la and new york, dundee and doncaster
The Top 10 Albums of 2010
1. The Courteeners - Falcon (NP)
What do you do when a band that you previously hate make a brilliant record? This is a conflict that I have grappled with all year; at least since I first heard the Courteeners' second album, Falcon.
I'll be honest, I hated their first album, St Jude. Silly, swaggering, sub-Oasis Northern rock music with lyrics as banal as 'What took you so long? Was it the queue in the Post Office' had consigned the Manchester four piece to my dustbin a couple of years ago.
And then, one Friday afternoon, I heard Greg James play lead single You Overdid It, Doll, and loved it. So, I gave the album a try. And, despite not blowing me away on the first, second or even third listen, Falcon gradually grew and grew in my affections.
And now, here it is as my top album of the year; not a bad achievement on a shortlist of over forty records. Bizarrely, it is all in spite of being the Courteeners, not for that reason. One of my most anticipated Glastonbury performances, they were awful on a sunny afternoon on the other stage, plodding through a mundane set that would, had I not heard Falcon, have confirmed every suspicion I had of them. And, when considering this list, there were countless other brilliant albums in 2010, all of which I really enjoyed.
But, at the end of the day (and after some deep thought) I couldn't think of a record that I had enjoyed more in 2010. From the absolutely brilliant The Opener (one of the tracks of the year), Falcon may be occasionally lyrically lacking, but has enough hooks, tunes and great moments to elevate it to greatness. Take Over The World and Good Times Are Calling are rabble-rousing anthems, whilst the beautiful Lullaby is one of the best slow songs you'll hear this or any year.
Whilst it may sound perverse, I still don't think I like the Courteeners very much. However, Falcon is proudly and deservedly my album of 2010.
Listen to: The Opener, You Overdid It, Doll
1. Bombay Bicycle Club - Flaws (bedshaped)
Whilst dithering around, putting together a top ten albums of 2010 list, I began, as most people do, putting together a 'short-list'. Although it wasn't short by any means. Over time, I removed albums, added a couple more to the shrinking list (which didn't help), and finally ended up with a top ten that I felt happily reflected my favourite albums of the year. During this process, one album not only had to be on list, but from the very beginning, stood out for the simple reason that it was my most played album of the year. Whilst all of my top ten albums are firm favourites, and I'm very satisfied with my choices, this album has by far given me the most pleasure in listening to it.
Flaws is Bombay Bicycle Club's second release, and whilst it's listed as an album proper, it's probably better described as a stop-gap album to fill the void until their proper second studio album gets finished and released. It's an acoustic album; mostly original, but with reworks of previous songs (Dust On The Ground and Jewel) and a couple of covers/reworks (John Martyns' Fairytale Lullaby and Joanna Newsoms' Swansea).
Each track has a luscious feel to it; so gentile....so personal....so intimate. All the guitars used are acoustic, the drums are light; almost skiffle sounding, the vocals are delicate and there's no jiggery-pokery or technical mixing here. Occasionally, there may be a xylophone, a mandolin and a gorgeous voice provided by Lucy Rose, who often reminds me of Lisa Hannigan; Damien Rice's stunning vocal partner. And that's the beauty of this album. It sounds like your best friends have come round to your house and played 11 songs, while you held out a microphone attached to an old tape recorder. Wonderfully simple and simply wonderful. Jamie MacColls' guitar playing is just perfect here, his finger-picking in particular. And vocally, Jack Steadman has never sounded better. Much, much more suited to a quieter, more intimate setting.
Most of the songs are slow. There's not much call for speed here. There's the occasional up-tempo track; Ivy & Gold, album opener Rinse Me Down and My God; with some absolutely beautiful guitar and mandolin work, being pretty much the only tracks showing any sense of urgency. And even then, their delicacy and intimacy seem to slow down the second hand. Elsewhere, there's a superb re-working of Dust On The Ground, really breaking the song down to its bare bones. But the scene stealer for me is Leaving Blues; a heart-wrenching song about lost love and breaking up. Jack's fragile and subdued vocals could melt the heart of anyone listening to this track, and for that reason, this is my essential track to listen to. It sums up the album perfectly.
