Best New Music of 2010, albums #21 - #11

(To skip straight to albums #10-#1, plus associated videos, click HERE)

Regardless of your musical leanings, 2010 has been a great year for new releases (and some older albums that have finally seen the light of day). Metal Heads had Sword's new album and Boris to get excited about, Electronic Kids saw more DJ's and electro-pop in mainstream music than ever before, and Hipsters / Indie Kids had a goddamn field day. Even fans of Classic Rock had some great things for them, including a strong release from Neil Young and a fantastic Bruce Springsteen box set. To honor this year's music production as best I could, I tried to narrow down my favorite 20 albums of 2010 - I failed, having 21 albums that I feel deserve praise. I apologize.

-

Alan "Knuckles" W.

(NOTE: There are some releases that I haven't placed on my list, like Kanye, The Books, Sujfan, and Menomena's new albums, but I didn’t like those as much as other people or haven’t listened to them enough to form a real opinion. So argue if you must, I really don't care. 'Kay?)

HONORABLE MENTIONS (in no particular order)

Fol Chen, II: The New December

Kate Miller-Heidke, Curiouser

Spoon, Transference

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, I Learned the Hard Way

Matt and Kim, Sidewalks

Gorillaz, Plastic Beach

The Pomegranates, One of Us

#21 - Superchunk, Majesty Shredding

Superchunk came into the new millennium with a whimper of an album, and then pretty much disappeared from the studio. They thought that now, 9 years after their last album, with the band members in their 40's and with families and jobs, it was the perfect time to kick some more ass. Majesty Shredding is loud, raucous, and leaves a ankle-high, black-leather boot mark on your tush. It's Superchunk circa 1993.

#20 - Drums, Drums

Ever since the Drums dropped their EP last year I had been waiting to hear more from this indie surf-rock band. My patience was rewarded when they put out an album that is simultaneously upbeat and melancholy, exploring themes of death and lost love under the guise of pop music.

#19 - The Black Keys, Brothers

The Black Keys have been some of the most prolific musicians of the past 5 years, putting out several albums as the Black Keys, in collaborations with Danger Mouse and MC's, and with both members doing a solo album. Somewhere in the midst of all that they were able to get yet another record out. I would rank this higher, but I feel it doesn't change the mold as much as I'd have liked given other recent works of theirs. However, it is a solid blues rock album with few, if any, faults. (Danger Mouse helped produce again.)

#18 - David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love

While I don't know if I agree with their choice of subject matter, a Byrne/Slim collaboration sounded like a perfect fit for my tastes. It actually is a little more complex than I initially anticipated, and it took a bit for me to come around to it, but once Here Lies Love sinks in, it is a fabulous record. Covering all sorts of pop terrain while remaining poignant and honest, this is one of several collaborations that took me by surprise this year.

#17 - OK Go, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky

The more I listen to OK Go's new sound, the more I get it. They put a lot of effort and work into making this album as reflective of who they are now, and repeat listens help their revamped image to solidify. It's a good pop album, a great indie-rock album, and in interesting foray into alt-rock on some of the tracks. There is much greater depth to the music than previous releases, which requires more work, but pays more back for your effort.

#16 - Phantogram, Eyelid Movies

I listened to this album all the way through twice the first time, and loved it. I played some singles, put it on my shuffle, and became displeased with the tracks individually. I sat through it start-to-finish again a couple months later, and I finally got it. This is a lush, whirling, and thick electro-pop record that needs to be listened to completely to really make sense. It captures a band at a moment, and all the tracks work together to give that moment meaning.

#15 - Broken Bells, Broken Bells

The second Danger Mouse related album on this list, and the first of two D.M. collaborations, Broken Bells is James Mercer of the Shins and the rodent-of-action himself. The album itself sounds more like a Mercer project, with production taking a broader and bass-ier path than what he would have done by himself. By which I mean it's indie-rock and quite excellent.

#14 - Los Campesinos!, Romance is Boring

Los Campesinos! have been a favorite band of mine ever since I imported a UK copy of their first EP back in 2007. When this album came out I was initially put off - it’s noisier and punkier than what they were putting out just last year, but I sat down and forced my way through it a couple times. It’s loud. It’s painful. It’s earnest. It’s emotional. It’s very, very good. Give it a listen.

#13 - Ra Ra Riot, The Orchard

I didn’t listen to Ra Ra Riot after their first album, so I came into this record with a clean slate. I listened through a couple of times before going to a show in Denver. After that, I really got behind The Orchard. Many indie bands today place orchestration behind the music to give it and appearance of depth, but Ra Ra Riot features cello and violin as leading instruments. They give the music depth, to be sure, but they are integral to the songs and take the band to another level entirely. It’s poppy and saccharine, but it’s also very well done.

