alright folks! its that time of year! (actually im late this year) time for my annual list of my personal favorite albums of 2010. once again it was tough narrowing it down and what list started as a top 10 quickly grew to a top 20.
so here they are in no particular order:
BLACK KEYS - BROTHERS
whew they nailed it on this one. ive been a fan for a while but this new album took them to a whole new level for me. from start to finish, a great album.
PASSION PIT - MANNERS
this album was the inspiration for the “DANCE PARTY!” i threw this year. ive got to say out of all these albums this is one of the albums that got the most play in my car’s cd player this past year.
VAMPIRE WEEKEND - CONTRA
this album didnt get the attention is deserved. it caught some bad reviews. and people already dont give vampire weekend a chance for some reason. you should. its like if the beatles, the shins, and _________ (insert your own favorite band) had a baby.
WARPAINT - THE FOOL
this one creeped in at the end of the year. these girls have come along way since their first “buzz/hype” EP, exquisite corpse in 2008. definately worth a listen.
SUFJAN STEVENS – THE AGE OF ADZ + ALL DELIGHTED PEOPLE
he’s done it again. these two new collections of songs by sufjan are perhaps his strongest work yet…if not…they would be second only to illinois, in my opinion. he’s a songwriting machine.
BEACH HOUSE - TEEN DREAM
this band was a MOKB find, earlier in the year…and definately got alot of play at my desk, in my office. new songs that sound old.
YOUNG MAN – BOY
this album is came out of no where from a youtube famed cover monster. its a concept album about growing up. and surprisingly VERY good.
ARCADE FIRE - THE SUBURBS
i could go on and on about this band….BUT i’ll stop at this is their best work since funeral. period.
JOSH RITTER - SO RUNS THE WORLD AWAY
turned on to mr. ritter after historical conquests was released by a friend. ive had a hard time deciding whether its better than his last album but because its so hard to decide must mean something. there are some GREAT songs on this album!
TALLEST MAN ON EARTH - THE WILD HUNT
oh man ive been listening to alot of this guy. another referral from a friend that im eternally grateful for. the simpleness of this album got me hooked immediately. so much so that i decided to make my next solo album, nothing but me a guitar/banjo and a mic. if you havnt checked him out, DO IT NOW!
FIRST AID KIT - THE BLACK AND THE BLUE
a blip.fm find. two sisters, that like the avett brothers, were born to sing together. enough said.
FOUR TET - THERE IS LOVE IN YOU
ive been a fan of of mr. hebden’s work since i saw him open up for radiohead 7 or 8 years ago. this is his best album since pause. it more coherent (as coherent as loops, blips and beats get). he balances on a fine line of sounding like a laptop made the music vs sounding like humans made it, perfectly.
ELIZABETH & THE CATAPAULT – THE OTHER SIDE OF ZERO
this one slipped in the top 20 for multiple reasons. i love her voice. i see the potential. AND it was produced by Mike Mogis, one of my personal musical heroes.
THE ROOTS - HOW I GOT OVER
got to slip this one in as well…cameos from the dirty projectors, a cover interpretation of ‘monster of folks’ dear god…there are some great songs on there. not the next movement BUT still deserving of a top 20 spot!
YEASAYER - ODD BLOOD
this one is a grower. it has this eighties dance feel. once you give it a chance though, you wont be able to stop listening to it.
JONSI - GO
beautiful album. still weird to hear jonsi sing in english:) but he did a great job of making it NOT sound like a sigur ros album…and more like a jonsi solo album. which i will admit i didnt think he’s be able to do it whne i heard he was making the jump.
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - THIS IS HAPPENING
they say this is the last album mr. murphy will do under the moniker “lcd soundsystem” he couldnt have ended it on a higher note.
BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE - FORGIVENESS ROCK RECORD
so much better than the disappointing kevin drew spirit if album. they got me interested again!!
AZURE RAY - DRAWING DOWN THE MOON
an azure ray reunion! 7 years coming! dont get me wrong i am a fan of both maria taylor AND orenda fink. but it was great to see them get back together to make this gorgeous album.
SLEIGH BELLS - TREATS
jam packed with gritty dance rock songs sure to get stuck in your head.
