Humble Get No Respect

The 10 Best Albums And 30 Best Songs of 2011

Find the honorable mentions, and their NBA role player comparisons, here.

10. The Weeknd - House of Balloons

Not that I would ever champion the Baseball Hall of Fame’s vomit-inducing moral righteousness, but work with me for a second: to be considered for induction at such a museum, one oft-argued criteria is that Player X needs to be dominant for a set period of time. Longevity has its merits, but there’s a reason no one’s ever named a pet or branded a video game after Jamie Moyer. Same should go for year-end music lists. When I first heard House of Balloons, I couldn’t put it down. To someone who traditionally gravitates towards loud and fast rock music, this hazy R&B album was the most distinctive listen of my year.

Still, sticking the “breath of fresh air” label here seems wrongheaded, if only because the air in House of Balloons couldn’t be more contaminated. It’s a mixtape grounded amorality, and that starts with a) drugs, closely followed by b) sex. Yes, there’s a lot to like here even beyond The Weeknd’s general dissent towards decency. You don’t get this much blog buzz and indie insta-cred without a LP1 Beach House sample. Even still, House of Balloons would be forgettable without its lead voice, and 20-year old singer Abel Tesfaye nails it the entire way through.

The cool kids may have claimed The Weeknd first, but the pop-crossover success of this project feels inevitable. It may even be here already thanks to a guest spot on Drake’s massively popular Take Care. But whether or not The Weeknd continues to appeal to the skinny jeans crowd or evolves to something more mainstream, this debut mixtape will endure as a compelling listen.

9. Girls - Father, Son, And Holy Ghost

Part of me would love to hate this album, if only because it feels so safe. Don’t think Christopher Owens is a fool: after last year’s highly buzzed Broken Dreams Club EP followed a highly-buzzed debut full length, Girls sensed that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost was their chance to gain indie tenure and probably a little bit of cash. With that in mind, maybe it’s not so surprising that this is an album that seemingly aims to please everyone.

Everyone agrees that “Die” is some sort of rip-off, whether it’s Led Zeppelin, another ’60s/’70s hard rock band I’m unfamiliar with, or that one Wolfmother song. Still, there’s only a short list of tracks this year with as much juice, and none of them carries the same element of surprise as when you first hear “Die” in the flow of the album.

Points for creativity, too. In an indie culture when so many ideas seem played out, adding three soulful black chicks to sing back-up vocals and make Owens’ fragile-white-boy choruses pop is a stroke of genius. It provides an indelible ending to “Vomit”, and transforms opener “Honey Bunny” to the type of Motown-“Surf Wax America” mashup that only prime-era Gregg Gillis could cook up.

Girls even had to swagger-jack for their style: anyone who saw ‘em on Jimmy Fallon knows Owens’ Kurt Cobain get-up was too much to ignore. Even with everything considered, the song-writing here is strong enough and most of the tracks are likable enough to overcome any shortcomings.

8. St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

I suspect that in 20 years when someone wonders what indie rock sounded like around the turn of the aughts’ second decade, Strange Mercy will be just as good of an answer as Vecktimest and Bitte Orca. So much of Annie Clark’s adoration seems to come from her unorthodox improvisational skills on guitar, but there’s still something about this album that’s undeniably professional.

Strange Mercy works on a number of different levels, but its lyrical introspection mixed with a hint of punk attitude is what vaults it into the conversation of the year’s best releases. In that sense, St. Vincent is easy to root for: she proved in a Pitchfork interview that she utilizes the correct touchstones and sometimes appears to make music for them, as much as anyone else. She doesn’t seem to want Passion Pit-type of crossover success, even if Strange Mercy certainly has that potential.

Lead single “Cruel” is as close as she gets. Clark looks like the type of chick who would have got her ass beat by her younger self for creating a song so overtly pop-y, but it’s a testament to her songwriting ability. “Surgeon” is even better, and a major candidate for track of the year.

As a whole, Strange Mercy is as accessible, slick, and polished as any album this year. It’s nearly bullet-proof.

7. Atlas Sound - Parallax

The people who fell in love with Deerhunter’s abrasively-named early lo-fi releases probably never would have expected Bradford Cox to one day open a solo album with the lyrics “Found money and fame”, but that’s exactly how Cox begins his third take as Atlas Sound. Cox is only rich and famous if the currency of the day is indie cred, but the fact that he’s even daring enough these days to put those words on record proves the progression he’s made over the last several years. 

Parallax is the best Atlas Sound album yet because it continues Cox’s shift to more straight-forwarding songwriting, a transformation that may have started with “Sheila” on Atlas Sound’s last LP Logos. Since then, Deerhunter wrote 2010’s best rock music thanks to a hint of power-pop and proved that Cox might be at his best when he’s most accessible.