#12 - Kate Nash, My Best Friend is You

After Nash’s first album she received a lot of criticism for being a Lily Allen knock-off, which was mostly unfair. She did have similarities, since Allen had helped her with the album, so it was understandable. On My Best Friend is You, Kate Nash broke off on her own and came back with a beautiful pop album by an excellent singer-songwriter. More than beating the dreaded sophomore slump, this album totally eclipses her debut.

#11 - Vampire Weekend, Contra

I’ve never understood the vehement backlash that these guys have gotten. They’re well reviewed by Pitchfork, the A.V. Club, and there’s a reason for that - they are good. It’s layered, interesting pop music that is catchy and radio friendly. I guess some people hate that they’re talented and successful? Anyway, any album that features a track about horchata gets bonus points in my book, though the main reason this album is on my list is because there’s not a bad song on it, and several are hits that I actually like.

Best New Music of 2010, albums #10 - #1

(For the intro to this article and albums #21 - #11, go HERE)

#10 - We Landed on the Moon, This Will Be One For The Books

Okay, things are getting serious now. The top 10 albums are all excellent and deserve to be checked out, starting with this one. WLOTM have been a favorite band of my for years, and each time I get to meet and hang out with them, they move further up the list. They are wonderful musicians and people, and this album is a delight from start to finish. Powerful female vocals with music that ranges from nautical & bouncy to thick & distorted showcases the breadth and ability of a band on the verge of making it big (fingers crossed). As good as this album is, though, check them out live. They put on a massively kick-ass show.

#9 - Apples in Stereo, Travellers in Space and Time

For about 6 years now, the Apples in Stereo have been one of my top five bands, and I have very high expectations for them as a result. This album fell far short for me on first listen - gone are the ‘60’s inspired fuzz and riffs, and in their place is ELO-esque synthy space-pop jams. I was devastated. But then I grew up and gave it another listen (hey, this is becoming a theme!), and damned if it hasn’t won me over. It might not have the musical merit of some of the other albums on this list (i.e. #8), but it’s a near perfect distillation of the 70’s pop sound into a modern group, and a group I happen to respect at that. Two thumbs up.

#8 - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Beat the Devil’s Tattoo

I love this album. BRMC is a blues rock band that focuses less on perfecting the genre (whereas the Black Keys have devoted their entire discography to that goal), and more on creating dense bluesy soundscapes. They can make a pounding rock song (like Conscience Killer, track 2), but they have the ability to take engrossing sonic journeys in the music and have it come together as a song. I will listen to this album on repeat and find new things each time - it’s incredible. BRMC also wins my award for band with the worst luck and best job persevering through it. They've had constant turmoil in band line-up over the past 15 years, and their sound tech died back stage this summer during a concert. And that sound tech was the father of one of the members. DAMN.

#7 - The New Pornographers, Together

The New Po are my favorite band, hands down. Five albums in, plus a slew of b-sides and a live CD, and every song they make, every last one, is solid. They hold the record for my iPod of having never once been skipped on shuffle. This album picks up where Challangers left off, taking the band on a mellower, more introspective path than their first three albums, and I’m perfectly okay with that. A.C. Newman commands the good ship New Po with first and second mates Bejar and Case wonderfully, making a diverse but distinct album of lush melodies with nearly indecipherable prose. As good as all the members are on their own or in other projects, the New Pornographers takes their individual merits and becomes more than the sum of its parts. Together (see what I did there?) the group becomes the best band still touring - buy this album, preferably at a sold-out concert.

#6 - Nigel Godrich, Beck, & Broken Social Scene, Scott Pilgram vs. The World

Nigel Godrich has been Radiohead’s producer since OK Computer, and has made several of Beck’s albums among many others. Beck wrote and helped record all the songs Scott Pilgram’s fictional band, “Sex Bob-omb.” Broken Social Scene did the same for “Crash and the Boys,” another fictional band. And all of them helped craft and select the songs for what is arguably the best mix-tape in pop music of the past decade. The Scott Pilgram soundtrack is a glorious homage to the Toronto music scene that inspired the original graphic novels (including songs from which the lead characters were named), and plays like a carefully crafted cassette handed from one teenager in love to another. It’s simple, wonderfully compiled, at times hilarious, and a better play list than either you or I have ever made.

