THE BEST MUSIC OF 2010 IN A SERIES OF LISTS.

Ahhhh, 2010, what a great year for music. This list may as well be sponsored by the State of California, the sun, sounds, and weirdo spirit of which seem to influence a pretty big part of the records represented here (except for the Top 5… hmmm). Lo-fi retro-ocity and artsy craziness were in, out were minimalism (with notable exception Sun Kil Moon) and  This year saw a lot of artists making good on their true potential, making records that I know will continue to delight for decades to come.

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THE 35 BEST ALBUMS OF 2010

With some commentary on the top ten.

     

1. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz   (/All Delighted People EP)

First the LP…What can I say to do this album’s greatness justice? It does the seemingly impossible: provides a satisfying follow-up to one of the most hyped, beloved, and critically acclaimed albums in recent history, 2005’s Illinois. Continuing in the directions hinted at by the electronics of Enjoy Your Rabbit, the scariest bits of the sublimely folksy Seven Swans, the orchestral flourishes of Michigan and Illinois, and the attention to detail present in all of his records, The Age of Adz is a powerful and innovative take on confessional musicmaking; it is the product of a true genius looking from the outside in, and finding there the outside reflected. Or maybe it’s the other way around. However he does it, the record is incredibly universal in its appeal and feel, and is alone on this list in terms of sheer vision and achievement. Bleeps, bloops, and squeals have never sounded so human, have never blended so well with strings and choirs and horns, have never served masterful songcraft so perfectly. Age of Adz is, simply put, a beautiful piece of art. The All Delighted People EP, released a month of so before Age of Adz, feels very much like a companion piece to the LP. It’s themes and sense of grandeur are practically the same, but the palette is different, as if Sufjan ca.’05, with all his banjos and acoustic guitars and pretty pianos, was starting to branch out into the territory so boldly claimed by Age of Adz. The “classic rock” alternate version of the title track is skippable, but the rest is as perfect and vital as the LP that quickly followed it.

KEY TRACK(s):

Age of Adz – a tie – “Impossible Soul” and “Get Real Get Right”

All Delighted People EP – “All Delighted People”

2. The National – High Violet

This band is too-often written off with single, simplistic words—dark, dire, tense, dour, etc.—that carry more negative connotations than they perhaps warrant. Yes, they are all those things, but The National also have great capacity for tenderness, humor, sensitivity, and—yes!—joy. If 2007’s Boxer was the buildup (and it was nothing if not a long buildup; tense, dense, and taut), then High Violet is the payoff: cathartic, dynamic, …big. Within its grooves, unapologetic baritone singer/lyricist Matt Berninger strives for high notes in both vocal performance and lyrical poignancy so far unmatched in other National records (except maybe some tunes on Boxer). The musical beds laid down under his voice by the Dessner twins Bryce and Aaron, the band’s main composers, are melodic and powerful and fresh. Unmistakably National, unmistakably new, undeniably great.

KEY TRACK: “Afraid of Everyone”

3. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest

A dark, shimmering, enraptured take on indie rock, with one of the most enjoyable and moving songs I’ve ever heard, “Helicopter.”  Bradford Cox and co. let their absolute love for making music shine with a selection of songs that sound like the Greatest-Hits collection soundtrack of your dearest dreams. Alternately (and sometimes at the same time) heartbreaking and jubilant, and always thrilling to listen to, Halcyon Digest will no doubt rise to be the classic record it already sounds like.

KEY TRACK: “Helicopter”

4. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West has worked very, very hard at making people—myself included—hate him. That being said, this record is undoubtedly a masterpiece. Its maximal pop production, careful compositions, and deft sampling, not to mention the unbelievable list of guests, and of course Kanye’s own nimble, ever-clever rapping, all add up to a product that consistently grabs attention and blows past expectations. It is a huge record with long songs (sometimes too long, too indulgent—the album’s main flaw) and gigantic ambitions, and meets every one of its readily apparent goals.

KEY TRACK: “Monster”

5. Menomena – Mines

No other band sounds like Menomena, and Menomena sounds like no other band. And Mines is a perfect distillation and compilation of the best this very democratic band has to offer the world. It is spacious and complex and intensely rhythmic. I have never heard such a heavy album rest all of its heaviness not on guitars or bass but completely on drums. Weaving in and out of the blasting cymbals, sax, guitar, and bass are delicate piano lines and distinctively sweet vocals from all three members of the band. Never has extreme collaboration paid off so well.

KEY TRACK: “Five Little Rooms”

6. Best Coast – Crazy For You

This record sounds dumb. It really does. The instrumentation is blunt and lo-fi, the lyrics are cutesy and amateurish, the delivery is unadorned. But beneath the fuzz and the basic rhymes lies a huge and vulnerable heart. Bethany Cosentino wears more than her love for 60s beachy garage rock on her sleeve; these songs are often achingly honest portraits of her inner life, confessions of loneliness, doubt, and longing wrapped in a joyful, sunny package.

KEY TRACK: “Goodbye”

7. Beach House – Teen Dream

Two words consistently show up in reviews of this record: “hazy” and “dreamy.” But when I listen to it, I hear a focus that goes way beyond those fuzzy adjectives. I admit that upon first listen Teen Dream appears monochromatic, seemingly too heavily reliant on retro organ/synth tones, syrupy beats, and breathy vocals, each track warm and full and even. But even a monochromatic painting can contain different values and variations of hue, and with Teen Dream this variation is more and more apparent with every listen. Working with a relatively limited set of sonic tools, Beach House has created an album full of rewarding moments and really tight tunes, each song deliberate and obviously beloved by its makers. 

