something's bound to go wrong

The Top 10 Albums of 2010

2. Plan B - The Defamation Of Strickland Banks (Swisslet)

I didn’t even think this album was worth listening to. Why would I bother with an album by a British rapper, no matter how well received it seemed to be? Plan B just didn’t sound like something I would be interested in, so I gave it a miss. In fact, I only listened to the album at all because of a song recommendation by the guy who sits at the desk next to me.

Gary doesn’t really strike me as much of a music fan: he’s from Blackburn and he’s mates with a guy in Ian Brown’s band, but aside from a love of all things Manchester typical in a man of his age, he’s not exactly cutting-edge. I don’t know why, but he recommended that I listen to Love Goes Down. Conscious that I’ve been out of the country for large portions of 2010 and have missed loads and loads of good music, I reckoned I didn’t have much to lose by giving it a go.

Oh my goodness. This was NOTHING like I expected. I’d heard rumours that this was more of a soul than a rap album, but I didn’t believe it until I listened to the whole album. It turns out I had heard bits and pieces of it before, but would never in a million years have connected it with Plan B.

Odd though it sounds, the last time this happened to me was when the Streets released his debut album, and in spite of thinking it would be the last record in the world that I would be listening to, never mind buying, I found myself sucked in by the energy displayed in a single track that I heard playing in Selectadisc to the extent that I had to ask what it was and had my preconceptions of both the music and of what I would and would not like shattered.

This album is staggeringly good. I’m sure it works beautifully as a concept album, with a story that flows from one end to the other, but to be honest I’m just revelling in each song as it comes. This isn’t rap, this is Northern Soul, for goodness sake. The surprise of the year for me. I love it.

Listen to: Stay Too Long

2. Mt. Desolation - Mt. Desolation (NP)

As Keane took a sabbatical prior to the construction of their fourth full album, half the band decided to take some time off. The other half - well, technically a third and the latter-day bassist - didn't fancy a bit of larking about at home and so set about creating a side project.

Mt. Desolation is the brainchild of songwriter Tim Tice-Oxley and guitarist Jesse Quin. Conceived on a drunken night in Dublin, what began as a bit of fun quickly developed into an album's worth of quality material. With contributions from Mumford and Sons' Country Winston and the Killers' Ronnie Vannucchi (amongst others) Mt. Desolation are a collaborative effort with over a dozen musicians and guests appearing on the record.

Whilst one or two of the tracks on the self-titled album are pretty basic country music - The Midnight Ghost and Platform 7 sound like anything you'd hear in a Nashville bar - the remainder of the album has influences as broad as Kenny Rogers, The Band and Bruce Springsteen. And, in closing track Coming Home, you have a song as capable of bookending a Keane album as anything else the trio will themselves record.

It's a surprisingly brilliant album. The songwriting is quintessentially Rice-Oxley and the keyboardist also boasts a great voice, providing lead vocals on half the record. The inclusion of Jessica Staveley-Taylor adds some great female vocals and the duet Another Night On My Side is one of the album's highlights. Whilst Annie Ford and Departure are superb uptempo alt-country tracks, it's when Mt. Desolation slow the pace that I really love the sound. State Of Our Affairs is a magnificent single, and both Bridal Gown and the haunting My My My are amongst the best slow songs I have heard in 2010.

Although there was a part of me that expected to enjoy Mt. Desolation's record simply thanks to the Keane influence, I never anticipated enjoying a country-based album quite this much. It also made perfect sense when performed live, and so only narrowly avoided being my absolute favourite record of the year.

Listen to: Departure, My My My

2. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (bedshaped)

Let's not beat around the bush here. Kanye West is the man the media seems to love to hate. And yes, he does himself no favours at all with his often bizarre 'CAPS LOCK' infested ranting on Twitter, but that said, I'm more interested in the music he produces, than the man himself. I'm not the slightest bit interested if he likes dating porn stars or cleans his diamonds with toothpaste! So putting Kanye West, the man, aside for a moment....

Late Registration was a great album. Graduation was, in my opinion even better. I had high hopes for 808s & Heartbreak, and even though it had it's moments, I found it over long, over-produced and shamefully smothered by all the vocoder and auto-tune production, not to mention every other song was depressingly downbeat. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy is a huge leap forward for Kanye and his arms-length list of 'friends' including hipsters such as; John Legend, Elly Jackson of La Roux , girl of the moment Nicki Minaj, The RZA, Rihanna, Pusha T, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Charlie Wilson, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, Kid Cudi, Fergie.... The list goes on.

What's refreshing here, is that Kanye isn't afraid to show that he not only has a sense of humour, but more significantly, he isn't afraid to step up the mic and take the piss out of himself. He's obviously taken a look at himself and his persona from the eyes of the media and other outside circles, laying down mixtures of comical, sarcastic, cynical and sometimes brutally honest lyrics. Perhaps this is the performer attempting to show that he is in fact just a human being and not the God-like, untouchable persona with diamonds stuck up his arse that he's portrayed to be. Whilst his lyrics also touch on the typically political, on the social commentary and parts of his own personal life, it's the music once again where Kanye scores highly in my books.

The album is once again choc-a-block full of excellent samples; cleverly inter-twined and slipped into the songs with little or no effort. Using these as one of the contagious hooks, the others being his genius use of bare-knuckle and broken down instruments are what make him stand head and shoulders above other pop/rap artists of out time. Take Runaway for example, driven almost entirely by a child-like piano riff. An infectiously catchy song that sees Kanye and Pusha-T spilling the beans of (presumably) his own life (along with all the other 'douchebags' in the world), giving accounts from both first person and third person perspective.

Album opener Dark Fantasy rides out mostly on piano riff tinkles, chord strikes and Mike Oldfield samples and does a splendid job too. I kid you not! Most obvious centrepiece here is All Of The Lights with its never ending roster of contributors. The track even gets its own 'interlude/intro' track before bursting into the track title chants, underpinned by Rihanna's unmistakable vocals. It's a busy song, breakneck speed at times, with super-fast percussion and oddly enjoyable brass pieces chopped in here and there. But it works wonders.

Is this album gonna win him any new fans? I don't think so. But perhaps that was never his intention. But it certainly shows that not only can he look at himself and his life with his tongue placed firmly in his cheek, he is also bloody good at what he does. He's Kanye West. He makes really good songs. And apparently, lots of other artists are more than happy to hitch along for the ride.

Essential track to listen to : Runaway, if just for the sheer cheek of how a simple riff can provide the bones of a great, great song.

Listen to: Runaway