best of 2010
My 2010 A-list, which neatly turned out to be 50 albums:
1. Vampire Weekend - Contra
2. Taylor Swift - Speak Now
3. Against Me! - White Crosses
4. Robyn - Body Talk
5. M.I.A. - /\/\/\Y/\
6. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
7. Jaill – That’s How We Burn
8. Sleigh Bells - Treats
9. The National - High Violet
10. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
11. No Age - Everything in Between
12. Happy Birthday - Happy Birthday
13. Tokyo Police Club – Champ
14. Soulja Boy – The DeAndre Way
15. Liz Phair – Girlysound
16. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
17. Allo Darlin' - Allo Darlin'
18. Robyn - Body Talk Pt. 1 [EP]
19. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
20. Lil Wayne - I Am Not a Human Being [EP]
21. Care Bears on Fire - Girls Like It Loud [EP]
22. Elizabeth Cook – Welder
23. Caribou – Swim
24. Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils
25. Best Coast - Crazy for You
26. Women - Public Strain
27. Curren$y - Pilot Talk 2
28. Fucked Up - Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009
29. The Vaselines - Sex with an X
30. Old 97's - The Grand Theatre Volume One
31. Spoon – Transference
32. Rick Ross - Teflon Don
33. The Books - The Way Out
34. Triángulo de Amor Bizarro - Año Santo
35. The Extra Lens – Undercard
36. Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer
37. Quasi - American Gong
38. Ne-Yo - Libra Scale
39. Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love
40. The Roots - How I Got Over
41. The Radio Dept. – Clinging to a Scheme
42. Eskmo – Eskmo
43. The Bird and the Bee - Interpreting the Masters Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates
44. Tyler, the Creator - Bastard
45. Various Artists - African Pearls: Congo - Pont Sur le Congo
46. Kate Nash - My Best Friend Is You
47. The So So Glos – Low Back Chain Shift [EP]
48. Shad - TSOL
49. Sam Amidon - I See the Sign
50. Das Racist - Sit Down, Man
Albums I tried very hard to A-list but couldn’t, roughly in descending order of quality:
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
Beach House - Teen Dream
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Curren$y - Pilot Talk
Laurie Anderson – Homeland
Yeasayer - Odd Blood
James Blake - CMYK [EP]
Earl Sweatshirt - EARL
Jenny and Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now
MC Esoteric – Saving Seamus Ryan
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
We Are Scientists - Barbara
The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards
Everybody Was in the French Resistance...Now - Fixin' the Charts Vol. 1
songs:
1. Taylor Swift - The Story of Us
2. Robyn - Hang With Me [album version]
3. LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls
4. The Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire
5. Robyn - Dancing on My Own [EP version]
6. Weezer - Smart Girls
7. Laurie Anderson - Only an Expert
8. Vampire Weekend - Giving Up the Gun
9. M.I.A. - Born Free
10. The Books - A Cold Freezin' Night
11. Laura Veirs - July Flame
12. Taylor Swift – Mean
13. Sam Amidon feat. Beth Orton - You Better Mind
14. Robyn – Fembot
15. Against Me! - I Was a Teenage Anarchist
16. Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait
17. Tokyo Police Club - Favorite Food
18. We Are Scientists - Rules Don't Stop
19. Weezer - Trainwrecks
20. Ke$ha - Grow a Pear
21. Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em – Speakers Going Hammer
22. Rick Ross – MC Hammer/B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)
23. Elizabeth Cook – Rock ‘n Roll Man
24. Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
25. Foals – Blue Blood
26. NDF – Since We Last Met
27. Devo - Mind Games
28. The Bird and the Bee - Heard It on the Radio
29. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Say No to Love
30. Lil Wayne feat. Eminem - Drop the World
31. LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change
32. Serena-Maneesh - Ayisha Abyss
33. Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg – California Gurls
34. Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi – Tightrope
35. Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce – Telephone
See you in 2011.
