My first annual top 10 albums list. I’m planning on this being a Christmas Eve tradition for Music By Day. While this blog has been around since early 2007 I’ve never done the whole “top ten albums” end of the year thing until this year because I find it very hard to rank albums. I like all of these albums, I know that much. But placing them in some sort of order? That’s where I find it gets difficult. Anyway; This is my best effort:

#01 – Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz

I like Michigan and Illinois but they are not among my favorite albums. They seem to drag and they have never fully invited me in to their world. To me The Age of Adz is a huge leap forward. While I don’t usually like really long albums I do love ambition especially when it’s tied to interesting arrangements and production.

And if that interesting arrangement and production is in service of some great songs then that pretty helpful too and that’s definitely the case here. The Age of Adz is a great triumph in every way.

It’s a compelling combination of skittering drum beats, symphonic arrangements, catchy melodies, beautiful harmonies, thought provoking lyrics, and studio trickery.

The closing track, the 25 minute “Impossible Soul,” would make an incredible album on it’s own. In fact; to make this album a bit easier to chew I like to listen to the first 10 tracks in one sitting and “Impossible Soul” in another.

Some highlights of the album are “Get Real Get Right” which is my new favorite Christian pop song, “I Want to Be Well” in which Sufjan explains that he is not fucking around (and from the sound of this album I certainly believe him), and the “boy, we can do much more together” part of “Impossible Soul.”

#02 – Caribou – Swim

This one really works for me and because it’s a bit tighter (9 tracks and 43 minutes) than The Age of Adz I think I may end up listening to it more than my #1 choice. I love the mix of pop sensibility (there’s lots of great catchy bits in this album) with tripped out electronic music.

The opening track, “Odessa,” is the one that really made me fall in love with the album but over time the whole thing has grown on me. I don’t think there are any weak tracks on Swim.

As you’ll probably gather from my list I’m a big a fan of the “production as an instrument” aesthetic. Yes, I think The Beatles peaked in 1967 (although somewhat contradictorily I do pick The White Album as my favorite Beatles album.) Yeah the whole Steve Albini “you must capture the real band playing as it is!” thing. I don’t get that. Why? Why constrain yourself like that? There’s nothing “natural” about any recorded music really so why put some arbitrary restraints on your art?

I guess this blurb has gotten off the point: I really love this album and I seem to enjoy it more each time I hear it. It’s like my Neon Indian for 2010 (Psychic Chasms was one of my favorites of 2009.)

#03 – Yeasayer – Odd Blood

For a while I thought this would be my album of the year but then I fell in love with Swim and The Age of Adz came out. This is actually the album I’ve listened to the most times this year so in this way it is still my #1 album of 2010. I think I may have actually listened to it a bit too much because it doesn’t sound quite as fresh to me at this point. But I still love it. I guess when it comes down to it I’m a bit of a sucker for a catchy tune because to me this album is better than anything Animal Collective have put out. I think that’s what I love most about this album; it’s really unashamedly poppy in places.

#04 – Vampire Weekend – Contra

Sounds like Graceland and I love Graceland. This is the type of band that I think just about anyone could get into if they gave them a chance and I think sometimes that sort of universally appealing sound can be off putting to people (including myself) but this album works for me both inspite of and because of how catchy it is.

#05 – LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening

Too repetitious. The songs are too long. The album is too long too. Yes I think this album is flawed but I think it’s awesome too. I like all of the songs (except maybe “Drunk Girls”) and it seems to still be growing on me after having listened to it many times.

#06 – MGMT – Congratulations

This is an improvement on Oracular Spectacular which I thought was kind of uneven and slightly overrated. Yeah the hits from that album were great but I didn’t care that much for the other songs. In comparison I think this album is really strong throughout. No it doesn’t have any megahits on it like “Time to Pretend” but it’s got some awesome songs that get better each time I hear them.

#07 – Brian Eno – Small Craft On A Milk Sea

This is a more interesting listen than Four Tet and Flying Lotus in my opinion. Yes, the Flying Lotus album is more “difficult” but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better.

Small Craft on a Milk Sea has a nice mix of some dreamy spaced out ambient type tracks like the opener “Emeralds and Lime” (which reminds me of the Twin Peaks theme song) and some awesome face melting stuff like “Flint March” and “Horse.”

My favorite Eno albums are still his ’70s period albums with vocals (like Another Green World) but as far as his instrumental albums are concerned this new one may be at the top.

#08 – Janelle Monae – The ArchAndroid

Crazy ambitious and I can dance to it. There’s a wide variety of different styles of music on this album from trippy dance tracks like “Dance or Die” to spacey ballads like “Sir Greendown,” to James Brown influenced R&B like “Tightrope,” to experimental tracks like “Neon Gumbo.” And this is really only a small sampling of the styles that can be heard on this 18 track epic of an album.

My favorite tracks include “Sir Greendown,” “Oh, Maker,” “Mushrooms & Roses,” and “Tightrope.”

I really dislike the track featuring Kevin Barnes though, that one (“Make The Bus”) just doesn’t work. I think at some point my ears just snapped and decided they couldn’t handle that guy anymore (no offense to the Of Montreal fans out there.)

#09 – Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today

I’m not actually sure I like this album except for “Round and Round” but I like that song so much that I’m putting it on my list anyway. I think the rest of it is growing on me.

#10 – Gonjasufi – A Sufi And A Killer

I don’t know what the hell this is but it trips me out. It makes me feel like I’m some other world. A bit of a bad trip but those can be the most interesting. I’m not usually a sucker for the lo-fi thing but on occasion it works (see The Olivia Tremor Control) and I think it does here. The lo-fi production somehow adds to mystery of the album which I really think is an essential ingredient.

Honorable Mention

Jonsi – Go
The Black Keys – Brothers
Four Tet – There Is Love In You
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
Broken Bells – Broken Bells
Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Part Two
The Chemical Brothers – Further
Philip Selway – By Some Miracle

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