Parallax feels like an obvious extension of last year’s Halycon Digest in that sense. Substitute an acoustic guitar for an electric one and songs like “Mona Lisa” and “Angel Is Broken” would have fit right in on my second favorite album of last year. Nothing here is as challenging — or some would argue as rewarding — as Logos’ “Quick Canal”, but it helps keep the pace brisk and listening easy. No complaints here.

6. Real Estate - Days

Fidelity can be a kiss of death in indie rock, but fortunately that didn’t scare off Real Estate from souping up its sophomore album Days. While 2009’s self-titled debut laid the groundwork for the band’s signature easy-breezy sound, Days sees Real Estate maximize its potential thanks to enhanced production and a focus on air-tight songwriting.

Spending a day with Real Estate is akin to floating down a lazy river with a Budweiser (and Sprite) in hand, a comparison that seems so obvious I honestly cannot remember if it’s an original thought or not. Regardless, Days still captures that dynamic and continues with the themes hinted on at on LP1. The Arcade Fire made suburban life seem meaningful, if not occasionally thrilling, a year ago, but Real Estate has no such agenda. “Mundane” hardly seems like a good adjective to describe a rock album, but Days makes it work.

Still, this album is at its best when the tempo speeds up, most notably with “It’s Real”. If the track isn’t the best song of 2011, it’s close. Closer “All The Same” might serve as the best portrait of Days, though. The song is almost seven and a half minutes long, but it never drags. Every note feels essential. This is the new Real Estate, and it’s not nearly as insipid as it might appear.

5. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lenses Alien

Wordiness has its place in indie rock — see: The Hold Steady, Bright Eyes, the rest of my favorite bands, ect. — but it’s hardly a prerequisite. I mean, have you read the lyrics to “Midnight City”? But while ambiguity can be a virtue, the opposite is also true. Cymbals Eat Guitars’ sophomore effort Lenses Alien might not require a graduate degree, but good luck decoding Joseph D’Agostino’s lyrics without at least an above average score on the verbal section of the GRE.

On “Definite Darkness” alone, D’Agostino uses “parabolas” to describe his roads, “hypodermic” to describe his needles, and name-drops a “skinless and sinewy leviathan”, ie: a tough-to-chew biblical sea monster. Fuck capturing a feeling when you can delineate your thoughts so hyper-specifically. That verbosity is part of what makes this album more rewarding with each listen. Lenses Alien doesn’t passively wait for your engagement, it practically demands it.   

For as cumbersome as the lyrics are, everything about the music is ruthlessly efficient. Cymbals Eat Guitars’ touchstones here are obvious enough; it’s almost impossible not to think of Perfect From Now On when listening to these densely layered rock songs. While I fear the “‘90s” tag makes this album seem incorrectly mundane, D’Agostino probably wouldn’t be singing about his skateboard if he was scared of the comparisons. Lenses Alien doesn’t include a monster hook or a hit single all the way through, but its craftsmanship is irrefutable.

4. M83 - Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

“Epic” is among the most abused words in the modern lexicon, serving to describe everything from college parties to YouTube videos. But listen to Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming, Anthony Gonzalez’s sixth LP as M83, and try to think of a more appropriate adjective to describe what you’re hearing. It might take a while. It’s no coincidence that Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming comes after M83 spent time touring with The Killers and Depeche Mode: the bombastic influence of Brandon Flowers et al. clearly seeps through on these songs even without knowing the backstory. Whereas Gonzalez’s last release, 2008’s widely acclaimed Saturday = Youth, could have soundtracked a John Hughes movie with its distinct ’80s synths, there’s no such feel to its follow-up. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is bigger in every way: in scope, in sound, in reception. Gonzalez cut the nostalgia and went straight for the gusto: this is his attempt to have M83 reach the heights of other electro-addeled French bands like Phoenix and Daft Punk. Each used a distinctive spin on old fashioned party rock to grab headlining slots at summer festivals around the world (no pun intended) over the last two years, and it’s no doubt Gonzalez has the same intentions. Just look at that lightning bolt guitar strap. This bro means business.

Perhaps the biggest compliment Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming can be paid is that it feels brisk, which is no small task for a double-album with a running time of nearly 75 minutes. Lead single “Midnight City”, deservedly named Pitchfork’s best track of the year, may never be as far-reaching as “1901”, but it’s very possible it’s the best rock song since. There are plenty of other worthy singles spread throughout the album’s other 22 tracks, too: “Wait” is cheesey as hell but reeks of the Smashing Pumpkins at their downtempo best, while “Steve McQueen” may not hit until track 19, but the wait is worth it. And if there’s a more inappropriately unassuming title to a track as, well, epic, as “Intro”, I certainly haven’t heard it.   

