The 12 CDs of Christmas:
Best of 2010 Year in Music Review
December 24, 2010

Introduction

For a few years now I’ve heard rumours of a 1990s revival. Yet for all the talk there has been little new music that has given us anything reminiscent of the ‘90s. No Nirvana, La Bouche, novelty songs, buzz bin bands, one-hit wonder post-grunge, Lilith Fair, rap-rock, ska revival, gangsta rap, or any of the numerous hallmarks of that patchwork musical decade. Instead, it’s more of the same sissy indie rock, overproduced synthesized hip-hop, and lazy bubble gum pop. Bleh!

As a staunch ‘80s lover who was never impressed with the ‘90s musical scene in the first place it may therefore come as a surprise when I proclaim, “Bring on the ‘90s revival!” Today’s music, quite frankly, stinks and is in desperate need of a new direction. In fact, I’m so desperate I’d settle for the oldies themselves returning to the studios. So where is Everclear when you need them? Where is Alannis Morissette waxing nostalgic about bad break-ups with Dave Coulier? Where are the rap rivalries that culminate with foul-mouthed bashing rather than kiss and make up duets? Where’s White Town’s “Your Woman” or Urban Dance Squad’s “Deeper Shade of Soul?” Instead we get that old guy from American Idol singing, “Pants on the Floor,” not even a song at all. Are you kidding me?

Frankly, I blame all you sissy rock lovers that kept riding the Coldplay train and went to bed at night listening to The Postal Service for the musical mess we now find ourselves living with. Look at U2’s progression - they used to make good, interesting music that was earnest and ridiculous, now they’re just a pathetically lame cover band. But that’s what happens when the self-proclaimed “world’s greatest band” emulates Coldplay and The Postal Service rather than the punks, post-punks, and garage rockers that gave them their start or the European techno masters that gave them their second wind.

Indeed, the peek of sissy music is upon us. God save the queen (of pop) because lord knows even she has lost her way. But what we need isn’t Madonna to shed her faux British accent and roll around in a wedding dress with silk garters- we’ve already got Lady Gaga acting far more provocative with her style over substance routine. Rather, we need a new savior to lift this awful world of music out of the doldrums in similar fashion to what The Strokes did in 2001. We need a Rage Against the Machine to declare, “Fuck you we won’t do what you tell me,” a Venga Boys to chirp, “We like to party, we like, we like to party!” or even a Third Eye Blind to give a new “semi-charmed kind of life” to the masses.

Nevertheless, despite my venom for today’s music I have once more chosen my favorite albums of the year. It was a weak year, no doubt with No Doubt not even contributing the album they promised. But non-albums are not what this list is about, so without further adieu, here are the new albums that meant the most to me in 2010.

-Mister Marlowe, Seattle, Washington, USA

The Top 12 CDs of 2010

#12 The Chemical Brothers – Further

As consistent as death and taxes, The Chemical Brothers always turn out good electronic music. Further is no different, continuing the template that the band has effortlessly perfected for over a decade. Once again they prove that the rave never has to end.

Best Songs: Another World, Wonders of the Deep, Swoon

#11 The National - High Violet

The National’s 2007 album, Boxer was a brooding masterstroke. Their 2010 follow-up, High Violet follows the same template but doesn’t quite reach the same euphoric heights.

The difference this time is that the band is missing the joy in the melancholy even as they effortlessly churn out their own special brand of precision pout. However, there are standouts, in particular, the instant classic, Bloodbuzz Ohio. The rest of the album is even darker resulting in an indie Cure vibe. In other words, the goth and glam are traded in for sweaters and facial stubble. So grab an import pint or three and get ready for ultimate lamentation.


Best Songs: Bloodbuzz Ohio

#10 The Walkmen – Lisbon

Lisbon is the triumphant, no doubt about it, return to form for The Walkmen, one of the last decade’s very best bands. Alongside The Strokes and Interpol, The Walkmen formed my personal triumvirate of that decade’s indie rock greatness. But where The Strokes ended up turning into a pair of solo acts, and Interpol just got plain bad, The Walkmen gave us some hits and some misses. Lisbon, the band’s sixth album finds them fine tuning their melancholy reverb mastery satisfying old fans and making new ones in the process.

Best Songs: Angela Surf City

#09 Beach House – Teen Dream

While Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream garnered enormous attention for Katy’s pretty face and scantily clad body, it was the other Teen Dream that was the truly excellent Teen Dream album of the year.

Like an ethereal carnival, Beach House’s Teen Dream is sweetness personified. Fluttering through space and time, darkness and light, past, present, and future Beach House’s third album is the ultimate lovelorn lament. The album is a dream come to life, with sparkling electronic lines lifting melodically breathy vocals and delicate piano lines. Standouts of this extremely cohesive album, which borders on ambient, include “Walk in the Park” and “10 Mile Stereo,” two songs that illustrate an intensely lush climax to this star gazing affair. The closer “Take Care” brings the album home, a pillow with which to rest the head as you drift off to dreamland.

