Top 10 albums of 2010

Hello, and welcome to the second instalment of this potentially ill-advised annual tradition that is my top 10 of the year list.  Not wishing to dive right in, let's pad it out a bit, first with some disappointments and then with some records that didn't quite make the cut.

Disappointments of the year

Stone Sour - Audio Secrecy.  I gather this is a grower, but I couldn't find much to like and couldn't be bothered to wade through all the soppy ballads.

Coheed and Cambria - Year of the Black Rainbow.  Nothing jumped out, no matter how many times I listened to it.

The Melvins - The Bride Screamed Murder.  This band is amazing, have at least 10 great albums to their name, including the last one, but this one was too experimental at times, even for me, and a bit rubbish.

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - The Logic of Chance. I just can't excited about this duo like many people can. Angles was a decent record but at best only about half of the follow-up is any good. Some of the songs are just so awful not even Scroobius Pip's clever prose and tight, albeit simple, storytelling can save them.  I think they work best when they keep things raw, for instance having gangster pop female choruses is totally unnecessary.

Korn - Korn III: Remember Who You Are. Not really a disappointment actually, as I didn't expect this to be any good. Perhaps I would have were it still the 90s. I will always buy Korn records though, out of a sense of loyalty and nostalgia.

Honourable mentions

Antony and The Johnsons - Swanlights. Kudos for not making us wait too long for this, and it is a lovely record, yet not quite as lovely (or as complete, perhaps) as The Crying Light (itself in turn not quite as lovely as I Am a Bird Now).

Zach Hill - Face Tat. One of my favourite drummers, and his solo stuff really is quite interesting and experimental, even exciting, and definitely worth a listen, but it's hard to stay interested when the drums drop out.

Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can.  Laura is a wonderful songwriter and lyricist, and manages to stand out in the ten-a-penny singer/songwriter crowd. If she can work on her live banter she'll go supernova, and deservedly so.

Crippled Black Phoenix - I,Vigilante.  Keeping intelligent prog alive in the 21st century.

Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier.  Like all modern Maiden albums, not bad, but not great either.

Holy Fuck - Latin.  Intelligent and artful mix of electronics and live instruments.  Check out Red Lights or Stay Lit.

The Pineapple Thief - Someone Here Is Missing.  The first 6 albums I thought were all fantastic, found the 7th a real letdown, but this is something of a return to form. If you like Porcupine Tree you should like The 'Thief.

Great EPs

The James Cleaver Quintet - ten stages of a make up. Close to flawless 6 track EP from the Kent fourpiece. Great playing, great songs, a great accomplishment. Can't wait for the full-length in 2011.

Throats - Throats. I just read they split up. That's a real shame because their 6 tracks were also pretty awesome.

Glassjaw - GJ88-GJ91. I like to think that were I in the US of A, I would be collecting the vinyl singles as they are released. As it is, they sell out in 5 seconds and I'm having to make do with the downloads. I am absolutely loving the new stuff, especially the more progressive elements. Stars is a particular standout, at least until they release You Think You're John Fucking Lennon.

So without further ado, the main event, my top 10 LPs of the year 2010:

10) Red Sparowes - The Fear is Excruiating, But Therein Lies the Answer.

Considering how much esteem I hold Isis, Cult of Luna etc in, this band should have been on my radar long before now. As it is, their latest release seems not a bad place to start. All the standard"post metal" elements are present and correct, but presented with their own elegance and some lovely quieter moments. I look forward to becoming familiar with the back catalogue.

Check out: A Hail of Bombs, A Mutiny.

9) Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - El Trio de Omar Rodriguez Lopez - Ciencia de los Inutiles.

Of the 7 (I think) records released by Omar this year, 1 is a live compilation, the other 6 comprising of brand new material. ZIM and VTA on Omar & John are probably the best 2 songs, but as an overall album, as a coherent and consistent whole, as the sound of Omar's bass, vocals and acoustic guitar (+ the inevitable but not distracting Omar noodling) album, this one is arguably the most accessible, and quite possibly the best. Is there anything Omar can't do?

Check out: Lunes, Miercoles.

8) Rolo Tomassi - Cosmology.

Some reviews said this was patchy and only the quieter passages stood out. I re-listened with this is mind, and failed to find the not-so-good parts. I really like this band and I hope their success continues to grow. Neither Eva's vocals nor the midi-keyboard are there just to be gimmicks, rather they help make Rolo Tomassi stand out in their genre as quirky, unique and special.

Check out: Kasia. Tounge In Chic.

7) Christian Scott - Yesterday You Said Tomorrow.

