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.
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