All of these albums I picked are all according to my tastes. What else can I say? This year started pretty slow with music, where I almost gave up looking for good music, but the second half of the year came on very strong. This was a great year for hip-hop and I'm happy bands are going back to making fun up-beat music instead of pretentious drag garbage. This was again a year of wonderfully eclectic musical tastes, def something to please everyone. All in all, music treated us (me) well this year and this is my favorite 10 albums of the year. Enjoy!
1. tUnE-yArDs - W H O K I L L
This is such a fun album from start to finish, and what I like probably the most is that you can't describe the style to anyone. They are an absolute force in music right now, starting from submitting a cassette tape to a record company to now infusing themselves into the scene. Drum machines, saxophones, ukeleles, make this album stand out from all the rest of them this year.
2. The Weeknd - House of Balloons
This is a critic's darling this year, and for good reason. This album makes babies, simple as that. Imagine coming from a night at the strip club at 4am driving at night with the windows down and put it on a CD. This whole album is smooth and sexy, but it leaves you feeling dirty when you're through.
3. James Blake - James Blake
This album took me a little bit to get into, and to a casual listener it would be easy to pass right over, but James Blake put out a masterpiece of music this year. What can be described as minimalist dubstep, I describe as a soundtrack to a fruity loops soft core porn. Sweet lyrics distorted over uncomfortable beats create something unworldly and awesome.
4. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
I will say right now "Helplessness Blues" has to be one of my fav songs this year. They are no longer a band that "sounds like (classic rock band)" they have carved out their own distinct sound. The song writing is top notch, paired with the emotional howling of real feelings, makes it impossible not to love.
5. Danger Mouse/Daniele Luppi - Rome
When Quentin Tarantino visualizes tries to pick music for his movies, this is the band that encompasses that vibe to a tee. Danger Mouse is very hot and cold for me, and this album is brilliant. Spaghetti Western meets Lounge meets Hip-Hop with a dash of romance.
6. Bright Eyes - The People's Key
I'm biased with my previous lust for Mr. Obherst's song writing but after Cassadega he had some making up to do. This album goes back to what he does best, simple, sweet songs that are sincere and threaded together with eloquent metaphors. This one is solid from front to back.
7. Tech N9ne - All 6's and 7's
I'm not going to lie and say I've been down with Tech N9ne for year, and I'm ashamed I've deprived myself of his enormous talent. From what I've read this is his "dark" album, and I have to say it works beautifully. Tech is one of the quickest, most gifted rappers in the game. With an all-star guest list, with his razor sharp rhymes this blew me away.
8. The Black Lips - Arabia Mountain
I am very grateful for this album. It's raw, it's danceable, and it's FUN. Coming from their previous work it seems like the band wanted to make music for the fans, not themselves. A lot of their fans have turned their backs for "selling out" but this is pure post punk magic. No gimmicks just rock music to dance to.
9. Fitz and the Tantrums - Pickin' Up the Pieces
This album came out very late 2010, and I missed the boat completely. This rock-soul infusion follows suit with Gnarls Barkley and Cee-Lo with bringing back a modern Marvin Gaye vibe. This is another amazing album with saxophones galore, full back-up singer ensemble, and a huge 60's sound. If you need something to get you moving and impromptu hairbrush karaoke this is a perfect soundtrack.
10.Das Racist - Relax
We have made it known at construx that we are huge Das Racist fans, and when they dropped their first "offical" album I was ecstatic. They are so talented between the clever rhymes, under the guise of two dudes just waking up at 3pm. I love that their talent overshadows the intentional heir of not trying hard. You never know if they are joking or if you are the joke. Don't believe me? Explain this:
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0 Construxive Remarx