Friday, December 31, 2010
Aaah, another year up, another year gone, and another outrageous amount of music consumed by yours truly. This year was not short of fantastic, genre-busting, mind-blowing music in almost every form you can think of, though, as is true with almost every year, you need to do some digging to find the real gems. Anyways, here are the not-quite-make-its:
Honorable Mentions:
LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening,
Yeasayer - Odd Blood,
Sleigh Bells - Treats,
The Walkmen - Lisbon,
Sun Kil Moon - Admiral Fell Promises,
M.I.A. - /\/\/\Y/\,
Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Lonely Avenue,
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs,
Johnny Cash - American VI: Ain't No Grave,
Serj Tankian - Imperfect Harmonies,
Jonsi - Go,
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma,
Broken Bells - Broken Bells,
Caribou - Swim,
Devo - Something For Everybody,
Magnetic Fields - Realism,
Surfer Blood - Astrocoast.
Now, without further ado, Evil Brian's Top 20 Albums of the Year!
20. Vampire Weekend - Contra: While not as immediately captivating as their out-of-nowhere debut, this sophomore album sees the ultimate preppy band expanding their sound a little following their percussionist's electro-pop side project Discovery. Still plenty of laid-back afropop tunes for lazy summer days.
Recommended Tracks: Giving Up the Gun, Cousins, I Think Ur a Contra, Horchata.
19. Against Me! - White Crosses: The veteran punk rockers go a little more folksy/Springsteenesque in their follow-up to the amazing New Wave and forms a logical progression in the evolution of their sound. They started as bratty anarchist punks and, as the band members have aged, so has their music, exposing new facets and dimensions of not only their personalities, but their songs and influences as well. An adult record for a genre not usually trusting of adults.
Recommended tracks: I Was a Teenage Anarchist, White Crosses, Rapid Decompression, Spanish Moss, Bob Dylan Dream (bonus track).
18. The Black Keys - Brothers: The Black Keys finally break through into the mainstream with an absolute blockbuster of an album. They've come a long way from recording entire albums on a 1980 Tascam, nowadays getting top notch production from the likes of Danger Mouse in NYC and San Diego. Just an incredible bastardization of catchy, dirty blue-eyed blues and soul and I mean that in the very best possible way. An amazing album by an amazing band.
Recommended Tracks: Tighten Up, Howlin' For You, Everlasting Light, Sinister Kid, Ten Cent Pistol, These Days.
17. Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow: Co&Ca remember how to RAWK! and bring the noise with their best album in 5 years! Supposedly the prequel to their incredibly dense and nigh unintelligible tangled mess of a story called "The Amory Wars" that has spanned FIVE albums, a novel and numerous comic books, this album has all the fist-pumping, chorus chanting, WHOA-OH-OHs that their last disappointing album lacked. Soaring choruses, badass riffs and plenty of head-banging moments make this a monster of prog rock doom.
Recommended Tracks: Here We Are Juggernaut, This Shattered Symphony, Where Skeletons Live, Far.
16. Deftones - Diamond Eyes: NEW DEFTONES ALBUM! After crawling out of the stygian nu-metal abyss with their integrity still intact (pretty much the only real survivor of that terrible, terrible time other than System of a Down), Deftones have put out some sketchy albums. Unfortunately, it took a near-fatal car accident putting their extremely talented bassist Chi Cheng in a coma to get the band off their laurels and making music that mattered again. But holy hell, what a big brawler of a record! Right out of the gate with the title track, they let you know that Deftones are back, and they aren't dicking around anymore.
Recommended Tracks: Diamond Eyes, Rocket Skates, Sextape, You've Seen the Butcher.
15. Gogol Bordello - Trans-Continental Hustle: The gypsy-punk band all moved down to Brazil to record this record, and that influence absolutely shines through, putting a very apparent Latin inflection on their weird version of punk rock. This band is just two tons of fun, and there is absolutely no stopping the good vibes and raw power of the Gogol. MISHTO!
Recommended Tracks: Raise the Knowledge, Pala Tute, Immigraniada (We Comin' Rougher), Break the Spell, Rebellious Love.
