And finally, our top 10 albums of 2010. It should come as no surprise to our long time readers that The Black Keys pulled in the #1 spot. Theyve been my favorite band for years and years and Brothers finds the duo pushing their boundaries in production, sound, and style.
Local Natives are a band we fell in love with at SxSW a year before the release of Gorilla Manor and it was the finest debut released this year. Ryan Bingham found much success this year with “The Weary Kind” from the soundtrack to the movie Crazy Heart. While that single is amazing, “Hallelujah” gives it a run for the money on the album.
Were still thankful for Matthew Houcks plunge into country music. Phosphorescents follow up to last years Willie Nelson tribute album To Willie is a Willie-inspired piece of brilliant Americana in Here’s To Taking It Easy. Often downplayed in the hipster circles, bands Delta Spirit, The Moondoggies, and The Tallest Man On Earth wore out my ipod in 2010 and continue to do so. And finishing out the list are long-time friend Joe Pug, live session alumni The Love Language, and Titus Andronicus and their ambitious Civil War concept punk album, The Monitor.
This list was tough create. Woody and I in particular felt strongly about different albums, but the two of us are satisfied with the end result. Feel free to disagree with our picks, but lets agree that it was a great year in music. For the full list of albums, visit our Best Albums of 2010.
1. The Black Keys , Brothers
2. Local Natives , Gorilla Manor (Review)
3. Ryan Bingham , Junky Star (Interview with Ryan Bingham)
4. Phosphorescent , Heres To Taking It Easy (Review)
Phosphorescent – Mermaid Parade
Phosphorescent – It’s Hard To Be Humble (When You’re From Alabama)
5. Delta Spirit , History From Below (Review)
6. The Moondoggies , Tidelands (Review)
The Moondoggies – It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity
7. The Tallest Man on Earth , The Wild Hunt (Review)
The Tallest Man On Earth – King Of Spain
8. Joe Pug , Messenger (Review)
9. Titus Andronicus , The Monitor (Review)
Titus Andronicus – A More Perfect Union
10. The Love Language , Libraries (Review)
Hear more from our Live Session with The Love Language.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi – great list. Lots of new stuff here for me to check out. One point – I’m sure Local Natives was 2009!
Local Natives was released in the UK in 2009, but US in 2010.
Good list. Personally I feel that Black Keys are a bit overrated, but I can see the appeal to certain people who like the old ’60s sound.
My favorites this year are:
1. Broken Bells
2. Wild Nothing
3. Soft Moon
4. Phantogram
5. Beach House
If you have some free time, please check Soft Moon, little known Bay Area new artist, he’s got amazing music. Here’s his latest video.
I love this list – Local Natives are fantastic. Several others for me to check out as well. Check out my list at: http://altinterstate.blogspot.com/2010/12/altinterstate-top-10-albums-of-2010.html
What a relief not to see Kanye or LCD in a Best of list!
I’m the only UK blog to have either Local Natives or Joe Pug in my top 10 https://tincanland.wordpress.com/ so nice to see. Somehow missed Moondoggies so that’s where I’m off next!
(I also picked Tom Petty – Mojo; Dessa – A Badly Broken Code; RayWylie Hubbard – A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is no C); Joe Bonamassa – Black Rock; Perfume Genius – Learning; Tinie Tempah – Disc Overy; Robert Randolph & the Family Band – We Walk This Road; Jeff Beck – Emotion & Commotion. PLUS there’s a playlist of 7 unheralded songs from other albums)
@Gachevsky – Thank you. We try and rank the albums based on merit as opposed to what everybody else likes. Plus we think Kanye is an assclown. As for LCD, I think they’re enjoyable in a live setting but I could never listen to them in a non-livc setting. Talented? Sure. For me? No.
@tincanman2010 – I’m pretty sure we’re the only US blog to choose Wolf People in our top 50.
Thanks for the list – just posting mine today and at least one on my list is only because I heard Lissie at your SXSW party!
1. John Mellencamp – No Better Than This – his best in a long time
2. Jamey Johnson – The Guitar Song – what country is supposed to be
3. Gaslight Anthem – American Slang – and not just because of the Bruce connection
4. Sahara Smith – Myth of the Heart – young Austin singer – watch out for her
5. Lissie – Catching a Tiger – a little pop but you need some fun sometimes
6. Alejandro Escovedo – Street Songs of Love – the King of Austin!
7. Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown – a couple of great songs
8. The Young Evils – Enchanted Chapel – Seattle pop – 2 pop CD’s in one list!
9. Jon Dee Graham – - Not as Bad as it Looks – Austin legend
10. The Fabulous Gin Sisters – You can’t take a Bad girl home – sultry and catchy
@ oz You’re the only blog to list a lot of things I end up liking. Thats why I link to you from mine.
Love that The Tallest man on Earth featured twice! I’d add a new group I saw recently to my list, which would be hard to boil down to 10…but The Circle, a Sydney Band, has really impressed me this year. http://www.ilovecircle.com. Awesome live and worth checking out.
AH! This post just reminded me that I forgot to put Tallest Man On Earth on my best of 2010 list!!! And The Wild Hunt was really great too, I can’t believe I forgot it. I just found your blog, let me know if you’d be interested in doing a link exchange. Thanks!
-Dylan
Natural Beardy:
http://www.naturalbeardy.com
…and join the f-book team:
http://on.fb.me/eqT0Uj
it doesn’t look like everyone else’s list, so that’s nice.