As tempting as it is to wait to see if any other gems come to my attention before finalising my 2010 list, there are only a few weeks of the year left so I need to draw a line under what I have ranked so far, anything else that comes up now, well tough, I’ll just have to make separate posts about them.
Here’s the plan, I will announce the top 50 in reverse order over three consecutive posts starting today with numbers 50 to 31, then there will be 30 to 11 and then finally the top ten. In each will be links to listen to the album on Spotify or Soundcloud (“Listen”), a sample video (“Look”), and a link to Amazon to purchase it if you so wish (“Buy”). So, without further ado, *trumpet fanfare*, here we go!
50. Broken Bells – Broken Bells
James Mercer (vocalist from The Shins) and producer Danger Mouse’s first joint release is a nice little bunch of ditties. To me it sounds an awful lot like a Shins album with some electronic elements thrown in. Very nice but nothing terribly exciting.
49. The Phantom Band – The Wants
Second album from this Glasgow band, sprawling indie rock that, like The Twilight Sad and Frightened Rabbit is not afraid to present their music with a strong Scottish accent! Can’t find a decent video so check out the track “Everybody Knows It’s True” via Soundcloud below.
48. Tweak Bird – Tweak Bird
Illinois brothers Caleb and Ashton Bird’s debut album is a half hour blast of psych/stoner rock, the guitar/drum duo at times feel similar to Death From Above 1979 but with slightly less balls-out swagger!
47. Trans Am – Thing
Electronica, dance, rock, metal, experimental. Just some of the words that could be used for describing this band of twenty years. This, their ninth album, is quite the mixed bag of genres.
46. Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
Third album by the authors of my favourite album of 2008. Unfortunately I don’t think it gets anywhere near the brilliance of “The Midnight Organ Fight”, maybe vocalist and songwriter Scott Hutchinson needs to go through personal hell to come up with such fine tunes, I wouldn’t wish that on him obviously but, although nice, none of the tracks here really stand out for me.
45. Eleven Tigers – Clouds are Mountains
Found out about this one through Drowned in Sound’s Overlooked albums of 2010 thread. The press seem to be calling it where to go next following Burial, I can see what they mean. An album of lovely laid-back dubstep which might have been higher in the list but I’ve only managed to give it one listen at the time of writing this!
44. Tunng – …And Then We Saw Land
London based experimental folk band’s fourth album utilises all sorts of instruments including sea shells! Really great live act too.
43. These Monsters – Call Me Dragon
Leeds band These Monsters finally released their debut album in March, having seen them lots of times as support acts on various bills in Leeds over the last few years I wondered whether I’d ever see a proper physical release! They twist the usual post-rock formula by adding a saxophone and not sticking to the quiet/loud song structure, tending to be more loud/loud! They’re noisy and great fun, catch them live if you can.
42. Padang Food Tigers – Born Music
Purchased after reading the enthusiastic review from Norman Records and hearing two tracks on Soundcloud. Delicate, almost ambient guitars and various other instruments. Check Norman Records’ review to describe it better than I can.
41. Kylesa – Spiral Shadow
Excellent catchy, sludgy riffology from Savannah, Georgia’s Kylesa. This, their fifth album is still as heavy as before but adds a more psych-rock feel. To quote Pitchfork.com – “Call Kylesa prog– or even psych, really– at your peril. Few modern prog or psych bands offer the kind of face-caving, riffs-first punch Kylesa bring to each tune. And tunes they are, with shout-along hooks that reliably hold things together between the double-drummer showcases and the bursts of uncut, old-school metal-flash soloing.”
Listen, Look, Buy
40. Killing Joke – Absolute Dissent
Can you believe Killing Joke have been around for thirty years? And they still sound angry! They came back to the fore in 2003 when Dave Grohl lent his name and pounding drum skills to their self titled debut of that year and this carries on in a similar vein, aside from stand out track “European Super State” that eschews the guitars for electronics. Good stuff!
