Playlist : Top 10 Albums of 2010

Hello and welcome to Work Tunes.

This week, I have chosen my Top 10 of 2010. This list is not necessarily of the 10 best albums released all year, it's just my personal favourites released all year. I also have to stress, this is not in any kind of preferential order. If I had to pick the best album of 2010 from a personal point of view, I'd say Wake Up! is it.

On top of the list, I've made a mixtape of one track from each of the albums. You'll find a link at the bottom of the post.

This year for me has been a good year for discovering new artists, thanks largely to NPR and KCRW and their excellent album preview features. A few of these new artists made it to the list. And here it is:

• The Weepies - Be My Thrill : Two years on from the album that got them some well deserved mainstream attention, Hideaway, The Weepies released something a little less weepy and a lot more cheery. While Be My Thrill contains a few sad, sweet tunes, the title track and the catchy I Was Made for Sunny Days are a large slice of sunshine. ****

• John Legend & the Roots - Wake Up! : When I heard Compared To What from this set for the first time, my jaw dropped. I was stunned that so much old-fashioned funk and soul was coming off a track from an album released in 2010. The other tracks on Wake Up! are in the same mold. This is probably my album of the year. *****

• Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Lonely Avenue : I must admit I've never read a Nick Hornby novel, but I have seen the excellent film adaptions of High Fidelity and About A Boy. It's obvious that Hornby writes good everyday type people well. Combined with Ben Folds' uniquely suburban heart and pop sensibilities, this colaborative effort makes for good listening. ****

• Best Coast - Crazy For You : Released in July, which is Winter in the Southern Hemisphere where I am, this album sounds exactly like Summer. You can almost smell the coconut oil and the sea breeze mixed with the smoke from the late night bonfire at the beach party where romances are born and hearts are broken. This is joyfully rowdy pop music for the Sun. ****

• Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs - God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise : The fourth album from raspy-voiced country/folk songwriter Ray LaMontagne was the very first one I heard. The bluesy, sweet melody of New York City's Killing me had me instantly sold on LaMontagne's style; and the rest of old-time roots record does not disappoint. ****

• Aloe Blacc - Good Things : It was I Need a Dollar that made me want this album. Like Compared To What on the John Legend and the Rootrs LP, Dollar stunned me with true 60s/70s soul and the groove behind it that really makes it bounce. 2010 saw soul music fans like me given a little taste of what was still possible with the genre. ****

• Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues : Another artist who has been around for some time whom I only discovered this year. Harlem River Blues is a collection of tunes that lend a little from everywhere; including rockabilly, bluegrass, folk, alt-country, blues and rock. It's a well-rounded album with the standout title track, One More Night in Brooklyn and the heartbroken Rogers Park. *****

• The National - High Violet : For me at least, and for a good number of music publications, 2010 was The National's year. The massive success of 2008's Boxer and a busy touring schedule meant High Violet was much anticipated. Things got even more hyped with the release of a new The National track on the $1m raising charity compilation Dark Was the Night. Something of a hit single relatively speaking, Bloodbuzz Ohio ensured High Violet got to #3 on the US charts where Boxer had peaked at #68. *****

• Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here : Released early February of this year, I'm New Here ended a 13 year absence of new material from the man some would call a proto-rapper. This is an album about redemption, about finding a way through a new and not always welcoming world. After a long life of drug problems, incarceration and hard living, Heron seems to be contemplating what lies ahead and how it all ends. Here is music from the very soul of a man with a lot of soul. *****

• She & Him - Volume Two : The very digable Zooey Deschanaul and indie songwriter M.Ward released a collection of simple pop that sounded like the 50s run through a Doris Day film filter in 2009. That was Volume One and this is Volume Two, which is more of the same. Deschanaul wrote the lyrics and her voice is well suited to the pop from another age. There were stronger tracks on Volume One, but this is by no means inferior. ****

So those are my very favourite albums from this year. Please, feel free to comment this post and tell me where you think I got it right and where you disagree totally. I'd love suggestions for better albums to listen to that I haven't caught yet.

