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Top 25 Albums of 2010

This year was incredible for music.  When I first sat down to make my preliminary list, I ended up with over 50 albums to whittle down to 25.  I had to leave off excellent albums and I’ll try to put something up about the also-ran’s when I get a chance.

#25 - Autolux - Transit Transit

#24 - Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

#23 - Caribou - Swim

#22 - Here We Go Magic - Pigeons

#21 - Eluvium - Similes

#20 - The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt/Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird

#19 - Toro Y Moi - Causers of This

#18 - Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts

#17 - The Walkmen - Lisbon

#16 - The National - High Violet

#15 - The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack

#14 - Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me

#13 - The Roots - How I Got Over

#12 - Tame Impala - Inner Speaker

#11 - The Besnard Lakes - Are The Roaring Night

#10 - Baths - Cerulean

#9 - The Black Keys - Brothers

#8 - Marnie Stern - Marnie Stern

#7 - Big Boi - Sir Lucius Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty

#6 - Beach House - Teen Dream

#5 - Ted Leo and The Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks

This album is a creeper.  At first I was disappointed with it, then I found myself humming it, then I dove back in, and finally I really saw what was there.  “Bottled In Cork” is not only the best song of the year, it’s a complete classic.

#4 - LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

If this is indeed the last LCD album as some are reporting, it’s a fitting send off.  While Sound of Silver had two of the best songs of our generation on it, this is the more complete record and to be honest, it’s the first LCD album I can truly listen to all the way through.  “Home” is the standout track for me.

#3 - Foals - Total Life Forever

I was surprised by this one, really surprised.  I was, and still am, a big fan of Foals’ first record and I expected them to put out a great record or two over the course of their career, but I never expected it come so soon, or to be so good.  Front to back this is a keeper. With this record, Foals has have outed themselves as one of the brightest young bands on the planet.

#2 - Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Gah, I don’t even know what to say.  This record is phenomenal.  It’s a classic album of thoughtful and reflective songs. There’s a lot of apathy, and a lot of frustration in the youth of the world right now, and Win Butler and Co. capture that here in a big way.  Shifting between reflection on the things of the past we’ve lost along the way to the scary possibilities of the future The Suburbs grabs you from the first moment of the first song and takes you on a journey from wistful to angry and back again.  Required listening for sure.

#1 - Menomena - Mines

It had to be worth the wait, the long long wait. A letdown would have been too much.  Luckily for me, and for everyone else, Menomena take a long time because they won’t put out something unless it’s worth releasing and oh my god is this one worth it.  I should start by saying this is not the happiest of records, in fact it’s pretty dark.  The basic theme seems to be change, the end of relationships, the lustful search for new ones and of course all those questions about God.  “Your five foot five, not a hundred pounds, I’m scared to death of every single ounce” sings Justin Harris over a plaintively strummed guitar on the opening track “Queen Black Acid”.  Then we hop over to track two “TAOS”, which you could probably write a Psychoanalysis on, and we hear Justin belt out “Oh, I bet I know what you like, at least think what you might” as he looks for the answer to his scary woman problem.  “I’m a social mess, but not yet slurring” he sings “as gin slips slowly passed our tingling spines”, “We’ve all got our vices, this one’s mine, I might not smoke, but I get high”.

Of course Menomena is not just one man, not just one songwriter, they are three.  So the album isn’t all full of this, but it’s a pretty strong statement for the opening 2 tracks.  You don’t leave those 2 tracks without getting an idea at what they are getting at.  I could go on for days about this one, analyzing every lyrical shred, breaking down the songs piece by piece…..but that would ruin the fun.  This isn’t an album that hides it’s intentions.  Listen to it, it’s all there in plain words and notes.  I couldn’t possibly recommend an album more than this one, and that is saying something this year.


Boom, that’s about that.  Hope 2010 has been rad for all and that 2011 is full of comped bar tabs and ear splitting rock and roll.

2010 Recap Pt 1

Two of the more unique bands to emerge from the various musical ephemera this year were Sleigh Bells and Fang Island. To be honest, I don’t know what to think of either of them.  Sleigh Bells are a tumbling snowball of hype, a guitar/samples/shrieking-former-school-teacher duo from Brooklyn whose music isn’t really definable without making up new terms.  Fang Island describe their sound as “everyone high fiving everyone” and while this makes no goddamn sense at all, as soon as you listen to their music you get it.  Also hailing from Brooklyn, Fang Island’s music is filled with tap solos, shouted room-full-of-people vocals, multi-part harmonies and, well, high fives. 

During this year’s SXSW I told myself that no one band was worth standing in line for.  There was so much going on, if there was a line to get into something I would just move on to the next thing on my list.  The only line I ended up standing in all week was to see the NPR day show at The Parish, which Sleigh Bells was playing.  At this point I had heard one song, and it was a demo, and I doubt anyone in line had heard more then 4 songs because I’m pretty sure they didn’t even have 5 songs recorded at that point (their debut album came out 3 months after SXSW).  This line did…not…move.  At all.  I stood in this line for 30 minutes and I got nowhere and left.  Fang Island were at SXSW too, but I had no idea who they were at the time and didn’t see them.  I heard about them through a friend who heard about them through a friend and that’s a consistent theme I always hear when people talk about Fang Island.  They are one of those bands that you hear and if you like it, you fucking love it, and you tell your friends.  Sleigh Bells are the band that had already been crowned the next big thing when they only had 3 demos available.  The way music is discovered and how it’s initially heard doesn’t matter for a shit as long as the product is solid and the listener likes what they hear and this is the case for both bands.  There are a million ways to get yourself famous these days and Sleigh Bells and Fang Island have demonstrated that in the world of music this year. As I said, I still don’t know exactly what to think, but I’m all for it.