Favorite Albums of 2010: Top 10
Photo: Karmabum
Below is the official Favorite Albums of 2010 list. These are albums that I never stopped listening to over the course of the year and had a lot of meaningful, emotional connections with. It goes without saying that I would recommend any of these albums to anyone who hasn’t already listened to them.
If you missed it, don’t miss the Honorable Mentions list!
Also, if you choose to check out any of these albums or artists, please remember to support the artist if you like their music! Buy the record, go to a show, send them a blank check, whatever it is you want to do!
Anyway, get to the list already!
10. Heartland - Owen Pallett
For me, baroque pop is done best by two people: Patrick Wolf and Owen Pallett. In this case, Owen Pallett’s Heartland, his first under his given name, is a fantastic journey detailing the story of Lewis, a farmer in a world called Spectrum, and his creator, Owen. Owen puts his broad knowledge of classical arrangements and instrumentation, to use here to majestic results, all while adding new electronic and percussive elements to the mix. Strings build drama and tension, horns blast from every direction, xylophones shimmer and glisten, and Owen’s vocals oscillate between whispering gently and bellowing down from the heavens. Given the density of the record, I imagine I will grow to love this album even more in the years to come. Overall, Heartland is through-and-through Owen’s most magnificent, sumptuous work yet.
9. Odd Blood - Yeasayer
From the moment you press “play” on Odd Blood it’s clear that Yeasayer have something new for you. Album opener “The Children” sets the stage for what will unfold as Yeasayer’s turn to psychedelic electro-pop with its grinding 808 beats and heavily filtered and manipulated vocals. The first half of the album, mainly “Ambling Alp” and “O.N.E.”, is bombastic psych-pop, showcasing their new sound and influences from the likes of Animal Collective (the echos of drums and bubbles in the background). “I Remember” shows their more sensitive, softer side and continues to be one of my favorite songs off the album. Then the album takes a turn towards weird psychedelic dance music and quite honestly falls off a bit. All faith is restored with closer “Grizelda,” a song more reminiscent of their older work than most other tracks on Odd Blood. This album is an exciting, wild ride through a series of experiments for the band that leaves you wondering where they go from here.
8. Jonsi - Go
I can’t even begin to lie and say that my love for Sigur Ros was what led me to listen to Jonsi’s debut solo album. In fact, I never was and still am not a fan of Sigur Ros. I am, however, a huge fan of Jonsi’s solo album, Go. Instead of an hour of blank, cold soundscapes, Jonsi delivered a concise, warm, orchestral pop album that sounds as colorful and vibrant as the elaborate headdresses Jonsi dons on stage. Where the album really shines are the bona fide pop songs like “Go”, “Animal Arithmetic”, and “Boy Lilikoi” - songs that exude so much happiness and joy it’s impossible to feel anything else. But that’s not meant to discount the ballads of the album. “Tornado” and the heartbreaking “Sinking Friendships” lend the record a sense of drama that speaks highly of Jonsi’s ability to craft a diverse, versatile, and most importantly, truly beautiful album that are capable of enthralling and exciting even those who may not be fans of Sigur Ros.
7. Forget - Twin Shadow
Indie pop this year has been extremely nostalgic for years and music past, ranging from the psychedelic tinges of the 60s, the disco rhythms of the 70s, and especially the melancholy brooding of the 1980s. Twin Shadow represents the best representation of 80s pop in a 2010 setting. Forget is a sometimes dark (favorites “Castles in the Snow”, “Tyrant Destroyed”), sometimes peppy (“Yellow Balloon”, “At My Heels”) album whose infectious harmonies and subtle beats are just begging you to get up and dance. On the other hand, its also an album that feels very sad and has a strong sense of longing for something - love? happier times? - that maybe makes you cry while you’re dancing. Still, George Lewis Jr. did a wonderful job of combining his classic rock and pop influences on an album that perfectly captures the mood of what millennials today, too young to remember the 1980s properly, want to imagine it might have been like.
