IGIF Presents: The Best Albums of 2010

The National – High Violet

There is something incredibly rewarding about following a band from your local scene and watching them blossom into a universally respected, nationally known musical entity. When a band encounters success and achieves national noteriety, a part of you feels like you’ve succeeded too. The National of course, originally hailing from Cincinnati, released the brooding and beautiful High Violet this year. Their sounds have grown so rich and their creative processes so in sync, it’s as if the entire album is a victorious battle cry celebrating the sonic territory they’ve conquered. From lead single “Bloodbuzz Ohio” to haunting tracks “Anyone’s Ghost” and “Lemonworld”, their songs are dark and deranged (i.e. zombie tinged “Conversation 16″) in a charming way thanks, in part, to the baritone vocals of Matt Berninger. Like most National records, this album is bound to get better with age which makes our aural futures all the more promising. Especially if this “witch house” shit is still “popular” next year. – Nathaniel

[MP3] The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio

MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound

Fang Island – Fang Island

Providence bred and Brooklyn bound, like many bands over the last decade (and even another band on this list, Javelin), Fang Island brought a much needed hard edge to 2010′s rather delicate and understated musical output. Pairing some of the most infectious guitar riffs of the year with hymn-like vocal chants, tracks like “Daisy” and “Sidesweeper” hit nostalgic chords for those of us who grew up in the 90s. It’s as epically shredded as it is endlessly playable, smothered by the optimism of youth and the promise of the coming century. – Connor

[MP3] Fang Island – Daisy

MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound

Foxes In Fiction – Swung From The Branches

One of the most promising young artists of 2010, Foxes In Fiction (the solo project of Warren Hildebrand) crafts lo-fi tunes so fuzzy you might think he’s forging the tracks from within a snowy, pixelated TV and not his bedroom. Although perhaps it’s the bedroom that makes his debut LP Swung From The Branches so great, warm enough to produce melodic tunes like “Jimi Bleachball”, “Memory Pools”, and “Bathurst” but comfortable enough to completely space out for songs like “Insomnia Keys” and “Sleeping Building Unsuspecting”. The dichotomy of experimental ambient jams and soft-spoken, guitar-looped tunes makes Foxes In Fiction a double-edged sword capable of cutting through layers of music at a moment’s notice and, oh yeah.. he’s only 21 years old. – Nathaniel

[MP3] Foxes In Fiction – Memory Pools

MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound

Twin Shadow – Forget

You know you’ve got a sensational album when you play it to the point of redundancy and never get sick of it. That’s exactly what happened all yearlong when I listened to Twin Shadow’s Forget. Capitalizing on melodies from moody pop pioneered by groups like The Smiths and The Cure, George Lewis, Jr. fuses the convenience of modern technology with the biological beatitudes of his ears to create endlessly compelling and complex dance tunes. As fast as he can turn it up with bangers like “At My Heels” and “Yellow Balloon”, he can also slow it down with “Tyrant Destroyer” and “Castles in the Snow” all while remaining as appealing as ever. It’s almost like watching a fashion show of Twin Shadow tunes, never knowing what’s gonna strut out of the speakers next or how it will appeal to your senses. – Nathaniel

[MP3] Twin Shadow – Castles In The Snow

MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound

Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, I really don’t mean to burst everyone’s bubble on this… but I have to tell you… Kanye West is not a God. He’s not a genius. He’s not perfect, and his music isn’t perfect (and certainly not a perfect 10). He’s not the new King of Pop. He’s not a visionary in the same way John Lennon or Picasso are or Christopher Nolan perhaps is. I know that’s hard for a lot of people to accept, given that every media outlet has been singing Kanye’s praises and putting him on a pedestal (or maybe “in a sarcophagus”)… but let’s be real, they just don’t want to be left behind. They all want to say “we knew it!” when history ends up being very generous to Mr. West. They’re analyzing and rating/scoring the context of his latest release combined with his public persona and personal challenges, not the album or the music itself.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s be clear about something else: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is certainly unlike anything that’s ever been done in hip-hop before. It’s brilliantly forward-facing and old-school leaning at the same time. When you listen to the opening faux British accented poetry that begins the album, the minimalism and soul-bearing rap on “Runaway”, and the star-studded, multi-layer vocal harmonies on “All Of The Lights”, you get the feeling you’re hearing something truly one-of-a-kind… and that’s the biggest compliment I can give this album. As a showman, perhaps he’s the best there is as well. Like the best conman, he’s a master manipulator and (better than anyone else today) makes us believe that he’s brilliant and that he’s a true artist. Kanye’s got a long way to go before he has the depth of Lupe Fiasco or the twisted wordsmithing of Aesop Rock, but as a producer he’s the best there is. He’ll keep growing, keep exploring new sounds and ideas and hopefully he’ll keep the introspection at a high level. The more grounded he becomes, the more contrasts he embeds within his music and his persona. That is exactly what makes Kanye West the musician so compelling, and that’s ultimately what will continue to legitimize his creative efforts in the future. – Connor

[MP3] Listen to Kanye West tracks at The Hype Machine

Official Site | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound

Viernes – Sinister Devices

Let’s get specific: Viernes‘ Sinister Devices is the underrated album of the year. We all know great music goes unnoticed all the time, and it’s a shame, but missing out on Sinister Devices is really unforgivable. You gave friggin’ Sleigh Bells at least an hour of your life, you can more than afford the same amount of time to this Florida duo. OK, that’s my pitch. Onto the music: Sinister Devices is the only album of the year (in my opinion) that comes as close at it does to finding that ever elusive balance between pop and art that so many musicians (and filmmakers, artists, photographers, etc.) strive to pin down. And in a way that makes this the album of the year… it’s certainly among the most complex (“Honest Parade”), jarring (“Glass Windows”), gorgeous (“Sinister Love”), replayable (“Glacial Change Of Pace”), twisted (“Swimmer’s Ear”) and exciting releases of the year. Music is meant for a lot of purposes, but independent music is defined as such (more often than not) because its creators and purveyors are artists pushing boundaries and challenging peers much more than they are spicing together familiar pop hooks and finding ways to be cool without being “too cool”. No one has accomplished this task in 2010 better than Viernes and their debut album… so here’s to 2011 and beyond, the breeding ground for perhaps one of the new decade’s most promising young bands. – Connor

