Top 10 albums of 2010
An excellent listn Steve. I’d never been all that amazed by Arcade Fire, but “The Suburbs”—that anthemic concept album with arthouse pretensions—won me over. Likewise, The National, whose lead singer’s world-weary delivery initially struck me as Mark Eitzel lite, released an excellent album this year. For me, the disappointment of 2010 came with October’s rease of Good Life and Cursive frontman Tim Kasher’s “Game of Monogamy.” A bloodless reprise of the brilliant “Album of the Year.”
I don’t have a set list exactly, but I’ll give you my favourites of the year (unranked after the #1 and #2 choices):
1. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
2. Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
- Beach House – Teen Dream
- The National – High Violet
- Frog Eyes – Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph
- Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
- Los Campesinos! – Romance is Boring
- Besnard Lakes – … Are the Roaring Night
- Perfume Genius – Learning
- P.S. I Love You – Meet Me at the Muster Station
1: Deerhunter- Halycon Degest
2: Titus Andronicus- The Monitor
3: Caibou- Swim
Owen Pallett- Heartland
Kanye West- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Starflyer 59- The Changing of the Guard
Spoon- Transference
Unbunny- Moon Food
The Hold Steady- Heaven is Whenever
Yeasayer- Odd Blood
Blitzen Trapper- Destroyer of the Void
Sufjan Stevens- The Age of Adz-————-
Didn’t listen to much music this year. The only bands that stuck out to me were Deerhunter, Titus Andronicus, and Caribou. I think that Deerhunter is turning into one of those legendary indie bands. The screaming guitars of Titus Andronicus really stick out amongst their emo-pop-synth emotionally sensitive peers who, at times, sound more like Britney Spears than Pavement.
There was no way that Sufjan Stevens could ever have lived up to “Illinoise!” so “The Age of Adz” was sort of a predictable let down.
Blitzen Trapper was a letdown as well—if they want to survive they had better retool their sound for the next album and end their heartfelt Neil Young imitation—the songs are still good, but their familiar charm has sort of worn off. I’m rooting for them. They are still one of my favorite new bands.
The Hold Steady and Spoon were reliable as always (even if they were not entirely original).
Cee Lo Green had a surprise hit that makes me smile every time. Same thing with Aloe Blacc’s “I Need A Dollar”— is that song getting any radio play?
It looks as if Kanye West is the biggest name in the musical world—when was the last time an artist captured the attention of the elite critical establishment (Rolling Stones Magazine), the high brow hipsters (Pitchfork.com), and the mass audience like this?I can only think of 5, I haven’t listened to too many 2010 albums this year to be honest
5, Strong Arm Steady – In Search of Stoney Jackson
4, Amiia – Puzzle
3, Brian McBride (from Stars of the Lid) – The Effective Disconnect
2, Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
1, Beach House – Teen Dream
Eryka Badu’s new album was pretty great too
flipping love that madlib production, speaking of which I really need to download all the Medicine Show shit, mother fucker released 12 albums this year!
1. Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz
2. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles II
3. Antony and the Johnsons – Swanlights
4. 65daysofstatic – We Were Exploding Anyway
5. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
6. Vampire Weekend – Contra
7. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
8. Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
9. The National – High Violet
10. Deftones – Diamond Eyes
Aloe Blacc-Good Things
Anika-Anika
Are the only two that get constant rotations.
My top 10 of ’10
1. Sleigh Bells – Treats
2. Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
3. Das Racist – Shut Up, Dude/Sit Down, Man
4. Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz
5. Marnie Stern – Marnie Stern
6. M.I.A. – Maya
7. She & Him – Volume 2
8. Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
9. Wolf Parade – Expo 86
10. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
I can’t stand Vampire Weekend, thought Arcade Fire has done much better (but then again, so have Wolf Parade, and I still have them here), and Stars’ album was my biggest disappointment of the year. I also don’t quite understand all the Kanye love just because the guy had a rough year. It seems like the story of Kanye is so much better than his music, and hipsters are absolutely eating it up.
