There is no need for any quaffle about ‘critical subjectivity’; this is what I think – pure, and simple says Theo Sangster. So without further ado, here are my favourites for the year, from Avalanche City through Erykah Badu to Janelle Monae…
Best of 2010 – a musical retrospective.
There is no need for any quaffle about ‘critical subjectivity’; this is what I think – pure, and simple.
So without further ado, here are my favourites for the year, says Theo Sangster…
15. Villagers – Becoming a Jackal
A fine collection of songs, incorporating everything from religious warfare, to a long-distance bus trip; this troubled young Irish troubadour has a bright-eyed future ahead of him.
14. Avalanche City – Our New Life Above the Ground
Tying in themes of despair, hope, freedom, what it means to ‘love’, and the geographical implication of being a Kiwi, this heart warming ‘gem from left-field’ has found a way to treat the Auckland City zeitgeist.
13. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
A salty-eyed blur of hallway-indie-rock. Also a whole lot of fun.
12. Erykah Badu – New Amerykah, Pt. 2 : Return of the Anhk
Displaying equal amounts of ego and insecurity, this queen-of-soul oozes out a deeply funky, modern-fairytale.
11. Best Coast – Crazy For You
Presenting her influences and heart clearly on her sleeve, Beth Cosentino drives out 30 minutes of Beach Boys-influenced neo-girl-pop.
10. Frightened Rabbit – A Winter of Mixed Drinks
A brooding, yet straight-up-rollicking break-up album from these up-and-coming Scottish rockers; the heart-ripping emotion has regularly boiled this writer’s tartan-stained blood.
9. Beach House – Teen Dream
Dream-pop at its finest; I get the feeling this music was made purely to lull you into the sweet arms of unconsiousness.
8. Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago
A shimmering ornithological journey; plumbing new musical depths, and ending on the shore of some mystical island bathed in pure light.
7. Deerhunter – Halycon Digest
Deerhunter have created a disturbingly beautiful record. Like a lion hunting a gazelle, it disgusts – yet you are completely entranced until that final fatal blow. ‘Helicopter’ will change how you feel about songwriting.
6. The National – High Violet
These ‘dad-rockers’ have written a record that is beautifully heart-wrecking –and at times very hard to listen to. But just like The National themselves, the album is one that needs to grow old with the listener to truly mature and make sense.
5. Robyn – Body Talk
Where do I begin? – ‘Body Talk’ is the best pop record of 2010.
4. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
‘The Suburbs’ is a fully fledged endeavour into the love, loss, heartbreak, and distant memory of what it means to grow out of the twilight of suburban childhood, and into this somewhat confusing modern life. Arcade Fire have taken these themes in a deeper direction through their latest offering, carving out a geo-social evolution that is relatable to everybody who has ears to listen.
3. Vampire Weekend – Contra
Adding elements of African Pop to their well established baroque-fusion, Vampire Weekend have created an aristocratic album that asks all the awkward questions.
2. Jonsi – Go
‘Go’ seems to speak with a distinct voice of its own, or at least in an accent this reviewer has yet to hear. The true magic of this album is not in its exquisite composition or refreshing songwriting, but that it actually lifts you into a higher plane when you turn it up loud enough.
1. Janelle Monae – The Archandroid
Janelle Monáe simply lists her genre as ‘bending’, an apt description for a record that encompasses everything from Broadway rock-operatics and acid-infused jazz; to black liberation theology, and the Motown groove of the young Jackson brood. At its core, ‘The Archandroid’ is simply the spiritual sojourn of a young singer finding her way in love and life; a distilled masterpiece that critics will still be peering at in 20 years time.
By Theo Sangster, December 2010.
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