30 Albums In 2010
Written by Tiffiny // December 20, 2010 // Features, Records // No comments
I’ve heard it said that the word album has become archaic: the digital age rendering the concept irrelevant. Maybe it’s because I’m closer to thirty than to twenty, but I still listen to records as a whole. I still appreciate an artist taking the time to put together a theme and a flow. I still feel there’s something to be said for enjoying every track and listening from start to finish. Here is a list of our favorite albums released in 2010. These records have carried us through the year and will continue to have a place in our hearts. I hope you enjoy them too. Thanks for reading!
Tiffiny & Melanie & Dave & Amita
Andrea Ball creates this rare breed of indie pop that strikes heartfelt truths and is easy to listen to. Dial Tone covers some pretty dark corners: “Courage where have you gone? / Can you see me? / Courage where have you gone? / Have you used me?” The songs and words really sink in and I’ve lost myself more than once while listening. [Tiffiny]
Inspired by Win and Will Butler’s upbringing in the suburbs of Houston, The Suburbs lies between the extremes of rock ‘n roll and electronic music, expertly blending jangly piano driven melodies with fizzy beats and pulses. “Suburban War” is my favorite song on the album. The lyrics are stunning, absolutely perfect, and apparently inspired by memories of a particularly inspirational teacher – a polyglot spy who taught Win about TS Eliot. The guitar work here is brilliant, the tone deeply brooding, just gorgeous. The Suburbs is a true return to form, full of the sort of sweeping arrangements that made Funeral so integral in establishing Arcade Fire as a band to be reckoned with. full review [Melanie]
Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles
The duo’s second eponymous release proves they’re not fucking around. While still noisy, chaotic, and danceable, there’s a definite sense of refinement and maturity present that only serves to enhance the music. The noisy tracks may be more abrasive but that abrasiveness is more focused; a gentlemanly sort of chaos. The more catchy, dancey songs have hooks that catch you fast and hard without being overly poppy and playing themselves out. [Dave]
Possibly partially due to this album coming out of Denver, Alchemy feels like home. Either way, it’s an album fueled by brilliance and a damn good listen. Jessica Sonner’s backing vocals make this record come alive for me. full review [Tiffiny]
Ellie Goulding’s voice is absolutely ethereal. Bright Lights is the lone electro-dance album on my list, and it thoroughly deserves its spot here. I’d considered using Lights instead, but November’s re-release includes six really fantastic songs which shouldn’t go unnoticed. As far as individual tracks go, “Starry Eyed” is certainly everyone’s favorite, and I love it too, but “Animal,” “Lights,” and her cover of Elton’s “Your Song” are absolute stunners as well, the latter proving that Ellie’s voice stands on its own just beautifully, stripped of an overabundance of synths and beats. [Melanie]
Fake Problems: Real Ghosts Caught On Tape
Fake Problems have been my musical crush of 2010. I’ve been listening to them unabashedly all year and hanging on every word of news for the upcoming album. Then Real Ghosts Caught On Tape came out and it was everything I had hoped for and more. full review
[Tiffiny]
Fake Problems – Songs For Teenagers
The second release from Nick Cave’s new band, this album is rough and raw, bluesy and mean, and damn good. Cave’s unadulterated, dirty lyrics and raw crooning fit perfectly with the music. [Dave]
Guster are another band with whom I have a long history – it thrills me that so many of my favorites released new albums this year, and I can’t say enough about Easy Wonderful. “Do What You Want” and “Jonah” come in at the top for me in terms of melody, lyrics and overall fabulosity, but the entire album is incredibly easy to love and makes me dance around and sing into my hairbrush microphone on a regular basis. Almost as cool is the nifty video project that goes with the record, wherein 12 videos were created by 12 different directors who were friends, fans, or artists beloved by the band – with fantastic, highly enjoyable results. [Melanie]
Guster – Architects and Engineers
The Hold Steady: Heaven Is Whenever
The Hold Steady are nothing short of legendary to me. I was listening to Heaven Is Whenever on the train home after a long day and realized I was singing along and playing air instruments. Though I doubt my fellow passengers were thrilled, I think the ability to take someone that far out of the moment- to the point where all that exists is the music- says something. full review [Tiffiny]
The Hold Steady – The Weekenders
James: The Morning After The Night Before
Released as a double album in the U.S., this was an interesting presentation. The Night Before is electrifying and energetic; The Morning After sad and sedate. Both are excellent in their own right. The two discs allow the feelings to grow and evolve. extended review [Tiffiny]
