It was an interesting year for music. A lot of great tunes came out, and a lot more crap ones, but it seemed to me like there was no real dominant theme or pattern to anything that was coming out. Here's some stuff that I did like:
Top 5 Albums of the Year
5. Record in a Bag, Hollerado: Ten years from now, this one might not hold up as one of the greatest albums of our time, but for now it’s a fun, danceable rock and roll record that kept me entertained throughout the year.
4. Slash, Slash: The idea here wasn’t a new one - you have to look no farther than the last decade of Santana’s career to see an execution of “Famous guitarist records an album with a series of guest vocalists”. Like with the Santana albums, the result is a little eclectic, and doesn’t always feel like what an ‘album’ classically has. There’s some excellent guitar work throughout, though, and if you were ever the kid sitting around saying “Yeah, but could you imagine if Slash and Ozzy were in a band together?”
3. Tron: Legacy Sountrack, Daft Punk: I realize I’m most likely going to get mocked for this choice. Allow yourself to forget, for a moment, that it’s a soundtrack to a Disney film. What you find yourself listening to when you do is a finely honed, perfectly orchestrated electronic concept album. I’m often critical of electronic music as being soulless and shallow, but Daft Punk proves that need not be the case with this album.
2. The Suburbs, The Arcade Fire: I live in the suburbs, and have for most of my life. One thing that I’ve been acutely aware of as a result is the reflexive sense of scorn that city-dwellers feel for the burbs. There’s a lot more going on than meets the eye, though, and Arcade Fire chronicles that in this album, which isn’t a concept album in the traditional sense, but does manage to maintain a strong sense of theme throughout it.
1. Brothers, The Black Keys: I first got interested in this album entirely because of the cover art - simple white text on a black background declaring “This is an album by The Black Keys. The name of the album is Brothers.” Which in itself is a declaration - that the album doesn’t need to win you over, because it’s strong enough to not worry about such things. It was an accurate assessment, and the blues-influenced rock (or is it rock-influenced blues? I’m not quite sure) turned me into a fan on my first listen.
Top 10 Songs of the Year
10. Juliette - Hollerado The chorus of this song makes it an instant summer classic. Hook-laden, poppy, catchy, I found myself singing this one at odd moments for months.
9. This Too Shall Pass - OK Go The music video has fast become a dying art form, with most bands going with the tried and true rather than taking creative chances. OK Go is shaming all those bands, and making great tunes along the way. This is just one of them.
8. Trace Decay - Wintersleep I was excited about the New Inheritors, but didn’t find it to be that great upon listening to it. This track is stellar, though.
7. Highway of Heroes - The Trews All wars are tragedies, and the Trews definitely seem to understand that with this song, which walks the fine line of respecting and honouring the fallen without turning jingoistic or blindly patriotic. It’s a subtle song that I think a lot of people overlooked because of its subject matter.
6. I Was A Teenage Anarchist - Against Me! There’s something almost anachronistic about this song - it’s got a classic punk feel that seems almost out of place in 2010, but then again, nostalgia is always anachronistic, isn’t it?
5. Les Chemins de Verre - Karkwa A lot of people were upset at Karkwa winning the Polaris prize this year. Not me. It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but songs like this one are great arguments as to why they deserved the nod.
4. Ready to Start - Arcade Fire The strongest song on a strong album. Welcoming and accessible, just as any single should be, but not in a cloying or needy way. If Arcade Fire wasn’t on your radar before this one, they definitely should be now.
3. Black Sheep - Metric If nothing else, this song’s a statement as to how powerful of an album Fantasies was, that one of its B-sides is better than the A-sides on most albums.
2.Rose Garden - Shad. This song is one of the reasons I’m glad we started the Polaris blog. Hadn’t heard of Shad before, and probably wouldn’t have heard him if not for the blog, and I walked away with one of the most entertaining songs of the year.
1. Ten Cent Pistol - The Black Keys. The blues are about pain, and dealing with pain, and there’s no pain deeper than a partner who’s cheated on you. That was true in Hendrix’s Hey Joe, and it’s true in this tune, about a woman done wrong who seeks her revenge.
Biggest Flop of the Year
20Ten, Prince I really wanted to like this - Prince’s music in the last decade has shown that he’s still a competent, capable musician in spite of all the craziness that usually surrounds him (check out the instrumental jazz album NEWS or 3121 to see what I’m talking about). This album feels only half-finished in comparison, and doesn’t hold a candle to the others.
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