Seeing how our staff has distinct tastes and opinions on music, it would be nearly impossible for us to determine a 10 Albums of 2010 list as a single entity without excessive bloodshed. Therefore over the past two weeks, we’ve been posting multiple Top 10 Albums of 2010 lists as determined by Loud Loop Press editors and contributors. Today, Loud Loop founder and editor-in-chief Richard Giraldi finally decides to get with the program and reveals his list for Top 10 Albums of 2010.

10. The 1900s – Return Of The Century
Every year there’s a beautifully constructed pop album that really catches the attention of my ear. In 2010, that album was The 1900s’ Return Of The Century. The record, while follows a pretty heady theme about a woman who leaves her life and man for adventures in the desert that’s loosely bases on a true story, is no concept album, so none of the songs need to lean on the others in order to unleash their full grandeur. From the fluttering guitar and loose beat that opens “Lions Fur” to the driving bass and lush guitars of “Babes” to the big orchestral introduction of “Jean Demon”, Return Of The Century is an incredible achievement in pop music that’s great whether it’s looked upon from local or national eyes.

9. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs was the big, bold statement we all expected from the Montreal outfit. However, this time around, the band really wanted to make such a statement without reaching U2-esque heights. And that they did. It’s a powerful piece of art that sounds like someone’s deep reflections on a wasted youth. I grew up in the suburban hell of west Houston – a part of town where there’s every single chain restaurant and discount store you could think of all within a two mile radius. Not to mention the hundreds of dilapidated strip malls. So, when I hear a song like “Ready To Start”, it conjures up the feeling I got when I escaped that place for college and could really begin to live. If there’s one small complaint about The Suburbs, it’s that it’s possibly about 10 minutes too long. That’s not to say that any of the songs aren’t good, however. Every track, from the sleek, new wave groove of “City With No Children” to the buzzing, raucousness of “Month Of May” resonates with urgency and importance. For the 2010 indie culture, The Suburbs is probably the closest thing we’ll get to a version of Born To Run we can call our own.

8. Spoon – Transference
When this album was released in January of 2010, it was instantly a contender for one my favorites for the year, but I reckoned it was far too early to make such a judgment. But as Audrey Leon already stated, though it’s not a drastic departure from Spoon’s other works – it doesn’t need to be. It’s just damn good rock music, and includes he band’s trademark clockwork rhythms, groovy bass lines and reverbed guitar rock that will indeed get your head a noddin’. What’s funny is that it’s so simple, you’d think there would be a million-plus Spoon rip offs these day. But no one does quite like Britt Daniel and Co. “Trouble” blows through with Beatles-like harmonies and “Got Nuffin” has probably the most killer guitar lead melody of any Spoon song yet. It’s not exactly groundbreaking. But Transference instead continues to improve on Spoon’s already honed sounds, and I’ll take it any day of the week.

7. Grinderman – Grinderman 2
There seemed to be a divide in 2010, it’s either sleekly produced pop or the over the top heaviness of metal. But Nick Cave broke the mold with his second installment from his project Grinderman, which oddly enough features a number of members from his primary outfit the Bad Seeds. When the album opening track, “Mickey Mouse and the Goodbye Man”, begins with a huge hi-hat clash into a menacing, chuggin bass line, you know you’re in for the ride of your life. Grinderman puts the dirty back in rock n’ roll. Something that many of today’s groups miss out on. You can be heavy without being metal, but you can also sound well-produced without going the complete pop route. Grinderman 2 is a throwback to the good old times of rock – when singing about death and evil fit perfectly over demented, noisy blues riffs. Speaking of evil, the song of the same name, “Evil!”, sounds a trip through a schizophrenics mind after they’ve taken some bad acid. Yeah, the song and the rest of the record are indeed that good.

6. White Mystery – White Mystery
Speaking of dirty rock ‘n’ roll, while the White Stripes were no where to be found in 2010, leave it to a fire-headed, bro-and-sis duo from Chicago to take charge. White Mystery packs a punch that never lets up on their self-titled debut. You want mammoth fuzzed-out riffage, snarling, reverb-laden vocals and rapid-fire drums? Then White Mystery is your nirvana. Bigger national acts that have in the past used the same formula, looking at you Black Keys, could really learn a thing or two about rock ‘n’ roll from White Mystery. If the blizzard of wild guitar and tornado of drums as the start or “Switch It Off” or the maniacal riff at the start of “Halloween” doesn’t get your heart racing, I’m not sure you have a pulse. If this was just a starting point for White Mystery, I can’t wait for their next move.

5. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
After much hype and drama, Kanye West finally unleashed My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. With all the hoopla surrounding West and his antics, the album could have easily been the 2010 music equivalent of TRON: Legacy. Pretty to look at, but not much underneath. Luckily, it was more like Inception. The record was both beautifully produced and found West having something to say to which was worth listening. He seems to reflect on his time spent as the nation’s enemy number one in 2009 when he disrupted Taylor Swifts MTV Video Awards acceptance speech. The fact that that one incident caused such media and public scrutiny is quite ridiculous in retrospect. And West aims to point out the ridiculousness of the whole ordeal in “Power” when he says, “They say I was the obamanation (abomination) of Obama’s nation/ Well, that’s a pretty bad way to start the conversation/ At the end of day, goddammit, I’m killin’ this shit.” And West speaketh the truth. He does indeed kill with “Power” which offers up an extremely bad ass King Crimson sample. Other songs on the album are just as epic, such as “All Of The Lights”, which features just about everyone under the sun of pop music from Rhianna to Fergie to Alicia Keys to Elton John. The there’s the nine-minute opus, “Runaway”, in which West sarcastically forgives his haters with a toast to the douchebags and assholes and lays down a big electro-vocal coda. Similarly to how Michael Jackson appealed most everyone in the late ’80s and early ’90s, West conquers indie, mainstream and everything in between with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

4. No Age – Everything In Between
No Age’s punky guitar-and-drums attack reached new heights of accessibility on their 2010 release Everything In Between. Instead of adding additional instrumentalists, their sound is fleshed out with noise samples. In songs such as the speeding, “Fever Dreaming”, a weird, almost robotic yell, fills in the gap when drummer Dean Allen Spunt’s vocals end. At first it’s a little odd, but it really makes the song more than just a guitar-and-drum rocker. It gives it depth, which is why Everything In Between works so well. The songs are smartly and tightly written and are built for those who haven’t always been a fan of No Age’s noise-rock assault. “Skinned” offers up a groovy, clean guitar shuffle that’s nearly delectable before breaking down to a chorus that features digitized gear sounds. While the use of soundscapes really takes over the majority of the album, No Age know when to step back. “Shred And Transcend” is back-to-basics surf, garage rock at its finest and doesn’t once let up off the gas. Everything In Between is a garage rock album that’s 21st century-ready. Sure, guitars and drums are fun an all, but No Age know that at some point the sound needs to shift, so why not make that shift a bit unconventional?

3. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
I’ll be honest. When this year began, I was an LCD Soundsystem naysayer. I pulled one out of the ol’ snobbery book and proclaimed them overrated when This Is Happening was released just because everyone (critics, fans, etc.) loved the album. I had only heard bits and pieces and wasn’t very impressed. Then came Pitchfork Music Festival in July 2010. LCD Soundsystem closed on Saturday night, and only a few minutes in I realized what a terrible mistake I had made. LCD Soundsystem were not only the good, they were great. Like really, really great. A few weeks later, I found myself owning their entire catalog including This Is Happening, which is no doubt one of the best of the year. It’s fun dance rock that’s genuinely smart. “Dance Yourself Clean” will indeed make you dance whether you want to or not with it’s quirky synth play and funky beat. “Drunk Girls” is probably the most FM radio ready anthem that we’ve heard in years, and “I Can Change” features James Murphy doing his best vocal performance of, like, ever and gives most everyone on the so-called “Top 40″ a run for their money. LCD Soundsystem aren’t the Talking Heads and the Talking Heads aren’t LCD Soundsystem, but they’re in the a similar arena of being consistently good while carving out their own wonderful, exciting niche.

2. High On Fire – Snakes for the Divine
You didn’t think I was going to have a Top 10 list without some true metal on it, did you? After I gave the top spot to Mastodon in 2009, you had to know this was coming. 2010 in metal belonged to High On Fire. Snakes For The Divine simply crushes skulls, massacres villages and destroys cities without even a hint of shame. Plus, the fact that the album opens with the titles track, “Snakes for the Divine”, is possibly just too much of a good thing. It’s hard to listen to the whole song and not instantly hit the back button on your iPod or discmas or walkman or whatever when it’s over. It’s eight-minutes of pure unadulterated kick ass metal. But the record isn’t one track long. The rest is just as good. From the murky sludge of “Bastard Samurai” to the wicked leads of “How Dark We Pray” and the lightning double bass of “Frost Hammer”, Snakes For The Divine is nearly unbeatable. Nearly. Obviously if just the thought of metal makes you queasy, then steer clear. But for those of us that enjoy massive riffs, pummeling drums, paint-peeling basslines and devil horn-ready shrieks, Snakes for the Divine is it. I think Ross Meyerson probably agrees.

1. MGMT – Congratulations
Everyone once and a while an album comes out that’s so divisive, it’s either truly absolute shit or absolute genius. This year’s candidate for that album was MGMT’s Congratulations. My problem is that the record never got a fair shake from anyone except for a few critics. Fans instantly hated it simply because they heard from their Four Loko-drinking, croc and aviator-wearing friends that it “sucked” because it was “different,” and there wasn’t another “Kids” or “Electric Feel” on it. This is true. There wasn’t another club ready hit anywhere on Congratulations. But since when did that make it dismissable? Instead, this time around MGMT let their weirdness hang out with some extremely well-crafted tunes that teeter on the edge of ’60s-era psychedelic rock and ’50s-era surf rock. But let’s be clear, Congratulations is not derivative in the least. It sounds fresh, it sounds modern, but most of all, it sounds completely original. “Song For Dan Treacy” is either the weirdest folk song I’ve ever heard or the best cartoon theme song I’ve ever heard. “Flash Delirium” is a jam that wouldn’t sound out of place on Mr. Bungle’s Disco Volante and seems to be the band’s commentary about their sudden rise to fame with hits such as “Kids” and a reaction to it – an anti-single if you will. So, it’s ironic seeing how the song was the first single from Congratulations. But the record isn’t just reactionary, MGMT etch out some beautifully crafted pop moments, which are featured in the 12-minute psych jam out “Siberian Breaks” and the warm folk blanket of the album’s title track, “Congratulations”. This album earns my top spot for two reasons: First, it’s bold at a time when following up a hit debut record with such would be considered career suicide. Second, the songs are simply great. That’s all there is to it. There’s nothing complicated about this album, which is what I found many were claiming during it’s initial backlash. Congratulations isn’t even a huge departure from MGMT’s sound on Oracular Spectacular (see “The Handshake” or “Pieces of What”). So, if you haven’t, clear your mind and give Congratulations a fair listen. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

10. Foals – Total Life Forever
Though released in the Spring, I didn’t give Foals’ sophomore effort Total Life Forever a listen until the late Fall and as I listened it triggered the thought “I need to start coming up with a Top 10 of the year list, and I think this is going to have to make it.”  It did get the final spot on my list though truthfully there were at least half a dozen other worthy albums out there this year. But I’m sticking with Foals because of their charismatic songwriting and unambivalent elctro-dance approach.  In a time where so many good records still suffer from a too-chill-to-be-bothered-to-really-care approach to vocals tracks and rhythms that all hover in the mid range, Foals brings an invigorating alternative with fast paced and high energy effort.  Snappy drums, crisp bass lines and driving and fluctuating tempos are all punctuated by lead singer Yannis Philippakis’ biting cadence.  There are plenty of tension building peaks like on the urgent “Black Gold” that stack upon each other until you’re desperate for release which comes finally as a subtle denouement. Over and over just as quickly as the energy builds, it dissipates into gentle resolutions.  Foals sound is like a rubber-band, gradually stretched to its limits of taughtness and held to its breaking point, only to be steadily brought back to ease.  Philippakis vocals swirl and swoon creating a mood both slightly haunting and inviting. The album could stand to have a bit better balance, a little more coalescing flow.  Nevertheless it’s still a stimulating collection of powerful dance-rock.

9. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
With the sometimes nostalgic, sometimes snarkishly critical and sometimes romantic sentiments that are drizzled all across The Suburbs what struck me most wasn’t what the band added to their sound but what was subtracted.  The Suburbs in most ways lacks the nervous energy that’s come to be expected of Arcade Fired and particularly lead singer Win Butlers anxious persona and delivery.  Win and his fellow mates are more at ease on this album than ever before, taking a Big Picture look at their roots and at the same time assessing the immediate world around them.  Arcade Fire have proven to be masters of the concept album with their first two albums Funeral and Neon Bible. Here, The Suburbs as a literal concept are presented as a tug-of-war between a love and feeling of nostalgia with the staleness and loneliness of average American life.  Songs like “Modern Man” and “Sprawl” poke at the generic nature of suburban life, whereas “City With No Children” longs for a second chance at living the life outside of Houston again.  It all comes together with a surprisingly calming message.  There’s an overall calmness to the album, again something I find rare from this band, they are looking more inward rather than trying so hard to shout outward.

8. MGMT – Congratulations
Congratulations is a curve ball – a 1998 Kerry Wood curve ball.  It’s a major but not all together that drastic of a deviation from their excellent debut Oracular Spectacular.  Congratulations is missing the easily definable hits like “Electric Feel” and “Kids” -  the stand out party tracks from Oracular that brought MGMT to the masses.  Instead of building off those tunes Congratulations took a turn toward the other lesser known songs like “4^th Dimensional Transition” and came out as surfer-psychedelic-space-acid-rock. While it may appear the band deviated from their past, instead they simply focused their efforts on a different aspect of their sound than most people, including myself, thought they would.  We’ve ended up not with the next college party soundtrack but a soundtrack to a really good acid trip.  Look up there at the album cover which is truly a visual representation of the album:  21^st century surfer rock.  Some of the tunes like “It’s Working” and “Brian Eno” have a Dick Dale surfer rumble feel. “Flash Delerium” came from the Syd Barrett playbook.  Most impressive is “Siberian Breaks” another great, multi-sectional, multi-textual and quite long song (I’m a sucker for a long song) that is the masterpiece and centerpiece of the album.  MGMT took a risk – by not taking the easy path and by making the album they wanted to make, not the album they were expected to make – and it paid off, congrats to them.

7. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
I’ll admit it took more than a couple of listens before finding genius in Gorillaz Plastic Beach.  I’m still not the biggest fan of Snoop’s intro to the album and it always takes a few songs to shake it.  But once you get into the meat of Plastic Beach, the rest of the guests fall into place and shine. Bobby Womack is the sung hero of the album, delivering soulful, gutwrentching vocals with each lyric like the sound of a wise man giving sage advice. He first hits in on with a verse on “Stylo” and it’s absolutely knee-buckling.  He continues to provide that type of authenticity throughout an album that addresses the lack of realness in the world. Along those lines, Lou Reed on “Some Kind of Nature” proves both that he’s sounding really old these days and he’s still seriously kicking ass. Mos Def is all over Plastic Beach and coupled with Damon Albarn’s thick as molasses bass lines and drum tracks you get hip-hop almost without really noticing. Plastic Beach perhaps has the most overall flow and vibe of the band’s albums.  Its an overt concept album of really cool songs with smart lyrics/raps and of course killer beats with an increased focused on orchestration, all tied together under the concept of the futuristic survival-land Plastic Beach.  Gorillaz atmosphere is there, but it feels like the subject matter and the music is happier and lighter.  That atmosphere is what makes Gorillaz so fucking good – the way putting on one of their records immediately sucks you into to a different world as Albern’s.

6. Maps & Atlases – Perch Patchwork
I’ve already said a lot about Map & Atlases debut LP Perch Patchwork in my review on the site earlier this year. I won’t rehash the album and what I liked here but I will point out the reasons why this album made my Top 10 list this year.  2010 is packed with really great albums yet Perch makes my list first and foremost because throughout the year when someone asked me to turn them on to something new, something different and something good I repeatedly pointed them – people of all musical lineage – to this album and nearly without fail within days I heard back positive regards. It’s also been my go to album in many situations, particularly because you can press play and let spin without worry, it’s great on road trips, at parties, on the bus to work, whenever you need something that will hold with a strong spine.  Check out the brutally honest anti-love song “The Charm,” and the album’s strongest track and a delightful ditty “Israeli Caves” as well  the closing title track if you want to skip to the goods, but if you make it that far go ahead spend a little time and give this whole  great collection of work a spin.

5. Broken Bells -  Broken Bells
Once the chorus of the album opening “The High Road” hit I knew that what had resulted from the collaboration between Danger Mouse and The Shins’ James Mercer was indeed going to be sick.  What did in fact result was an album laced with the familiar and slightly melancholic vocals of Mercer, delivered with his unique style and phrasing coupled with Danger Mouse’s compositional genius and killer beats.  Despite Mercer’s firing the other members of The Shins and the future of that band in the air, this shouldn’t be mistaken for a The Shins album. Sure, Mercer’s vocals are distinct and recall his former band, and his songwriting contribution is apparent, but just as distinct is Danger Mouse’s contributing song craftsmanship and production. Not to mention he’s a damn fine drummer who lives deep in the pocket. The most killer of beats on the album is on the thumping “Your Head Is On Fire” which bounces along beside the occasional hand claps and Mercer’s falsetto.  With ten songs clocking in at 35:50 it goes by rather quickly partly because the grooves are so steady and driving, propelling forward from track to track.  There’s a hint of early 60’s surfer rock on “The Mall and Misery” and a similar psychedelic turn with a spacey organ riff on “Mongrel Heart” parts of an overall vintage sound that characterizes the album.