14. Bad Religion - The Dissent of Man: Bad Religion is a G-damn institution, churning out hyper-literate, over-informed political punk rock for 30 years now. Still constantly touring, still putting out albums and still just as inflammatory and important as they have ever been. This album sees the band continuing to espouse their views on organized religion, politics and personal responsibility in this 21st century, and still, after 30 years, they make it all sound fresh with an unrelenting sense of urgency. I hope these guys never stop.
Recommended Tracks: Only Rain, The Day That the Earth Stalled, Wrong Way Kids, Cyanide, Won't Somebody.
13. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - I Learned The Hard Way: A band that formed in 2000 playing 60's/70's era funk and soul fronted by a woman in her 50's doesn't seem like it would work on paper. But in practice? Holy Hell. These guys burn down the house, then build it back up to burn it down again. Incredibly faithful to their almost revivalist Motown sound, Jones' powerful voice and the blazing brass section are the highlights in every smooth soul selection on this fantastic record.
Recommended Tracks: I Learned the Hard Way, The Game Gets Old, Window Shopping, Mama Don't Like My Man.
12. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager: The most personal rapper in the business shows us the deepest darkest pits of his inner demons and emerges from the depths intact. Thus far, between his first Man on the Moon album and this one, he's weaving a hip-hop Dante's Inferno for his soul. Exposing more of his insecurities, detailing his former cocaine addiction and showcasing his raging id battling with his ego; this is one hell of an intelligent rap record. Throwing indie rock, psychedelia and ultra-modern hip-hop into the mix doesn't hurt either.
Recommended Tracks: REVOFEV, Wild'n Cuz I'm Young, Marijuana, Mojo So Dope, Scott Mescudi vs. the World, Ashin' Kusher, Don't Play This Song.
11. Hot Chip - One Life Stand: This electronic type of indie rock/technopop dominated the indie scene this year, with lots of decent-to-awesome releases in 2010 (LCD Soundsystem, Yeasayer (which just barely missed being #20 on this very list.), Foals, Ra Ra Riot, Ratatat. etc.), but in my humble opinion, this album outshined them all. A group of six British nerds making their own weird version of pop music, Hot Chip followed up the awesome Made in the Dark with the moody, danceable One Life Stand. While not as out-there or as funky as Made in the Dark, this album stands head and shoulders above it's peers as the most unique and innovative indie/technopop release of the year.
Recommended Tracks: One Life Stand, I Feel Better, Thieves in the Night,Take It In.
10. eels - End Times/Tomorrow Morning: eels frontman Mark Everett has been on an absolute rampage lately, churning out three albums of music within a 14 month span after not releasing ANYTHING new for 4 years. Last year's Hombre Lobo was pretty hit-or-miss, but these two albums (End Times was released in January, Tomorrow Morning in August) are like the two opposite ends of the eels spectrum, and act almost like the separate discs of a double album, much like Jamey Johnson did this year with his The Guitar Song. End Times finds Everett just starting to accept his recent divorce and the prospect of growing old and alone. As with some of his best albums, focusing on the darker parts of his life brings out some of his best musical ideas and most touching lyrics. However, as the disc wears on, it can be pretty relentless in its depression, which is where Tomorrow Morning comes in. Tomorrow Morning is, without a doubt, the cheeriest, most uplifting and happiest sounding album eels has ever put out. Like an entire album of Mr. E's Beautiful Blues. Not only is it refreshing to hear Everett not wallowing in misery; like all good music it will absolutely change your mood for the better. While in past eels recordings (P.S. You Rock My World, Things the Grandchildren Should Know, etc.) he balanced out the happiness and sadness in each song, here it seems he went out of his way to produce the individual albums to balance themselves out, and it absolutely works.
Recommended Tracks: (End Times): A Line In the Dirt, Little Bird, In My Younger Days, End Times, The Mansions of Los Feliz.
(Tomorrow Morning): Spectacular Girl, My Baby Loves Me, Oh So Lovely, This Is Where It Gets Good, I Like the Way This is Going.
