Top 100 of 2010: 50-41

And here we go...

50. These New Puritans - Hidden

One of the first albums I heard this year, it continues to grow and expose new sounds and landscapes through the music. We Want War is one of my favourite songs of the year, and while I enjoy listening to the album, there are a few moments where I think "this song could be better", but those are minor complaints, as this is a great listen from start to finish - combining Foley techniques to make every detail heard, and every sword strike deadly. This was NME's number 1 album of the year, and even though this is way down in 50th for me, it definitely deserves the praise it gets.

49. Interpol - Interpol

It seems you either love or hate this album judging by the reaction. For me, it's probably tied 2nd favourite alongide Antics (behind Turn on The Bright Lights of course) and why I like it so much is because it's a lot darker than its predecessors. Some songs do feel flat (Try It On (The "no fucking way" line...really!?)) but the highlights make it up. Always Malaise and The Undoing both provide the dark undertones that I like from Interpol, and for all the flak it recieves, I like this album so much that I'm going to see them next March!

48. Warpaint - The Fool

One of the bands to watch in 2011 - all girl-group Warpaint has made an impressive debut album that has some beautiful songs. Undertow is certainly one of them, and it's recently grown a lot on me that it's one of my favourite songs of 2010. How do you know when a group is very good? When your Westlife loving sister sees them live on telly and calls them "crap"! You know they've done something right if they offend Westlife fans.

47. Yeasayer - Odd Blood

Weird pop at its best. It tails off second half of the album, but the first half could've pushed it into the top 25. The Children, Ambling Amp, O.N.E....all fantastic songs that made me fall in love with Yeasayer's music. Such a shame it went downhill after Love Me Girl.

46. 65daysofstatic - We Were Exploding Away

Seeing these guys live made this album really come alive. The energy it gives out is incredible, and it's packed with great songs to dance to. Your brains will explode away if you're not careful enough.

45. No Age - Everything In Between

This made a late dash to cross over the top 50 border, but I think it fully deserves to be here. A great album that I wasn't keen on at first, but like all great albums it grew on me until I could feel comfortable with the songs and style.

44. Glasser - Ring

A great album that was one of the surprises of the year! Glasser - AKA Cameron Mesirow - creates a beautiful Electro Pop album that sounds like a less intense Fever Ray. A great album that really needs more attention than it's currently getting.

43. Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can

An album full of great little treats. Not the most original artist in the world, but for her age she's incredibly talented and writes such beautiful songs. I can't wait to hear what she does in the future.

42. The Black Keys - Brother

Slightly overlong, but within the album lies a lot of great melodies and songs that stay with you for a long time. The album cover is witty and just states the bleedin' obvious, but don't let that put you off - it's popping up a lot in the "End of Year" charts everywhere, and rightly so.

41. Jonsi - Go

Jonsi live is something else entirely - Tornado is one of my favourite songs of the year, and it was incredible live too. It's just a wonderful album from start to finish - creating wonderful sounds and imagery through some of the most inspiring music. Iceland finally has a male Bjork to treasure.

Top 100 of 2010: 100-51

So 2010 is about to end, and to me 2010 is a landmark year in music because it was the year I started to really branch out. I discovered new artists, genres, and went to as much gigs as I could afford to (Muse, Jonsi, 65Daysofstatic, Crystal Castles, missed Pure Reason Revolution sadly, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor) Hopefully I'll go see more in the new year (Interpol already booked, Take That in the bag too (family event! Yay!))

These are the albums that made the top 100 - it was hard to leave some out of the top 50, but these things must be done if you love end-of-year lists like I do!

100. Eels – End Times
99. Klaxons – Surfing The Void
98. How to Dress Well – Love Remains
97. Delphic – Acolyte
96. Massive Attack – Heligoland
95. Xiu Xiu – Dear God, I Hate Myself
94. Clinic – Bubblegum
93. Olof Arnalds – Innundir Skinni
92. Former Ghosts – New Love
91. Carbon Based Lifeforms – Interloper

Nothing too shocking there perhaps. Might get a few dirty looks for putting Clinic and Massive Attacl so low.

90. M.I.A. - /\/\ /\ Y /\ (MAYA)
89. Delorean – Subiza
88. Broken Bells – Broken Bells
87. Hot Chip – One Life Stand
86. Liars – Sisterworld
85. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz
84. School of Seven Bells – Disconnect From Desires
83. Eskmo – Eskmo
82. Belle & Sebastian – Belle & Sebastian Write About Love
81. Spoon – Transference:

I should stress that none of these albums were bad - they just didn't do much for me, although I did enjoy Spoon, Liars, and School of Seven Bells.

