Top 10 2012!

Howdy Ya'll!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Top 10 too!  This year, we are dialing it back a bit... This means change.  Change is good! 

 Here's what's up:

for starters, i'm encouraging folks to post their lists right back here at lettershomefromcamp.blogspot.com (no longer http://www.top10albumsoftheyear.blogspot.com/ ...so don't go there)

Secondly, no giant e-mail, post, ecard etc with a giant list of rules.  

login is still at blogger.com and is still 

username: topten

password: albumsoftheyear

put your albums and descriptions up, discuss, justify, comment, audio/visual aids encouraged.

Third (and most controversially)-  i'm retiring the top ten party this year. At least no top ten party in it's the incarnation as in past years.  Will there be a gathering where a bunch of music geeks get together & still hash it out?  ...i am thinking quite possibly ...however at this point, i got nothin'. keep an eye out here for that info, should it come along.

looking forward to seeing you put up your list!

Eric Top 10 of 2010

Now that the year is over, here is my list for the best releases of 2010. Enjoy!

10.

Wolf Parade "Expo 86"

Great followup to At Mount Zoomer. All of the things that make Wolf Parade great are still there, with a great mix of Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug songs. On At Mount Zoomer I found myself gravitating toward Dan's songs, while on this album I leaned more towards Krug's awesome Bowie-esque jams.

9.Grinderman "Grinderman 2"

Love me some Grinderman. Nick Cave at his absolute dirtiest. Cave snarls some of his most disturbing lyrics over crashing drums, pulsating bass and some seriously messed up guitar. Saw them at the Riviera and it was one of my personal highlights for the year

8.The Black Keys "Brothers"

I have to admit, I came seriously late to the Black Keys party, and anyone who knows me knows that I'm seriously skeptical of two person blues-ish bands. I gave the Keys a chance this year and fell in love, however. Their show at the Aragon at the end of the year really sealed the deal on them for me.

7The National "High Violet"

At first this album was a real disappointment for me. Right off the bat, we're hit with the absolute terrible production of "Terrible Love" which really set a sour note for me for the album when I first got it. Fortunately, songs like Bloodbuzz Ohio, Lemonworld and Runaway get back to what makes the National great.

6.Big Boi "Sir Lucious Left Foot, the son of Chico Dusty"

I know it loses more and more of its luster every time someone calls Big Boi Outkast's underappreciated secret weapon, but its really true. Big Boi takes a backseat to no one in terms of rhyming skills, and we see once again that Outkast's groundbreaking sonic inventiveness and production are more that Andre 3000.

5.Cee Lo Green "The Lady Killer"

Full disclosure, I'm a huge fan of pretty much everything Cee Lo does, and I think an argument can easily be made he's the most sonically adventurous artist in the hip hop genre. But even that does his overall sound a disservice. Jumping everywhere from 80's electro synth pop to doo wop soul to rock, Cee Lo does it all effortlessly. Everyone knows about the ridiculously catchy "Fuck You," but "Bright Lights Big City" may be just as good.

4.Jim Jones Revue "Burning Your House Down"

Vocals distorted by old school channel distortion? Check. Frontman with the best chicken walk this side of Mick Jagger? Check. Barroom piano? Check. Amped up blues riffs? Check. All wrapped up in a rockabilly-punk sandwich? Count me in. Jim Jones is a blast of old school rock and roll that makes you want to reach for the pomade and watch the Outsiders. I love it.

3.The Arcade Fire "The Suburbs"

This was another album from one of my favorite bands that initially disappointed me. Slow to start and 18 songs long, its not an album that readily invites you in and it really took me 5 or 6 listens to come around. Once you delve into the deceptively simple arrangements, however, the results are quite rewarding.

2. Vampire Weekend "Contra"

I totally forgot this album came out this year until I saw it on Matt's list. Not only have I listened to it so much, but its such an effortless album to get into, that it just seems like i've had it forever. Its hard to call any of this terribly original if you've ever listened to Paul Simon, but Vampire Weekend write such great songs it really doesn't matter.

