JOHN'S BEST OF 2010!

In my opinion, 2010 was the best year for new music since sometime in the late 90's. A bold statement, I know, but I've spent the past decade struggling to get excited about lots of new artists and instead enjoyed discovering great albums from years past- 2010 changed that. In 2009 I struggled to find 10 albums worthy of a top 10- this year I struggled to narrow down my list to a top 30. So that's what you get- my top 30 albums of 2010. The first 5 or so are so good that any one of them could occupy the #1 spot and I'd be just as happy- man, it was a tough call! I thought The Joy Formidable was going to take #1, but Kanye swooped in at the last minute and won out. Not like the world needs another best-of list with Yeezy at the top, but wow, what an album/artist. Love that dude.

Amid the great new discoveries, there were a handful of albums that disappointed me a bit. I never thought there would be a year where two of my top 10 favorite bands of all time would release new albums that wouldn't make my list- but this year Superchunk & Spoon did just that. If you know me, you know Superchunk has been a top 3 favorite band of mine for about 15 years. "Majesty Shredding" is by far my least favorite Superchunk album since their self-titled debut(because, uh, I think every other one of their albums are damn near perfect. If all the rest are 9's or 10's, this one is a 5 or 6). And the Spoon album is my least favorite by that band, period(I was hooked since "Telephono"). I guess I'm extra hard on them because their previous output was so fantastic, which is unfair- maybe these albums ARE better than half the stuff on my list, but they just didn't excite me at all, which is a bummer. Both bands still make great music though(how "February Punk"- a Superchunk B-side from the "Majesty Shredding" sessions didn't make it on the album and wasn't the lead single- I'll never know!!).

Special mentions: Aziz Ansari wins best comedy album, hands down. And for best music and art collaboration in a new media format: iamamiwhoami. If you don't know what this is, go here and watch all the videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/iamamiwhoami#p/u/13/oPFM3DUVT-8

Oh, and two of the best albums I heard in 2010 won't be released until 2010- so you have Des Ark and Hammer No More The Fingers to look forward to….

Okay, read on for maybe a brief, shitty description(I'm not doing this to express myself through criticism- I hate writing about music! I'm doing this to hopefully turn a couple of people on to great music they may have missed) and a song from each release…



1. KANYE WEST "MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY"

Album of the year. Believe the hype. Some of the dumbest things I've ever heard in my life have been negative criticisms of this man and his music. Stop. Just stop! Listen.



2. THE JOY FORMIDABLE "A BALLOON CALLED MOANING"

Incredible, 90's tinged indie rock band from Wales. Amazing melodies, lots of weird time signature shifts, etc. I've definitely heard this album more than any other this year.



3. THE POSIES "BLOOD/CANDY"

THIS is THE "comeback album" by an older band that hadn't been around in a while that everyone should be talking about, not that other one! (I kid. Sorta.)



4. DOM "SUN BRONZED GREEK GODS"

Someone was rocking' the limiter & compressor hard on this recording, but man, it just adds to the charm of these incredible pop tunes. Hooks like a mofo!



5. MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK "MY DINOSAUR LIFE"

This might have placed higher on my list, but I kinda cheated and maybe sorta kinda had a copy in 2009 before I was supposed to (shhh) and wore it out a bit- before 2010 even started. It's still some of the best modern pop songwriting by some of the best dudes in the world, though.



6. LAURA VEIRS "JULY FLAME"

Haunting, charming folk music with some of the best melodic sensibilities ever in folk music, period! This song may or may not make me cry- you be the judge!



7. SLEIGH BELLS "TREATS"

You've probably already made your verdict re: Sleigh Bells, but for the one dude out there who hasn't, I give you this empirical truth:



8. SURFER BLOOD "ASTRO COAST"

This album came out in January and was so good I thought it might clock in at #1 for the year. It fell off a little for me, but it's still a near-perfect indie rock album. Riffs!



9. MATTHEW DEAR "BLACK CITY"

If you dig Bowie/Eno Berlin type shiz, you might just dig this.



10. DELOREAN "SUBIZA"

Delorean's debut EP was near the top of my list in 2009- I was a teensy bit disappointed with this full-length, but it still delivered for the most part. Fantastic dance music from Spain, and a big influence on a handful of new IWTDI tunes, believe it or not...



11. BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE "FORGIVENESS ROCK RECORD"

I never really got into BSS before, but this album did it for me- can't argue with the John McEntire production...



12. PANTHA DU PRINCE "BLACK NOISE"

I already suck at music descriptions, and the instrumental ambient and electronic music I love is even tougher to explain- just listen:



13. BUSTELLO "BUSTELLO"

My favorite local album of the year. If you don't live in the area, you likely don't know about Bustello, despite the band being comprised of some NC musical legends- so watch this and thank me later:



14. GIRL TALK "ALL DAY"

No need to explain, you can go download it for free from http://www.illegal-art.net/allday/ right now!



15. BRIAN ENO "SMALL CRAFT ON A MILK SEA"

Brian Eno is one of my favorite artists of all time. He's the same age as my dad and he's still got it. Damn!



16. FREE ELECTRIC STATE "CARESS"

My second favorite local release this year, but with songs like these, FES will be operating at a national level very soon…



17. CEE LO GREEN "THE LADY KILLER"

People who didn't like "Fuck You" tend to coincidentally be not very likable people. But there's more here- "Wildflower" is a gorgeous, classic R&B song:



18. JOANNA NEWSOM "HAVE ONE ON ME"

Such vehement feelings about Joanna Newsom from both extremes- I'm actually kinda surprised I ended up on the side of liking her. A damn impressive 3-disc album, if you ask me…



19. TRENT REZNOR & ATTICUS ROSS "THE SOCIAL NETWORK"

My favorite film of the year also produced my favorite soundtrack. Honorable mention also needs to go to Atticus Ross for his music in The Book Of Eli, which was nearly as incredible as this stuff:



20. BRANDON FLOWERS "FLAMINGO"

A flawed album for sure, but the best moments are great…



21. MGMT "CONGRATULATIONS"

MGMT are another band I actually didn't like at all on previous recordings(except "Kids", that song is perfect), but this album is bold, intricate, and compelling as fuck.



22. PRINS THOMAS "PRINS THOMAS"

Kraut-y, dance-y instrumental jams.



23. THE BESNARD LAKES "ARE THE ROARING NIGHT"

Cinematic shoegaze awesomeness.



24. DEERHUNTER "HALCYON DIGEST"

Again, didn't fall for this beloved band until this album.



25. TOBACCO "MANIAC MEAT"

Tobacco's first album, "Fucked Up Friends", is a favorite of mine, so I was pumped for this follow-up. Overall, it fell a little short for me for some reason, but it's still pretty great. This particular tune features Beck:



26. JOHN ROBERTS "GLASS EIGHTS"

More of the instrumental electronic music that I dig on so much…



27. MUSEUM MOUTH "TEARS IN MY BEER"

Good kids from the coastal NC region. Dirty pop-punk on record, but enjoy this acoustic treatment:



28. EMERALDS "DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M HERE"

Super melodic, awesome analog synth sounds on this one:



29. TAMARYN "THE WAVES"

A final bit of shoegaze goodness for you before we part ways….



30. NEIL YOUNG "LE NOISE"

Neil Young & Daniel Lanois come together to make neat sounds and Neil Young's best album in a long while…