Best Albums of 2010

This was a year of rediscovery for me:  “The Promise” revealed the brilliance of  Springstein’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town.” Kings of Leon reminded me why really loud music is so much damn fun.  And Kanye West showed me once and for all why we should care about whatever we call his music now.  

In 2011, the world was a raw, dangerous place, full of economic hardship and spilled oil.  The best music of the year offered no deliverance from this, but insisted that we live in the world as we find it, right here and now. 

Albums

1.  This is Happening, LCD Soundsystem

James Murphy’s 2010 creation was a crazy stew of new wave and techno, spiced with Kraftwerk and Talking Heads, and a whole lot of disco.  At its best, with “I Can Change”, “Dance Yerself Clean” and “Home” it throbs loudly in the way that best driving music does and then brings you up short with its humor.  I think it scares my children that I like this so much. I know it scares me. 

2.  Contra, Vampire Weekend

This album makes me giddy.  It moves along at a breakneck pace, with an unerring rhythmic sense informed by ska, reggae and afro-beat.  Someday someone will record these songs at a slowed down pace and reveal their knowing insights and heartbreak.  Until then, hold on for the smartest, best ride in pop music. 

3.  High Violet, The National  

Matt Berninger sings in a baritone that’s unlike any other voice in rock. He growls about the middle stretch of life: youth gone, adulthood full of ambiguity.  There’s a surprising optimism buried here inside songs with a dark sound, songs of resilience and perseverance played on jangly guitars. 

4.  My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye West

OK, I get it now.  West is Stevie Wonder for a new century with a restless musical imagination and a terrific talent for surprise.  This is rap music that will keep you interested with its melodies, breathtaking samples (The Byrds, King Crimson, Manfred Mann, Smokey!) and, with songs like “All of the Lights” or “Runaway”, riveted to see what comes next.  Unlike Stevie, he’s got a potty mouth, a deep pessimism and an ego the size of Montana, but that is the sound of the zeitgeist.

5.  Interpreting the Masters Vol. 1, The Bird and the Bee

What’s not to like about a note-for-note recreation of the greatest hits of Hall and Oates?  Not a thing.  Is it ironic?  Who cares?  The winsome, breathy wonderfulness of Inara George (daughter of Lowell George of Little Feat) nearly tops Daryl and John.