Another year come and gone, with a metric ton of great music left to ponder and enjoy. In terms of trends, there was a ton of metal and rock this year that impressed me, especially the more extreme and experimental ends of the heavy genre. Lots of anger and frustration to spare, and obviously some styles thrive on struggle. Surprisingly then, I was less thrilled by the hip-hop output: Seemed like nearly all the rap artists doing anything interesting were so-called “hashtag rappers” (named for their Twitter-search-friendly self-promo), who boasted nothing more than a hot single on a free mixtape. Or Kanye self-leaking most of his new album week by week in a series he dubbed “G.O.O.D. Fridays.” On the opposite end of the spectrum, and yet in the same way (and perhaps because of Oscar-winning interest), Hank & Cash-style outlaw country seemed to make a comeback, flying in the face of a million new Taylor Swift clones and riding the wave of a jobless recession. Industry-wide, the idea of an “album” as a whole seemed to center around a few strong radio singles, even on indie and concept albums. All in all, these trends added up to a return of the DIY ethic and more than a few self-made artists trying to break through the glass ceilings of the system in order to be heard in any way possible.
20. Das Racist, Shut Up Dude
Made a name for themselves with the novelty hit “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell,” but they earned respect when the first of their 2-CD mixtape showed intelligence, humor, and mic skills.
Download free Mixtape off NahRight.com »
19. Janelle Monae, The ArchAndroid
Crazy funk rock R&B from the future. It actually sounds like the front cover looks. Guest spot from Outkast’s Big Boi on lead single “Tightrope” confirms she’s legit.
18. Tame Impala, Innerspeaker
Psych rock with a laid back twist and Beatles-esque harmonies, listenable all the way through.
17. Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Tons of brutally awful self-aggrandizing filler wrapped around three white hot singles. Just like every Kanye album.
16. Triptykon, Eparistera Daimones
Blistering, synthy death metal from one of the founders of the genre, Celtic Frost. Becomes more listenable on every spin.
15. Sleigh Bells, Treats
One of the more hyped hipster groups of the year had a nice balance of sing-song hummable vocals paired with ear-splitting, trance-inducing breakbeat metal riffs.
14. Crazy Heart, Motion Picture Soundtrack
Forgettable Oscar-bait picture, but the original soundtrack perfectly captured everything memorable about Outlaw Country. Gives me hope for new blue-collar, Nashville-avoiding talent like Jamey Johnson and this album’s own Ryan Bingham.
13. The National, High Violet
The very best album to which you should drink whiskey and contemplate self-flagellation. Best baritone in the biz!
12. Wolf Parade, Expo 86
A return to form for Montreal art rockers, and a welcome one at that. Far more uptempo and driving than their sophomore release, with the clever wordplay and off-kilter harmonies that made them so interesting in the first place.
11. Ghostface Killah, Apollo Kids
Does dude ever sleep? Seems like he just released that terrible Ghostdini album, and no sooner does that flop than he releases this back-on-point classic chock full of soul samples, kicking drums, and typically amazing flow.
10. Cee-Lo Green, The Lady Killer
Ever the original, Goodie Mob co-founder Cee-Lo Green follows up his years-ago collabo with Dangermouse and expands his already wide-open repetoire with one of the best soul albums of the year. Featuring the world-crushing kiss-off single, “Fuck You.”
09. Gorillaz, Plastic Beach
Damon Albarn continues to find life in his one-man collabo with a group of cartoons. Ridiculous world beat electro, cereal commercials, and dancehall reggaetron sound just right next to Snoop Dogg.
08. MIA, MAYA
Cracks me up that MIA chose not to follow up her second album’s massive “Paper Planes” with the dreamy, hummable more-of-the-same everyone expected. Instead she decided too piss off the globe by taking a page from Ministry and Nine Inch Nails, releasing a club DJ’s worst nightmare of industrial metal welded to blasting shotgun beats and hazy political stands. And people were very angry about this, indeed.
07. The Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
Two words: Ric Ocasek. You can hear the influence of The Cars frontman and producer all over this release. A bit of a left turn into middle-age settling after the frustrated, sweaty Springsteen of
Neon Bible, but an interesting cover-to-cover listen. Long-time fans don’t seem too happy, but I thought it was a nice change of pace and shows some versatility and focus on a new style, something not every ensemble can pull off.
