The coolest thing about this site is the variety of music that our contributors get into. Anything from hip-hop to garage rock is fair game. I think this is reflected well in the lists below.
You can click on the individual contributor links below to be directed to their list on this page.
Mark (Karl Malone)
Mike Dupar (The Baron)
Jeffery Wallman (Tony Wonder)
Anthony Van Hart (Avanhizzle)
10.) Tame Impala – InnerSpeaker (Modular)
Like getting stoned and zoning out? Cool. This is the album for you then. This album is a serious trip. A headphone must.
9.) Tallest Man On Earth – Wild Hunt (Dead Oceans)
Dude sounds like he posses an 800 year old voice.
8.) Reading Rainbow – Prism Eyes (HoZac)
Simple. Honest. Anthemic.
7.) Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today (4AD)
Weirdo glam rocker finally hits big. Arguably some of the best hooks of 2010 live on Before Today.
6.) The Walkmen – Lisbon (Fat Possum)
These guys are on another level indie band. Honestly, a really special album.
5.) Lower Dens – Twin-Hand Movement (Gnomonsong)
Pretty much breath taking.
4.) Harlem – Hippies (Matador)
Getting signed to a big deal indie label and spending your recording loot on drugs and alcohol usually doesn’t work out well for most bands. Harlem, however, can write the catchiest pop songs in their sleep.
3.) Ty Segall – Melted (Goner)
An under-talked album from this year. It’s another crazy well written garage-rock joint. The album opens so god damn well (tracks 1-5 could be my top 5 tracks of the year) and doesn’t really let up the whole way through.
2.) Happy Birthday – S/T (Sub Pop)
This is an album that I think will be more greatly appreciated with time. Right now, I can’t think of another person doing the Garage-rock thing better then Kyle (aka King Tuff, aka Happy Birthday). An incredibly smart and masterfully crafted pop album (hi-fidelity! head phone this bitch asap) touching on all things rock and roll: existential frustrations, rebellion, girls/love, drugs, social commentary, etc.
1.) Beach House – Teen Dream (Sub Pop)
Teen Dream leaked early in January and all I can remember thinking was, “this album is going to be huge for Beach House.” After 2 amazing simple but haunting bedroom-esque albums, replete with casio drum beats and reverb drenched guitar/vocals, the band was signed to Sub Pop and given a large studio budget. In my opinion, they made the album of the year. The band’s talent and longevity over the flavor of the month is cemented by the rewards of re-listens and an incredibly moving live show. Whether you like the band or not, you have to agree it’s been a great year for Beach House.
other albums I enjoyed:
No Bunny First Blood,
Twin Sister Color Your Life,
Call Me Lightning When I’m Gone My Blood Will Be Free,
Shabazz Palaces – Of Light/ST
Big K.r.i.t. Wuz Here,
Jaill That’s how we burn,
Strange Boys Be Brave,
Hunx & His Punx Gay Singles
Fresh & Onlys Play It Strange
… this list could go on forever
Mike Dupar (The Baron)/////////////////////////////
10.
On Patrol by Sun Araw-
On Patrol from the start tempts your will to ingest drugs, coaxing you with psych guitar tabs that discreetly mutate over the course of the album into dubbed-out crawls or freaky tribal dancing. Cameron Stallones crafted a truly amazing piece of work that nuzzle’s itself into a very strange corner of musical foliage, that for now we’ll deem space-psych-jungle-dub-rhythms.
9.
Causers Of This by Toro Y Moi
Chazwick Bundick (what a great name) managed to create an album that beautifully fuses electronic, pop, and soul music. Most miraculous is how well each track segways into the next, often playful synths casually taunt the ambient hums below them and then break into bleeps that bring the track either full-circle or coasting into the next song. Chaz’s vague lyrics help mold the copacetic of the album, allowing the listener to either daze in and out of critique, thus making Causers seem like one giant nostalgic dream.
8.
Echo Lake by Woods
These dudes created the folk lo-fi aesthetic and truly master it on Echo Lake. The beauty of Woods is their unparalleled understanding of musical constraint, Echo Lake is maybe their most mellow-transfixed record to date but also their most cohesive, focused on creating a warm vibe similar to a fall night drinking whiskey with your best mates. No better example than “Time Fading Lines” where the fuzzy guitars cool out with accompaniment from a sitar only to gradually resurface on “From The Horn” to end the first half of the LP.
7.
Last Days of Summer by White Denim
Released under the radar and discussed minimally, but an awesomely assembled group of jams. White Denims newest project never fails to put me in an optimistic and dazedly happy mood. Blending pop sensible lyrics with bubbly guitars is an overly-used blueprint but rarely is it done as well as on Last Days of Summer.
6.
Color Your Life by Twin Sister
Twin Sister is kind of my feel good band of the year. Color Your Life may pass you by at first but after each listen the group’s compositional skills and acute ear for layering becomes more palpably phenomenal. Andrea Estella’s voice gravitates between pillow-talk and ghostly, often complimenting any of the groups sounds quite perfectly. Easily one of the best things to happen the past year, and their live performance continues to evolve.
5.
Saint Bartlett by Damien Jurado
Boldly unapologetic poetry about the way the world is. Jurado finds a lot of somber and painful moments in his music but engrains extremely bright fragments of hope scattered throughout the album, that are surprisingly catchy. Reminiscent of Nick Drake but viewed through a bottle of whisky.
4.