1. Vampire Weekend - Contra
2. Taylor Swift - Speak Now
3. Against Me! - White Crosses
4. Robyn - Body Talk
5. M.I.A. - /\/\/\Y/\
6. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
7. Jaill – That’s How We Burn
8. Sleigh Bells - Treats
9. The National - High Violet
10. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
11. No Age - Everything in Between
12. Happy Birthday - Happy Birthday
13. Tokyo Police Club – Champ
14. Soulja Boy – The DeAndre Way
15. Liz Phair – Girlysound
16. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
17. Allo Darlin' - Allo Darlin'
18. Robyn - Body Talk Pt. 1 [EP]
19. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
20. Lil Wayne - I Am Not a Human Being [EP]
21. Care Bears on Fire - Girls Like It Loud [EP]
22. Elizabeth Cook – Welder
23. Caribou – Swim
24. Beach Fossils - Beach Fossils
25. Best Coast - Crazy for You
26. Women - Public Strain
27. Curren$y - Pilot Talk 2
28. Fucked Up - Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009
29. The Vaselines - Sex with an X
30. Old 97's - The Grand Theatre Volume One
31. Spoon – Transference
32. Rick Ross - Teflon Don
33. The Books - The Way Out
34. Triángulo de Amor Bizarro - Año Santo
35. The Extra Lens – Undercard
36. Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer
37. Quasi - American Gong
38. Ne-Yo - Libra Scale
39. Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love
40. The Roots - How I Got Over
41. The Radio Dept. – Clinging to a Scheme
42. Eskmo – Eskmo
43. The Bird and the Bee - Interpreting the Masters Vol. 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates
44. Tyler, the Creator - Bastard
45. Various Artists - African Pearls: Congo - Pont Sur le Congo
46. Kate Nash - My Best Friend Is You
47. The So So Glos – Low Back Chain Shift [EP]
48. Shad - TSOL
49. Sam Amidon - I See the Sign
50. Das Racist - Sit Down, Man
Albums I tried very hard to A-list but couldn’t, roughly in descending order of quality:
Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
Beach House - Teen Dream
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Curren$y - Pilot Talk
Laurie Anderson – Homeland
Yeasayer - Odd Blood
James Blake - CMYK [EP]
Earl Sweatshirt - EARL
Jenny and Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now
MC Esoteric – Saving Seamus Ryan
Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
We Are Scientists - Barbara
The Dead Weather - Sea of Cowards
Everybody Was in the French Resistance...Now - Fixin' the Charts Vol. 1
songs:
1. Taylor Swift - The Story of Us
2. Robyn - Hang With Me [album version]
3. LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls
4. The Radio Dept. - Heaven's on Fire
5. Robyn - Dancing on My Own [EP version]
6. Weezer - Smart Girls
7. Laurie Anderson - Only an Expert
8. Vampire Weekend - Giving Up the Gun
9. M.I.A. - Born Free
10. The Books - A Cold Freezin' Night
11. Laura Veirs - July Flame
12. Taylor Swift – Mean
13. Sam Amidon feat. Beth Orton - You Better Mind
14. Robyn – Fembot
15. Against Me! - I Was a Teenage Anarchist
16. Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait
17. Tokyo Police Club - Favorite Food
18. We Are Scientists - Rules Don't Stop
19. Weezer - Trainwrecks
20. Ke$ha - Grow a Pear
21. Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em – Speakers Going Hammer
22. Rick Ross – MC Hammer/B.M.F. (Blowin’ Money Fast)
23. Elizabeth Cook – Rock ‘n Roll Man
24. Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
25. Foals – Blue Blood
26. NDF – Since We Last Met
27. Devo - Mind Games
28. The Bird and the Bee - Heard It on the Radio
29. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Say No to Love
30. Lil Wayne feat. Eminem - Drop the World
31. LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change
32. Serena-Maneesh - Ayisha Abyss
33. Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg – California Gurls
34. Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi – Tightrope
35. Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce – Telephone
See you in 2011.
posted by kiss out the jams at 1:58 PM
11 Comments:
Are you a Christgauian? Would be happy to know.
I hesitate to pigeonhole myself as a "Christgauian" but it's obvious I'm pretty obsessed. Though I dug Sleigh Bells, Robyn, Allo Darlin', Old 97's, Taylor Swift, Das Racist, No Age, M.I.A., Kanye and Big Boi before he weighed in. Flying Lotus and Standard Fare should've been on here.
And now the Extra Lens.
...Cool!XD Pardon me for the slightly dunderheaded question (I actually thought so)! I didn't exactly hold my breath there!
Anyway,I've likewise attuned my listenership to Bob...hmm, The Dean's commendations for records from the past year,although I proudly had "discoveries" of my own (which eventually came to his attention, i.e.Dessa's,predictably an A-).I wouldn't have learnt of Care Bears on Fire w/o his review or news of Eskmo and Gold Panda. It's been a marginally good year,but Christgau on Expert Witness forged it into something robust by gleaning and rounding off rock-solid material(Minaj's!!>o<!).Found it miraculous he hung around after announcing he dropped his assignment on MSN (or was I ill-informed?).
Also occurred to me: you have such a distinct writing style...was it drawn upon the host?
It can't be that distinct if I'm ripping him off so obviously!
A fine read still.
Off the record: how come Christgau hasn't expressed any interest in J-pop music? It doesn't have the worst demographic out there.
My educated guess is the same thing that puts him off Bollywood? Too much unflinching hyperactivity and high registers? That said, I know virtually nothing about the style myself. I've heard tunes but nothing too distinct, lots very cheesy, and nowhere to begin on artist recommendations. Closest thing I've ever wanted to hear twice is "Another Winter," off the video game soundtrack for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Prozzak's "www.nevergetoveryou," a cheesy favorite of mine since 2002 has always felt j-poppy to me too.
Perhaps. J-pop is championed by lousy players, but that to me makes it not much different from the mainstream music scene of the U.S. I can say I'm knowledgeable enough about J-pop and its subgenres, and because it did move me away from MOR (the "hit" parade!) and MTV,it subsequently brought me to other corners of music: the lower echelons of any nation's musical hierarchy. Well, not in any strict sense "lower", but "obscure", "overlooked" and "underappreciated".(Some indie are even as pop as they come!) It's a rewarding pursuit and I avow allegiance to it. Now it's much easier with Bob around.
Btw, why don't you start with Bonnie Pink? She's a great entree into J-pop.
Am about to get into Lykke Li's latest. I think it would best Harvey's.
Without a nod to Pitchfork,I am more fascinated and impressed with the LPs of Katy B and Jamie Woon this year than I think I ever was with Lykke Li's, and, needless to say, even PJ's (although The Chocolate Drops EP's a corker). You think our host would drop either of this two an A grade? Each of them sounds like an HM at worst. Unless they turn out pretentious (like moi!).
where da fat chicks at?
Post a Comment
<< Home