Have you listened to the album J.D.? It’s pretty rapidly moved up my ranks of all-time favourite albums to be honest. I’ve probably heard it around 60-70 times in the last 2 months. I was never a fan of the guy, but I listened to it when it leaked and was absolutely blown away. Runaway is easily the best track of the year in my mind.
I have listened to it a few times, and my impressions were that College Dropout and Late Registration were better. Listening to an album only a few times still qualifies as “first impressions” I guess, so I’ll give it another spin. Kanye kind of lost me after his last album.
I think Kanye’s latest album was his best (although I’m a big fan of his first three as well) and may even stand as his most historically significant.
I don’t think the praise it’s getting has much to do with hipsters. I think this is a landmark in hip hop history – and I’m a huge hip hop fan.
Malik, nice to see Aloe Blacc’s new LP posted in this thread! Anika’s self titled debut was not bad, the cover of Yoko Ono’s Yang Yang was a stand out track for me. :B
My fav album of 2010 (which I’ve seen appear frequently on this thread already) is Beach House – Teen Dream. It’s been in steady rotation for a while now, and each listen it continues to grow more and more on me!
Here’s a my top 10 favorite LPs and EPs (I know, I know, this is a top 10 albums thread :P) that made me love and appreciate both life and music in 2010:
Beach House – Teen Dream LP
Flying Lotus – Pattern Grid World EP
Ganjasufi – A Sufi and a Killer LP
Glasser – Ring LP
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach LP
The Books – The Way Out LP
The Tallest Man on Earth – Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird EP
Twin Sister – Color Your Life EP
Tyler the Creator – Bastard LP
Walsh – Smoke Weed About It EP
Honorable mentions:
Das Racist – Shut Up, Dude/Sit Down, Man LP
Owen Pallet – A Swedish Love Story EP
Teebs – Ardour LP
The Radio Dept. – Clinging to a Scheme LP
Sufjan Stevens – All Delighted People EP (Felt Sufjan’s EP was much stronger than Age of Adz LP!)
Women – Public Strain LP
By far, the most impressive album of the year is Before Today by Ariel Pink’s HG.
Other artist’s with stellar albums this year:
LCD Soundsystem
Beach House
Caribou
Wavves
Tame Impala
Wild Nothing
Girls
Flying Lotus
I might add Kanye’s once I digest it more. Arcade Fire has done better, their new album is overrated, as with Titus Andronicus’ work which was a great concept, with a middling execution.
MGMT’s album received much play, yet I find it an uneven work similar to Yeasayer’s and Deerhunter’s new ones. Janelle Monae definitely impressed. Same with Delorean’s Subiza.
Shit Nancarrow! I forgot all about Wavves! Man I loved King of the Beach! That LP practically dominated my headphones and speakers all throughout summer.
Also Caribou, LCD Soundsystem and Tame Impala put out some great stuff this year. I might need to refine my list hah.
Also, I must grab Ariel Pink Haunted Graffiti’s Before Today. I have the Round and Round EP and am a big fan. The cover art on the Round and Round EP is both bizarre and hilarious.
That cover is great! My favorite cover art of the year is the Klaxons’ album
MY FAVORITE TWENTY ALBUMS
1. The National – High Violet
2. The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever
3. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
4. The New Pornographers – Together
5. Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
6. Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
7. Eels – Tomorrow Morning
8. Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues
9. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
10. The Acorn – No Ghost
11. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
12. Vampire Weekend – Contra
13. The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang
14. Court Yard Hounds – Court Yard Hounds
15. Beach House – Teen Dream
16. James – The Morning After the Night Before
17. Dr. Dog – Shame Shame
18. Cee Lo Green – The Lady Killer
19. Guster – Easy Wonderful
20. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – I Learned the Hard Way
OTHER ALBUMS I LIKED (alphabetical):
Broken Bells – Broken Bells
Cornershop – Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast
Grinderman – Grinderman 2
Miles Kurosky – The Desert of Shallow Effects
Marah – Life Is a Problem
MGMT – Congratulations
Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid
Peter Wolf Crier – Inter-Be
Robert Plant – Band of Joy
Josh Ritter – So Runs the World Away
School of Seven Bells – Disconnect from Desire
Sleigh Bells – Treats
Spoon – Transference
Stars – The Five Ghosts
Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
Laura Veirs – July Flame
The Walkmen – Lisbon
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Yeasayer – Odd Blood
DISAPPOINTMENTS (alphabetical):
Band of Horses – Infinite Arms
Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love
Jay Bennett – Kicking at the Perfumed Air
Kathryn Calder – Are You My Mother?
