2010's Best Records!!!

With Christmas coming you can guarantee that there will be no more decent albums released this year. The festive shelves will heave with compilations and greatest hits packages designed to appeal to the part-time music fan or present-procurer. So with that in mind (and ahead of the press’ annual ‘list editions’) here are my favourite dozen albums of 2010.

Arcade Fire: The Suburbs
Epic yet intimate, clever yet inclusive. Arcade Fire are arguably the greatest band on earth - and The Suburbs does not disappoint. Sweeping synths, pounding percussion and orchestral brass all add up to something almost hymnal. With around sixty three members and a charismatic married couple at the forefront it wouldn’t surprise me if their next move was to found their own religion.





Band of Horses: Infinite Arms
Band of Horses’ third album doesn’t quite scale the heights of its predecessors, yet it’s still one of the standouts of the year. Gorgeous vocals and lush harmonies layered over strings and multiple guitars make them one of the leading exponents of ‘Americana’.If you like anything here, check out their debut Cease to Begin.





Beach House: Teen Dream
Album opener Zebra is one of the most hauntingly beautiful tracks of the year – androgynous vocals (the singer is, in fact, a girl) and a swooning chorus about the ‘black and white horse’ of the title. Perhaps zoology is not their strong point. The rest of the album breezes by in a similarly stoned, dreamily melodic way. Lovely.





Broken Social Scene: Forgiveness Rock Record
There is so much to enjoy on this record that it’s hard to imagine how they squeezed it all in. At times it’s like a compilation – different vocalists and musical styles each take their turn – and yet the unique twanging guitars somehow tie everything into one cohesive whole. Meet Me in The Basement is arguably the finest instrumental of the year – a rollicking triumph of a song and the kind of track which you could listen to on repeat for ages (something i’ve been guilty of).





Caribou: Swim
To label something as ‘experimental’ is often tantamount to calling it ‘shite’. But not here. Sun is an utterly engrossing album – occasionally it seems slightly detached and cold, but then draws you back in with an beautiful motif or melody. You’d struggle to dance to it, but it’s a great album to end a night out with.





Chemical Brothers: Further
Eschewing the celebrity cameos which have always characterised their albums, the Chemical Brothers have instead concentrated on creating an album which works as a whole – there are not standout singles here. It’s brilliantly conceived and their best in some time – particularly K+B+D – a song not dissimilar to the epic Private Psychedelic Reel.





Four Tet: There Is Love In You
Keiran Hebden’s latest release as Four Tet is an absolutely gorgeous slice of (what some people have clumsily termed) folktronica. Looped strings and vocals are layered atop one another in a hypnotic chant which is utterly enchanting. A great album for falling asleep too (i mean that in the nicest possible way).





Laura Marling: I Speak Because I Can
It’s amazing to think that Laura Marling is only twenty years old. Her second album is even more mature than her first, her lyrics wise beyond her years. She inhabits different personalities and personas here (in a Bat For Lashes style) and the result is a triumphant collection of songs which are rich and worldy. I’m usually a bigger fan of music than lyrics, but i wanna understand every word that falls from her lips.





Local Natives: Gorilla Manor
In the wake of Fleet Foxes there has been a slew of imitators attempting to replicate their vocal style. Of all the bands who’ve attempted it, the greatest success is surely Local Natives. They’ve taken the harmonies and added beefier arrangements and (at times) stark, vicious lyrics. Dressed up in their bouncy, chanting choruses its occasionally easy to forget that you’re listening to songs about bombs in supermarket carparks. Utterly ace.





Midlake: The Courage Of Others
Midlake make beautiful music and have been doing so for some time now. Having broken through with the acclaimed Trials of Von Occupanther, here they continue their ascent with a captivating album filled with head-nodding, beardy American folk underpinned by some rich guitars and tender harmonies.





The National: High Violet
It’s often the case that albums start strong and fade. Not High Violet. It would be easy to argue that the last three songs are the best – but that would be a disservce to the rest of their amazing album. Anthemic yet muted, the sonorous voice of Matt Berninger carries the whole thing with understated aplomb. And England is the best song of 2010 – FACT.





The Tallest Man On Earth: Wild Hunt
The best addition to my musical life this year has been Kristian Matsson (aka the Tallest Man ...). It’s very easy to point out similarities to Bob Dylan in almost everything he does, but that’s because he has the same nasal sneer and guitar plucking style. He won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you have any affection for Bob, give this a whirl. It’s arguably a lesser album than his first, but it’s still utterly fantastic. Disappointingly, in the flesh he’s about the same height as me.