music.
My top 10 albums of 2010! I promised this post and net has been rough lately, so it took a bit to upload these. Comment/discuss if you're taking! Or whatever! I put a sad amount of effort into this. Even if it's not your music taste (too mainstream, not mainstream enough) appreciate the fact that I am the queen of useless coding. and, uh free music? Also, these are clean torrented CDs. I own some of them but didn't feel like ... ripping CDs ...
If you know me, most of these will be obvious right away kekekeke
01. PLASTIC BEACH
Gorillaz
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The first time I ever heard this album in its entirety, like listened all the way through, my toes were curling. I heard "Stylo" back in the spring and used to play it for my Painting II class in the afternoons, which I don't think they really enjoyed. I've been a fan of the Gorillaz since their first album almost 10 years ago, and I credit it with being the album that made me realize that not all music was Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. I don't really involve myself in the fandom like a lot of Gorillaz fans do, but this might replace their debut with my favorite. That says a lot. It's such an ecletic treat -- Snoop Dogg and Lou Reed on the same album.
02. THE ARCHANDROID
Janelle Monáe
DOWNLOAD
I was a fan of Janelle before I heard her music; I read an interview with her and she intrigued me, so I sought out her music. I was not disappointed. The ArchAndroid is a concept album and it could've gone so bad if not handled brilliantly. Everything, from the story included with the CD, to the cover art could've been pretentious or really weak, but it strikes the perfect perfect balance of concept with damn good music. It's fun to dance to, fun to blast, but also makes me go, "I want to be her when I grow up."
03. TREATS
Sleigh Bells
DOWNLOAD
This album is pretty much a great surprise! I'm not a huge fan of noise pop in this vein; it's a bit much, and the first time I heard "Infinity Guitars", for the first 20 seconds at least, I thought it was obnoxious. But it's weird: by the end of the song, I was in love. "Infinity Guitars" is my favorite, in an album of favorites. It starts out kind of slow, kind of like it's building up and true to form, at around 1:52, the song just explodes. It's the album in a nutshell: it explodes on you.
04. GO
Jónsi
DOWNLOAD
This album makes my heart feel full, if that's not too weird. "Go Do" will forever remind me of that one summer morning where I went walking after it had rained all night and I went around my neighborhood, looking at the trees shrouded in mist, sunlight coming through the branches and looped "Go Do" and cried most of the walk. Life felt hopeful. This entire album is beautiful, but "Go Do" is the first song I heard & it's like the flagship of the album. There's this one part in the song ... around 3:00, where the percussion stops, it's just the music and words, then at 3:36, nothing but his voice for about ten seconds before the percussion starts back in, and it's this delicious sweet spot.
05. SIGH NO MORE
Mumford & Sons
DOWNLOAD
Everyone fell in love with them this year, including me. Nominated for a Grammy next to Justin Beiber! What a dubious honor. There's something haunting and beautiful about this album and a lot of the power in it lies in the lyrics, at least for me. "Blank White Page" and "The Cave" are my favorites simply on lyrics alone and the words to "Blank White Page" are simple but the ... passion in which they're sung give weight. That's the best part and what makes this entire work come out to me as so brilliant.
06. MIIKE SNOW
Miike Snow
DOWNLOAD
I wasn't even into them the first time I heard them! But this album morphed into one of those rare albums where it is near impossible for me to pick a favorite. It has my top single of the entire year of 2010, which is "Black and Blue". "Black and Blue" came out at the right time in my life; it will forever remind me of spring break and warm days, and "Burial" sums up thoughts and feelings lately in a depressing way. Same album, polar opposite reactions to songs.
07. BROTHERS
The Black Keys
DOWNLOAD
This was the first album I heard by the Black Keys and man, was it such a good discovery. I know they're getting all big and grown up and got nominated for a Grammy, but it's incredibly well-deserved. "Tighten Up" is apparently the going favorite for everyone, and it's a good song, but there are so many better ones: "Next Girl", "Everlasting Light", "Ten Cent Pistol", "She's Long Gone". This isn't an album that grew on me -- I loved it from first listen.
