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Albums of 2010
I try to avoid writing "best of" lists, as I find it difficult if not impossible to say that one record is "better" than another, especially considering they all have divergent styles, motivations, and goals.
Furthermore, there's only so much time in a year, and I like to actually listen to these albums more than once! I understand that major music news outlets have teams of people creating their lists, but I'm blown away when I see individual people making Top 50 lists for a single year. Fifty albums? That's an album a week. I buy a lot of music, but I'd think an album should have some staying-power before it gets considered for a best-of list.
It makes me wonder how honest those lists really are...or whether other music fans are just adding albums because of one great song (or, possibly, because everyone else says it's good). That's why you won't find Mimicking Birds, for example, on my list. I love "Burning Stars" and "Cabin Fever," but I haven't heard the rest of that album. Likewise for the New Pornographers, Shout Out Louds, Freelance Whales, and others. Unfortunately those albums fall into the black hole of best-of lists: Not heard in 2010 and not eligible for 2011.
With that too-long disclaimer out of the way, here are my favorite albums released in 2010:
Highlights: "Cousins," "Holiday," and "Giving Up the Gun."
Highlights: "Sparklers" and "Red River."
Highlights: "Better Off Here" and "Let it Pass."
Highlights: "A Line in the Dirt," "Mansions of Los Feliz," and "Gone Man."
Highlights: "Wide Eyes" and "Cubism Dream."
Highlights: "Wicker Park" and "The Northwest States."
Highlights: "Tighten Up" and "Everlasting Light."
Highlights: "Nice Guys," "I Don't Bite," and "Central AC."
Highlights: "Bury Me Far From My Uniform," "Unsophisticated Heart," and "Speak Plainly, Diana."
Highlights: "American Slang," "Orphans," "The Diamond Church Street Choir," and "The Boxer."
Highlights: "What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way)," "Yulia," "Cave-o-Sapien," and "Little Golden Age"
Highlights: "Safe in L.A." and "Summer House."
Highlights: "Bloodbuzz Ohio," "Conversation 16," "Sorrow," and "Terrible Love."
6. Spoon - Transference
Highlights: "I Saw the Light," "Written in Reverse" and "Got Nuffin."
Highlights: "Hercules," "This Could All Be Yours," "Do You Love Me," and "Do What You Want."
Highlights: "Swim Until You Can't See Land," "Nothing Like You," and "FootShooter."
3. Arcade Fire - The SuburbsHighlights: "Deep Blue," "The Suburbs," and "Ready to Start."
Highlights: "The Orchard," "Boy," "You and I Know," "Shadowcasting," and "Too Dramatic."
Highlights: "Breakdown into the Resolve," "Star Wars," "The Sewers at the Bottom of the Wishing Well," "P.S."
