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Best Of 2010, Guest Editors: Trans Am’s Nathan Means On Bono Vs. Sting: Who’s Cooler?

As 2010 comes to an end, we are taking a look back at some of our favorite posts of the year by our guest editors.

Trans Am walks the same line between substance and style that its namesake car model did in its heyday. Often considered the leading light of the ’90s post-rock scene, the Maryland-based trio switches between big, loud rawk riffing and spacey, experimental ambience, sometimes within the same song. Trans Am gleans imagery and sounds from the synth- and vocoder-heavy music of decades past, but also informs its songs with a detached, millennial indie attitude. The group shifts gears from album to album, and this intellectual restlessness continues with the atmospheric, trippy Thing (Thrill Jockey). The LP should appeal both to new-school stoner-metal fans and the hippie oldheads at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, where Trans Am will be playing a free show on August 18. Nathan Means will also be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with the band.

Means: Here’s what we won’t be considering: Sting’s band was actually better, releasing five albums in about seven years that U2 would be hard pressed to match over the past 30 years. Neither will we give much thought to the fact that if Sting weren’t such an unchecked prick, the band may have released another couple decent albums. We’ll also ignore how precipitously Sting’s career dropped off over the past quarter century; Ten Summoner’s Tales could be invoked in morality play about unbridled hubris. We’re also forgetting that Sting has won more of the coolest award in music, the Grammys, and will not be considering the Irish-vs.-English question. Instead the contest really comes down to what they are known for, their insistence on traveling to the so-called Third World and being really “helpful”—to the point that their public images are intertwined with these causes. In this sense, the debate could be titled: Africa vs. Brazil: Who’s cooler? That’s easy, because Brazil is cooler. Winner: Sting.

Video after the jump.