In the meantime, here is the mixtape I promised you, made up of a track each from my Top 10. You can get hold of it here. Tracklist is as follows:

Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here

John Legend & the Roots - Compared To What

Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar

The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio

Ben Folds & Nick Hornby - Claire's Ninth

Best Coast - Bratty B

The Weepies - Be My Thrill

Justin Townes Earle - One More Night In Brooklyn

She & Him - Thieves

Ray LaMontagne and The Pariah Dogs - New York City's Killing Me

That's it for this week. I'm officially on holidays from Christmas Eve, so no Work Tunes for the next fortnight. You may find a review or two over at Make Films Not Movies.

Take care and have an outstanding break, you crazy cats. Peace man, right on.

Playlist : December 13th - 17th, 2010

It's beginning to look a lot like Festivus. Not that you'd know it from this week's list, as there is very little Christmas cheer in amongst this lot.

I suppose the brand new Cardinals set is kind of Christmassy, as I've bought it for myself to go with the turntable I bought for Christmas. But Chuck D and Will Oldham and Josh Ritter, even Ben Folds, they don't care for your 'holiday spirit'.

Check it out.

• Josh Ritter - The Animal Years : This 2006 release from Josh Ritter is a set of folk-infused melancholy tunes with some stunning lyrics. The standout for me is Girl In The War which seems to be about St Peter and St Paul complaining about God's infinite wisdom with one of them in love with a human at war.

• Ben Folds Five - Ben Folds Five : I haven't dusted off this classic debut in a while, and with Ben Folds announcing a tour to our fair city, it seemed appropriate. Undergorund was a great song of it's time when everyone was too cool for the mainstream - how quickly we were co-opted and exploited as an advertising market.

• Public Enemy - How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul : Speaking of Advertising - who stole the soul? With Mistachuck on rotation this week, I thought a bit of Public Enemy would go along nicely. This LP is far from the pinnacle of PE's best art, but it does have some halfway decent tunes to offer.

• Pearl Jam - Riot Act : I don't give a lot of playlist love to Pearl Jam; not a lot of love period these days. Not because I don't like any of their music, but I suppose they lost me after Vitalogy and I'm working my way back. This is a start.

• Mistachuck - Don't Rhyme for the Sake of Riddlin' : Only last week I discovered that Chuck D had finally followed up 1996's (to my mind) outstanding solo effort The Autobiography of Mistachuck.I haven't had more than a cursory listen to this so far, but from what I can gather, it is more of Chuck's hard rhyming, polemical, insightful, politically-aware word bombs. ...Excellent *rubs hands in Mr Burnsesque manner*

• VA - Q - Sounds of the New West : When I bought this compilation CD, secondhand from a hock shop, it was only because I'd recently gotten into Alt Country. Since then, it's introduced me to a whole bunch of my favourite acts like Silver Jews, Neal Casal and Josh Rouse. On top of that, Kate Campbell's superb slice of history on the civil rights march to Washington, Crazy in Alabama, has given my oldest daughter her favourite song and an abridged history lesson from me. It's one of the best things about music that a disc originally free with a magazine can do all that.

• Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Unfinal Call : I hadn't heard of Will Oldham or his sometimes band Palace Music, when I saw Old Joy (2006) which screened at Perth Revelation Film Festival. That film had a soundtrack all by Oldham and it suited the chilly, sparsely populated landscapes of the film. Since then I've checked a few albums out and found them uniquely maudlin and forlorn. This is Oldham's very latest offering.

• R.E.M. – Murmur : An old favourite R.E.M. album and their debut LP. Legend has it the album took it's name from Micheal 'Mumbly Joe' Stipe's delivery and the way Peter Buck's strings were high in the mix, obscuring the lyrics of each song deliberately. Stand outs are the well-known Radio Free Europe, the jaunty Laughing and Talk About the Passion.

• Ryan Adams & the Cardinals – III/IV : It's no secret that I'm a Radams fan. That's why I have the brand new III/IV vinyl set on pre-order. That will ship on December 14th, but in the meantime, there's this. These albums were cut around the time of Easy Tiger, but they sound a lot more like Cardinology on preview. There's quite a bit of rock and/or roll going on, where as Easy Tiger had a little more jangle.

• VA – The Beavis and Butthead Experience : The MTV cartoon with the sniveling teenage metal-heads hasn't aged particularly well. Though, the far superior full length feature Beavis & Butthead Do America is still brilliant. What this is, when you get past the audio clips of the annoying duo, is a bunch of great bands (and Cher) and some hard rock. This compilation is well worth a listen if only for the obscure Nirvana track I Hate Myself and I Want to Die,

That's it for this week. Next week I'll be listening to my 10 Best Albums of 2010 list. There were a few that picked themselves, but it was difficult to cull the list down to just ten. Come back and see what I chose and leave me outraged comments if you like.