Best Songs: Walk in the Park, 10 Mile Stereo, Take Care

#08 The Black Keys – Brothers

Soulful and simple, The Black Keys have been churning out elementary riffs and deep voiced bluesy odes for nearly ten years. Their latest album, Brothers is more of the same with a touch of pop.

As usual, the band’s sound seems as though it is coming from a basement. Sparse instrumentalism, major washed out echo, and an easy, tough feel permeate the album’s 15 songs. Highlights pop up when the pop feel jumps in. Opener Everlasting Light is a T. Rex throwback and sets the album in motion with its bluesy shuffle. Tighten Up adds a new dimension of slow dance funk with its chain gang whistle, scratchy guitar, and unusual drumming. The rest of the album fills in the pieces with some songs more memorable than others and the whole shebang holding course.

Sure, The Black Keys have always seemed a bit bland and derivative, but overall, Brothers is a nice “set the mood album” with a handful of fun, catchy singles, a modern rarity. And that makes it a winner.

Best Songs: Tighten Up, Everlasting Light, Never Give You Up

#07 Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles II

There remains no band on earth that can do what makes Crystal Castles great. That is, churn out danceable techno frenzies built on video game soundtracks and electronic beat mastery. Like a pop music rave it takes until about the third song for the party to get grooving but when it does the whole thing is magical.

Baptism is also one of the coolest videos of the year.

Best Songs: Baptism, Vietnam, Empathy, Not in Love

#06 Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West is the exact opposite of Eminem – an M.C. with minimal rapping skill yet tremendous production talent. His latest opus to himself, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the ultimate showcase for both sides of rap’s most ridiculous egomaniac: a beat heavy, groove plenty, party album with a twist. Though West is repeatedly outshined by his guest stars, he manages to turn obvious samples into entirely different performances of the originals, something he lacked from previous album hits such as “Stronger.” It is the twist that separates West’s work from others: the dichotomy between fame and the fall, a rising star and a crashed car, all the lights that shine bright and the darkness that follows, and all of it splattered haphazardly over an album with enormous ambition but not quite the talent to bring it to fruition.

My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is by no means great, but it is fascinating and a crucial step in hip hop’s continuing evolution. Hopefully a more potent rapper builds on West’s immense ambition, focuses on the outward rather than solely on one’s own ego, and throws down a true rap masterpiece. I think we’re getting close.

Best Songs: Power, Runaway, Lost in the World/Who Will Survive in America, So Appalled, All of the Lights

#05 Eminem – Recovery

I have never been a fan of Eminem. And I’m still not. He is immature, violent, misogynistic, and completely self-absorbed. Weak production and bad samples only further the bad taste his music often leaves in my mouth. However, with Relapse, Eminem’s latest return to beating a dead horse, the man has at last won me over with one particular aspect: his technical prowess.

Forget for a minute Eminem’s self-imposed cross bearing and obsession with his Waiting to Exhale marital relationship- everyone knows that story is played out. Focus instead on Eminem’s technique and Relapse becomes a very different experience. With his unconventional stuttered cadence, rapping in triple time, off the cuff slights, and aggressive delivery Eminem delivers Relapse as both homage to old school rap and a thoroughly modern performance that is decidedly ahead of the rap curve. Listen to “No Love,” “Love the Way You Lie,” “Spacebound,” or just about any track on the album and you get the feeling that there isn’t a rapper on the planet that Eminem couldn’t meet on stage, chew up and spit out. And that’s precisely what old school rap was all about: being a lyrical damager, not a degenerate thug with an uzi. With Relapse, Eminem backs up his boasts, proves that his flow has never been better, and undeniably lays waste to the current crop of lousy rappers.

The best rapping I’ve heard since Tupac and Slick Rick? Indeed.

Best Songs: Spacebound, No Love, Love the Way You Lie, Almost Famous, Seduction

#04 Fistful of Mercy – As I Call You Down

Joseph Arthur, Ben Harper, and Dhani Harrison are Fistful of Mercy. The three singer/songwriters announce their presence in their debut album’s first song, In Vain or True. The message sent: we’re the modern Crosby, Stills, and Nash. However, that announcement is misleading as Fistful of Mercy is much more than throwback harmonizing nostalgia.

As I Stand Down plays like The Traveling Wilburys meets The Beatles. It contains the spontaneity, joy, and introspection that both bands furiously brought to the table. And nowhere is that more evident than in the heartbreaking redemption of Restore Me, a song guaranteed to make a listener’s heart soar.