1.The Walkmen "Lisbon"

Yet another album that I might not have given enough of a chance if it wasn't anchored by such a great song in the middle that it demanded I come back to it. "Angela Surf City" was my favorite song of the year and it wasn't even close. Its a perfect capsule of what makes the Walkmen so awesome. Slightly off beat drums, an absolute tidal wave of a chorus and Hamilton Leithauser's half drunk croon in the verse turned blood vessel exploding scream in the chorus. What really comes out though is the stylistic differences throughout. Besides the rockers like Angela, Victory and Woe is Me to an extent, there's the playful Juveniles to open, and the almost country beat of Blue Blood. What really stands out, however is the hushed restraint shown throughout. Songs like Follow the Leader, Torch Song and the closer Lisbon show that well the Walkmen can still pull off a great rocking single, there is more depth left for them to mine.

Honorable Mention:

Gaslight Anthem: American Slang

Black Angels: Phosphene Dream

MIA: Maya

Gorillaz: Plastic Beach

Jeff Bentoff's Let's Not Do This Too Early Top 10 Albums of 2010 List

1. "High Velvet" - The National

2. "Together" - The New Pornographers

3. "The ArchAndroid" - Janelle Monae

4. "The Suburbs" - Arcade Fire

5. "Tomorrow Morning" - Eels

6. "Intriguer" - Crowded House

7. "Le Noise" - Neil Young

8. "History From Below" - Delta Spirit

9. "The Lady Killer" - Cee-Lo Green

10. "The Outsiders Are Back" - Kings Go Forth

Several others that I really liked included:

* "Sir Lucious Left Foot" - Big Boi

* "Lived and Moved" - Trapper Schoepp & The Shades

* "One Nite Only" - Sat Nite. Duets

* "You Are Not Alone" - Mavis Staples

* "Brothers" - The Black Keys

* "Wisco: A Wisconsin Tribute to Wilco"

* "Doo-Wops & Hooligans" - Bruno Mars

* "Grace Potter & The Nocturnals"

* "III/IV" - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals

Big thanks to Matty for again hosting this annual blog and party. I wish I could've made the soiree this year.

James Gapinski's Top Ten Albums of 2010

Since I was unaware of this blog last year, I'll just start by saying that there were a lot of good releases this year, but 2010 is still eclipsed by some of last year's amazing albums. In 2009, Au Revoir Simone's “Still Night, Still Light” provided some of the best electro dream-pop of the decade, Anti-Flag returned to an independent label and old-school punk sound with “The People or the Gun,” Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard's album “'Em Are I” redefined anti-folk, and Schwervon!'s “Low Blow” blended grunge with a beautiful assortment of other artistic styles. The year 2009 bore witness to true artistic innovation on the aforementioned albums and many others—a tall order for 2010's releases to top.

And without further adieu, here is my digressional list:

1. Kate Nash: “My Best Friend is You” - Even with a long-awaited freshman release from The Bundles, Kate Nash's sophomore album deserves the number one spot on the list. This young artist continually revises her sound, and she never disappoints in every genre attempted. Naturally, she does revisit tried and true stylistic directions on some tracks. Nash's early lo-fi proclivity for acoustic recordings reemerges, as does some of the pop influence from her previous studio album. However, many songs on “My Best Friend is You” are faster, louder, and yet contradictorily more polished and mature than her subtler work. On this new release, fiery spoken-word segments, fuzz-box guitar pedals, more complex drum beats, and increasingly passionate lyrics highlight a musician with immense promise and a willingness to take chances in her work.

2. The Bundles: “The Bundles” - The Bundles first began nine years ago as some ad-hoc collaboration between Jeffrey Lewis and Kimya Dawson. In 2010, these impromptu jams finally led to an official album release. The debut self-titled record delivers some of what you'd expect from these anti-folk greats, but it also explores new ground. The Bundles is perhaps better described as “experimental” than anything else. In the album's delightful mix: playful keyboards, unexpected drum interludes, syncopated guitar riffs, and occasional idiosyncratic vocals make for a truly unique listening experience.