Until then, kick back with your own special brand of bliss and have a great weekend.

Free Julian Assange. Viva La Wikileaks.

Playlist : December 6th - 10th, 2010

Hey hey kids! What's shaking?

Thanks largely to a viewing of The Runaways, this week's list is a little bit heavy on the rock, with an emphasis on classic. Hopefully there's something here that's as good to your ears as it is mine.

• The Runaways - The Runaways : After watching the recent movie based on the early history of The Runaways, I had to check them out. Like most people my age and younger, I only knew about Joan Jett when she formed the Blackhearts and had the smash hit I Love Rock n Roll. The movie was halfway decent fun, the music is interesting.

• Bruce Springsteen - The Promise The 2 CD (plus a third of the original release) of outakes from the Darkness on the Edge of Town sessions. The Boss was obviously in a period of abundant creativity at the time and these 'cast offs' are a damn sight better than most of the music that gets released these days.

• James Brown - Get on the Good Foot : Anything by James Brown will put some spring in my step, a little bit of joy in my 'Hot Pants', some funk in the place. I chose this album for the fact that it was released in 1972 (the best year ever) and because of JBs bitchin afro on the cover art.

• Silver Jews - American Water : The Silver Jews were an indie band with a country feel featuring Stephen Malkamus and Bob Nastanovich from Pavement. They have since split up, but before they did, they released six albums including this one. Released in 1998, American Water contains kitschy tracks like Honk If You're Lonely and Buckingham Rabbit along with junked out forlorn Lou Reed style dirges like Like Like The The The Death. It's a good listen.

• Bob Dylan - Bootleg Series Vol. 2 : After spinning, and enjoying, Vol.1 of the Bootleg Series last week, I have included Vol. 2 as promised. On this disc, there are electric tracks which were largely missing from Vol. 1. This is where Dylan is experimenting with his 'thin, wild mercury sound' on tracks from If You Gotta Go, Go Now to She's Your Lover Now. The inclusion of an early demo of Like A Rolling Stone is well worth a listen.

• You Am I - Dress Me Slowly : The best thing about this particular You Am I album (and they never disappoint) is the bonus Temperance Union disc. Where Dress Me Slowly rocks out a lot, the more mellow and personal Temperance tracks tell some really detailed, rawly emotional stories. Standouts are Paragon Cafe, The Lonliest Folk in the World, Get Drunk, Ring Your Friends and the road trip rock n roll tale of The Smokin' Popes.

• Hilltop Hoods - State of the Art : The Hoods don't get nearly enough playlist love from me, for all the listening I do. This latest release I tend to listen to a number of tracks while driving home. It has been probably since its release that I have listened to the whole thing in order. If you get a chance to see it, the Parade of the Dead DVD based on this LP is not just good Hilltop Hoods live performances, but a funny and enjoyable Zombie flick as well.

• Jay-Z - The Black Album : Given the imminent arrival of 'Mr Z' in Perth, I have chosen my favourite (and far superior to all but The Blueprint) Jay-Z album. This was supposed to be Jay-Z's farewell to releasing albums in favour of CEO duties at Def Jam. If this had been the last album he made, it would have been a great way to end it.

• Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV The Runaways made me feel like some good old fashioned rawk. Though much of what inspired the band was punk and glam, I have chosen some calssic rock with Led Zep IV. There are still very few songs that rock quite like Rock and Roll, Black Dog and When The Levee Breaks.

• Dinosaur Jr - Where You Been : More rawk for the week. This Dinosaur Jr album contains the JJJ hit Get Me which was my introduction to J Mascis and the band. It's a little noisier and less melodic than the next LP, Without A Sound. A few of the tracks on this album found themselves inside J Mascis' acoustic guitar on the criminally ignored Martin and Me live album. Over there they found more melody.

It was a good end to the week for me. I bought a turntable and a copy of my favourite Golden Age of Hip Hop album, Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full on vinyl. They are Christmas presents though, so no spinning until Dec 25 :( (Sad Panda). Until next week, some words of wisdom:

Keep a good head and always carry a lightbulb - Bob Dylan