Joe's best of 2010

Greetings, all! Joe the bass player here, making a once-in-a-while posting here on the IWTDI blog! And it's all in the name of hopefully turning some of you fine folks on to some of the new records I enjoyed this year. While I can't agree with John that 2009 was a musical wasteland (some of my favorites from the decade came out last year) I definitely echo his sentiments that 2010 was one of the best years for new records in a very long time. I've got my top fifteen for you here, narrowed down from no fewer than forty outstanding releases I picked up and spun into oblivion over the past 12 months. There is some overlap between my list and John's, but any record from which he posted a song I have posted a different one, so listen away!

But first, a few notables that won't be on the master list below:
Honorable mentions: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks, Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me, The National - High Violet, The Damned Things - Ironiclast, Pantha Du Prince - Black Noise
Best split album: Balance and Composure/Tigers Jaw
Best live show: Autolux
Best free offering: Girl Talk - All Day
Best hidden gem: Museum Mouth - Tears In My Beer
Best soundtrack: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross - The Social Network
Best reissue: Weezer - Pinkerton (Deluxe Edition)
Best local release: Free Electric State - Caress

Joe's top 15 records of 2010 located after the jump:

SECOND HALF OF 2010 VIDEO UPDATE!

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…