2010 is coming to a close, so I'd thought I'd share my favorite albums from this year. Here is the rule: I have to own the album, either physically, or digitally. Thankfully, this year, some of my favorite international artists were vigilant in making themselves available on iTunes. I've heard a lot of other albums that would have normally made this list. But for whatever reason I didn't make purchase.
Here we go.
10 | PND - Dirty Words
I already wrote a little about this album here. In short, it's fresh. It's a collab project between two guys I was already a big fan of. And, it makes for great driving in my green 20xx Dodge Caravan.
Lonestar from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.
09 | All The Bright Lights
This self titled album can be deemed "ambi-rock". Not know what that is? They are oft compared to Sigur Rós and Explosions in the Sky; two bands I'm kind of familiar with (as in I've never have seriously listened to them). I can safely say I've been listening to indie/ambient/rock-ish music for almost a decade, starting with Questions in Dialect and Foxhole. ATBL is a bit different, however. More ethereal.
I met James Duke in Dallas earlier this year. I told him I listened to ATBL as my prep music in the debate nationals. His response was kind of spaced out, to say the least. As if he were surprised anyone would have listened to the album. Well, my comment did come from left field. Anyway, it's a great album and definitely the most relaxing on this list.
08 | Andy Hunter - Collide
This one snuck in at the end of the year. I didn't find out about it till the day it was released. Gotta love Twitter. Andy Hunter is one of my favorite DJs/producers. Collide doesn't disappoint. And it's only $5.
Since it's kind of new, I haven't had much time to listened to it in depth like I have all the other albums on this list. But I love the direction he's going.
07 | Nobuo Uematsu - Distant Worlds II
When I have to work on something, such as a paper...that's due the next day, I usually listen to instrumental music. 4+ years of university have taught me that music with lyrics is distracting, even if you try to zone them out and focus on your work. Instrumental music is more apt for increasing focus. Especially music as epic as Nobuo's 2nd arranged comp of Final Fantasy music. This album pretty much got me through my final two semesters of university. I still listen to it at work quite frequently. The Man with the Machine Gun is one of my favorite pieces of music of all time, and that's the first full track (if you look past the prelude).
You can listen to the entire album at bandcamp.
06 | Sakanaction - kikUUiki
One of my favorite bands ever!. Why? I'm not sure. Stylistically, I don't really think they are as impressive as other bands I consider my 'favorites'. But the thing is, I can listen to any of their albums and they will never get old. Even their first two albums have high playability. The melodies are addictive and the lyrics are memorable (even though I can't speak/comprehend the language very well).
So, I'm sort of obligated to include them in such a list as this one. But in all honestly, I love the album. I was still enjoying Shin-Shiro from last year when they released this unexpectedly. I guess that's what happens when you go big; an album a year. To me, their sound hasn't changed much since Shin-shiro. But I still dig it. I enjoy listening to both albums back to back.
This is also the third album in a row they've included an instrumental track. 21.1 is the best instrumental track yet. They delve more and more into electronica every time, and that blended with indie-rock sounds awesome. They also have another chorale part. It's on the last song, MegaAkuAiiro. I'd say it challenges the epicniess of the chorale on Night Fishing Is Good from their second album.
05 | SaeLah Poeht-Suroh - ANTI-SWAG Mixtape
So yeah, I know this guy personally. He's really cool. His mixtape is fresh. His lyrics are deep. And he's the only rapper I've ever heard make references to The Beverly Hillbillies.
You can download the his mixtape for free at bandcamp.
04 | School Food Punishment - amp-reflection
SFP's first album! I've been a fan since they released their first two EPs back in 2007, so I've been waiting for this for a few years. It was a special release for me so much so that I imported the deluxe edition. I have all these stickers I still don't know what to do with.
To be honest, I kind of miss their old sound. It was slower and more ambient. I feel their sound has a tinge of that feeling a band gets when they graduate from indie to mainstream. Another thing is they released almost half of the songs on album as singles, which I, of course, listened to and wore out pretty fast before the album came out. Still, I love it. Even though I feel it's a little too upbeat and energetic. Yumi Uchimura is one of my favorite vocalists of all time, so I can't complain.
