Top Ten of Twenty-Ten

I love the beginning of Christmas break for several reasons, yet one of them, in my nerdiness, is putting down into cyber-writing my top 10 albums of 2010, whether you care or not. This year, the list was mighty hard to compile with so many great albums coming out and I even have to include some honorable mentions that didn't quite make the cut:

Honorable mentions: Beach House - Teen Dream, Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone, The New Pornographers - Together

10. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
Notable songs include Dance Yrself Clean, Home, and I Can Change. And watch the video for Pow Pow, rather fascinating to say the least. James Murphy ends his solo career (if he is?) with a fantastic, artsy bang.

9. She & Him - Volume Two
Notable songs include Thieves, Lingering Still, and Over it Over Again. M. Ward creates even richer, lusher musical sounds than those on Volume One to highlight Zooey Deschanel's enchanting vocals.

8. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Notable songs include Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), We Used to Wait, Empty Room, and City With No Children. Regine and Win deliver another KO punch with this 16-song gem criticizing life in the suburbs.

7. The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang
Notable songs include Boxer, The Spirit of Jazz, and Bring it On. Americana lyric-writing at some of its finest backed by Brian Fallon's amazing guitar tones.

6. Josh Ritter - So Runs the World Away
Notable songs include Change of Time, Southern Pacifica, Folk Bloodbath, and Orbital. And watch the video for The Curse; gorgeous beyond belief. JR continues to write the most amazing love songs out there through the medium of historical folk narratives.

5. Over the Rhine - The Long Surrender
**So this album technically comes out next year, but I've already received my physical copy, so I'm counting it; suck it up.
Notable songs include The Laugh of Recognition, Only God Can Save Us Now, and All My Favorite People. Teaming up with producer Joe Henry and welcoming Lucinda Williams on Undamned further enhanced the musical versatility and abilities of Karin and Linford.

4. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
Notable songs include Roll Away Your Stone, Awake My Soul, and After the Storm. Wonderful Biblical references within their lyrics abound, and I even recommended this album to the worship pastor for my church.

3. The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt , Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird
Notable songs include The Drying of the Lawns, King of Spain, and Like the Wheel. Swede Kristian Matsson allows simple guitar arrangements to highlight the incredible versatility of his voice (easily his best 'instrument') and beautiful lyrics tapping the deepest of human emotions.

2. Javiera Mena - Mena
Notable songs include Hasta La Verdad, Luz de Piedra de Luna, and Sufrir. Taking four years to release her sophomore album, Chilean Javiera Mena perfects layer after layer of electrical goodness on each of her canciones. The album that, along with Tom Waits' Blood Money, defined my fall.

1. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
Notable songs include Compliments, Laredo, Older, and Dilly. The album that single-handedly defined my summer and erased the 'overrated' picture I had of BoH. These boys know how to play nearly perfect, gritty, folky rock 'n' roll.