Best Albums of 2010 – through the first quarter – Part One

With the first quarter coming to an end, I thought it’d be cool to do a 2010 list of the top albums through this part of the year. I’ve said it before and it’s true, it’s been a massive year for music. Today, I'll release albums #12-9 and I will do some more tomorrow. All great albums, in my opinion.

12. Spoon – Transference (Merge)
The Austin-based rockers have always been criminally overlooked for lazy reasons. Their consistent brand of solid rock with hook-laden riffs is so unbelievably consistent that if we’re not careful, we may just take them for granted. You see, Spoon aren’t just an awesome band but they’re one of the finest acts in the last ten years and with Transference, everything is again, solidified and proven. The music is brilliant and it even hones in on what they perfected before: strikingly good rock music that can be loved by all.

11. Beach House – Teen Dream (Sub Pop)
Beach House’s duo has always been able to create music to pair with feelings of nostalgia but they’ve somewhat, in a way, perfected their dream pop with Teen Dream – an album that flows like the beach and cascades with lush melodies, harmonies and fantastic gentleness. And while their craftiness starts and ends with Victoria Legrand’s magnetic singing, it reaches farther than you’d expect. It’s a step up and justifiably so, its expressional devotion towards good music shines all around like a radiant day at the beach.

10. Four Tet – There is Love in You (Domino)
Regarded by the likes of Radiohead as a musician we should all be on the look out for, Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden constructed something magical with There is Love in You. In a day and age where more and more music is being dumbed down for the masses, Hebden contrasts that notion with music that is both intelligent and soaked with gripping melodies and harmonies. Electronic music is still on a high note and it’s because of forward-thinking musicians like Hebden that we can even say that.

9. Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté – Ali and Toumani (Nonesuch)
The second and seemingly last album for these two guitarists as Touré passed away and is sadly, no longer around, is a collection of fascinating music. Not only do they weave their way around their guitar-based instruments with splendid ease but their strong sense of melody and harmonics is astounding. It’s refreshing to see them attempt slower, gentle tunes and then rip into highly-energetic jubilant songs: bottom line is that Ali and Toumani is a startlingly beautiful album, rich with poise and craft.

The song for today comes from the aforementioned Beach House album. It’s the first song, “Zebra,” and it’s pretty awesome; just let it wash over you. – Bryan

New Music & 2010 Songs, Pt. 3

I’m gonna leave Nice Nice for Nick to write about since he has some special goodies to share but I will introduce them with this great quote that can be found by checking out Titus Andronicus’ website. I wish I could state just how good the former was but let me borrow a quote from their frontman, Patrick Stickles, on the band:

If I had to pick one moment of this tour where I really achieved transcendence, though, it would have to be a few nights ago in El Paso, where we found ourselves playing second on a four band bill, after our pals Let's Wrestle, but before this band called Nice Nice (not named after the club from the Lifter Puller mythology, I found out), who I had never heard of before. Long story short, THEY ARE FUCKING AMAZING.

Truly a remarkable duo, they’re precise, flawless and even their ‘mistakes’ sound like part of the music, this is what they look like:


Closing out the night was UK-based but from Australia band, Pivot. The trio has been known for having a strong love for Talking Heads so there was some urge that maybe they’d rip into a live show of their music but alas, no dice. Nonetheless, their music is layered with sounds of shimmering guitar on top of the band’s intensified drumming. While electronics play a small role, their sound is obviously influenced by the romanticism of the 80s but with a much larger current riding throughout. The crowd was smaller for these guys and that was truly unfortunate; they put on an impressively musical live show – just enough to remind you that shows like these shouldn’t be so far apart.

Another song from 2010 that is absolutely outstanding is Spoon’s “I Saw the Light.” It’s a tour de force that changes tempos, styles and even meters throughout it’s magnetic music. It’s on their new album, Transference, which is as usual, another solid album from Spoon. The video isn’t the best but it is the best I could find and check out that ending coda, it’s amazing. There’s no reason why it should be ignored and with a song as good as this nestled in the heart of the album, why would you want to ignore them anyways? – Bryan