Tensnake, “Coma Cat” [Permanent Vacation]
Click through to a couple Q&As and you'll find Marco Niemerski describing "Coma Cat" as "catchy." Let's just say that the man who records as Tensnake favors modest understatement. This gleaming, housed-up rework of Anthony Malloy's 1986 boogie hit "What I Like" was in heavy demand in January, and grew to an unavoidable crossover phenomenon by summer's end, spilling over from dance floors and podcasts to MTV Europe and H&M in-store playlists. But it's a testament to that aforementioned tendency to understatement that, despite the inundation of the track in all manner of trending media, those ubiquitous steel drums still brighten our eyes at year's end. "Coma Cat" is a regular parade of clever retro signifiers, but it never winks. Meticulously and tactfully composed, it's a tough track to date, with keyboard flourishes that stop short of irony, content to sound studiously just right. Yet it's something more slippery than taste - and much simpler - that ranks "Coma Cat" among the year's finest. It's that it sounds bright, shiny and warm, and feels like a big toothy grin -- a beckoning we're helpless to resist. Okay, yeah... it's catchy.
This capsule review appeared in Little White Earbuds’ year-end Top 25 Tracks of 2010 feature.