9. Spoon - Transference: Probably one of the more drastic artistic shifts this year, Spoon went from rich production and jangly melodies to stark, minimalist rock with raw production, some songs sounding like they were just the first or second playthough of the song. And it WORKED. Releasing what is now my favorite Spoon album early on in the year, this banged around on my iPod and in my car for months, providing one hell of a soundtrack for driving in the late winter. Spoon traded in their tight poppy song structure and let all their tracks breathe, giving them space to linger around a little and make themselves at home. That's not to say that these songs aren't catchy; on the contrary, basing each song around a certain guitar lick or piano stomp makes every track DAMN catchy. Definitely a highlight of 2010.
Recommended Tracks: Written In Reverse, Mystery Zone, Out Go The Lights, Who Makes Your Money, I Saw The Light.
8. Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer: Pure soul satisfaction. I've been a fan of Cee-Lo's for a long while now, discovering him in college and proceeding to buy ALL of his solo records before he had even thought up the name Gnarls Barkley. Each solo record was a futuristic slice of wild, unchained spacey funk and rap and, as is to be expected, went completely ignored by everyone except music reviewers. When Gnarls released "Crazy", I was ecstatic and trumpeted his success with great fanfare (even naming the album my #1 in 2006). I even enjoyed their less impressive sophomore outing, though it had far fewer standout tracks than their out-of-nowhere debut. Only now, in 2010, has Cee-Lo Green put out the album of his career. Looking backwards to the golden age of Motown, Cee-Lo restructures the classic R&B sound with his own peculiarities while still staying true to the source. Blaring brass sections, smooth strings, slinky background singers and deep bass grooves all brought together with his gospel-trained raspy voice make for one classic album.
Recommended Tracks: F**k You, Bright Lights Bigger City, Satisfied, It's OK, Old Fashioned.
7. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III): On the other end of the spectrum, Janelle Monae's ultra-futurist epic full-length bounces from genre to genre, sometimes within the realm of the same SONG. The most singularly original artist signed to a major label (eat your heart out, Lady Gaga!), Monae takes the bombastic funk of James Brown, the Afro-futurist teachings of George Clinton and Sun Ra, the trippy psychedelia of Hendrix at his stoniest and the crunktitude of Outkast into an atom bomb of a sci-fi concept album about love and robot revolution. I literally cannot WAIT to see where Monae goes from here.
Recommended Tracks: Cold War, Tightrope, BaBopByeYa, Locked Inside, Come Alive (The War of the Roses), Say You'll Go.
6. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang: New Jersey's newest stars shine twice as bright in the follow-up to my 2008 Album of the Year. Inching closer to a big classic rock sound while maintaining a youthful vigor and a punk DIY ethos, Gaslight came off of stints opening for Social Distortion and BRUUUUUUUUUUUCE! F'in Springsteen and recorded an album that, while courting the mainstream a little more, nonetheless impressed the hell out of the fanbase it established with The '59 Sound. Weaving stories of streetwalkers and blue-collar workers into loud, upbeat and energizing rock songs, they've started leaning towards a Replacements-type sound a little more, while keeping true to the original Springsteen-meets-Clash/Social Distortion sound that made everyone take notice two years ago. Just a great soundtrack to a hot summer night barbecueing for friends with plenty of cold, cheap beer.
Recommended Tracks: Stay Lucky, American Slang, The Queen of Lower Chelsea, Orphans.
5. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach: Even as a grand pop experiment. Gorillaz continue to evolve and push the envelope of creativity ever further towards the edge of insanity. Every album they've put out has seen the band morph into a different form all together, swapping out band members and changing their sound while maintaining the base trip-hop/Brit-pop/hip-hop sound established in their debut 10(!!!!) years ago. Plastic Beach is their most eclectic record yet, filled with 16 slabs of twisted pop music. Symphony orchestras and brass sections give some tracks an epic feel, while other tracks boast contributions from soul legend Bobby Womack and HALF of The Clash! While this album has spawned the least amount of singles compared with the rest of Gorillaz' oeuvre, it still feels like the most cohesive album they've released since their debut.