06. Vampire Weekend, Contra
Proving their Hamptons Old Money style was not a joke or one-trick pony,
Contra expanded on Vampire Weekend’s themes of summering and enjoying the high life with a new sprinkling of electronic beats into the same great songwriting.
05. Yeasayer, Odd Blood
Channeling Erasure’s greatest hits through a skyscraper-sized drum machine, Yeasayer had three of the year’s strongest singles in one record, and not a lot of filler between them. “Madder Rose, “ONE” and “Rome” were on repeat the whole summer long in my world. The spiky, synth-drenched style and basslines made for some of the most propulsive songs of 2010.
04. LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening
No way the quirky Joy Division/New Order homage of
Sounds of Silver could be built upon further in any other reality. And yet James Murphy defies the expectations, adding a little Bowie and Iggy into his style while still sounding completely like himself. Songs like “Drunk Girls” can only be made by someone at ease with his own odd style. And the emotion in “Can Change” and “Dance Yrself Clean” show a maturity of songwriting that’s simply fun to hear.
03. Grinderman, Grinderman II
Nick Cave has had something of a career renaisannce (or revival) in the last few years, thanks in part to his ballsy side project, Grinderman. Embracing the dark, seedy side of life has done wonders for his songwriting, and this album builds on the gutter themes first explored on
Grinderman. Check “Heathen Child,” “Worm Tamer,” and “Palaces Of Montezuma” for a selection of pure ass-kicking attitude.
02. Kvelertak, Self-Titled
You’ll not often hear critics use the words “joyous” or “enthusiastic” when describing Norwegian death metal punk, especially when the vocals are in their native tounge. But Kvelertak are not your ordinary group. Fun-lovin’ songs about murder, mayhem, and… well, it’s in Norwegian, so I’m not sure what else, actually. But trust me, you can almost hear the smiles on their faces as they blast through one foot-tapping song after another. I was turned on to these guys by the cover art—illustrated by Baroness frontman John Baizley. Kvelertak has quickly become my go-to Rock Out album of 2010.
Preview import album on Amazon.com »
01. Broken Bells, Self-Titled
I had an inkling early on in the year that this would be high on my list of favorites. But I never thought a one-off side project between The Shins frontman James Mercer and Dangermouse would end up being the most played album in my collection, bar none. And yet, the dusty grooves and live drums of megaproducer Dangermouse are simply a perfect fit for the strong, simple songwriting style of Mercer. The result is a nuanced, refined sound with massive replayability and hooks for days. I’ve quite literally listened to this album on repeat non-stop and will continue to do so for the forseeable future. I can only hope this collaboration becomes an annual occurrance, but I sense that this is a one-time gift to music so I’m going to enjoy the hell out of it.
Band of Horses, Infinite Arms
Ben Frost, By The Throat
Best Coast, Crazy For You
The Black Keys, Brothers
Broken Social Scene, Forgiveness Rock Record
Caribou, Swim
The Clientele, Bonfires of the Heath
Curren$y, Pilot Talk
Daft Punk, TRON Legacy Motion Picture Soundtrack
El-P, weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamix
Enslaved, Axioma Ethica Odini
Free Energy, Stuck On Nothing
George & Jonathan, The Best Music Mixtape
Guilty Simpson, OJ Simpson
Gucci Mane, Jewelry Selection Mixtape
High On Fire, Snakes For The Divine
Isahn, After
Jamey Johnson, The Guitar Song
Kylesa, Spiral Shadow
Male Bonding, Nothing Hurts
Matthew Dear, Black City
Nachtmystium, Addicts: Black Meddle Pt II
The Melvins, The Bride Screamed Murder
The New Pornographers, Together
Nicki Minaj, The Nicki Effect Mixtape
OFF!, First Four EPs
Overkill, Ironbound
PacDiv, Don’t Mention It Mixtape
Rick Ross, Teflon Don
Robyn, Body Talk Pt I
Sufjan Stevens, The Age of Adz
Yakuza, Of Seismic Consequence
