Top Albums of 2010

It's that time of year again. The Top Albums of 2010. I'll list of 20-11 then write a little something for 10-1.

First a little background. This year my roommate decided to join me in doing album lists, but this year we would have a rating system. It goes a little something like this:

∑(track 1+...+track N + (N*album)/(2*N).

Or more simply, rank each song and add them up. Rate the album as a whole, taking into account flow, theme, length, etc, then multiply by the number of songs. Add that to the song rankings then divide by twice the number of songs. That way the album rating counts for half of the total rating and individual songs account for half. It's been pretty accurate. Onto the list, with each albums rating next to it.

20) B.o.B – B.o.B. Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray 7.125

19) Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown 7.481

18) Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks 7.523

17) LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening 7.611

16) Broken Bells – Broken Bells 7.675

15) Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma 8.117

14) Good Old War – Good Old War 8.200

13) Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More 8.229

12) The Reign of Kindo – This Is What Happens 8.269

11) The Tallest Man On Earth – The Wild Hunt 8.275

10) Vampire Weekend - Contra 8.450

Vampire Weekend returns with Contra, a wonderful display of pretentious Ivy-League douchebag Baroque-Pop. And it's wonderful. They keep much of the same sprightly pop guitar and vocal combinations from their first album, with an added synth element on many of the tracks.

Some of the standout tracks are "Horchata", "Holiday", and "Giving Up The Gun".

9) Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty 8.467

The wait was worth it! Big Boi’s debut solo album has been a long time coming, trapped in development hell. Some of these tracks have been sitting around since 2004 waiting to be included on the album. Turns out that didn’t hurt it at all. Sir Lucious Left Foot a booty-shakin’, head-bobbin’, foot-stompin’ piece of Southern Hip-Hop mastery. Though it does drag in the middle, the first five tracks and last six tracks are unbelievable. Vintage Big Boi rapping, meaning even if the song is slow Big Boi goes at full speed (“Hustle Blood”). He also loves putting those harmonies in choruses of songs (“Turns Me On”, “The Train part. 2").

The best tracks are “Shutterbugg”, “Fo Yo Sorrows”, “Shine Blockas”, and “Back Up Plan”.

8) Band Of Horses – Infinite Arms 8.542

After leaving the legendary Sub Pop label for pure independence I was excited to see what Band Of Horses would do on Infinite Arms. Well, they kept doing exactly what makes them great, composing great songs with gorgeous instrumentation and vocal harmonies. Their brand of pure American rock is at times serene, at times energetic, and at all times terrific.

The best tracks are “Factory”, “Compliments”, “Laredo”, and “Older”.

7) Arcade Fire – The Suburbs 8.563

Arcade Fire has delivered its masterpiece to us in The Suburbs. The lyrical themes of isolation, abandonment, malaise, and reminiscing a home lost in time burst out of your speakers along with the wonderfully crafted Indie rock behind them. Arcade Fire knows exactly how to captivate their listeners, create lush soundscapes with whatever instruments they happen to be holding, put a driving rhythm behind it and build to a wonderful climax. One reviewer likened it to OK Computer. I agree but for one point. OK Computer was the perfect length. The Suburbs has three completely unnecessary tracks on the back end. They disrupt the flow and add nothing. So unfortunate for an album that would have placed even higher.

Best tracks are “Ready To Start”, “City With No Children”, “Suburban War” and “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”.

6) Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 8.750

Does he know he’s an a-hole? Absolutely. Is he sorry for being an a-hole? Absolutely not. Kanye pulled out all the stops for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, featuring everyone from Bon Iver to Kid Cudi, Rick Ross to John Legend. He even brought in Elton John to sing BACKUPS on “All Of The Lights.” The production is dark but grandiose at times. I didn’t think I would like this album as much as I did, but after multiple listens it just kept growing on me. My one beef with Kanye and MBDTF is some of the guest appearances are just unnecessary. They make the songs drag. So while they sound great, they are just too long. Example, cut Raekwon from “Gorgeous”, cut Rick Ross from “Monster”, and cut Pusha T from “So Appalled”. Boom.

The standout tracks are “All Of The Lights”, “Runaway”, and “Lost In The World”.

5) Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid 8.764

Janelle Monae is, without a doubt, the best female vocalist alive. Better than Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Alicia Keys, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and even Norah Jones. She also happens to be the weirdest of the bunch, with the obvious exception of Gaga. Her 2010 effort, The ArchAndroid, is Suites II and III of a piece called “Metropolis” that she begun on her debut EP, which chronicles the journey and struggles of a messianic android named Cindi Mayweather. Interesting. The musical styles on The ArchAndroid are eclectic and eccentric, accompanied by Monae’s wondrous vocal styling, which is, at all times, effervescent. R&B, Funk, Jazz, Soul, and Pop are all represented wonderfully on this album.