03 | Ling Tosite Sigure - still a Sigure virgin?
This really, really, really, should be at the #1 spot. Don't get me wrong. This album is great. The problem is their last album, just A moment, was also great. Almost flawless. It was hard to top that, and they almost did it with this year's album. Almost!
The jump in sound/style from Inspiration is DEAD to just A moment is much greater than the jump from just A moment to still a Sigure virgin?. This is what happens when bands get signed to major record labels. Selling albums is more of a priority. Albums are usually released every year, thus not allowing the band's sound to evolve as much as it would had they waited 2+ years, like they did in the past.
They do have some new elements worth mentioning. Shandy is one of my favorite songs from this album. It's definitely the most progressive song they've come out with. Unlike everything else, it features pianos and flutes. The mixing on this song is well done. The drums also get electronica-fied. I was music to me seems like they took some of the best elements from Telecastic Fake Show and JPOP Xfile and made another song. It's a fantastic opener.
One complaint, it's short. 37 minutes! I bought Base Ball Bear's Cypress Girls at the same time. It is one minute longer and was half the price. I was let down in that regards.
It also does not include an instrumental track like just A moment. Not a complaint. Just an unrealistic subconscious expectation.
I had intended to write a review for this album. I was busy at that time in my life. It's not relevant enough now for me to do that. And it'd be really long and I'm sure no one would read it. So here is my mini-review/critique.
02 | capsule - Player
Just like Sakanaction and Ling Tosite Sigure, this album was released hot on the heels of a previous stellar release. (It's funny how I'm more critical of the higher rated albums.) There was enough new stuff in this album to keep me happy. My favorite song is the title song, Player. I've seen A LOT of people complain about this song. It's one of the most unique songs capsule has ever released. It features Jamacian rap and a killer drop. The drop is so awesome it makes you want to punch a wall or flip some tables or something. What Do You Want to Do also has a sick drop as well. I really am not too hot on tracks 4-7. Everything before and after is awesome.
Also, I was happy that this album was released on the US iTunes shortly before it was released in Japan. USA is fortunate to get any Japanese releases at all. This probably was not intentional. I've worked with iTunes before and when you release content internationally, the US iTunes store is the first to get it.
01 | DE DE MOUSE - A Journey to Freedom
This is my album of the year. This is my most listened to album of the year as well. My Last.fm stats do not show it. This is driving music for me, so not as much play on the Mac while working.
The funny thing is, I didn't really like DE DE MOUSE all that much in the past. Just not my cup of tea. What got me hooked were his live performances. So the funny thing is, had I heard the actual album first, I still probably would not have liked him all that much.
This also happened:
That was really cool. I would love to see him live one day, like in the videos beloew. I love bands/artists that have great albums, but sound even greater live. Some bands/artists just sound like their CD and vice versa.
Also, when I gave my final speech to graduate from university, I listened to Journey to Freedom (the song) on the drive home. You know, because I was free and all. From university. It was magical and liberating. One of those things I'll probably never forget for the rest of my life.
Honorable Mention 01 | VOLA & THE ORIENTAL MACHINE - PRINCIPLE
This album would have been in the top 3, but I didn't purchase it. It's amazing for the following reasons:
1. It's VOLA. They are amazing. That's inherent. If I could play in any band in the world, I'd want to play with them.
2. Ahito Inazawa uses an iPhone sword app in the song Flag [see video]. On a side note, I like this studio version better than the album version with the psycho saxaphone loop.
Honorable Mention 02 | Base Ball Bear - Cypress Girls
I've liked Base Ball Bear for a few years. Not enough to buy their albums. They ran a fantastic promo campaign on YouTube which convinced me to purchase one of the two mini-albums (?) they released this year. One reason I bought it was because it was cheap. The first three songs are great. The rest are okay. I didn't feel like buying the other album, Detective Boys. If I had, I'd have coupled the two albums and put them in the Countdown.
And that's all folks.
Next up, I'm going to work on a Top 30 list for singles. I thought about doing 10, then 20, and I'm at 30. So I'll see how that goes.
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