Tanner's Top Ten Albums of 2010

Sorry for getting this up a day late. I threw out my back playing hoops Sunday night and haven't been able to sit up properly until this afternoon.

10. Spoon – Transference

I have been a Spoon fan for as long as I seriously started listening to music, so I would be remiss if I left them off this year’s list. That being said, their latest album did not live up to the standards of 2007’s GaGaGaGaGa, and only delivered three truly memorable songs [“Who Makes Your Money”, “Goodnight Laura”, and “Got Nuffin”] while the rest were simply good and not great. The best three songs (and past accomplishments), though, were good enough to get them on my top ten of this year, much like how Steve Hutchinson keeps making the Pro Bowl. “Got Nuffin” is a particularly awesome song, and while Spoon may be living off of reputation, they prove they can still legitimately bring it on any given track.



9. The Tallest Man on Earth – Wild Hunt

The Scandinavian rock scene has been getting more and more awesome (or perhaps just more exposed) as the century gets older, and it is remarkable to me how artists from the great white north can create complex and memorable tunes with only one or two artists (see Kings of Convenience). Sweden’s Kristian Matsson created one such album in 2010; one that is somehow simultaneously edgy and folksy. His voice sounds like a cross between Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams, and the tunes alternate between ferocious strummers and graceful ballads. Artists like Matsson are the reason Sirius FM has a “Nordic Rox” show on Sunday nights that freaking rules. I highly recommend it.



8. Far East Movement – Free Wired

Like all the best reality shows (see Jersey Shore) the Far East Movement succeeds because it embraces consumer society while secretly being too smart for itself. While the album promotes everything toxic about the newest club generation, the tracks are so tightly produced and so fun to dance to that listeners intrinsically remember the temptations of consumerism. Therefore, the catch-22 idea of “I should hate this, but I really, really like it” is a perfect mirror of how consumerism functions as a whole. Also, the convoluted metaphors, such as “so fly like a G-6” (is that because a G-6 is fly or can fly?) make the album more clever than one would initially think, and reiterate the idea that this album is conscientiously crass. Feel free to embrace this album if you want to go out and rip up a club; it’s not even a guilty pleasure.



7. The Black Keys – Brothers

I caught on to the Black Keys slower than I should have. They embrace exactly what I look for in music: blues riffs, syncopated beats, and gravelly instruments and vocals that add just enough edge to the music. However, some of the tracks of theirs seem to be missing just a touch of catchiness that would make them transcendent. Their latest album, though, was their best and got better each listen, and their videos are phenomenal. I feel like this band is perfect in every way, but I can’t explain why they aren’t one of my all time favorites. Yet.



6. Cee Lo Green – The Lady Killer

Cee Lo is one of the few male artists whose voice can give me chills (along with Thom Yorke and Marvin Gaye) so I was excited when I heard this album was coming out. It was a pleasant surprise to hear the great variety of tracks on “The Lady Killer” with its homage to 80’s pop and 70’s Motown, and in fact the whole album sounds like it was produced by Quincy Jones. It’s a throwback of sorts, so some of the songs come off as a little campy, but the overall effort is fantastic, with tracks that range from the Billie Jean bass riff of “Bright Lights Bigger City” to the Seal-esque love anthem “Wildflower” to the goose-bump inspiring Band of Horses cover “No One’s Gonna Love You”. The entire album brings an element of class back to modern R&B.



5. Vampire Weekend – Contra

This is how I defend Vampire Weekend to skeptics: It seems to me like they are group of classically trained musicians who (after graduating from Julliard) figured out that they could pick up hot hipster chicks more easily if they formed an alternative/sub-pop band and hired some immigrants from Harlem to be their drum section. Somehow this formula works brilliantly to me, and the way they use a million musical instruments per song proves that they are fantastically talented musicians. Plus they get bonus points for putting the RZA in their music video.

NOTE: *Stefan says getting the RZA isn't as impressive as getting Nick Jonas*



4. Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager

I haven’t even listened to this album enough for a thorough analysis, but I can tell you it is freaking awesome. Kid Cudi has the talent and neurotic nature of Eminem, but he is more self-deprecating than aggressive, kind of like hip-hop’s version of Blink-182. The tracks on this album are angsty without being whiny, and are still catchy enough to be played at parties.



3. Broken Bells – Broken Bells

Is it a coincidence that Gnarls Barkley takes a break to do side projects and I end up with both of those side projects in my top 6 albums of the year? Maybe, but likely it’s because they are just crazy-good (pun-intended) musicians. The Broken Bells album may sound a little too Gorillaz-ish for some people, but I think Danger Mouse is the shit so I am putting this album in my top three. I like every single track on it.



2. Shad – TSOL

My favorite rapper of 2010 comes courtesy of London, Ontario via Kenya. With tight, poignant rhymes and simple but catchy beats that accentuate rather than overshadow his rapping, Shad is a bright spot in an otherwise oversaturated rap scene. Instead of having a couple strong songs interwoven with filler tracks like most of the good indie rap albums I have heard lately, Shad brings it on every track.



1. Mumford and Sons – Sigh no More

My favorite album of the year (by a wide margin) was the Mumfords’. Each song is powerful in its own way, with lyrics dripping with symbolism and music saturated with twang and harmony. Whether you want to call them an English Fleet Foxes or UK’s version of the Eagles, Mumford and Sons’ is folksy, poignant, touching, haunting, and musically gifted. And a million bonus points for recording an acoustic session in a book store.

NOTE: *Stefan DQ'd this album from his list because it came out in 2009 in the UK. I don't care and am leaving it on mine*