At the end of yet another great year in music, team discosalt has sat back, reflected and squared in with 2010’s “top 10” best albums of the year. So turn on some tunes, read through le lists and keep the discourse going! We want your feedback. Shoot us your album picks for the year and let us know if we left anyone out in the comment field.
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 “…A lot easier to believe is the group’s assertion that it wants to compete with the likes of Rihanna for space on the world’s dance floors. As Animal Collective did with last year’s Merriweather Post Pavilion, on Odd Blood Yeasayer puts aside its art-pop pretensions in favor of making art that simply pops.” Read more articles on Yeasayer |
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2 TAME IMPALA: INNERSPEAKER |
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 “This is the album MGMT fell short of making with Congratulations. A warm swirling psychedelic hypno-groove sonic cruise evoking a spaced out vintage soul with dizzying atmospheric guitar hooks washing over both brash and vulnerable sounding moody vocals. Brazen nods towards John Lennon, Hendrix and Floyd are assured, but Innerspeaker somehow manage to ameliorate mere 60’s revisionist rock and emerge intensely modern and new.” Read more articles on Tame Impala |
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 “Over a dark, fuzzed-out, and fist-pump-worthy mix of beats, guitarist Derek Miller shreds through effect-filled guitar line after effect-filled guitar line. All the while, Krauss dishes up a mix of cheers, screams, and pitch-perfect notes, tying the whole thing together in a neat, dance floor-approved package.” Read more articles on Sleigh Bells |
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4 BEACH HOUSE: TEEN DREAM |
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 “The casual distance that makes Beach House both important and accessible, i.e., the strength of the melodies from both the guitar & the vocals, is all still here, as this record is not far from what one might expect the new Beach House album to sound like. It’s both a baby step forward from their stellar 2007 album Devotion and a slight slide step sideways from a sound that has thus far defined this band. Songs like the album’s 1st single “Zebra” and “Norway” still owe a debt to progenitors of the sound like the Cocteau Twins and Mazzy Star. Teen Dream manages to further these comparisons while making the statement that Beach House no longer needs to be compared to the bands that came before them, but compared with these bands” Read more articles on Beach House |
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 “The third album from DIY lo-fi improvisational electronic band Holy Fuck is both as big as the Canadian landscape they hail from and an exercise in restraint. Latin condenses 9 epic electro-dance tracks without the use of loops or laptops into one atmospheric 40 minute record, minus the fat from 2007’s self titled EP. What remains is an infinitely more structured and conjointly accessible electronic album that is highly emotive, embracing such a diversity of effects and beats, it can still be considered experimental. This is anti-electronic /electronic music.” Read more articles on Holy Fuck |
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6 DEERHUNTER: HALCYON DIGEST |
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 “Halcyon Digest is a lushly produced dream pop record. Far less heavy on guitar drone jam-outs than Microcastle, Halcyon Digest offers a more instrumentally textured EP, drenched in watery shoegaze and volitile garage rock with pop sensibility, as Brandon Cox combs through his neuroses of loneliness and nostalgia for youth and connection.” Read more articles on Deerhunter |
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 “Expo ’86 is a unified statement of distinctive vocalists Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug. Together, the indie rock dynamic duo have created a dense, noisy and extremely consistent listening experience, brimming with loud fuzzed out guitar and dance stomping anthems which is even more enjoyable when listened to as an entire album. Expo ’86 triumphs from expert pace and packs more energy and swagger than At Mount Zoomer.” Read more articles on Wolf Parade |
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8 THE BLACK KEYS: BROTHERS |
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 “The Black Keys keep on keeping on, only more so, oiling up their gritty back-to-basics blues engine with some new sonic lube worthy of classic rock torque. At its best moments, Brothers is a soulful modern exploration of traditional blues rock themes, gunning down broken dreams and witchy women with a raw intensity uniquely The Black Keys.” Read more articles on The Black Keys |
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9 NO AGE: EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN |
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 “Everything In Between marks a huge step in the creative evolution of LA dream punks- No Age. A sonically compelling, surprisingly grown up record transcending all previous efforts through a culmination of life-threatening and life-celebrating experiences, which reflects the process of moving through these experiences and emerging better off for the wear and tear.” Read more articles on No Age |
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10 MIDLAKE: The Courage of Others |
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 “Melancholy at its best. Dredging up decades of gloomy rock carcasses most indie bands have spend the past decade trying to bury, Courage of Others feels like an old ghost. Midlake takes it’s 60’s British progressive folk-rock sound into much darker territory, with a folk album that is more thematically metal. Mystical lyrics about the Druids layered between hypnotically mournful bucolic guitars, echoing flutes and textured keys, create an array of sonic layers best experienced with headphones that is both somber and seducing.” Read more articles on Midlake |
