Looking Back: My Picks of 2010

 

Best Album of the year: Arcade Fire – The Suburbs: From start to finish, this album is fantastic. The Canuk group of eight put together a wonderfully crafted third album that is intense in both it's musicality as well as it's lyrics. Win Butler croons throughout the record about how heartless and hopeless we have all become, while assisted by pulsating bass lines, bursts of folk guitar and calming piano. The statement-making album tells an honest story leading us to believe that we have indeed forgotten where we come from. Therefore, a drive through the suburbs is exactly what we need. 

  

Best Break Out Act: Florence and the Machine: 2010 was certainly the year for Florence Welch and her backing band. Although the group was formed in 2007, it was last year when the London based band fully embraced mainstream success. Sold out tours, numerous television performances, songs featured in successful films, tons of radio play and of course, lots more fans. Her theatrical debut album, Lungs (and one of my personal favourites), sold over 100, 000 copies, which is pretty damn good, considering the state of sales in the music industry. Her awe-inspiring voice, which probably has the ability to crack a glass with one of her sweet, yet powerful croons, is what makes her such an outstanding artist. It's rare to come across singers who can sing as well as they have been recorded, which is why Welch deserves much applause. 

Biggest Surprise: It's a tie between the Klaxons and Foals.

Klaxons – Surfing the Void: The new rave, alternative band was forced by their label to return to the studio and rerecord their sophomore album after deeming previous efforts as “too experimental.” This made fans a little antsy, having to wait nearly 3 years since the release of their Mercury Prize winning album, Myths of the Near Future. Were they going to maintain their synthy-experimental sound or were they going to drastically reinvent themselves? It had me worried, but in truth, it was worth the wait and turned out to be amazing.

Foals – Total Life Forever: The quintet from Oxford, England returned last year with a completely different sound, which was a little hard to get accustomed to at first. Yet after a couple listens, I had the album on a continuous loop. Yes, TLF isn't nearly as dancey as Antitodes, but it's a gem nonetheless.

  

Biggest Letdown: Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown: Kings of Leon were once a small band from Nashville who didn't care whatsoever about what anyone thought of their music. Their initial upbeat, southern blues sound generated a cult of devoted fans who would eventually see the group of brothers, plus cousin, transform into their polar opposite; a mainstream, arena rock band. With the more alternative-sounding Only By the Night, released in 2008, they gained North American success and prepared themselves for world domination. It was a different kind of KOL, one that even some of the band members didn't necessarily enjoy. In numerous interviews they mentioned how they wanted to return to their southern-indie sound with their fifth record. Sadly, I don't think they quite did that. CAS isn't a horrible album. I taught myself to enjoy it overtime, yet I was disappointed that despite how the band felt about their previous effort, they chose to maintain a more mainstream sound. I'll get over it someday. 

Most Over-hyped: Drake – Thank Me Later. Don't get me wrong, I love Drake. Homegrown talent who rose to fame having only released an EP and partaking in collaborations with some of hip-hop's best. But his first full length album did not live up to the intense hype it received. There were definitely some stellar tracks; all the singles plus another song or two are certainly worth the listen. However, the majority of the album was much too slow a pace and lacked the power he entered the game with.

Best Track: Kanye West – “Power”: Only Kanye could get away with a teaser for the first single on an upcoming album and have absolutely everyone intrigued. Although he spends the song telling us how awesome he is and crediting himself for being gifted and almighty powerful, he reclaims who he is as an artist after the controversial VMA moment that left a sour taste in people's mouths. If anything, he created a track that sounds like nothing found in most modern hip-hop.

Worst Track: Angelina Pivarnick – “I'm Hot.” Seriously? Her winning personality couldn't cut it on Jersey Shore, why even attempt to record a song about herself, and think people would actually like it? With the rapping help of some guy who I'm sure is the most awesome guido-gorilla-juicehead in town, Pivarnick's constant nasal tone is auto-tuned to add to the track's pop factor. “I take a shot. It hits the spot. Then dance a lot. Until I drop. I shop. I just can't stop.” These lyrics put all songwriters to shame. 

Best Album Cover: Klaxons – Surfing the Void. Who can seriously beat an astronaut cat?! Exactly.

 

Worst Album Cover: Interpol – Interpol. I felt somewhat ripped off by these New York City boys as they obviously put next to zero effort into the album cover. The black theme with jumbled, cement-styled letters spelling the band's name flowed throughout the rest of the artwork. A total bore. Album is great, artwork not so much. 

Honorable Mentions
Awesome Albums of 2010 I Couldn't/Can't Get Enough of:
Best Coast – Crazy For You
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Vampire Weekend – Contra
Sleigh Bells – Treats
Marina and the Diamonds – The Family Jewels
The Black Keys – Brothers
Surfer Blood – Astro Coast