2010 was a year that seemed to be eternally searching for it’s sound, looking for music that could kick start the next decade’s defining genre and go on to dominate the next generation of teenagers. Sub-genres were amplified, as we heard a lot of angry noise (Sleigh Bells) and shoegazing chillwave (dozens of artists from the East Coast of America), which perhaps reflects our economic times. Elsewhere, just about every other genre made an appearance, so long as you can put an ‘ALT’ before it.
Who goes on to influence the rest and which albums will be lucky enough to have the word ‘seminal’ added to them upon reflection will only be revealed in time, but we list below the stronger highlights from a year that was packed with quality. We believe that some of these albums may have been shelved as ‘too experimental’ in years gone by, but in 2010 their challenging listens came across rather fittingly, as something mature and grown up, or they went the opposite way and produced something wildly childish. So here’s to our annual summary at step one of an exciting new decade. Enjoy.
JANELLE MONAE – ARCHANDROID
On this album she asked us “am I a freak?” and the straight answer is yes. Absolutely. In a good way. It’s like she’s arrived from outta space on a rocket of soulful pop. As good his effort was, Big Boi should have perhaps considered waiting another year before releasing his solo album, as Janelle, (who’s album he had a hand in), was clearly going to dominate. With a great voice and with bags of star quality, she shines brightly on every track.
PERFUME GENIUS – LEARNING
This is an LP full of move-you-to-tears power, with many beautiful moments. Centered around Mike Hadreas’ fragile vocals and excellent wordsmithery, this was the Bright Eyes moment of 2010. It’s mature, it’s magical and now that winter’s set in it sounds even better.
THE PASS – BURST
All indie disco roads lead to this album, stopping at Midnight Juggernauts, Phoenix and Passion Pit along the way. It’s made it on here for being so consistent, as track after track is as equally upbeat and enjoyable as the last one. Having name-checked over 30 music blogs in their video for ‘Vultures‘ they should be commended for embracing our collective marketing power in such an original way.
TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB – TOURIST HISTORY
This is music perfectly made for the adoring teenagers, but there’s also a charming maturity to it, beyond the adoring Radio One crowds. The pace rattles along, with guitars sparking throughout and it’s nothing but always enjoyable. If there’s any gripe it’s too neat and tidy, making it appear as interesting as a perfect haircut. However, even though it’s no game-changer, it suits your headphones as well as your dancefloor, and when we had them play the venue that we work at in Brighton, well, the teenagers went totally fucking mental!
BEST COAST – CRAZY FOR YOU
Out of the many sun-bleached, shoegazing artists that turned up this year, we consider this act the strongest. Over simple lyrics match the over simple chords, perfectly harnessing a love of 60s pop music as much as the female-fronted grunge bands of the 90s. Slurring guitars and stoned melodies made this album force itself to the front of your summer’s soundtrack.
MAXIMUM BALLOON – MAXIMUM BALLOON
Hot, fun and sexy aren’t the first words that come to mind when you think about Dave Sitek, but with this solo project he turned the lights out and jumped into bed with us. And we loved it. It felt like the antidote to Mark Ronson, with quality collaborations that always delivered, particularly with the singles, really adding to the mix. Next time, we will happily leave the lights on.
WE HAVE BAND – WHB
They jam, they buzz, they bounce and they pound, but don’t let that disguise the fact that they can really sing and craft great songs. You wouldn’t know it from it’s start but this is an electronic pop album, for grown ups. They plug in by track three and give you one of the best tracks of the year, with Divisive, a tune that perfectly shows off their energetic, layer-building abilities. They seem like a band that’s finally taken the 80s influences from the same genre and instead of simply recreating it all, actually fused them into something altogether more contemporary.
DELPHIC – ACOLYTE
This was the year in which we shook the shackles of a style of indie music that had dominated the UK in previous decades. The first step was taken quickly with Delphic’s debut, with it’s January release. It felt like a challenge – like it had come with a message from the future, rammed with a substance we hadn’t quite experienced before – and with tunes such as ‘This Momentary‘, ‘Doubt‘ and ‘Counterpoint‘, they had showpieces on a scale not seen since Bloc Party. If a live show is anything to judge an album by, then that too gains them entry, as their astonishing gigs were among the highlights of the year.
TWIN SHADOW – FORGET
This is the kind of fantastic pop music that’s made if you remove your shame button and replace it with a carefree one. Smartly-dressed and charming, it’s as theatrical as it gets, never to be taken too seriously. To create clever, but very light entertainment is quite a difficult trick to pull. It sounds like Morrissey, were he staring in a 70s porn flick. Every instrument and sound feels like it’s been placed there very deliberately, making it well designed and immaculately thought out.
CRYSTAL FIGHTERS – STAR OF LOVE
There was a danger that we had grown so familiar with the singles that the album, which seemed to take an eternity to arrive, was going to fall flat unless it’s filler was just as good. The wait was worth it, as they wash every track in their refreshing, unique, hybrid of flavours. They’ve mastered the art of creating dance music that’s packed with mantra after mantra and their live set proves it, as they’re yet to leave a venue with the roof still intact.
GORILLAZ – PLASTIC BEACH
Let’s be honest, a story about a pretend bunch of cartoon characters really shouldn’t last this long and still remain engaging, exciting and interesting, but somehow Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett pulled it off. Again. Part of the success must be handed to the successful, hand-picked collaborations, who, alongside their clear talent, all seem a little cartoon-like themselves, including Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Bobby Womack, Gruff Rhys among several brilliant others. The singles were immensely satisfying and in between those we found zero filler. Remarkable.
