I start this list with a particularly polarizing album that I saw coming from a mile away. After hearing the schizophrenic “You Are The Blood” from last year’s Dark Was The Night compilation, it was obvious to me that Stevens was headed in a new exciting direction, and the Age of Adz proved to be the fruit of that direction. It’s interesting to hear this new material, I’ll always slightly prefer the folky side of Sufjan.
19: Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
Upon a first listen of Astro Coast, it’s obvious that these Florida kids have absorbed quite a bit of 90s indie rock. It just so happens that their sort of Sonic Youth-y, Pavement-y rock is one of my favorite genres and they do it great justice. I highly recommend it.
18: Owen Pallett - Heartland
Aside from doing the string arrangements on what he called the greatest album that he’d ever worked on, Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs, Pallett released some astounding work of his own this year. I have to say, I’ve gotten the opportunity to see Pallett twice this year, and while he’s great in studio, the songs take on an even greater life in person. It’s incredible to watch him coax the many layers of a song like “Midnight Directives” out of a violin, a keyboard and a loop pedal.
17: The Tallest Man On Earth - The Wild Hunt
Kristian Matsson, constantly, and fairly draws comparisons to one, Bob Dylan. This is certainly not something worth complaining about. This Swedish folkie’s latest work may even
16: Abe Vigoda - Crush
Some of the most famous Smell scene vets have ditched their tropical punk schtick and written better songs as a consequence. And while they’ve taken on a new wave sheen, they haven’t ditched that punk energy. Imagine Joy Division with a slight smirk on their collective face.
15: Das Racist - Sit Down, Man
These Wesleyan University grads are just pure insanity. The stream of consciousness flows are sure to leave you with some combination of scratching your head and cracking up at their brilliant punchlines. “Got more rhymes than Jay Elec got rama lama ding dong parmesan cheese on the ravioli. Holy Spicoli, Batman! I’m Sean Penn”
14: Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Arcade Fire always shoots for epic, but here Win and friends have scaled it back just a bit, at least musically. The concept itself is just as grand as ever, but here they seem a bit more restrained and it’s for the better. The Suburbs seems to me a middle ground between the sprawl of Funeral and the darkness of Neon Bible, it’s a bit folkier than either of them, and maybe the best of the three.
13: Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
We all know what to expect from Deerhunter albums now, but what constantly surprises me is Lockett Pundt’s maturation as a songwriter. While he quietly penned one of the band’s most popular songs with 2008’s “Agoraphobia”, his presence Fountain Stairs”.
12: The National - High Violet
They’re total pros. Every single release since Sad Songs has been full of their driving mood rock, and they’re at their best here. There’s no sour song here, just about every one is amongst the best they’ve ever done, from the slow burn of “Anyone’s Ghost” to the dour “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”.
11: Twin Sister - Color Your Life
While the Beach House comparisons aren’t exactly spot on, New York’s Twin Sister is coming from a similar state of mind. These are faded, hazy guitar pop songs, and brilliant ones at that. I’m excited to hear what further experience and the release of a full length album will do for them.
10: Perfume Genius - Learning
Listening to Learning feels like reading someone else’s really depressing diary set up against low fidelity piano chords. Simple, beautiful and unsettling in all the right ways.
9: Toro Y Moi - Causers of This
Chaz Bundick was set with the daunting task of proving that Chillwave did not die after the summer of 2009. As a consequence, he released something that, for me at least, transcends niche-y genre titles. Causers of This’ fuzzy samples and floating harmonies were enough to overcome the brutally muggy Tampa summer nights.
8: Flying Lotus - Cosmagramma
My first exposure to FlyLo was in one of the smaller tents at Coachella where he was likely playing material from his yet to be released masterpiece Cosmogramma, but at the time I was struck with how well it flowed. I’ve since acquired all three of Steve Ellison’s albums, and this one while not my absolute favorite of his works (that distinction belongs to 2008’s Los Angeles), it’s certainly his most technically impressive.
7: Vampire Weekend - Contra
There’s not much more I can say about Vampire Weekend that hasn’t already been said. Listen to this album and see if you can keep these songs from being stuck in your head.
6: No Age - Everything In Between
With their second real full length, not counting 2007’s Weirdo Rippers, a compilation of their early work, No Age seems more focused on the actual songs, instead of just keeping up with their “Ambient Punk” M.O. “Glitter” and “Fever Dreaming” are quite catchy, and I don’t no that I’d use that word to describe Nouns. Now that’s not intended as an insult to their earlier work, Everything In Between is just flat out better.
5: Girls - Broken Dreams Club
While this new EP from San Francisco’s sixties revivalists was a late addition, it’s no doubt one of the greatest collections of songs that we’ve seen this year. “Substance” (featuring Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls) is so straightforward and so heartbreaking. It’s just a perfect pop song, and the rest of the EP is just as strong.
4: Beach House - Teen Dream
Due to its leak in late 2009, Teen Dream was one of the first 2010 records I heard, and from the beginning it has been one of my favorites. Victoria Legrand’s Patti Smith rasp and Alex Scally’s hazy guitar lines were the perfect soundtrack to the cool winter mornings of early 2010 and they’ll likely continue to soundtrack many a winter morning to come.
3: Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I have to admit, prior to this year I didn’t have much tolerance for Kanye. However, after hearing that Justin Vernon of Bon Iver was featured on a number of the songs on MBDTF, I knew that I had to hear it at least once. And then I listened again. And again. And again. It’s just utter brilliance, Kanye is better here than he’s ever been, and his guests are at the top of their game as well. (Heck, even Rick Ross sounds good on “Devil In A New Dress”.)
2: LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
James Murphy and co. seemed to be fully formed from the start. LCD Soundsystem’s self titled was chock full of the incredible punk-funk that made DFA famous, but it is here, two albums later, that they seem to have fully matured. The effusive sentimentality of “I Can Change” feels like a natural extension of songs like “All My Friends” and “Pow Pow” the natural extension of the hipster baiting of “Losing My Edge”. This Is Happening is the perfect case of “just when you thought they couldn’t get any better...”
1: Baths - Cerulean
L.A. Beat Popper Will Wiesenfeld surprised me more than anyone else this year. Cerulean’s combo of woozy beats, heartwarming melodies, and just pure professionalism left me completely in awe. It’s just such a beautiful album, and it’s a wonder that it didn’t see more acclaim.
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