If Gonzalez would have trimmed this down to the best 12 tracks — minus the instrumental interludes and the song about a magic frog — Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming might top this list. The album is no worse for the additional minutes, though. It will sound just as great at Lollapalooza (or Coachella, or Bonaroo) as it does out of your headphones, probably better.

3. Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch The Throne 

The reason there won’t ever again be a good halftime show at the Super Bowl isn’t because we lack contemporary artists with the required kilowatt power to throw a 20-minute party on the country’s biggest stage, it’s because the people who run the thing don’t have the fortitude to let Jay-Z and Kanye do it. It’s really the only choice that makes sense. Excess, wealth, pedal-to-the-metal production value, overwhelming corporate materialism: Watch the Throne and the Super Bowl were practically birthed from the same parents. What could possibly be more indicative of the American Dream — proper noun — than combining the two?

Alas, Janet Jackson’s infamous wardrobe malfunction ruined everything, and now all we get is Madonna. It’s a shame, because Watch the Throne’s greatest triumph comes from its unblemished universal appeal. That’s a real accomplishment, especially considering the level of inclusion its makers sporadically aim for. One of the best songs on the album begins with the line “LOLOLOwhite America / assassinate my character”; a few tracks later, Kanye, speaking on his unborn son, says “I might even make ‘em be Republican / So everybody know he love white people”. Watch the Throne had a specific target demographic in mind during its creation, but galvanized every race, gender, and creed on Earth upon its release, save for a few too-snarky hip-hop bloggers. Is there any doubt that these guys are the closest thing we have to The Beatles?

The album that spawned “Ball So Hard University”, ‘Dat Shit Cray’ tattoos, and more Internet memes than any record I can ever remember will almost certainly be the most indelible release of this year. It was a certifiable cultural event. These men are simply too good at being tremendously interesting.  I think Pitchfork’s year-end capsule summed it up best: “rap as reality is as important as rap as escapism.” It sounds so soulful, don’t you agree?

2. Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde

Yeah, everyone had a good time stomping their foot to “Be My Girl” in 2009, but didn’t the Smith Westerns still seem like a risky co-sign for the tastemakers of the day? Teenagers with a sound so raw usually don’t get this type of hall pass to the fast track. But with their sophomore album Dye It Blonde, Smith Westerns justified the hype. Surprisingly enough, this band cleans up real well.

A band so decidedly unlikable has to be damn on record to escape unscathed, and Dye it Blonde is somehow up to the task. Ex. 1: when the AV Club asked Smith Westerns why they chose to cover Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for its Undercover series, singer Cullen Omori — clearly inebriated — haphazardly grabbed his microphone and slurred “because we like pussy”. Rocks stars are supposed to be cocksure, but when did they get this annoying? For all of their faults, Dye It Blonde is still as enduring as any release this year. It’s reminiscent of the transformation underwent by Deerhunter before last year’s excellent Halycon Digest: muffled lo-fi noise to slick pop-rock, all thanks to a few added production dollars and a re-centered focus.

There’s something undeniable about guitar riff custom built to be sang along with, and Dye It Blonde has them in spades. If Smith Westerns made a misstep with this album, it was the release date: listening to “Weekend” in January just doesn’t do it justice. This much glam begs for a convertible ride down Lake Shore Drive, and nothing less. Need more convincing? I think this is the only album of 2011 without a skippable track. When you make an album this good, you can talk as much shit as you want.  

1. Yuck - S/T

At no point during my approximately 14,000 listens to Yuck’s self-titled debut album did I ever think it was the best release of the year. But while other albums came and went from weekly rotation, Yuck never left. This isn’t the most consummate album of the year, the most skilled or the catchiest. But when I went through all of the albums I listened to in 2011, I just couldn’t rank anything ahead of it.

Whether it was intentional or not, Yuck’s philosophy towards making rock music comes off as warmingly fragmented: the entire song doesn’t actually have matter, just parts. This album’s greatest highs hit only for a moment: the lead guitar in “Operation”, the abrupt beginning to “The Wall”, the solo that cascades over the end of “Shook Down”. Nearly every track on this album features a riff that deserves a fan-curated Tumblr dedicated to it. The lyrics are sometimes hard to hear and sometimes nonsensical, but occasionally memorable. And so often, Yuck is content with letting the guitar sing lead. It’s hard to play the “pop punk” or “emo” card here when prime-era Billy Corgan himself would envy these riffs.

