Recently in Best of 2010 Category

'Tis the time for reflection and resolutions. Sometimes thinking about the past can give us big ideas about what we want in the future, and so it goes with the annual "best albums" lists that nearly every major music publication cranks out around the turn of the year. These lists can be great conversation starters, and can also be a great source of music discovery. We've compiled our own lists of best 2010 releases across many genres, and we've also put together some playlists based on the picks of some other heavy hitters. Sit back and enjoy, and let us know which lists you agree or disagree with.

Entertainment Weekly's Best of 2010

Vibe Magazine's Best of 2010

Spin's Top Albums of 2010

Rolling Stone's Top Tracks

The Guardian U.K.'s 2010 Picks

Billboard's Top Tracks of 2010

Pitchfork's Top Tracks of 2010

It was a year that marked the return of the singer-songwriter, highlighted the enduring power of worship and showcased the community that is the foundation of the Christian/gospel genres. Those who earned top honors did more than just make music; they raised the bar and pointed the way for those who will follow. Dave Barnes created a faith-filled pop collection that would be at home almost anywhere on the radio dial, while Jars of Clay and Matthew West forged community in new ways. TobyMac continued to defy the laws of gravity and aging, proving to be this genre’s (much funkier) Dick Clark, and Mavis Staples reminded us of our strong gospel roots. Through it all rock remained strong, newcomers found their place and Passion staples like Chris Tomlin delivered more of the songs that will keep up singing on Sunday morning and beyond.

While you're reading, check out our playlist for Best Christian/Gospel Songs of 2010.

20.
Michael W. Smith
Wonder
His 22nd career project, produced by Bryan Lennox, finds Michael W. Smith returning to the kind of story-based pop ballads that made his career. "I'll Wait for You" is a raw, real take on the desperation and uncertainty so many people feel on a daily basis, while "Welcome Home" is a musical memorial to those who've left us, often seemingly too soon. The heaviness of "Leave," inspired by the touchy topics of abuse and bullying, is balanced by a pair of love songs written for Smith's wife of 29 years. The hurt we feel is real, Smith acknowledges, but it doesn't overshadow the hope found in God. — Wendy Lee Nentwig

---

Well, pop fans, it's been quite a year. The old familiars (or at least familiar) threw down (almost literally in the case of Taylor v. Kanye, Round 2). Lots of fresh hungry faces — from B.o.B. to Ke$ha, Janelle to Drake — crowded the scene and changed the game. And everybody and their favorite Black Eyed Pea went gaga (ahem) for dance pop. We've picked 20 great album here, though there are many more where these came from. And unlike years past, where there's been a clear queen or king of the pop world (like Gaga's reign over 2009), a clear-cut leader didn't really step forward. We were all winners this year, friends (especially Kanye). 

It was a quite a year in Latin music. Ups and downs abounded: Shakira set the globe shaking with her World Cup anthem "Waka Waka," while Argentinean icon Gustavo Cerati tragically slipped into a coma after suffering a stroke. Narcocorridos went as mainstream as they could: Los Cuates Valenzuela got their own reality show on Mun2, and young narco artists gobbled up market share with minimal radio support. Meanwhile, Latin alternative music got its own radio show (its second, actually) with NPR's Alt.Latino, and cumbia — once your aunt's shabby dance music — suddenly went viral and showed up in clubs around the globe. Chilean emcee Anita Tijoux ended up on many critics' year-end lists, and pan-Latino pride seemed to be on the resurgence, evident in projects from Ruben Albarran's Hoppo to Calle 13's new masterwork. And then of course there was Enrique Iglesias, who made it into the charts with a song entitled "Tonight (I'm F**king You)." *Sigh.*

But that shameful incident aside, 2010's musical heights have been dizzying. We take you through 20 of our absolute favorite Latin albums this year. Did we miss something? Did we love something you hated? Jump in the mix and let us know! And, to hear an extended playlist of this year's best Latin albums, click here.

