Albums
of the year
2010
I felt it appropriate this year to change the title of my annual best albums post by replacing the word KILL with LIVE. It has the same effect I think, but with a positive slant. At first I thought I wouldn’t be able to do this post at all since, as some of you know, my Mom passed away last month from a 15+ year battle with congestive heart failure. My original intention was for the first time to actually write my own reviews (who would have thought, right?), but the events of the past couple months have had the bulk of my free time. So instead of not abandoning my yearly tradition (when there are so many great albums which must be heard by all of you!), I figured I would do it as I have in years past. To compensate, however, I created a companion playlist you can stream at Grooveshark so that you can effortlessly listen to tracks from this year’s esteemed “winners”! I picked two tracks from each album, which was a tough call as there really aren’t any bad tracks on any of these albums. For the album from Janelle Monáe I picked 3 songs to be fair, as the album is so incredibly long and every track is fantastic. I believe in my heart of hearts these albums would be rewarding for each and every one of you to pick up and listen to, in full, and as loud as possible. These are also in no particular order, except for the first album by Radio Dept, which is without any doubt the best of the year. Enjoy, and drive with aloha …
12
The Radio Dept.
Clinging to a Scheme
“A wonderful new chapter in The Radio Dept.’s legacy of haze and melody, Clinging to a Scheme maximizes their talents in a minimal structure. Its ten tracks total up to just less than 35 minutes, though each one of those minutes is euphoria. The album finds the group exploring dance music even further, with more than a few tracks boasting some Balearic influence, not to mention a little Madchester bounce here and there. However, this is by no means an album of bassy club anthems or acid-fried neon bangers. There’s a sense of melancholy cast over the album that makes its brightest moments more bittersweet, and its softer sounds murkier and disoriented. In other words, it’s the best set of shoegazer songs not to require earplugs. Clinging to a Scheme is a pristine and stunning reward to those patient souls who awaited its every meticulous note. Once again, The Radio Dept. have delivered on the promise of their ever-evolving dream pop, delivering what may very well be their best album. The benefit of keeping scarce means minimizing the risk of becoming stale, but for the life of me, I can’t see an album like this wearing out its welcome.” – Treble