My Favorite Music of 2010

I've done this for several years now, and it doesn't need much explanation. In my limited exposure to a variety of new music, these are my personal favorites of the year. And I think they are good too, good enough that I'll still be listening to them next year. Without further preface:





#12 Die Stadt Muzikanten, Woodpigeon
With three records and over fifty songs in less than three years Woodpigeon has been busy, and they are getting better too. I really enjoyed their last release, Treasury of Canada, and they didn't disappoint with Muzikanten. It is a shame that Woodpigeon still isn't know much outside of Canada. 








#11 Teen Dream, Beach House
This is music for dreaming. Layered synth and guitar guide Legrand's dreamy voice.  A very enjoyable record to listen to repeatedly.












#10 Sigh No More, Mumford and Sons
Bold, acoustic-driven rock that is irresistibly catchy. I wasn't interested after the first time through, but a few months later I came back and really loved this album. The lyrics sell it for me. Marcus Mumford sings with a remarkable honesty and openness on Sigh No More. And the music fits, perfectly.








#9 Inter-Be, Peter Wolf Crier
It great to see a local band do well, and make really great music. This Minneapolis duo make minimal alternative rock that is fresh and inventive. A solid album all the way through.










#8 The Wild Hunt, The Tallest Man On Earth
The Tallest Man On Earth, Swedish singer Kristian Matsson, most of the time only uses his guitar to accompany his high, raspy voice. It doesn't sound promising, but somehow the two elements collide to make something beautiful.










#7 Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton, The Clogs
I stumbled across the Clogs this year, and made quite the happy find. The Clogs are an experimental, neoclassical quartet that have a number of solid instrumental albums behind them. This time they invited some friends to sings with them, and magic happened. Shara Worden takes the largest chunk of vocals, and finds a natural home for her voice. Sufjan Stevens and Matt Berninger also sing. Lyrics are fairly simple but haunting, with lush orchestral arrangements.  


#6 Go, Jonsi
Sentimental, joyful, pretty, and wildly fun. The frontman for Sigur Ros recorded a brighter and more pop sounding debut solo album. While it is odd hearing Jonsi sing partly in English, the grandiose, building sound of Sigur Ros is still there. This is the soundtrack of happy feelings about the world. Not only did he produce an exquisite album, but the Jonsi live show was an amazing audio and visual translation of the songs. 




#5 Saint Bartlett, Damien Jurado
Yes, there are lots of reasons for putting this here, I just can't think of them right now. Slower, soothing indie rock. You'll just have to sit in the dark and brood over it for a while.














#4 Age of Adz, Sufjan Stevens
It been a long wait for a new album of songs from Sufjan, and he comes back with nearly eighty minutes of strange sounds. After the first few listens I was a little disappointed: Age of Adz is no Illinois. But after a bit I had to give in and acknowledge the genius. The complex orchestration is still there, only much bigger and stranded inside an arcade of electronic sounds. The storytelling hasn't disappeared, it just takes a little longer to get the story out. Sufjan has made something new and challenging (much like Illinois was, when we first heard it), but he has still retained his sound. This record hasn't come close to losing the intrigue and mystery that it first earned. While perhaps not what I was anticipating from Sufjan, a great album nonetheless. 


#3 High Violet, The National
The National is the red wine of indie rock: dark, complex, and smooth. Matt Berninger's baritone voice fits the bill equally as well as the music. And this is dark, sad music. 










#2 Light Chasers, Cloud Cult
While Jonsi may be sentimental, Cloud Cult is serious about happiness. It would be awfully pretentious if they didn't first look into the bottom of the universe and the human heart and find all kinds of darkness there. But they have, and over the past several albums they are making music that tells us that light still shines through, and being a human is beautiful, and there's still hope in the world, we just have to chase hard after it. Cloud Cult has a creative vision like no other rock band I've heard. Running from the ragged and edgy to the lush and pretty, they are always engaging. Craig Minowa's lyrics are always thoughtful, at times brilliant. If you haven't checked out this Minnesota band, this is the perfect album to start with. 


#1 Suburbs, Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire surprised me this year. I expected a good album, but not a great one. Their most thematically tight and cohesive album yet, Arcade Fire expresses all the bitterness, frustration, and disgust I've ever felt toward the suburbs, with a subtle note of hope and love. Perhaps because I am a child of the suburbs this album struck such a strong chord with me. Musically the Suburbs still sounds very much like Arcade Fire, and yet it is a significant shift for them. They sound bigger on Suburbs, and yet more restrained at the same time. They've finally figured out that Regine has a great voice, and she takes a larger vocal role on the Suburbs. There are not such standout songs like Awake or No Cars Go, and the moments of wild abandon are fewer. The Suburbs should really be heard as an album, but as an album it excels. 


Honorable Mentions:
Similes, Eluvium
Penelope, Sarah Kirkland Snider/Shara Worden
All Delighted People, Sufjan Stevens


BONUS: Three Top Neoclassical/Ambient Albums

#3 Into the Trees, Zoe Keating (brilliant cellist, sounds like four cellists with her loops) 
#2 Music for Honey and Bile, William Ryan Fritch (film score music without the film)
#1 ...And They Have Escaped the Weight of Darkness, Olafur Arnalds (mostly piano, understated and beautiful)



*Related Posts*
2009 Albums: My Year in Review
Favorite Albums from 2008