20.
Camila
Dejarte De Amar
Their second release took its sweet time, but that's kind of Camila's M.O.: they start slow, build to a crescendo, and wallop you with emotion until you sink back, sated. But while the insanely popular Todo Cambio kept R&B as its guiding artistic light, we enter the realm of the rock ballad on Dejarte de Amar. Each song travels a fairly predictable trajectory — intimate meditations build to rocking catharsis before crashing into a sensitive coda — but the great singing and solid hooks make this the follow-up fans have been waiting for. — S.B.

---

This may be the year when hip-hop artists re-embraced the mainstream. Big, soaring choruses; glittery guest appearances; and allusions to mall-rocking pop and rock sounds all cropped up on 2010's most successful works. If the resulting list of one writer's favorites lacks street swagger, it's because there wasn't much of it, at least when it came to official albums. (The mixtape scene, led by Big K.R.I.T., Kendrick Lamar, Lil B, J. Cole and others, is an entirely different story.

Fans, artists and critics were bitterly divided over the toned-down aggression of this year's best. They universally hailed Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Curren$y's Pilot Talk, but argued noisily over Drake's Thank Me Later and B.o.B's The Adventures of Bobby Ray, claiming that the latter strayed from real hip-hop values. Importantly, they seemed uncomfortable with the idea that hip-hop could absorb all forms of popular music, not just a narrower urban street ethos. However, rap trends are notoriously short, and it would not be surprising if 2011's group of contenders swing the pendulum in the opposite direction and re-embrace the virtues of hardcore hip-hop. Enjoy 2010 while you still can.


While reading, listen to our list for The Best Songs of 2010: Hip-Hop.

20.
Skyzoo & Illmind
Live from the Tape Deck
Live from the Tape Deck, a collaboration between rapper Skyzoo and producer Illmind, is not only a throwback to classical values, but also a metaphor for "doing the right thing," as several interludes derived from Spike Lee's 1989 film reminds us. So in spite of being "critically acclaimed and underrated at the same time," Skyzoo eschews industry gimmicks in favor of dense lyricism, from setting the proverbial "Kitchen Table" to tossing "Frisbees." Illmind's beats are reminiscent of Black Milk's excellent Tronic, adding hardcore electronic bangers that enhance this purist hip-hop experience. — Mosi Reeves

---

Going over the long list of jazz releases from 2010 has been an exhausting but exhilarating experience, and I finally managed to scale things down to a list of 20 albums that are at least partially representative of the vast modern jazz landscape.

Artists as diverse as Brad Mehldau and Esperanza Spalding show that jazz musicians have always drawn inspiration from a large well that includes classical music, folk traditions and pop trends (examples being that Mehldau is known for bringing indie rock songs into jazz; Spalding is slated to make a crossover soul album). The intense Mehldau went orchestral, and the bright-eyed Spalding took a chamber music detour. Pianist Fred Hersch dove deep after a horrifying near-death experience. Wynton Marsalis threw caution (and tradition) to the wind for an extended Iberian party that cast away any barriers between America and Spain, East and West, and then and now. Likewise, America's Stacey Kent took her American sass and British band to France (Canada's Jay Phelps also leads a U.K. group, though he used his in celebration of styles originally created in the good ole U.S. of A). Jason Moran deservedly won a 2010 MacArthur Genius grant, and guitarist John Pizzarelli should get some sort of comedy award for his priceless between-song patter, which brings me as much joy as old Bugs Bunny cartoons (big bonus time: Pizzarelli's music is just as fun).

Jazz has always been art and it has always been entertainment. Today, it is becoming more of a brotherhood of international musicians than ever. Jazz musicians are going bluegrass, country musicians are going jazz, and classical virtuosos like Nigel Kennedy play acoustic/electric fusion bop without blinking an eye. The most jaw-droppingly energizing concert I saw in 2010 was by the Punch Brothers, a bluegrass band that dazzled a crowd of jazz and classical fans (and even country-folk hounds) before they changed gears and lovingly covered Radiohead to equal applause. Charles Lloyd spearheaded the most moving concert, uniting a room full of strangers and connecting them with The Music of the Spheres (try that, Lady Gaga!).

