B&C's Best of 2010 in Albums

[powerhour24]

Also, I think one of the biggest obstacles still holding me back from my list (other than the fact that there's more than a dozen albums I still want to check out before compiling it) is that I just don't have a OH EM GEE favorite album of 2010 yet. Right now Brothers might come in as #1, and it doesn't beat their last record, which was not my #1 of 2008. Yeah, wow, great syntax in that last sentence.

 

[PhilsFan]

I didn't have an OMG favorite either, which is why I didn't give High Violet 15 points.

I intended to listen to about a dozen more albums as well, but gave up. I listened to 44, that's way more than I have in years past.

 

[bono_212]

I didn't have one stand-out album this year like I did with It's Blitz last year, but I'm far more content with my top fifteen this year than last because I feel like the music is all-around better. I mean, as it is, I have a five-way tie for first.

 

[cobl04]

I only know one other National fan "in real life".

Does anyone else get their songs stuck in your head for hours? I listened to a DI list yesterday, Sorrow was on it, and I was singing it for six hours. But I wouldn't really describe their music as catchy...

 

[powerhour24]

Maybe I just feel kind of let down that nothing captivated me as much this year. There were a number of great records, and I got into a lot of new artists that I think have potential to be even better, but nothing that'll go down as legendary in my book. My favorite music I listened to for the first time in 2010 predated 2010.

I'm relistening to ArchAndroid right now, that may just change my mind, though as a musician my judgment of sophisticated music also comes from how much of the creativity stemmed from the named musician(s) (which is the reason I undervalue albums like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, because while Kanye is a production force to be reckoned with, let's get real about who did most of the composition, arrangement and performance, and hell half the MCing), the emotional content/performance, lyrics, composition, virtuosity and production. As such, I know Monae has a lot to do with the content of her work, but I'd like to know a little bit more about the creative process for that album before I give it my full credit. Otherwise I get very annoyed when "solo" artists or even bands that have a lot of help get all the credit.

 

[bono_212]

I was going to do a lot of write-ups here at the end of the year for the blog I contribute to occasionally. One of them was going to be about the albums NOT from 2010 I've gotten into in a big way this year. I wanted to share all of that in this thread as well, but (God, how many times have I used this excuse now?) losing my computer just kind of put an end to all of that. But, in a big way 2010 has been the best year of music for me. Not just because of the music that came out this year, but because I have immersed myself more fully into all different kinds of music in it. This was a year that saw me become a huge fan of Chillwave/Dream Pop/Shoegaze (Whatever) and begin to show appreciation for hip hop. It was a year in which I began to discover that most music existed in the 80s than just New Wave, and, alternatively, more than just classic rock happened in the 70s. It's not like I wasn't aware of these thigns before, but the fact is that I just didn't know where else to turn for the music. The biggest thing, of course, was my new-found appreciation for 90s music. I'm so glad that I begin to seek out more from that decade because it's proven to be quite the enriching experience.

 

[PhilsFan]

I only know one other National fan "in real life".

Does anyone else get their songs stuck in your head for hours? I listened to a DI list yesterday, Sorrow was on it, and I was singing it for six hours. But I wouldn't really describe their music as catchy...

I never don't have music stuck in my head, so this happens with decent regularity. I cannot remember a time when my mind was clear of music. At literally any given time I can tell you a song stuck in my head.

 

[powerhour24]

Glad to hear about your new discoveries bono_212... one nitpick though, I would not throw shoegaze in with those categories, it's so wide-ranging (hell, to me it is a style of performance, not sound) that it can fit in with those and their polar opposites as well. After all, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is very much modern shoegaze, but about the furtherest thing you could think of from Dream pop.

 

[bono_212]

Glad to hear about your new discoveries bono_212... one nitpick though, I would not throw shoegaze in with those categories, it's so wide-ranging (hell, to me it is a style of performance, not sound) that it can fit in with those and their polar opposites as well. After all, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is very much modern shoegaze, but about the furtherest thing you could think of from Dream pop.

