Dear followers
2010 has not in the Sage's humble opinion been a vintage year for music, with no true modern classic emerging to really set the pulse racing. Nevertheless, there's still been a number of excellent records released over the past 12 months that I would urge you all to check out if you haven't done so already.
Please see below a list of my Top 10 albums of the year, together with links to performances by all the artists for those of you who'd like to find out more about them.
As always, your views are most welcome!
Regards
The Sage
1 Beach House - Teen Dream
Blissful and hypnotic, this record may well go down as 2010's Fleet Foxes and give Beach House the genuine mainstream success they richly deserve. Teen Dream boasts a dynamic that is both epic and ethereal at the same time, with Victoria LeGrand's bewitching vocals soaring gorgeously over layers of reverbing guitar and floating organ. I haven’t stopped listening to this since I bought it in January. My album of the year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZxrIbTMJr4
2 John Grant - The Queen Of Denmark
Imagine if ELO had grown up gay in the American Midwest and you'll have some idea what John Grant sounds like. After years of obscurity as the front man of indie underachievers The Czars, the Denver troubadour teamed up with his more successful friends Midlake to produce an album that combines sublime orchestration with bittersweet lyrics as its creator recounts his experiences as a small town outsider. Fans of 70s FM rock should really give this a go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzWQSabtWLs
3 I Am Kloot – The Sky At Night
This trio of gnarled, scruffy Mancunians have chugged along on the margins of the UK indie scene for a decade now, but a Guy Garvey-produced collection of stately, elegant compositions gave I Am Kloot a richly deserved Mercury prize nomination. Jonny Bramwell's eloquent tales of outsiders, underachievers, drinkers and dreamers on the margins of society make him one of the best and most original songwriters around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oqB3d6Pklw&feature=fvsr
4 The National – High Violet
Like I Am Kloot, The National have been around a while, but these Baltimore natives have become the darling of the critics this year with this outstanding album. A more world-weary, emotionally engaging American answer to The Editors, Matt Berninger’s sonorous baritone certainly sounds like he’s been round the block a few times and is the perfect voice to front his band’s meticulously structured, cinematic rock.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfySK7CLEEg
5 Vampire Weekend - Contra
There's an awful lot of preppy American Ivy League graduates churning too clever by half, jerky indie pop records these days, but Brooklyn's Vampire Weekend remain worthy of the hype. Yes, almost everything they do owes a huge debt to Paul Simon's Graceland, and they pretentiously pontificate on subjects like drinking horchata. But with melodies this joyous and beats this infectious, you can forgive them their indulgences.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaTgDgCSh-w
6 Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
Credible Australian rock groups are something of a rare commodity so it’s a welcome surprise that these natives of Perth have delivered arguably the year’s best debut album. Steeped in the sounds of 60s San Francisco psychedelia and early Pink Floyd, this woozy, reverb heavy record is trippy but accessible and those who enjoyed Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion in 2009 will find Tame Impala to be very much cut from the same cloth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jekYAm3fkA
7 Chief – Modern Rituals
Another outstanding 2010 debut came from California’s Chief, the latest in a steady stream of excellent groups to emerge from the West Coast in recent years. But with their chiming guitars and anthemic choruses, this four piece have as much in common with British bands like Coldplay and Doves as their country-rock contemporaries. Of all the albums on my list, Modern Rituals would probably appeal to the broadest range of listeners.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAODjl_pUbY
8 The Tallest Man On Earth – The Wild Hunt
Had Bob Dylan been cryogenically frozen in 1963, transported to rural Sweden and then revived in 2010, the next album he made would probably have closely resembled The Wild Hunt. Kristian Mattson’s song writing, voice and guitar playing are uncannily similar to the great man in his acoustic pomp, but this lack of originality scarcely matters when he can pen tunes as instantly catchy as The King Of Spain and Love Is All.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvWstzEUTfU
9 Sufjan Stevens – All Delighted People EP
Only Stevens would opt to release an EP that is actually considerably longer than most albums at nearly 60 minutes. Having long since abandoned his much-quoted plan to write a musical tribute to each of America’s 50 states, these sprawling, meditative songs are a heady brew of folksy banjo plucking, orchestral flourishes, electronic burbles and enigmatic lyrics peppered with biblical references that typify the Detroit maverick’s unique talent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvfg4hntSGA
10 Bellowhead – Hedonism
This 11 piece big band take traditional English folk songs and bring them bang up to date by adding elements of jazz, funk, rock and almost every other genre imaginable. Although Bellowhead are perhaps best appreciated at one of their riotously entertaining live performances, Hedonism is nevertheless a fine record, its dazzling musicianship combining with an infectious energy that’s a far cry from the genre’s woollen sweater and real ale stereotype.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ9joSfUB5k
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