Cold War Kids – Behave Yourself EP
The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards
Deer Tick – More Fuel for the Fire EP / The Black Dirt Sessions
Drive-By Truckers – The Big To-Do
Jakob Dylan – Women + Country
Eels – End Times
Eminem – Recovery
Jenny and Johnny – I’m Having Fun Now
Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown
Menomena – Mines
Michael Jackson – Michael
Of Montreal – False Priest
Ra Ra Riot – The Orchard
She & Him – Volume Two
Steel Train – Steel Train
Sufjan Stevens – All Delighted People EP
Wolf Parade – Expo 86
LIKE LISTENING TO VOMIT (alphabetical):
The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night
Robert Pollard – We All Got Out of the Army
Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz
Weezer – Hurley
FAVORITE LIVE ALBUM
The White Stripes – Under Great White Northern Lights
MUSIC HIGHLIGHT OF MY 2010
Being one of 30 great people at a Jeff Tweedy basement show in July
The lack of Kanye West in here is hurting my soul.
1. Undivided – The Passion
2. Red Trio – Red Trio
3. Big Blood – Operators and Things
4. Peeesseye + Talibam! – Peeesseye + Talibam!
5. Thomas Ankersmit – Live in Utrecht
6. Tony Conrad / C. Spencer Yeh / Michael F. Duch – Musculus Trapezius
7. Vibracathedral Orchestra – Smoke Song
8. Tsigoti – Private Poverty Speaks to the People of the Party
9. Hamid Drake & Bindu – Reggaeology
10. Burial Hex – Fantasma di Perarolo
ELMER: the fact that people regard Kayne as a ‘musical genius’ is hurting mine too. guess we are even ;-)
Not sure what my top 10 albums of the year would be, but the new Swans would be up there somewhere.
Top 8:
Coheed and Cambria – Year of the Black Rainbow
Default – Comes and Goes
High on Fire – Snakes For the Divine
Jesu – Heartache/Dethroned
Red Sparowes – The Fear is Excruciating, But Therein Lies the Answer
Sevendust – Cold Day Memory
The Sword – Warp Riders
Torche – Songs For Singles
^^^I was so disappointed with Snakes For The Divine. i hated the production. way too clean for my taste. H.O.F is pure neanderthal metal and it needs to sounds dirty ;-)
Current 93 – ‘’Baalstorm Sing Omega’’ was my favorite 2010 album from those I managed to listen to. Other ones that I listened to and enjoyed were the latest efforts by Swans, Killing Joke and Derniere Volonte, the second album of Grinderman, and the debut album of O Children…
This is tough; there’s some late releases I’m still absorbing and plenty of stuff I never got around to.
