My top 10 of 2010.
As seen on my facebook, I'm going to mark my top albums of 2010 by linking in video clips from my favourite songs on the albums. You gotta love YouTube; it'll either have an offical clip, a fan-made clip or, if need be, make one yourself! It's a great way of raising musical awareness...
#10 - Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
My top 10 of 2010 - #10. Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues. Now, I've heard this album get a lot of flak for being 'made for NPR' but, that's missing that JTE has found his voice. Moving north and south of the Mason-Dixon line, this is a southern sounding album about New York, an eastern rocker about the south. His most mature work yet. Rich and rounded.
#9 - Giant Sand - Blurry Blue Mountains
My top 10 of 2010 - #9. Giant Sand - Blurry Blue Mountains. Howie Gelb has always been a miserable old bastard, but I guess his turning 50 last year officially allowed him to make his most delightfully miserable old bastard album yet. And I love it. World-weary, world-wise, smart and smart-arse; a gritty, funny, funky look at getting older and learning from experience...
#8 - Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
This album feels, to me, like an 80s Flying Nun release filtered through 1990s alt-rock, 2000s alt-country and modern production, then washed back through the drainpipe to get something muddy yet pure out the other end. Interesting, loveable; don't know if it'll last beyond the hype, however.
#7 - Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul
To quote Wikipedia, "Dark night of the soul is a metaphor used to describe a phase in a person's spiritual life, marked by a sense of loneliness and desolation." And this is the soundtrack. It's a harrowing album, made worse by the suicide of Mark Linkous (aka Sparklehorse) and also Vic Chesnutt (who featured on one track on the album). But, like many harrowing things, the beauty and life shines through the other side to make this an incredibly rewarding musical experience.
#6 - Karen Elson - The Ghost That Walks
My top 10 of 2010 - #6. Karen Elson - The Ghost That Walks. Look, ignore the Jack White connection, ignore the artifice of the videos, just get the fuck out there and get hold of this lovely, gritty, grungy, twangy alt-country masterpiece. This album is a keeper.
#5 - The Pineapple Thief - Someone Here Is Missing
Okay, time to get proggy. Who said heartbreak wasn't a good thing? Bruce Soord's relationship ending was undoubtedly an awful thing for him, as such would be for us all, but then he came out with this, The Pineapple Thief's most rounded, accessible, blisteringly brilliant thing yet.
#4 - Anika Moa - Love In Motion
Thanks to Simon Sweetman for giving me the heads up on this album; I'd almost forgotten about Anika Moa despite her great run of earlier albums. But this one. Wow. This is what love sounds like. Desperate, yearning, joyful, fulfilled. It spoke to me a lot in 2010, this song in particular.
#3 - The National - High Violet
I found it hard to get into this album. It seemed almost deliberately to be challenging, to dare the fans the band found with Boxer to keep holding on through the murk and haze.I find it odd that this, The National's most dense, challenging album since their debut, has become their breakout album. But, hey, I'm not a hipster who hates other people finding and loving the bands I love. And this dark, troubled, worried album deserves respect. Because between the clouds, the fog lifts and the songs reveal themselves to be full of insight and joy.
#2 - Strand of Oaks - Pope Killdragon
Never heard of this band (well, solo artist) until eMusic tipped me to give them a listen to this album, initially an eMusic only release. And wow. Neil Young meets dissolute wastrel, tied into a metaphor of religion and dead presidents, an album with wonderful flow and feeling. And this song.... wow.
#1 - Oceansize - Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up
Perhaps once a year I get blown away by an album by a band I've never heard of, that opens me up to their brilliance and their back catalogue. In 2009 it was The Decemberists, this year it was Oceansize. This album, from murky dirty metal depths through to atmospheric heights has been so very rewarding. And this song, the fourth track on the album, shows how majestic and beautiful they can be. They should be huge.
And that's it. My favourite albums of 2010. What were yours?
#10 - Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
My top 10 of 2010 - #10. Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues. Now, I've heard this album get a lot of flak for being 'made for NPR' but, that's missing that JTE has found his voice. Moving north and south of the Mason-Dixon line, this is a southern sounding album about New York, an eastern rocker about the south. His most mature work yet. Rich and rounded.
Click to view#9 - Giant Sand - Blurry Blue Mountains
My top 10 of 2010 - #9. Giant Sand - Blurry Blue Mountains. Howie Gelb has always been a miserable old bastard, but I guess his turning 50 last year officially allowed him to make his most delightfully miserable old bastard album yet. And I love it. World-weary, world-wise, smart and smart-arse; a gritty, funny, funky look at getting older and learning from experience...
#8 - Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
This album feels, to me, like an 80s Flying Nun release filtered through 1990s alt-rock, 2000s alt-country and modern production, then washed back through the drainpipe to get something muddy yet pure out the other end. Interesting, loveable; don't know if it'll last beyond the hype, however.
#7 - Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse - Dark Night Of The Soul
To quote Wikipedia, "Dark night of the soul is a metaphor used to describe a phase in a person's spiritual life, marked by a sense of loneliness and desolation." And this is the soundtrack. It's a harrowing album, made worse by the suicide of Mark Linkous (aka Sparklehorse) and also Vic Chesnutt (who featured on one track on the album). But, like many harrowing things, the beauty and life shines through the other side to make this an incredibly rewarding musical experience.
#6 - Karen Elson - The Ghost That Walks
My top 10 of 2010 - #6. Karen Elson - The Ghost That Walks. Look, ignore the Jack White connection, ignore the artifice of the videos, just get the fuck out there and get hold of this lovely, gritty, grungy, twangy alt-country masterpiece. This album is a keeper.
#5 - The Pineapple Thief - Someone Here Is Missing
Okay, time to get proggy. Who said heartbreak wasn't a good thing? Bruce Soord's relationship ending was undoubtedly an awful thing for him, as such would be for us all, but then he came out with this, The Pineapple Thief's most rounded, accessible, blisteringly brilliant thing yet.
#4 - Anika Moa - Love In Motion
Thanks to Simon Sweetman for giving me the heads up on this album; I'd almost forgotten about Anika Moa despite her great run of earlier albums. But this one. Wow. This is what love sounds like. Desperate, yearning, joyful, fulfilled. It spoke to me a lot in 2010, this song in particular.
#3 - The National - High Violet
I found it hard to get into this album. It seemed almost deliberately to be challenging, to dare the fans the band found with Boxer to keep holding on through the murk and haze.I find it odd that this, The National's most dense, challenging album since their debut, has become their breakout album. But, hey, I'm not a hipster who hates other people finding and loving the bands I love. And this dark, troubled, worried album deserves respect. Because between the clouds, the fog lifts and the songs reveal themselves to be full of insight and joy.
#2 - Strand of Oaks - Pope Killdragon
Never heard of this band (well, solo artist) until eMusic tipped me to give them a listen to this album, initially an eMusic only release. And wow. Neil Young meets dissolute wastrel, tied into a metaphor of religion and dead presidents, an album with wonderful flow and feeling. And this song.... wow.
#1 - Oceansize - Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up
Perhaps once a year I get blown away by an album by a band I've never heard of, that opens me up to their brilliance and their back catalogue. In 2009 it was The Decemberists, this year it was Oceansize. This album, from murky dirty metal depths through to atmospheric heights has been so very rewarding. And this song, the fourth track on the album, shows how majestic and beautiful they can be. They should be huge.
And that's it. My favourite albums of 2010. What were yours?