The people have spoken! (ok, the person.) And the people want to know where my annual list of the best music has gone. Well fear not, it hasn’t gone anywhere. I just have a lot of other crap on my mind and I am also avoiding having to pick my favorites. I love years like that! i have to say 2010 was a great year for music.
With the obvious exception of a certain god-awful piece of crap, i enjoyed most of what i heard in 2010. It was also a very “Black” year. Just about every band that I can think of with “black” in their name released a great album this year. Something in the water i guess.
Here’s the list, alphabetically by artist, because honestly i loved all these albums equally and for different reasons. It seems lame and misleading to prioritize them just to add drama.
- Arcade Fire The Suburbs: This album kind of snuck up on me. To be honest, I wasn’t crazy about the last album; didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. One day I realized that the songs were getting stuck in my head – in a good way.
- Beach House Teen Dream: So beautiful. Hauntingly Beautiful.
- The Black Angels Phosphene Dream: I ♥ The Black Angels. They are the best 60’s-style psychedelic band, period. This takes Directions to See a Ghost in a less trippy and more straight up 60’s rock ‘n’ roll direction. And they are amazing live. Go. See. Them.
- The Black Keys Brothers: Wow. I think this is the album I have always wanted The Black Keys to make. While I appreciate the sound on all their albums prior to Brothers, none of them really grabbed me. This one grabs me and it won’t let go. A whole lotta Blues Rock Soul R&B. And I love the extra instrumentation. They did an incredible job of expanding their sound without betraying it.
- Black Mountain Wilderness Heart: This is the first album in a long time that inspires spontaneous air guitar playing. I have honestly had to physically restrain myself from looking a complete fool while walking down the street, sitting at my desk or riding the bus. This album fucking rocks. They did not disappoint live either.
- Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Beat the Devil’s Tattoo: I am Ike to BMRC’s Tina. I treat them like shit, but they keep coming back with awesome music. I totally wrote them off after their second album. Then I begrudgingly listened to everything since. But this time around I’m convinced: they are here to stay and somehow meld the sound of old delta blues and The Jesus and Mary Chain in a way that I never imagined possible.
- Blonde Redhead Penny Sparkle: This is where I show signs of aging. I love everything Blonde Redhead have done since Misery is a Butterfly. But it’s because I feel like these are the easy listening version of the Blonde Redhead albums prior to Misery is a Butterfly. You damn kids stay off my lawn!
- The Books The Way Out: The Books are like no other. It’s not often that this is a true statement these days. Their mix of virtuosic guitar-playing and sliced up “found sounds” (i hate that term, so if you’ve got a better one leave it in the comments) is inspiring. Not to mention the fact that the vinyl came with a set of die-cut stickers to make your own version of the cover. I, as a big nerd, will never do this. But cool nonetheless.
- Ceremony Rocketfire: This is my annual “reminds me of being a kid” album. I hear The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Cure, Ride, Lush, and My Bloody Valentine all together in a beautiful wash of feedback.
- Interpol Interpol: Despite not putting any effort into naming the album whatsoever and essentially writing the same songs, again, I can’t stop liking Interpol.
- The Radio Dept. Clinging to a Scheme: This is the Radio Dept.‘s breakout year, but as any self-respecting music snob would say, “I’ve loved them since ’04.” So many good Swedish pop sounds. Fuzzy guitars and catchy synth lines up the wazoo.
- Royal Baths Litanies: This one was a head scratcher. Even for me, the guy who can listen to the most annoying repetitive self-indulgent nonsense imaginable. Not that Royal Baths are annoying or repetitive, but it definitely took a couple listens for their sound to click. Inevitably this will be compared the the Velvet Underground. This is largely due to the simple driving Moe Tucker-like percussion and their expert ability to keep their guitars on the brink of total chaos. Give this one a few listens before you give up.
- Shout out Louds Work: If you go by the number of listens, this is my son’s favorite album of 2010. He demanded the Shout Out Louds so much in fact, that I didn’t want to hear it ever again. But I can’t give up that easily. Swedes have this amazing knack for making some of the catchiest pop tunes ever written. This album is no exception.
- Tame Impala InnerSpeaker: Trippy dude. Love the old-school vibe on this. It’s kind of like early Pink Floyd meets Cream meets The 13th Floor Elevators. But more rockin’.
- Tobacco Maniac Meat: This album has more crunchy, dirty, fuzzed-out vintage synth sounds crammed into one song than any album I have ever heard. I also have a sweet spot for a dude that “sings” exclusively through a vocoder. Not to mention the best Beck cameo to date. (NOTE: While technically not a band with black in its name, as a former member of Black Moth Super Rainbow, it counts in my book.)
- Walls Walls: This album is the front-runner for least likely to make my list. Synth-heavy to the point of dancey, but too messed up to actually get you off your ass and cut a rug. This is damn good electronic music.
- Weekend Sports: An acquired taste for sure, but I am totally loving the muted vocals behind an obnoxiously distorted mess that somehow maintains some seriously catching melodies.
- Yeasayer Oddblood: I honestly can’t explain Yeasayer’s sound. All i can say is that in a weird way, they sound like Talking Heads. And nothing like Talking Heads. Oddblood picks up where All Hour Cymbals left off.
