12 Albums From 2010 I Want To Recognize

...because they're not by Kanye West, Robyn, Sufjan Stevens or Deerhunter, because we honored them a bunch already, assuming what we give them is worth calling "honor" (in alphabetical order).

by Gavin

Bathcrones - Psychorama

Baths - Cerulean

Beach House - Teen Dream (whatever)

Emeralds - Does It Look Like I'm Here?

Forest Swords - Dagger Paths

Mark McGuire - Living With Yourself

Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal

Pac Div - Don't Mention It Mixtape

Sam Amidon - I See The Sign

Tennis - Daytrotter Session 9.24.2010

Valgeir Sigurðsson - Draumalandið

Various Artists - Dope Mountain Fuck

Maybe when I trust myself more as a writer, I'll write about what, specifically, I like about each album, but every time I've tried it in the past, my own words sound completely worthless and tired by the end. So these are albums I enjoyed because I heard something new and exciting in each one. None of them played to my expectations - they all surpassed them.

JW's Top 20 Tracks of 2010

We played the top 13 on our 11th episode of Johnny Whopper - here are the top 20, a composite of mine & Knox's lists.

20. Neil Young - Sign of Love
19. Dirty Gold - California Sunrise
18. No Age - Chem Trails
17. The Drums - Let's Go Surfing
16. Oneohtrix Point Never - Returnal (Voice by Antony)
15. Sufjan Stevens - Too Much

14. Cee-Lo Green - Fuck You
13. Sam Amidon - Relief
12. unouomedude - Buildings
11. Beach House - Take Care
10. Fyfe Dangerfield - When You Walk in The Room

09. Kurt Vile - In My Time

08. Emeralds - Candy Shoppe

07. Robyn - Dancing on My Own

06 Chrome Sparks - I'll Be Wait for Sadness Comes Along

05. The War on Drugs - Comin' Through

04. Dead Gaze - Take Me Home or I Die Alone

03. Kanye West - Runaway (feat. Pusha T)

02. Surfer Blood - Swim

01. Deerhunter - Helicopter

folks don't know the half

Going multi-platinum is usually a good way to make sure critics will hate you. Some people will argue it's the other way around, but it's hard to deny that most chart-topping artists nowadays aren't critical darlings.

Once you've been making money for a while, though, people come around. You've either tapped into some sort of zeitgeist that those ivory-tower critics didn't realize existed, or you've influenced a generation of artists, or both. Suddenly you're garnering rave reviews. It's a pop tradition, and an important one too. After all, as a critic, it's hard to deny someone's greatness after they've proven you wrong so many times.

In 2010, it looks like it's R. Kelly's turn. Yours Truly brings us this beautiful, intimate, underexposed video of Tom Krell of How to Dress Well singing a haunting, hushed rendition of Kells' "I Wish":

Also, earlier this year, Sam Amidon dropped his most recent (and excellent) album, I See the Sign, on Bedroom Community. As usual, it's a set of old folk tunes re-imagined by Amidon with the help of labelmates Ben Frost, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Nico Muhly, and others. He also covers R. Kelly's "Relief", finding the common thread between Americana and R&B:

MP3: Sam Amidon - Relief

Add'l links:

Sam Amidon

How to Dress Well