Recommended Tracks: Stylo, Superfast Jellyfish, Rhinestone Eyes, On Melancholy Hill, Plastic Beach, Sweepstakes, Glitter Freeze.
4. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty: Absolutely the closest thing we're gonna get to an Outkast album for the foreseeable future, this cumbersomely-titled album was stuck in my car CD player this summer, and it made driving in the grueling heat that much more tolerable. Proving that he's not just the Robin to Andre 3000's Batman, Big Boi put out what was, for 5 months, the absolute best hip hop album of the year. Letting his freak flag fly, Big Boi put out the quintessential Southern rap album full of buzzing bass, funky synths, and beats from every type of music imaginable. You can't listen to this without bouncing around or dancing; it's not possible.
Recommended Tracks: Shutterbugg, Shine Blockas, Daddy Fat Sax, Back Up Plan, Follow Us.
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: Let me make this absolutely clear: this is not an endorsement for Kanye West. That guy is still a humongous jackass. However, even I can't deny that he put out a monstrous masterpiece of an album this year. This isn't just a future hip-hop classic along the likes of Illmatic, Ready To Die and Stankonia, though that it certainly is. It's an emblem of the very concept of "raising the bar", literally, he's taking hip-hop to places where it's never been, reaching echelons that haven't previously been reached. He has made a pop/hip-hop fusion, and centered the whole thing around sex, drugs, and rock and roll. There's four separate songs here that are over 6 minutes long, and not one seems like it has any wasted space in it (though, admittedly, the Chris Rock skit goes on maybe a minute too long. But it's Chris G-damn Rock, and he's still funny as hell.) Honest to God, and I hate hate HATE to say it, but Kanye hasn't just put out the best hip-hop album of the year, but possibly the best album of his career; the high-water mark that every single piece of music he puts out from here forwards will be judged against. Still a douchebag, though.
Recommended Tracks: Monster, Hell Of a Life, Runaway, All of the Lights, Power.
2. The National - High Violet: There were two very prominent indie records released this year whose theme was basically "being an adult is hard!" LCD Soundsystem's album just left me cold; it seemed like such a steep step down from Sounds of Silver that it just never completely clicked with me. Then there was this record. Now, I have avoided listening to The National for a couple years now, mostly because I had heard so many comparisons to Band of Horses, and I cannot STAND anything that band has released. However, after having heard a couple stellar reviews and the album being on sale for like 7 bucks, I picked it up day-of-release. Holy hell, I told myself. What have I been missing? I was following along pretty well, then the first distorted strains of Little Faith hit, and the album didn't let go for the next half-hour. And then I played it again....and again. The mix of baritone vocals, Depeche Mode-esque keyboards and guitars, the music just creates this certain atmosphere, like looking out the window on a foggy day and trying to make out the silhouettes of everything outside. I honestly have no earthly idea how else to describe these guys; every song is catchy, yet somewhat ethereal and abstract. All I can really say is that if you get it, then you GET it. If you don't, then it just won't click, no matter what you do.
Recommended Tracks: Little Faith, Bloodbuzz Ohio, Terrible Love, Afraid of Everyone, Anyone's Ghost, Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks.
1. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor: This album definitely takes a while to grow on you. It took me the better part of this year to get it to really connect; but when it did, it went off like a grenade. A sprawling epic loosely based around the Civil War (The USS Monitor was the first ironsided battleship piloted by the US Navy), Titus Andronicus' sophomore album is littered with Abraham Lincoln quotes, flourishes of Americana/ traditional folk music, blistering guitars, group chant-alongs and more, all punctuated by Pat Stickles' boozy, shaky "piss-and-moan" vocals. It is both blue collar rabblerousing and too-cool-for-school high-mindedness. When, in the opener A More Perfect Union, Stickles yells out "Tramps like us, baby, we were born to die!" and then the whole band comes in like a hurricane of distortion, you can feel the earth move beneath your feet, you know this means something; that the punk and post-punk of years previous has evolved into this wild mutation, this musical hydra with every separate head acting by itself, yet helps create the whole as a perfect creature. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 Album of the Year!