6. Body Talk - Robyn
Where do I even begin to describe Robyn? Completely absent from my mind since my sisters bought her single “Show Me Love” in the mid-90s, she was probably the last person I would have expected a year ago to be obsessed with in 2010. She shot back into the forefront of my attention with the lead single off of Body Talk Pt. 1, “Fembot” and it was love at first listen. Body Talk is really an amalgamation of two Body Talk EPs that were released periodically throughout the year, plus a few brand new songs just for the full LP. Easily one of the best electro dance-pop albums of the year, Robyn’s ear for instantly contagious pop hooks and dance beats shows everyone exactly why she deserves mega popstar status. Body Talk is an immensely fun, enjoyable album that has more than a few of the best pop songs of the year on it’s tracklist - I’m talking about “Dancing On My Own”, a lachrymose dance track about seeing the one you love with someone else; “Indestructible”, a song about holding on to a good but dying relationship that you can just imagine cutting through the fog of a night club; and “Call Your Girlfriend”, almost a ballad but with a distinctly danceable rhythm to it, that’s about a girl telling her new boyfriend to call his girlfriend and tell her he’s found someone new. Body Talk is all you need for an instant dance party, guaranteed to have the entire room grooving and singing along.
5. Congratulations - MGMT
I can already hear the crowds with pitchforks (hipster pun intended?) gathering on my virtual doorstep - MGMT’s sophomore album Congratulations is my #5 favorite album of the year. Almost as mistreated as M.I.A’s /\/\ /\ Y /\, this album endured a huge backlash upon its release, most of which was undue and unfair in my opinion. I could go on and on about how if you listen to Oracular Spectacular only 3 of the songs on that album were electro-pop jams while the rest were psychedelic rock songs so it’s only natural their next album should have sounded like that, or how people should not go into new albums expecting it to sound like older music because you are only going to be disappointed, or how bands should not pander to the people who demand the same sound retreaded… So I won’t. (Though I wish Neon Waves had existed at the time of release so I could have defended it head on…) All I will say is that if you take Congratulations for what it is, a separate entity from Oracular Spectacular, and actually give it a chance, you will come to realize it is a terrificly psychedelic record that’s clearly at least a more cohesive, mature sound than its predecessor. Congratulations shows MGMT working more as a collective band versus a quirky duo laying down psychedelic jock jams on their laptops. They’re trying new things and expanding their sound to delightfully weird results. You can hear the influences of 60s surf rock and psychedelic rock throughout, but especially in songs like “Someone’s Missing”, “Siberian Breaks” (the twelve minute epic that sounds something like an aural chronicle of an acid trip), and “Flash Delirium.” Album closer and title track, “Congratulations,” sounds the most like it was written during the peak of Oracular Spectacular’s popularity and I think the lyrics are especially predictive of the coming reaction to the follow up. Overall, I realize I’m probably not going to change many people’s stubborn opinions regarding this album so all I can do is urge you to give it another honest chance and hopefully you’ll see what an outstanding, interesting psychedelic surf rock album Congratulations really is.
4. Contra - Vampire Weekend
When Vampire Weekend’s Contra was released, it debuted in the number one spot on the Billboard charts (This is in interesting contrast to a band like MGMT who, as described above, suffered a major backlash with their own follow-up album). Now, the legitimacy of sales charts like Billboard now-a-days are obviously up for debate, but it still says something about Vampire Weekend’s widespread appeal when they have the highest selling album in America the first week of its release. Vampire Weekend hit the indie scene in a pretty big way with their eponymous debut in 2008 and their crossover success has been pretty wild. With their follow-up to the self-titled Vampire Weekend, the band changed up their sound just a little bit, adding in some California rock vibes, throwing some auto-tune on Ezra’s vocals for “California English”, and really honed their ability to write amazing pop songs. For example, “Diplomat’s Son”, a six minute “dancehall” track, tells the story of a gay relationship and “Holiday” looks at the hypocrisy of probably the same people buying their album. Released in the first month of 2010, it’s interesting to note that while the album has a definite summer feel to it, there’s surprisingly also something about it that’s simultaneously cold and wintry. The crispness of the guitars, the jingling of the sleigh bells, and the twinkling of the xylophones just lend themselves well to the frigid weather of the winter months. Yet, songs like “Cousins” and “Giving Up The Gun” feel warm and sunny. Temperature aside, the album had a distinctly 80s feel (I keep seeing stills of ‘Dirty Dancing’ in my head as I listen to it for some reason). Tracks like “Diplomat’s Song”, “I Think Ur A Contra” and “Taxi Cab” exemplify the 80s influences and gloss the most. The album ends with “I Think Ur A Contra”, a beautiful, minimalistic song that has lots of space in it for the tribal drums to echo and bounce around the icy, spacious atmosphere created. Overall, Contra is an extremely strong sophomore effort that I think solidifies Vampire Weekend’s place in the upper echelon of indie rockers. It not only satisfies the listeners who simply desired a “Vampire Weekend: Part 2” but also shows the band is not afraid to take chances and play with their sound to feature different moods and stories.
