Music kicked off the new decade the same way it kicks off any year – on the whim of electrifying anticipation – anticipation that encompasses the hopeful success of emerging artists, the continuous success of today’s top voices and the hopeful resurgence of yesterday’s muses. We as music lovers are lucky, every year we have front row tickets to such passionate art and 2010 offered nothing less. The special thing about this year was simple, not only was it unforgettable for the fans, but it was increasingly unique for the artists. The first year of a new decade puts music makers in an incredible situation; the music they compose in that first year can set the tone for the next nine. What they did this year can potentially sum what music meant to us from 2010 to 2019. These ten albums were arguably the cream of the crop and even if they don’t mark the decade and the next nine years musically suck, well hell, at least we had this year.
The Arcade Fire hit the nail on the head with their third album The Suburbs. From the bi-polar enthusiasm of it’s self-titled opening track, to the timeless gut of “We Used To Wait” and all the way to the epic cry of “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” – husband and wife duo Win Butler and Regine Chassagne made songs about vulnerability set to an unholy level of epic-ness, all the while cementing themselves as some of the best musicians that have ever attempted to document the human condition. Click here to buy it on Amazon!
Contra – Vampire Weekend
Ezra Koenig and Rostam Batmanglij are happy people. Even if the statement isn’t true, as one half of New York based Vampire Weekend, the music they make certainly gives the impression. Their sophomore album Contra advanced from the colorful tones of their debut. They showed improved musicianship to accompany their omni-appealing music. Released last January, Koenig’s lightly high pitched voice and Batmanglij’s harmonious guitar strumming was a perfect way to begin the year. Click here to buy it on Amazon!
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – Kanye West
It’s ironic that the most sane statement that could be made about Kanye West is that he is delightfully insane. On his path to notoriety he has lost much respect from the general public while gaining a plethora of it from his peers. Throughout this rocky transition from saint to demon West, has released My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, this explosive piece of art is proving to be the best hip-hop album since, well his last album. The album displayed his seemingly-endless/distortedly-odd version of creativity, resulting in verbally dynamic numbers like “Monster,” and opera-sized numbers like “Runaway.” It is the big name honing, bag-o-samples, witty rap-filled album that has enjoying the most a douche bag-asshole can offer. Click here to buy it on Amazon!
The Black Keys are masters at showing just how smooth and soulful two white boys from Akron, Ohio can sound. When you throw Dan Auerbach’s old school guitar stylings and the talented man-child drumming of Patrick Carney together into a studio, you get a deadly blues revival combo that is on the same level with Elmore James, The White Stripes and Muddy Waters. Brothers boasted the release of some wickedly good songs; “Tighten Up” (perhaps their greatest single), “Unknown Brother” (a heartfelt ode to the boys themselves) and “Sinister Kid.”  Paired with a flurry of exposure via television exposure, The Black Keys are living a newfound glory and with Brothers, the blues never felt so right. Click here to buy it on Amazon!
This Is Happening – LCD Soundsystem
When James Murphy started releasing albums as creator of LCD Soundsystem, the party loving, dance crazy musical collective, he offered a quirky dance alternative featuring sounds and feel that haven’t been heard in years. Releasing a month before summer 2010 was a genius move for the third (and reportedly final) album, This Is Happening popped off fun, high energy songs like “Drunk Girls,””Dance Yrself Clean” and “I Can Change.” Call it an early Christmas gift for hipsters who now had a record to shake their beards and asses too during their June/July/August 2010 parties. Click here to buy it on Amazon!
Dangermouse’s latest collaboration is quite different from his former partnerships. When he teamed up with the Shin’s front-man James Mercer he didn’t just set out to produce his album, he actually formed a group with him. The awesome group is called Broken Bells, and with their debut we were also subject to a self titled debut album. Broken Bells exists as a refreshing change of pace as a record chalk full of spacy, ominous jingles that cloud the line between rock and psychadelia. Click here to buy it on Amazon!
This album one of two sleeper albums this year, at first listen it could not hold its own. But after a few go-arounds and the brash realization that Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser shelled the option to compose mainstream music, Congratulations revealed itself to be an intriguing piece. Drastically different than their debut Oracular Spectacular, the sophomore album packed a drug laced punch with its psychedelic-drug themes and various new wave/ pop music homages (“Song for Dan Treacy,” “Brian Eno,” “Flash Delerium,” “It’s Working”). Click here to buy it on Amazon!
Maya Arulpragasm is controversial. Her third album Maya boasted an alt-dance-hip-hop feel with technological based themes. A mini-video of her song “Born Free,” which featured a mass killing of redheads accompanied the release of Maya .Pair that with a highly publicized spat with New York Times writer Lynn Hirschberg, the fire that was her controversy burned strong. This year, she did what she wanted and its common knowledge that when rebellion and music mix, good things can happen. With this record many good things happened. Click here to buy it on Amazon!
Plastic Beach – Gorillaz
Plastic Beach was the other sleeper album of the year. The creator of the Gorillaz, Damon Alborn, eased up on the funk and hip-hop aspect of the music this time around. Substituting those absences with a diverse range of collaborators and synths, the Gorillaz absorbed a facelift. Click here to buy it on Amazon!
Come Around Sundown – Kings of Leon
The family that is the Kings of Leon outdid themselves this year. The band turned up the Southern rock in their music this year to produce some guitar heavy, raw music. A heavily anticipated album at the forefront of 2010, one fact remains after it was released – Followills know rock music. Click here to buy it on Amazon!
Here are some other pages you might like at ETS:
Free Music Download – California Wives “Blood Red Youth”
Album Review – My Chemical Romance “Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys”
Artist of the Week – Paul McCartney
Sunday’s Blessings –Â Indio
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