Yuck could probably stand to chop off a few tracks — and hey, I said the same thing about The Suburbs, my favorite album of 2010. Cut this to 10 songs and I’d feel more comfortable making it No. 1. But as Yuck proved, completeness can be overrated. Sometimes you just need moments and Yuck provided them better than anyone.

* * *

30 Best Songs Of The Year: Check out the Spotify playlist

30. Wavves - Poor Lenore

29. Alex Turner - Piledriver Waltz

28. Kendrick Lamar - Rigomortus

27. Neon Indian - Polish Girl

26. Surfer Blood - Miranda

25. Lil Wayne - Sorry 4 The Wait

24. Frank Ocean - Songs For Women

23. Lana Del Rey - Video Games

22. Drake feat. Rick Ross - Lord Knows

21. Bright Eyes - Shell Games

20. Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean

19. A$AP Rocky - Wassup

18. Jay-Z and Kanye West - No Church In The Wild

17. Atlas Sound - Mona Lisa

16. Kendrick Lamar - Fuck Your Ethnicity

15. Cymbals Eat Guitars - Definite Darkness

14. Radiohead - Lotus Flower

13. The Weeknd - Wicked Games

12. Girls - Honey Bunny

11. Girls - Vomit

10. Lil Wayne feat. Rick Ross- John

9. The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness

8. Jay-Z and Kanye West - Niggas In Paris

7. St. Vincent - Surgeon

6. Smith Westerns - Weekend

5. Real Estate - It’s Real

4. Yuck - Operation

3. Yuck - Get Away

2. M83 - Midnight City

1. Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers

The Best Albums of 2011, As Compared To NBA Role Players: Honorable Mentions

A$AP Rocky -LiveLoveA$AP: How’s this for a fucking walking paradox: I don’t even think Rocky is *good* at rapping — pretty boy/purple drank/Houston/weed rinse, repeat — but haven’t been able to put down this album since getting it. Or at least the first half. For all the points Rocky gets docked in creativity and versatility, he makes up for in style and production (particularly the Clams Casino tracks).

NBA Role Player Comparison: If Sebastian Telfair would have turned out like Ray Felton. The burden that comes with being New York City’s “Next Big Thing” has crushed even the surest of sure things. Telfair essentially bottomed-out in the league after a high school career so storied at Brooklyn’s Lincoln High it warranted it’s own intoxicating ESPN documentary. Still, dude’s made $15 million in his career. Rocky is off to a fast start in that department, too.

The Strokes - Angles: One of my two most anticipated albums of the year. I do think there’s a banger or two hidden inside here, but “Angles” sounds exactly like its back story: an uninspired effort from a band with its most important cog immensely disinterested.   

NBA Role Player Comparison: Tracy McGrady. The early ’00s were a weird time, and it might have robbed both of these entities of the appreciation they deserved. Side angle: brilliance cut short. When at the top of their collective short-lived peaks, was anyone better? Maybe only Kobe and Jack White, and I don’t think I believe either.  

Tyler, the Creator - Goblin: My other mega-anticipated album. I think it has to register as a bit of a disappointment even if it remains an engaging listen. Preposterously insular and almost wholly staked in some bizarre, self-created universe, “Goblin” is the hardest album to listen to this year by leaps and bounds. Still, I do believe there are times when it’s also feels extremely rewarding. Also: rap albums are way too long. 

NBA Role Player Comparison: Boogie Cousins. Young (each born in the ’90s) and immature rebels that double as budding icons. Each has so much potential it makes you forget about fisticuffs with Donte Greene or even “Bitch Suck Dick”.

Kendrick Lamar - Section.80: Lamar sizes himself up in “Ab-Soul’s Outro”, but he’s only half-right: “I’m not the next pop star, I’m not the next socially aware rapper // I am a human motherfucking being over dope ass instrumentation”. After spending the year with the likes of Tyler and A$AP Rocky, Lamar is breath of fresh air in that the man can actually rap. In the Swag Era, he might qualify as “the next socially aware rapper” by default.

NBA Role Player Comparison: Etan Thomas. It’s not like I expect Kedrick Lamar to ever raise money for earthquake victims or fight Brendan Haywood, much less blog for the Huffington Post, but both care about stuff, man. That’s what separates them from their peers.  

Okkervil River - I Am Very Far: A college years favorite of mine that just couldn’t seem to hook me with this release. Okkervil River will always be carried by the persona of Will Sheff, but it’s not the same without the hits. This is the first Okkervil River record ever without one.

