Alicia’s Top 10 Albums of 2010

So here we are at the end of 2010.  I hope you listened to tons of great music this year – there was so much of it to be found!  Below are my top 10 favorite albums of this year.  These are the albums that held the most replay value for me – I found myself coming back to them again and again.  Click the album art to head to Amazon for song samples.

10.  We Are Scientists – Barbara

I am a big fan of late 90’s/early ‘00s AltRock – i.e. Third Eye Blind, Incubus, etc.  We Are Scientists captured what I love about that music – they’re singable, the beats make you want to nod or headbang along, and the guitar-led melodies stick in your brain. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9.  Minus The Bear – Omni

The first time I heard this album, it was just the background music being played between sets at another band’s show.  It was one of those moments where you hear a bit of a song, your ears perk up, and you listen closer.  All of Omni will do that for you.  It’s indie rock with elements of disco, electropop, and undertones of the 80s.  Not to mention the overtly sexual lyrics – part of the recipe for good times. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8.  Les Sages – Share This

I found myself gravitating toward music with heavy messages this year, and Share This is one of the most lyrically intense albums on my list.  Share This explores the concepts of life, death, love, loss, and friendship against a backdrop of emotive rock music.  Though melancholy at times, the vocals invite you to sing your lungs out and the riffing guitars and pummeling drums will make you want to headbang hard. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7.  Ellie Goulding – Lights

Ellie Goulding started her performing career with just her voice and her guitar, writing and playing folk-style tunes in pubs and coffeeshops across London.   Since those days, her music has evolved into what’s been called “folktronica”— folk underpinnings layered with Goulding’s lilting voice, and elements of electronic, pop, and dance music to create songs that hook you on their melodies and keep you coming back for the beats. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6.  Freelance Whales – Weathervanes

On first listen, I wasn’t sold on this album.  It seemed to be a little too cute for my tastes.  For me, Weathervanes was definitely one of those albums that grows on you.  But it hooked me with the haunting melody and plucking acoustic guitar on “Broken Horse”, so I listened again.  And I realized that Weathervanes is the perfect storm of folk and pop.  Just enough folk to temper the sweetness in the lyrics and just enough pop to balance the earnestness, all glued together by some very pretty melodies. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5.  Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Last year, I probably would have written Kanye off as just another posturing douchebag and not even picked up his album.  But then he released the Runaway video and I understood a little bit better why he’s got such an ego.  Not only is he a creative genius and production wizard and deserving of a little bit of smugness, but his ego is the armor he wears to protect himself from the haters.  And at his place in the game, there are a lot of them.  My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy explains Kanye to a T over beats that will stick in your head for days.  And I think I love him for it. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4.  The Black Keys – Brothers

Dear Patrick and Dan, thank you for representing rock ‘n roll this year.  Someone had to do it with the airwaves being overrun by pop starlets and Justin Timberlake wannabes, and I don’t think there could have been a better album to act as ambassador.  Listening to Brothers makes you feel like you’re living in a time where rock ‘n roll rules the musical landscape – when guitar gods are the kings of the scene, hanging out in smoky bars is cool, guys in leather jackets on motorcycles are hot, and the backseat of a muscle car is a good place to spend a Friday night. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3.  The National – High Violet

Though they’ve been around for a decade, High Violet served as my introduction to The National.  And I understand how they’ve been able to keep going for so long.  There’s so much to dissect in their music – everything from the lyrics to the layers of sound from distorted guitars, intriguing drumming, to the piano and string flourishes.  High Violet engages your brain from the first song and keeps you listening for what’s to come next.  Then you’ll listen again and hear something you didn’t catch last time.  Rinse, repeat. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2.  Envy on the Coast – Lowcountry

Sadly, Envy on the Coast broke up this year after Lowcountry’s release, which is a shame because this album is what I wish modern rock had come to.  It’s straight-up, no chaser aggression with a dash of vulnerability.  You don’t sing along with Lowcountry, you howl along from beginning to end while beating your steering wheel to a bloody pulp.  If you’ve got something you need to let loose, this is the album you should listen to. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

1.  Dessa – A Badly Broken Code

A Badly Broken Code was released in January this year.  I picked it up in February and no album released after it managed to eclipse my love for it.  I’ve said it before, but Dessa is a wordsmith of the highest order.  In just a few bars, she manages to convey these fantastic word pictures to illustrate the topic at hand.  A few of my favorites:

“Anger is just love left out, gone to vinegar”
“Forget the bull in the china shop, there’s a china doll in the bullpen”
“I’ve seen our better natures flashing like a pair of flipping coins”

Dessa also has a knack for adding emotion to the rhythm in her delivery when rapping.  It’s like listening to slam poetry backed by a beat.  But for a good portion of the album, she sings – without the aid of autotune – and she does it very well, not a flat or sharp note to be found.

A Badly Broken Code is like a great book – one you reread a hundred times, partly because the story is just that good and partly because the way the author says things is so brilliant, you hope that their intelligence will rub off on you a little.  Add to that catchy beats and mellow melodies, and for me it was love at first (and 100th) listen.