4. LCD Soundsytem – This Is Happening
James Murphy is our generation’s David Byrne and LCD Soundsytem is our generation’s Talking Heads.  Sadly, like The Heads, it appears LCD Soundsystem’s life is being cut too short all too soon – but at least with a lot less hate.  If This Is Happening does turn out to be Murphy and his crew’s swan song it’s hard to argue they left anything in the studio.  This is their Fear of Music, their Remain In Light with more drum machines and less congas.  Murphy is the master of the opening track dating back to “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” on their self titled debut and his streak continues with the slowly building “Dance Yourself Clean.” The rhythm is hypnotic – a hint at what comes on the ensuing songs.  While the catchy “Drunk Girls” isn’t my favorite song I can appreciate the heaps of ironic potential it possesses.  It’s also the shortest track on the album, with all of the rest topping out past the five minute mark. The long song (big fan) is a signature of LCD Soundsytem’s, Murphy’s always unafraid to push a groove to its limits. This is the type of record you keep turning the volume up on as one song progresses to the next.  The pulsating drumming on tunes like “Pow Pow,” “One Touch” and well pretty much all of them, is like audio ecstasy immediately causing your heartrate to spike and an uncontrollable desire to dance.  The contemplative “You Wanted a Hit” gives Murphy a chance to explain what’s painfully obvious now – he simply wanted to make badass music for a while, and so he did, and that’s that.

3. The Morning Benders – Big Echo
Often what’s makes a great album is its ability to take you to a place, an environment, a space.  The Morning Benders with Big Echo take you to a place that’s warm but raw, airy but truthful, inviting but introspective, assured but slightly naïve. What makes this album the one I kept finding myself going back to for spin after spin this year is the dichotomy that exists in lead singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Christopher Chu’s hints of undeveloped brilliance paired with matured restraint.  You get the idea on songs like the gorgeously poetic opening “Excuses” and “All Day Light”   Chu could be putting out overly complex and baroque epics but instead hits a more interesting stride by pulling back a little and letting the instruments and melodies they produce be the focus.  The clean, straightforward production, done with the help of Grizzly Bear bassist Chris Taylor, makes it feel like the band is sitting next you to, playing just for you, with the sole intent of keeping you interested and entertained. There are studio tricks here and there, but again, restrained just the right amount to be noticed but not ever becoming heavy-handed or extraneous.  San Francisco and the West Coast could have gotten production credit for the laid-back attitude that underlies the entire record.  Chu’s lyrics paint romantic landscapes and hover around love and human interaction and the music of Big Echo washes over you like a warm ocean wave that together asks to be heard again and again.

2. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
With his first three albums, The College Dropout, Late Registration and Graduation,  Kanye West was repeatedly stating to the world or at least anyone who would listen “You all are assholes and I’m the fucking best.”  Then he made a dance album 808’s & Heartbreak and publicly acted like a douchebag on more than one occasion and went into hiding.  Now he’s back with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but this time his message is “I know I’m an asshole but I’m still the fucking best.”  He’s right.  Granted I’m not necessarily an expert, but no one, short of Lil Wayne or The Roots, is creating hip hop this creative, this smart, and this compelling.  West put together a killer roster of guests – the best of the best from an array of genres – to bolster his already larger than life thematic persona.  He’s no more humble than before but rather is accepting of his bravado’s negative effect on people’s perception of him. This record is Rock n’ Roll.  It’s hip-hop. It’s satire.  It’s a statement on our culture.  The song “Runaway” is an anthem, announcing a toast to douchebags and assholes, albeit ever so sarcastically, before subtly shifting with the introduction of strings and a Robert Fripp like distorted guitar solo into an extended and beautifully melodic instrumental ending. West has the ability to step aside and give space and deference to  such a long musical interlude but also has the guts to put the section in at all.  It’s a long song (again, a sucker) but it’s exactly what makes this album so impressive. There’s no filler on this album, no fluff, it’s lean and mean and is just about perfect.

1. Sufjan Stevens -  The Age of Adz
“I’m not fucking around” Sufjan Stevens sings on “I Want to be Well” the tenth and second to last track on The Age of Adz and clearly, he is not. Stevens not only had the best album of the year with The Age of Adz, he also had the best EP of the year with All Delighted People.  I’ll stick to the former here, a truly forward looking, innovative and captivating album, but do check out the EP as well.  With Age of Adz we get the symphonic bursts and orchestral swells typical of Stevens. The elaborate vocal harmonies and backing strings and horns are there as usual, but added to the mix this time around are synthesizers, drum machines and some of the best use of auto-tune I’ve ever heard.  There’s an overall more electronic feel to the album while still maintaining a sense of organicness, like on stand out songs “Too Much” and the title track.  He manages to craft sonic layer after sonic layer without ever sounding overly busy or cluttered.  And then there’s the searing, Ira Kaplan-esque, guitar tone he uses on “Vesuvius” and the album closing opus “Impossible Soul” that simply jumps out of the speakers like and dances around like bolts of static electricity. “Impossible Soul,” clocking in a 25:35, covers a beautiful and wide ranging spectrum of  melodies and themes and is my song of the year (love the long song).  This is the anti-chillwave album and in fact it’s no “wave” at all it is however the best of the year.

Seeing how our staff has distinct tastes and opinions on music, it would be nearly impossible for us to determine a 10 Albums of 2010 list as a single entity without excessive bloodshed. Therefore in the next two weeks, we’ll be posting multiple Top 10 Albums of 2010 lists as determined by Loud Loop Press editors and contributors. Today we kick things off with contributor Andy Kondrat’s list for Top 10 Albums of 2010.

A couple thoughts before we begin on this cavalcade of revelry that is the MOST IMPORTANT TOP TEN LIST EVER.

First off, even though this list is being compiled at year-end as a, you know, year-end list, it’s largely provisional for two reasons. One is that my opinion will change on most of the records on this list (as well as the ones I left off) as soon as tomorrow. There’s like a 112 percent chance that I’ll decide in a week that Spoon’s Transference is the best thing that’s ever been recorded, EVER, and that Four Tet is just a douchebag with a computer. The other reason is that, as always, there was more music put out this year than I could listen to in a twelve-month period. I didn’t get a chance to love OR hate Beach House or Big Boi for example, because I haven’t listened to either. Kind of limits the scope of my possible opinions.