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FRIENDS’ & CONTRIBUTORS’ TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2010 |
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1 |
Kanye West-My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy |
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2 |
Vampire Weekend – Contra |
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3 |
Robyn – Body Talk, Pt. 3 |
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4 |
Beach House – Teen Dream |
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5 |
Walkmen – Lisbon |
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6 |
Wolf Parade – Expo ’86 |
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7 |
Pantha du Prince – Black Noise |
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8 |
Fang Island – Fang Island |
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9 |
Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid |
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10 |
Local Natives – Gorilla Manor |
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1 |
Kanye West- My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy |
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2 |
Big Boi-Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty |
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3 |
The Dead Weather, Sea of Cowards |
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4 |
Sleigh Bells – Treats |
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5 |
Best Coast- Crazy For You |
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6 |
Electric Wizard – Black Masses |
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7 |
Tie:Robyn-Body Talk,Janelle Monae-The Archandroid |
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8 |
Cee Lo Green – The Lady Killer |
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9 |
The Dillinger Escape Plan – Option Paralysis |
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10 |
Das Racist -Sit Down, Man |
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1 |
Sean Kingston – Our World |
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2 |
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs |
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3 |
Gyptian ft. Foxy Brown – Hold You |
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4 |
Cassius – The Rawkers |
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5 |
Uffie – Sweet Dreams and Denim Jeans |
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6 |
Cali Swag District – Teach Me How to Dougie |
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7 |
LCD soundsystems – This is Happening |
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8 |
Tanlines – Settings |
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9 |
Cee-Lo – The Lady Killer |
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10 |
Blood Diamonds – Heart |
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5 Comments
joe
December 22, 2010STAR MORALES
1. Titus Andronicus- The Monitor
2. RVIVR- RVIVR
3. Trophy Wife- Patience Fury
4. April Smith and the Great Picture Show- Songs for a Sinking Ship
5. The Saddest Landscape- You Will Not Survive
6. Jukebox the Ghost- Everything Under the Sun
7. Exit She Calls- Out of Reach
8. The State Lottery- When the Night Comes
9. The Defending Champions: Of the Legend Convention
10. Jessica Allyn- Delusion of Grandeur
joe
December 22, 2010Tuneyards Best of:
City of the Future – Beep
Happy Birthday – Happy Birthday
Rendezvous with Rama – Ruth Garbus
FUTURE Songs – Pat Jordache
How I Got Over – the Roots
Mount Wittenberg Orca – Dirty Pro’s and Bjork
Sir Lucius Left Foot… – Big Boi
Fresh Sip – Chris Weisman
Orange – Kurt Weisman
Muu’s Way – WOOM
joe
December 22, 2010Soft Landing Best of:
Best records of 2010:
1. Julian Lynch – Mare
My absolute favorite record of the year. The melodies are so precise and beautiful. In a time where psych so often lacks restraint, Julian Lynch is a beacon of light. Everything is so tasteful and compact. It leaves room for the imagination, which allows the music room to grow in your head. Awesome.
2. Secret Museum of Mankind – (Vinyl Reissues)
Jeremy Barnes originally turned me on to these CD’s when I was living in Santa Fe, NM. They completely changed the way I thought of “World Music”. The vinyl reissues bring new life to these essential albums. So much history, so many different sounds. Sadly…so expensive!
3. Bruce Haack – Farad Bruce Haack – The Electric voice
A song like “Party Machine” is why I buy records. I had never heard of him until this Stone’s Throw reissue.
4. Group Doueh – Beatte Harab
Best Group Doueh yet. Really strange music. The voice on the title track is unlike anything you’ll hear this year. A standout album in the world of West Saharan shred.
5. The-Dream – Love King
Sometimes you get so deep into records that you forget why you are listening. The-Dream is pure fun, pure pop. I love it. “Love King” is my favorite track of the year. This guy loves Prince, and I dig that.
sean
December 24, 2010a good one i forgot that should be on my list: “Babylon By Car” by Bot’Ox.
Give it a listen: http://discosalt.com/blog/2010/10/19/botox-babylon-by-car-free-download-and-videos/
zach roberts
December 28, 2010n no particular order
1) phantogram: eyelid movies
2) toro y moi: causers of this
3) beach house: teen dream
4) girls: broken dreams club
5) school of seven bells: disconnect from desire
6) arcade fire: the suburbs
7) bicycle voice: tis the ghost of martinellis
8) no age: everything in between
9) twin shadow: forget
10) the walkmen: lisbon