2010 Albums and Songs of the Year
I know we discussed this under Susan’s post but I thought the music derserved it’s own post (also, Susan’s post was on December 2, which is way too early!).
This was a bit of a strange year in music, in my opinion. It saw the continued fracturing of rock and pop into even more sub-genres, which has been going on for quite a while, but there was an interesting rise of new folk music into the mainstream. This was best exemplified this year by the success of bands like Mumford and Sons, Delta Spirit, Broken Records and, to some extent, Arcade Fire. It has been happening for some time, as is evidenced by great albums in previous years by Augustana, Robert Plant and even Kings of Leon with their rootsy southern sound. I don’t know what to think of this trend, but I like it, as you’ll see from looking at my list.
You’ll note that I don’t have a lot of diverse musical styles on my list this year, and maybe that reflects bad judgment on my part but there just wasn’t anything in hip-hop or electronica that really captured my attention this year. A lot of love went to Kanye West and LCD Soundsystem in the media, but those albums just aren’t my thang, so I’ll leave them to those that truly love them and just tell you about the ones I’m really listening to.
I’m calling this post “Albums and Songs of the Year” because people don’t necessarily even buy music by the album anymore. It may already be dead as an art form, even though artists clearly seem to be still bent on releasing their music in album format.
Anyway, here are my picks, as usual in no particular order:
The National: High Violet
The Black Keys: Brothers
Broken Records: Let Me Come Home
The Flaws: Constant Adventure
Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
Broken Bells: Broken Bells
Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More
Delta Spirit: History From Below
Rogue Wave:
Kings of Leon: Come Around Sundown
Posted on December 30, 2010, in Music and tagged best of 2010, Music. Bookmark the permalink. 14 Comments.
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I should also say that there were a lot of albums that I considered strongly for this list but which I didn’t put on only because I wanted to limit it to ten. Spoon’s album Transference is probably the strongest of these.
I’ve been posting my songs of the year one at a time over at my personal blog. Here’s my list:
Midlake – Rulers, Ruling All Things
Local Natives – Sun Hands
Dax Riggs – Say Goodnight to the World
Alcest – Écailles De Lune (part I)
Laurie Anderson – Another Day in America
Josh Ritter – Change of Time
Dillon Warnek – The Neighbors Were At It Again
The National – Sorrow
Ted Leo – One Polaroid A Day
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Fright Night (Nevermore)
Not really in any particular order.
Some great songs on that list, Susan. Josh Ritter is a long-time favorite of mine and, though I don’t love Midlake’s type of music, I do recognize their talent. I’m kinda surprised you picked “Sorrow” off the National album. What is it you like about that song in particular?
It wallows in cheesy sadness.
That sounds right.
Seems to me that there are a lot of sad songs on your list. Is that intentional?
No, I just gravitate towards sad stuff. Always have; as a kid I’d mope around singing “Feelings.”
Awesome.
I was wondering if you had an opinion about all the new folkie stuff happening right now. Why do you think we’re seeing so much of that?
The folkie stuff has been going on for years in the indie scene. It’s just now catching on in the mainstream, I guess.
I’m not sure where it started. There was a lo-fi movement in the late 90s/early 00s with artists like Songs:Ohia and the Mountain Goats, etc.
I think Neutral Milk Hotel has been hugely influential to a lot of the folkie indie bands of the late 90s/early 00s, too.
Or maybe everyone just discovered The Anthology of American Folk Music at the same time.
I think Belle and Sebastian also play a large part in the love of folky stuff.
I think you’re both right. But it seems like just recently something new happened, because the folk scene has exploded into the mainstream. I don’t know if there were so many bands doing this kind of music that it just reached a critical mass, or if it was just the quality of some of the bands that have come along recently, but something changed.
Personally, I blame Robert Plant.
Of course, Uncle Tupelo and their alt-country brethren were mining the Anthology way back in the early nineties.
True enough, Greg.
No comments, arguments, or threats against my life on this list? Are you all still hung over from New Year’s rockin’ eve? If I get no comments I’ll just assume I nailed it and these are the top albums and songs of the year. Your opportunity to protest is ticking away…
As I’ve said elsewhere, Spoon’s Transference should rate higher.
New Pornographers, Together should be included.
Although it’s old music, Springsteen’s The Promise is all previously unreleased and mostly great.
Those are all strong picks, Greg. I wrote about how much I liked the Spoon album right after it came out. I also like the Springsteen album a lot. I just didn’t put it on this list because it wasn’t really new, but it’s very good.