Monday 13 December 2010
Albums: 2010
(photo: John Carey - fiftyfootshadows.net)
So that’s 2010 done. I know it’s a cliché, but the year really has flown by. When I sat down to boil the last 12 months down to a list of 10 essential albums I found the process tricky again this year. There were some great records by old favourites (like Rufus Wainwright) and new (like Neil Young) and former list-makers (like The Wilderness of Manitoba), but they weren’t the kind of album that I went back to listen to very often; technically marvelous for sure, but not your go-to kind of LP. If the list has been opened to 20, then there would have been a spot for many of these also-rans.
So what did I end up with? Well, if we look at it numbers-wise: 70% are Canadian made, the other 30% American (interesting that no UK or European acts made the list for the first time since I started doing this); one is a debut album, and one is a debut solo record from an artist whose been on this list with his other band before; four of the artists have been Polaris shortlisters, two of which have won in the past (hmm, got you thinking now, eh?); most were released in early- to mid-2010, but one just made the cut in the last few weeks; one artist has now had back-to-back albums make me list (their last one was on 2007′s list).
There were plenty of great records this year, and I’ve seen a good number of them on other people’s lists, but the 10 that follow here really do represent the ones that I strongly gravitated to in 2010, that I spent a great deal of time with, and would be most likely to go back to in the future. I’ll reiterate here what I’ve said about this year-end list in the past: I’m not interested in telling you what the best records of the year are, I just want to share with you my favourite records of the last 12 months . In lieu of writing up a whole new review for each, I’ve gone back into the QBiM archives and grabbed a little snapshot about what I wrote when I first posted about the record. That was a great way to help me determine which of the records would ultimately stay on the list when it was whittled down to 10. As always please contribute to the discussion by adding your own thoughts, opinions, and disagreements in the comments below.
So without further delay, I present you, in alphabetical order, Quick Before It Melts’ Favourite Albums of 2010…
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Arcade Fire | The Suburbs (Merge)
QBiM August 03 2010: “You were expecting a choir of heavenly angels blowing trumpets and sounding a fanfare? Let’s be realistic here: it’s just a new record release, not the Second Coming…. if Neon Bible was the aural equivalent of The Ten Commandments, then The Suburbs is The Ice Storm. The former, a Cecil B. DeMille cinematic epic; the latter, a grainy art house film by Ang Lee. Each unique in it’s own right, but masterpieces, both.” MP3: Arcade Fire “Month of May” |
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The Besnard Lakes | The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night (Outside)
QBiM March 09 2010: “…The Roaring Night is not doom and gloom: it’s loom and boom… It’s like a slow motion slam dance; you’re trapped on all sides by its immense wall of sound, buffeted back in forth between its beats and rhythms in an ever increasing trance… Lasek and Goreas may not be the only husband and wife team from Montreal who’ll be getting a lot of face time in the blogs this year…” MP3: The Besnard Lakes “Albatross” |
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Caribou | Swim (Merge)
QBiM April 20 2010: “Swim is much more organic sounding in comparison to its predecessor, the Polaris Prize winning Andorra. Whereas his last LP was a dense, psychedelic collision of sound, Swim‘s fluid beats have space around them and room to breathe. It may sound like a very literal interpretation of the album’s name, but that was Snaith’s thinking all along… [Swim is] a record that makes Snaith’s other discs sound like they’re just treading water.” MP3: Caribou “Odessa” |
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Deerhunter | Halcyon Digest (4AD)
QBiM September 28 2010: “Halcyon Digest plays like a sonic scrapbook, filled with precious memories and forgotten sounds. It references 50s pop, 80s new wave, and 90s indie rock sometimes all within the same song. Lush layers build upon one another, providing some of the album’s dream-like qualities… Bradford Cox is turning out to be a prolific American songwriter whose well of ideas never seems to run dry.” MP3: Deerhunter “Revival” |
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Hooded Fang | Hooded Fang (self-released)
QBiM December 08 2010: “Well before my first listen to the album was over, I had already cleared my afternoon schedule so I could listen to it a few more times over… The simple fact of the matter is that Hooded Fang are that special kind of band that only come along once in awhile; the kind that hit upon the perfect alchemy of style, sound and skill.” MP3: Hooded Fang “Laughing” |
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Karkwa | Les chemins de verre (Audiogram)
QBiM August 02 2010: “Les Chemins De Verre‘s last song is titled “Le vrai bonheur”, “true happiness” according to my trusted translator, and I couldn’t think of a better title or way to describe the pleasure of listening to this record… Of all the records nominated [for the Polairs Prize] this year, Les Chemins De Verre is the one I was least familiar with on the day the shortlist was announced, and it’s the one that I couldn’t possibly live without today” MP3: Karkwa “Les chemins de verre” |
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Land of Talk | Cloak and Cipher (Self-released/Saddle Creek)
QBiM August 26 2010: “Around the basic guitar-drums-bass building blocks, Land Of Talk have arranged strings, horns, some electronic droning and noise, never overindulging in the extras. Jace Lasek’s production focuses your attention at what truly sets this record apart from other like-minded outings: Powell’s ardent songs, full of passion and soul. A deep soul, sometimes obscured by her occasionally obtuse lyrics…, but soul never-the-less.” MP3: Land of Talk “Quarry Hymns” |
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LCD Soundsystem | This Is Happening (DFA)
QBiM May 18 2010: “This Is Happening is the LCD Soundsystem album to end all LCD Soundsystem albums. It has the grace of a ballet dancer and the groove of a break dancer. It slaps my face and tells me it loves me. It makes me dance and it makes me cry and sometimes I cry when I’m dancing. When each song is over, I want to hit repeat and listen to it all over again, but I want to hear the next song just as much.” Myspace: LCD Soundsystem |
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The National | High Violet (4AD) QBiM April 27 2010: “The National have always come across as a band who knows what they want to elicit from their instruments… there’s no denying that High Violet is going to be regarded as the high point of their career. It’s the coalescence of their sound and vision; musical perfection. By the time “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” rolls around to close the disc out, I had tears in my eyes, a swelling of my soul, and my finger poised to start it all over again.” MP3: The National “Bloodbuzz Ohio” |
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Daniel Romano | Workin’ For the Music Man (You’ve Changed) QBiM July 28 2010: “The industry may have broken his heart, but it cannot break his spirit… As dark and depressing as the subject matter may seem, Workin’ for the Music Man is full of bright spots (see “My Greatest Mistake” or sing along with “Joseph Arthur” and tell me the storm clouds don’t disperse). Attack In Black’s punk rock origins are still there in the LPs “middle-finger-to-the-man” spirit…It’s the best country album by a punk rocker I’ve ever heard.” MP3: Daniel Romano “A Losing Song” |
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This entry was posted on Monday, December 13th, 2010 at 8:35 am and is filed under MP3. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
J. Di Gioia December 14th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Well, there is one choice at the top of my list that seems to be a contentious choice for some, so I could assume it’s the one you’re referring to, but you should feel free to say, Loraine!