Recommended Tracks: A More Perfect Union, No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future, The Battle of Hampton Roads, A Pot In Which To Piss, Titus Andronicus Forever.
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Honorable Mentions:
LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening,
Yeasayer - Odd Blood,
Sleigh Bells - Treats,
The Walkmen - Lisbon,
Sun Kil Moon - Admiral Fell Promises,
M.I.A. - /\/\/\Y/\,
Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Lonely Avenue,
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs,
Johnny Cash - American VI: Ain't No Grave,
Serj Tankian - Imperfect Harmonies,
Jonsi - Go,
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma,
Broken Bells - Broken Bells,
Caribou - Swim,
Devo - Something For Everybody,
Magnetic Fields - Realism,
Surfer Blood - Astrocoast.
Now, without further ado, Evil Brian's Top 20 Albums of the Year!
20. Vampire Weekend - Contra: While not as immediately captivating as their out-of-nowhere debut, this sophomore album sees the ultimate preppy band expanding their sound a little following their percussionist's electro-pop side project Discovery. Still plenty of laid-back afropop tunes for lazy summer days.
Recommended Tracks: Giving Up the Gun, Cousins, I Think Ur a Contra, Horchata.
19. Against Me! - White Crosses: The veteran punk rockers go a little more folksy/Springsteenesque in their follow-up to the amazing New Wave and forms a logical progression in the evolution of their sound. They started as bratty anarchist punks and, as the band members have aged, so has their music, exposing new facets and dimensions of not only their personalities, but their songs and influences as well. An adult record for a genre not usually trusting of adults.
Recommended tracks: I Was a Teenage Anarchist, White Crosses, Rapid Decompression, Spanish Moss, Bob Dylan Dream (bonus track).
18. The Black Keys - Brothers: The Black Keys finally break through into the mainstream with an absolute blockbuster of an album. They've come a long way from recording entire albums on a 1980 Tascam, nowadays getting top notch production from the likes of Danger Mouse in NYC and San Diego. Just an incredible bastardization of catchy, dirty blue-eyed blues and soul and I mean that in the very best possible way. An amazing album by an amazing band.
Recommended Tracks: Tighten Up, Howlin' For You, Everlasting Light, Sinister Kid, Ten Cent Pistol, These Days.
17. Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow: Co&Ca remember how to RAWK! and bring the noise with their best album in 5 years! Supposedly the prequel to their incredibly dense and nigh unintelligible tangled mess of a story called "The Amory Wars" that has spanned FIVE albums, a novel and numerous comic books, this album has all the fist-pumping, chorus chanting, WHOA-OH-OHs that their last disappointing album lacked. Soaring choruses, badass riffs and plenty of head-banging moments make this a monster of prog rock doom.
Recommended Tracks: Here We Are Juggernaut, This Shattered Symphony, Where Skeletons Live, Far.
16. Deftones - Diamond Eyes: NEW DEFTONES ALBUM! After crawling out of the stygian nu-metal abyss with their integrity still intact (pretty much the only real survivor of that terrible, terrible time other than System of a Down), Deftones have put out some sketchy albums. Unfortunately, it took a near-fatal car accident putting their extremely talented bassist Chi Cheng in a coma to get the band off their laurels and making music that mattered again. But holy hell, what a big brawler of a record! Right out of the gate with the title track, they let you know that Deftones are back, and they aren't dicking around anymore.
Recommended Tracks: Diamond Eyes, Rocket Skates, Sextape, You've Seen the Butcher.
15. Gogol Bordello - Trans-Continental Hustle: The gypsy-punk band all moved down to Brazil to record this record, and that influence absolutely shines through, putting a very apparent Latin inflection on their weird version of punk rock. This band is just two tons of fun, and there is absolutely no stopping the good vibes and raw power of the Gogol. MISHTO!
Recommended Tracks: Raise the Knowledge, Pala Tute, Immigraniada (We Comin' Rougher), Break the Spell, Rebellious Love.