39. Midlake – The Courage of Others
Follow up to “The Trials of Van Occupanther”, this album comes close to surpassing it containing some lovely folky melodies and having a more immediate impact than its predecessor. Just listening to this makes me want to grow my beard back! 🙂
38. Butterfly Explosion – Lost Trails
I saw this Dublin band supporting God is an Astronaut early this year and really enjoyed their particular brand of post-rock. Unusual (relatively) in that for a post-rock band they are not instrumental, Gazz Corr’s vocals add a bit of a shoegaze feel to the album. Another piece of evidence that proves it’s always worth catching the support act at gigs!
37. Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse – Dark Night of the Soul
Originally slated for release in 2009, due to legal problems it did not see the light of day as a physical release until July this year. A tragically well timed release following the suicide of Sparklehorse main man Mark Linkous, this album features guest performances by a myriad of disparate artists, from Julian Casablancas (The Strokes), Iggy Pop, Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals), all the way to film director David Lynch (who was also involved in the artwork included in the CD and the postcards issued with the Ltd Edition version)
Listen, Look, Buy
36. Errors – Come Down With Me
Continuing with their witty puns of TV shows (their 2006 mini album was entitled How Clean is Your Acid House and the remix edition of this is called Celebrity Come Down With Me!), this Glaswegian instrumental electronic outfit release their second album proper. They are label-mates with fellow Glaswegians Mogwai and some of the slower parts of this album are reminiscent of them, although never quite as noisy!
Listen, Look, Buy
35. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Nearly didn’t investigate this album as I was very disappointed by “Neon Bible”, but then noticed an Amazon promotion so got it for £1! Although over an hour long it manages to not overstay its welcome and to these ears is a lot better than “Neon Bible”, it doesn’t quite reach the quality of their debut “Funeral” and is less experimental.
34. The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster – Blood & Fire
The brilliantly eccentrically named band return with their third album a full six years after “The Royal Society”. It kicks off at about 100mph and doesn’t really slow down for its entire 38 minute runtime. I’m surprised they haven’t really made it as big as this album sounds like they deserve, maybe it’s their unwieldy name.
33. Melissa Auf der Maur – Out of Our Minds
Ex bass player of Hole releases her second solo album. No big diversions from her self titled debut, which is no bad thing as that was a cracker! Big riff-laden metallic pop.
32. Black Mountain – Wilderness Heart
Vancouver band Black Mountain’s third album could have been released in 1975 and would have been massive, that’s not to say it’s dated, just that it mines a lot of the psychedelic, bluesy rock from that period such as Led Zep and Black Sabbath.
31. 65daysofstatic – We Were Exploding Anyway
Less rocky and glitch-laden than their earlier work such as “The Fall of Math”, Sheffield’s 65daysofstatic give us far more dance-oriented tunes here, soaring beats and hands-in-the-air moments. Hopefully their recent support slot with The Cure has introduced a lot more people to their infectious instrumental anthems.
30. LaFaro – LaFaro
I saw these guys supporting And So I Watch You From Afar at Fibbers in York earlier in the year and they really tore the place up! Hailing from Belfast, they have similarities to The Jesus Lizard with their chugging riffs and mangled vocals. On the track “The Ballad of Burnt Dave” with Jonny Black sounding as if he’s been gargling nails and the song’s upbeat tempo, they have elements of early Motorhead.
29. Archie Bronson Outfit – Coconut
It’s going to be difficult to fit into a few words what this UK outfit’s third album is like! Mixing funk, blues, rock and psychedelia into an acid-fried collection of fun! The scuzzy funk of tracks such as “Sharks Tooth” lying side by side with more gentle fare such as “Hunt You Down”, all I can say is check it out and make up your own mind.
28. Red Sparowes – The Fear is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer
Los Angeles post-rockers release their third album, on this one they have got rid of the ludicrously long track names of the first two albums (for which my iTunes thank them!) but retain their grandeur and scope. Beautiful instrumentals to soundtrack the end of the world!
27. Zola Jesus – Stridulum II
Following on a few months from her EP “Stridulum”, this album basically just adds three tracks to bring it up to, a still brief, thirty four minutes. A tad frustrating as I’d bought the EP off eMusic but on further investigation I’ve found out that the EP wasn’t physically released in Europe and Stridulum II is this European release but with the three extra tracks. Nika Roza Danilova’s classically trained voice plus the echoes and tons of reverb give this little album a great gothy night-time atmosphere. (By the way, the cover was done by pouring a bucket of chocolate sauce over her head apparently)
Listen, Look, Buy
26. The New Pornographers – Together
Canadian eight piece release fifth album of toe-tapping indie-pop. Nothing to challenge the listening muscles just an album of 12 melodic sing-along pop songs with added rock here and there! Like a popcorn blockbuster movie, it may not challenge the grey matter but it’s damn good fun.
