There's been better years when it comes to new music. I didn't find a lot of bands I didn't hear before, and some of the great 'modern' bands I like delivered albums that were mostly still very good, but a minor setback compared to previous efforts. There's two albums I got too late to throw in this list: I got the new Ryan Adams and the Cardinals album III/IV yesterday, and Steve Wynn And The Miracle Three last week. If they stick they'll end up in next year's list. Still: quite enough to make a top 10, so here goes:
10. The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever. Still a strong band, THS. A bit more mellow than Stay Positive, it's predecessor. Better? Nope. Heaven Is Whenever lacks those songs that lift it to a higher level. So why did it make it to my top 10? Well, The Hold Steady is one of my favorite bands, I finally got to see them live this year, and sum of this album turns out to be bigger than its parts. Favorite tune is Rock Problems:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeJbxdirZDg9. Roky Erickson With Okkervil River - True Love Cast Out All Evil. I heard of Roky Erickson before through stories, but I don't think I actually heard his stuff. So I have to thank Uncut for plugging this. Excellent album with one of my favorite bands backing the man up. Good mix between rock and country, with Goodbye Sweet Dreams as the standout song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BosCo9tEHlw8. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs. Strong third (if you don't count the EP) from this gang. You can hear Arcade Fire casually trying to add styles to their sound, cutting back on the doom and gloom that played a huge part in Neon Bible. (No worries though: they didn't add Justin Bieber to the roster). So all of a sudden you get a Stonesy riff from this band. Didn't expect that, and it's quite welcome. Don't believe me? Check out City With No Children
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmXVH0gQuLw7. The Duke & The King - Long Live The Duke & The King. The second Duke & The King-album has more soul and guts than predecessor Nothing Gold Can Stay. My guess is that these guys realized they needed extra hands to get a better sound. Mellow music that sticks. Check out Shaky:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjY4xfe8Vio6. Johnny Cash - American Recordings VI: Ain't No Grave. The final part of the great American Recordings. The Man In Black delivers a fine message from beyond, 7 years after his passing. But I agree with anyone that says the song collection is a bit weaker than the previous installments. There's much to love left though, like the title track:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBmky9Tx2UM&feature=fvst5. Blitzen Trapper - Destroyer Of The Void. Up until last june I didn't know this band. But after glowing reviews I decided to check out this album. Turned out to be music that fits in my collection really well. Alt country by people that dream about being the Fab Four. A skilled band as well, I saw them perform in Amsterdam a few weeks back, and they bring the goods on stage. Remarkable, because the title track of this one doesn't sound easy to play at all:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPavdaSERGk&playnext=1&list=PL632F6A7D418AAF8D&in...4. The Drive-by Truckers - The Big To-Do. One of the world's hardest working bands put together a rocking new studio album. It's always great to get fresh songs from these fine Southerners, especially when those tunes that can set fire to any venue. Though the guitars are blazing and the story telling is superb as always, The Big To-Do pales a bit in comparison with Brighter Than Creation's Dark. The extra depth that made 'Brighter' a masterpiece is lacking on The Big To-Do. I must add that it's probably not fair to compare the albums though. Brighter Than Creation's Dark is DBT's Exile On Main St. and The Big To-Do is more like It's Only Rock n' Roll. I wouldn't want to miss IORR in my collection, and it's the same with the 2010 release of the Truckers. Favorite track must be Drag The Lake Charlie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJHx4Wkbryk3. De Dijk & Solomon Burke - Hold On Tight. What a great surprise when the soulful Dutch rock band De Dijk announced that they would be translating their classics to English and bring forth a new album with honorary band member Solomon Burke on guest vocals. Tragedy struck, as everyone know by now: three days after the release Solomon died on Amsterdam Airport. He was on his way to join De Dijk for a concert in the Paradiso. This album should be celebrated as Solomon's last hurrah, as the collaboration between him and De Dijk brought out the best in both. Check out 'What A Woman', that also features Jools Holland.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVwKawBbcno2. Tim Knol - Tim Knol: about a year ago I visited a sets of the great Dutch band Johan during their farewell tour. The opening act was a fat small town lad called Time Knol. He performed a great set of songs from his soon to be released debut album. That disc turned out to be my personal soundtrack to the first few months of 2010. Backed by band members from Johan and another few great Dutch rock bands from the not too distant past, he took the Dutch club circuit by storm. Check out Sam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp2Fxl8sYzE1. Isobel Campbell & Marc Lanegan - Hawk: Several people tried to convince me the Campbell/Lanegan combination is based on a stolen idea: years ago Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue had a hit with the same beauty and the beast routine after all. And while I agree there's a lot of similarities, the set of songs Campbell created for this disc is way too good to dismiss 'Hawk' like that. Moodiness like Leonard Cohen, sometimes closer to the 80's band Sisters Of Mercy (the link between that band and the great songsmith is obvious I guess), but with an own, country-ish beat. So this record is amazing. I've given this album so many spins since its release that I almost heard it more than Exile in the past few months. They stop by in Utrecht this February and that's something to look forward to. Here's You Won't Let Me Down Again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E8BKjoE-5sIs that all? Nope. 2010 was a great year for reissues and box sets. I didn't get them all yet as they're quite expensive. So the Dylan's mono set and the Lennon reissue box will have to wait a little longer. These 4 sets are a great addition to the record collection of any rock fan:
David Bowie: Station To Station. Excellent reissue of the great Thin White Duke album with a great live set added for a fair price (if you didn't buy the super set that is).
Bob Dylan: The Witmark Recordings (Bootleg Series 9). Brilliant set of recordings from Bob's early days as a musician. This series continues to throw treasures from the vaults to fans. This one sounds like Dylan pulling up a chair by the fire while playing his then new songs to some friends. I was amazed by the great sound quality of this set of very early stuff. Curious btw: people like Mick, Keef and Charlie or Paul and Ringo must know this series is out there, and a huge hit for Dylan. So why don't they follow?
Bruce Springsteen: The Promise. I've ran to the record store quite a few times this year, and this set was one of the reasons to do so. Thumbs up for 70's Bruce to keep going when this stuff wasn't released. Fun to hear hints of future songs in these songs.
The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main St. The greatest album of all time got a long overdue special edition this year. Besides a remaster from the original set, it packed a fun dvd, a beautiful book, and a set of songs that didn't made the original cut. In de days just before its release I remembered what it felt like to enter the toy store in anticipation of new Star Wars action figures. The hours I listened to Exile increased if not doubled in the first few weeks. The remastered version is not a huge improvement compared with the Virgin polish from a few years back, but I loved the fact that this masterpiece got the attention it rightly deserves.
As for the 'new' stuff: I disagree with anyone that claims that these songs sound like those of the last official studio stinker. The old Stones clearly were inspired by their younger selves and their sidemen from that era, added what was needed to complete the tunes and showed their craftsmanship in the process. Great promo-vid too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK6KA4QILUc&feature=related
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The Best Albums of 2010 (Read 4,102 times)