Twenty-ten has also offered up plenty of hard times, and perhaps only poetry is less respected than jazz in the American marketplace (people — the marketplace wasn't right on the housing bubble, it's not right on executive pay and it sure isn't right about jazz). Ironically, most of this has to do with the loss of retail space given to jazz. Over in Europe, a gorgeous instrumental duets release by Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden (both Yanks, by the way) sailed up the pop charts. Likewise, jazzy singer-songwriter Melody Gardot joined a number of mainstream artists in moving to Europe, where she gets played on the radio and sells out large concert venues across the continent.

Ironically, the sinking of the smooth jazz market has really upped the quality of the music, with David Sanborn getting his gritty groove back, Kirk Whalum releasing his best platter yet and Lee Ritenour celebrating his favorite living guitarists with 6 String Theory. Herbie Hancock went on a global pop/rock and blues exchange that explored our common humanity, and Gil Scott-Heron came back from the dead (sort of) with a powerful, if dispiriting, return to studio recording.

Two of the record labels that seemed to release the greatest number of quality albums this year were ECM and Sunnyside Records. ECM is famous for crafting intense but often quiet music that blurs the boundaries between the avant-garde and easy listening (art doesn't have to hurt, people). Sunnyside's only guiding principle seems to be an unending appetite for mainstream jazz in any and all forms. Both labels got two albums each on the list ... and there could have been more. There are also two releases featuring The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, which shows its value by giving an artist such as Ted Nash the opportunity to work across a larger canvas than he ever has before (literally "canvas" in Nash's case, as he composed a sweeping tribute to his favorite painters).

Rhapsody may have dropped the ball on jazz from time to time in 2010, but we are doubling down our efforts in the new year. The Jazz Spot is our weekly roundup of new jazz releases and reissues, The New Breed (just one of our dozens of genre radio stations) spotlights today's jazz generation, and our weekly jazz newsletter celebrates artists, themes, trends and labels.

While reading, check out our playlist of the Best Songs of 2010: Jazz.

New music need not apply, people. This year-end list spotlights all the killer reissues, compilations and archival releases that came out in 2010. There were a lot, for sure. American heroes Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan grabbed the biggest headlines. The Boss dropped The Promise, an album's worth of "lost" material from 1976. His idol Dylan, meanwhile, re-released the first eight albums of his career, including the canonic Blonde on Blonde, in glorious mono. Every one of them sounds a-m-a-z-i-n-g. Then there's Jimi Hendrix, whose estate finally opened the Reprise vaults, resulting in two collections, Valleys of Neptune and the box set West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology.

Some of the most satisfying archival releases of the year came from the mainstream's margins. The recent explosion of rare "world music" releases continues with Pomegranates, a sublime survey of psychedelic folk-pop from hippie-era Iran. Closer to home, the always-amazing Smithsonian Folkways label produced Classic Appalachian Blues, which delves into the mountain-blues music that thrived in eastern Virginia and Carolina in the early 20th century.

In terms of the avant-rock, definitely don't sleep on the sprawling boxed set from Krautrock icons Neu!, a group that is far more influential on modern music than its cult status would imply. Another great set comes in the form of Coals to Newcastle, which sheds some much-needed light on Orange Juice, a jangly outfit from 1980s Scotland that just about every modern indie-pop band rips off — often without even realizing it.

Happy new year, and happy exploring!


Bruce Springsteen
The Promise
The Promise sits halfway between a lost album and an outtakes collection. The Boss recorded these tracks in the two years following the 1975 release of Born to Run that overlapped with the making of Darkness on the Edge of Town. And yet they feel somewhat removed from the dark, desperate tones of the latter. Apparently, those qualities had yet to fully infect his writing. In interviews, Springsteen has said that these songs — which include versions of "Because the Night" and "Fire" — could've been released as a separate album. This is why he took the time to polish them over 30 years later. — Justin Farrar

