Top 10 Albums of 2010

So, we're back. No need to keep bombarding my house with letters. Please, my children are trying to sleep.

As a world-renowned, Pulitzer Prize-aware music listener, I felt the best way to ease back into the blog would be a Best Albums of 2010 list. Music is my number one passion (sorry, sports) and I felt this list would come easily (it didn't).

Too many complain about the current state of music, that (insert random decade here) had the best music; that today's music just sucks. Those people are lazy and/or just look for nostalgia in their music. In today's ever more connected world, music discovery is easier than ever. And the tunes produced are among the best ever. This year was no exception. Enough with the blah, blah, blah, on to the list.

10. "Been Listening" by Johnny Flynn
This young British indie folkie continues to surprise me. His music is sneaky. At first listen it doesn't blow the listener away, but with continued listens its depth really starts to come to light. Even more amazingly, Flynn is showing his strength among an already-impressive group of Brit-folkies like Mumford and Sons, Noah and the Whale, and a couple of artists mentioned further up on this list.
The rollicking, footstomper "Barnacled Warship" is definitely the standout on this disc:



9. "White Crosses" by Against Me!
"Sellout" is such and overused and b.s. term. Tom Gabel and his cohorts were tagged as this soon after their signing to Sire records in 2005 by their hardcore devotees. Fine by me, because since then they have been churning out some of the best rockers of the last decade. (Although, I'm still not sure the exclamation point is really necessary.)
"I Was a Teenage Anarchist" is easily the best track on this one. Especially since it is more or less a big middle finger to those who feel they still need to be burning crap up:



8. "Heaven is Whenever" by The Hold Steady
If it weren't for the all-around perfection of their previous three albums (especially 2006's "Boys in Girls in America) "Heaven" would have listed higher here. Which is not to take anything away from this record. I just wonder how long this prolific band (5 LPs in 6 years) can keep this hot streak going.
"Hurricane J" is awesome. What more can I say? Listen to it until you can sing along:



7. "So Runs the World Away" by Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter is one of the best live acts out there. It certainly helps that he keeps churning out catchy, yet highly-literate Americana. If you don't like his music, I might have to mention it to Senator McCarthy (that's still a relevant reference, right?).
Although, "Lark" is my favorite song on this album, I had to post the mesmerizing video to the Egyptologist-falls-in-love-with-resurrected-mummy track, "The Curse.



6. "High Violet" by The National
The Springsteen-esque baritone of The National's Matt Berninger takes time to hit you, but once it does it's hard to wonder why anyone would want to sing sweetly. Plus, he's easy on the eyes.
The first single from the album also happens to be my favorite (it's like they planned it that way, weird):



5. "Go" by Jónsi
This one was certainly unexpected. Hailing from the pop music factory that is Iceland (it's pronounced "Los Angeles," I think), the Sigur Rós frontman really brought his A game for this album. It doesn't even really matter what he is singing (some of the album is in English, some in Icelandic), this music is just happiness in a bottle.
My favorite on this one is "Animal Arithmetic," here's why:

animal arithmetic from Jónsi on Vimeo.

4. "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" by Kanye West
Next year, if I was to reorganize this same list, Kanye may draw a higher spot; I just haven't had enough time to really let this album sink in. As is, I believe it's his best record yet. I don't care what your opinion of the man is, he's a musical genius. And, I don't use the term genius lightly, I only use it once or twice a day (that, I have to say is pretty genius on my part).
The list my favorite songs on this album is already pretty long, but the best so far is "Runaway" (by the way, it's also the name of his only slightly self-indulgent short film, which maybe worth a watch for some of you). It is excellent and addicting (a lot like the use of the word "genius"):



3. "I Speak because I Can" by Laura Marling
Still a few months away from her 21st birthday, Marling has already put out two phenomenal full-length albums, which only makes me feel like a lazy lump since I'm nearing my 50th birthday and have only produced one full-length album (that's an estimated total). Lyrically, "I Speak" is a poetic powerhouse full of striking imagery and heartfelt narratives. Musically, this album lives up to the not-quite-there-yet promise of her debut, "Alas, I Cannot Swim." Her sweet, yet emotionally striking voice only serves to round out the near-perfection achieved in various moments on this album. Genius.
If you don't fall in love with her music after listening to "Rambling Man," then listen again. If you still don't get it, listen again.



2. "The ArchAndroid" by Janelle Monáe
This is the long-awaited (in some circles) full-length from the diminutive singer, dancer, songwriter (genius?) Monáe. Somehow it outlived its lofty expectations. She manages to excite, confound, intrigue, change styles on a whim and fascinate all in the matter of about an hour. The styles range from get-up-and-dance R&B ("Tightrope), played-in-reverse avant garde ("Neon Gumbo") and bizarro indie ("Make the Bus"). She may fail to keep everything consistent (as if that was ever one of her goals), but she doesn't fail to keep everything thrilling.
"Tightrope" is unquestionably the best single of the year. If it doesn't make you get up and dance then I hope your paralysis is only temporary. You should really see a doctor about that.



1. "The Winter of Mixed Drinks" by Frightened Rabbit
I don't want to sully the brilliance of these Scots' songs with my words, so I'll just lead this with a plea: Listen to Frightened Rabbit. Put them on your iPod, your computer, in your car, on Pandora at work, wherever. Just listen to "The Winter of Mixed Drinks" and listen to it again. Listen to it a lot. You will be better for it.
"Swim until You Can't See Land," is the obvious choice for best song here, although the correct answer to "What's the best song on Frightened Rabbits' new album?" is really, "All of them." This is a perfect lead-in to them:



Don't Forget These Ones:
2010 was an unbelievable year for music. I couldn't include all of the standout music in this rigid list. A few of those that didn't fit still deserve mention.
-"Horse Power EP" by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.- kind of a little Postal Service, a little Beach Boys.
-"Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Soundtrack" by Various Artists (the original songs were mainly written by Beck or Brian LeBarton of Broken Social Scene)-the soundtrack to one of this year's biggest box office failures (the world is unjust) is really good (like the film).
-"Everything Under the Sun" by Jukebox the Ghost-these guys are good, they may be great someday.
-"Denim on Denim" by Library Voices-contains the best partying-during-the-apocalypse song I've heard all year.
-"Broken Bells" by Broken Bells-combining the Shins' brainchild James Mercer with Danger Mouse was a good idea.
-"Trans-Continental Hustle" by Gogol Bordello-if for nothing else, because it produced the best live performance video of the year on NPR's Tiny Desk Concert Series (watch until the end).