Albums Of The Year 2010

So it’s that time of year again, when everyone starts choosing their favourite works of art of the year. For the last few years I have been pulling my picks together for a magazine run by a friend, and this year will be no different. I think my overall take is that it has been a really, surprisingly good year for music. I say “surprising” because lots of the bands that have been my favourites for the last few years haven’t released records this year (no Thrice, Thursday, Brand New etc.) and yet quite a few newer bands have stepped up and put out records that I have really dug. That said, there are definitely some old hands on the lists too, which I suppose proves that you like what you like! Anyhow, my choices (with rap, as ever, split out from rock) are:

Albums Of The Year:

1) I Was Trying To Describe You To Someone by Crime In Stereo (Bridge Nine)

2) White Crosses by Against Me!!! (Sire / Warner)

3) Chamberlain Waits by The Menzingers (Red Scare)

4) High Violet by The National (4AD)

5) Buzzard by Margot & The Nuclear So-And-So’s (Mariel)

6) My Dinosaur Life by Motion City Soundtrack (Epitaph)

7) This Addiction by Alkaline Trio (Epitaph)

8) Total Life Forever by Foals (Warner Bros.)

9) Invented by Jimmy Eat World (Dreamworks)

10) Symptoms and Cures by Comeback Kid (Victory)

Honourable Mention 1: Treats by Sleigh Bells (Mom & Pop)

Honourable Mention 2: Demos by Matt Skiba (Asian Man)

Honourable Mention 3: Recitation by Envy (Temporary Residence Limited)

Contenders released too late: Varuna by The Republic of Wolves, Disambiguation by UnderOath, What Separates Me From You by A Day To Remember

Rap Albums Of The Year:

1) My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy by Kanye West (Def Jam)

2) Sir Lucious Leftfoot, The Son of Chico Dusty by Big Boi (Def Jam)

3) Thank Me Later by Drake (Cash Money)

4) Man On The Moon II: The Legend of Mr Rager by Kid Cudi (Universal Motown)

5) A Badly Broken Code by Dessa (Doomtree)

EPs Of The Year:

1) To All My Friends… by Atmosphere (Rhymesayers)

2) Farewell Continental by Farewell Continental (Self-released)

3) Never Mind The Bombings, Here’s Your Six Figures by United Nations (Deathwish)

4) Touche Amore / La Dispute Split EP (No Idea)

5) Simple Science EP by The Get Up Kids (Self-released)

Honourable Mention 1: Appendage by Circa Survive (Atlantic)

Honourable Mention 2: The Young and Defenceless by Funeral For A Friend (Self-released)

Favourite Lives Shows Of The Year:

1) Polar Bear Club upstairs at The Garage

2) Funeral For A Friend (Casually Dressed Show) at Shepherd's Bush

3) Jimmy Eat World at Brixton Academy

4) Against Me!!! downstairs at The Garage

5) Motion City Soundtrack at Electric Ballroom

Honourable Mention 1: A Day To Remember / Architects (UK) at Kentish Town Forum

Honourable Mention 2: The Menzingers at The Fighting Cocks, Kingston

Looking across all of the categories, it really does strike me as having been a really strong year. Even the honourable mentions that didn’t make the Top 10 in my albums of the year list are all really strong – Sleigh Bells released what was in many ways the most original, ‘new-sounding’ album I heard, the Matt Skiba demos record was of very high quality and while the album as a whole is a little inconsistent, the best songs on “Recitation” are absolutely stunning. Overall, though, it’s noticeable that in each of the record categories there was just a little something that separated the top two from the rest of the ten, as far as I was concerned. It was hard to decide which should be 1 and which should be 2, but they did pick themselves. The Crime In Stereo and Against Me!!! records are quite different – the CIS one is inventive and inward-looking and stormy whereas AM!!! released a record that by their standards was anthemic and universal in tone. Kanye West’s album was idiosyncratic and hugely experimental whereas Big Boi released a record that deployed a lot of what is traditionally effective about hip-hop in a rock-solid way. And Atmosphere made an EP that’s engrossing but clean and tidy, whereas Farewell Continental write songs that emerge from a haze of fuzz and feedback. However, I love all of the records, and think I’ll still be listening to them once 2010 has expired.