---

Editor's note: The goal for this column, Rhapsody's year in review, was to write something positive and humorous. But all that changed when — at precisely 5:35 p.m. EST on Friday, December 17 — Facebook and Twitter hit me with the sad news: multiple sclerosis had claimed Don Van Vliet. And so, instead of poking a finely sharpened stick at all the sleazy post-grunge bands that released stripper anthems in 2011, I'd like to pay tribute, however pithy, to one of America's greatest, and most unique, artists: Captain Beefheart. Though he released his last record, 1982's Ice Cream for Crow, when I was just seven years old, the Captain and his Magic Band played an intensely pivotal role in my music education. I, unlike a lot of fans, wasn't a punk or some underground bohemian when I first heard Trout Mask Replica. I was a young fan of classic rock and hippie jams: The Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Spirit, etc. I learned of the Captain when I snagged a copy of Robert Santelli's Sixties Rock: A Listener's Guide. This was around 1988; I was in seventh grade. Appearing at the back of the book was Santelli's list of the 25 (or was it 50?) best albums of the decade. The goal, after obsessive abortion, was to purchase every single record on the list, from Sweetheart of the Rodeo to Going to a Go-Go to Trout Mask. When I finally did purchase that last title, it utterly exploded my brain. Alien and otherworldly, absurd and aggressive, Trout Mask sounded unlike anything else on Santelli's list. A magnificent piece of art in its own right, the album also served as a portal, through which I discovered an entire universe of weird and obscure music. I've never been the same since. Goodnight, Captain — you will be missed.

To state the obvious, every year a lot happens in music. And while we at Rhapsody keep ourselves busy trying to figure out what are the top artists, albums and tracks, sometimes you can tell more about the year by the small stories than the big ones. From the Biebster's voice cracking to the new generation of weed rappers, we're taking a look at the quirky vignettes that collectively capture what 2010 was all about.

Witch House

In a perfect world, all genre names could double as Abbott and Costello routines. "Have you checked out this new 'witch house'?" "Which house?" "Exactly." "No, I mean, which house do you mean?" "That's exactly what I mean, witch house."

"Witch house," the name, was such a bad idea that no one took credit for it — it just suddenly appeared and then was everywhere (if by "everywhere," you mean anywhere on the Internet within six degrees of Pitchfork). It was such a bad idea that some artists who were aligned with the genre started calling their own music even dumber names, like "night bus" or "rape gaze," which caused a whole kerfuffle in its own right (probably rightly so). And yet, as with chillwave before it, there was actually some great music to come out of the genre's viral cauldron. Acts like Balam Acab, oOoOO and even Salem had their moments of gothy atmospherics, stumbling drum machines and down-pitched vocals. Maybe what was most impressive was how many artists with similar agendas seemed to appear almost simultaneously out of nowhere, like emanations of the zeitgeist. At the genre's most hyper-aware, as with the appropriative tricksters Hype Williams, the self-referencing circle of memes could be hard to take — but, for that reason, also hard to ignore. Who wants to be on the wrong side of a good joke? — Philip Sherburne

---

Every year Rhapsody names an Artist of the Year, basing the award on musical achievements as well as how deeply the artist(s) penetrated popular culture. The past two years, the award has gone to a pick that felt obvious. In 2008, the nod went to Lil Wayne; in 2009, the distinction belonged to Lady Gaga. This year, however, was a bit more difficult. There was no obvious single artist who captured the zeitgeist, and the two artists who seem to best fit the criteria, Taylor Swift and Kanye West, are inexorably linked to one another (thanks to a memorable outburst at the 2009 VMAs) and most at odds with one another, at least symbolically. They represented different sides of the pop music spectrum. Swift was the ever-affable, ever-lovable sweetheart who made one of the year's most accessible and popular albums. Kanye West, meanwhile, was a supremely polarizing figure who made no excuses for his arrogance, but who was also undoubtedly a musical genius, making one of the most ambitious and satisfying albums in ages. So, yeah, we split that baby. If you want to find out a little more about the thinking that went into this decision, you can check out a conversation about it below. And we also have a lot of great content from both artists, including playlists and reviews of their landmark albums.

	Learn why we picked Kanye and Taylor.			Discover why Taylor Swift and Ke$ha are different sides of the same coin.
	Hear the best of Taylor Swift.			Read our review of Taylor's latest.
	Hear all of Kanye West's Classics.			Read an extended review of Kanye's latest.