3. Adam Green: “Minor Love” - Adam Green's “Minor Love” feels like less of a studio album than his previous “Sixes & Sevens” album. The music returns to the more minimalistic vibe of Green's early solo career and his work with The Moldy Peaches, leaving behind some of the pseudo-blues influence and harmonization exhibited on “Sixes & Sevens.” On the other hand, lyrics and vocals continue in the eccentric vein of “Friends of Mine” and “Sixes & Sevens,” with poetic refinement and a subtle melody fully appropriate for the album's subject matter.

4. Emmy the Great: “First Love” - This first album from London singer/songwriter Emma-Lee Moss features lyrically poignant tunes that speak with an authority and prophetic wisdom beyond Moss' young age. The fingerstyle guitar is all that's needed to make the songs pop with an airy delicacy that juxtaposes nicely against heavier themes of love, lust, and loss. It's best to sit down when you listen to “First Love,” because it has the capacity to floor you.

5. The Hundred in the Hands: “The Hundred in the Hands” - The Hundred in the Hands' self-titled release navigates the breadth of psychedelic-pop's potential, delivering danceable up-tempo house beats on a few tracks, and softer tracks reminiscent of Lykke Li or Röyksopp on others. In short, it's really good.

6. Wild Nothing: “Gemini” - When I started assembling my picks for 2010, this album was not initially in the top ten. Perhaps I was just really hesitant to bump Frightened Rabbit's amazing album “The Winter of Mixed Drinks” off the list to make room for “Gemini.” Regardless, once I moved Wild Nothing onto the list, I found it continually rose as I weighed it against other contending albums, until finally reaching a respectable sixth place. “Gemini” grows on you symbiotically the more times you listen. This debut album by Wild Nothing has such a good ebb and flow; it has memorable staying power even on endless repeat. Each listen-through makes the melodic riffs and soothing vocals more pronounced. “Gemini” provides a modern take on the dwindling shoe-gaze genre, mixing it with overt touches of indie and dream-pop: it's an amalgamation that works on many levels.

7. The Cribs: “Ignore the Ignorant” - With former The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr in the band, it's no wonder that this contemporary alt-rock group has released several albums that recapture the very best characteristics of the 1980s post-punk sound encapsulated by The Smiths, The Psychedelic Furs, and The Cure. “Ignore the Ignorant” strips some of the pop and electronica influence from post-punk for a progressive take on the genre.

8. Laura Marling: “I Speak Because I Can” - Like Laura Marling's “Alas, I Cannot Swim,” “I Speak Because I Can” retains a bare-bones vibe, but still throws in subtle backing sounds that provide a new experience every time you listen to a track. At first glance, her music is redolent of what you'd expect to hear from Marling as a wonderful busker or coffee shop act. But upon closer inspection, occasional embellishments catch your ear for a near-symphonic experience packed within a handful of carefully selected tones, an acoustic guitar, and Marling's beautiful vocals. “I Speak Because I Can” is the perfect merger of lo-fi realism and hi-fidelity complexity.

9. Lightspeed Champion: “Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You” - On his second release as Lightspeed Champion, Devonté Hynes displays the breadth of his compositional abilities. Hynes musical career is mostly one of background contribution—among his many musical accomplishments, Hynes composed songs for Florence and the Machine's debut album “Lungs,” and he showed his versatility with work on techno and trip-hop songs for The Chemical Brothers. When playing in the forefront, Hynes offers rich baroque-pop piano riffs, funky guitar parts, and soft vocals. “Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You” gives listeners a taste of the true potential of this talented composer.

