OK, I admit that I don't listen to much new music. Something about the production gets to me, as it's usually so slick and overproduced. Honestly, I just like the way music from the 60's and 70's sounds much more. It's more raw, organic, and feels real. Don't get me wrong--I'm sure there is good music out there these days, but when someone tells me "oh, if you like 'fill-in-the blank (great 60's/70's soul singer)' then you should definitely check out 'fill-in-the-blank (new retro soul singer)" and I'll almost always be disappointed and I end up turning off the new album and end up putting on Sam Cooke & the Soul Stirrers or something like that.
Nevertheless, even though I'm severely late on a best of 2010 album list, I thought enough of these albums to mention them in this blog:
1. Flying Lotus "Cosmogramma"---This is really the only masterpiece album of 2010. Steven Ellison has created a brilliant work, a beautiful mixture of equal parts J Dilla and Alice Coltrane (he is her nephew). It's electronic, but organic as well. Instrumental hip hop/jazz/electronic at it's finest. Actually, Flying Lotus is really their own musical genre.
2. Four Tet "There is Love in You"---One of the few electronic artists I truly enjoy. Great beats, meditative, good head music, great to listen to on headphones. Their best album since "Rounds".
3. Spoon "Transference"---I've been a Spoon fan for years, and this one doesn't disappoint. I'm glad they went back to the more lo-fi approach of some of their earlier albums. Still similar influences (Wire, 60's garage), and still great.
4. Madlib "Medicine Show 3: Beat Konducta in Africa"---Really, I've gotta give major props to Madlib, and most of the Medicine Show albums (he's been releasing one a month!) have been entertaining, but this one is definitely my favorite. Good samples of 60's/70's Afro-pop songs with Madlib beats, spliced with what sounds like an advertisement on African tourism. Great stuff!
5. Strong Arm Steady "In Search of Stoney Jackson"---Almost everything Madlib produces is gold, and I've got to give the nod this one over the Madlib-produced Guilty Simpson album earlier this year. Madlib uses great soul samples, along with great beats. Not hugely into the rapping style of the mc's, but I've grown to like them the more I listen to them.
6. The Black Keys "Brothers"---These two dudes almost never disappoint. This is probably their most soulful, and diverse album. I love that they recorded this at the famed Muscle Shoals studios, and they cover one of my favorite Jerry Butler tracks "Never Gonna Give You Up".
7. Kanye West "My Beautiful Dark, Twisted Fantasy"---I wanted to not like this album because I'm not a fan of Kanye West the person, but no one can deny that this is a very good album,and that Kanye is a great producer and rapper. I don't agree with the masterpiece tag being thrown around by critics in regards to this album, but I would call it a very solid album. "Power" is my favorite track, as I gotta give props to Kanye sampling my favorite King Crimson track.
8. Cee-Lo Green "F**k U" single---"The Ladykiller" is a pretty spotty album overall. I would say I really enjoy about 4 of the tracks (including the single, and probably the ones most 60's/70's soul influenced). However, "F**K U" is definitely the single of the year, just a brilliant pop song. Who could not like this track?
I listened to many, many more albums in 2010, but these are the albums I've listened to more than 10 times in 2010, which obviously meant they stuck out more than the other releases this year.
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