Top 20 Albums:

1. Beach House - Teen Dream
2. Drive-By Truckers - The Big To Do
3. Spoon - Transference
4. Bobby Bare Jr – A Storm, A Tree, My Mother’s Head
5. Wavves - King of the Beach
6. Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
7. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
8. The Sadies - Darker Circles
9. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
10. Sleigh Bells - Treats
11. Black Mountain - Wilderness Heart
12. Neil Young - Le Noise
13. William Tyler - Behold The Spirit
14. Mark McGuire - Living With Yourself
15. 7 Walkers – s/t
16. No Age – Everything in Between
17. Health – Disco2
18. White Hills - s/t
19. The Alps - Le Voyage
20. Actress – Splazsh

20 songs from my Top 20 compilation (plus a bonus track):
http://www.sendspace.com/file/r58dot


Top 10 concerts

1. Arcade Fire – Ryman Auditorium – 8.9.10
2. Stevie Wonder/Jay-Z – Bonnaroo – 6.12.10
3. Neil Young/Burt Jansch – Ryman Auditorium – 6.1.10
4. Beach House/Washed Out – Mercy Lounge – 4.28.10
5. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals/The Avett Brothers – Ryman Auditorium – 10.30.10
6. Bobby Bare Jr/Blue Giant – The Basement – 9.18.10
7. King Charles/Cadillac Sky/Mumford & Sons - War Memorial Auditorium – 11.1.10
8. Bear in Heaven/Crystal Castles - Cannery Ballroom – 9.7.10
9. Akron/Family / Warpaint @ Exit/In – 2.27.10
10. Drive-By Truckers – Cannery Ballroom -6.18.10

glad to see someone else besides me have dbt up high

it's on several lists, but very few seem to REALLY like it, and i do

I really liked it, but I just liked more albums better. That William Tyler will probably end up being on my revisionist history version of my list when I remake 2010's top 20 in the future. Its really great. Too bad it hit my ears too late in the year.

Good list Stu.
I'm still sorting out my own, but I find it an odd coincidence that we both have The Sadies slotted at #8. Has it even turned up on any other list ?

A great, dark record.

I'm down with that #3. Its up there for me as well. A welcomed "not dead yet" album after 5xGa imo.

wavves, ariel pink...and that's it.


that bear in heaven/crystal castles show sounds like a weird pairing. i had to leave the bear in heaven show after like 3 songs because i hated the guy's voice.

Our tastes are similar... but DBT.... I just don't get it. I'll check a couple other things on your list.

Akron Family/ Warpaint is an interesting bill.

I expected to see War on Drugs on your list. It's a pretty good album and I've actually listened to it quite a few times, but it didn't quite make my cut.

I did not hear that Sadies album. Damn.

it's a good sadies album for sure.

Agreed. Love dark, moody tunes and this one really hit the mark as a combo of one of my favorite bands making music in a melancholic tone I'm already prone to enjoying.

As far as others lists: Jsh gave it honorable mention, and big thanks to contradiction for pointing out that they had a new album out. I would've REALLY hated to have missed it. I can't compare it to their their past output as I've always been more of a fan of theirs as a backing band (Neko Case, Jon Hartford, John Doe, etc) or in the live setting, but I'd be willing to bet it stands up to their best.



You need to hear it. It's really fucking good. Here you go:




DBT... it's a southern thang, and a band I've followed since college so they hold with me a lot of drunken emotional/cerebral association.
AkronFamily and Warpaint was really interesting. Different sounds and approaches, but both pretty jammy. Good for pot + whiskey combo I had going that night. Too bad Warpaint's album was a stinker.



And I would've liked the EP to be good enough to land on the top 20, but alas, there were only a few stand-out tracks. "Comin' Through" is a top 5 song of 2010 for me and appeared as the bonus track on my Top 20 compilation. I'll continue to be excited for their next release, so it's not like I'm writing them off or anything. Granduciel just seemed to have only a trick or two up his sleeve on this one and was working out some ideas which is appropriate for an EP.

i have to get that tyler album. feel like i don't seek out anything that comes from outside nashville anymore tho. i need to go through a norwegian metal phase, or something.

also, hi stu.

Yo. We need to get some drank soon. Also, I had the Old Fashioned at Whiskey Kitchen... waaaaay too sweet. Holland House and nico's blend were both delish.

The Willy T record is something that requires a quiet listening environment. I wish I could keep up with all of the stuff coming out of Nashville. Problem is, most of the stuff the SCENE goes ghey over I end up not really liking after I check it out. For instance, KORT - Invariable Heartache... there are a few GREAT songs on there (He's Only A Memory Away, Picking Wild Mountain Berries), but the rest I can't really get into, 1. because Kurt Wagner's signature sing/speak and intonation keeps me from being pulled in by the lyrical content 2. It's not an album meant to be listened to at work or in my car, which is where I do almost all of my listening.

Comin' Through is awesome. I just got this album a couple weeks ago, but really enjoying it.

Never heard of it. What's the RIYL on this shee?

RIYL: middlin' indie

Well...when you put it that way.

The War on Drugs first album, Wagonwheel Blues, was enjoyed by several Obs when it came out in 2008. I think Kurt Vile contributed a lot to the sound of the record,but he didn't play on Future Weather. As a sidenote, TWOD's bassist put out a record this year under the name Nightlands

Here's a thread about the new EP, Future Weather, from which "Comin' Through" was the lead single.

The music is Autumnal, atmospheric "indie rock" influenced by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and The Band.

Thanks Stu.
I may need to check it out based on your Dylan & The Band comparison. Basement Tapes is one of my all-time favorite records.

stuuuu. i dunno how to quote. <- old lady.

(re: whiskey kitchen's old-fashioned: seconded! and re: drank plans: seconded!)

had a similar experience with kort but i LOVE cortney. think my favorite nashville record this year (and kinda one of my favorite everywhere records) was karen elson's. dig it a whole whole lot.

Cool list, man. I could do without the DBT's, Sleigh Bells, and another HEALTH dance remix album, but, from what I know, solid list otherwise. That Mark McGuire could possibly have crept much higher up my list if I'd heard it sooner, and I only started listening to Actress a little while ago as well. (Don't think I like it as much as Pantha du Prince or Flying Lotus, though.)

I'm sure if I'd given Pantha du Prince the attention I gave to Actress it would've cracked the Top 20. I already gave my $.02 on the Flying Lotus album in another thread (there were too many things going on for me to focus on enjoying it). I probably could've substituted anything in my bottom Top 25 for the Health Disco2, but when it came down to it, I enjoyed a lot of those remixes.