Indeed, soaring harmonies are key to the Fistful of Mercy sound finding their fulfillment in the prettiest album of the year.

As an extremely longtime Joseph Arthur fan it would be easy for me to note that Fistful of Mercy is clearly Arthur’s gig with Harper and Harrison playing second and third fiddle. And in many ways that may be true. But what is also true is that Fistful of Mercy is a genuine collaboration, one in which each band member makes an enormous contribution. It is for that reason most of all that As I Call You Down is a superb album, at once out of time yet perfectly necessary for this place and time.

Best Songs: Restore Me, Fistful of Mercy, With Whom You Belong, Father’s Son, I Don’t Want to Waste Your Time

#03 Cee Lo Green – The Lady Killer

Numerous journalists in the music press will tell you that Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is the best album of 2010, a modern synthesis of man meets hip-hop for a self-centered generation. And maybe it is, for those that fit that particular mold. But then again, if there’s a soul behind the twisted urban fairy tale I don’t see it in Kanye. Instead, I believe it is Cee Lo Green’s The Lady Killer that may be 2010’s true revelation.

A throw back late ‘60s spy theme permeates Cee Lo’s solo smorgasbord, a modern neo soul thriller that grooves, moves, and exudes an exceedingly fun vibe that never stops. Hints of Jamiroquai at their best line the album, a record that uses as many molds as it breaks. The biggest cause: Cee Lo’s Al Green gone eccentric nasally tenor and an upbeat production that is as infectious as anything produced this year. For example, look at Green’s charming oddness on “No One’s Gonna Love You,” a Band of Horses’s cover. Amazingly, Cee Lo takes that group’s rather bland song and makes it soar by infusing it with a personality it surely never knew it could have. Other big songs that tantalite are Satisfied, I Want You, and the crazy silly, “Fuck You,” which almost makes the curse cutsey. Creating modern classics and moving otherwise average songs to the stratosphere is reserved for the true greats, and with The Lady Killer Cee Lo shows that he is on his way toward becoming one of them.

Best Songs: Satisfied, I Want You, Fuck You, Bright Lights Big City, No One’s Gonna Love You

#02 Vampire Weekend – Contra

Vampire Weekend’s sophomore release, Contra is like no other recent album. For that reason it takes quite a number of listens to figure it out, where it’s coming from, what it’s trying to do, and how it got there. But what one realizes the more listens the album receives is that it doesn’t matter - the key is to let Contra’s songs wash over you. Only then does the truth become evident: this is a fantastic album from start to finish and Vampire Weekend is one of the best and most unique bands of the new decade.

Afro-pop in the vein of Paul Simon’s Graceland meets a decidedly noticeable electronic gurgle resulting in a modernized classic sound completely out of time. Strings appear here and there punctuated by cerebral lyrics amounting to a feeling of instant nostalgia, a concept I’ve coined to describe the feeling of missing people and events as they happen. That tugging feeling of present pleasures disappearing before one’s eyes is the emotion Contra best evokes. And listening to the album you’ll feel its progression, you’ll know an end is in sight, and it will break your heart to see it come. That’s where Contra is coming from, that’s what it’s trying to do, and that’s how it got here.

Best Songs: Run, I Think Ur Contra, Giving Up the Gun, White Sky, Horchata, Holiday

#01 Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark – History of Modern

The term “return to form” gets thrown around a lot, supposedly signifying an artist’s rejuvenation after years of tepid or non-existent output. In particular, it calls to arms fans of a genre informing them that the type of art they loved has returned in the form of one of their old favorites. OMD’s History of Modern finds the ‘80s new romantic stalwarts ignoring modern trends to produce an album that is a familiar yet thrilling curtain call.

One echo of their signature high-pitched synthesizer and there is no doubt the band has returned. Album standouts are everywhere with the old synth sound blaring triumphantly and the pop song writing craftsmanship second to none. But listen to the whole of History of Modern and you will discover a band with renewed vigor, not merely rehashing their past but creating new, different entries in a musical genre to which they are already masters. “Sometimes” strays from the album’s new wave template, yet not in a way that detracts, but rather calls attention to an evolution. “The Future, The Past, and Forever After” goes down the road of classic New Order and “Pulse” is like nothing else the band has ever done. And the instant classics, “History of Modern Part II,” Sister Mary Says,” and “RFWK” illuminate the notion that new romanticism is new again.

History of Modern proves that OMD are masters of their genre, their instruments, and pop music in general. Whether this album came out in 1981 or 2011 the verdict is the same: History of Modern is amazing.

Best Songs: History of Modern Part II, RFWK, Sister Mary Says, If You Want It, History of Modern Part I

Here are my other awards for
the musical scene in 2010:

Single of the Year
Harlem - Friendly Ghost

Alive. Vital. Organic. Intense. This is garage rock at its finest.