I’d say my top 5 would look something like this:
- Jakob Bro – Balladeering (released late ’09, but one of the most beautiful records to inhabit my player this year)
- Morton Feldman – Music for Piano and Strings Volume 1 (performed by John Tilbury & The Smith Quartet) (DVD-Audio)
- Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me
- Sun City Girls – Funeral Mariachi
- Michael Pisaro/Taku Sugimoto – 2 seconds/b minor/wave
Other releases I found ripe with nourishment:
AMM – Sounding Music
Autechre – Oversteps
Autechre – Move of Ten
Maurizio Bianchi – Violichte
John Butcher & Rhodri Davies – Carliol
Eric La Casa – W2 (archive material)
Cluster & Farnbauer – Live in Vienna 1980 (reissue)
Angharad Davies & Axel Dorner – AD
Rhodri Davies, Lee Patterson & David Toop – Wunderkammern
Earth – A Bureaucratic Desire for Extra Capsular Extraction (reissued material)
Morton Feldman – Trio (1980) (Aki Takahashi/Rohan De Saram/Marc Sabat) (DVD-Video)
Bill Frisell – Beautiful Dreamers
Bill Frisell – Live Download Series #012: Seattle, WA 07.16.02 (with animations by Jim Woodring)
Jan Garbarek & The Hilliard Ensemble – Officium Novum
Mary Halvorson – Saturn Sings
Ernst Karel & Annette Krebs – Falter 1-5
Koboku Senjû – Selektiv hogst
Annette Krebs & Taku Unami – motubachii
Martin Küchen, Keith Rowe & Seymour Wright – Untitled
Graham Lambkin & Jason Lescalleet – Air Supply
Like Drone Razors Through Flesh Sphere – In Girum Imus Nocte Et Consumimur Igni
Like Drone Razors Through Flesh Sphere – Yatra Sarvasva
Melvins – The Bride Screamed Murder
Mono – Holy Ground: NYC Live With the Wordless Music Orchestra (with DVD)
Oval – O
Kevin Parks & Joe Foster – Acts Have Consequences
Mike Patton – Mondo Cane
Michael Pisaro – July Mountain (three version) – performed by Greg Stuart
Michael Pisaro – Ricefall(2) – performed by Greg Stuart
Michael Pisaro – A Wave and Waves – performed by Greg Stuart
Michael Pisaro – Within (3.2) – performed by Miguel Prado
Vanessa Rosetto – Mineral Orange
Vanessa Rossetto & Steven Flato – Hwaet
Jim O’Rourke – All Kinds of People – Love Burt Bacharach
Seijaku – Mail From Fushitsusha
Seijaku – You Should Prepare To Survive Through Even Anything Happens
J.G. Thirlwell – Manorexia: The Mesopelagic Waters
John Tilbury & Sebastian Lexer – Lost Daylight
Havard Volden & Toshimaru Nakamura – Crepuscular Rays
Neil Young – Le Noise
John Zorn – What Thou Wilt (hands down the winner of his volcanic output this year)
John Zorn – The Goddess
Metal fix: (I didn’t dig too deeply into this world, having found myself happily engaged in more subdued galaxies – when I needed a pinch these were the primary offenders):
Burzum – Belus
Cephalic Carnage – Misled by Certainty
Deathspell Omega – Paracletus
Sigh – Scenes From Hell
My album of the year is The Union, by Elton John and Leon Russell (Rolling Stone’s #3 of the year)
1. Beach House – Teen Dream (I listened to nothing but this album from January through March of this year and still have it in constant rotation)
2. Sharon Van Etten – Epic (with a voice as powerful as hers it won’t be long before she breaks huge)
3. Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid (the most ambitious and inventive album I heard all year)
4. Pantha du Prince – Black Noise/ Actress- Splazsh ( my two favorite electronic/techno/dubstep inspired albums of the year)
5. Owen Pallett – Heartland
6. Jaill – That’s How We Burn (a reminder of how fun 90’s indie rock was)
7. Grayson Gilmour – No Constellation (joyous pop sounds from New Zealand’s legendary Flying Nun label)
8. Sore Eros – Know Touching (a beautifully dense and murky indie psych album that hopefully won’t be as overlooked as his 2009 album Second Chants)
9. White Fence – S/T / Purling Hiss – Public Service Announcement (two great lo-fi psych albums from Woodsist)
10.Ty Segall – Melted / Eddy Current Suppression Ring – Rush To Relax (face melting garage rock at its finest)
Also in heavy rotation:
How To Dress Well – Love Remains
Eleven Tigers – Clouds Are Mountains
Night Slugs Allstars Vol. 1
Mount Kimbie – Crooks & Lovers
Art Museums – Rough Frame
Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
Shangaan Electro – New Wave Dance Music From South Africa
On – Something That Has Form And Something That Does Not
Olof Arnalds – Innundir Skinni
Lagos Disco Inferno
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – The Brutalist Bricks
Walls S/T
Solar Bears – She Was Coloured In
Dj Roc – The Crack Capone / Dj Nate – Da Trak Genious ( 2 albums from 2010 that portend the coming flood of Chicago Juke/Footwork music in 2011)
The National – High Violet (though the session they did for Sirius XMU was the real highlight of the year)
Zola Jesus – Stridulum
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Nicki Minaj upstaging hip hop royalty like Jay-Z on the track Monster just cemented the fact that 2010 was the year of the female artist in music)
Catchiest song:
Rob Duncan – Gunfight Epiphany (Terriers theme song)
It’s impossible to not be whistling this song for days on end after hearing it. I miss Terriers already.