80. CEO – White Magic
79. Vampire Weekend – Contra
78. The Drums – The Drums
77. Max Richter – Infra
76. Emeralds – Does It Look Like I’m Here?
75. Exit Calm – Exit Calm
74. Wavves – King of The Beach
73. Future Island – In Evening Air
72. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
71. Teeth of The Sea – Your Mercury

Drowned In Sound's number 1 album of the year only made it to number 76 on my chart. Not that it means anything of course! Lots of good bands in there - Teeth of The Sea and Exit Calm in particular.

70. Best Coast – Crazy For You
69. Pure Reason Revolution – Hammer and Anvil
68. Autechre – Oversteps
67. The Phantom Band - The Wants
66. The Chemical Brothers – Further
65. Salem – King Night
64. Foals – Total Life Forever
63. Gonjasufi – A Sufi and a Killer
62. Blood Red Shoes – Fire Like This
61. Teengirl Fantasy – 7AM

60. The Walkmen – Lisbon
59. The Radio Dept. – Clinging On To a Shame
58. Holy Fuck – Latin
57. Avey Tare – Down There
56. Kylesa – Spiral Shadow
55. Darkstar – North
54. Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
53. Oceansize – Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up
52. Women – Public Strain
51. Wild Nothing – Gemini

All 10 of these could've made my top 50, so I'll name them my honourable mentions because I've enjoyed them all so much.
From tomorrow onwards I'll post 10 each day until Friday, where I'll reveal my top 10.

Top 100 of 2010: The rubbish 5 (101-105)

Calling them rubbish is a tad harsh maybe, but these are the 5 albums that unimpressed me in 2010.

105. Hurts - Happiness
104. MGMT - Congratulations
103. Goldfrapp - Head First
102. Of Montreal - False Priest
101. Autechre - Move of Ten

I'll get some dirty looks for placing Congratulations so low, Head First has some catchy songs but largely felt like they were riding the Electro Pop revival, Move of Ten was too bizarre for my liking (Oversteps was much better) and False Priest...wacky stuff!

2010 in Music: Top 10 EPs

First of my lists is the EPs. I didn't listen to every EP I could find, but I did find some good stuff.

Some honourable mentions:

How To Destroy Angels (Self-Titled) EP

Nine Inch Nails with tits - that's how you'd sum it up. Not quite up to NIN standard, but it's got some good songs on it, such as A Drowning, the wonderful closer that's reminiscent of Right Where It Belongs.

Gallops (Self-Titled) EP

I saw them support 65Daysofstatic in Wrexham back in October, and they were ear-achingly loud. The drummer was on fire, and as for the music there's definitely some promise to be heard.

Balam Acab - See Birds EP

One of the most promising names coming out of the Witch House scene, blending warped vocals with Dubstep influences and some interesting music textures. Expect more in 2011.

And here's my top 10 EPs of 2010:

10. Dirty Projectors + Bjork – Mount Witternberg Ocra EP

Bjork returns to Medulla-mode with the Brooklyn-based band. It has some lovely harmonies but lacks anything brilliant. Two great artists come together to create something that sounds so pure, but with a new Bjork album coming next year hopefully, this is a nice little music gap-filler that should satisfy both sets of fans.

9. Owen Pallett - A Swedish Love Story EP

It's been a busy year for Mr Pallet - helping out with string duties for the Arcade Fire bunch, an album and 3 EPs out this year. I've only heard the latest EP, and it's a nice mix of electronic blending with strings - Scandal at the Parkade is a brilliant song.

8. James Blake - CMYK EP

The first of two EPs by James Blake that appear on this list. He'll probably become massive in 2011, but before there was "Limit To Your Love", there was some loopy atmospheric Electronic music that made little sense, but somehow managed to sound great.

7. Dark Dark Dark - Bright Bright Bright EP

Cutesy Chamber Pop that sounds like lightweight Arcade Fire at times. They've released a new album this year too, but I haven't heard it yet. I'm not sure why, this is a very good EP that should be heard by more music fans.

6. Flying Lotus - Pattern+Grid World EP

Not satisfied with just a great album out this year, FlyLo released a psychedelic trip of an EP that carries on with the winning formula first tested on Cosmogramma. Warning; some tracks may cause brains to melt.

5. Pantha Du Prince - Lay in a Shimmer EP

A great EP by any means. Following his earlier released album this year, this marks the end of a successful year with some original mixes, which offer some interesting changes and sounds from album tracks.

4. James Blake - Klaiverwerke EP

And he pops up again! This time, the songs have better structure and are much more memorable. It just makes me wish that he'd release more of his old gems like he said recently. Can't wait to hear the album in 2011.

3. Sufjan Stevens - All Delighted People EP

Age of Adz is a bit of a mess in my opinion, but when Sufjan Stevens keeps it simple it normally turns out great. It has some faults (it doesn't need that stupidly long track at the end!) but it's a nice listen from start to finish. Shame I can't say the same thing about Age of Adz.