Melted by Ty Segall
Garage Rock Perfection
3.
Krit Wuz Here by Big K.R.I.T.
Instantly a classic for me. KRIT is the rare gem of a musician that can apply mainstream formulas and update them both sonically and intellectually. This album has everything from introspective rhyming to negligent bow-throwing bangers, really what more do you need?
2.
Teen Dream by Beach House
Teen Dream burrows itself into a very cozy sound and explores it to its boundaries. Gradually the songs build and then find themselves summarizing and dissolving into the next track. This album feels as if one long beautiful song.
1.
Mare by Julian Lynch
Complexly woven album that excellently combines eclectic texturing with traditional song structure. Zoned out rhythms that casually demand an attentive ear, that if sought out reward you with deep and thoughtful meditation. Never tired of listening to this beaut all year long.
Tony Wonder///////////////////////////////////////
10. big boi, sll/scd
9. mt. kimbie, crooks/lovers
8. harlem, hippies
7. high on fire, snakes 4 tha divine
6. lcd soundsystem, this is harpooning
5. the books, the way out
4. tobacco, maniac meat
3. tokyo police club, champion
2. deerhunter
1. flying lotus, cosmogramma. this album and kanye’s fantasy are similar – the products of two producers forcing themselves to think differently about music. however, the scope and ambition of this album makes kanye’s respective effort look like child’s play. kanye’s mic skills can’t sustain his ambitious production, not to mention the fact that the best parts of this album don’t even exist an a vacuum – they exist contextually, as counterparts to the narrative of his crazy ass personal life that nobody ever stops talking about. this wouldn’t matter, except kanye himself does not stop talking about his sordid past for the entirety of the fucking album. this makes fantasy shitty – or, at least, shittier than everybody seems to think.
conversely, flying lotus has no lame mic skills and no crazy ass personal narrative; cosmogramma is a breathtaking, expansive, and baffling album in which, thankfully, you never once have to think about the vast cultural wasteland that is the context necessary to fully understand kanye’s fantasy. (the video music awards, jay leno, rick ross. nobody cares about these things, and yet, to a certain extent, that is what fantasy is about – kanye’s struggle to coexist with trash culture, to which i reply “who fucking cares…i don’t fucking care…do you fucking care?”.)
whereas kanye is dependent on trash culture to make him famous, flylo exists apart from it – and so while kanye goes on to conquer the world with his stupid “huuuh” adlibs and his list of famous friends, the truly bold realize that there’s not much that’s experimental about fantasy – fantasy is the sound of musical experimentation being co-opted by a mainstream lifer, whereas cosmogramma is radical to its core, a fantasy for grownups.
Anthony Van Hart (Avanhizzle)/////////////////////
10.Strand of Oaks- Pope Killdragon-Catching my personal top ten two years in a row, Timothy Showalter aka Strand of Oaks, flat out knows how to write a song. On his second effort, heartfelt words are still the nucleus of his work but this time around updated his resume with tall tale telling, bone chilling metal instrumentals, and a slew of synth sounds that couldn’t be found of Leave Ruin.
9.Vampire Weekend- Contra- I had a pretty negative first reaction to this album, but repeated listens from January until the ice melted allowed me plenty of time to reevaluate our first meeting. Possibly the album that I listened to the most, cut up or in full, I found that ‘Contra’ blended all of the savory elements of their s/t debut with the programmed pop wizardry of VW producer and band member,Rostam Batmanglij’s other project, Discovery.
8.Woods- At Echo Lake- Effect ridden and dark imagery laden folk rock rock that sounds like it could’ve been recorded under water, At Echo Lake was my dark horse for #1 album of the year after the leak. Super catchy and creative, this album will be a steady burner for years to come.
7. The Radio Dept.- Clinging to a Scheme- Another record that came out of nowhere or found its way to my ears courtesy by CJ Foeckler. These Swedes make a unique blend of dream pop with hushed backbeats and bells. It’s not quite dark but it often danceable. At some points the production is a little muddy and there’s some interspersed noise but it’s the kind of noise my ears crave.
6. Futurebirds- Hampton’s Lullaby- Coming out of Athens, Georgia FUTUREBIRDS are a many headed monster that utilize their surroundings well by blending the boogie and soulful aspects of southern rock with the experimental and reverb heavy elements of the alternative music that sprouted there. Songs like opener “Johhny Utah,” “APO” and closer “Hamptuhn’s Lulluby” are full of those head clearing southern/country/swampy/gospel guitar moments that are as raucous as they are beautiful.
5. Titus Andronicus- The Monitor- This band and this record make me nostalgic for the times when I used to ink up my Chuck Taylors with punk rock bands and their lyrics.
4. Phosphorescent- Here’s to Taking it Easy- Twangy, heartfelt, and honest. This album starts on a high note and doesn’t let up until it’s finished.
3. Beach House- Teen Dream- Oh, Victoria Legrand, I don’t think Oysseus would’ve been able to withstand your voice.
2. Cotton Jones- Tall Hours in the Glowstream- This record completely caught me off guard. The way that it blends Americana with soul acted as a sno cone in July and completely moved mountains for me this year. I obviously like sno cones. I’m willing to bet you do too.
1. LCD Soundsystem- This is Happening- Clear choice for #1 due to its ability to rattle windows, ravage headphones, and contain more songs in my top 50 of 2010 (#2 Home, #24 All I Want, #46 Dance Yrself Clean) than any other album
