Best Albums of 2010

>I have compiled my list for the best albums released in 2010!  I hope you enjoy!

25. Romance Is Boring – Los Campesinos!
24. Infinite Arms – Band of Horses
23. Heaven Is Whenever – The Hold Steady
22. Transference – Spoon
21. Total Life Forever – Foals
20. Plastic Beach – Gorillaz
19. Treats -Sleigh Bells
18. The Monitor – Titus Andronicus
17. The Lady Killer – Cee Lo Green
16. Teen Dream – Beach House
15.  So Runs The World Away – Josh Ritter
14. Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys – My Chemical Romance
13. The Archandroid (Suites II and III) – Janelle Monae
12. Congratulations – MGMT
11. Sea of Cowards –  The Dead Weather
10. Recovery – Eminem
9. The Bootleg Series Vol. 9 – Bob Dylan
8. Come Around Sundown – Kings of Leon
7. How I Got Over – The Roots
6. Brothers – The Black Keys

5. Contra – Vampire Weekend
Pop culture extraordinaires are back and have brought us a collection of songs with that afro pop we have come to love, this time injected with sweet blippy electronics.  ‘Contra’ is a stylistic wonder, complete with energetic blitzes (‘Cousins’) and breezy pop nuggets (‘White Sky’).

4. This Is Happening – LCD Soundsystem
James Murphy and company pull out all the stops for their final album as the make the most energetic music of their careers.  ‘This Is Happening’ throws some much needed punk onto the dancefloor enough f-yous to go around.  LCD Soundsystem goes out with a bang, so we thank you for making our parties cool.

3. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
Porn star hookups (‘Hell Of A Life’), Chris Rock ranting (‘Blame Game’), scumbag toasts (‘Runaway’) and Bon Iver croons (‘Lost In The World’) are just a few of the things that make ‘Dark Twisted Fantasy’ amazing.  Kanye West keeps one foot in the future and one foot in dementia as he makes his most compelling and honest album yet.

 

2. High Violet – The National
Many expected this to be ‘Boxer: Part Two’, but The National followed up their highly acclaimed classic by going big or going home.  ‘High Violet’ boasts the lushest arrangements like strings backed ‘Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks’ and the aching homecoming of ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’.  Matt Berninger’s baritone has never sounded so soothing and tormented.

 

1. The Suburbs – Arcade Fire
No record in 2010 matched the poignant social commentary of our times and grandeur of Arcade Fire’s ‘The Suburbs’.  Win Butler warns us of the man who cannot feel (‘Modern Man’), technology (‘We Used To Wait’) and of the cage, known as the suburbs, where dreams are crushed and lives are left in ruins.

>Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (Single)

>Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

“The Suburbs” is the title track from Arcade Fire’s third studio album of the same name.  The release is only a few days away and I am giddy with excitement.  “The Suburbs” is a breezy piano ballad with front man Win Butler reminiscing on the teenage years of the cul-de-sac.

He looks back at the time with fascination and longing: “In my dreams we’re still screaming/Running through the yard/And all the walls that they built in the 70’s   fall.” Butler looks at the rows of houses not as homes, but as a war zone.  But now that he has grown up, he is realizing that he wants a daughter and wants to show her beauty in the world, before the world does its damage.

9.0 out of 10

The Suburbs LP drops Tuesday, August 3rd