25. Sleigh Bells – Treats
See my review from last week regarding this noisy little gem!
24. The Sword – Warp Riders
With artwork looking like a 1970s sci-fi paperback you can get a pretty good idea where this Texan metal band are headed musically! Instrumental opener “Acheron/Unearthing The Orb” leads into single “Tres Brujas” (Three Witches, video below) and sets the scene for the rest of this sci-fi concept album! If you’re rolling your eyes at the thought of that, try and give it a go cos it rawks!
23. These New Puritans – Hidden
Probably the most original and different album I have heard this year. Using a whole orchestra of instruments, but largely ignoring the guitar, adding a full choir here and there, Jack Barnett and co craft an album of songs that almost all require repeated listens to fully get your head around. Not an “easy” album but one that rewards with every re-listen. Pretentious? Possibly, but well worth investigating.
22. Underworld – Barking
I must admit I didn’t realise these guys were still around, I kind of lost interest after “100 Days Off” and “Oblivion With Bells” completely passed me by. So it’s good to be able to say that, to these ears, “Barking” is a joyous return to form! Although not sounding as unique as they once did they can still get the feet moving and the fists pumping with tracks like the slightly Pendulum sounding single “Scribble” and the grin-inducing “Always Loved A Film”.
21. The Besnard Lakes – …Are The Roaring Night
Third album from this Canadian man and wife helmed band. Sedate but powerful, Jace Lasek’s falsetto vocals marrying (excuse the pun) well with Olga Goreas’s huskier delivery. I’ve caught them live twice this year and on both occasions they gave a tremendously confident, powerful show that would have entranced a crowd at least twice the size of the ones they got!
20. Holy Fuck – Latin
With a name like that they would never have got on Top of the Pops! Their energetic brand of instrumental dance/electro would probably have gone down well with the studio crowd as well! Just ignore the silly name and boogie! 😀
19. Karma To Burn – Appalachian Incantation
Monster instrumental (barring the odd track or two) stoner-rock riffs are the mainstay of this West Virginian band. I was introduced to them when they supported Monster Magnet on their UK tour in 2009 and loved their infectious melodies.
18. of Montreal – False Priest
Far less disjointed than previous album “Skeletal Lamping”, there are some great pop tunes on here. Funky Prince-esque stylings with guest vocalists Janelle Monáe on two tracks and Beyonce’s sister Solange Knowles on track “Sex Karma” make this a far more straightforward pop record (relatively, this is of Montreal after all!)
17. God Is An Astronaut – Age of the Fifth Sun
Sixth album from my favourite post-rock band! The Kinsella brothers from Co. Wicklow produce more soaring, building, instrumental loveliness that just manages to press all the right buttons for me, sure, some might say they’re not doing anything different here than they have before, but as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it! Seen them every year for the past four (twice this year) and while they continue to do stuff like this will keep doing so, yes I am a fanboy!
Listen, Look, Buy
16. I Like Trains – He Who Saw The Deep
Previously reviewed here.
15. Built To Spill – There Is No Enemy
The seventh album from Doug Martsch and crew is a good example of sticking to a working formula, churning out catchy guitar hooks to go with Doug’s trademark vocal delivery. Like most BTS albums it took a couple of listens before it fully bedded in, but once it had another great BTS album was revealed!
Listen (previous album), Look, Buy
14. Monster Magnet – Mastermind
Previously reviewed here.
13. Oceansize – Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up
Manchester band Oceansize release their fourth album. The 6 song EP “Home and Minor” they released last year really didn’t do it for me, their later stuff has always required a few listens before ‘clicking’ but it never did. I was therefore concerned before checking this out. I needn’t have worried, this is more on a par with previous album “Frames”, intricate, involving and in places really heavy.
12. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis
Wow, this is one beast of a record! From the first minute of this album you’re going to be hanging on for grim death as it races through genres like a speed crazed ram-raider! From Greg Puciato’s vocal chord-shredding screams and shouts and lightning fast, mathcore riffs down to Sinatra-esque crooning and back again in the space of one track! A lot of casual/first time listeners could be put off by the first few seconds of opener “Farewell Mona Lisa”, but my advice would be to stick with it as there is so much to explore here.
Listen, Look, Buy
11. Lone Wolf – The Devil & I
Leeds singer/songwriter Paul Marshall got himself a band and a new moniker and released this excellent collection of songs on the Bella Union label (Fleet Foxes among others), mostly dark in tone revolving as they do around murder and death, but then these subjects tend to make the best songs, who wants to hear about sunny days, love and fluffiness all the time?! He has gained deserved attention for his Peter Gabriel homaging video for “Keep Your Eyes On The Road” (below). Highly recommended, check him out!
Listen, Look, Buy
Update: I have done a Spotify playlist of a track from each of the 50 (where available) here.
10. The National – High Violet
I only discovered The National when I heard their last album “Boxer” and subsequently went on a mission to devour everything they’d produced up to that point! Through this act I decided that their output had increased in quality with every release (although “Alligator” and “Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers” tend to swap places in my affections now and again). So I was excited to hear “High Violet” when it was released and after a few listens I decided this was up there with “Boxer”, Matt Berninger’s dour baritone again contrasting but complimenting the hum-along melodies. I am not one of those people who dissect lyrics, in the main I’m not usually that bothered with what an artist is singing, but with The National I do find myself wondering what certain cryptic couplets mean, “I was carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees/I’ll never marry but Ohio don’t remember me” (Bloodbuzz Ohio), “You and your sister live in a Lemonworld” (Lemonworld), “I was afraid I’d eat your brains” (Conversation 16). Whatever they mean, they and everything else make this album pretty special.
9. Kvelertak – Kvelertak
In the field of music fandom there is little to beat that feeling of discovering something, not only new, but incredibly invigorating to the point it feels like someone’s thrown a bucket of cold water in your face! Which is similar to how I felt when I checked out the video to single “Mjød” by Norwegian band Kvelertak, if I hadn’t been leaping around the room like my arse was on fire, my jaw would have been well and truly on the floor! This “black ‘n’ roll” band, as they have been christened, fuse black metal style screamed/shouted vocals with a rock melody and pounding beats, as I said, a recipe for leaping around like an idiot! As with The National their lyrics are again quite impenetrable but in this case that’s due to me not speaking any Norwegian, but I believe their name means “stranglehold” and “Mjød” means “Mead”. As for comparisons the only one for me that comes across is Turbonegro, they are Norwegian and have a similar tempo and style with regards to melody and beat but that’s where the likenesses stop, Kvelertak sound far more serious, I can’t imagine them turning up on stage in sailor suits, fur coats and elbow length black rubber gloves as I saw Turbonegro do! 🙂
8. Wild Nothing – Gemini
One of the most summery albums I heard this year, even listening now with 6″ of snow outside its dreamy, shoegazey pop still evokes balmy summer evenings (not that we got many of them this year here in the UK!). Wild Nothing is effectively a one man band otherwise known as Jack Tatum, after playing in various bands he starting recording under the name Wild Nothing in 2009. His brand of lush dream-pop has contemporaries in bands such as M83, Asobi Seksu, Blonde Redhead and Maps and is successfully riding the current wave of artists looking to late 80s/early 90s bands such as Lush, Ride and Slowdive for inspiration.
7. Caribou – Swim
Like Wild Nothing above, Caribou is basically one guy, Dan Snaith from Ontario. Earlier making music under the moniker Manitoba until he was forced to change to Caribou following legal threats by Richard “Handsome Dick” Manitoba frontman of The Dictators (no, me neither), as Snaith himself said “it’s a bit like The Smiths suing John Smith or something”. Anyway, through his four previous albums as both Manitoba and Caribou he has altered his style each time, going all Krautrock on album “The Milk of Human Kindness” and getting a bit more hands-in-the-air dancy on “Swim”, his breathy vocals almost getting lost in the insistent beats of opener “Odessa”. Having seen them live a couple of weeks ago at The Brudenell I must also give props to the rest of his band, I’ve been trying (and failing) to find out the name of the drummer he had with him as he was flippin’ amazing!