14. Bad Religion - The Dissent of Man: Bad Religion is a G-damn institution, churning out hyper-literate, over-informed political punk rock for 30 years now. Still constantly touring, still putting out albums and still just as inflammatory and important as they have ever been. This album sees the band continuing to espouse their views on organized religion, politics and personal responsibility in this 21st century, and still, after 30 years, they make it all sound fresh with an unrelenting sense of urgency. I hope these guys never stop.
Recommended Tracks: Only Rain, The Day That the Earth Stalled, Wrong Way Kids, Cyanide, Won't Somebody.
13. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - I Learned The Hard Way: A band that formed in 2000 playing 60's/70's era funk and soul fronted by a woman in her 50's doesn't seem like it would work on paper. But in practice? Holy Hell. These guys burn down the house, then build it back up to burn it down again. Incredibly faithful to their almost revivalist Motown sound, Jones' powerful voice and the blazing brass section are the highlights in every smooth soul selection on this fantastic record.
Recommended Tracks: I Learned the Hard Way, The Game Gets Old, Window Shopping, Mama Don't Like My Man.
12. Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager: The most personal rapper in the business shows us the deepest darkest pits of his inner demons and emerges from the depths intact. Thus far, between his first Man on the Moon album and this one, he's weaving a hip-hop Dante's Inferno for his soul. Exposing more of his insecurities, detailing his former cocaine addiction and showcasing his raging id battling with his ego; this is one hell of an intelligent rap record. Throwing indie rock, psychedelia and ultra-modern hip-hop into the mix doesn't hurt either.
Recommended Tracks: REVOFEV, Wild'n Cuz I'm Young, Marijuana, Mojo So Dope, Scott Mescudi vs. the World, Ashin' Kusher, Don't Play This Song.
11. Hot Chip - One Life Stand: This electronic type of indie rock/technopop dominated the indie scene this year, with lots of decent-to-awesome releases in 2010 (LCD Soundsystem, Yeasayer (which just barely missed being #20 on this very list.), Foals, Ra Ra Riot, Ratatat. etc.), but in my humble opinion, this album outshined them all. A group of six British nerds making their own weird version of pop music, Hot Chip followed up the awesome Made in the Dark with the moody, danceable One Life Stand. While not as out-there or as funky as Made in the Dark, this album stands head and shoulders above it's peers as the most unique and innovative indie/technopop release of the year.
Recommended Tracks: One Life Stand, I Feel Better, Thieves in the Night,Take It In.
10. eels - End Times/Tomorrow Morning: eels frontman Mark Everett has been on an absolute rampage lately, churning out three albums of music within a 14 month span after not releasing ANYTHING new for 4 years. Last year's Hombre Lobo was pretty hit-or-miss, but these two albums (End Times was released in January, Tomorrow Morning in August) are like the two opposite ends of the eels spectrum, and act almost like the separate discs of a double album, much like Jamey Johnson did this year with his The Guitar Song. End Times finds Everett just starting to accept his recent divorce and the prospect of growing old and alone. As with some of his best albums, focusing on the darker parts of his life brings out some of his best musical ideas and most touching lyrics. However, as the disc wears on, it can be pretty relentless in its depression, which is where Tomorrow Morning comes in. Tomorrow Morning is, without a doubt, the cheeriest, most uplifting and happiest sounding album eels has ever put out. Like an entire album of Mr. E's Beautiful Blues. Not only is it refreshing to hear Everett not wallowing in misery; like all good music it will absolutely change your mood for the better. While in past eels recordings (P.S. You Rock My World, Things the Grandchildren Should Know, etc.) he balanced out the happiness and sadness in each song, here it seems he went out of his way to produce the individual albums to balance themselves out, and it absolutely works.
Recommended Tracks: (End Times): A Line In the Dirt, Little Bird, In My Younger Days, End Times, The Mansions of Los Feliz.
(Tomorrow Morning): Spectacular Girl, My Baby Loves Me, Oh So Lovely, This Is Where It Gets Good, I Like the Way This is Going.