Secondly, I want to thank our Fearless Leader, Richard Giraldi, for not making us also do a top ten tracks of the year list. I would have felt a little embarrassed trying to defend why Rihanna would have taken like two of the top three slots on my list FUCK YOU SHE’S GOT CATCHY SONGS. Okay, sorry. Had to get that out of my system. But I will fight you if you try and tell me that “Rude Boy” isn’t sexy as hell or that “What’s My Name” has been overplayed. I. Will. Fight. You.

On to the list!

10. Les Savy Fav – Root for Ruin
Les Savy Fav has been around for years now, and has numerous albums to their credit, and yet are still (perhaps rightly so) better known for their insanely insane live shows full of insanity. Much of the criticism regarding their studio albums, then, revolved around the fact that they just couldn’t recreate the excitement of the live show. Instead of quieting those critics, on Root for Ruin Les Savy Fav didn’t try to slam out a noisefuck like they do live, and instead did something new: they made a great rock album. Les Savy Fav has always had awesome songs, but Root for Ruin matches up the great songwriting with a feel that pervades the record, subsuming the frantic energy underneath the surface and trading it for killer hooks and epic choruses. I’m definitely not trying to say Les Savy Fav has slowed down or kept it clean, but on Root for Ruin, you can sing along.

9. Appetite – Scattered Smothered Covered
I don’t know who Appetite is (though my research implies it’s one dude) or how long he/they have been making music, but whatever the back story, Appetite’s Scattered Smothered Covered is really fucking good apartment pop, grabbing a little from They Might Be Giants, a little from Smoking Popes, and a little from what you can only get from incessantly listening to music for years and years until the music you love is stored in your veins and just pours out when you write. This record works in headphones or blasting through speakers. This record is fun and melancholic. This record will get inside your head, and you’ll be thrilled about it all day (since these guys/this guy isn’t easily searchable on the interwebs: appetite.bandcamp.com).

8. Dan Sartain – Lives
A surprise entry (to myself) on the top ten, Dan Sartain brings us an album that is at once super fun and a little mean. For as simple the music is, the sound of Lives is relatively difficult to pin down, as Sartain pulls from his Birmingham, Alabama blues roots, south-of-the-border riffage, garage rock mentality, rockabilly vibe, surf rock reverb, and punk menace to bring you an album that could play on repeat in your favorite dive bar, with the crowd enjoying it more and more as the night went on. It can be a toe-tapper or a sing-alonger, depending on how much bourbon you’ve got in your system.

7. Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma
There’s so much going on in this one record that I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of how amazingly well-crafted it is, and yet I still can’t stop listening to Cosmogramma. I suppose we can call this electronic music, but Flying Lotus goes way, way beyond that simple label, throwing every genre into his hopper and pulling out crazy shit that comes together so well you’d think it was easy to create a masterpiece. Of course, if were easy to build a song around the sound of ping pong balls like in “Table Tennis” that makes you put down whatever you’re doing and pay attention, I would have been on other peoples’ top ten lists years ago.

6. Aziz Ansari – Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening
Yes, I know, I’m putting a comedy album in my top ten. But for pure joy, Azis Ansarireally made my year a whole lot better than it could have been. This performance is non-stop hilarity, and listening to it over and over again never gets old. The energy Ansari puts into his delivery about the most ridiculous of topics got me excited just listening to the record. More than once this year I’m sure I creeped out a random person I walked past on the street, giggling loudly to myself, and we only have Aziz Ansari to blame.

5. LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
Okay, so we’ve all heard this album, and we’ve all read a shitload of stuff about how great LCD Soundsystem is, so we don’t really need another blurb blowing James Murphy and all he’s done to save music or whatever it is we’re blowing him for these days. But on this record, Murphy wears his influences on his sleeve even more obviously than he previous two records—a feat in its own right—but the result is an album that felt familiar the first time you listened to it while simultaneously exploding your mind over and over again. The dude’s got talent, and it would be a shame to leave him off the list just because everyone agrees with me on that.

4. Girl Talk – All Day
Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, learned some new tricks for his latest release, and All Day marks the first Girl Talk record that stands as a creative musical achievement of its own, as opposed to a creative mash-up achievement. The mixes are inspired, they go on long enough to sink in, and Gillis has realized that it’s pretty awesome when the song that provides the rhythm can also later provide the melody. And speaking of melody, the care Gillis pays to the tonal aspects of the mash-ups far exceeding his previous outings, making some of the songs, well, beautiful in their own right. Though, let’s be fair: any album that mixed “Rude Boy” with “Waiting Room” probably would have made my top ten this year.

3. Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
I’m not sure I expected this album to make the top ten, and I really didn’t see it making the top three. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized not only how much enjoyment I got out of The Monitor this year, but just how fucking good it is. As easy as it is to fuck up loud-and-proud punk rock, it’s just as hard to do the opposite and create punk music that’s good enough to stand up to the premise of a concept album about, oh let’s say, the Civil War. But that’s what Titus Andronicus have done, and the results are a brutal and brutally fun aural assault rife with sing-along lines and energy enough to help this country meet our renewable power goals (if we could ever pass them! high five, HuffPo!). There’s anger and angst on this album that capture what a punk band should, and the whole record reminds us that sometimes, musical complexity can be exchanged for awesomeness. And that’s something you can pump your fist to.

2. Four Tet – There is Love in You
If you listened to this record and didn’t like it, I’m just gonna go ahead and say that you don’t have a soul. No judgment in that: you’re just a soulless, heartless bastard that will die alone. Gorgeous at every turn, There is Love in You never overdoes what it’s doing, which, if you’re unfamiliar, is meticulously structured electronic music that allows each song enough open space to breathe while also complexly layering chopped up instruments and vocals to create a lush symphony perfect to listen to or really listen to. It’s a testament to the album that I can play the whole thing not noticing when one song ends and the next begins, or I can pay attention and each time a new song starts think to myself, “God I love this song.”