Very promising, polished and mature effort from this young Trumpeter, who I was fortunate enough to see support Courtney Pine at the London Jazz Festival in November. He and his fantastic band (particular praise to the drummer and guitarist) manage to channel both the glory days (how can Miles Davis not be an influence to a jazz trumpeter?) and incorporate more modern sounds and musical stylings. My only gripe would be that there isn't always a lot of trumpet on the tracks!

Check out: K.K.P.D, The Eraser (Thom Yorke cover).

6) Soweto Kinch - The New Emancipation.

Live this Saxophone playing, spoken word freestyling young man and his vast array of talented friends are quite something to experience, and as a result the recording doesn't quite live up to it (although to be fair Courtney Pine suffers from this - he's too good live for a recording to do him justice). Nevertheless the recorded version deserves to be heard and praised across the land. Beware though, it's pretty varied. One track will see him soloing away traditional jazz style, the next he'll be rapping about the curse of celebrity, the next will be heavily electronic and the next will see him play second fiddle to a guest vocalist or two. If I'm being honest, not everything works - Trying to be a Star rubs me up the wrong way, whereas Axis of Evil (both spoken word tracks) is a triumph. But for something different, and indeed differing, pushing the boundaries of modern jazz, I really do encourage you to listen to Mr Kinch.

Check out: Never Ending, Axis of Evil.

5) 65daysofstatic - We were exploding anyway.

Like Red Sparowes, someone else I should have been listening to years ago (The Fall of Math), but again someone who has produced a great offering in 2010. Expertly blending the electronic with the live instruments, they manage to be both dark and absorbing, but also danceable and even quirky. A very polished and high quality effort.

Check out: Mountainhead, Weak4.

4) Andreya Triana - Lost where I belong.

This amazing lady has been around for a fair while, having previously collaborated with several notable people, Mr Scruff unfortunately being the only one I can currently recall, but it was this year's guest spots on a few of Bonobo's tracks (on Black Sands, see below) that put her on the radar. A beautiful voice, an ear for songwriting, a tight backing band and many high profile supporters, I really really hope she gets the wider recognition she deserves. A deceptively simple but beautiful debut.

Check out: Draw the Stars, Darker than Blue.

3) The Dillinger Escape Plan - Option Paralysis.

See what I said for 5 and 10. Dillinger are brutal, beautiful, tight, pulverising and fun in equal measure, and perhaps most impressive of all, the clean vocal parts somehow manage to not sound cheesy.

Check out: Farewell, Mona Lisa, Chinese Whispers.

2) Bonobo - Black Sands.

Simon Green, a.k.a Bonobo, is a very talented guy. Live he switches between bass, keys and decks, and his proficiency with these appears to only be excelled by his ability to craft great tune after great tune. Black Sands is electronic enough to appeal to the DJ Shadow fan in all of us, but there is a full band there too, to appease the elitist snob in yours truly who likes to argue how real music must be played rather than produced (or reproduced). This is one of those albums where every track is a corker, and with the odd Asian influence and Andreya Triana popping up from time to time, it keeps things interesting all the way to the every end. At which point you reach for the play button again.

Check out: Animals, Stay the Same. (Or any track really!)

1) Deftones - Diamond Eyes.

It turns out Kerrang! beat me to this, but truly since I picked this up on release in May, it has hardly left my consciousness. It's immediate (not in a bad, throwaway way), hooky, groovy, heavy in parts, soothing in others, and with a short running time and a mere 11 tracks, is a no-nonsense approach concentrating clearly on quality rather than quantity. All killer, no filler, as they say.

With hindsight, perhaps Deftones were never really nu-metal, but regardless of genre, they continue to put out great records, some 20 years into their career. OK, so self-titled was (Hexagram excepted) mostly sub-par, but whoever says Saturday Night Wrist was not quite up to it either is just plain, well, wrong. And if anyone can tell me why there isn't a single song from it in their current setlist, I'm all ears. Whether you liked SNW or not, chances are you love Diamond Eyes. If it were a pop album, it would be an album of singles, with perhaps only 976-evil not strong enough to hold it's own next to the other tracks.

Everything you love about Deftones is all here in pure distilled format - Chino's beautiful screams and soothing vocals (nearly everything this man touches seems to turn to gold - just ask Team Sleep or Dance Gavin Dance), Steph's crunching guitar with clever, sometimes off-kilter rhythms, Frank's subtle and tasteful electronics, and Abe's bloody-minded refusal to play the simple drum part. OK, so one element is missing - bassist Chi Cheng, who is still recovering from his car-crash induced coma last year. However, Sergio Vega has stepped up to the challenge big time. Granted his backing vocals are rubbish, but he has been able to replicate that groove that Deftones have, and have always had. If there's one thing this band has in spades, groove is the thing. It's almost sexy.

Check out: Diamond Eyes, Sextape, Risk.

That's it for another year. Thank you.