10. Wavves: “King of the Beach” - When you're dealing with a garage-band-esque sound, the messy tracks have a choreographed beauty to them—this was definitely the case with the Wavves' 2008 self-titled release. “King of the Beach,” however, is noticeably less sporadic and gritty than the 2008 incarnation. Fortunately, the change doesn't hinder the listening experience for this band. “King of the Beach” manages to deliver what few records can: sidewalk sound with studio cleanliness. The album is noise-pop at its finest, rivaling early 1980s contributions from trailblazers like Jesus & Mary Chain.

All things considered, 2010 had plenty of its own artistic innovation. I'm still not sure if these releases top last year's, but does it really matter? The assortment of captivating 2010 albums is nothing to sneeze at. And perhaps more relevantly, four of these albums are freshman albums, and another three are sophomore releases—there was a lot of really good music from relatively “new” bands in 2010, and I suspect these artists will continue to impress in years to come.

Some Honorable Mentions (in rank order)

- “The Winter of Mixed Drinks” by Frightened Rabbit

- “White Crosses” by Against Me!

- “Darwin Deez” by Darwin Deez

- “Flaws” by Bombay Bicycle Club

- “Oh Little Fire” by Sarah Harmer

Scott M's improbably long top 10 list

Let's get down to it.

10. Sleigh Bells: Treats

Sleigh Bells certainly aren’t the first band to marry incredibly abrasive tracks to catchy melodies and a sweet voice (Alexis Krauss is up there with Cosentino and Janelle Monae for my favorite voice discovered this year). But as opposed to most noise pop, which I don’t particularly care for, there’s something ingratiating about the clattering percussion and highly distorted, highly compressed guitars. I also like the fact that, as I’m typing this, the album is causing my cat to flatten her ears against her head like she might have to attack the speakers. It hasn’t prompted her to move from her perch next to me, but she is on her guard. It seems somehow apt.

9. The Arcade Fire: The Suburbs

The Arcade Fire never want for scope or sentiment (n: an attitude or opinion; the feeling or emotion conveyed by words as distinct from the words themselves) on their albums, and so the emptiness of suburban sprawl seems like a logical choice. And as a logical choice, it works. But I have to admit; the album’s placement on the list is as much a nod to the fact that I LOVE the band’s albums after a while as an indication of how much I like it now. That is, I know that it took me about five months to like all of Funeral, and a similar amount of time to like all of Neon Bible, so I’m guessing in a few months and a dozen more spins it’ll click in a way that it doesn’t quite yet. I like it now, but I know I’ll love it sooner rather than later.

8. Girl Talk: All Day

There’s a legitimate argument to be made that the quality of mash-up albums owes as much or more to the people who wrote the original songs as the DJ playing Dr. Moreau. Crap music is crap no matter what you do with it. But I’ve been to enough parties where the amateur DJ fancies himself on a par with Gregg Gillis because he has as much wax in his ironic moustache as he does on his turntables at any given moment to think that there’s a real skill in creating an enduring playlist that retains appeal beyond the immediate need to shake one’s moneymaker. There’s a playfulness and humor and even emotion to the juxtapositions in All Day that makes it work every time I listen, not entirely unlike a favorite TV episode where I know all the jokes and character beats but watch it again and again anyway.

You can also make the argument that there’s no progression to Girl Talk’s oeuvre, and that’s also at least partially true. If you asked a naïve listener to, for example, guess the chronology of The Beatles catalog based on how they sound, they’d get it more or less right. I’m not sure you can do that with Girl Talk- Night Ripper, Feed the Animals, and All Day are all pretty same-y in how they are constructed and end up sounding. But if you’ll indulge me in a food analogy, mash-up albums are like hamburgers. They’re not haute cuisine; they’re mostly constructed to satisfy base, immediate needs. And however you specifically adorn them, they’re basically the same thing every time. But- and here’s the key- bad ones are a horrible, terrible experience. Good ones, on the other hand, are a reliable comfort you enjoy returning to. Such is Girl Talk.