#5 - Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse present, Dark Night of the Soul

If you buy this album, you’ll first be presented with a sticker listing some of the contributors; Black Francis, Julian Casablancas, Vic Chesnutt, James Mercer, Iggy Pop, Suzanne Vega et. al. Then on the back you’ll notice, “In Memory of Mark Linkous [a.k.a. Sparklehorse] and Vic Chesnutt,” both of whom committed suicide after working on the album but before it was released - the album was in legal limbo when Sparklehorse took a gun to his own heart. It's a little bit intimidating.

As the title might suggest, this album is very dark in tone, becoming even more grim having been made near the end of the these two truly great artists' lives, both of whom clearly lived in such pain. DNOTS (which you can check out and explore at www.dnots.com) is at times hard to listen to because of the emotion it envelops, but listeners will be rewarded with an album of some of the best songwriting and production of its collaborator’s careers.

#4 - Cut Chemist, Sound of Police

Firstly, why this album is cool: Cut Chemist is one of the premiere artists and a founder of turntableism, and is most popular as the DJ behind Jurassic 5. He also is continually trying to improve his own skill, keeping him at the forefront of the art. He was asked to be the opening act for a music convention, and decided to handicap himself as much as possible - all live mixing of only 45’s and LP records, one mixer, one set of loop pedals, and only one turntable. All transfers between vinyl would have to be be done while loops were playing to cover them up.

Secondly, why this album is awesome: Sound of Police is taken from two practice sessions for his live show, and features two roughly 25-minute songs. It is strictly a DJ album, broken up only by where he needed a water break because of the frenetic pace needed to keep up using only ONE turntable. It features African, Blues, and Brazilian music, and is so compelling to listen to that you’ll be absolutely floored when you remember HE ONLY HAD ONE TURNTABLE. Such skill is almost unfathomable.

#3 - LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening

I’m starting off the Top Three with James Murphy’s professed last album as LCD Soundsystem, marking the end of one of the best moniker’s in music history. This is Happening works as a swan song, staying true to the mixture of ‘80’s pop (a la David Byrne) and electronic dance beats that made the group/man famous, while also featuring a shockingly wide array of influences and tones. ‘Drunk Girls’ feels simultaneously modern and retro-chic as it talks about, well, drunk girls (sort of). Then tracks like ‘Pow Pow’ give you a danceable beat while trying to reconcile the various aspects James Murphy, the musician and the man: He's grown up and matured, but he still feels young and silly (see - 'Drunk Girls'). As the song states repeatedly, "There's advantages to both!", so I'm not sure what he's decided. The album comes off as a retrospective of the group, an introspective of Murphy, and a grand finale for it all. Hopefully Murphy will be back in some form or another in the future, but for now, this will do just fine.

#2 - Dan Mangan, Nice, Nice, Very Nice

WIth the possible exception of #10 on this list, I’ve played through Nice, Nice, Very Nice more than any other album this year. I have a habit of overplaying an album and getting sick of it for months or years, but after running through this more than 15 times, Dan Mangan really holds his own. The songs are perfectly crafted singer-songwriter melodies, some of which are shockingly earnest, though all showcase Mangan’s wit and lyrical/poetic abilities. It's clear why he's won numerous awards in his home country of Canada, including best vocals and best lyrics of the year for a Canadian artist. Mind you, this is the same country that spawned great albums from the Arcade Fire and Ne Pornographers, so winning is a BIG deal. He won both for ‘The Indie Queens are Waiting’, a devastatingly pretty duet that features my favorite verse of the year:

“Bus down to the local record store,

Buy something to make you like me more.

Indie queens and tatty east-side punks,

They are listening.

Always waiting.

Are you watching, are you?

Are you watching,

Or just waiting to see

That your days are numbered?

'Cause my days are numbered too”

I guarantee that if you bus down to a local record store, buy this album and give it to somebody, they will like you more. If not, I owe you a drink and a sympathetic ear.

#1 - Robyn, Body Talk pts. 1-3

I wanted to place this at the top of my list for two reasons; 1) It really is a fantastic album that deserves a ton of praise, and 2) Besides other music critics, people have largely dismissed Robyn’s efforts as drivel. It is sometimes pop music in the vein of a Lady Gaga or Ke$ha, but her ability as a musician and song-smith so greatly outshines those she’s commonly compared to that it’s embarrassing. Body Talk is definitely her best work, despite being a little difficult to purchase - it has been released over the course of the year in three parts for a total of 21 songs, but was most recently released as a compilation of the three parts with only 15 songs (cutting 6 total from parts 1 & 2). For my list, I refer to the three individual parts, because the songs that were cut are some of my favorites.