Listen to: Leaving Blues
1. The National - High Violet (Swisslet)
2007s Boxer is one of my favourite albums of the last ten years, without a shadow of a doubt. I was slow to latch onto The National, but once I found them, there was something about them that chimed with me almost immediately: I’ve always been a sucker for gloomy guitar bands, and Matt Berninger’s deep bass baritone seems to suit the mood almost perfectly. Where fellow New Yorkers Interpol have a singer who sounds like an undertaker reading from a legal textbook, Berninger has the bruised, weary voice of the hopelessly and perpetually disappointed romantic. I love it.
There’s no great progression in sound here, no great leap forward from Alligator or Boxer, the two amazing albums that precede this one. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the band is that this doesn’t seem to matter. They’re doing the same sorts of things that they were doing before, only better and with far, far greater intensity. These are personal songs, almost claustrophobically so, and the band aren’t compromising for anyone. This isn’t an attempt to be a BIGGER band, it’s an attempt to be a BETTER band, and I think they do such a great job that they may very well end up with both.
2010 was also the year where I finally got to see the band perform live. They’re a band to be listened to in a darkened room if ever there was one. Somehow though, even in the middle of the afternoon at the hottest Glastonbury anyone can remember, the band still pulled it off. Brilliant record. Brilliant band. One of the best.
Listen to: Anyone’s Ghost
______________________
So, there we go. Another year in music and with the National and Interpol's albums finishing in the top ten twice, I suppose they're the two to choose from (if you like horrific, gloomy guitar rock. Heh heh heh).
A good year for albums, all in all. Any we have missed? What was your record of 2010?
1. The Courteeners - Falcon (NP)What do you do when a band that you previously hate make a brilliant record? This is a conflict that I have grappled with all year; at least since I first heard the Courteeners' second album, Falcon.
I'll be honest, I hated their first album, St Jude. Silly, swaggering, sub-Oasis Northern rock music with lyrics as banal as 'What took you so long? Was it the queue in the Post Office' had consigned the Manchester four piece to my dustbin a couple of years ago.
And then, one Friday afternoon, I heard Greg James play lead single You Overdid It, Doll, and loved it. So, I gave the album a try. And, despite not blowing me away on the first, second or even third listen, Falcon gradually grew and grew in my affections.
And now, here it is as my top album of the year; not a bad achievement on a shortlist of over forty records. Bizarrely, it is all in spite of being the Courteeners, not for that reason. One of my most anticipated Glastonbury performances, they were awful on a sunny afternoon on the other stage, plodding through a mundane set that would, had I not heard Falcon, have confirmed every suspicion I had of them. And, when considering this list, there were countless other brilliant albums in 2010, all of which I really enjoyed.
But, at the end of the day (and after some deep thought) I couldn't think of a record that I had enjoyed more in 2010. From the absolutely brilliant The Opener (one of the tracks of the year), Falcon may be occasionally lyrically lacking, but has enough hooks, tunes and great moments to elevate it to greatness. Take Over The World and Good Times Are Calling are rabble-rousing anthems, whilst the beautiful Lullaby is one of the best slow songs you'll hear this or any year.
Whilst it may sound perverse, I still don't think I like the Courteeners very much. However, Falcon is proudly and deservedly my album of 2010.
Listen to: The Opener, You Overdid It, Doll
1. Bombay Bicycle Club - Flaws (bedshaped)Whilst dithering around, putting together a top ten albums of 2010 list, I began, as most people do, putting together a 'short-list'. Although it wasn't short by any means. Over time, I removed albums, added a couple more to the shrinking list (which didn't help), and finally ended up with a top ten that I felt happily reflected my favourite albums of the year. During this process, one album not only had to be on list, but from the very beginning, stood out for the simple reason that it was my most played album of the year. Whilst all of my top ten albums are firm favourites, and I'm very satisfied with my choices, this album has by far given me the most pleasure in listening to it.
