Giovedì 30 Dic 2010, 20:36
*According to me.
2010 pretty average overall compared to other years, found it hard to find a real standout and few albums held my interest for extended periods. But i was totally surprised by a couple of amazing albums by artists that i had given up on or that i wouldn't normally listen to, namely The Roots and Massive Attack.
In alphabetical order…
THE STANDOUTS (My favourite albums of 2010)
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/caillesdelune.jpgArtist: Alcest
Album: Écailles De Lune
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/thesuburbs.jpgArtist: Arcade Fire
Album: The SuburbsBetter than Neon Bible.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/ofgold.jpgArtist: Bars of Gold
Album: Of Gold
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/ourslowdecay.jpgArtist: Black Sleep of Kali
Album: Our Slow Decay
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/thebigto-do.jpgArtist: Drive-By Truckers
Album: The Big To-DoAnother amazing album, probably my favourite for 2010.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/snakesforthedivine.jpgArtist: High on Fire
Album: Snakes for the Divine
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/valleyofsmoke.jpgArtist: Intronaut
Album: Valley of SmokeThe jazzy stuff is toned down and makes for a more enjoyable album.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/spiralshadow.jpgArtist: Kylesa
Album: Spiral ShadowI prefer Static Tensions, the best LP of 2009, but this album is kinda like Mastodon's Crack the Skye - less heavy but showing how much more songwriting and musical talent they have than most bands.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/heligoland.jpgArtist: Massive Attack
Album: HeligolandBest LP since Mezzanine. Standout album of 2010 for any music released, Paradise Circus is a classic, i can't say enough about how good it is. Total sleeper, cause i really thought it would be shit.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/omni.jpgArtist: Minus the Bear
Album: OmniDon't hate me - i know it's a disappointing departure from their sound, but it's so damn catchy. A good work friendly album. Good summer album.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/loveletmego.jpgArtist: More Than Life
Album: Love Let Me GoA really nice discovery since i've developed a taste for this type of melodic hardcore, and its hard to find anything that doesn't sound contrived.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/howigotover.jpgArtist: The Roots
Album: How I Got OverHaven't listened to an album since Phrenology. Maybe i need to go see what i've missed cause this is fucking great.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/darkercircles.jpgArtist: The Sadies
Album: Darker Circles
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/agri-dustrial.jpgArtist: Th' Legendary Shack*Shakers
Album: Agri-Dustrial
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/songsforsinglesEP.jpgArtist: Torche
Album: Songs for Singles
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/matador.jpgArtist: Zoroaster
Album: MatadorSlightly melodic and clean/heavy vocals make this above average sludge for 2010.
PRETTY GOOD (GOOD albums! - just not quite standouts)
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/dogsbloodEP.jpgArtist: Alexisonfire
Album: Dog's Bloodhttp://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/aussietour7inch.jpg
Artist: Alexisonfire
Album: Aussie Tour 7inch
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/thepowerlessrise.jpgArtist: As I Lay Dying
Album: The Powerless RiseDefinitely above average metalcore, just gets boring quickly unfortunately.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/crazyforyou.jpgArtist: Best Coast
Album: Crazy For YouI enjoyed a few of these surfy shoegazey hipster albums this year.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/tastethesin.jpgArtist: Black Tusk
Album: Taste The SinLooks the part, sounds the part - just not enough here to be a great sludge band/album, but showing promise.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/blueskynoise.jpgArtist: Circa Survive
Album: Blue Sky Noise
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/diamondeyes.jpgArtist: Deftones
Album: Diamond Eyes
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/after.jpg
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/wonder.jpg
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/kvelertak.jpgArtist: Kvelertak
Album: KvelertakGreat album, but the non-english vocals restrained my enjoyment.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/heliocentric.jpgArtist: The Ocean
Album: HeliocentricGreat album that gets bogged down by the very un-subtle anti-christian lyrics. As an "atheist" i cannot stand being preached at by anyone.
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/selfpreservedwhilethebodiesfloatup.jpgArtist: Oceansize
Album: Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/deepblue.jpgArtist: Parkway Drive
Album: Deep Blue
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/americanghetto.jpgArtist: Portugal. The Man
Album: American Ghetto
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/priortothefire.jpgArtist: Priestess
Album: Prior To The Fire
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/basedonatruestory.jpgArtist: Sick of it All
Album: Based on a True Story
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/treats.jpgArtist: Sleigh Bells
Album: Treats
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/astrocoast.jpgArtist: Surfer Blood
Album: Astro Coast
http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr313/kieran0411/2010/warpriders.jpgArtist: The Sword
Album: Warp Riders
THE OTHER STUFF (worth a mention)
Stuff here i listened once or twice…
Anion - Corpse Flower
Beneath the Sky - In Loving Memory
Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
Blue Giant - Blue Giant
Blue Sky Black Death - Third Party
Calling All Cars - Hold, Hold, Fire
Cancer Bats - Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones
Clem Snide - The Meat of Life
Cloud Control - Bliss Release
Dangers - Messy, Isn't It?
Dead Letter Circus - This Is The Warning
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis
The Drums - The Drums
Earth - A Bureaucratic Desire For Extra-Capsular Extraction
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Rush to Relax
Gyroscope - Cohesion
Hank Williams III - Rebel Within
Hot Chip - One Life Stand
Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier
Kings of Leon - Come Around Sundown
Little Red - Midnight Remember
Loma Prieta - Life/Less
Maps & Atlases - Perch Patchwork
Medications - CompletelyRemoved
Midlake - The Courage of Others
Mouth Of The Architect - The Violence Beneath
Murder by Death - Good Morning, Magpie
NOFX - The Longest EP
Operator Please - Gloves
The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme
Ratt - Infestation
Reckless Kelly - Somewhere in Time
Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe 2
Rolo Tomassi - Cosmology
Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses - Junky Star
She & Him - Volume Two
Sia - We Are Born
Sleepy Sun - Fever
Story of the Year - The Constant
Thou - Summit
Tift Merritt - See You On The Moon
Unkle - Where Did The Night Fall
Vampire Weekend - Contra
Various Artists - Crazy Heart
The Vasco Era - Lucille
Wavves - King of the Beach
Weezer - Hurley
White Hills - White Hills
2010 albums by Autolux, The Boat People, Broken Bells, Clare Bowditch & The New Slang, The Creepshow, Crystal Castles, Daughters, Devils Brigade, East of the Wall, Electric Wizard, Harvey Milk, Imelda May, Jenny and Johnny, Jesu, Suma, Terrible Things, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Soft Pack, Turnpike Troubadours, Ufomammut & the True Blood soundtrack vol 2 i was busting to listen to but ran out of time…hopefully i'll get around to some of these this summer.