2010 In Music

This year saw plenty of great new releases, but I didn't have the time or money to check out everything I wanted. Last year had twenty "best" albums, and there were maybe ten or fifteen more that I bought or heard that didn't earn a spot on the list. I certainly bought more than five albums this year, but only a few were really remarkable:

Best New Albums:
1. Ted Leo and The Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks After two decades of relentless touring in three different bands and a strict one-album-every-two-years schedule with the Pharmacists, Ted Leo might be forgiven for slowing down. Fortunately he resists the temptation on his fifth full length, the tightest and most punk-oriented of his career. The Brutalist Bricks is an odd choice for album of the year: it doesn't have any one brilliant song, and it didn't immediately grab my attention when I first heard it, like the others on this list. But almost a full year after its debut, it's the one I listen to the most. I'm even starting to think this might be Leo's best overall album.

2. Kylesa - Spiral Shadow. After years of being an also-ran to fellow Savannah residents Mastodon and Baroness, Kylesa jumps ahead with an absolutely phenomenal album. Somehow this is simultaneously their most experimental record and their most accessible. Centerpiece Don't Look Back needs to be heard: it's far and away the song of the year.

3. Bad Religion - The Dissent Of Man They've still got it. Greg Graffin could be my dad, and my parents could have seen Brian Baker's first band, Minor Threat, play when they were students at Georgetown. It's a cliche that "matures" is a synonym for "adopts alt-country influences," and Bad Religion is a little guilty here. But these influences have been there since the beginning, and it's refreshing to see the BR songwriting team take them seriously. There's more depth here than on other recent albums: even on superfast songs like "Meeting Of The Minds," Graffin's lyrics are melancholy, reflective, and rewarding of repeated listens. This could end up being the definitive late-period Bad Religion record.

4. Envy - Recitation Everyone's got a band like this: you've wanted to get into them for a while, and you always buy their new CDs, but somehow never become a fan. OK, maybe that's just me, but Envy had been in this category for five years or so. Well, Recitation is the disc that finally converted me. It is this year's best post-rock album and simultaneously its best hardcore album. No one else combines those genres like Envy, but then again no one else really combines them at all. The contrast between pretty ambiance and throat-shredding screams will be a bit much for most listeners, but for those who are up to the challenge, the reward is worth it.

5. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening This probably seems misplaced given the albums above, but hey, it's good music. Given my other musical tastes, I can't really explain or justify the appeal of LCD Soundsystem -- they're the only band I regularly listen to that's even remotely danceable. I still regret having turned down the chance to see them live.

Rather than spend my cash entirely on mew music, I spent the past year filling in some gaps in my collection:

Best Pre-2010 Album Purchases
1. Sonic Youth - Goo It's pretty embarrassing to admit that I hadn't heard this album until this year, and it's even more embarrassing to admit that it's because I heard Daydream Nation and didn't like it all that much. Goo is a phenomenal album, and Sonic Youth could easily be one of my top five bands if I had heard this a couple years ago. It will take a while for them to work to the top of my list, but they're well on their way.

2. Converge - Jane Doe 2010 was the year I finally "got" Converge. It certainly wasn't for lack of exposure: I have been listening to them on and off since 2003 or so, when Fault and Fracture appeared on an Equal Vision compilation. For some reason I never really understood the appeal. Certainly, to non-fans, the "some reason" is obvious: Converge is simply unlistenable unless you have very particular tastes. Yet the things that turn most people off to Converge shouldn't have been a problem for me: God knows I listen to enough heavy, chaotic music as it is. Somehow Jane Doe made me realize what I was missing, and not a moment too soon.

3. Avail - Over the James I've always been a fan of Richmond punk, so it means a lot when I say this is the best album I've ever heard from a Richmond band. It really pains me that I never saw these guys play live. Bands like this make me proud to be from Virginia.

4. The Lawrence Arms - Cocktails and Dreams Billed as a b-sides and rarities collection, this has some of the Larry Arm's best songs: Quincentuple Your Money, 100 Resolutions, A Toast/[track], and many more. It easily could be their best album, if there were a little more focus and a little less filler. This album is the reason the Lawrence Arms are my second most played band.

