Top Albums 2010

12.  MGMT-Congratulations - A lot of people were down on this album because it didn't pack the hits that the first one did.  While there are many bands that I rely on simply to keep producing hits, this album provided an interesting enough sound that I was more intrigued than ever by MGMT's potential.  They reached a level of sophisticated pop in songs like "Someone's Missing," "Flash Delirium," and "Siberian Breaks" that was more mature than anything off of Oracular Spectacular.  In the end, this may not go down as their best album, but it was certainly a major step in the direction they are heading.  Nevertheless that direction may be compromised as there have already been whispers that their record label will have more input into their next recording, and that they aren't that concerned about it <http://tinyurl.com/22v2dwt>, which is scary.

Warm Up With: Someone's Missing, Flash Delirium, Siberian Breaks

11.  Jamey Johnson-Guitar Song - I grew up on country music, in fact my first 7 concerts were Reba McIntyre with my mom (feel free to judge away at this point).  When I was a kid, I loved true grit country performers like Hank Jr., Cash, Willie, etc. and I still do.  However, when the modern day pop machine took over the the country scene, it turned me off to "new" country in general.  So listening to Jamey Johnson was a bit strange at first.  Before delving into this triple album, I had to break through the stigma about country music that had built up in my mind for the last 15 years.  This was a surreal feeling, as he wrote the album after the typical country music theme of hitting "rock bottom."  Johnson is clever, a great story teller, and has a badass take-care-of-it-myself persona, what more could you ask from your country singer?

Warm Up With: Lonely at the Top, Poor Man Blues, Macon

10. Free Energy-Stuck on Nothing - Steady 70's grooves that stick inside you.  This album comes out of the gates strong.  The first 4 songs are steady and a great way to get out of the gate.  It curtails a bit in the second half, as moments aren't as memorable (Ben Kweller seems to be hiding on side two), but nonetheless a great one to run to and just get lost on as it rolls.  Great party background music too.  Sweet stomp rock that no one will complain about, but someone will definitely ask who is playing.

Warm Up With: Free Energy, Drewam City, Bang Pop

9.  Kanye West-My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Sure, it's cool to like the Kanye this year, but the bottom line is, the first time I put this album on and ran to it, I went for 6 miles (the first time I had done so since spraining my ankle in the summer).  The production is truly amazing, blending genres, musicians, and spoken word for a really powerful mix.  While sometimes I'd rather him just keep his mouth shut and let the music play ("Runaway" is amazing background music, but when he starts singing about douchebags, I wish I could just turn the vocals off...how long is the term douchebag going to remain in our canon of words to call idiot people?  My friend John Leadley has a theory that the only people that still use the term douchebags are douchebags themselves...and I tend to agree.  Hemingway....), lyrics on songs like "Power" and "Monster" totally make up for it.

Warm Up With: POWER, All of the Lights, Monster

Titus Andronicus-The Monitor - American.  Rock.  Music.  It takes some patience to get there sometimes (half of the album's songs are over 7 minutes), but when the blitzkrieg kicks in, Titus will blast your teeth out.  A more produced affair than their debut, Titus expand on their sound with production and muscle throughout.  Equal parts Stooges, the Boss, and Mike Watt.

Warm Up With: A More Perfect Union, Titus Andronicus Forever, Four Score and Seven

7.  LCD Soundsystem-This Is Happening - Another solid, sophisticated effort from LCD.  Great driven tracks.  It lacks that "play anytime party hit" ("Drunk Girls" will quickly annoy, "Dance Yrself Clean" is amazing, but it takes a little too long to get there) but the driven sounds are still there and every song pretty well matches up with a previous song from a previous album, but is better.  "Dance Yrself Clean" is the album opener of the year.  As mentioned in the singles list, it takes awhile, but when it explodes, there's no turning back until the end when you want to start it over from the top.  You would never guess that (besides "Drunk Girls"), there is nary a song under 6 minutes on this album.

Warm Up With: Dance Yrself Clean, All I Want, I Can Change

6.  Jonsi-Go - This is the sound of springtime coming to life, of everything black and white being painted in color.  It comes out of the gate with strong driven pop numbers before backing it up with more contemplative sounds.  The live experience of a lifetime.

Warm Up With: Go Do, Animal Arithmetic, Boy Lilikoi

5.  Sleigh Bells-Treats - Muscle and aggression.  Get it jumping with this one and never slow down.  The perfect amalgamation of all things tough in music.  Laser beam guitars, stomp box beats, and in-your-face chants.

