The 5 Best Side Projects of 2010
by Rita Houston (WFUV) - December 16, 2010

It's been a banner year for side projects. The advancements in technology that threaten to destroy the music industry as we know it have also made it easier for artists to do what they want when they want. The machine no longer dictates when musicians can jump in the studio with friends and get creative. There's less set-up time, quicker turnaround and a whole wide web full of marketing and distribution.

Some of these side projects might turn out to be short-lived, but who knows? Look at Blur's Damon Albarn, who turned Gorillaz into one of the biggest bands on the planet. These days, Jack White spends more time with The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather than with The White Stripes. Here are five of this year's most noteworthy side projects, all of which build upon what we already loved about these artists and their "real" bands.

The Best Side Projects Of 2010

Fistful Of Mercy, 'As I Call You Down'
Song: Father's Son
This trio formed out of nowhere this year when Joseph Arthur, Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison gathered in a studio for three days with no grand plan. Just a few months later, the album's release was announced on Twitter and a U.S. tour was planned. True collaborations from the start, the songs, arrangements and harmonies were all worked out on the fly. This is a fun, friendly affair, and you can really sense the spontaneity, which had to feel liberating for artists who've made so many records. Harrison describes the process as "Wilbury-esque," which sums it up nicely.

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Full article at - The 5 Best Side Projects of 2010

In the WTMD listener's vote for The Top 89 Songs of 2010

16. Father's Son by Fistful of Mercy

See the full list at WTMD's Radio For Music People Blog: You Voted-We Play them Back: The Top 89 Songs of 2010!

Deeper cuts: Ann Powers picks 25 songs you might not have heard in 2010

... I’ve presented the world with my pop Top Ten, and I’m not worrying about it anymore. What follows is not a “best” list, but a scrapbook of sonic memories from a seemingly bottomless musical year. It features efforts that made an impression on me, though most never came anywhere close to the mainstream. These songs are available on those old things called “albums” as well as via the newfangled “Internet download.” Seek them out.

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Fistful of Mercy, “Father’s Son,” from "As I Call You Down": Dhani Harrison takes the lead on this roaring blues by the singer-songwriter supergroup as his partners Joseph Arthur and Ben Harper chase him around the block.

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Full article in Pop & Hiss: The L.A. Times Music Blog

The Best Vocal Performances of 2010
By Chris Moore

Welcome back for another installment of this year-in-review list series, brought to you by the Weekend Review. Tonight, I’m happy to present the top fifteen vocal performances of 2010. Some, like “In Vain or True” and “White Blank Page,” are impressive for their use of complex vocal arrangements. Others, like “Machine Gun” and “Memories” are notable for the emotive quality of Sara Bareilles’ and Rivers Cuomo’s respective performances.

There have been some excellent vocal performances this year, ranging from the raw vulnerability of Steven Page’s cover of “Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure” to the unleashed quality of Alison Mosshart’s lead on “Gasoline.” This was one of the most difficult lists to assemble, as the great vocal leads of the year run the gamut in various ways. So, I’ve done my best to assemble and rank these tracks, taking into account the quality of the individual voices, the emotion behind each delivery, and the overall coherence and interest potentially generated by each vocal.

Without further ado, here’s the list, and be sure to check back tomorrow for another list in this end-of-2010 series!

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCES of 2010

1) “In Vain or True” – Dhani Harrison, Ben Harper, & Joseph Arthur (of Fistful of Mercy; As I Call You Down)

2) “White Blank Page” – Marcus Mumford (of Mumford & Sons; Sigh No More)

3) “Machine Gun” – Sara Bareilles (Kaleidoscope Heart)

4) “Memories” – Rivers Cuomo (of Weezer; Hurley)

5) “Please Move” – Kevin Devine (of Bad Books; Bad Books)

6) “Thieves” – Zooey Deschanel (of She & Him; Volume Two)

7) “Gasoline” – Alison Mosshart (of Dead Weather; Sea of Cowards)

8 ) “I Have Learned” – Ed Robertson (of BnL; All in Good Time)

9) “Only the Ocean” – Jack Johnson (To The Sea)

10) “Summer Sun” – Ben Thornewill (of Jukebox the Ghost; Everything Under the Sun)

11) “The Chorus Girl” – Steven Page (Page One)

12) “Ain’t No Grave” – Johnny Cash (American VI: Ain’t No Grave)

13) “The Dance Class” – Rhett Miller (of Old 97’s; The Grand Theatre, Vol. 1)

14) “Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure” – Steven Page (A Singer Must Die)

15) “Don’t Look Down” – Philip Selway (Familial)


From The Laptop Sessions blog.

The Best Debuts of 2010
By Chris Moore

Hello and welcome to yet another list in this Weekend Review special end-of-year series. Today, the focus is on the top three debuts of the year.

Regarding the three newly formed bands recognized below, the decision of how best to order them was somewhat difficult. However, in the end, it is Fistful of Mercy — comprised of Dhani Harrison (yes, George’s son), Ben Harper, and Joseph Arthur — that receives the honor of best debut. Their album is strikingly well-defined for a first effort, the band quickly finding their collective voice amidst lush harmonies and subdued instrumentation. One can only hope that there will be a follow-up album in the not-so-distant future.

Broken Bells is perhaps one of the most fascinating collaborations of recent years. Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) and James Mercer (of the Shins) aren’t the most likely couple, but the combination of Burton’s hip hop/electronica background and Mercer’s indie pop/rock mentalities simply work. The result — the self-titled Broken Bells — is a pensive yet poppy trip.

The third entry on this list is from a band fronted by Kevin Devine and supported by members of the Manchester Orchestra. Bad Books is a dynamic release that runs the gamut from fully produced indie rock to stripped down solo acoustic performances. The vocals are likewise well-arranged: simple and raw at times, full and multi-layered at others.

The honorable mention is Mumford & Sons’s Sigh No More, a band with an impressively interesting acoustic sound, and, although I find the album’s sound to be somewhat predictable after the first few tracks, there are strong songs and a strong overall sound that has been developed for this record.

And so, with this brief list, I leave you for the day, and I officially invite you back tomorrow for another!

The BEST DEBUTS of 2010

1) As I Call You Down – Fistful of Mercy

2) Broken Bells – Broken Bells

3) Bad Books – Bad Books

Honorable Mention: Sigh No More – Mumford & Sons


From The Laptop Sessions blog.

Critics Picks for 2010
We're down to the last segment of 2010, and what better way to ring out the year than with our pop music Steve Hochman, and jazz and world music guru, Andrew Gilbert. They run down their top picks for 2010 in jazz and pop music.

Steve Hochman's Top 10 Rock and Pop Recordings of 2010

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8. Fistful of Mercy "As I Call You Down" (HOT Records)
Hard to call a trio of a rock star, a cult favorite and the son of a Beatle "obscure," but this collaboration of Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur and Dhani Harrison has stayed a bit under at least the pop mainstream radar. That's fine, and in perfect keeping with the understated and even humble nature of the project. Perhaps too understated at times. There can be a bit of sameness in the mid-tempo melancholy and the all-for-one approach may temper some potential showcases for the considerable talent. But the communal spirit and, well, love coursing through the songs -- recorded in quick, casual sessions at a cozy Silver Lake studio -- is irresistible. And the group's "theme" song, "Fistful of Mercy," is a gorgeous, righteous plea which ought to rise as the much-needed anthem for our troubled times.

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Full article and podcast at The California Report (Alain Johannes' "Spark", FoM support in USA 2010, is listed as Steve Hochman's #1).