I feel as if I’ve read through innumerable Best Of lists this month, as, I suspect, do you (especially if you’ve managed to make it far enough down your googling results to reach my little bit webspace). And, as is usually the case, most of them probably read as a tidy summation of what began the year as the most anticipated releases of 2010 with a few surprises thrown in for good measure. But, as hard as I try, no list I can pull together could hope to effectively encapsulate the music of 2010. Of course, there are the usual gaps in my listening, as there are with anyone. But, more importantly, I think the legacy of this past year, at least in my experience, will be an idea. ‘Beauty is back‘.
With it’s near-flawless litany of releases, the genre-bending and earth-shattering work of New Amsterdam Records is proof enough that beauty is a priority once again. But add to that the utter sweetness of The Secret Sisters, rampant sexual tension of Bitter Ruin, the raw power of My Gold Mask and Dimbleby & Capper, and the sheer joy of Super Desserts and Allo Darlin’, and our rediscovery of the visceral impact of technique and execution is impossible to ignore.
I haven’t ranked the albums and EPs on this list. Their very appearance here will attest to my attachment to them (if you want more details—well, that’s what the rest of this blog is for). Still, despite the ironic egalitarianism of my Best Ofs, there is one album which stands out in my mind as the landmark achievement of 2010. This one.
Allo Darlin’ – Allo Darlin’
Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love [review]
Bitter Ruin – Hung, Drawn, and Quartered [interview]
Dimbleby & Capper – Slick Maturity [more info]
Hooray For Earth – Momo
Ivan Moult – The Mine Canary [review]
My Gold Mask – A Million Miles (From Where We Were Last)
Public Service Broadcasting – EP One
The School – Loveless Unbeliever [review] [interview]
The Secret Sisters –The Secret Sisters
Sarah Kirkland Snider (feat. Shara Worden and Signal) – Penelope [review]
Super Desserts – Twee As Folk [review]
The Indie Handbook 