Warm Up With: Tell Em, Riot Rhythm, Rill Rill, Crown On the Ground

4.  The Roots-How I Got Over - A lot of people gave the Roots a lot of shit when they signed on to be the house band for Jimmy Fallon.  It didn't make much sense at the time, Fallon is a moron who got by on SNL doing what seemed to be Adam Sandler impersonations, and is terrible at interviewing people.  An unconventional move for such a talented band to say the least.  However, it turned out to be one of the most monumental moves they have made.  The show gave them the chance to collaborate with a plethora of other musicians who ended up on this record (Jim James/Monsters of Folk, the Dirty Projectors, John Legend, and freak-folk freak Joanna Newsome).  Their sound is tighter than ever as they clearly derived many grooves from background segments on the Fallon show.  The show has survived, they have brought a strange musical credibility to it, which almost makes it worth watching  (I would love to go back and see where many of these songs were born from segments of the show).  A true melding of genres that they never could have pulled off before all of these collaborations from the show.

Warm Up With: Dear God 2.0, How I Got Over, Right On, The Fire

3.  The Black Keys-Brothers - Based on the lists from the last two years, the Black Keys must be the best rock band in the world.  Is it possible to dislike them?  Their output over that time has included a Dan Auerbach solo record, the rock-rap revivalist record BLAKROC, and now this masterpiece Brothers.  The production tricks Auerbach has picked up from working with DangerMouse on the BK's previous album, and from the working with producers from the BLAKROC sessions, really pay off here as their sound is tighter and tougher than ever.  Patrick Carney's drum work doesn't even sound human anymore, his beats are so tight that you just assume it's a machine.  As they have done in the past, this album runs a little long, and wanders off course towards the end with a lot of mellow numbers, but where would the world be without a BK cover of Jerry Butler's "Never Gonna Give You Up," or the solemn confession "I'm Not the One?"  I'll take more Black Keys any day.

Warm Up With: Everlasting Light, Tighten Up, She's Long Gone, Sinister Kid

2.  Sufjan Stevens-Age of Adz - This one came out of nowhere.  Moments after Sufjan released a surprise EP,  he announced a new album would drop in the same month, and then posted the album online.  And as stated before, no one else in the world could have created this album.  It's dense textures demand multiple listens.  At first, it's so abruptly different and shocking (he could have at least gave us warning it was coming, so we had time to prepare) that it all blend together, overwhelming the listener.  With each successive listen, however, the layers unfold, revealing an unbelievable melding of his best electronic work over the years with his more recent orchestral soundscapes.  Every bleep and blip leaves you wondering, how did one person do it?  Even if he's not playing every instrument, he had to tell someone else how to play it.  He delves deep into his own psyche and addresses many of the institutions that have become a large part of his image.  As far as running goes, it's an amazing ride, the last track alone (clocking in at over 25 minutes) is the perfect song to crank 3 or 4 miles out to.  This one was really close to taking over the number one spot for 2010, and one day, when fully absorbed, it might.

Warm Up With: Age of Adz, I Want to be Well, Impossible Soul

1.  Arcade Fire-The Suburbs - So it all comes down to this.  Anticipation can often lead to severe disappointment, but this one lived up.  Upon initially hearing it would be titled The Suburbs, I wondered how interesting it could be and how much it could apply to my life (not being from the suburbs and abhorring most things suburbia), but this album connected more than any album I can remember.  It's strength is in its subtleties.  Much like Funeral, upon first listen, it doesn't wallop you over the head with a single or an overtly "rock" anthem.  You know you are unearthing something special, but it takes a lot more time to absorb than most albums.  As the themes pile up upon each other, and the steady beats keep pulsating inside of you, this album wins again and again.  Much like Radiohead's OK Computer, Arcade Fire have mastered the crescendo within a song across a wide spectrum of sound on this album.  "Modern Man" is minimalist, but it still builds, and while nowhere near the crescendo in "Suburban War", they are both equally effective at evoking emotions with a rising of sound.  So many of the songs on this album ("Half Light," "Suburban War," "We Used to Wait," "Rococo") no other band in the world is capable of making.  With its eclectic blend of 80's synth, Bruce Springsteen stompers, and Radiohead apocalyptic dream-scapes, this is the album of the year.


Warm Up With: Start with The Suburbs, and end with the Suburbs (continued)