KEY TRACK: “Walk in the Park”

8. Avi Buffalo – Avi Buffalo

The first offering from a group of CA underagers, this album is an amazingly strong debut. With insanely impressive songwriting and guitar work from the group’s namesake founder Avi Zahner-Isenberg (who was something like 18 during its recording), the LP is spacious and youthful (imagine that), and pays homage to a pretty impressive list of influences—the Beach Boys, freak-folk, Nels Cline, Television, and Jefferson Airplane, just to name a few.

KEY TRACK: “Truth Sets In”

9. Wavves – King of the Beach

What a terrific, snotty piece of seaside psych-punk pop. Underneath all the sneering and redlined levels lies some seriously great, honest, and revealing songcraft from mainman Nathan Williams, one of the more interesting figures of indie rock to ever come back from an early self-dug grave. And an extra treat is revealed upon repeated listens: unassumingly fantastic production values and a mind-blowing array of guitar sounds.

KEY TRACK: “Post Acid”

10. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today

Weird-ass, lo-fi heaven. Praised by every critic and blogger. The roughest, sloppiest record to ever sound so meticulously constructed and carefully conceived. What time-travel might have sounded like in the mid-80s. I dunno. It’s great.

KEY TRACK: “Round and Round”

11. The Mynabirds – What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood
12. Broken Bells – Broken Bells
13. Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
14. Jónsi – Go
15. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
16. Jamey Johnson – The Guitar Song
17. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
18. The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards
19. Drive-By Truckers – The Big To-Do
20. Neil Young – Le Noise
21. Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
22. How to Destroy Angels ­– How to Destroy Angels (EP)
23. Sun Kil Moon – Admiral Fell Promises
24. Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
25. Spoon – Transference
26. Thee Oh Sees – Warm Slime
27. Wildbirds & Peacedrums – Rivers
28. Gayngs – Relayted
29. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
30. Dr. Dog – Shame, Shame
31. Wild Nothing – Gemini
32. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan – Hawk
33. Black Mountain – Wilderness Heart
34. Caribou – Swim
35. Sleigh Bells – Treats 

THE 10 BEST SONGS OF 2010

1. Deerhunter - "Helicopter" 
2. Sufjan Stevens – “All Delighted People”
3. The National – “England”
4. Tame Impala – “Desire Be Desire Go”
5. Best Coast – “Goodbye”
6. Menomena – “Tithe”
7. Ariel Pink’s Hunated Graffiti – “Round and Round”
8. Spoon – “Before Destruction”
9. Joanna Newsom – “Easy”
10. How to Destroy Angels – “The Space in Between”

 MY 10 FAVORITE RECORD ACQUISITIONS OF 2010

Because I am an insufferable hipster, I only buy vinyl these days. And these are the best of the vinyl I got this year. They are judged and ranked in order of rarity of find, greatness of art and package, level of analog sound quality, and general excitement over acquisition.

1. Grant Lee Buffalo – Mighty Joe Moon {This is a very, very rare record. It is one of my favorite albums of all time, and it sounds incredible on vinyl. Also, the artwork is really dense and busy, and looks great 12x12.}

2. Wilco – Kicking Television Box Set
3. Fugazi – The Argument
4. The Microphones – The Glow pt. 2
5. Shiva Burlesque – Shiva Burlesque
6. Mount Eerie – Live in Copenhagen
7. Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band – Xmas at Kmart (45rpm single)
8. Sun Kil Moon – Admiral Fell Promises
9. Slint – Spiderland
10. Sufjan Stevens – All Delighted People EP

THE 10 BEST DRIVING SONGS OF 2010

1. The Arcade Fire – “The Suburbs”
2. The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
3. Black Mountain – “Roller Coaster”
4. Sufjan Stevens – “Get Real Get Right”
5. Best Coast – “Boyfriend”
6. Drive-By Truckers – “This Fucking Job”
7. Gorillaz – “Rhinestone Eyes”
8. Wavves – “King of the Beach”
9. Tame Impala – “It Is Not Meant to Be”
10. Titus Andronicus – “A More Perfect Union”

THE 5 BEST 2010 SONGS TO HAVE SEX TO IN 2010

Let's be frank and mature here. In 2010 I had sex. And a lot of that sex was to music. We're all adults. Deal. (Jenna was consulted.)

1. How to Destroy Angels – “A Drowning”
2. The Dead Weather – “The Difference Between Us”
3. Avi Buffalo – “Summer Cum”
4. Sufjan Stevens – “Djohariah”
5. Menomena – “TAOS”

THE 5 BEST SONGS TO GET LOST IN IN 2010

1. Sufjan Stevens – “Impossible Soul”
2. Deerhunter – “Desire Lines”
3. Gayngs – “The Gaudy Side of Town”
4. Kanye West – “Runaway”
5. Avi Buffalo – “Remember Last Time”

THE 5 BEST SONGS TO FALL ASLEEP TO IN 2010

1. Sun Kil Moon – “Ålesund”
2. Menomena – “INTIL”
3. Beach House – “Take Care”
4. Wild Nothing – “Live in Dreams”
5. Sufjan Stevens – “Enchanting Ghost

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So there it is... very late I know, being published about 2 months after everybody did their Best Of 2010 Lists, but up nonetheless. Keep listening, everybody! 

-SC