Nice list, Mr. King… though, that SCG album is sort of mediocre considering how good they are at their best
1. Kurt Weisman – Orange
2. I Wrote Haikus About Cannibalism In Your Yearbook – Discography*
3. Colophon – Love Loops
4. Kevin Drumm – Necro Acoustic*
5. Government Alpha – Subtle Drugs
*anthologies released this year, so technically not albums. I guess I did not listen to too much music from this year this year.
Top 10 albums of 2010? Is there really enough great quality (and I don’t mean merely good, I mean GREAT quality music) to warrant such lists?
Kanye West is (to me) totally overrated and hip hop music peaked about twenty years ago.
Jack and Diane…I mean Joe and Karen:
Are you trying to tell me that Rolling Stone magazine represents the “elite critical establishment”? One cannot take them seriously about much, especially how they view someone like Kanye West. Saying Rolling Stone is the Bible of musical opinion is like saying Fox News is the Koran of objective factual current affairs reportage.
Kings of Leon aren’t alternative to anything, they are totally mainstream.
I basically stick to alternative music/local bands when I go to gigs, groups many wouldn’t read about because they’re too busy calling the latest Stinkin’ Park album “genius” (overused word) or slitting their wrists to Radiohead or Coldplay.
People are still making great MOVIES. I am not so certain about music, as far as what you get on the radio is concerned.
Please don’t start me on electronic music or anything made by someone with “DJ” in front of their name—Kraftwerk did it all before (and better) back in about 1977. Yawns.
Finally, I find it totally ironic that the same hipster 50-somethings who called rap music “crap” 20 years ago now love the genre, when the fact is the hip-hop today (Eminem, I’m looking at you) is a shallow imitation of the realness of the 1980s.
Thank heavens for the vinyl revival so that I can spend the next several years digging through the crates, while I wait for music of today to put out a slew of albums worth purchasing (as opposed to just one or two here and there).
So. After reading all the data I should get Kanye West’s album listen to it, never listen to it, burn it then rescue it from the fire, toss it to my dogs while alternately framing a xeroxed copy of Kanye looking in the mirror at Kanye.
Got it.
How can Hip Hop be dead if Wu-Tang are forever?
There’s probably more great music today than there ever has been, you’ve just got to know where to look and be prepared to hunt it down. People who get all “when I was young” about it tend to think the Radio represents all there is, I say fuck the radio.
Steve
Just curious what awesome music everyone has been listening to last year. My main choice is alternative rock as you will see by my list but new music released in 2010 from any genre can be added!
1. Deer Hunter – Halcyon Digest
2. The National – High Violet
3. Interpol – Interpol
4. Wintersleep – New Inheritors
5. Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown
6. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil’s Tattoo
7. Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
8. Tindersticks – Falling Down A Mountain
9. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
10. The Walkmen – Lisbon
Also Black Keys – Brothers, Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History and Beach House – Teen Dream