Blogg → My Top 15 Albums of 2010! Really? Yes, Really!! And more? Wow!

I usually say something about every release but I’m running out of faux-witty things to say. A bunch of hipster records are on here this year, more than usual I feel. Agalloch, Surfer Blood, Beneath the Massacre, Sufjan Stevens (gets BL points for making a very weird record I did not anticipate), and Bomb the Music Industry! were on the cusp but didn’t quite make it. The Thermals and The Gaslight Anthem both released their worst yet still enjoyable records, Superchunk joined the ranks of Dinosaur Jr. of releasing an album after 10 years that wasn’t completely embarrassing, and I don't care that the Hunx and His Punx record is a compilation, it's going on the list. I didn’t listen to a record more high this year than Sun Araw’s, The Wonder Years released the best New Found Glory album since Catalyst, and Titus Andronicus probably put out the best album of the year. But I spent all of January, February and March walking the streets of New Brunswick listening to the Vampire Weekend’s Contra and that feeling still holds over in December.


Top 15 Albums of 2010:


15. The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang
Essential Tracks: American Slang, Bring It On


14. Black Wine – Black Wine
Essential Tracks: Haunted, Chateau of Ghosts


13. The Thermals – Personal Life
Essential Tracks: I Don't Believe You, Alone, A Fool


12. Screaming Females – Castle Talk
Essential Tracks: Boss, Normal


11. Sun Araw – On Patrol
Essential Tracks: Ma Holo, Deep Cover


10. Hunx and His Punx – Gay Singles
Essential Tracks: CRUSING, Teardrops On My Telephone


9. The Wonder Years – The Upsides
Essential Tracks: Dynamite Shovel, Melrose Diner


8. Best Coast – Crazy For You
Essential Tracks: Crazy for You, Goodbye


7. Wavves – King Of The Beach
Essential Tracks: King of the Beach, Idiot


6. Tigers Jaw – Two Worlds
Essential Tracks: Return, Smile


5. Superchunk – Majesty Shredding
Essential Tracks: Digging for Something, Rosemarie


4. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – The Brutalist Bricks
Essential Tracks: Ativan Eyes, Bottled In Cork


3. Paul Baribeau – Unbearable
Essential Tracks: Eight Letters, Blue Cool


2. Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
Essential Tracks: Theme from "Cheers", Titus Andronicus Forever


1. Vampire Weekend – Contra
Essential Tracks: Run, Giving Up the Gun



I’m lucky enough to call most of these bands my friends (if you think the technical death metal band from Italy isn’t one of those bands, you might be on to something) and they released some of the best music of the year. WSP/LNW/Maker/Front Bottoms/Bieber Summer 2011 tour plz


Top 5 EPs of 2010:


5. Mixtapes – Thought About Growing Up


4. Fleshgod Apocalypse – Mafia EP


3. Maker – I-91


2. Late Nite Wars – It's Okay Or Even Worse


1. The Front Bottoms – Slow Dance To Soft Rock


My 2010 Mix Tape:



Side A:
1.Against Me! – White Crosses
2.The Gaslight Anthem – Bring It On
3.Superchunk – Digging for Something
4.Mixtapes – Maps
5.Male Bonding – All Things This Way
6.Wavves – Idiot
7.Surfer Blood – Floating Vibes
8.Titus Andronicus – Theme From “Cheers”
9.Harlem – Friendly Ghost

Side B:
1.The Wonder Years – Melrose Diner
2.The Menzingers – I Was Born
3.Late Nite Wars – Work Isn't Working
4.Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Bottled In Cork
5.The Thermals – Alone, A Fool
6. Venetian Snares - Posers And Camera Phones
7.S U R V I V E – omniverse
8.Vampire Weekend – Giving Up the Gun
9.Kanye West - Runaway



Boy did I blow it last year when it came to instrumental progressive metal and glam rock bands.

Best Albums of 2009 I Didn’t Hear Until 2010:


2. Steel Panther – Feel the Steel


1. Animals as Leaders – Animals as Leaders



Screaming Females played the best I’ve ever seen them in a New Brunswick basement, New Found Glory played their best album all the way through (supported by Saves The Day playing an oldies-leaning setlist), The Ergs! reunited (!!) to battle cancer, The Court Tavern hosted the hottest acoustic show I’ve ever witnessed, and Fucked Up played simply the best punk rock set of the year complete with Black Flag’s Nervous Breakdown while I was wearing my Black Flag Nervous Breakdown shirt.

Top 5 shows I Went To In 2010:

5. Screaming Females, 1/9/10, Meat Town USA, New Brunswick, NJ
4. New Found Glory / Saves The Day, 2/20/10, Starland Ballroom, NJ
3. The Ergs! / Hunchback, 12/5/10, Asbury Lanes, NJ
2. Brian Fallon / Dave Hause, 5/7/10, Court Tavern, NJ
1. Fucked Up / Kurt Vile, 2/18/10, Maxwells, Hoboken, NJ


that's it, bye