3. The Age of Adz - Sufjan Stevens
2010 was the year folk went electronic. At least, it did for Sufjan Stevens. After 5 years without releasing a proper song-based LP, Sufjan suddenly re-emerged and dropped the hour-long EP, “All Delighted People.” With this surprise release in August, Sufjan also announced that his sixth studio album would be released in October and would be entitled The Age of Adz. At that point all we had to gauge a possible sound was the album cover, and that was not revealing too much. We got a taste of the avalanche of electronic experimentation that awaited us with the release of “Too Much” and “I Walked” - but this was just a sliver of what was to come. When The Age of Adz finally came, most were shocked, many were thrilled, some were disappointed - but none could say “I told you that’s what it would sound like.” Sufjan unleashed a fury of electronic noise on his traditional symphonic-folk sound. Whizzers whizzed, beepers beeped, glurglers glurgled… all on top of banjos, guitars, and his usual backing orchestra. The result is a sort of cosmic symphony being played while aliens and robots tear the world apart (probably into five pieces). The entire album is not just experimental but it’s beautiful in its experimentation. This is a Sufjan we’ve never heard before (we maybe got a taste with Enjoy Your Rabbit or his contribution to Dark Was The Night, “You Are the Blood”) and for a sound that’s relatively new to him, he pulls it off with masterful skill and sophistication. Another interesting change is his shift away from heavily religious-influenced lyrics. Most of the album, according to the man himself, was written during and influenced by a crippling viral infection he experienced after the release of Illinois. Sufjan seems to have matured during his “time off” - the lyrics not only deals with more serious topics (the apocalypse? lost love? pretty serious stuff) but the entire tone of the album is darker. Sufjan even drops the F-bomb in “I Want To Be Well!” Like, sixteen times! A write-up on The Age of Adz would not be complete without mentioning “Impossible Soul,” the twenty-five minute long (yes, twenty-five minute) musical odyssey at the very end. It goes through so many movements and changes in mood so often that the twenty-five minutes actually do not feel that long. The shifts in direction and sound are frequent, yet cohesive, enough that it manages to hold your interest throughout. And of course, Sufjan’s brilliant songwriting abilities play a large role in keeping “Impossible Soul” interesting, making sure not to repeat lyrics too often and singing throughout. The song moves through electric guitar solos, horns and spaceship sound effects, and finally ends on a note all Sufjan fans can enjoy: a quiet, folk finale reminiscent of the similarly quiet folk song the album opened with. This is Sufjan at his finest, challenging not only himself with new sounds but also challenging his listeners to explore these uncharted territories of his music right along with him.
2. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West
Does Kanye West even need an introduction at any time, any where, these days? I don’t think so. When you’re the least-popular pop star in the world, but arguably one of the most talented, what do you do after a horrifically public faux pas? You hermit yourself away in Hawaii, away from the hateful eye of the American paparazzi-Nazis and start recording the best hip hop album to come out in a very long time. (I can’t actually say that it’s the best of the decade (2000-2010) with any real credibility but it’s most certainly my favorite, and I was really into hip hop for a few years back in the day.) My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is jam-packed with ideas — fuzzy 70s vocal effects, orchestral interludes, innumerable guest features… the list goes on and on. And the truly remarkable part is how well developed every idea is, and how truly committed Kanye is to each one. He doesn’t do a vocal effect on a few words in “Gorgeous” - it’s thrown on the whole song. “Dark Fantasy” begins the album with Nicki Minaj imploring us to shut up and gather round - Kanye’s going to tell us a story. Then that beat drops, dripping in absolute luxury and glamour; quite possibly the best album opener of the year. As we all know, with Kanye it’s go big or go home. This mantra is especially clear in “All of the Lights” which literally has too many features to count on my hands, the most notable being Elton John on piano. Not only does it make you wonder if any other rapper could get this many people to feature on a single track but it begs the question: who the hell else would even try? An early favorite of mine, “Monster” has one of the best verses on the album, delivered from the illustrious Harajuku Barbie herself, Nicki Minaj. Kanye gives some of his wittiest rhymes on “Gorgeous,” with a little help from Kid Cudi and Raekwon. “Blame Game,” a highlight off Dark Fantasy, features the smooth crooning of John Legend and some sensitive verses from Kanye about a messy relationship and even messier breakup. Much of the reason this album is so good is because it is so big. Almost every song is over five minutes long, most of them feature at least one other person, and all of them show that Kanye has more ideas in his singular brain than probably the entire population of Delaware. Clocking in at over an hour long, at no point does this album feel too long or laborious in listening. In fact, I challenge you to throw this record on and not listen to it in its entirety - each song keeps you hanging on to see where this wild ride Kanye has built will take you next. I say it everytime I hear a new Kanye album, but I honestly cannot see how the Louis Vuitton Don will improve on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy the next time around.
1. Have One On Me - Joanna Newsom
In the title track of Joanna Newsom’s two-hour long album, Have One On Me, she sings, “But all these songs, / When you and I are long gone, / will carry on.” This is partly why Joanna’s most recent record is in the number one spot of my favorite albums this year. The album has a sense of timelessness to it that transcends any sort of “Year End” list…. This album will not wither in its beauty and craftsmanship in just a few years - it will instead grow in its artistry and refinement with time like a fine wine. Joanna’s voice may be slightly different now but her skill at the helm of her harp and her superb, eloquent songwriting remains at its best. The stunningly beautiful “‘81” features simply Joanna and her harp, but in paring it down to these core elements, the song showcases the clarity and focus presented in the lyrics on the album that is somewhat in contrast to the dense narratives typical of her previous releases. That’s not to say Joanna’s voice is any less exquisite - in fact, it’s even more forceful and textured than before. The way her voice envelops the gentle strumming of the harp in “On A Good Day” and the devastating “In California” is near heavenly. Have One On Me is an expansion and refinement in terms of its sound, though. Joanna’s harp remains at the forefront but she’s included things like horns and percussion and various lesser-known instruments tastefully alongside it. She explores a few new genres as well, including jazz and blues. The length of this album at first seems daunting but it welcomes you in with its marvelous arrangements and warm melodies that wrap around you like a blanket on a cold day, holding your ear closely to the prodigious tales Joanna weaves through her songs. The album is heavy and sad, many of the songs related to a relationship that began splendidly but eventually came to a rather depressing end. Closing out the album, “Does Not Suffice” is brimming with emotion, describing a woman no longer in love packing up her belongings, preparing to leave her former lover’s home. Echos of melodies from “In California” give this song its subtitle, “In California Reprise.” It’s not a bitter or angry song though - tragic and somber, yes (“Everywhere I tried to love you / is yours again and only yours”). But certainly not bitter; in fact, there’s a certain sense of peace about it (“It does not suffice to merely lie beside each other / As those who love each other do”). While anyone who listens to this album, a fan of Joanna Newsom or not, would agree that it is quite obviously a brilliantly crafted piece of art from a technical standpoint, it is not just the quality of the craftsmanship itself that makes it my favorite of the year. Instead, it is the genuine emotions that Joanna’s lyrics are able to evoke in their listener. Few, if any, other albums on this list provided such an emotional connection for me this year, and sincere emotions at that. It is this capability that is the mark of a true artist and Joanna Newsom surely exemplifies that with Have One On Me.