Josh Ritter: So Runs the World Away
Josh has had the fantastic tendency to only get better with each successive release, so it only makes sense that his sixth studio album should shine so brightly. What really strikes me about this one, every time I listen, is the lyrics. Already shown to be a great lyricist on previous releases, this album seems to take his songs to a literary level without losing the basic enjoyment of being a song. full review [Dave]
Josh Ritter – Southern Pacifica
Laura Marling: I Speak Because I Can
Laura Marling has this flawless voice that I’m taken aback by a bit each time I hear it. But it isn’t just her voice – it’s her guitar skill and her ability to write a song that sounds timeless with lyrics that haunt me. [Tiffiny]
At first I wasn’t going to include this album because it was originally released last year, but since the US release was in 2010, and since it is just absolutely amazing, I decided to go for it. Sigh No More is able to go from quiet, desperate yearning to vibrant, angry accusation and back again, all the while feeling completely fluid and connected. With robust folk beats and Mumford’s dynamic vocals, every song on the album bleeds emotion. This album is a favorite to sing along to, because the words feel almost tangible with their intensity. full review [Amita]
Murder By Death: Good Morning Magpie
I’ve been listening to this album recently, trying to come up with something to sum it up with. This process has simply made me thing, “What a spectacular album!” and “When is Murder By Death coming through Denver again?” full review [Tiffiny]
There’s something absolutely captivating about Matt Berninger’s voice, and it’s what first drew me into this brilliant album. His haunting vocals match perfectly with the albums dramatic, beautiful melodies. I found something new to love every time I listened to a song – whether a brilliantly crafted measure or a particularly moving lyric. full review [Amita]
Niall Connolly: Brother, The Fight Is Fixed
Five months later I can’t stop listening to Niall Connolly’s Brother, The Fight Is Fixed. This record is equal parts love and politics and 100% passion. The sound is pure and rough and the messages evident. full review [Tiffiny]
Niall Connolly – A Child is A Child
OK Go: Of the Blue Color of the Sky
I fell in love with OK Go back in 2003, when my brother was in the midst of planning his wedding, in which I was both the sister of the groom and the Maid of Honor (can you imagine a worse fate?). Their debut album was my constant companion during the wedding related errands that are, let’s just face it, nearly unbearable to single people. As you have doubtless guessed, the marriage didn’t last, but my love for OK Go remains strong and true, and Of the Blue Color of the Sky is modern and whimsical and just so fucking fantastical and anthemic that it cannot be denied. full review
[Melanie]
Lub Dub is so incredibly cool. It moves flawlessly through different styles and themes, throwing away any preconceived notions. Margaret’s vocal performance kills me- there’s something about her voice and delivery that hits me in all the right ways. [Tiffiny]
Pezzettino – For You and Your Headaches
When I heard this band perform at the Frightened Rabbit show, I was immediately hooked. I bought both their albums then and there and spent the next month listening on repeat. The gloomy synth pop vibe was perfect fall weather music, although I’m sure I’ll continue to listen to them year round. [Amita]
The band are one of my top five in general, so it almost feels too easy for me to include anything by Ra Ra Riot in my year-end wrapup. Add that this particular album was mixed by Death Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla, and ‘The Orchard’ seems especially apt. But really, that isn’t why it has landed here. Wes Miles is, as always, brilliant. The lyrics are heartfelt and true. The melodies are intensely beautiful, complemented by vintage-style synths and keys, some truly stellar drumming, and the ever lovely, shouldn’t-work-here-but-somehow-they-do strings. When you put it all together, the perfection of this record is undeniable, unless you hate music. [Melanie]
I still put “Basement Apartment,” “Don’t Get Your Back Up,” and “You Were Here” on every new mix that I make for someone who isn’t familiar with Sarah Harmer’s music. Her work took a slight turn for the country for awhile after that, and ‘Oh Little Fire’ sort of ushers back a more organic, laid back, coffee house vibe to her music than I’ve heard for awhile. I have found more favorites on this record than not-favorites, with “Washington,” “The City,” “Silverado,” and “It Will Sail” rounding out my top four – this album seems to start slowly (yet certainly no less brilliant) in its appeal, for me, and gains momentum ever so sweetly as it goes. [Melanie]
I experienced a bit of an addiction to “Clementine” in 2010. In fact, it is currently my ringtone. Actually, this entire album is worth a listen (or ten). There’s a striking quality to it- a weight that creeps up on you. [Tiffiny]
Scott Pilgrim vs The World Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
