Top 30 Albums of 2010: Part One (30-21)
by Jonathan Doyle, Neil Karassik and Ken Stuebing
30. Frederick Squire - March 12
Sackville, New Brunswick resident Frederick Squire is an artist wise beyond his years and his fabulous debut LP blends timeless melodies and resonant themes disarmingly well. With a distinctly Canadian humility, his craft brings to mind big Neil Young chords, embracing vocals that blend The Clean's David Kilgour with Swedish crooner Jens Lekman, all shaded with generous overtones of Neutral Milk Hotel's sonic palate. Squire’s pristine folk-rock sound is only half of the story, however, as the depth of the soulful lyrics makes the music positively ache. Squire's songs tackle big, broad subjects like death, truth, love, natural beauty, decay, flowing water and a host of poetic tributes to keeping on through innocence lost. During his recent show at the Dakota Tavern (which was rife with duets featuring the lovely Kati Maki), Squire inscribed a copy of this album, "As far as I can tell, today is wonderful." With March 12 in high rotation, I'm inclined to concur. -- KS
29. MGMT - Congratulations
Though their 2008 major label debut, Oracular Spectacular, was easy to swallow for just about every listening demographic, psych rockers MGMT’s follow-up was a risky departure from their slightly more conventional ‘electro pop’ roots. At first, Congratulations may have been more of a challenge to get through, but somewhere between the second and third spin, its ingenious intricacies became more and more apparent, with the upshot being equal parts bizarre and beautiful. Haters moaned that insta-pleasers such as “Kids” and “Time to Pretend” were replaced with self-serving psychedelia, but I for one will be damned if “Flash Delirium” isn’t the catchiest, craftiest track MGMT has cranked out thus far. And unlike their uneven debut, the entirety of this album is surprising and original. Congratulations are definitely in order. -- NK
28. The Black Keys - Brothers
In 2010, The Black Keys returned from the brink of a possible break-up with one of their strongest records ever. The genius in this music is its immediacy. Of all the albums on this list, Brothers may be the most user-friendly. No previous knowledge of The Black Keys is necessary to fall under the spell of these impressively direct and immediate grooves. Formerly a guitar/drums duo, The Black Keys successfully flesh out their sound with sweet basslines, organs, a harpsichord (on "Too Afraid to Love You"), a mellotron (on "I'm Not the One") and more. Ultimately, none of these flourishes would mean anything if the songs weren't so stellar, particularly standout singles "Next Girl" and "Tighten Up." While I'm aware that the band willfully hearkens back to the mid-sixties psychedelic blues releases by the likes of Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, to these ears, Brothers sounds like Led Zeppelin's epic debut, sans overwrought bombast. Tightened up indeed, this is blues rock it's okay to love. -- KS
RELATED: Some Fans Are Better Than Others
27. The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme
Accessible yet unfamiliar, this deceptively nuanced album has all the depth and complexity of a really interesting person: the better you get to know it, the more its mysteries grow. Rather than demand your attention with bold experimentation, The Radio Dept. assume a casual, laid back stance, shaping moments of dreamy perfection that quietly wait to be discovered. While the consistent shape and quality of these ten tracks makes Clinging to a Scheme go down easy, the album’s real feat is the variety of moods it so effortlessly achieves. From the mellow optimism of "This Time Around" and the bittersweet simplicity of "A Token of Gratitude" to the hypnotic instrumental “Four Months in the Shade,” this album creeps up on you and reveals itself to be that increasingly rare breed in the age of iTunes: a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. -- JD
26. Delorean - Subiza
Not unlike Neon Indian -- one of last year’s breakthrough artists -- Delorean delivers a seductive blend of nineties-inspired electro pop and more than a few party starters. After putting out one of last year’s most winning EPs, Ayrton Senna, the Barcelonan foursome continues to move into fresh territory while staying true to their familiar appeal (euphoric long jams remain firmly intact). Upon deceptive first listen, Subiza sounds like Animal Collective-lite ear candy, but like Delorean’s previous efforts, it quickly reveals a delicate and dazzling singularity that makes it more than just something to dance to (although I certainly wouldn’t discourage that). Of all the albums to emerge this year, you’d be hard pressed to find one that you’ll so immediately want to replay the moment it concludes. -- NK
25. Wild Nothing - Gemini