Listen, Look, Buy
Caribou @ The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds 22/11/10
6. Her Name Is Calla – The Quiet Lamb
There are some albums you can just dip into, listen to a couple of favourite tracks and move on, Her Name Is Calla’s full length debut proper is not one of these albums. You need to set aside some time and immerse yourself in it for its full 80 minute length to fully appreciate it. I first saw HNIC supporting I Like Trains at The Cockpit in Leeds in 2007 and it’s fair to say they blew me away, on the one hand I was impressed at the confidence and audacity of a support band to perform the 17 minute long opus that is “Condor & River” (included here as centre piece, although re-recorded and tweaked), and on the other hand, well just impressed. Following on from their “mini” album The Heritage (still clocking in at 51 minutes) they went on indefinite hiatus following main songwriter and vocalist Tom Morris’s breakdown, leading to many thinking that it may all be over before it truly began. Then this year we finally saw the release of “The Quiet Lamb”, the culmination of everything they’d been working towards. It is an epic record, leading the listener through heart-rending emotional songs such as “Pour More Oil”, the delicate plucked strings on “Long Grass”, the almost Thom Yorke sounding “Thief”, the 17 minute post-rock odyssey that is the aforementioned “Condor & River”, all the way to the three part closer “The Union”, containing a full on five minute noise break of squealing guitar feedback, a suitably epic (there’s that word again, it’s unavoidable with this band!) symphony to round off this really rather beautiful piece of music making.
5. Crippled Black Phoenix – I, Vigilante
Third album by the UK post-rock supergroup, a mini-album by their standards, clocking in at a mere 48 minutes! Kicking off with a sample from the film “The Young Poisoners Handbook” the song “Troublemaker” has more in common with Pink Floyd than some of their other post-rock contemporaries. In fact labelling them as solely post-rock is wrong, there are a myriad of other styles in this album making it pointless to try and shoehorn it into one particular pigeon hole. Although track “We Forgotten Who We Are” is possibly my favourite on here, the real jewel of this album is “Bostogne Blues” a 12 minute post-rock epic that begins with a recording of a WWII veteran re-telling an emotional story of how he is still haunted by having to shoot a young German soldier who was advancing on his position. Rounding off the album are two cover versions, “Of A Lifetime”, a brilliant cover of a track by 70s soft-rockers Journey and a rather odd choice of “Burning Bridges” which on further digging is the theme tune to “Kelly’s Heroes”.
4. North Atlantic Oscillation – Grappling Hooks
I’ve been racking my brains and I can’t remember for the life of me what drove me to get this album! I saw them supporting Explosions in the Sky last September but at the time I don’t remember being particularly grabbed by them. Well, whatever it was I’m glad I got it, the Edinburgh band’s debut sees them producing an album of tunes that have echoes of Grandaddy or latter day Flaming Lips, their rockier tracks channeling fellow countrymen The Phantom Band and even Biffy Clyro. The Grandaddy comparison is most startling on track Some Blue Hive which could have been tacked onto the end of “The Sophtware Slump” and no-one would have noticed! If that sounds like a criticism I didn’t intend it to, this album is full of great tunes that just don’t conform to one direction or another, just when you’re thinking they sound like one thing the next track veers off into other territory. I think it’s a real shame that this album hasn’t propelled them into the big time as Grappling Hooks is aptly named, full of memorable hooks and great tunes!
3. Deftones – Diamond Eyes
Deftones were planning on releasing an album in 2009 that was going to be called “Eros” for which they had a fair bit of material written and recorded when bassist Chi Cheng had a serious car accident in Nov 2008 leaving him in a coma or minimally conscious state. Partly due to this, in 2009 they decided to delay “Eros” indefinitely, leading to “Diamond Eyes” being released in May this year and for me it is their most blisteringly great album since 2000’s “White Pony”. Somehow they have managed to record an album that has brutality (Rocket Skates) and beauty (This Place is Death) side by side and often in the space of the same track, Chino Moreno’s alternately crooning and screaming vocals coruscating through each. After having their plans so tragically shaken up it says something that an album this consistently ace can be then written, recorded and released in such a relatively short space of time (none of the tracks on here were written for “Eros”), I can’t help but wonder what “Eros” might have been like had fate not intervened.