7. Best Coast: Crazy For You

This album hits a ton of my pleasure points. It’s sunny and the melodies owe a huge debt to the Motown/Spector schools of girl-group pop. It has the honest, naked emotion and low-fi sound of Exile in Guyville (minus about 90% of the raunch). Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, Bethany Cosentino has a clear, pure Neko Case-like voice that cuts through the music like a clarion, unable and unwilling to be subsumed by the reverb that drenches it throughout the album. I cannot convey how stunned I am by how her voice comes across- reverb is generally used to make the singer sound far away and isolated, but on speakers or headphones it still sounds as if she’s right next to me. Instead of sounding like she’s on the opposite end of an unfinished hallway from the microphone it’s more like having a conversation in a racquetball court- the echo is more incidental.

6. Big Boi: Sir Lucious Left Foot... The Son of Chico Dusty

Okay, stay with me here- is Outkast the new Uncle Tupelo? Uncle Tupelo was a critically acclaimed act that had two focal members (Farrar and Tweedy), both of whom were seen as good artists in their own right and essential contributors to the whole. But, when Uncle Tupelo broke up, an examination of the discography led most people to believe that Farrar would have the better career; he was the innovative one and a more accomplished songwriter while it was assumed Tweedy would put out good, if unspectacular albums. Fast forward fifteen years and the critics were wrong. Tweedy led Wilco to be one of the best, most capital-I Important bands of his era. He pushed the envelope sonically, expanding outwards from Summerteeth through the indescribably superlative YHF and into A Ghost is Born and beyond. If you’re reading this blog, chances are I don’t need to go further. Meanwhile, Farrar’s Son Volt had a very good debut album, and nothing of real note after that.

For comparison, let’s take Speakerboxxx/The Love Below as a pair of solo albums, as Outkast intended. Now, to address the elephant in the room, neither Farrar nor Big Boi have had anything quite so good as “Hey Ya,” a pop song that would make Plato scream about how Forms aren’t supposed to exist in any material sense. But The Love Below is secretly not that great an album otherwise. Sonically innovative, yes. But not really great, or even good (“Roses?” Really?!). Meanwhile, Speakerboxxx has no fewer than six songs I listen to often. It sounded a lot like Outkast, but not quite. Now Sir Lucious Left Foot… continues that forward progress. It’s front-to-back good, with multiple high-water marks (“Daddy Fat Sax,” “Shutterbugg,” and “Tangerine” to name three). It’s similar to what he’s done, but the production is subtly different. It’s not all as densely packed as proper Outkast tracks, with different production and sampling tricks instead of, on top of, and generally in addition to the stuff that attracted everyone to the duo in the first place. The album is great, and sets up higher expectations for the next one. I’m pushing this in part because I desperately want to hear what Big Boi’s YHF would sound like. I’m also pushing this in part because, on the infinitesimal chance that Andre 3000 reads this and cares what some white Jewish academic thinks, he gets of his ass and proves me wrong by releasing a damn solo album already.

5. Janelle Monae: The ArchAndroid

I’m not entirely sure what to make of this album, beyond the fact that I love it. It’s endlessly varied, with sonic rabbit-holes to tumble down at every turn. I get that it’s part two of a planned multi-release opera about android-human love (or so I’m told). Just typing that makes me think “Domo arigato Mr. Roboto.” But the album resits being laughed off like an overwrought and ponderous Styx rock-opera. It’s too thoroughly well constructed to be dismissed. Even if you go into the album skeptical, “Cold War” will slap you so hard you’ll have a handprint on your cheek. If Beyonce or Rihanna decided they wanted that song, it would reside comfortably atop the Billboard charts. It’s also a reminder that as sex- (and to a lesser extent, love-) obsessed as funk and R&B have traditionally been, they are versatile genres that can support the wild and/or far-reaching ideas so long as the groove is good and the voice has passion.

