My Favourite Albums of 2010

First, here are some albums that did not make the list:

• The Daniel Lanois produced Neil Young album had enormous potential but fell short of greatness.
• I have to admit that I never listened to the new Kanye West album. No real desire to listen to all of Vampire Weekend either, though I did like their album artwork, that they later lost a lot of money over.
• Critically acclaimed albums of newer artists that I scrambled to listen to at the end of the year. Either they were not that impressionable to me or I simply did not have enough plays/time to realize just how great they were. Beach House, Tame Impala, LCD Soundsystem, Titus Andronicus, etc.
• Old favorites, but nothing special this time. David Gray, Kings of Leon, Frightened Rabbit, Black Mountain, Interpol, etc.

Next post I will present twenty of my favourite tracks of the year. And without further ado, here are my top eight albums of 2010

8. 
   the national - high violet

   Very distinct vocals. Catchy songs.

7. 
   junip - fields

   I heard this album for the first time an hour ago. And yet it ranks high on the list because it is an instant classic, or at least will be part of my permanent rotation. The band brings much needed tempo and energy to the one thing that limited Jose Gonzalez's solo appeal - he could lull you to sleep. While still not abrasive, or adrenaline pumping, it is a noticeable improvement. The full band sounds outer worldly and rooted in your being at the same time. Cool album artwork is a plus.

6. 
   ryan adams & the cardinals - cardinals iii/iv

   Prolific artist Adams releases a double album CD. However, the twenty-one tracks only take sixty some minutes, noticeably shorter than most of Adams' songs. The album is more rock than alt/country and recorded in 2006, during the same time the album Easy Tiger was recorded. It is growing on me with each listen. An interesting quote:

   “

   ...the sessions would mark the first time that Adams had been sober since he was fifteen years-old.

   Prior to the album's release in late 2010, drummer Brad Pemberton stated: "Coming off Cold Roses and Jacksonville City Nights, I wasn’t expecting this. A flurry of rock songs written by a man who had made some big changes in his life and was owning up to some mistakes. There is a hopefulness and renewed lust for life in these lyrics, and that inspired what I think is some of the best songs we ever recorded. I don’t often listen to the records we made, but over the past four years, I’ve indulged myself with these songs, and I'm so happy they are finally going to be heard. The bulk of these tunes were done in just a few days at Electric Lady, where Ryan had been holed up for a while writing and recording....

   ”

5. 
   arcade fire - the suburbs

   A good album. Probably very good. However I liked the concept/pop-rock album Neon Bible a lot more than the uber uber indie concept album Funeral. The suburbs contains a few straightforward songs like We Used to Wait, the Abba inspired Sprawl II and Modern Man. But as a whole, it ventures back toward the uber concept album realm.

4. 
   spoon - transference

   A day to day mystery to me - do I love the album, do I hate it? A bit of both. Enough questioning to make it break the list though.

3. 
   broken bells - broken bells

   The mix of The Shins frontman James Mercer and Danger Mouse is an interesting idea and works out for the most. Some nice singles and hooks. Better than The Shins? No. Well apples to oranges. But very good.

2. 
   mumford and sons - sigh no more*

   I first saw and heard Mumford and Sons play The Cave on Jimmy Fallon and was blown away by the opening riff, the lyrics, the musicianship and heartfelt nature of the band.

   *released in the UK in late 2009, but not until February 2010 in the US

1. 
   black keys - brothers

   A consistently great record from start to finish. Bluesy, catchy, full of energy and depression at the same time. So much sound from two guys. Will have you singing along.

   As good as the duo of the White Stripes are, they can seem like a two person band, while the Black Keys can seem like they have more sound then can come from two guys - a drummer that looks like Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords and a bearded true howlin bluesmen - just a really great record.