NBA Role Player Comparison: Brian Cardinal. When I saw Okkervil River in September, I was blown away by how much of the crowd looked exactly like Your Dad.

Bright Eyes - The People’s Key: Lower yr expectations: it could have been assumed that this wouldn’t be half as good as Conor Oberst’s three best records, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t catchy and likable. For as much as I dig the new wave-influenced pop-rock style of “Shell Games” and “Jejune Stars”, this album may peak at “Ladder Song”, with Oberst at his most melancholy and his minimalistic. 

NBA Role Player Comparison: Steve Nash. Both Nash and Oberst were galvanizing enough in their prime to create something just short of a cult. Nash isn’t an MVP candidate anymore, Conor is light-years removed from the early period songwriting that earned him “Next Big Thing” cred in the pre-blog era. Still, both retain a bit of that “people’s champ” panache while sporadically being capable of turn-back-the-clock moments. 

Neon Indian - Era Extrana: I can’t shake the feeling that this would sound so much better in a year without M83. Sonically, the two releases are similar, but where Anthony Gonzalez’s grandiose attempts feel legitimately epic, Alan Palomo’s occasionally can feel cheesy. Even so, this is potentially more cohesive than “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” and your fringe-hipster friends will probably like it three times as much.

NBA Role Player Comparison: Chris Bosh. The main narrative surrounding Bosh is his role as the league’s go-to punchline; it’s easy enough that even a well past-its-prime comedy like “The Office” can create a season highlight just by using Bosh’s name for an easy joke. If there’s a similarity with Neon Indian, though, it comes in the perception of their actual value: both might qualify as underrated, with semi-low P4K scores and almost-dominating Eastern Conference Finals performances serving as the evidence.

Radiohead - The King of Limbs: The reason this is the worst Radiohead album ever is because it’s the first one Radiohead has ever sounded like Radiohead. But even Radiohead doing an impression of itself can be occasionally thrilling, and “The King of Limbs” — with it’s proto-dubstep intentions — accomplishes that.

NBA Role Player Comparison: Tim Duncan. Legends of the game weighed down by the unstoppable nature of time who can still be pretty damn effective. Duncan isn’t winning you a title as your best or second best player, I doubt “The King of Limbs” cracks many top 10’s. Even if these deities have seen better days, there’s still something comforting about knowing they’re around, just waiting to blindside you with an unseen late-career bullet-point to add to a Hall of Fame resume.  

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues: Maybe it’s because they’re just such damn professionals only two albums in, but there’s something about Fleet Foxes I find almost boring. While their debut EP and first LP featured serious hits in “Mykonos” and “Blue Ridge Mountains”, it’s hard to choose one standout off LP2. It’s a complete and cohesive effort that gains points for never falling off but loses them for never aspiring to reach new heights.

NBA Role Player Comparison: James Harden’s beard. Beard solidarity.

The 10 Best Albums And 25 Best Songs of 2010

Ed. note: This originally ran in December of 2010  on a friend’s Chicago Now blog that has since been shut down. I was really bummed when I realized all of said blog’s archives were deleted, as this post was (seemingly) lost forever.

I love doing year-end lists like this, no matter how frivalous the entire concept is. As such, I opened a Gmail draft and started jotting down a few ideas for my Best of 2011 list. It is that time of the year already, you know. Then it dawned on me: holy shit, this thing is probably saved somewhere in the deep annals of my personal email.

So, here it is. My list of the best albums/songs of 2010.  

Albums of the Year

10. Hot Chip - One Life Stand


No, nothing here is going to get a party started quite like “Over and Over” or “Ready For the Floor”, but what does? Perhaps it’s even more impressive that a Hot Chip album can still crack the top ten in a year as loaded year as as this one without a true banger. Usually, this band is as top-heavy as anyone. In that respect, “One Life Stand” is a big change of pace for these dudes: you can listen to this album front-to-back, and the whole thing is pretty good*.

*Excluded: that whole “I can play Xbox with my brothers” line. Let’s throw that one into the Rocky V Hall of Things That Never Happened, somewhere not even close to MJ on the Wizards.

9. Sleigh Bells - Treats


From the moment opener “Tell ‘Em” begins, you know what you’re getting into with Sleigh Bells. Loud guitars at a frantic pace over drums that sound like the Fourth of July, sprinkled with feather-soft vocals and lyrics that would make Best Coast blush. This is the formula, and there’s never been anything like it.

“Treats” isn’t for everyone. It’s the most musically abrasive indie release of the year; even on your iPod, it’s louder than everything else. It’s no wonder that one-half of this duo descended from Poison the Well — this is a punk record at its core, even if singer Alexis Krauss was teaching Brooklyn fourth graders just months before Sleigh Bells earned official buzz-band status.

