Favorite Albums of 2010: Honorable Mentions
As 2010 draws to a close, it’s time to round up a list of all the albums I loved over the year. I don’t know what my list says about me but I tried to be as honest in my selections and rankings as possible, trying to choose albums that I genuinely enjoyed and spent a lot of time with in 2010.
The list I’m posting right now is the “Honorable Mentions” list - albums that I liked a lot and listened to obsessively this year, but just weren’t the ones I liked or connected with the most. Anyway, that’s enough rambling, here’s the first part of my Favorite Albums of 2010 list, the Honorable Mentions.
5. Gemini - Wild Nothing
Given the Virginia Tech origins of Wild Nothing, I feel a certain sense of pride in being able to include them on my Favorite Albums of 2010 list. Wild Nothing is Jack Tatum, creator of hazy, 80s-tinged bedroom pop that’s more infectious than any pop you’re hearing on MTV. The debut album, Gemini, has some of the dreamiest tunes to come from the lo-fi indie pop scene this year. If you’re looking for somewhere to get into “chillwave” or “lo-fi”, I can imagine nowhere better to start than Wild Nothing’s “Summer Holiday,” one of my favorite tracks off their sun-washed debut, Gemini.
4. Treats - Sleigh Bells
You know that scene in Spinal Tap where they turn their amp not up to an embarrassingly quiet 10, but all the way up to a brain-splitting 11? That’s Treats. If anyone wins the award for recording the hands-down loudest noise-pop album this year, it most definitely goes to Sleigh Bells. Treats combines the saccharine-sweet vocal stylings of Alexis Krauss with the riot inciting hardcore guitar breakdowns of Derek Miller, with a little bit of a hip hop influence thrown in for good measure. If you’re looking for something to make you feel like the baddest bitch in the game on your way to class, throw on “Infinity Guitars” and don’t even bother trying not to smash a windshield or two.
3. Special Affections - Diamond Rings
Diamond Rings is probably my most recent object of fascination on this list and the fact that it made it anywhere on here says a lot about the immediately addicting quality of the music. Special Affections is an outstanding debut solo performance from John O’Regan, featuring some of the best indie synth-pop I’ve heard all year. Be sure to check out: “You and Me.”
2. Down There - Avey Tare
Down There is Animal Collective member Avey Tare’s first completely solo album. The album was influenced by splitting from his wife, his sister battling cancer and a handful of other very serious matters that led to Down There being very damp and dark, thick with watery textures and sloshy vocal effects. The album is a little slow and pretty dense for one so short but it has some great swamp-techno jams that are a lot of fun to groove to. Give “Oliver Twist” a listen (preferably at night, in a swamp) for a taste of what the rest of the album sounds like.
1. King of the Beach - Wavves
King of the Beach is the perfect time capsule for summer - simply listening to a few songs instantly transports you back to warmer, longer days where the only thing you have to worry about is whose house the party is at this weekend. The band took the year in between their last album (Wavvves) to hone their sound and incorporate a whole slew of influences. Wavves have produced a summer punk-rock masterpiece that sounds as good in the middle of December as it did when it was released in August.