2. Benoît Pioulard – Lasted
LOVE…..THIS…..ALBUM!! Reviewed previously here.
1. Gil Scott-Heron – I’m New Here
This album was released so early this year it would have been easy to forget it in favour of another more recent and fresh in the memory record, such has been the quality of stuff I’ve heard this year. But when I heard this way back in February I made a promise to myself that unless something absolutely gobsmacking came along this would have to get the accolade of best of the year. Well, here we are and despite some of those above in the top ten seriously competing for the hallowed top spot, listening to it again has reinforced my decision of ten months ago to keep this at numero uno! At an almost too brief 28 minutes, “I’m New Here” is a curious little album, there are only a handful of ‘proper songs’, the title track being a cover of a track by Smog, interspersed with short intervals of recorded speech and tracks of poetry backed by simple samples or percussion. With an almost physical texture, Gil Scott-Heron’s tobacco-ravaged voice sounds amazing, especially through headphones. The moment I first heard “New York is Killing Me” with its insistent hand-clap rhythm has stuck with me and is one of things that has kept this at the top of the pile. Do your ears a favour and get this album in your life!
So, there we have it, another year gone by with some marvellous albums and no doubt plenty more that I just haven’t had time or chance to listen to. I hope you found something in this list of 50 that pressed some of your buttons! To round off I want to mention a couple of EPs that really grabbed me this year. Being EPs they didn’t really fit into the top 50 albums list but still deserve your attention;
And So I Watch You From Afar – The Letters EP
Belfast instrumental rockers serve up more foot stomping axe-shreddery!
How To Destroy Angels – How To Destroy Angels EP
Trent Reznor and his missus Mariqueen Maandig’s new band sound like NIN with a female vocalist, which is a good thing!
As a reminder, the whole top 50 looked like this;
1. Gil Scott Heron – I’m New Here
2. Benoit Pioulard – Lasted
3. Deftones – Diamond Eyes
4. North Atlantic Oscillation – Grappling Hooks
5. Crippled Black Phoenix – I, Vigilante
6. Her Name is Calla – The Quiet Lamb
7. Caribou – Swim
8. Wild Nothing – Gemini
9. Kvelertak – Kvelertak
10. The National – High Violet
11. Lone Wolf – The Devil and I
12. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis
13. Oceansize – Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up
14. Monster Magnet – Mastermind
15. Built To Spill – There Is No Enemy
16. I Like Trains – He Who Saw The Deep
17. God is an Astronaut – Age of the Fifth Sun
18. of Montreal – False Priest
19. Karma to Burn – Appalachian Incantation
20. Holy Fuck – Latin
21. The Besnard Lakes – …Are The Roaring Night
22. Underworld – Barking
23. These New Puritans – Hidden
24. The Sword – Warp Riders
25. Sleigh Bells – Treats
26. The New Pornographers – Together
27. Zola Jesus – Stridulum II
28. Red Sparowes – The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer
29. Archie Bronson Outfit – Coconut
30. Lafaro – Lafaro
31. 65daysofstatic – We Were Exploding Anyway
32. Black Mountain – Wilderness Heart
33. Melissa Auf der Maur – Out Of Our Minds
34. The 80s Matchbox B-Line Disaster – Blood and Fire
35. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
36. Errors – Come Down With Me
37. Dangermouse & Sparklehorse – Dark Night of the Soul
38. Butterfly Explosion – Lost Trails
39. Midlake – The Courage of Others
40. Killing Joke – Absolute Dissent
41. Kylesa – Spiral Shadow
42. Padang Food Tigers – Born Music
43. These Monsters – Call Me Dragon
44. Tunng – And Then We Saw Land
45. Eleven Tigers – Clouds Are Mountains
46. Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks
47. Trans Am – Thing
48. Tweak Bird – s/t
49. The Phantom Band – Wants
50. Broken Bells – s/t
"I Prefer Their Old Stuff" 