Every year, we name one Artist of the Year, and inevitably, many of our readers and subscribers want to know a little more about how we make our choice. So this year we decided to let you be a fly on the wall, and learn exactly how our writers and editors narrowed down the choices and picked 2010's Artist of the Year. Below, you can read a conversation between our Rhapsody panel of music experts, including Sr. Managing Editor Sam Chennault, Director of Programming Garrett Kamps, Alt/Indie Editor Stephanie Benson, Country Editor Linda Ryan, Electronic Editor Philip Sherburne, Jazz Editor Nick Dedina, Pop Editor Rachel Devitt and Critic-in-Residence Chuck Eddy. So, check out our conversation, and see who we landed on for our 2010 Artist of the Year.

Sam Chennault
Thanks for showing up, everyone. As I mentioned in my e-mail, we're here to pick Rhapsody's artist of the year. We do this on an annual basis. Last year, we picked Lady Gaga, and the year before we picked Lil Wayne, for example. We can discuss the exact criteria, but the award is intended for the artist who is at the center of the music universe in any given year, both in terms of the greater conversation about music as well as what people are actually listening to in 2010. So, as much as we'd all love to name Flying Lotus our artist of the year, it needs to be someone who had an impact on the larger public.

Chuck Eddy
So ... Justin Bieber?

Sam
Sure ... you could make a case for him. Some of the artists we mentioned before were Kanye, Taylor, Nicki, Ke$ha, Eminem and Arcade Fire. Do any of those stand out as obvious picks?

Philip Sherburne
One approach would be to look for this year's narrative, and find the artist who fits it — a strategy that would help Kanye, obviously. We're in some sense asking which artist best defined the zeitgeist.

Twenty-ten turned out to be a killer year for indie fans. Arcade Fire knocked Eminem off his Billboard throne; established acts like The National, The Black Keys, Spoon, Sufjan Stevens and LCD Soundsystem continued their reign, headlining festivals, showing up all over TV shows and advertisements, and piling up more fans than ever. Then there were new projects from Jonsi (of Sigur Ros) and Danger Mouse and James Mercer (of The Shins) and newcomers like Mumford & Sons, Surfer Blood and Twin Shadow keeping all those vets on their toes. Here we've compiled 20 of the best alternative and indie albums from 2010. You can listen to all of them right here on Rhapsody.

Also, check out our playlist of some of the Best Alternative/Indie Songs of 2010.


20.
Jonsi
Go
The title Go is a perfect fit for the Sigur Ros frontman's debut album. It's a tiny word loaded with affirmation and dynamism, much like Jonsi's inimitable falsetto, a delicate instrument with immense power behind it. Like his work with Sigur Ros, huge symphonic crescendos are almost required to keep up with him; they serve to melt the frosted touch of his coos, in return giving listeners uncontrollable chills. Composer Nico Muhly lightens the mood with jovial beats and chirping flutes, and Jonsi even gives up some of his mystique by singing in (mostly) English. Beautiful. — Stephanie Benson

---

In putting together our list of the year's best electronic music, the criteria were, as always, rather fuzzy. These days, it's harder to find an indie band that doesn't use synthesizers than one with at least a token keyboard; hell, even some metal bands use laptops on stage these days. And when it comes to chart pop and hip-hop, those genres are every bit as CPU-intensive as the most avowedly digital dance music.

And so, as we usually do in such situations, we went with our gut. The list below represents what we found to be the most forward-thinking, successfully executed and sonically rewarding material to come from the broader spectrum of self-consciously electronic music in 2010. Most of it comes from independent labels and more or less underground milieux, though there are exceptions, like Robyn's Body Talk — a bright, brassy, radio-ready pop album that nevertheless engaged with the idea of electronic dance music far more compellingly than almost any other record this year, no matter the source or the scene. LCD Soundsystem's great This Is Happening, on the other hand, got left out because, at the end of the day, it felt more like a rock record, despite its many nods to classic disco, Detroit techno and Brian Eno.

What follows, then, may be no more or less definitive than any of dozens of similar lists to appear this month, but it offers an ample selection of exemplary work from across electronic music's wide, fractured spectrum, from Flying Lotus' mind-expanding "beat music" to Emeralds guitarist Mark McGuire's ambient meanderings, and from Pantha Du Prince's emotive minimal techno to Glasser's immaculately conceived electro pop.

