Personal Top 20 of 2010

01. The Grecian Urns – LOVEDREAM

Instantly likeable from start to finish, LOVEDREAM is the type of record that never stops getting better. Its countless sonic wrinkles reveal themselves with every listen, and Bryce McGuire’s lyrics about what it means to live in the Sunshine State sound more like the reflections of a 90-year-old recalling his glory days than the insight of a twenty-something college student. With the Urns’ future uncertain, the end of the year is a good time to reflect on how good this record actually is.

02. The Tallest Man on Earth – The Wild Hunt

Easily the best sequenced ten songs of 2010. Kristian Matsson’s vocals are unique and familiar at the very same time and his strumming goes from warm to fiery over the album’s 35 minutes. He released an equally impressive EP soon after Wild Hunt caught on, but this LP will always mark this folkies arrival on the scene as a whole.

03. Nice Nice – Extra Wow

Like a rough Chinese massage, Jason Buehler and Mark Shirazi’s 2010 full-length kicks your ass then leaves you feeling like a new person. A cohesive collection of songs that range from tripping-balls nursery rhymes to masterfully layered loops that recall the Far East, Extra Wow is as good as it’s title suggests. The blend of the organic and electronics make for the perfect album for someone looking to explore the possibilities of technology in music.

04. Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me

Not many artists can get listeners to sit still for two-hours of harp-driven chamber pop, but Newsom does just that on this triple LP. Her voice is both enchanting and wince inducing, but it’s constantly intriguing, and the album’s 18 tracks surprisingly fly by. Her gift for crafting melody is always on full display, and she even makes name dropping Bloody Mary sound beautiful.

05. Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma

Seemingly all over the place on first listen, Cosmogramma’s fluid bass lines quickly embed themselves in your brain after a couple of listens. Refusing to settle for one groove, Steve Ellison crafted an album his great-uncle Coltrane would be jealous of. It’s got to mean something when a track featuring Thom Yorke isn’t even close to being the best on the album, doesn’t it?

06. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening

James Murphy makes being pathetic sound awesome on LCD Soundsystem’s third LP. From his harmonies on “Dance Yrself Clean” to the beer-soaked pleading on “Somebody’s Calling Me,” Murphy sells the idea that he’s having fun being a down-on-his luck 40-year-old hipster, which gives hopeless 25-year-old hipsters something to look forward to.

07. Vampire Weekend – Contra

Over the course of two LPs Vampire Weekend went from the band no one knew about to the band that was all of a sudden to cool for you to like. Their tunes played everywhere from soccer moms’ minivans to commercials selling said minivans, and while they may have been accused of “musical colonialism,” the fact that they can effortlessly set African polyrhythms to Paul Simon-esque vocal melodies actually makes them look like true masters of the mashup.

08. JJ Grey & Mofro – Georgia Warhorse

Florida. Florida. Florida. It’s all that is seemingly on JJ Grey’s mind and that’s quite alright. He captures the state in all it’s glory and cuts like the title track epitomize Grey’s devotion to capturing every detail of the landscape's beauty. Still, it’s his harmonica playing that you’ll remember forever. The disc is soaked in blues and soul, and while he may still be in his forties, Grey has already told enough stories about Florida to keep us all entertained for a lifetime.

09. Rusko – O.M.G.!

It’s still unclear whether dubstep will live through 2011, but it sure made our ears ring in 2010. The bass farts and high-pitched squeals on “Woo Boost” are brutal enough to make Stephen Hawking feel like he could hop off the wheelchair and beat your ass into the ground for looking at him funny. While a couple tracks came off as toss offs this was the genre’s best example of how versatile dubstep could actually be.

10. Robyn – Body Talk Pt. 1

You may have had your first kiss to her 1997 hit, “Show Me Love,” but Robin Miriam Carlsson came back with a vengeance this year. The first installment of a three-part series, Body Talk Pt. 1 managed to accomplish what Britney and Xtina couldn’t do – make unabashed pop music you would share with your friends. She showcased clever wit on “Fembot” and bitched her ass off on “Don’t Fucking Tell Me What To Do.” Whether or not she disappears like she did in the 90’s, the 31-year-old Swede from Stockholm left us with a collection of songs to truly remember her by.

11. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

No one knew what Yeezy would come up with during his self-induced exile, but the results were truly amazing for the hip-hop genre. While his experimentation and willingness to push the boundaries of sound may not be as groundbreaking as they hype says it is, West’s production stepped the rap game up to new levels. Songs like “Monster” and “Power” are easily some of the year’s best and Taylor Swifts’s worst nightmare even found time for some constructive self-loathing on “Blame Game” and “Runaway.” Love him or hate him, Kanye spent some time in your CD player, and you were better off for it.

12. Delta Spirit – History From Below

They ain’t no throwback band, but Delta Spirit sure have a knack for crafting hard-knuckled rock that you and grandpa can share a beer over. Frontman Matt Vasquez has blossomed into captivating stage performer and this LP perfectly captures the energy of their live show. You can almost see Vasquez’s emphatic yell as he passionately delivers simple lines like “my love is strong/and my heart is weak/after all,” and hearing him spin his tales over the band’s swirling mess of guitars is a spectacle that needs to be heard by all.

13. Japanese Cartoon – In the Jaws of the Lords of Death

With his third and fourth rap LP’s being held hostage by Atlantic, Lupe Fiasco said “fuck it,” faked an English accent, and started a punk band. The results are ten times better than you thought they could be, but this album may be the only chance you get to hear him impersonate Ian Curtis. Atlantic has already agreed to release his rap albums and Fiasco hasn’t said a peep about sticking with this project.

14. Sleigh Bells – Treats

If anybody ever sonically captured the feeling of a 300-pound-gorilla bashing your head against a wall, it was Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss. This Brooklyn-based duo split your eardrums in half and left you begging for more. The combination of Krauss’ irresistibly catchy vocals and Miller’s guitar licks set on top of distorted drum samples are the auditory equivalent of the hottest BDSM session you’ve ever had.

15. GAYNGS – Relayted

Sade went into hiding so Ryan Olson, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, and about two dozen other musicians set out to craft some of the most chill music of 2010. It worked. The boys’ white boy soul was so good the Prince came to their first concert ever and Relayted will forever stand as one of the chillest non-chillwave albums of the decade.

16. Maps & Atlases – Perch Patchwork

Funny time signatures! Harmonies! A drum line! Maps & Atlases seemingly covered it all on this gem, and they put on one of the best shows of the year just last month. If you aren’t enamored with the guitar lick and vocal on “Pigeon” then you’re probably the type of misanthrope who would take a crap in a pool full of happy children just to see them cry.

17. Girl Talk – All Day

Everyone said they could make a Girl Talk album, but nobody did. What Greg Gillis accomplished by giving away his fifth collection of mash-ups on his own website was create a swarm of haters jealous of his abilities while secretly providing the soundtrack to the very same haters’ drunken Saturday nights.

18. Pontiak – Living

Despite having released five albums in two years and Van’s pleasingly sloppy guitar work, the Carney brothers still managed to craft an album that was truly a living, breathing thing. Tracks like “And By the Night” feel like a monster is blowing its hot breath on your neck, and while it’s only 40-minutes long, listening to Living just once is enough to make you want to take a needed breather before putting it on again.

19. The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

So what. They’re from New Jersey and frontman Brian Fallon tells stories like The Boss. They’re still the best at what they do and American Slang gave everyone from aging gen-X-ers and twentysomethings a hero not named Springsteen to sing them lullabies about what it means to be young in A’murica.

20. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

The coolest thing about Arcade Fire’s third full length is that it set the stage for either an epic failure or complete masterpiece the next time around. The Suburbs is near perfect and most bands would fall on their ass after releasing such a solid album, but if anyone is going to blow this hour-long tale of growing up suburban out of the water, it’s going to be Win Butler and friends themselves.