It’s weird that I’m including a soundtrack, isn’t it? Or maybe not, but either way, I have no shame; after all, my love for Broken Social Scene, Metric (okay, Emily Haines in general), Beck, and the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels has long since been established, and this album is full of them. Hearing “Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl” put to good use seven years after I first fell in love with it completely warms my heart, The Black Lips make a solid showing with “O, Katrina!”. The producers even managed to sneak a Stones number in, which is pretty sweet if you ask me. My favorite song, though, and what really makes the record for me, is my beloved Plumtree’s “Scott Pilgrim,” which I spent a great deal of time learning to play on my battered Fender acoustic when I was a sophomore in college in 1998. Absolutely nostalgic. [Melanie]
Stars: The Five Ghosts
This may not be my favorite Stars album, but the band produced a fantastic, mature pop rock record that proves their talent isn’t going anywhere. It’s a little less explosive and vigourous than their last two albums, a little more mature and subdued. The result is a dark, somewhat melancholy exploration of death and love that Stars does best. [Amita]
Okay, I won’t even lie to you guys. I love Taylor Swift. Her songs hold this inexplicable appeal for me and I legitimately adore this album. It’s a mixture of mostly light-hearted, often witty, and sometimes downright scathing lyrics that are fun and catchy and a little bit melodramatic. Yet the album manages to be pretty relatable and sophisticated for a bunch of songs written by a pop star who can’t drink legally in the states. [Amita]
These United States: What Lasts
What Lasts manages to be a concept album connected by its lyrical theme, without sounding uniform or overdone. From slow, steady ballads to intense, brisk rock songs, this record moves through an emotional spectrum as it deals with themes of loss, pain and hope. Sometimes sad and introspective, sometimes optimistic and extroverted, Jesse Elliott’s lyrics honestly explores human emotion in a way that’s pure literature. full review [Amita]
These United States – One You Believe
Backroom political deals! Power grids! Secret wars! Ezra Koenig and his pals work Contra’s themes with a chic sleekness. The booming, lilting “Giving Up the Gun” isn’t about revolution and strife, it’s about indie rock; the gun in question is a guitar. The breakdown on “Horchata” is The Lion King via minimalist composer Steve Reich. “White Sky” mixes Anglophile synths with guitars that recall Thomas Mapfumo, Zimbabwe’s Bob Marley — get it, England used to own Zimbabwe! Most pointedly, the “Contra” in question is a girl that Ezra can’t get his head around. It’s a brilliant metaphor for a guy who portrays himself as in this world, but not entirely of it, a soulful rebel incognito among the cold-eyed players. But Vampire Weekend aren’t just good at being smart, they’re smart at being good. [via - because Spin sometimes says it better than I can.] full review [Melanie]
The Weakerthans: Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre
Sometimes a band are so familiar that you feel as though every song has been written for you, or that you must have written every song yourself at some point, just by living them. It is with these bands who are so dear to us that we find our homes in their live albums, and The Weakerthans’ “Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre” is just exactly that, for me. This album is such an enormous celebration of the music and the fans and oh, I wish I could say more, but I find it impossible to describe it in a way that will do it justice without sounding like I’m talking about something that I made myself. These songs are deeply embedded into my history, and this album is intensely personal to me, made even more so by the understanding that it is just as personal to the countless other people who wait with me in 4/4 time. [Melanie]
The Weakerthans – Left And Leaving
Be My Thrill is full of the type of songs that The Weepies are known for; hopeful, happy, a little bit dreamy, fairly rocking, and always the perfect showcase for their signature harmonies. It plays out like a love story at its most organic; the emotion and narrative here will be recognizable by anyone who listens. My favorite songs on this record are the rocking “How Do You Get High,” the sweet and low “Not A Lullaby,” the earnest, “Empty Your Hands,” and of course the title track, a clever, bouncy confirmation that if my life were a movie, The Weepies would write the soundtrack. full review [Melanie]
The Weepies – How Do You Get High
On her latest album, the avant cellist shifted the tone of her one-woman orchestra from the concrete warehouse environment that sculpted the feel of her One Cello X 16: Natoma album to her home in the forest of northern California. The result is something that doesn’t sound at all rehashed while still encapsulating her gorgeous layers of cello. [Dave]
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