2010: The 20 Best Albums I Heard

As I alluded to yesterday, I hesitate to create a list that is lacking what I hope to be one of my favorite albums, Ryan Adams' III/IV.  But of the 70+ albums I bought, these are the best albums I heard that were released in 2010.

Honorable Mentions:
Mountain Man - Made the Harbor
MGMT - Congratulations
The Walkmen - Lisbon
Warpaint - The Fool
The Acorn - No Ghost

The Top 20:

20.  Suckers - Wild Smile

This one took me a while, but if you can take the weirdness and the occasional falsetto, it's well worth your time.

19.  Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Everyone else's #1, I thought there were a number of great songs, some good ones, and one that ended with 3-4 minutes of Chris Rock standup. 

18.  Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz

I'm still torn on whether I love or just want to be friends with this album.  I kind of liked sweet, quiet Sufjan more than neon-electro Sufjan.

17.  The Love Language - Libraries

My favorite NC band of the moment, I have a feeling these guys will be a lot bigger when album #3 is released.

16.  The Black Keys - Brothers

One of the most consistently great bands delivers another consistently great LP.

15.  Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

I'm still partial to Funeral, but years from now I wonder how this LP will compare.

14.  Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love

Six years of waiting for this LP was pretty much worth it - not as eclectic as The Life Pursuit, but still a great record.

13.  Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

Broken Social Scene probably delivers fewer hooks than any band, but the more I listen to this LP, the more I like it...even with a song titled "Texico Bitches."

12.  Jenny & Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now

After Johnny's work on Jenny's Acid Tongue, I had a feeling this record would be good.  These two just sound great together.

11.  Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid

Obviously one perfect single, and the album was as good a "concept album" as I've heard in a while.

The top 10 after the jump...

2010: The Best Concerts I Attended

By my count I went to 32 concerts in 2010, not including variety shows like Conan's tour.  But these were the best, either musically, aesthetically, or comically.  Let's start with some honorable mentions:

Morning Benders at the Music Box - they look like they're 15, but they play like they've been doing it for decades.  Highlight: a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams"

Lissie at the Troubadour - one of my favorite voices was a joy to see live; Highlight: anything from her Why You Runnin' EP

Pavement, Sonic Youth and No Age at the Hollywood Bowl - the big Pavement reunion was the raison d'etre, and our seats were great...but I've seen all these bands in smaller venues.  Still, it was fun for a trip down memory lane. Highlight: Pavement's "Summer Babe"

The Top Ten:

10. Local Natives at the Music Box - hipster central - moustaches, skinny jeans, trendy haircuts - and that was just on stage.  Still, these guys can play. Highlight: "Sun Hands"

9. Sufjan Stevens at the Wiltern - Still not sure how I feel about the new album, and this was by far the goofiest show I've been to, but it was a lot of fun.  Highlight: his story about the artist that inspired the artwork and much of his new LP

8. Faith No More at the Palladium - I'd been waiting almost 20 years for this, and it was pretty much worth it. Mike Patton is an amazing frontman. Highlight: opening the show with a faithful cover of Peaches & Herb's "Reunited"

7. Foreign Born at the Echo - I must not have purchased their Person to Person LP in time to make my favorite records of 2009 list, but it would be on there now. Highlight: "Vacationing People"

6. Greg Dulli at the Troubadour - this was my second time seeing Dulli at the Troub in the last couple years (the first was with Mark Lanegan), but this was surprisingly the better show.  Not only did Lanegan come out for a song, but Afghan Whigs' bassist John Curley played on a few of their band's songs.  Highlight: any of the Whigs' songs

5. Erykah Badu at the El Rey - I already blogged about this show, and it ended up as one of my favorites of 2010. Highlight: Erykah walking around the crowd before the show taking pics with her extremely adoring fans

4. Dirty Projectors at the Walt Disney Concert Hall - this was my fourth DP show in about a year and a half, and it was the biggest. Not only did the LA Phil open the show, but the band played their entire Getty Address LP with an orchestra (not the LA Phil). Highlight: I wasn't very familiar with this album at the time, so the entire show was a surprise

