Last Days

Ah, 2010, we hardly knew ye. The year flew by, as they all seem to do. And now, before the year's up, it's time for my annual roundup of my favorite music of the year. Listeners of CompCon have already heard my discussion with Senor Breitling of the top rock of 2010 (check out parts 1, 2 and 3), but that was recorded in early November and my list has changed somewhat since then. Not radically, but it's different. Plus here, I'm expanding my list to the top 15 because, well, I can.

So let's get on to it, then:

15. The Besnard Lakes--The Besnard Lakes are the Roaring Night
Everything this band does is cool. Heady, atmospheric soundscapes that slow build into majestic rock epics, like a combination of Pink Floyd instrumentation with Beach Boys harmonies. Definitely a band made for headphones.



14. Girl Talk--All Day
Released for free download on November 15, Gregg Gillis' latest samplesplosion is a masterful collection that features a mind-blowing 373 samples (according to WiggityPedia). There are plenty of folks releasing free mixtapes these days, but Gillis is the mashup maker of choice for nerds who like to get their rock mixed with hip hop. Opening track "Oh No" gets off to a great start with a "War Pigs" sample and branches out in a ridiculous number of directions within the same song. Tons of fun.



13. LCD Soundsystem--This is Happening
Bandleader James Murphy has been releasing terrific dance-rock albums (and even Nike Plus workout jams) for years now, and this continues that streak. You can hear a definite Roxy Music influence on this one, especially in Murphy's vocals. "Drunk Girls" is a classic track, but just about every song on this album is an extended jam in the best way possible.



12. Drive-By Truckers--The Big To-Do
DBT is a band that has transcended the genres that it gets slotted into: Southern rock, alt-country, straightahead rock. The band is extremely prolific (a new album, Go-Go Boots, is set to be released soon) and is a true live force. The song "This Fucking Job" certainly resonated as the recession wore on in 2010, and The Big To-Do found DBT getting back to a rock sound over the quieter, country-influenced songs on its previous longplayer, Brighter Than Creation's Dark. Gotta love the triple-guitar attack.



11. Les Savy Fav--Root for Ruin
LSF is another band that has been consistently producing terrific albums for the last decade. Root for Ruin is chock full of catchy rock songs led by frontman Tim Harrington's deranged vocals (dude's even crazier in concert).



10. Los Campesinos!--Romance is Boring
Los Camp are an exciting young band from the UK that has mastered whisper-to-a-scream dynamics and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink instrumentation as it tears through this album. The band has undergone some lineup changes in the last year, but if this record is any indication, we can expect big things in the years to come. They can soft and they can rock shit up with the best of 'em. Terrific live act, too.



9. Spoon--Transference
This band gets my vote for band of the 2000s. Every album they've released has been a winner, and Transference is no exception. After the success of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, you could have expected Spoon to continue along that more commercial path. But to their credit, Britt Daniel and the band opted for more experimental, sparse terrain. It's still a very listenable album, but there are no "Underdog 2" Billy Joel-esque singalongs to be found. Instead, dig choppy rockers like "Written in Reverse."



8. The Henry Clay People--Somewhere on the Golden Coast
This was a late addition to my best-of list because I only picked it up in late November, but man, what a great rock record. They wear their influences on their sleeves: Replacements, Kinks, Springsteen. This is the Hold Steady album I wish the Hold Steady had released this year. Rockity rock rock.



7. Arcade Fire--The Suburbs
A great bounceback album for the band. Not that Neon Bible sucked or anything, but The Suburbs really hits all those Arcade Fire high points: Majestic songs, stirring vocals, anthemic chords. You know, the good stuff.



6. Black Mountain--Wilderness Heart
These Western Canadian rockers deliver a great collection of heavy Sabbath-style crunchers mixed with hippie-leaning acoustic janglers. It's all the good parts of '70s rock done up right for 2010. Singers Stephen McBean and Amber Webber provide good counterpoints while all the rock craziness goes on around them.



5. The Black Keys--Brothers
This guitar-drums duo has been churning out the blues-rock for about 10 years now, but this was the year they hit it big. In addition to being all over rock radio, their songs were licensed Moby-style in every conceivable fashion: TV shows, movies, commercials, and anything else they could think of. Good for them. It's probably the best way to make money these days. The commercial appeal doesn't change the fact the Black Keys still rock. There's more of a soul/R&B feel to this one, but the basic sound hasn't changed. And that's a good thing.



4. Superchunk--Majesty Shredding
On their first album in nine years, Superchunk sounds like they haven't missed a beat. From the opening song "Digging for Something," the band just kicks into high gear and rocks the hell out of this album. Mac McCaughan's vocals seem even higher now than they were when the band was in its mid-90s heyday. A welcome comeback that hopefully will continue for years to come.



3. Grinderman--Grinderman 2
Nick Cave's rawk act returns with a killer follow-up to its killer debut album. This moved up from #8 when Jay and I did our countdown back in November, mainly because I've been listening to it a lot since then. More garage rock combined with Cave's twisted literary bent. Another month or two and this may have topped my list. Just devastating stuff.



2. Titus Andronicus--The Monitor
Another powerful live act that combines literary conceits with ass-crunching rock. Ostensibly about the Civil War, this album jumps from battlefield tales to modern-day breakup stories. Manages to take a pretentious-sounding concept and make it kick butt.






1. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists--The Brutalist Bricks
Another favorite artist of mine for the consistent quality of his studio albums and live shows, Ted Leo's latest album combines all the great things we've come to expect from the man: rousing rockers, impassioned vocals, that whole Clash-meets-Thin Lizzy vibe he generates. But with The Brutalist Bricks, Leo seems to have found another level of urgency. Catchy and kickass.


Notes: I had originally included the XX's xx on my top 10 for the podcast, but since it came out in August 2009, I bumped it for this list. Still, an excellent album that I really enjoyed. Another 2009 release that I only discovered this year is We Were Promised Jetpacks' These Four Walls.

Honorable mentions: Gaslight Anthem--American Slang; Neil Young--Le Noise; The 20/20 Project--Employees of the Year; Japandroids--No Singles; The Fall--Your Future, Our Clutter; High on Fire--Snakes for the Divine; Iron Maiden--The Final Frontier; Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings--I Learned the Hard Way; Jesse Malin and the St. Mark's Social--Love it to Life; The Hold Steady--Heaven is Whenever.