For a rundown of the year's 50 best electronic tracks — from house, techno, dubstep and beyond — don't miss our Best Songs of 2010: Electronic/Dance playlist.


20.
Apparat
DJ Kicks
Berlin's Apparat uses his DJ Kicks mix as the opportunity to draw alternate trajectories for techno, stretching repetitive beats to their breaking points and sketching melodic lines well past the club's horizon. This unmixed version gathers left-field techno and dubstep from Joy Orbison, T++ and Cosmin TRG alongside less classifiable material from Scorn, Oval and Tim Hecker, finding common cause across the electronic spectrum. The final, single-track mix stitches it all together into something approaching a dream state. — Philip Sherburne

---

What a year it was for country music! Lady Antebellum didn't just cross over into the Top 40, they ruled the airwaves for the better part of the year, settling in the No. 2 spot in Billboard's Top 100 Songs for 2010, while the album Need You Now lands in the No. 3 spot for overall sales for the year. And Taylor Swift, who continues to be an ambassador for the genre, ends the year with two albums in Billboard's year-end Top 200 chart; Fearless at No. 7 and Speak Now at No. 9. Pretty impressive!

While those are two extremely potent examples of America's current love affair with country, they certainly don't tell the whole story. Country music had its fair share of down-and-out moments, drinking and ruined relationships, all put to song. Small-town civic pride, unemployment struggles and wistful looks back at the simpler days also permeated the world of country music. Rhapsody's list of the best country albums of 2010 is not based on radio or Internet play, sales numbers, concert attendance or any number-crunching criteria. Rather, this list is compiled from the heart of Rhapsody's country editor, Linda Ryan.

While reading, take a listen to a playlist of our picks for Best Songs of 2010: Country.


20.
Kenny Chesney
Hemingway's Whiskey
It's no surprise that Kenny Chesney, the unabashed king of chill, takes a relaxed approach to Hemingway's Whiskey. His decision to cut his last tour short in favor of recording has spilled over into his grooves. Many of the album's songs are about escaping and unwinding — spiritually ("Live a Little [Love a Lot]," "Coastal"), mentally ("Reality") and chemically ("You and Tequila"). Highlights abound, from the feel-good rocker "Live a Little" to the George Jones remake/duet "Small Y'all" and the nostalgic "Where I Grew Up." — Linda Ryan

---

Twenty-ten, as you're about to discover, was a glorious 12-month stretch for megaton riffage, snarling grooves and screaming solos. The fluffy piano ballads and adult-alternative goo of years past gave way to pure and unadulterated rawk.

Hard music for hard times, I suppose.

Leaving behind the indie ghetto once and for all, The Sword's third full-length, the insanely ambitious Warp Riders, which is Rhapsody's rock album of the year, is proof the band has evolved into authentic gods, ones with an encyclopedic knowledge of two stone-cold classics: Deep Purple's Machine Head and Rainbow's Rising. No talk of hard-rock immortality is complete without bowing down before the (often) shirtless guitarist Matt Pike, whose band High on Fire dropped a doom/thrash epic: Snakes for the Divine. Cranking this record is the sonic equivalent of Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff pile driving you 10 times in a row. Speaking of doom/thrash, three upstarts from Savannah, Ga., who go by the name Black Tusk further cemented the South's reputation as a hotbed for heavy-metal nefariousness by dropping Taste the Sin, a debut album falling squarely in the Baroness/Kylesa zone. Regrouping after the loss of longtime bassist Chi Cheng, who remains in a coma after a tragic car crash in 2008, Deftones gave fans Diamond Eyes, the group's best, and most adventurous, album in a decade, since the now-classic White Pony, in fact.

