NUMBER ONE HUNDRED & TWENTY SEVEN.
January03
Of course this post could qualify as jumping on board that bandwagon of ‘best of lists’ that occupy blogs the blogosphere over as we ring in the new year, but hey, who ever said I was above bandwagons?
That said, I have to say that there have been a number of amazing albums that dropped this year; from some exceptional debuts to solid sophomore releases (or if you’re Sufjan Stevens, two new releases to count towards a body of work which already rivals that of the prolific Ryan Adams).
So without further ado, here’s my list of the best new albums that have played soundtrack to the year that was twenty ten.
Honorable Mentions: Parades Foreign Tapes | Angus & Julia Stone Down The Way | Candy Claws Hidden Lands | Broken Bells Self Titled | Crystal Castles Self Titled (II) | Brooke Fraser Flags | Foals Total Life Forever | Yeasayer Odd Blood | Gorillaz Plastic Beach | Local Natives Gorilla Manor
10. Passive Me, Aggressive You The Naked and Famous (Universal)
The debut full length by New Zealand scene kids Thom Powers and Alisa Xayalith (and their new found band members) combines a carefree, rebellious sound, think eighties and nineties references galore, with effortless lyrics. To me, they’re the most exciting thing that’s come out of my homeland in years.
9. Go Jónsi (XL)
Sigur Rós frontman Jónsi Birgisson’s hugely anticipated solo release is filled with a cacophony of sounds, above which his exquisite vocals take flight. I can understand about as much of what he sings in English here as I can when he sings in Icelandic on Sigur Rós records, but lets face it, that was never why I was listening.
8. Innerspeaker Tame Impala (Modular)
A psychedelia-heavy outing that works best when listened to as a complete whole, Innerspeaker manages to rework vintage influences with such a vibrancy that these Western Australian kids are making the entire world notice them. Perfect lazy summer listening.
7. Teenage Dream Katy Perry (Capitol)
I know, I know: ‘Really? Katy Perry?’ but seriously, this album is genius. No one is making pop as good as this girl, and if anything her second album cements Perry as an artist with real talent. Yes, she’s tongue in cheek (or just plain naughty) but it’s all candy floss scented fun in a pop package that you can’t help but want to dance to.
6. Contra Vampire Weekend (XL)
With the follow up to their eponymous debut, Vampire Weekend have boiled down everything we loved about their sound and distilled it into something brighter, more buoyant and self assured, and actually even weirder. One of 2010’s earliest releases, this has been one of those albums that for me, twelve months later, sounds just as fresh.
5. The Wild Hunt The Tallest Man On Earth (Dead Oceans)
Ragged and somehow evocative of the Scandinavian landscape from which it takes inspiration, I was first introduced to Kristian Matsson (under his moniker The Tallest Man On Earth) through this album. There’s a poetry to the stories here, and whilst the record features Matsson’s vocals and guitar almost singularly, it’s as if those tales would be lost within an overly instrumented setting.
4. The Age Of Adz Sufjan Stevens (Asthmatic Kitty)
After rumours of Stevens’ quitting music altogether (he’s always been a reluctant indie poster child), 2010 has been a rewarding year for fans; first came the digital release of All Delighted People EP in August, followed by the late October release of The Age of Adz (which is Stevens’ sixth full length record). It kind of pissed me off, the number of reviews I read declaring this a stark change of direction, warning fans that the artist they knew and loved had all but disappeared. To me Adz is unmistakeably a Sufjan Stevens’ album. Sure he may have ditched the banjo in favour of moody electronics, and yes, the lyrics are maybe less naive, the overarching theme maybe darker and more chaotic, but this is perhaps just a more experienced incarnation of the man. Personally, I’m excited about the evolution.
3. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Kanye West (Def Jam/Rock-A-Fella)
My introduction to Kanye’s latest record was his thirty-five minute short ‘Runaway’, which, to be frank, is probably one of the most breathtaking things that came out of the music industry this year. The album itself is almost like everything you ever loved and hated about Mister West paraded before you. Perversion sits side-by-side with tenderness, brutal honesty with over-hyped myth. Maybe it’s these things that make Kanye such a compelling artist… but it’s probably that he’s actually as fucking good as he believes he is.
2. High Violet The National (4AD)
The National have a way of taking the experiences that are kind of universal: say self awareness, or bad sex, paranoia, working a steady job or falling in love; and painting them in a way that is so beautiful it makes you take a step back and reassess those things in your own life.
1. The Suburbs Arcade Fire (Merge)
Easily my top album for the year, Arcade Fire’s self-described ‘letter from the suburbs’ is, to me, all at once a record drowning in the nostalgia of misspent youth whilst equally questioning if any of us really ever grew up. If you want to read the long version of my thoughts on Suburbs, you can here, but suffice to say if you haven’t got this amazing album yet, go buy it now.