08. THE SUBURBS
Arcade Fire
DOWNLOAD
I was talking to octokiss about this album when it came out, and we both came to the conclusion that it makes you feel nostalgic for something maybe you haven't experienced. I was raised in a rural area, but I can feel life and memories in this. Win Butler described the album as, "neither a love letter to, nor an indictment of, the suburbs - it's a letter from the suburbs." Incidentally, it's the album that made me like Arcade Fire, who I ignored mostly. I went back and listened to older albums like "Funeral" and I honestly don't know how I didn't love them before.
09. ODD BLOOD
Yeasayer
DOWNLOAD
All Hour Cymbals is a good album; Odd Blood is better. Odd Blood was my first exposure to Yeasayer, so maybe I'm partial, but the first time I heard "Rome", I was in another room and heard it on internet radio on my laptop. I ran to my computer to see what in the hell this good stuff was. "O.N.E." was one of my favorite songs of the summer, and "Ambling Alp" was my favorite song to listen to on cold winter mornings for weeks. There's so much about this that I dig: Chris Keating's voice, the experimentation with different genres; it's like layers of good music.
10. WORDS WORDS WORDS
Bo Burnham
DOWNLOAD
Whoa, surprise! Even though it's comedy, it is a music album and man, I don't even like anything like this, but Bo has a special place in my heart. For one, it's scathingly funny and another, it's this weird mixture of nerdy, subtle word-play and really low-brow humor. I, of course, had the good fortune of seeing him perform live in November and he can put on a hilarious and fantastic show.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
M.I.A. ; /\/\/\Y/\
Big Boi ; Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
Beach House ; Teen Dream
Robyn ; Body Talk Pt.1
Cee Lo Green ; The Lady Killer
Spoon ; Transference
Massive Attack ; Heligoland
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings ; I Learned The Hard Way
Local Natives ; Gorilla Manor
Band of Horses ; Infinite Arms
Vampire Weekend ; Contra
Dr. Dog ; Shame, Shame
Delorean ; Subiza
John Legend & the Roots ; Wake Up!
Laura Marling ; I Speak Because I Can
Goldfrapp ; Head First
I feel like Joanna Newsom's Have One on Me should be on here, but I haven't actually listened to most of it yet I'm saving it rofl or Rasputina's Sister Kinderhook, but I haven't listened to that one at all, worst Rasputina fan ever. ANYWAY it's neither here nor there and no point in discussing it, but I felt I needed a disclaimer.
yeorim put up a radically different and totally amazing list the other day. It so deserves a link :D
If you know me, most of these will be obvious right away kekekeke
01. PLASTIC BEACH
Gorillaz
DOWNLOAD
The first time I ever heard this album in its entirety, like listened all the way through, my toes were curling. I heard "Stylo" back in the spring and used to play it for my Painting II class in the afternoons, which I don't think they really enjoyed. I've been a fan of the Gorillaz since their first album almost 10 years ago, and I credit it with being the album that made me realize that not all music was Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears. I don't really involve myself in the fandom like a lot of Gorillaz fans do, but this might replace their debut with my favorite. That says a lot. It's such an ecletic treat -- Snoop Dogg and Lou Reed on the same album.
02. THE ARCHANDROID
Janelle Monáe
DOWNLOAD
I was a fan of Janelle before I heard her music; I read an interview with her and she intrigued me, so I sought out her music. I was not disappointed. The ArchAndroid is a concept album and it could've gone so bad if not handled brilliantly. Everything, from the story included with the CD, to the cover art could've been pretentious or really weak, but it strikes the perfect perfect balance of concept with damn good music. It's fun to dance to, fun to blast, but also makes me go, "I want to be her when I grow up."
03. TREATS
Sleigh Bells
DOWNLOAD
This album is pretty much a great surprise! I'm not a huge fan of noise pop in this vein; it's a bit much, and the first time I heard "Infinity Guitars", for the first 20 seconds at least, I thought it was obnoxious. But it's weird: by the end of the song, I was in love. "Infinity Guitars" is my favorite, in an album of favorites. It starts out kind of slow, kind of like it's building up and true to form, at around 1:52, the song just explodes. It's the album in a nutshell: it explodes on you.