5. Soul Control - Cycles It's always a pleasure to hear a band doing something new with classic hardcore. Snapcase is the closest reference point, and there's clearly a connection with fellow Providence residents Verse, but Soul Control have a distinct, original, and refreshing sound. This should have been on last year's "best of" list... procrastinating on music purchases never pays off.

I moved to Cambridge, MA this June, which put a serious damper on my concert-going habits. I still found time to go to some great shows:

Best Shows
1. Bad Religion - Three Nights at Irving Plaza, NYC. If I listed this as three separate shows, they would be #1, #2, and #3 by a huge margin. Bad Religion is my favorite band, yet I had only seen them once before. It was amazing to see them in top form in a medium-sized venue, playing a few songs from every album. Sure, they didn't play [track artist=Bad Religion]A Streetkid Named Desire, but for a band as old as Bad Religion, it would be impossible for them to pick a setlist that satisfies everyone. I was shocked to hear a song from Into the Unknown, plus two songs from No Substance. Absolutely phenomenal.

2. Envy - At Harper's Ferry, Allston, MA. All the emotional impact of Recitation (see above), condensed into a 45-minute set. Envy's show was an unbelievable example of the post-rock live tradition: an eardrum bursting, equipment-demolishing show. Openers Touche Amore and Trash Talk didn't disappoint either. Touche remains an awesome band to see live, but I haven't been able to get into their records.

3. Shellac - At Middle East, Cambridge, MA. Living legend Steve Albini managed to crawl out of Chicago for a quick tour of the East Coast, and I'm happy he did. For a band that doesn't play live very often, Shellac was incredibly tight and composed. The new songs were great; I'm really looking forward to the forthcoming album. Albini's legendary rudeness was on full display as well. I'm still holding out hope for my dream tour: Fugazi, Sonic Youth, and Shellac.

4. The Lawrence Arms - At T. T. The Bear's, Cambridge, MA. The exact opposite of the Shellac show: all the band members got so trashed that they could barely play their songs. That's OK though; the crowd sang along so loudly that all the gaps were filled in. Brendan Kelly has written quite a bit on his blog about how the Lawrence Arms aren't going to tour as often. Understandable, but a damn shame.

5. Bouncing Souls - Rocks Off Boat Cruise, NYC. It's impossible to go wrong with a concert on a boat. No stage, small crowd, cheap booze, good music. The Souls are as fun as ever to see live.

I didn't follow new music nearly as closely this year as I have in the past. Here are the albums that I never got the chance to track down:

Five Albums I Wanted To Hear, But Didn't
1. Alkaline Trio - This Addiction OK, granted, Alkaline Trio isn't my absolute favorite band, but I have enjoyed pretty much everything they have put out. This one barely registered on my radar when it came out, despite solid reviews. Pure laziness on my part.

2. Make Do and Mend - Make Do And Mend The few songs I heard sounded quite a bit like Polar Bear Club: always a good thing. But Amazon didn't stock the physical CD, so I never got around to picking this one up. Another album that has made quite a few year end "best of" lists that I simply passed over.

3. Heaven In Her Arms - Paraselene I have a better excuse in this case: Heaven In Her Arms has no US distributor. The songs that I heard combine the best of the Japanese extreme music tradition: there's enough noise, feedback, screaming, heaviness, and beauty to simultaneously make these guys the heirs to Envy, Boris, and Merzbow. The black metal influence doesn't hurt either.

4. Ceremony - Rohnert Park I have a sneaking feeling that although I don't "get" these guys now, they'll be one of my favorite bands in two or three years, and I'll wonder why I never went to their shows. "Still Nothing Moves You" was a little too disjointed for my liking, but Ceremony deserves a second chance.

5. Black Tusk - Taste The Sin A metal band from Savannah that I haven't listened to? You've got to be kidding me.

That's all I've got
What did you like this year?