I can’t remember the last time my feelings about an album and its cover were so diametrically opposed. Mutant multi-face notwithstanding, Wild Nothing’s debut is one of the year’s great exercises in retro genre-hopping. If Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s memorable, eighties-obsessed debut ultimately fell victim to an overly uniform tracklist, Wild Nothing wisely avoided that problem -- in spite of the bands’ similarities (“Summer Holiday” and “O Lilac” could be mistaken for Pains outtakes) -- by digging a little deeper into the eighties alterna-pop playbook. But whereas so many eighties clones fall victim to party dude frivolity or self-congratulatory parody, Wild Nothing makes sincere, heartfelt music that expands upon the work of their heroes. It's as if no time had passed since the glory days of New Order, The Cure, Cocteau Twins, Tangerine Dream and Giorgio Moroder. In fact, if all those musicians merged their DNA and spawned a neon-flavored super-offspring, it might sound something like this. -- JD
24. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
Titus Andronicus' impressive, ambitious 2010 opus sounds like a slightly poppier Hüsker Dü covering the Springsteen songbook, as evidenced in the opening declaration of purpose: "Tramps like us, baby we were born to dieeeee!" As with the best of Bruce, the melodies sometimes lack originality, but they are always unabashedly earnest and passionate. What truly elevates this album, however, is its distinguished lyrical content. In tunes like "A More Perfect Union" and "Four Score and Seven," none since Bob Dylan have succeeded in mining this much blood and sweat out of the US civil war. Sporting a cast of prominent indie rock guests -- members of Ponytail, Wye Oak, Vivian Girls and The Hold Steady -- the band offers an edgy fusion of punk and folk that is reminiscent of Guelph, Ontario's mighty Constantines. With its long, rollicking odes to the uncompromising wilds of youth, The Monitor sweeps the listener up with the blissed-out reverie of living fast and loud. Wild stuff. -- KS
23. Owen Pallett - Heartland
2010 saw the renewal and rebirth of the Torontonian formerly known as Final Fantasy. Due to legal concerns, he could no longer reference the seminal video game franchise in his musical moniker, so he started going by his legal identity. This could not have been timelier because the name Owen Pallett is more than ever recognized worldwide as a one-of-a kind one-man-wonder. Heartland’s sprawling, baroque sounds have been likened to a movie score for a non-existent movie, but his songwriting tells an exceptional story even without the support of images. Every minute of this album paints a moody (and yes, cinematic) canvas all on its own. And if Pallett ever decides to lend his sound to the big screen again (he co-scored 2009’s The Box), that movie better be good enough to warrant the use of his talent.-- NK
22. Yeasayer - Odd Blood
Following 2007’s very well-liked All Hour Cymbals, Brooklyn art-electro-poppers Yeasayer’s sophomore LP was poised to be this year’s Merriweather Post Pavilion (like MPP, it came out just days into the new year and just about everyone had ridiculously high hopes). Sadly, the album received a large dose of criticism from underwhelmed listeners let down by its less cohesive tracklist and schizophrenic style. Which is tragic because, even better than their previous album, Odd Blood marries complex soundscapes with dance-inducing arrangements and blissful melodies with dark, ominous detours. Incorporating everything from the synthy eighties to the electro aughts, it’s a rollercoaster pastiche that may not be as groundbreaking as MPP, but still offers everything you could want from one of the most distinctive band’s to emerge in the last few years. -- NK
21. Grinderman - Grinderman 2
The Rolling Stones have proved that rock ‘n’ roll's old guard don't particularly intend on burning out or fading away. Whether that longevity leads to artistic success is often another story. Not so with Nick Cave. As good as he's been over the years, this second release under the Grinderman moniker -- featuring the Bad Seeds pared down to an economical four piece and Cave on grungy electric guitar -- finds the man capturing his true rock ‘n’ roll essence. Grinderman 2 features nine cuts composed of sweat, spit, joy and pain. Given the myriad darker tones on this record (including peak performance "Heathen Child," a vicious tale of hedonistic danger and lust), it's surprising that the "Sympathy for the Devil"-esque penultimate tune "Palaces of Montezuma" is so danged bright. After all the vivid drama and torment on display, this uplifting tune sports a reassuring invitation to "get out of the cold." By this point, we'd follow the endlessly talented Cave just about anywhere he chooses to go (preferably Grinderman 3). -- KS
20-11 | 10-1 | Top 30 Albums of 2009