04. GO
Jónsi
DOWNLOAD
This album makes my heart feel full, if that's not too weird. "Go Do" will forever remind me of that one summer morning where I went walking after it had rained all night and I went around my neighborhood, looking at the trees shrouded in mist, sunlight coming through the branches and looped "Go Do" and cried most of the walk. Life felt hopeful. This entire album is beautiful, but "Go Do" is the first song I heard & it's like the flagship of the album. There's this one part in the song ... around 3:00, where the percussion stops, it's just the music and words, then at 3:36, nothing but his voice for about ten seconds before the percussion starts back in, and it's this delicious sweet spot.
05. SIGH NO MORE
Mumford & Sons
DOWNLOAD
Everyone fell in love with them this year, including me. Nominated for a Grammy next to Justin Beiber! What a dubious honor. There's something haunting and beautiful about this album and a lot of the power in it lies in the lyrics, at least for me. "Blank White Page" and "The Cave" are my favorites simply on lyrics alone and the words to "Blank White Page" are simple but the ... passion in which they're sung give weight. That's the best part and what makes this entire work come out to me as so brilliant.
06. MIIKE SNOW
Miike Snow
DOWNLOAD
I wasn't even into them the first time I heard them! But this album morphed into one of those rare albums where it is near impossible for me to pick a favorite. It has my top single of the entire year of 2010, which is "Black and Blue". "Black and Blue" came out at the right time in my life; it will forever remind me of spring break and warm days, and "Burial" sums up thoughts and feelings lately in a depressing way. Same album, polar opposite reactions to songs.
07. BROTHERS
The Black Keys
DOWNLOAD
This was the first album I heard by the Black Keys and man, was it such a good discovery. I know they're getting all big and grown up and got nominated for a Grammy, but it's incredibly well-deserved. "Tighten Up" is apparently the going favorite for everyone, and it's a good song, but there are so many better ones: "Next Girl", "Everlasting Light", "Ten Cent Pistol", "She's Long Gone". This isn't an album that grew on me -- I loved it from first listen.
08. THE SUBURBS
Arcade Fire
DOWNLOAD
I was talking to octokiss about this album when it came out, and we both came to the conclusion that it makes you feel nostalgic for something maybe you haven't experienced. I was raised in a rural area, but I can feel life and memories in this. Win Butler described the album as, "neither a love letter to, nor an indictment of, the suburbs - it's a letter from the suburbs." Incidentally, it's the album that made me like Arcade Fire, who I ignored mostly. I went back and listened to older albums like "Funeral" and I honestly don't know how I didn't love them before.
09. ODD BLOOD
Yeasayer
DOWNLOAD
All Hour Cymbals is a good album; Odd Blood is better. Odd Blood was my first exposure to Yeasayer, so maybe I'm partial, but the first time I heard "Rome", I was in another room and heard it on internet radio on my laptop. I ran to my computer to see what in the hell this good stuff was. "O.N.E." was one of my favorite songs of the summer, and "Ambling Alp" was my favorite song to listen to on cold winter mornings for weeks. There's so much about this that I dig: Chris Keating's voice, the experimentation with different genres; it's like layers of good music.
10. WORDS WORDS WORDS
Bo Burnham
DOWNLOAD
Whoa, surprise! Even though it's comedy, it is a music album and man, I don't even like anything like this, but Bo has a special place in my heart. For one, it's scathingly funny and another, it's this weird mixture of nerdy, subtle word-play and really low-brow humor. I, of course, had the good fortune of seeing him perform live in November and he can put on a hilarious and fantastic show.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
M.I.A. ; /\/\/\Y/\
Big Boi ; Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
Beach House ; Teen Dream
Robyn ; Body Talk Pt.1
Cee Lo Green ; The Lady Killer
Spoon ; Transference
Massive Attack ; Heligoland
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings ; I Learned The Hard Way
Local Natives ; Gorilla Manor
Band of Horses ; Infinite Arms
Vampire Weekend ; Contra
Dr. Dog ; Shame, Shame
Delorean ; Subiza
John Legend & the Roots ; Wake Up!
Laura Marling ; I Speak Because I Can
Goldfrapp ; Head First
I feel like Joanna Newsom's Have One on Me should be on here, but I haven't actually listened to most of it yet I'm saving it rofl or Rasputina's Sister Kinderhook, but I haven't listened to that one at all, worst Rasputina fan ever. ANYWAY it's neither here nor there and no point in discussing it, but I felt I needed a disclaimer.
yeorim put up a radically different and totally amazing list the other day. It so deserves a link :D