30 Best Albums of 2010
30. New Young Pony Club – The Optimist
A very solid blend of Indie Rock and Synthpop makes provides
a respectable second outing that fits in nicely with the new scene.
Buy Tracks: Lost A Girl
29. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles II
Not like anything else in the alternative dance world, Crystal Castles II
can be almost unlistenable at first, but upon appreciation it’s quite good.
Buy Tracks: Celestia, Baptism
28. Richard In Your Mind – My Volcano
The Sydney lads’ second is out there enough to be a delightful,
original listen, yet keeps enough pop sensibilities to avoid demanding
to much undivided attention to appreciate.
Buy Tracks: Birds
27. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
The strength of the album may dwindle at times, but the highlights
are good enough to keep it going.
Buy Tracks: Swim, Twin Peaks
26. Two Door Cinema Club – Tourist History
Nothing characterises Australian music trends in 2010 quite like Two
Door Cinema Club’s debut of overly happy Indie Pop. Full of tasty hooks
and synthesisers, the Irish lads know how to please the masses.
Buy Tracks: I Can Talk, Undercover Martyn
25. Avey Tare – Down There
A deep, dark and disturbing solo release from Animal Collective member
Avey Tare relives some of the glory from 2009′s Merriweather Post Pavilion
but remains distinctly different.
Buy Tracks: Lucky 1, Laughing Hieroglyphic
24. White Hills – White Hills
Psychedelia has made somewhat of comeback this year, and White Hills’
brand of Psychedelic Space Rock features extensive stereo jams with
thumping bass and guitar laden effects, yet still remains well underground.
Buy Tracks: Let The Right One In, Dead
23. Violent Soho - Violent Soho
Bringing grunge back from relative obscurity since its early 90′s
heyday, Violent Soho’s selftitled semi-debut delivers all the hard-hitting
distortion and screams that made the genre so popular all those years ago.
Buy Tracks: Muscle Junkie, Here Be Dragons
22. Dan Kelly - Dan Kelly’s Dream
Nephew of Australian song legend Paul Kelly, Dan Kelly’s Dream
delivers a distinctly Melbourne psychedelic pop album about life post
departure from his previous band.
Buy Tracks: Bindi Irwin Apocalypse Jam
21. The Vasco Era - Lucille
A rock n’ roll concept album about a stripper named Lucille and her
boyfriend Sam, sees the Vasco Era more polished but with as much
energy as ever.
Buy Tracks: Oh Sam, Rest My Head
20. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devils Tattoo
A new drummer marks new times for BRMC. The blues is still ever present
in their sound, yet in slightly different forms. The album strikes an almost
perfect blend between Howl and Baby 81.
Buy Tracks: Beat the Devil’s Tattoo, Sweet Feeling
19. Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: Son Of Chico Dusty
One half of OutKast, Big Boi, has one of the clearest, fastest flows in modern
Hip Hop, yet what separates him from the rest is that he remains rhythmic.
An album chocked full of guest stars and Big Boi’s friends, the album makes
the wait for the next Outkast album so much more intense.
Buy Tracks: Follow Us, Shutterbug
18. Black Mountain – Wilderness Heart
Hard Rock with, at times, Stoner-esque riffs, Wilderness Heart goes from heavy to,
soft without warning. There are also some surprising harmonies that help secure it
at number 18.
Buy Tracks: Let Spirits Ride, Old Fangs
17. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
The third album from the crew that brought you Funeral and Neon Bible, delves
into the childhood of Win Butler in a look at growing up in, funnily enough,
the suburbs. It’s genre hopping and a lot different to what they’ve done in the past,
but at times doesn’t have the momentum that could have put it a lot higher on the list.
Buy Tracks: Month of May, The Suburbs
16. Yeasayer – Odd Blood
More mainstream than their first, with a lot more vocal melodies that embed
themselves in your head for the rest of the day, the album still retains a somewhat
experimental, soundscape of Psychedelic Pop.
Buy Tracks: Ambling Alp, O.N.E.
15. Dungen – Skit I Allt
For some, singing that doesn’t resemble English can be a bit of a turn off. But
for those who appreciate the music as well as the vocals, Dungen’s 2010 album
is dripping with Swedish Psychedelic Rock good ness.
Buy Tracks: Högdalstoppen, Skit I Allt
14. Delphic – Acolyte
Indie meets Trance when these 3 lads from Manchester get their synths out.
The good thing is that you get the very best from both genres and miss out on
all shit. You can dance to it and you can sing to it. Doing both at the same time
makes for a very sweaty afternoon.
Buy Tracks: Counterpoint, Acolyte
13. My Chemical Romance – Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
The latest concept album from once were Emo heroes, sees them out black and
writing songs that you can sing without being punished.
Buy Tracks: Na Na Na, Planetary (GO!)
12. Wavves – King of the Beach
This album is summer. It’s got the lazy melodies and subject matter. The white noise
of the waves from the beach. The wet processing on the instruments. And a band whose
name is Wavves with a bad rap for smoking an abundance of Cannabis. It’s a good time
to get into them.