9. Spoon - Transference: Probably one of the more drastic artistic shifts this year, Spoon went from rich production and jangly melodies to stark, minimalist rock with raw production, some songs sounding like they were just the first or second playthough of the song. And it WORKED. Releasing what is now my favorite Spoon album early on in the year, this banged around on my iPod and in my car for months, providing one hell of a soundtrack for driving in the late winter. Spoon traded in their tight poppy song structure and let all their tracks breathe, giving them space to linger around a little and make themselves at home. That's not to say that these songs aren't catchy; on the contrary, basing each song around a certain guitar lick or piano stomp makes every track DAMN catchy. Definitely a highlight of 2010.
Recommended Tracks: Written In Reverse, Mystery Zone, Out Go The Lights, Who Makes Your Money, I Saw The Light.
8. Cee-Lo Green - The Lady Killer: Pure soul satisfaction. I've been a fan of Cee-Lo's for a long while now, discovering him in college and proceeding to buy ALL of his solo records before he had even thought up the name Gnarls Barkley. Each solo record was a futuristic slice of wild, unchained spacey funk and rap and, as is to be expected, went completely ignored by everyone except music reviewers. When Gnarls released "Crazy", I was ecstatic and trumpeted his success with great fanfare (even naming the album my #1 in 2006). I even enjoyed their less impressive sophomore outing, though it had far fewer standout tracks than their out-of-nowhere debut. Only now, in 2010, has Cee-Lo Green put out the album of his career. Looking backwards to the golden age of Motown, Cee-Lo restructures the classic R&B sound with his own peculiarities while still staying true to the source. Blaring brass sections, smooth strings, slinky background singers and deep bass grooves all brought together with his gospel-trained raspy voice make for one classic album.
Recommended Tracks: F**k You, Bright Lights Bigger City, Satisfied, It's OK, Old Fashioned.
7. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III): On the other end of the spectrum, Janelle Monae's ultra-futurist epic full-length bounces from genre to genre, sometimes within the realm of the same SONG. The most singularly original artist signed to a major label (eat your heart out, Lady Gaga!), Monae takes the bombastic funk of James Brown, the Afro-futurist teachings of George Clinton and Sun Ra, the trippy psychedelia of Hendrix at his stoniest and the crunktitude of Outkast into an atom bomb of a sci-fi concept album about love and robot revolution. I literally cannot WAIT to see where Monae goes from here.
Recommended Tracks: Cold War, Tightrope, BaBopByeYa, Locked Inside, Come Alive (The War of the Roses), Say You'll Go.
6. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang: New Jersey's newest stars shine twice as bright in the follow-up to my 2008 Album of the Year. Inching closer to a big classic rock sound while maintaining a youthful vigor and a punk DIY ethos, Gaslight came off of stints opening for Social Distortion and BRUUUUUUUUUUUCE! F'in Springsteen and recorded an album that, while courting the mainstream a little more, nonetheless impressed the hell out of the fanbase it established with The '59 Sound. Weaving stories of streetwalkers and blue-collar workers into loud, upbeat and energizing rock songs, they've started leaning towards a Replacements-type sound a little more, while keeping true to the original Springsteen-meets-Clash/Social Distortion sound that made everyone take notice two years ago. Just a great soundtrack to a hot summer night barbecueing for friends with plenty of cold, cheap beer.
Recommended Tracks: Stay Lucky, American Slang, The Queen of Lower Chelsea, Orphans.
5. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach: Even as a grand pop experiment. Gorillaz continue to evolve and push the envelope of creativity ever further towards the edge of insanity. Every album they've put out has seen the band morph into a different form all together, swapping out band members and changing their sound while maintaining the base trip-hop/Brit-pop/hip-hop sound established in their debut 10(!!!!) years ago. Plastic Beach is their most eclectic record yet, filled with 16 slabs of twisted pop music. Symphony orchestras and brass sections give some tracks an epic feel, while other tracks boast contributions from soul legend Bobby Womack and HALF of The Clash! While this album has spawned the least amount of singles compared with the rest of Gorillaz' oeuvre, it still feels like the most cohesive album they've released since their debut.
Recommended Tracks: Stylo, Superfast Jellyfish, Rhinestone Eyes, On Melancholy Hill, Plastic Beach, Sweepstakes, Glitter Freeze.
4. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty: Absolutely the closest thing we're gonna get to an Outkast album for the foreseeable future, this cumbersomely-titled album was stuck in my car CD player this summer, and it made driving in the grueling heat that much more tolerable. Proving that he's not just the Robin to Andre 3000's Batman, Big Boi put out what was, for 5 months, the absolute best hip hop album of the year. Letting his freak flag fly, Big Boi put out the quintessential Southern rap album full of buzzing bass, funky synths, and beats from every type of music imaginable. You can't listen to this without bouncing around or dancing; it's not possible.
Recommended Tracks: Shutterbugg, Shine Blockas, Daddy Fat Sax, Back Up Plan, Follow Us.
3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: Let me make this absolutely clear: this is not an endorsement for Kanye West. That guy is still a humongous jackass. However, even I can't deny that he put out a monstrous masterpiece of an album this year. This isn't just a future hip-hop classic along the likes of Illmatic, Ready To Die and Stankonia, though that it certainly is. It's an emblem of the very concept of "raising the bar", literally, he's taking hip-hop to places where it's never been, reaching echelons that haven't previously been reached. He has made a pop/hip-hop fusion, and centered the whole thing around sex, drugs, and rock and roll. There's four separate songs here that are over 6 minutes long, and not one seems like it has any wasted space in it (though, admittedly, the Chris Rock skit goes on maybe a minute too long. But it's Chris G-damn Rock, and he's still funny as hell.) Honest to God, and I hate hate HATE to say it, but Kanye hasn't just put out the best hip-hop album of the year, but possibly the best album of his career; the high-water mark that every single piece of music he puts out from here forwards will be judged against. Still a douchebag, though.
Recommended Tracks: Monster, Hell Of a Life, Runaway, All of the Lights, Power.
2. The National - High Violet: There were two very prominent indie records released this year whose theme was basically "being an adult is hard!" LCD Soundsystem's album just left me cold; it seemed like such a steep step down from Sounds of Silver that it just never completely clicked with me. Then there was this record. Now, I have avoided listening to The National for a couple years now, mostly because I had heard so many comparisons to Band of Horses, and I cannot STAND anything that band has released. However, after having heard a couple stellar reviews and the album being on sale for like 7 bucks, I picked it up day-of-release. Holy hell, I told myself. What have I been missing? I was following along pretty well, then the first distorted strains of Little Faith hit, and the album didn't let go for the next half-hour. And then I played it again....and again. The mix of baritone vocals, Depeche Mode-esque keyboards and guitars, the music just creates this certain atmosphere, like looking out the window on a foggy day and trying to make out the silhouettes of everything outside. I honestly have no earthly idea how else to describe these guys; every song is catchy, yet somewhat ethereal and abstract. All I can really say is that if you get it, then you GET it. If you don't, then it just won't click, no matter what you do.
Recommended Tracks: Little Faith, Bloodbuzz Ohio, Terrible Love, Afraid of Everyone, Anyone's Ghost, Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks.
1. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor: This album definitely takes a while to grow on you. It took me the better part of this year to get it to really connect; but when it did, it went off like a grenade. A sprawling epic loosely based around the Civil War (The USS Monitor was the first ironsided battleship piloted by the US Navy), Titus Andronicus' sophomore album is littered with Abraham Lincoln quotes, flourishes of Americana/ traditional folk music, blistering guitars, group chant-alongs and more, all punctuated by Pat Stickles' boozy, shaky "piss-and-moan" vocals. It is both blue collar rabblerousing and too-cool-for-school high-mindedness. When, in the opener A More Perfect Union, Stickles yells out "Tramps like us, baby, we were born to die!" and then the whole band comes in like a hurricane of distortion, you can feel the earth move beneath your feet, you know this means something; that the punk and post-punk of years previous has evolved into this wild mutation, this musical hydra with every separate head acting by itself, yet helps create the whole as a perfect creature. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 Album of the Year!
Recommended Tracks: A More Perfect Union, No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future, The Battle of Hampton Roads, A Pot In Which To Piss, Titus Andronicus Forever.