1. Besnard Lakes – Are the Roaring Night
I’ve tried explaining this album a few times, and it’s never come out right. Basically, um…kinda trippy noise for parts that always seem to resolve into epic rock complete with driving drums, sweet-ass harmonies, wailing guitars, falsetto vocals, the works. This album is the perfect synthesis of the cool parts of classic rock with the swirling ether of noise other Canadian weirdos like Swan Lake make so well. There’s no irony in this balls-out rocking, and the enjoyment you’ll get out of it is completely genuine, too.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z6Ft0j9tK8

LCD Soundsystem at the Aragon | Photo by Richard Giraldi

There might not be another band that have had a better year than LCD Soundsystem. Their 2010 release, This Is Happening, was met with both critical acclaim and commercial success. Their summer stint on the festival circuit including a marvelous set to close out Pitchfork Fest’s Saturday night, which may have been the best performance of the weekend, has proven they’re one of the top bands out right now. That said, LCD Soundsystem are on their victory lap playing for the third time, soon to be fourth time after tonight’s Riviera show, in Chicago. If there’s any downside to these two Chicago stops on their current tour, it’s that this might be the last we see of LCD Soundsystem for a while.

Before LCD Soundsystem’s Pitchfork Festival 2010 appearence, front man James Murphy was interviewed by Time Out Chicago. Murphy talked about how long the tour was and wanting to get out of the music game citing his age of 32. Obviously the tone of his statements don’t translate well through the monitor, but what if part of him really means it? That would be the ultimate shame.

On Monday night, LCD Soundsystem made dancing fools out of a sold out crowd at the Aragon. Despite his words, Murphy didn’t look like anyone who was growing weary of his day job – creating some of the tightest, danceable art-rock this side of the Talking Heads. Unlike other front men, Murphy doesn’t need to pander to the crowd. His passion is in his execution such as when he holds that end vocal hook a few extra seconds on the popcorn-synth sounds of “Dance Yrself Clean”.

That’s not to say the rest of the band don’t shine in their own right. What makes LCD Soundsystem a great live experience is the number of talented musicians on stage who work in perfect syncopation and harmony. Nothing is lost from the studio takes when the computerized rock history lesson of “Losing My Edge” or the bombastic, digital flare-ups of “Someone Great” are translated to the live setting. And yet, the band still manage keep things loose, which gives most LCD Soundsystem songs their undeniable charm.

While guitarist David Scott Stone laid down a simple, fuzzed out solo on the punchy “Drunk Girl” or Nancy Whang sent the crowd into a frenzy with the tiny piano melody from “All My Friends”, drummer Pat Mahoney never over extended himself and kept the beats playful. It’s that kind of musical relationship that really shined through including on the epic clix of “Yeah”, which saw the band evolve into a noisy, electro-mess but still rhythmic enough to keep the crowd moving.

While some gave LCD Soundsystem slack for closing with their Sinatra-influenced number “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” at Chicago’s Pitchfork Fest earlier this summer, the band closed with the smooth vibes of This Is Happening track “Home” this time around. The song reflects the band in a way as it drives along a simple arrangement, but when pulled together with Murphy’s sweet crooning, it’s irresistible. Whether or not LCD Soundsystem continues on as a band past this tour, it’s probably best to, “Forget your past, this is your chance now”, and live, like the band, in the present. Enjoy it while you can.

First up, Wavves brings their brand of noisy surf pop to Lincoln Hall on September 12 (I guess the 90-day radius clause has been eased?). Also, Cymbals Eat Guitars will join The Thermals at Logan Square Auditorium on October 3, and the country-folk of Mumford & Sons swings its way into the Vic on October 31 a.k.a Halloween.

But that’s not all! The lovely Neko Case is coming back with The New Pornographers on October 14 to the Riviera Theatre. Also, during the festival the Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot tweeted that Hot Chip are planning a Chicago stop with LCD Soundsystem (!) in December at the Aragon.

Speaking of LCD Soundsystem, there’s no shortage of bands from Pitchfork Festival 2010 on their way back here either.

Sunday, Sepetmber 18, finds Pitchforkers Titus Andronicus at the Metro along with fellow festival acts Best Coast and Free Energy. Neon Indian will also hit up the Metro on October 11, and Surfer Blood bring their power pop to Lincoln Hall on October 14, the same night the New Pornographers hit the Riv (Decisions!). And lets not forget Broken Social Scene at the Vic on October 2 at Pavement who play the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park on September 13 with No Age.

And that’s just a tip of the iceberg! Our excellent commentariat have picked up the slack where we left off. Scroll down for Chicago return dates for The Dirty Projectors, The Walkmen, Stars, Social Distortion and more!

So, there’s two ways you can look at this. Either if you miss the big two Chicago fests, you’ll probably get chance to catch the acts again soon, or $90 (Pitchfork) or $215 (Lollapalooza) for a three-day pass to see all those great bands is still a pretty good deal. Now, when’s Arcade Fire coming back?

The Pitchfork Music Festival is a week behind us so I wanted to take a quick look back at what took place, and break down the various good and bad aspects of the fest.

It’s hard to argue that the event wasn’t a resounding success. Outside of the oppressive heat that always seems to show up around P4K weekend there are few major complaints from me and from what I gather most everyone else that attended.

Let’s start with the good:

- The Music

This year’s lineup was the best compilation of acts brought together since the festival’s inception and the addition of a full comedy lineup on Friday was a solid improvement. The reunited Pavement’s performance proved they are truly the definition of a headliner. Any questions about whether LCD Soundsystem deserved top-billing was quickly squashed in moments shortly after they took the stage and the festival by storm. LCD Soundsytem’s set stood out from the rest as the biggest, baddest, kicking-ass-and-taking-names show of the weekend. And they had lasers. Broken Social Scene, Wolf Parade, St. Vincent, Beach House and Lightning Bolt were other highlights for me.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwTdYoyCMt4

- The Experience

I have to say, the crowd at the festival was and typically is one of the most well behaved and under control groups at an event this size. I saw no fights, no arrests, no OD’s, no one spun out on drugs and no one intoxicatedly stumbling around searching for their shoes. Cheers to you, fellow goers, for handling your shit despite the heat and humidity and keeping the place relatively clean by utilizing the abundant recycling bins. Credit also needs to go to the security and medical staffs at Union Park. Security was present and visible without being overbearing and the medical staff was courteous and prompt with care.  Thanks for the free sunscreen at the first aid tent too.