4. LCD Soundsystem: This is Happening

I hope that this isn’t the last LCD Soundsystem album. I know a lot of people don’t care, because it’s not as if James Murphy is retiring. But LCD Soundsystem was always more of a band than it’s given credit for. Murphy may be the lyricist, but the music is always credited to “LCD Soundsystem.” And the music is as much why the album(s) are great as Murphy’s wry, funny, pointed, moving lyrics. This album also seems to find the band really hitting its stride after (and this is not a knock on either) the singles-and-filler debut and heavily indebted Sound of Silver (“Get Innocuous” is more-Eno-than-Eno, while “New York I Love You” sounds like a piano cover of something that got bumped from a Velvet Underground album). Much like some bands continue to surprise, some bands continue to top themselves. And though nothing on this album quite matches the “Someone Great”/”All My Friends” pairing, the work as a whole is somehow even better. Beyond that, I’m at a loss for words. This is just simply a good album, and the best yet from the band.

3. Robyn: Body Talk

I am unabashedly, unashamedly pro-Robyn and have been since I spend a month (and $25) tracking down an import of her previous album because I didn’t want to wait to see if it would get an American release. So if you’ll permit me to climb up on my soapbox for a moment…

In an ideal world, Robyn would be one of the biggest pop stars in America right now. Really, the only female artist who compares is Beyonce. Both women boast a cannon of ungodly catchy songs that proffer an image of the artist as a strong individual whose womanhood is at once essential and incidental. They’re sexual without being whorish. If you’re not down with who they are, they don’t need you. OK, so Robyn is more dance music than modern R&B, and Robyn writes the majority of her songs while Beyonce only some. But- as unqualified as I probably am to assess this- they are strong role models. And I am qualified, at least in my own mind, to point out that they are responsible for infinitely better music than most other solo artists, female or not. Robyn makes Katy Perry sound less coquettish and more like a harlot- compare “Daisy dukes bikinis on top/Sun-kissed skin so hot we’ll melt your popsicle” with “Keep at me all you like/I came to dance not socialize.” Taylor Swift rakes it in peddling heartbreak, but she sounds like (and is) a high-school naïf compared to the Swede. “You Belong With Me” and “Dancing on my Own” express similar sentiments, but Robyn’s effort would eat Swift’s simply because it was bored.

I don’t mean to focus on Robyn as a woman- to compare her simply to other female solo artists glosses over the fact that her music is great on its own terms. But in music female solo artists seem to exist in a semi-hermetic environment, where they are as much pin-ups as singers and as much role models as artists. If this seems uncouth, remember that Susan Boyle has a good voice. The shock value came from the fact that she’s an ugly, forty-something spinster, a circumstance that has nothing to do with art. End of rant.

2. Vampire Weekend: Contra

This seems to be every kind of second album at once, depending on what you wanted it to be. Is it more of the same as their debut? Neither “White Sky” nor “Diplomat’s Son” will disabuse you of that notion. Are they expanding their sound while retaining keen pop instincts and a distinctive style? I submit for your consideration “Giving Up the Gun.” Did you want them to alienate those annoying teen robots who put the album on their i-Pod sandwiched between Coldplay and Katy Perry because MTV deemed them worthy of attention? Then you must have loved “Cousins.” If you were one of those teen robots, “Taxi Cab” is probably one of your two favorite tracks. Do they annoyingly co-opt musical styles that over-educated white boys have no business using? The horns on “Run” must have really pissed you off. If you thought “Oxford Comma” epitomized how pretentious and over-hyped they were, then “California English” will make you nod knowingly.

I don’t know if the band is necessarily as polarizing anymore as they were doomed to be (at least at first) from the music-critic hype. Personally, I think enjoying Vampire Weekend is similar to enjoying pizza or a good back rub- they’re just pleasurable experiences that don’t really speak to any part of an identity. Koenig is a solid songwriter who knows his way around a hook. They’re more sonically adventurous than the average band, but mainly so because Americans seem to forget that much of the world makes music that isn’t essentially descended from European classical music via American folk and blues (and don’t be mistaken- VW’s music is firmly rooted in these I-IV-V chord traditions). Contra is just really good music, and it would be with or without their self-titled debut. It can be analyzed musically, and it can be analyzed culturally, but it doesn’t need to be. It’s some of the best kind of music, the kind that just seems to exist a-contextually.

1. Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Honestly, I’m not sure what I can say about the album or the artist that hasn’t been beaten to death, then revived using extraordinary measures just so it can be beaten to death again. So let’s just agree that “Kanye West” is sine qua non for Kanye West’s music. He’s emotional, fragile, narcisstic, funny, and inventive, an inveterate navel-gazer and someone who- not unlike the best football coaches- refuses to stop thinking about possibilities; the fact that something might work means its worth trying not once, but until it’s right or all possible permutations are exhausted. I don’t know how many people would think to have Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj and Bon Iver on the same track (or even album), but I do know that if I had to pick one person to make it work I’d pick West. Cracked recently had an article that had probably the best take on Kanye I’d seen in a long time. The gist, if you don’t want to click over, is that because he plays out his neuroses so publicly people forget he’s a great musician. They then compare him to Brian Wilson, who was similarly crazy but much less public about it. I don’t know about the relationship between madness and genius, but Wilson and West both opened up their heads and exposed that madness in ways that made for sonically and lyrically interesting music. Frankly, if Kanye turns out to be Brian Wilson at his core, I wouldn’t be shocked.

Rich Mars Top 10 of 2010

This is far from a definitive list. I haven't listened to all the new CDs released this year and I don't want to. This is really more a list of my favorites and stuff I thought was super cool.

In no particular order....

Bobby Bare Jr. -- A Storm - A Tree - My Mother's Head. Bobby's most consistent and rewarding album in a while. Backed by My Morning Jacket. Funny and deep and not serious and good.

Drive By Truckers -- The Big To-Do. If this world was right, this would have been a smash hit. A classic album with a variety of styles and great lyrics all in the general arena of DBT's gothic southern rock.

Black Angels -- Phosphene Dream. Best psychedelia from Texas since Roky Erickson. Loud and proud.

The Goodnight Loving -- Supper Club. These guys grow on me more all the time. Jangly and homespun. Their most consistent effort to date.

Galactic -- Yakamay. Live the funk. Feel the funk. Organic and modern all at once with variety of guest vocalists.

The Fall -- Your Future Our Clutter. Who woulda thought Mark E. Smith had this in him -- the brains to work with a kick-ass band that rocks its arse off while he warbles about ex-pats and other stuff.

Neil Young -- Le Noise. You either love Neil or you don't get him. If you love Neil, this features some might fine gee-tarr chords and nifty songs. New approach thanks to producer Daniel Lanois.

Deerhunter -- Halcyon Digest. Every tune I've heard on this is expertly crafted and delivered. Bradfod Cox rox.

Jaill -- That's How We Burn. I'm looking like a homer here with two Milwaukee bands on my list, but the first three tracks on this release were one of the best starts to any CD I heard this year. A few other gems on here, too. Straight ahead alt rock.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club -- Beat the Devil's Tattoo. This one doesn't jump out at you like some of their previous works, but after numerous listens, it's got some great material.

Honorable mentions: Gil Scott-Heron, Clinic, Walkmen, Sleigh Bells, Black Keys, Dum Dum Girls

Thomas Peppel Top Albums of 2010

In no particular order

Lönndom-Viddernas Tolv Kapitel-2010

Forgotten_Tomb-Vol._5_1999-2009-2CD-2010

Dropkick Murphys-Live On Lansdowne, Boston MA-2010

Deftones-Diamond Eyes-2010

Karma To Burn-Appalachian Incantation-2010

Burning Love-Songs for Burning Lovers-2010

Alcest-Écailles de lune-2010

Umberto-From The Grave-2010

VA-Cani Arrabbiati - Opening Themes-2010

Library Tapes-Like Green Grass Against A Blue Sky-2010