Runner-Up Single of the Year
Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill

By far the best song this band has ever made.

Song You Heard Everywhere in 2010
Train - Hey, Soul Sista

I believe I have heard this song in at least a half dozen commercials in 2010. And that is surely an understatement. Wherever you were in 2010 I'm sure you heard this song at least 50 times. Like it or not, and despite Train's always awful lyrics it was the catchiest song of the year that you heard EVERYWHERE. And hey, is that Howie Mandel playing the mandolin? Nah, it couldn't be, could it?

Video of the Year
The Heavy - How You Like Me Now

The Heavy's How You Like Me Now was most prominently shown this year as a Kia commercial that debuted at the 2010 Super Bowl. Favorite childrens' toys come to life and partying in Las Vegas never sounded so good.

Best Live Performance of the Year
Eminem and Rihanna - Not Afraid and Love the Way You Lie (2010 MTV Music Awards)

The arrangement looks big but the sound is small, especially when compared to Eminem's top notch rapping. Indeed, Slim Shady's flow is the whole show and never in better form that in 2010. That Rihanna got beat up by her boyfriend Chris Brown in 2010 and sings on Love the Way You Lie only adds further poignancy to the medley.

Worst Live Performance of the Year
Dave Mathews and Neil Young - Alone and Foresaken (Concert for Haiti)

This is the kind of musical performance that will have all the cats in your neighborhood showing up at your front door. Awful. And yes, Neil Young has never looked fatter or uglier.

Guilty Pleasure of the Year
Taio Cruz - Break My Heart

I tore up the San Juan dance floor to this song. And if ever hear it again I'll start an instant dance party. True 'dat.

Rip-Off of the Year
LCD Soundsystem - All I Want
rips off
David Bowie - Heroes

David Bowie is possibly the most ripped off artist of the past 20 years. Here is another example:

Rip-Off of the Year Runner-Up
The Black Keys - Everlasting Light
rips off
T Rex - Bang a Gong

The Black Keys churned out a good album in 2010. However, their doofiness, irony, and inability to hide their plagiarism ensures that they will never be anywhere as great as T. Rex.

Album Cover of the Year
Scissor Sisters - Night Work

'Tis the season to be jolly and don our gay apparel.

Dirtiest Video of the Year
Katy Perry - California Girls

Certainly Lady Gaga's Bad Romance was the dirtiest video of 2009, and by "dirty" I mean can't stop looking goo goo ga ga DIRTY. Katy Perry's 2010 video for California Girls is this year's Bad Romance, albeit candy colored rather than colored blocked. Perry's video is benign yet obscene and I suppose that's what I was in the mood for in 2010.

Best Strokes Impression of the Year
Neon Trees - Animal

Take one part The Strokes, one part The Killers, and throw in a bit of poseur posturing and you've got Neon Trees' Animal, a catchy tune that shows a one hit wonder from a band that you'll never hear from again.

Best Killers Impression of the Year
Neon Trees - Animal

See above and below.

Best Lyric of the Year
OMD - History of Modern Part II
"The last mistake you ever make… is thinking modern's new forever."

The line sums up many of my own personal feelings and surely much of what I suspect OMD has grappled with during their twenty plus years as a band. These words and a humming sythesizer are the pinnacle of their new, breathtaking album, History of Modern.

Awful Awkward Lyric of the Year
P!nk - Raise Your Glass

Stupid songs are a dime a dozen this decade but truly absurd lyrics are still something to be cherished. Nowhere will you find a worse line than in P!nk's latest single, Raise Your Glass. Should we let P!nk (or is it co-writer Linda Perr?) speak for herself:

"Party Crasher, Penny Snatcher, Call me up if you want gangsta Don't be fancy, just get dancey Why so serious? Just come on and come on and raise your glass (oh shit my glass is empty, that sucks) So if you're too school for cool, And you're treated like a fool, You can choose to let it go We can always, we can always, Party on our own"

Most Ridiculous Man of All-Time
Given Yearly to the One and Only Scott Stapp

Stapp's earnest silliness never gets old. Let's remember The Man as he was in 2001 because really, what's better than one Scott Stapp? Two, of course!

2011 Crystal Ball Predictions

Even though 2010 failed to grab a hold of me in a way previous years have, it was still satisfying because I can FEEL a storm gathering for 2011. I'm not sure what that storm is going to entail but I sense we're going to see a classic sound get tweaked for a modern era. On that note, I leave you with the best modern meets classic interpretation in quite some time, Crystal Castle's duet with The Cure's Robert Smith covering the '80s Platinum Blonde song, "Not in Love." Gives me goose bumps everytime.

See you next year!

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