Buy Tracks: King of the Beach, Idiot
11. The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?
More experimental than anything they’ve done before, Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? is less
conventional than your average record. Yet like every BJM record, the goal is still the
same, to expand your mind. And this one does it more than all their others.
Buy Tracks: Tempo 116.7 (Reaching for Dangerous Levels of Sobriety), Let’s Go
Fucking Mental
10. MGMT – Congratulations
Nothing like Oracular Spectacular in the sense of no synthpop smash hits,
Congratulations is a much more mature album. It’s Psychedelic Rock, which fits
in better with their live shows, but not so much with their old fans, many of whom
have jumped of the MGMT wagon. Whether a conscious effort or not, the band
have managed to successfully redefine themselves and avoid becoming typecast as
“those Kids kids.”
Buy Tracks: Brian Eno, Flash Delirium
9. Grinderman – Grinderman 2
From the musical powerhouse that is Nick Cave comes the second album from
the group featuring Cave and other musical underground superstars. The
album is intentionally dirty and raw, yet still keeps a sleek polished production.
It’s subtly hilarious, modestly genius and obviously rocking.
Buy Tracks: Heathen Child, Kitchenette
8. The Black Angels – Phosphene Dream
Passing through the haze that surrounded their earlier releases, Phosphene Dream
is a lot clearer with more concrete song structures and melodies. An obvious testament
to all of their 1960′s influences, it uses all the things that made 60′s psychedelia great
and brings it to 2010.
Buy Tracks: Telephone, Bad Vibrations
7. Beach House – Teen Dream
The third album from the Dream Pop pioneers is all about the pace. Each song
goes at the perfect speed to give the intended mood to the listener. When listening,
one can’t help but feel relaxed, content. The harmonies are what gives the album
its character. Alex and Victoria’s voices were clearly intended to work together,
regardless of who’s lead and who’s harmony.
Buy Tracks: Zebra, Take Care
6. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
The biggest surprise of an album in history, Kanye’s My Beautiful gives a unique
insight into one of the most notorious personalities in popular music today.
He goes from arrogant to weak in a heartbeat and as the album progresses, he
let’s loose in a gradual emotional tidal wave. Featuring an all out musical tour de force
in terms of musical guests, the album paves the way for hip hop and pop music in
general to come.
Buy Tracks: Dark Fantasy, Monster, Runaway
5. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
A hazy, ambient, indie rock masterpiece, Halcyon Digest is another band pushing
themselves further with their new releases this year. The album deals with meaningful
subject matter and provides the perfect sounds to take it all in. It’s the perfect
evolution of a band who are slowly making their way into the spotlight.
Buy Tracks: Helicopter, He Would Have Laughed
4. Warpaint – The Fool
A flawless debut from four Art Rock girls form LA who sing otherworldly well
together. The album is sinister and terrifying, yet beautiful and seductive.
And the girls can do more than just sing well, they can really get the best
sounds out of their instruments. If this is them just getting started, I’m scared
of what’s to come.
Buy Tracks: Undertow, Composure
3. Foals – Total Life Forever
On first listen to this album, it comes as a surprise to hear Yannis can really sing.
And really sing well. A remarkable reinvention of themselves since, party album
Antidotes, The continuous rise in intensity of Spanish Sahara could only come from
a band who really know what the hell they’re doing. What’s more remarkable about
Foals though is the way the can completely transform the album in a live setting.
A wholly honest and wholly fresh album that proves these guys are so much greater
than the sum of their parts.
Buy Tracks: Spanish Sahara, Blue Blood
2. Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
Undoubtedly Australia’s best export for the year, Tame Impala’s debut Innerspeaker
has received universal acclaim around the world. Taking the best bits from the 60′s
psychedelia, reshaping it completely and hatching something totally new, the album
creates a unique stereo force that separates mind from body. Fuzz, delay, phase and reverb
are all used a plenty to great effect while the vocals are drenched in effects to help create
the sonic wonderland. At the rate they’re going, they’re the next AC/DC – (in size, not style).
Buy Tracks: Desire Be, Desire Go, Solitude Is Bliss, Jeremy’s Storm
1. These New Puritans – Hidden
Here it is. The best album of the year. Possibly the best album of the past 5 years.
While every other band was re-crafting old musical styles and making them their own,
These New Puritans’ Jack Barnett was creating his own from scratch.
Implementing the use of 6 foot tall, Japanese Taiko drums and a full woodwind section to
create a perfect air of discordance that can only be described as intense.
For the album, Barnett learned how to read and write traditional sheet music notation so
everyone would be able to bring his vision to life. The album also incorporates aspects of foley
sound, such as crushing a watermelon with crackers taped around the outside, (to simulate
the sound of a crushing human head) and creating the sound of a sword being pulled from its
sheath. There’s children’s choirs too. The album creates such an intense feeling in the listener
like nothing else could possibly do. It is without a doubt the most original album since The Beatles’
Revolver or Sgt. Pepper.
Buy Tracks: Don’t buy individual tracks. Buy the whole album.