I should say that I got into Chillwave/Dream Pop and Shoegaze I suppose, though I did throw them all into the same catergory, and I know that can be a bit of a clusterfuck.

 

[powerhour24]

Gotcha, .

 

[powerhour24]

Also, holy crap I was typing quickly, I wrote "furtherest" not furthest, gee thanks Chrome for not catching that bone-head move!

 

[powerhour24]

Ahhhhhhhh, how could I forget what is almost my OH EM GEE legendary favorite of 2010? Black Dub. Though their first release falls more into the category of impressive debut showing a lot of potential, it's my favorite record of the year. I've been listening to only new-to-me music for the past 2 weeks, it's easy to forget what I was already accustomed to.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I just don't have a OH EM GEE favorite album of 2010

I didn't have an OMG favorite either

I didn't have one stand-out album this year

I have one.

 

[bono_212]

No.
Fucking.
Wai.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

4 srs.

 

[powerhour24]

Yeah, we all know what it is...





Bieber's acoustic "album"? Right?

 

[u2popmofo]

I will submit a list this weekend. If I don't, someone please kill an Oasis fan as retribution.

 

[powerhour24]

 

[Jive Turkey]

I will submit a list this weekend. If I don't, someone please kill an Oasis fan as retribution.

"Get rid of all the Oasis songs and just bathe ourselves in Beady Eye"

 

[Saracene]

I just don't have a OH EM GEE favorite album of 2010 yet.

Me neither. There were lots of albums in 2010 that I liked or loved but none that I looooooooved, whereas last year I could name at least five. My only OMG album this year was The Bairns by Rachel Unthank and the Winterset and that's a 2007 release.

 

[LemonMelon]

Yeah, 2010 was pretty weak on standout records. The Suburbs and Twisted Fantasy >>>> everything else. 2009 was worse. For me, it was just Veckatimest. 2008 was MUCH better: In Ghost Colours, For Emma, Dear Science, Microcastle, Fleet Foxes...hell yeah.

 

[u2popmofo]

2010 was far, far, far better than 2009 for me personally. It's all fairly arbitrary though, as we all react completely differently to the same music I guess.

I had a really weird year with music last year, didn't connect with much new music at all. Was actually pretty upset by it, so I was really happy to like so much this year.

 

[powerhour24]

I had NLOTH, Mutemath's Armistice, and Doves' Kingdom of Rust as OH EM Gee favorites in 2009 and plenty of great albums as well, including ones I've only discovered recently. So far 2009 was far stronger for me than 2010. But as I said, I listened to a lot of 2010 albums that I think shows the artist's potential for bigger and better things to come.

 

[iron yuppie]

I found 2010 to be a fabulous year for music, personally. Granted, I did listen to more new albums this year than ever before, but High Violet still trumps anything that I have heard in the past five years except In Rainbows. I also feel as though 2010 had strong contributions from a more diverse array of styles than in years past, but that just may be a result of my more limited scope from the past few years.

 

[cobl04]

i had two OH EM GEE albums last year (Embryonic and Paul Dempsey's Everything is True) and one this year (This is Happening).

but that's not counting non-2010/2009 albums that i heard for the first time, which makes discovering music even more enjoyable.

 

[corianderstem]

In searching out some of the music I've seen on year-end best-of lists, I have found a good number of albums I want to buy (and of course, some of them are import-only and therefore effing expensive).

So yay for year-end lists.

 

[phanan]

I thought 2010 ruled over 2009 myself.

 

[MMP]

Second time I start a Best Songs list, second time I give up.

 

[bono_212]

For the record, I think 2010 was better because there was no one stand-out record.

 

[Imperor]

Fine.


1. Beach House - Teen Dream (15)
2. The National - High Violet (14)
3. Best Coast - Crazy For You (11)
4. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma (8)
5. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (7)
6. Warpaint - The Fool (7)
7. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz (6)
8. Harlem - Hippies (5)
9. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (5)
10. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening (5)
11. Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring (4)
12. No Age - Everything in Between (4)
13. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (3)
14. How to Dress Well - Love Remains (3)
15. Sun Airway - Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandolier (3)