Despite all the killer hard rock and metal, 2010 also taught us heaviness comes in myriad guises. It isn't always about volume and feedback; sometimes mood, feel and lyricism are what grab you. Producer Daniel Lanois had a hand in making two records that bleed these attributes: Neil Young's spacey Le Noise and Black Dub, the self-titled debut album from Lanois' new band. Black Dub features the neo-soul vocals of Trixie Whitley, daughter of cult artist Chris Whitley. Then there's Laura Marling. She might be a diminutive, 20-year-old singer-songwriter from the U.K., but she's no narcissistic sensitivo with an annoying chirp. Her sophomore effort, I Speak Because I Can, is a powerful slab of rumbling folk-rock: passionate, dark, stormy and mysterious. Lots of modern mavens have been tagged "the next Sandy Denny," but Marling is the only one who even comes close.

Another big winner in 2010 was blues-rock, albeit blues-rock with a twist. On Sea of Cowards Jack White's latest outfit, The Dead Weather concocts a mutant hybrid of blues, garage and progressive rock — dig the Yes-inspired breakdown in "The Difference Between Us" — that's really quite stunning in its expansiveness. The Black Keys' Brothers, the duo's dirtiest joint in quite some time, sounds downright traditional in comparison. And let's not forget JJ Grey & Mofro's Georgia Warhorse. While mainstream rock radio continues to sleep on the guy, his mix of Southern soul and swamp rock attracts more and more fans with each passing year. The guy is a serious talent for sure. Of course, more than a few of you will have serious problems with this list. Hell, you might even think I'm a total jackass who doesn't know a thing about music. That's cool — please leave as many comments as possible, including your own best-of lists. At the same time, definitely keep an open mind when exploring these albums; maybe, just maybe, you'll discover one that will blow your mind.

To check out a bunch of jams from the records listed, simply go to the end of this post. Or, you can check out an expanded playlist here.


20.
10 Years
Feeding the Wolves
Feeding the Wolves, 10 Years' fifth full-length since 2001, is the band's most consistent and fully developed album to date. This shouldn't come as any surprise, considering top-shelf producer Howard Benson has been one of the key behind-the-scenes architects of post-grunge and alternative metal. Benson helps 10 Years balance their twin loves: punishing, Tool-inspired epics ("Dead in the Water," "The Wicked Ones") and brooding balladry ("One More Day"). — Justin Farrar

---

If anything marked world music this year, it was the lack of any big, defining story. In recent years, there's usually been a movement of some kind: gypsy music, desert blues. But 2010 was a year of fragments. The stalwarts continued to release big, commercial albums: Angelique Kidjo's Oyo and Youssou N'Dour's I Bring What I Love. (Neither album made our Top 20.) Musicians from Mali and Cuba joined forces for a long-overdue album that combines the good taste of Buena Vista Social Club with a much more vibrant, spontaneous feel. Meanwhile, the kids kept making club music that defied national boundaries and continued to earn the contempt of many world music critics/purists. And then there were Soundway Records' absolutely essential compilations, which unearthed hidden historical musical movements/moments from around the globe.

In fact, if there was a defining story, perhaps that was it: the use of the compilation to paint a picture of a musical world that would otherwise be inaccessible. Soundway Records dug up marginally accessible scenes from the past, but comps like Ayobaness!, Afrolution Vol. 2, The Sound of Club Secousse, Oi! A Nova Musica Brasileira! and many others exposed scenes currently in motion. These snapshots became essential listening for anyone with big ears but a limited travel budget.

And so we present our Top 20 world music albums of 2010. Did we miss something you loved? Love something you hated? Let us know in the comments section. And also be sure to listen to the Best Songs of 2010: World playlist.

It was as if nobody wanted to admit it was 2010. MGMT released a paean to '60s psyche, Ariel Pink looked back at the '70s and '80s through rose-colored, lo-fi glasses and Broken Bells and Cee-Lo dipped their buckets in the ever-deepening well of '70s soul. LCD Soundsystem plundered '80s avant disco, while Robyn revisited the halcyon days of Swedish pop. On the other end, Janelle Monae peered into the future and saw messianic robots, while Flying Lotus crafted an album that mined the sublime amidst fractured electro future shock. The albums that strained for the zeitgeist -- Kanye West's angry, self-obsessed Fantasy and Arcade Fire's meditation on the mundane crunch of suburban life -- were the most emotionally desperate and revealing. There was more great music, as always, and we've compiled our top 50 albums right here.