On all three parts, Robyn covers a lot of pop ground, showing MC skills with Snoop Dogg on 'U Should Know Better', transforming into a ‘Dancehall Queen’ on the dubby track by that title, and becoming an operetic diva on fully orchestrated aucoustic versions of 'Hang with Me' and 'Indestructible', before busting out dancefloor-friendly versions of both. The combination of all three parts is incredible, especially having been done entirely in 2010. While albums like #8, #7, and #5 on this list might feature more capable songwriters or more complex tracks, Body Talk is a tour-de-force of pop and dance music that surpasses other albums in these genres on almost every level. I’d like to hear arguments against my choosing it as the top album of the year, but currently my opponents are too busy acting out 'Dancing on My Own’.

Final KMNR Show Playlist

Four years ago I applied to be a DJ at 89.7FM KMNR-Rolla. I'm currently in the middle of my last show as an active DJ on the station, and I can't really tell how I feel about it. Sad, certainly, but also proud of the person I've become in that time. I started out with a very limited music library, and was a HUGE music snob. Since that time I've vastly expanded my own tastes, and have come to learn that it really doesn't matter what you listen to, so long as you enjoy it and it moves you in some way.

KMNR has afforded me so many opportunities to explore my love of music, it's hard seeing how I'll go on without it being a constant presence. I've been able to go to dozens of free concerts, meet many of my favorite bands (We Landed on the Moon [who we were fortunate enough to host was well], The White Rabbits, OK Go, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Dressy Bessy, Port O'Brien, and many others), and I've even become friends with a few of them.

I hope to be able to continue being involved in the radio, and will strive to always expand my musical tastes. If there's anything I've learned from KMNR, it's how to appreciate the people and diversity that a love of music will bring you into contact with. I've met my best friend through KMNR, and have known so many people I can't imagine having lived without knowing. Some have gone and are missed dearly, the rest I hope to be able to have as friends for a long, long time.

For my last show I've decided to go through as many songs as possible that I have played on KMNR, from when I started as a DJ to now. Thank you to all the listeners I've had, to my trainer Steve, to all the DJ's I've known and loved, and to Kevin Loebach, for showing me the proper level of excitement and desire to attack radio, music, and life.

Final Show, 5/7/2010

4/30 Show -Tracklist

This is the playlist I'm running for my radio show RIGHT NOW until 3pm Central Time - I really like it, and so should you. You can always listen in to KMNR at KMNR.org by clicking on the stream links on the left hand side.

Wonderful Smith - So Much Sin

We Landed on the Moon - Come On Keep It Quiet

Now Now Every Children - Not One, But Two

Thao and the Get Down Stay Down - Fixed It!

Jenny Owen Youngs - Led to the Sea

Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele - You Can't Force a Dance Party

Fun. - All the Pretty Girls

Vampire Weekend - M79

Spoon - Written in Reverse

The White Stripes - Screwdriver

The Redwalls - Rock and Roll

OK Go - Do What You Want

The Redwalls - Robinson Crusoe

The New Pornographers - Mystery Hours

Matt and Kim - Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare

White Rabbits - Percussion Gun

Pheonix - Lasso

The Hopefuls - Edge of Medicine

Mother Mother - Hayloft

Los Campesinos - Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats

The Apples in Stereo - Same Old Drag

The Apples in Stereo - Joanie Don't You Worry

Julian Casablancas - 11th Dimension

St. Vincent - Marrow

Spiral Beach - Casual t

Turbo Fruits - Mama's Mad 'cos I Fried My Brain

Man or Astro-man? - The Sound Waves Reversing

Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha Man

UUWWVVZ - Green Starred Sleeve

The Unicorns - I Was Born (A Unicorn)

Telekinesis - Coast of Carolina

The Bird and the Bee - What's in the Middle

NEW gum wrapper drawings

Here's some of my newer gum wrappers, from late 2009. As always, you can click for a larger image, but these won't be SO huge like the earlier ones, as I had to scan at a lower resolution. Which is probably better. Any questions?

First wrapper I drew after taking a month
or so off - sketchers block, as it were. I like this deer.

This is of a painting I've been slowly working on
for months - this sketch shows what I want
the final colors to be, so I've been using it as a guide.

It seemed like I should have thought of this
one a long time ago, seeing as these are Orbit wrappers

I like lamp(s).

This is a modified version of a Koch Snowflake, and
is also the 2nd longest I've spent ever doing one of
these drawings - I tried to make it as precise as possible
using only a college rule notebook and some pens. The
smallest triangles should be exactly 3mm on each side.

This is UC-Denver Medical School's seal -
I drew a couple of these to send off as thank you
letters to my interviewers there.

I like cross-stitch type designs, so I doodled one.
Good story, huh!