Flaws is Bombay Bicycle Club's second release, and whilst it's listed as an album proper, it's probably better described as a stop-gap album to fill the void until their proper second studio album gets finished and released. It's an acoustic album; mostly original, but with reworks of previous songs (Dust On The Ground and Jewel) and a couple of covers/reworks (John Martyns' Fairytale Lullaby and Joanna Newsoms' Swansea).
Each track has a luscious feel to it; so gentile....so personal....so intimate. All the guitars used are acoustic, the drums are light; almost skiffle sounding, the vocals are delicate and there's no jiggery-pokery or technical mixing here. Occasionally, there may be a xylophone, a mandolin and a gorgeous voice provided by Lucy Rose, who often reminds me of Lisa Hannigan; Damien Rice's stunning vocal partner. And that's the beauty of this album. It sounds like your best friends have come round to your house and played 11 songs, while you held out a microphone attached to an old tape recorder. Wonderfully simple and simply wonderful. Jamie MacColls' guitar playing is just perfect here, his finger-picking in particular. And vocally, Jack Steadman has never sounded better. Much, much more suited to a quieter, more intimate setting.
Most of the songs are slow. There's not much call for speed here. There's the occasional up-tempo track; Ivy & Gold, album opener Rinse Me Down and My God; with some absolutely beautiful guitar and mandolin work, being pretty much the only tracks showing any sense of urgency. And even then, their delicacy and intimacy seem to slow down the second hand. Elsewhere, there's a superb re-working of Dust On The Ground, really breaking the song down to its bare bones. But the scene stealer for me is Leaving Blues; a heart-wrenching song about lost love and breaking up. Jack's fragile and subdued vocals could melt the heart of anyone listening to this track, and for that reason, this is my essential track to listen to. It sums up the album perfectly.
Listen to: Leaving Blues
1. The National - High Violet (Swisslet)2007s Boxer is one of my favourite albums of the last ten years, without a shadow of a doubt. I was slow to latch onto The National, but once I found them, there was something about them that chimed with me almost immediately: I’ve always been a sucker for gloomy guitar bands, and Matt Berninger’s deep bass baritone seems to suit the mood almost perfectly. Where fellow New Yorkers Interpol have a singer who sounds like an undertaker reading from a legal textbook, Berninger has the bruised, weary voice of the hopelessly and perpetually disappointed romantic. I love it.
There’s no great progression in sound here, no great leap forward from Alligator or Boxer, the two amazing albums that precede this one. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the band is that this doesn’t seem to matter. They’re doing the same sorts of things that they were doing before, only better and with far, far greater intensity. These are personal songs, almost claustrophobically so, and the band aren’t compromising for anyone. This isn’t an attempt to be a BIGGER band, it’s an attempt to be a BETTER band, and I think they do such a great job that they may very well end up with both.
2010 was also the year where I finally got to see the band perform live. They’re a band to be listened to in a darkened room if ever there was one. Somehow though, even in the middle of the afternoon at the hottest Glastonbury anyone can remember, the band still pulled it off. Brilliant record. Brilliant band. One of the best.
Listen to: Anyone’s Ghost
______________________
So, there we go. Another year in music and with the National and Interpol's albums finishing in the top ten twice, I suppose they're the two to choose from (if you like horrific, gloomy guitar rock. Heh heh heh).
A good year for albums, all in all. Any we have missed? What was your record of 2010?
delivered by LB at 9:02 AM
1 Discussions:
Oh bugger, another album I haven't listened to in the shape of The Couteeners. Must add to the list!
The National and Interpol seem to be 'up there' with the best of 'em, but let's not forget Plan B, also appearing twice this year. Oh the joy! It's a flippin' terrific album!
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