2. The Tallest Man on Earth - Sometimes The Blues Is Just a Passing Bird EP

Utterly beautiful. It's been a great year for him, and he continues to write great music and this EP just continues the consistency. Fantastic study music too!

1. Zola Jesus - Stridulum II EP


There was only ever one winner in this category! Zola Jesus combines dark, apocalyptic music with Siousie Sioux pitch-perfect vocals and Fever Ray levels of creepyness. This artist is going to be someone to watch in 2011, and if she's churning out quality songs on this EP, then her album will be something to really look forward to.

Top 50 of 2010: The disappointments

So this is my first post of 2010 in music - over the next 2 weeks I'll post some of my thoughts on the artists, albums, songs, heroes & villains, and many other stuff. First, we start off on the disappointments.

2010 has been a year choc-full of the good and the great, but it hasn't always been that way. Overhyped records were quite rare in my experience, but then again I never did listen to the usual mainstream dross like Kings of Leon, so I can't say much can I?

Here are my 2010 disappointments:

Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle

I've always liked these guys, but their latest album is a little bit of a bummer. It's beautiful yes, but...that's it. There's no real spark or intent to do something that would make me go "wow". I spent the whole album wishing for something great, but the only track I took any notice of is Will There Be Stars.

Clinic - Bubblegum


I love Internal Wrangler, and this is only the second album I've heard from the band, so maybe I'm not in the best position to judge them, but this album was a let down. It had none of the itchy vibrancy of IW, none of that eccentric energy, nothing from it that I loved. It wasn't a total disaster, but it was a bit of a damp squid.

Former Ghosts - New Love.


Zola Jesus? WOW! She's in the group! I love her music...shame the production is so...well, rubbish. It was quite interesting to listen to, but I'm in no hurry to do so again.

Hurts - Happiness


Appart from Illuminated and a couple of other tracks, I very nearly fell asleep. One of the most over-rated bands I've heard in a long time.

Klaxons - Surfing The Void


Not terrible, but definitely over-hyped. I wonder how the pre-label interruption music would have sounded like. Unfortunately we'll probably never know, unless the band (or a sneaky label person) leaks it themselves. *hint*

MGMT - Congratulations


Where is this going!? My poor ears couldn't handle the psychedelic/LSD haze of a mess.

M.I.A. - MAYA


Such a disappointment. Forgettable tracks and none of that vibrancy found on Kala and Arular. XXXO started off great, Teqkilla is the star on the album, but everything else sounded like she tried too hard to be "out there". It's a shame, because she's a great artist, and maybe I was expecting something brilliant after two great albums.

My top 10 pieces of art: 1

Guernica - Pablo Picasso (1937)

I thought long and hard about this, but I think this was a worthy piece of artwork for my top spot.
I'm not normally into Pablo Picasso; I do enjoy his Cubism work and his "Blue Period", but otherwise I find him to be slightly over-rated in my opinion. Not that I'm calling him a bad artist by any means, I just have different taste to the masses I guess!

However, there is one Picasso painting that I consider to be my all-time favourite; Guernica was painted during the Spanish civil war in the late 1930's, and it captures the emotional trauma the war brings.
Closer inspection of the figures shows ghostly figures of humans with gruesome features and frightened frozen faces, but because these humans are killed along with animals, Picasso proves that it's not only humans who suffer, but all form of life do - such is the brutality of war that the innocent often gets punished. There is plenty of symbolism in this artwork - something I often look to find in art - the monochrome colour suggests a bleak outlook and a stark reminded of what impact war really has on life. Another point on the importance of animals in the piece is that they are shown to be deformed and showing the same emotions as humans suffer, and the whole painting just shows chaos and pain at its worst.

I think the scale of the piece should also be taken into consideration - it's massive, and that shows the scale of the devastation, and it's quite impossible for the viewer to detach themselves from the piece. I'd like to see it for myself one of these days.

My top 10 pieces of art: 2

London Calling - Pennie Smith (1979)

We've all seen this photograph. Even if you're not that into music, detest Punk, or have lived under a rock for the last 30-odd years - this is the image that defines Rock and Roll at its most violent and powerful moment.

The photograph nearly wasn't shot at all; Pennie Smith wasn't feeling up to another front row gig with the Punk rockers, but she changed her mind and the world of music was glad that she did. This particular gig, The Palladium in New York City on 21 September 1979 during the "Clash Take the Fifth" US tour, bassist Paul Simonon unleashed his frustration and anger on his bass when the gig was far from a success. One shot was all it took to capture Rock's appeal, and it is one of the reasons why it's included in my top 10. It's a simple photograph, luck had a part to play in the precise timing it required to capture the second before the bass got shattered, the smoky background plays a part in its "red mist" appeal, and the spotlight is focused on Simonon, so you can't help but focus on his bass-smashing antic!

A powerfull photograph - one that'll always be remembered. That's at least one great thing that came out of the Punk movement!