The one constant here, besides for punishing walls of noise, is Sleigh Bells’ knack for writing killer melodies. Everything about the music is harsh, but the hooks will still get stuck in your head for days. The most obvious example is “Rill Rill”, a track that should have blared out of speakers at every summer loft party from Wicker Park to Williamsburg, and few other places in between.

Yes, Sleigh Bells is gimmicky. It’s very possible this isn’t built to last. But during an era in music when so many bands sound vaguely like groups your dad used to listen to, the freshness here is what stands out.

8. The Walkmen - Lisbon


“They say you can’t please everyone, but I’m stuck on a winning streak.”

This is how “While I Shovel The Snow” starts; ironic, because positioned at track 10, it’s the first weak song on “Lisbon”. Even so, when you can get that far without skipping a track on an album in 2010, you know you’ve grabbed ahold of something good. And “Lisbon” is good. It’s probably the most accessible Walkmen album ever, and it might just be the best.

There’s no frills here, just The Walkmen doing their thing, same as always. The rollicking pace of standout “Angela Surf City” reminds of indie-smash hit “The Rat”, the build to euphoria on “Victory” isn’t far off from “In the New Year”, the horns on “Stranded” will remind old fans of “Louisiana”.

In the end, I think it boils down to this: if you like rock music, you will like The Walkmen. Forget all of that trendy reverb shit; leave the muffled vocals for singers who can’t perform their own songs. The Walkmen make rock music the way rock music is supposed to sound.On “Lisbon”, it sounds as great as ever.

7. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast


Please, go ahead and accuse me of a being a sucker for bands that sound like Weezer. Nothing could be more accurate. Of course, sounding like Weezer isn’t a particularly new phenomenon. You could probably say the same thing about Good Charlotte - “Cardiology” didn’t make this list, sorry — and you wouldn’t be wrong. Surfer Blood, though, recalls an era of Weezer when the underdog tag still fit, long before Rivers Cuomo started actively trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator of music fans. This is good Weezer, and a hearty reminder that, yes, good Weezer actually used to exist.

“Astro Coast” runs just over 40 minutes, which would make it one of the longer offerings in the Weezer catalog. Even still, it never drags, which is as crucial an element as any in the realm of guitar-fueled power-pop. There isn’t a clear standout track, but plenty of memorable moments: the raucous chorus of “Swim”, John Paul Pitts’ falsetto on “Take It Easy”, the entire second half of “Anchorage”.

Mostly, “Astro Coast” is an album by a bunch of young dudes about being a bunch of young dudes. This band doesn’t appear to be a finished product yet, and there’s something reassuring about that. “Youth” doesn’t always equate with “potential”, but on “Astro Coast”, you get the sneaky feeling that this time it will.

6. Beach House - Teen Dream


“Teen Dream” is the best album of 2010 according to Urban Outfitters and Gorilla vs. Bear, which means it holds the unofficial crown of Indiest Indie Album of the Year. That made-up title couldn’t be more misleading, though. This is a pop record first and foremost, something nearly everyone in your cell phone’s list of contacts would love, Mom included. 

“Teen Dream” came out way back in January, with the band riding high after front-woman Victoria Legrand guest-starred on “Slow Life”, Grizzly Bear’s offering to the Twilight soundtrack. But unlike the snail’s pace of that track, “Teen Dream” finds Beach House as up-tempo and accessible as anyone. It’s an amazingly fluid album, one that flows from track to track without notice.

“Every song songs the same” is normally a lazy criticism for indie kids talking about Dave Matthews Band, and it could potentially be applied here, too. But when every song is great, does it really matter?

5. Earl Sweatshirt - EARL


Tyler, the Creator gets most of the pub for Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, and deservedly so. He’s the de facto leader who started the teenage LA rap crew, and acts as the group’s main creative force. Tyler makes the beats, the magnetizing YouTube videos, and everything else that went into turning Odd Future into a niche Internet sensation in late 2010. He’s also a dope rhymer, and cocksure enough to already compare himself to iconoclasts like Ian Curtis and Kurt Cobain.

Unfortunately, Tyler is disqualified from this list. His “Bastard” came out in 2009, Pitchfork, and is therefore ineligible under the “everything must come out in the calendar year” rule of year-end top ten list making. That’s fine, though. Tyler is the most galvanizing force in the Odd Future universe, but his little brother Earl Sweatshirt is the best pure rhymer.