3. Joanna Newsom at the Orpheum - This was probably my most anticipated show of the year, and it was phenomenal. Perfect venue and I could have listened to her for hours. As a bonus, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes opened.  Highlight: "Have One on Me"

2. Belle & Sebastian at the Palladium - this is high on the list not only because Belle & Sebastian were phenomenal as always, but Jenny & Johnny opened the show. Highlight: when the band brought up about 8 attendees to dance on stage

1. Jon Brion at Largo - I can't figure out whether I saw him 3 or 4 times, but Jon Brion always delivers. By far the most interesting show you'll ever see, and the quality varies from really good to mind-blowing - you can't leave disappointed. Highlight: Greg Behrendt opened one show with about 10 minutes of standup, a big portion of which was about meeting Van Halen. Brion then came out and started playing "Jump" or "Panama" (can't remember which) on the keyboards

Erykah Badu - the "secret" show at the El Rey 3/30/10

On Monday I found out about Erykah Badu's "secret" show from the El Rey's Twitter feed, and I immediately bought tickets, thinking that it would sell out immediately.  Even though I'm not familiar with all her output, I really enjoyed her last album, 2008's New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, and I had a feeling this show would be, at the very least, interesting.

The show was supposed to start at 9, but based on Rob Harvilla's tweets during her NY secret show (see link below), I figured we should probably show up at 10.  But then I got scared that maybe we'd miss something, so we arrived around 9:30.  When we got there, I was a bit surprised to find that they were selling tickets at the door.  I was comforted by the fact that I at least put some money in Ticketmaster's pockets.


We walked into the El Rey with a DJ spinning and some crazy videos playing in the background - Erykah driving, then B-movie clips (reminded me of the Largo's Little Room), then more driving, then a photo shoot, then more movie, etc.  And then, we waited. 

Then another DJ spinning.  More waiting.  Then camera flashes started going off like mad in the middle of the crowd near the front of the stage, and we wondered if a celebrity had been spotted.  And one had - the woman of the hour.  She walked from there towards the mixing boards in the back, people taking pictures, her posing for some.  She sat at the mixing board for a good 20 minutes, another DJ started spinning, and then she eventually walked backstage, people still taking pictures.

Eventually her controversial "Window Seat" video started playing on the screens, though the music wasn't - it was still the DJ.  For the last 30 minutes or so, roadies and band members seemed busy on the stage, and finally, around 11:30, Erykah came out. 

At this point I should mention she had some serious Rick James/Venus Williams beaded braids going on, hair hanging down past her butt, wearing a trenchcoat and jeans.  The crowd went nuts, even though we had just seen her in the audience, but hey...it was finally time.

She played a couple of songs I knew off of 4th World War, what must have been some older songs based on the crowd's reaction, and of course songs off the new album.  We eventually had to bail around 12:30, so we didn't get to hear "Window Seat," but the night and the wait were worth it.  She has a voice and a presence that really can't be described, and her music is so appealing - and also potentially polarizing - because it's so eclectic.  Some songs are like scat jazz, some pure R&B, psychedelia, reggae - everything is in there.  Even if you've never even heard of Erykah Badu, go see her (but show up late).  You won't be disappointed.

Excellent album review and NY secret show review from Rob Harvilla at the Village Voice

Feature at Pitchfork about what Erykah was listening to at certain ages in her life

Song of the Day: Erykah Badu - Tyrone [live]

I became reacquainted with this song courtesy of My Morning Jacket, who played it at Bonnaroo a few years ago (see You Ain't No Picasso for the epic setlist).  I'm kind of amazed I knew this song in the first place, as I have no idea where or how I first heard it.  Yet it seems like maybe everyone knows it, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

I'm looking forward to her new album, which comes out today - in fact, I'm heading to the album release party tonight at the El Rey.  Should be interesting.

Tyrone - Erykah Badu