[MP3] Viernes – Glacial Change Of Pace

MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound

Glasser – Ring

There are a couple things an onion and Glasser have in common. First, Cameron Mesirow’s voice is so beautiful there’s a strong chance she could move you to tears in an a capella environment. Second, debut LP Ring has so many layers that you could spend half a year peeling away sounds and still find some fresh underneath each one. Although the album is immediately appealing upon first listen, it’s the second, third, fourth, and each listen thereafter that makes the album even more transcendent. Glasser certainly shares similarities with Björk and Bat For Lashes but Ring is uniquely ambitious and hypercompositional, arranging instruments often lurking in the background (like xylophone and saxophone) in a manner that makes them a main attraction. The real attraction, though, are Glasser’s hypnotic vocal melodies and growing confidence as an artist – two things making her future endeavors all the more enjoyable. – Nathaniel

[MP3] Glasser – Plane Temp

MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

There was never really any question of whether Arcade Fire would be capable of producing another great album — they already had two under their belts. If 2004′s Funeral was the truest and most authentic of their outputs (as is most art created when no one’s watching), then 2007′s Neon Bible was the official “highly anticipated sophomore album” that very consciously attempted to recreate the feeling and emotion of Funeral within a new context (as it happened, a simultaneously darker and even more emotive, dramatic context). This set the stage wonderfully for The Suburbs: as the band has said in many one-off interviews, it’s “just a rock record.” And for us, it’s a privilege to see a group as wonderfully collaborative and supremely gifted as they are creating music without all of those external pressures; with albums number one and two firmly in the past, and with legions of devoted fans giving them room to do whatever they want. The Suburbs isn’t a perfect album but it’s damn close, containing some of the all-around best songs and, particularly, moments of the year: the haunting and strained vocal harmonies that close out “The Suburbs,” the high-pitched odd little organ quiver at the end of “Month Of May,” the near superfluous time signature shift to 5/4 on “Modern Man.” These moments and more make The Suburbs one of the year’s most rewarding albums, something you can leave on repeat for a long, long time. – Connor

[WWW] Listen to Arcade Fire tracks at The Hype Machine

MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound

Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest

Is there any question that Deerhunter has become one of the definitive American rock bands of recent years? Some die hard fans might lament the popification of Bradford, Lockett & Co. over the last two albums, and that’s certainly a legitimate concern to have over any band. Just as the same has happened with Animal Collective, Of Montreal, Grizzly Bear (to a lesser extent), Yeasayer, and many more, Deerhunter is indeed creating more traditional pop-leaning indie rock… but just like those other bands, they’re also doing it with their strange proclivities for the unusual completely intact. Halcyon Digest is the most accessible Deerhunter album, sure. But it’s also the one that finds the most appropriate balance between those familiar hooks and melodies (such as those on “Desire Lines” and “Fountain Stairs”) and the sort of weird peculiarities that define a modern band’s sound within the “indie rock band” context. Those moments (most likely Bradford-Cox-produced, like the backwards-forwards beat that begins “Earthquake” and the arpeggiated reverb and echo of “He Would Have Laughed”) shine throughout the album and compliment Lockett Pundt’s more traditional song structures. Together they combine to create the most accessibly inaccessible, sweetly dense, and enjoyably challenging album of the year. – Connor

[MP3] Deerhunter – Revival

MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound

Beach House – Teen Dream

Picking an album of the year is usually a tough task, yet when there is one that’s a clear cut above everything else it makes ordering things after #1 the bigger task at hand. For a record we first heard back in December of 2009, it’s a true testament to the album’s artistry when it continues to floor us an entire year later. Beach House have always been talented, capable of crooning dreamy tracks stemming from painful origins but masked with beautiful melodies. The duo’s skill and potential have never been in question, yet their self-titled debut and sophomore album Devotion, while showing loads of growth, contained moments of uncertainity and monotonous atmosphere. Teen Dream is worlds apart from its 2010 contemporaries and previous Beach House albums. Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally have taken their fused formula of classic 60′s pop arrangements and ethereal atmospherics to another level, creating their most diverse and accessible album to date. Legrand’s voice is as booming as it’s ever been and Scally’s guitar sings as buoyantly as the vocals it dances with. Lifting their veil of customary haziness, Beach House have created a timeless record full of warmth and beauty. – Nathaniel

[MP3] Beach House – Norway

MySpace | More MP3s | Buy @ Insound

Honorable Mention:
Spoon – Transference
Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
Wolf Parade – Expo 86
The Morning Benders – Big Echo
Sleigh Bells – Treats
Beach Fossils – Beach Fossils
Drake – Thank Me Later
The Radio Dept – Clinging To A Scheme
Gayngs – Relayted
Caribou – Swim
Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid
Sufjan Stevens – The Age Of Adz
Wild Nothing – Gemini
Girl Talk – All Day
Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
Sarah Jaffe – Suburban Nature
Toro y Moi – Causers of This
Portugal The Man – American Ghetto
Houses – All Night
Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner
Wavves – King Of The Beach
LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
Phantogram – Eyelid Movies

Pages: 1 2 3