“EARL” is barely over 25 minutes long, but there’s never a dull moment. Tyler taught himself how to play piano at 14 and Earl truly reaps the benefits here. His flow reminds of a young Eminem, particularly on “epaR” — the entire scene described in the song’s second half is straight out of “The Slim Shady LP”. And yes, the themes and lyrics here are every bit as graphic and threatening as anything Marshall Mathers has ever done. There’s songs about all kinds of unthinkables, mostly violence against women. But as uncomfortable as some of the subject matter may make you feel, the music is good enough to stand on its own.

The burden of youth is that everybody expects a brighter future and subsequently disvalues the present. With every label on Earth trying to get in on the action, Odd Future’s expectations will be sky high from here on out. No longer are they a bunch of skate punks making music on their Macs in their mom’s house; they’re legitimate hip hop artists now, whether they’re ready for the spotlight or not. The fear here is that they’ll become a caricature of themselves — Tyler’s already said “Fuck 2DopeBoyz” 250 times and counting. But forget about all of the supposed promise for a second and take “EARL” for what it is: a really mesmerizing DIY rap album from a 16-year old. Even if it never gets any better than this, it’s OK.

4. The National - High Violet


The term “Dad Rock” might be the biggest backhanded compliment in music right now, but that doesn’t mean that 2010 wasn’t the best year for Dad Rock ever, even if Wilco didn’t put out any new material. Broken Social Scene, The Black Keys, and Arcade Fire are tearing up year-end lists everywhere, and so is The National, a band that does more to expand the boundaries of the made-up genre than any other.

“High Violet” is smart, wordy, mature rock music at its finest. Matt Berninger’s lyrics began to feel like poetry half-way through 2005’s hit “Mr. November”, and nothing has changed two albums later. Berninger’s deep voice and Ivy League metaphors will forever be the sell here, and he’s proved he’s up for the task yet again.

Nothing on “High Violet” will grab you as immediately as “Mr. November”, but it’s still an album that never takes a breather. It’s the kind that will leave you constantly changing your opinion on its best song. “Afraid of Everyone” ended up as the selection in our list of favorite tracks, but it just as easily could have been “Lemonworld”, “Conversation 16” or “Bloodbuzz Ohio”. It’s an album chalk full of quality songs, and is a very real contender for the year’s best.

So what if it just feels more mature than “King of the Beach”? There’s zero lack of joy here. Just a bunch of quality jams by a band that’s not afraid of knowing what it’s doing.

3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy


The album that has every demographic of music fans losing their mind includes the line “Yeezy reupholstered my pussy”. This is what’s getting unanimous perfect scores from every relevant tastemaker, and what’s getting enough praise to warrant legitimate discussions over whether the genre has ever produced something as electric.

2010 was many things in music: the year Eminem returned to form, the year Sufjan Stevens came out of hibernation, the year “chillwave” became a word stable enough to appear in the New York Times. Above anything else, though, 2010 was the year of Kanye West.

“My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” was first called “Good Ass Job”, part of a long-planned list of album titles created by Kanye years ago. But at the last minute, after most of the record’s tracks had already been released via Kanye’s “G.O.O.D Friday” Twitter initiative, Mr. West called an audible. Even for an artist already as established as Kanye, with 12 Grammys on his mantel, this album didn’t fit in with the others. This was bigger, better and he knew it.”My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” ends up being exactly what it sounds like: a piece of art every bit as huge as its creator’s twisted blend of talent and ego.

Yes, there are moments here that will make you lose faith in humanity. There’s a King of Leon rhyme two minutes into the album; the Chris Rock bit will immediately turn some listeners off, as could the audacity of “Runaway”. But mostly, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is bulletproof. The highs outweigh the lows, and it’s not even close. This is hip hop on its largest scale, the way it has always meant to be. 

Turn off your cynicism; turn up your speakers. Kanye has created the new archetype for modern hip hop, and it’s every bit as good as you want it to be.

2. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest


We’re taught as children to never judge a book by its cover, to not hastily write something or someone off without first properly getting to know it. Nothing epitomizing the sentiment more in 2010 than “Earthquake”, the spacey, difficult opener from one of the most accessible and acclaimed rock records of the year.

“Earthquake” is a taunt, and Deerhunter at its most discordant. Maybe it’s a tribute to the band’s lo-fi, noise-oriented roots; maybe it’s nothing more than an inside joke that only Bradford Cox finds funny. Either way, it comes and goes without the slightest trace of irony or hint at future riches. It’s not until that first track ends that the real party begins, when Deerhunter enters full on pop-mode like you’d never imagine possible. You’ll realize quickly how much things have changed since you last left this group: it’s no longer a band for music bloggers, it’s now a band for music lovers.