THE NATIONAL – HIGH VIOLET
The National have produced many strong albums, but this latest effort feels like their best yet. They’re like the slow-burn equivalent of someone realising that they fancy their best friend after all these years, then are astonished why it to look so long for them to notice their perfect compatibility. Anyone in love, or recently broken up from it, will find a place for this album in the hearts, as it’s cold parts are as glacial as winter itself, but it’s warmth burns like a super nova.
KANYE WEST – MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY
They say it’s fashionable to turn up to the party late and so it felt appropriate for Kanye’s latest effort to arrive right at the close of the year. Twitter and the other various social networks were bound to go crazy upon it’s launch, but the broad praise from the critics, even earning a rare, perfect 10.0 on Pitchfork, were perhaps a little more surprising. The resulting investigation found an LP that was occasionally overweight with Kanye’s usual, over-indulgent stardom, but on occasion it was utterly satisfying, with some tracks you will never tire of. Classic Kanye yes, but with this latest work we also see a man finally touching the very sky that he’s been reaching for his entire career.
GAYNGS – RELAYTED
Patient, smart, well produced and full of star turns, this album could teach the likes of Zero 7 a thing or two. The key is their ability to perfectly figure out an LP that is equally as calm and sophisticated as it is menacing. Who else could feel like Steve Vai‘s ‘Tender Surrender‘ whilst adding in sampled gunshots and get away with it!? The coolest lounge album for years.
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM – THIS IS HAPPENING
From it’s understated few opening bars, to it’s thumping climaxes, particularly on tracks such as ‘I Can Change‘, ‘Pow Pow‘, ‘Home‘ and the excellent ‘All I Want‘, we re-discovered the reasons why we adore James Murphy et al so much. OK, so it wasn’t quite hitting the bars raised by his former albums, but you could also fall a lot shorter and still be amazing. If this was LCD signing off forever, then these last remaining memories will be very happy ones.
EVERYTHING EVERYTHING – MAN ALIVE
We would love to state that this album sounds like the transformation of the last decade’s guitar bands into the next, but they’re too unique to consider them linking up anything. This is as much their strength as it is their weakness, in an album that had one or two misfired shots, but who’s highlights were stronger than anyone else’s. Perhaps the most difficult element, upon reflection, is how to find the ‘right time’ in your day, or your mood, in which to put it on. However, that shouldn’t detract for an album with plenty of balls and brilliance.
YEASAYER – ODD BLOOD
Their previous album had rather an alternative feel to it, so we weren’t sure where their next work would go. It could have been an ambient bore, or a psychedelic piece of self-indulgence, but what we received was a consistent work of astonishing awesomeness. It shimmers, it shakes, it has pop, it has indie and it’s packed with single after single. Never before has a band straddled the mainstream and alternative crowds so well.
ARCADE FIRE – THE SUBURBS
Mixed reviews bounced around during the release of this album and both ends of the critic’s extremes were perhaps a little inaccurate upon reflection. It’s not as bad some thought, but it wasn’t as instantly brilliant as others hoped, seeming to be looking for it’s arc, wavering as it did between bar blues (The Suburbs) to dancing anthem (Sprawl II Mountains Beyond Mountains). However, now it’s sunk in, its been digested rather well, with it’s varying highlights now standing up properly. One thing we always got with them were a multitude of melodies that cupped your testicles and that trick was brilliantly continued throughout this album.
FOALS – TOTAL LIFE FOREVER
This is the sound of a band that’s grown up. And we aren’t just talking about the new beards. Their signature math rock, which seems to have spawned dozens of similar new bands and an entire intellectual indie scene in Oxford, was still in evidence in parts, but now they sideswiped any expectant critics with a new expansive maturity. This wasn’t just good, it was special. In parts it was actually breathtaking.
SLEIGH BELLS – TREATS
Many describe this debut LP as a Marmite piece of work – you either love it or you hate it. That is perfectly understandable with it’s noisy extremes, but we’re happy to admit that we LOVE it! It’s part pop, part hardcore and even part nursery rhyme, doing it all with a power and brilliance never quite seen before, making it schizophrenically mental, but endearingly addictive. The tattooed ex-teacher, Alexis Krauss, became the hottest new singer to appear this year and with her arrived a tidal wave of hype and excitement. It sparked a fire that still burns brightly with every energetic live show they play. It feels like 2010′s extremes wrapped up in one album.
It’s an absolute impossibility for this list to match your own, so please let us know in the comments which albums you agree with and which you think are a glaring omission? One of the best things about these end of year roundups are the debates, so let us hear your opinions.
We can’t conclude without tipping our hats to a few near misses, so congratulations must go to the following bands, whose work was also astonishing, but sadly not quite enough to reach our exclusive top 20. If our mood had slightly shifted or had we simply compiled this on another day then they could have easily been included: Hot Chip – One Life Stand, Mount Kimbie – Crooks & Lovers, Warpaint – The Fool, Oh No ONO – Eggs, Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can, Tame Impala – Innerspeaker, Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles II, Wild Nothing – Gemini, Toro Y Moi – Causers Of This, Beach House – Teen Dream, Kele – Tenderoni, JJ – JJ No.3, Menomena – Mines, blah blah blah…
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