings grounded by humming bass before finally adopting a defiant, bluesy stomp toward the finish line.

1. All Tiny Creatures, “An Iris”
All Tiny Creatures was afraid of associating the band too closely with guest vocalist Justin Vernon by releasing “An Iris” as the first single off its upcoming album, Harbors. But Vernon’s voice haunting the track wouldn’t mean nearly as much if the song weren’t such a pleasant place to stay. Sounding like a calculated drone, all the members of ATC contribute work on “An Iris” that create a hypnotic effect together but stand out remarkably well on their own as well. The resulting rock song surrounded by an electronic field invites you in and easily makes you forget how long you’ve been there.
Listen to “An Iris” live on A.V. Sessions