Deerhunter has had moments of inspiration in the past, most notably with “Nothing Ever Happened”, a rock track as strong as any released in the last 10 years. They always seemed plagued by Cox’s righteousness, though, a quality that has led to numerous skip-worthy tracks and a deserved reputation for the front-man as the Kanye West of indie rock. Perhaps it’s time to run with those Yeezy comparisons again, only this time not because of Cox’s on-stage theatrics or general surliness towards dissent. If Cox is indie’s Kanye, it’s because of his stage presence, his keen ear for a killer melody, and because his music is now more versatile than nearly all of his contemporaries. 

“Halycon Digest” takes whatever shape Cox wants it to, and it’s clear from beginning to end. “Memory Boy” is an astute piece of power-pop, “Revival” a punk basher, “Basement Scene” a haunting, down-tempo track oozing with a personal narrative. The closest they get to “Nothing Ever Happened” territory is on “Desire Lines”, as Cox takes a backseat and lets his guitar do the talking, even if everyone in the universe immediately thinks those opening chords were yanked straight from Arcade Fire’s “Rebellion Lies”. 

We could go on forever, but you get the point. Everyone from Time Magazine to your barista’s blog loves this record, and deservedly so.

1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs


Roll your eyes, hang your head in shame: Arcade Fire made the best album of the year. Don’t think those groans aren’t audible from here.

It’s curious, to say the least, that a band who made one of the most universally beloved rock records of the last 25 years has been abandoned by so many of rock’s most attuned listeners, all while being embraced by the masses like never before. Perhaps the band summed up the place they inhabit best in an interview with Pitchfork earlier this year:

I remember reading a book where the author was making fun of people who liked [Melville’s] Bartleby, the Scrivener instead of Moby Dick— like favoring a well-crafted short story instead of his flawed, epic thing. But I think we’re definitely much more of a Moby Dick kind of band, and a lot of bands just aren’t.

Indie rock ethos will forever hold dear the underdog, the band you saw first playing in something as quaint as a neighbor’s basement. But if the dream was ever fully-formed, wouldn’t rock music sound so much like Arcade Fire?

Yes, this is a band with flaws. Music this grand can’t stay authentic forever, and there are times both in person and on record when Win and Regine’s cheesiness becomes a bit thick. But forget the festival crowds, the Grammy nominations and everything else: focus on these songs. They are the reason “The Suburbs” is the best album since Radiohead released “In Rainbows”.

Sure, Arcade Fire could have managed to trim the fat here a bit — two or three of the 16 tracks probably would have made better b-sides. Even still, “The Suburbs” is the best album of the year because it has the best songs, and there’s enough here to keep you distracted from the minimal low-lights.

The title track and album opener may have gotten the nod in our list of the top songs of the year, but it really could have been any number of tracks. “Ready to Start” has enough us-versus-them in it to thwart the “Dad Rock” tag, the riff from “Month of May” is as energetic as anything this band has ever put forth, select lyrics from “Children With No City In It” are bound to be inked across someone’s forearm.

Yes, “We Used To Wait” can get nauseating after repeated listens, but that’s only because it’s such a strong track. “Sprawl II” may hold more appeal than anything else here: this is “girl power” in its purest form, and Regine has enough moxie to make those triumphant lyrics convincing.

Numbers nine through two on this list could probably be arranged anyway you see fit and I wouldn’t find any beef. But again: “The Suburbs” is the album of the year because this is the strongest collection of songs. It may not be “Funeral”, but who could possibly have expected that? “The Suburbs” is Arcade Fire maxing out its potential, and maybe even the potential of an entire genre.

* * *
Songs of the Year

25. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Woke Up Near Chelsea
24. DOM - Living In America
23. Vampire Weekend - Giving Up the Gun

22. EL-P - Baby (Death Remix)

21. Broken Social Scene - Texico Bitches

20. Tokyo Police Club - Wait Up (Boots of Danger)

19. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
18. Surfer Blood - Twin Peaks
17. The National - Afraid of Everyone
16. The New Pornographers - The Crash Years
15. Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s - Birds
14. Deerhunter - Coronado
13. Beach House - 10 Mile Stereo
12. Wolf Parade - Cloud Shadow on the Mountain
11. The Walkmen - Angela Surf City
10. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
9. MGMT - Flash Delirium
8. Tyler, the Creator - Bastard
7. LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean
6. The Hold Steady - The Weekenders
5. of Montreal - Coquet Coquette
4. Kanye West (featuring Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj) - Monster
3. Local Natives - Airplanes
2. Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill
1. Big Boi - Shutterbugg