Also, be sure to check out our list of the top tracks of the year here.


50.
School of Seven Bells
Disconnect from Desire
Disconnect From Desire sounds like it was recorded in either a church filled with synths or a goth club haunted by the ghost of Siouxsie and the Banshees. The band's sophomore album is not a great departure from its first, though the tracks here are slightly more polished. "Heart Is Strange" has the flirty fun of a Goldfrapp song, while tracks like "I L U" and "Camarilla" have all the elements of a Cocteau Twin dream. The hypnotic coos of identical twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza are nothing but transfixing, as cool to the touch as Benjamin Curtis' dark, jittery guitar and synths. — Stephanie Benson

Albums:

50-31 |

30-11 |

10-1

30.
Matthew Dear
Black City
After his left turn with 2007's Asa Breed, there are no great surprises on Matthew Dear's Black City. Once again, it sounds like he's spent many a long, dark night holed up in his studio, channeling David Bowie and Ian Curtis through the mic while he fiddles with wine-soaked synthesizers. There's more of a full-band feel here, with ropy electric bass lines and daubs of electric guitar, but it's typically broken into off-kilter electronic rhythms. Even in its moments of disco abandon, Dear's Black City is a claustrophobic place to live. — P.S.

---

29.
M.I.A.
MAYA
Much has been made of M.I.A.'s "terrorist" tendencies, a reputation she exacerbates on album three. MAYA* is an aural assault, battering the listener with a barrage of repetitive lyrics and sometimes grating waves of sound. This is an album that is designed to alienate. Yet "Born Free"'s high-octane dissonance is, if not likable, then energizing. And fascinating (once your ears stop ringing) pockets of sweetness and quiet exist: the electro-dancehall "It Takes a Muscle" (a cover of '80s Dutch group Spectral Display), the Bollywood-meets-sacred-harp "Tell Me Why." — Rachel Devitt

Albums:

50-31 |

30-11 |

10-1

10.
Mumford & Sons
Sigh No More
Standing in the front row of an electrified crowd for the opening of Mumford & Sons' set this year at Lollapalooza, I watched a practically hyperventilating girl toss a frayed John Steinbeck paperback at the feet of frontman Marcus Mumford, as if it were a bouquet of roses. As he sang the first lines of "Sigh No More," the titular lead track off the band's debut, Mumford looked down at the book and smiled, as if to say, "How fitting." It's no secret that Mumford borrows lyrical imagery from the Great Depression-era novelist (not to mention fashion tips: he and his band resemble a 1920s traveling revue), but what was a secret, at least around February of 2010, was just how earnest and ebullient an effort he makes doing it. But that secret got out quick. Mumford & Sons spent practically the entire year on the road, moving from small clubs to main stages in a hurry as word of their impassioned sound -- the seeming lovechild of Neutral Milk Hotel and Billy Bragg --got around. Perhaps their success has something to do with context: in these cynical times, Mumford's frightfully earnest messages of love conquering all provide a welcome comfort; the band's somewhat antiquarian sound -- a mishmash of acoustic guitars, mandolins, double-bass, etc. -- is at once a throwback and a reminder that there's still plenty of life to wring from the past, not to mention assorted literary heroes. — G.K.

Maybe it says something about 2010 that the year's most ubiquitous and demographic-defying song was a chirpy '70s soul retread entitled "F*ck You," or that Kanye West's "Power," the most ambitious pop single of the year, paraphrased a quote from Malcom X in an effort to deify hip-hop's reigning enfant terrible. It was that type of year, people, and the songs that we selected as our top 50 tracks are strange, funky, heartfelt and confrontational slices of magnificent pop music. Whether you agree or not, leave us a comment, and don't forget that you can listen to a playlist of all these tracks right here.

Also, be sure to check out our list of the top albums of the year right here.


50. Far*East Movement feat. The Cataracs and Dev, "Like A G6"
49. The Sword, "(The Night the Sky Cried) Tears of Fire"
48. Vybz Kartel ft. Popcaan and Gaza Slim, "Clarks"
47. Ciara, "Ride"
46. M.I.A. , "Born Free"
45. Miranda Lambert, "The House That Built Me"