The best tracks are “Cold War”, “Tightrope”, “Neon Valley Street”, and “Say You’ll Go.”

4) The Roots – How I Got Over 8.857

Proving that you don’t need a five million dollar mixing board to make wonderful hip-hop (Lookin’ at you, Kanye), The Roots continue their run of excellence with How I Got Over. This is more of a return to form for the Philadelphia based legends, after Rising Down's dark synth and bass heavy beats, How I Got Over features the return of the (oh so soulful) Fender Rhodes keyboard. The Roots craft a magnificent album with great instrumentals, perfect guest appearances by their favorite underground rappers, Truck North and Dice Raw, all held together by ?uestlove’s relentless drumming, tasteful as ever. The first six tracks are all sequenced into each other, a lost art among recording artists today. The John Legend sample on “Doin’ It Again” is awesome. I could really go on and on about this album. So why isn’t it higher? Horrible ending. The last two tracks are really awful. “Web 20/20” has a nasty glitchy electronic beat and “Hustla” just sounds like a reject track from Rising Down. A poor showing at the end of the album. Otherwise it’s a masterpiece.

3) Gorillaz – Plastic Beach 9.000

Damon Albarn, the mastermind behind Gorillaz, has delivered a landmark record in Plastic Beach. With an even bigger and more varied guest list than Kanye, Plastic Beach features Lou Reed, Mos Def, De La Soul, Snoop Dogg, Sinfonia Viva, Bobby Womack, The National Orchestra For Arabic Music, and the incredible Little Dragon. The guests all buy in fully to Albarn’s musical philosophy and no one seems out of place. Albarn’s compositions are beautiful on each song, from the trip-hop of “Stylo” to the serene in “Empire Ants” to the frenzied in “Glitter Freeze”. All the songs come together to make a truly expansive sound. Plastic Beach is a gem and Albarn’s magnum opus, Gorillaz or otherwise. (Also the only album of the bunch to hit a whole number.)

Standout tracks are “Stylo”, “Superfast Jellyfish”, “Melancholy Hill”, and “To Binge.”

One thing that sets the top few albums from the rest is that the artists creating them actually care about music. They give a crap about what they release. They take an intense amount of time and effort to make their albums perfect. The last two releases on this list are incredible examples of this. There are NO songs on either of these albums that I don’t like. Neither album had any tracks below an 8.5. No other album this year can say that, not even Plastic Beach (one 7.5 and 6.5). Without further ado, here are the top two albums of 2010.

2) The National – High Violet 9.364

The National’s latest release, High Violet, is just another The National release, which means it’s fantastic. Matt Berninger’s baritone vocals and passionate, emotional lyrics are perfect for the compositions created by guitarist Aaron Dessner. The arrangements for each song are incredible. Different parts will come in softly, layering up until the song is something new from what it started as. Each time I listen to High Violet I hear something new, whether it be a subtle brass accompaniment in “Afraid Of Everyone” or keyboard backing in “Conversation 16”, which features Richard Reed Parry of Arcade Fire. The National are incredible musicians, and High Violet is just another example of that proven fact.

The best tracks are “Terrible Love”, “Bloodbuzz Ohio”, and “England.”

1) Local Natives – Gorilla Manor 9.688

From the get-go of “Wide Eyes” I knew Gorilla Manor was going to be special. It wasn’t until I listened to it a few more times that I knew how special it would be. Local Natives take the utmost care in crafting their music, evidenced by the fact that nearly every lyric sung is sung in perfect three part harmony. They’ve put a tremendous amount of work into Gorilla Manor, but they never sound pretentious (Animal Collective) or heavy handed (Grizzly Bear). Local Natives just sound like they’re having a great time playing great music. And, boy, is it great. I could go song by song for the whole album, but I’ll stick to the two best. “Wide Eyes” has wonderful guitar interplay in the intro. The bass actually plays the climactic riff during the intro, but its subtle enough that you don’t notice it fully. The drums are clickety clackety-ing along throughout, which works perfectly for the driving guitar lines. After the bridge another verse without drums builds up to the climax with a thunderous riff obviously played by a student of the Radiohead songbook. “Who Knows Who Cares” is the best track on the album, featuring gorgeous harmony in the chorus, a rip-roaring guitar riff toward the end, and the drummer thundering along with no regard for human life in the second verse. The jam at the end is wonderfully epic, all the instruments playing like there’s no tomorrow, joined by the voices in wonderful harmony to close out the song and bring the musical climax of Gorilla Manor to a close. I can’t believe I missed Local Natives at ACL.

Other great tracks are “Sun Hands”, “World News”, “Cubism Dream.”

Thanks for reading!