Some people have been asking me to write up a year-end review of my favorite albums of the year. I think 2010 was the best year for music in a long time; lots of things stood out. A great mix of new bands, bands I had heard of but not paid attention to, others who turned the corner artistically ... and one more or less forgotten band who had another surprise in them. The following are my top 11 albums with my favorite track included from each. (I had ten, but overlooked #11 which deserved inclusion)
1. Beach House - Teen Dream
This 2-piece band from Baltimore released their third album at the beginning of the year. And though Teen Dream shares a style with the previous two albums, it's the songwriting that took a major leap forward. Zebra is the first track from the album - and from the first note is pretty mesmerizing. Silver Soul features a lyric that becomes haunting as it's repeated "It is happening again ..." Not to mention, their live show is well worth checking out.
2. The National - High Violet
Originally from Cincinnati, this band packed up and moved to Brooklyn in 1999. And it wasn't until the album Alligator that they collectively quit their day jobs, sure that the music business would sustain itself. This is the fourth album in a row that (to my ears) is appreciably better than the last. This is not a band who goes into the studio for three days and puts out an album. Rather, the songs on this album are painstakingly recorded and perfected. Lemonworld alone apparently had a hard-to-believe 200 takes. Afraid of Everyone, featuring Sufjan Stevens on backing vocals, conjures the protectiveness and paranoia a dad can feel sometimes.
Ill-considered complaints of the album being "too mopey" aside, it's a true start-to-finish album, though I wouldn't listen to this if I needed a "pick-me-up." Probably the best tracklist order of the year. The last half of England feels like the emotional end of the album, but what follows next is a pretty perfect coda.
3. Duran Duran - All You Need is Now
Yes, I'm as shocked as you are that Duran Duran is even still making music, let alone albums that would rank this high on my list. This album, released just under the 2010 bell on 12/21, sees the band team up with producer-of-the-moment Mark Ronson, an unabashed Duran Duran fan. His mission was to record the long-lost imagined follow up to Rio. There are four songs on here that would easily rank with the best songs they ever wrote. Girl Panic is the follow-up to Girls on Film I didn't expect, and am thrilled to get, and feels teleported from 1986. My feeling is this album will force people to reconsider Duran Duran's career, as it made me.
4. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
I've never been a big fan of these Atlanta-based guys, as I felt like to date they've paid more attention to style over substance in their songs. Certainly, pieces of songs from their previous albums were interesting, but I had yet to hear fully fleshed out songs from Deerhunter. This album changes that. Revival is one of three simple, direct, to-the-point pop songs that I keep coming back and listening to. Desire Lines is probably the centerpiece of the album - a song that builds and builds for almost 7 minutes. Helicopter is perhaps the most arresting of the songs.
5. Hans Zimmer - Soundtrack to Inception
My favorite movie of the year includes one of my all-time favorite soundtracks. Zimmer's music keeps the movie at an urgent, uncomfortable pace. Dream is Collapsing is the best song and is played at all my favorite parts of the movie. How amazing was the last 15 minutes of this movie, as four different action sequences are all happening simultaneously? Bonus: Johnny Marr adds some guitars to a few songs on this album.
6. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
I finally saw AF in person at their first show at Madison Square Garden earlier this year. Every superlative about this band live is true. The thing I like about Arcade Fire is they perform, and create albums, with no hint of irony or subversion. They really do believe the shit they say. The world needs a few bands like that. Half Light I is the prettiest song on the album and sets up the second half of the album really well. Maybe the album is 2 or 3 songs too long but this is a challenging, impressive third album from a band who is likely here for the long haul.
7. Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle
Another band that has gotten consistently better over time. After the relative bombast of their last album 23, Penny Sparkle takes an introverted approach. This is an especially good album with a great pair of headphones. They lead with the song Black Guitar on tour, and the lead singer, Kazu Makino, wears a horse's mask and looks down as she sings. Talk about shy! The entire album has a slightly creepy, paranoid vibe to it. One of the most talented bands in the world when it comes to mood-setting.
8. The Walkmen - Lisbon
A fairly under-the-radar band who puts out consistently fine albums. Lisbon is a really warm, alive record. Elements like mariachi horns and spaghetti-western guitars add ambiance to the sound. That's the calling card of the Walkmen, one of the more detail-oriented bands I know. Lisbon is another in a long line of Walkmen albums to just press play and listen to.
9. Plan B - The Defamation of Strickland Banks
An even more left-field album than Duran Duran's, this is a concept album from a guy who prior to Defamation was known as the Eminem of the UK. With this album, Plan B reinvents himself as an R&B singer and sings about the character of Strickland Banks, who goes to jail for a crime he (seemingly) didn't commit. I heard She Said on British radio back in May and was like, "what the hell is this and how have I not heard this before?" Frankly, I'm surprised this album didn't make it in the US.
10. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
I would have had this album higher on the list had the year ended in June. A pretty pedestrian live show disappointed. But recently I've picked this back up and realized it's really pretty good. Vaporize is a great little track. Seems like James Mercer just needed a change of scenery and partnership to rediscover his talent in writing great songs after the Shins' last anemic album.
11. Electric President - The Violent Blue
A very underrated band led by a guy, Ben Cooper, who is involved in like 4 bands all told. Their latest album expands on Cooper's songwriting talents and contains several gems - none better than Nightmare No. 5 or 6. His other band, Radical Face, does a song called Welcome Home that is so great that I'm throwing it in here as a bonus: http://hypem.com/#!/item/14bz6/Radical+Face+-+Welcome+Home
Other bands I like who released albums this year that were at least pretty good:
Interpol - Interpol
James - The Morning After
Belle & Sebastian - Write about Love
Underworld - Barking
School of Seven Bells - Disconnect from Desire
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