Wednesday 29 December 2010

Top 10 Albums of 2010

10. Plan B - Defamation of Strickland Banks
Plan B's concept album about the trials and tribulations of a (fictional) soul singer wrongly accused for rape. It was a major album for me in the middle part of the year and it was performed magnificently at the Big Chill in the summer, however I don't think it has the longevity of the other 9 albums hence its placing at number 10. My favourite track from the album was probably Prayin' which is below.



9. Foals - Total Life Forever
Personally I was never a big fan of Antidotes, their first album but Foals came back in 2010 with a changed sound which was a lot more electronic and this is a top quality album. Spanish Sahara is beautiful.



8. Nas and Damian Marley - Distant Relatives
Being a massive fan of Road to Zion, this was a collabaration I was excited about and it did not fail to deliver. It fuses Marley's iconic reggae vocals, with Nas' rap flow together brilliantly. The beats used on the majority of the tracks are excellent, the tribal drums on Tribal War with the rolling hip hop vocals from Nas and guest K'naan is a perfect match.



7. Breakage - Foundation
"James Breakage's bass is so deep that he is talking to sea life" is how this producer has been described by Roots Manuva, high praise indeed. Breakage also delivered one of the stand out Essential Mixes of the year, this album is a combination of dubstep and drum n bass. All the time using deep dark basslines to create an urban soundscape. It includes collabarations with a variety of producers including the mercurial Burial and Roots Manuva...



6. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
This record may well deserve to be ranked higher but if suffers from being released early in 2010, I almost overlooked it completely thinking it may have been from 2009. Just simply put this is a brilliant record. Some great guest appearances and some fresh new beats, it was well worth the wait. Bit of a cameo from Bruce Willis in the Stylo video too!



5. Sleigh Bells - Treats
Some bass heavy pop music from a very talented New York duo for my 5th favourite album of the year. Certain tracks on the album have many similarities to dubstep, which is how I first became a fan. However the album is an exceptionally good piece of pop/indie/whatever you want to call it music. Disappointingly they had to cancel their Bestival appearance, luckily I was able to see them in a small bar in Liverpool gratis. They are fantastic live, Alexis' vocals are sublime especially on this track...



4. Mount Kimbie - Crooks and Lovers
My friend has described Mount Kimbie 'Sunday afternoon dubstep', they have also been referred as 'coffee table dubstep'. It’s not particularly club music and I must admit after hearing their Resident Advisor podcast I was sceptical over the album but it is a sensational piece of electronica. Glitchy off kilter beats, distorted vocal samples and an uplifting feel. It has sound tracked many 7am commutes. When the vocal sample kicks in, in Before a Move Off is a special moment.



3. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Mr West is in the building. Kanye is finally back with a decent record! OK it’s not quite College Dropout but it’s the stand out hip hop record of the year for me, I'd go as far as to say the last 2/3 years! It might get a little self indulgent at times with lengthy instrumental interludes but as ever the production is tight and there are many high quality guest appearances as you would expect. Nicki Minaj's verse in Monster is phenomenal.



2. Guido - Anidea
Possibly a surprising one at number two, arguably the least known of all 10 incumbents. When deciding on a position for this record I consulted my iTunes and low and behold it was the second most played album of the year so it fully deserves it's placing.

Bristol 'purple' dubstep at its finest here, retro sounding, synth-tastic, electronic, Anidea has it all! Convention would dictate that I post up Beautiful Stranger or Orchestral Lab, however convention would have probably dictated this album not to be at number two so I am going for the slow jam that is Mad Sax.



1. Caribou - Swim
There was only ever going to be one winner for me this year, the number one spot was never in doubt when I decided to compile this list. Having seen Caribou perform live twice this year and the impact this album has had in opening my ears to new sounds, not to mention the sheer quality of the entire album it fully deserves its place as my (and many other people's including Resident Advisor's) album of 2010. Gripping you from the opening hook of Odessa right through to the closing synth of Jamelia. I hope Daniel Snaith has something special lined up to follow it in 2011!

My personal favourite from the album is Kaili.