- The Vending

Having previously spent more than half a decade as a vegetarian I was more than pleased to see all of the vegetarian and vegan options made available to attendees. And there were plenty of other tasty and varied options for the omnivores too. Everything seemed reasonably priced and well stocked too. The Flatstock area with a collection of concert poster artists was great to stroll down and interact with the folks behind the prints. Equally impressive was the CHIRP Record Fair and Other Delights tent that was home to a wide range of labels from all over. I had to consciously stop myself from going in there to feed my vinyl addiction (though, I did manage to pick up a few choice Numero Group releases).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQXgwkvu_Pg

All right, now here’s the bad:

-The Music

A common complaint in years past has been that with the quality of sound at the festival. While I will give credit to the overall improved sound from years past, several sets (Broken Social Scene to name one) suffered technical difficulties and particularly on Sunday there was excessive sound bleeding from one stage to the other. This year’s lineup lacked a little ‘umph’ relying heavily on chill-wave and dream-pop acts. So when Lightning Bolt finally interjected some angry energy into the lazy Sunday afternoon lineup it was welcomed but lead to a rather abrupt shift once the delightful St. Vincent followed. A more balanced flow to the acts would be nice. At the risk of agreeing with DeRo, Panda Bear’s set was a major disappointment. Different time, different place – maybe it would have been better, but the soundtrack to an Acid-Test was not what I was expecting.

- The Experience

A lot of people went to the festival again this year and while the crowd isn’t too large per se, by the end of Day 3 it started to feel a bit claustrophobic in Union Park. In a perfect world the organizers would sell a few less tickets to make getting around and finding some shade a bit easier. The area around the Balance Stage was especially congested with people on Sunday. Both getting inside the area close enough to see the band and finding a spot to take in the performance was a chore and prevented me from getting over to see a band I wanted to check out. Some of the overcrowding would be alleviated if the organizers would allow for re-entry. My biggest knock on P4K is the lack of re-entry meaning if you want to catch a band at noon you’re going to be there all day long. Why they won’t allow people to come and go is beyond me and is the biggest complaint I have every year. Maybe take a cue from Lollapalooza and only allow 3-Day pass holders the opportunity? Something, please.

- The Vending

Heineken. Again, kudos for the abundance of recycling bins and focus on being green. But the only thing green about switching from Goose Island, which is brewed right down the street, to Heineken, is the label on the new beer. No doubt Heineken’s sponsorship dollars went a long way to help stage the festival but to do so at the cost of walking away from a local brewer is as skunky as the beer they opted for. And what’s the deal with having to wait in one long line to buy a damn drink ticket only to have to get in another long line to actually purchase the drink?  If the food vendors can handle cash, why couldn’t the beer and water vendors?

So yeah, complaints are few and compliments are plentiful. Keep up the good work Pitchfork and try not to piss off any bands you might want to headline the fest next year so that they’ll allow you to webcast them.

Pitchfork Music Festival Day Two has wrapped. Saturday brought even more intense heat and sunlight that wrecked havoc on not only the crowd but some performers. However, a few acts managed to channel the heat into powerful performances, which were truly more engaging that most of Friday’s sets. Yesterday’s winners? Definitely Titus Andronicus, Wolf Parade and LCD Soundsystem. So, before you return to Union Park today, check out our complete wrap up of Pitchfork Fest Saturday…

8:35 p.m.: LCD Soundsystem

The first noticeable thing about LCD Soundsystem’s set to close out Pitchfork Saturday was the crowd size. The audience was so massive that people were pushed back farther than the Connector stage, which is literally across the park. From there it people were spread almost up against the food tents. If you weren’t behind the Aluminum stage’s sound tent, then you were probably in the densely packed area directly in front of the stage. For those who were, I’m sure it was more LCD Sweatsystem than sound. But by that point, the sun had set and every once in a while a brilliant nearly-cool breeze would swoop down from the sky, which was needed for all those who packed themselves tightly near the stage.

Now about the show, LCD Soundsystem’s set was the performance of the weekend so far and few would argue this fact. A disco-punk dance party was promised, and that’s what we got. The band kicked it into high gear with the rousing, tongue-in-cheek party anthem “Drunk Girls” from their 2010 release This Is Happening. Then proceeded to follow it up with a double-whammy in the true sense of “Daft Punk Is Playing At My House” and “All My Friends”. The latter was the catalyst for a beautiful moment in Pitchfork Music Festival history. The staccato piano strikes, head-bobbing beat and slow, mechanical guitar riff lifted the spirits of festival goers. At that one moment, there wasn’t a still body in all of Union Park.

At one point during the song, a group of people in the back of the crowd started dancing in the “train” formation and would circle a section of the crowd and return picking up more dancers in between. It was this kind of unbridled enthusiasm in the crowd and from hypnotic, engaging front man James Murphy that made LCD’s set such a success. Their songs were smile-inducing and, even more so, irresistibly dance-y. The band closed their epic set with “New York I Love You”, which was an acceptable finish. And even though the song has a downtrodden tone for NYC, it’s Chicago. And as the prideful Chicagoans we are, any song about New York causes us to roll our eyes ever so slightly.

LCD Soundsystem played no encore. But honestly, that would have been overkill. LCD Soundsystem thrilled and excited an otherwise hot and tired crowd of thousands. This is how a headliner is supposed sound and approach their closing spot, and LCD Soundsystem were a major upgrade over Friday’s subdued Modest Mouse conclusion. Once James Murphy and Co. hit their stride, they never looked back, and neither did anyone else at Pitchfork Music Festival 2010.
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6:55 p.m.: Wolf Parade

If you’ve ever been to a music festival, then you know how timing is everything. This seemed to be the case during Wolf Parade. The Montreal indie rockers got the lucky slot on the Aluminum stage right before LCD Soundsystem and did not take it for granted. Their set was one of those where you know you’re seeing a band break through to the casual music fan. Wolf Parade thrilled the crowd with heavily synth rock antics, which were pushed to the brink by jagged, gritty guitar interplay. Additionally, the band featured no lulls or breaks in between songs. Upon first hitting the stage, lead singer and keyboardist Spencer Krug informed the crowd that they didn’t have a lot to say and would just use the time to play as many songs as they could. That they did.

