The Tracklist's Top 20 Albums of 2010

It seems like just yesterday I was ranking the best albums of 2009 and here we are again. Last year's list was a tall task. I had just started this blog in July '09 and had a very broad idea of what I wanted to do here. This year I felt I was able to hone in on the genre and overall feel of the music I wanted to cover; thereby leading to a much clearer year-end list.

Without any further ado, here are my Top 20 Albums of 2010.


20. Sleigh Bells - Treats


19. Matt & Kim - Sidewalks


18. Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love


17. She & Him - Volume Two


16. Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP


15. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms


14. The Morning Benders - Big Echo


13. Best Coast - Crazy For You


12. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz


11. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach


10. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening


9. The Black Keys - Brothers


8. Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life


7. Weezer - Hurley


6. Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard


5. The Drums - The Drums


4. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy


3. Vampire Weekend - Contra


2. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs


1. Beach House - Teen Dream

Sufjan Stevens "The Age of Adz"

Sufjan's second release of 2010 after All Delighted People in August (read about it here). I really liked that record but The Age of Adz is something else entirely. I'll be the first to admit I don't know all the nuances of Electronica -- at times the bleeps and bloops just seem random -- but if Sufjan loses the listener in places, he never loses himself. Yes, this album is rife with experimentation but you can still hear Sufjan's orchestration. As a composer, his songs are always building, building, building. He does lose some of the intimacy he shared on previous records but the melodies continue. And I must mention 25 minute closer "Impossible Soul". It is a symphony unto itself featuring movements, themes, and a storyline all it's own.

Must hear: Too Much

(Release Date: 10/12/10)

Mike Posner "31 Minutes to Takeoff"

Someone I work with has been asking for this review for awhile. He likes Mike Posner's back story of how he was recording demos in his dorm room and got signed to a major label and then just blew up.

By now everyone should have heard his worldwide hit "Cooler Than Me". Lyrically, the rest of the album is quite similar to this track. It almost acts as a diary of his college experiences. Musically, the record covers a variety of sounds and influences. However -- amazingly -- at no point does it seem like it is covering new ground.

Must hear: Cooler Than Me

(Release Date: 8/10/10)

Girls "Broken Dreams Club EP"

Girls released their debut album late last year and it earned a lot of praise from a lot of people (including me). While we all eagerly await Album #2, Girls has whet our appetite with this 6-song EP entitled Broken Dreams Club. You can tell immediately from the similar album cover that it won't be deviating far from its predecessor.

While there are certainly some similarities, this is a great step forward. You can sense a different production value about it. Much more instrumentation on these tracks -- a wider array of sounds and textures. Lead singer Christopher Owens sounds more confident as a musician and songwriter, while still crafting lyrics that charmingly lack confidence. This small glimpse shows that Girls is on the right path and it certainly raises the bar for what their second full-length could accomplish.

Must hear: Heartbreaker

(Release Date: 11/22/10)

N.E.R.D. "Nothing"

N.E.R.D. is well beyond the stage in their careers where they sell 100,000 records in one week. They're past the initial lovefest when everyone is jumping on their bandwagon as the next great thing. Truth be told, the hope for this group was always based on Pharrell and Chad Hugo's production skills as The Neptunes. But then the world heard Pharrell's falsetto and girls everywhere swooned and people mistook popularity for quality.

Of course the adoration wasn't completely undeserved. In Search Of... is one of the greatest debut albums ever and Fly or Die had a huge hit in "She Wants to Move". But then Pharrell went down the solo path recording with Snoop Dogg ("Beautiful") and putting out his own album. When the boys got back together 4 years later there was no longer a market for them.

Nothing has kind of an old-timey feel to it. Could be an interesting concept when done correctly but with these guys you expect groundbreaking and this is far from it.

Must hear: Hot-n-Fun (f. Nelly Furtado)

(Release Date: 11/2/10)

Kanye West "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" (ADVANCE)

It's amazing how regardless of the shit storm Kanye has been in throughout this past year it always comes back to the music. And order is restored. And all is forgiven.

First and foremost -- lest this be forgotten -- Kanye is an artist. He's creative, quirky, crazy. But these are the tools he uses to create his art. And what's nice about it is that it's not just still life; it's performance art. He doesn't just rap his verses, he lives them. And he is exactly who we want him to be. Which is to say that the bravado, the cockiness, is justified because of the end result. It's unfair not to take the good with the bad as they both make him who he is.

Let's talk about Taylor Swift. Fully knowing it's only the MTV VMA's, how can she win the Best Female Video category and Beyonce win the overall Best Video category? C'est impossible. Kanye was drunk, yes. Kanye is bff's w/ Jay & B, yes. Taylor Swift is "an innocent", yes. BUT THIS IS KANYE. Nothing he does should surprise us because he's been up front about it the whole time. Check out this line from "Stronger":
"You should be honored by my lateness / That I would even show up to this fake shit / So go ahead go nuts, go ape shit."

He's saying that to paying customers at his concert! He doesn't give a fuck about us as a consumer, only as fans. He's all about the music and he just wants us to focus on his music and let him do whatever he needs to that keeps letting that creativity come out.

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But let's get to the task at hand. "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" is very G.O.O.D. (See what I did there?) Even though only the clean/edited version has leaked it really doesn't feel lacking except for a few key spots where some adult language is missing.

I went in expecting it to be overkill hearing songs that he already released as G.O.O.D. Friday tracks. They weren't singles played on the radio but they had heavy rotation on my iPod. The big surprise is that most of them are different mixes and have either little tweaks ("Monster") or an extra verse ("Devil in a New Dress") or a 3 minute outro ("Runaway"). They really freshen up the songs and keep you wanting to come back and study them even more sonically and lyrically.

Must hear: Runaway (f. Pusha T)

(Release Date: 11/22)

The Drums "The Drums"

The Drums have been getting a lot of buzz as one of the best new bands of the year. They have a very distinct guitar pop sound. It's almost a social experiment, in a sense. The crunching of the guitars overwhelm our senses because we are so accustomed to -- and even expect -- lighter sounding pop songs. It's a rebellion against the pre-packaged B.S. the major labels release and radio stations play, and it is a desperately needed breath of fresh air.

But lyrically it's pop through and through. Catchy little songs with numerous repetitions to get stuck in your head. But again, you can't assume the lyrics are soft because of the "pop" label. The opening line of the album is, "You're my best friend but then you died." This should tell you everything you need to know about what The Drums are trying to accomplish.

Must hear: Me and the Moon

(Release Date: 6/7/10)