But what was most promising about Wolf Parade is that underneath their guitar-synthesizer-in-harmony combo were extremely danceable grooves and soaring melodies, which recalled ELO is they were from a dark and distant future. Their set was almost a proclamation of surviving the day’s intense heat. As the sun was finally setting, the crowd warmed up quite a bit to the music. Murmurs could be heard throughout the audience about how great the band was even though they had never heard Wolf Parade before. It was the first time that Pitchfork Music Festival really resembled a festival with everyone smiling and dancing in unison. Set of the day? Definitely a strong candidate.
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5:35 p.m.: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

While initially seeming like a fish out of water at the Pitchfork Music Festival, Jon Spencer did his best to rock the sun-soaked crowd with his country fried, bluesy riffage. One of the most memorable aspects of Spencer’s set was his black leather pants, which he began to profusely sweat through during the half way point. Still, that’s not to take anything away from the music. The Blues Explosion’s guitar-heavy attack did get the small crowd moving. Unfortunately, by this point in the day, many had had enough of the sun and took to the CHIRP Record Fair and any shady area for some cooling.
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4:55 p.m.: The Smith Westerns

When Chicago’s The Smith Westerns originally took the stage, they indeed looked young. But when front man Cullen Omori said, “We can’t drink here cause we’re underage, so you should drink for us,” it took the crowd off guard with laughter to follow. Young or not, the Smith Western sure can play. This four piece play slinky-garage rock that bubbles with early Bowie-like glams. Their songs were brimming with teen angst, which obviously makes sense seeing as they are teenagers. While not as rowdy as say Atlanta’s Black Lips, the Smith Westerns offered up that same youthful energy, which is just what the Balance stage needed after a bit of a lackluster set from Dam-Funk.
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3:35 p.m.: Titus Andronicus

The unrelenting heat seemed to slow many down in the middle of the late afternoon when the sun was its hottest, but New Jersey’s anthemic indie-garage rockers Titus Andronicus channeled the heat into a fiery live show. Melding Bruce Springsteen-esque arena rock power and the Celtic punk of the Dropkick Murphys, Andronicus riled up the huge crowd. Their gritty guitar assault was even more enhanced by keys, trumpets a cello and more. The band seemed especially into the performance with lead singer Patrick Stickles being quite the comedian on stage with a joke about a pregnant nun talking to the pope and sweating. It’s hot. You get the picture. By the end of their set, many were proclaiming it as the performance of the day, and it’s hard to argue.
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3:02 p.m.: Kurt Vile

Philly’s Kurt Vile brought his brand of lofi southern rock to the Balance stage this afternoon. What caught the most attention was that he had a harp player with him. Unfortunately, the harp was barely audible over his revved up riffs and walloping drums, and when it was audible, it sounds like a piano off in the distance. However, the lack of harp didn’t affect his performance. With his long brown hair dangling in front of his face, Kurt seemed to be going for the Jay Reatard look. But he rocked it with passion as he strummed his electric or acoustic guitar with fury all through his set.
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2:02 p.m.: Real Estate

After a humorous false start when one of their guitarists realized his guitar amp wasn’t on, Real Estate recovered quite nicely with their laid back indie-surf guitar rock. Their extremely bright guitar tone seemed to carry in occasionally pleasant breeze and had the crowd swaying in unison. Their tunes were spot on for an extremely hot summer day like this one, but it made me wish there was a beach nearby to cool off in. Still, the audience seems hooked on their sleepy chord changes and clever lyrics such as “Budweiser, sprite, do you feel all right?” The lyric was especially poignant as if the band was asking the crowd burning under the summer sun if they’re okay. So far, so good from what I’ve seen…just keep drinking that water.
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1:15 p.m.: Netherfriends

Chicago’s own Netherfriends kicked off Pitchfork Saturday in impressive fashion on the small Balance stage hidden away in the corner of Union Park. Lead by Shawn Rosenblatt, Netherfriends thrilled the medium-sized crowd with their engaging indie rock that is full of psychedelic and glam rock flourishes. The highlight was Rosenblatt’s vocals, which really blocked out the occasional audio bleed over from Free Energy’s set on the much larger Connector stage. But if Netherfriends keeps on doing what they’re doing, perhaps in a year or two, they’ll be the band that’s drowning out smaller acts on smaller stages.
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12:50 p.m.:

We’re baaack! Man, it’s very humid out, so prepare to sweat. Crowds are much smaller this morning than when things kicked off in the afternoon yesterday. Anyway, I’m off to catch Chicago’s own Netherfriends and will be back to post an update soon!

Launched in 1994, Sónar is self-described as a festival of “Advanced Music and Multimedia Art”, and annually attracts around 80,000 visitors. This year’s fest features a lineup that includes LCD Soundsystem, Air, Chemical Brothers, Hot Chip and more and gets underway this weekend in Barcelona, while the 2009 edition carried acts such as Animal Collective, Crystal Castles, La Roux and Deadmau5.

Sónar set up two small events in New York and Washington last year, but this is the first time a large scale festival under the Sónar banner has been planned for the United States. Additionally, their website also states that this event in Chicago is a “new festival which is anticipated to be a regular event” – so looks like we got ourselves another locale to hit up in the summer, Chicagoans.

So, who’s playing? The lineup for Sónar Chicago won’t be unveiled until mid-July, but you can check out the event’s official website and sign up for their mailing list right now at Sonarchicago.com.

Modest Mouse has been confirmed for Friday, July 16. LCD Soundsystem and Raekwon will perform on Saturday, July 17. Finally, Sunday, July 18, offers the most confirmed acts with St. Vincent, Lightning Bolt, Sleigh Bells, Here We Go Magic, Cass McCombs and the highly rumored and anticipated Pavement reunion.

Tickets go on sale at 12 noon CST today at $40 for a single day pass and $90 for a three day pass. Purchase tickets at Ticketweb.com.