Once again I have decided to make a list of my favorite stuff from this year.  Hopefully this will be useful for you. I love you…all

Top 15 Albums:

1. Beach House – Teen Dream

2. Local Natives – Gorilla Manor

3. The Roots – How I Got Over

4. Yeasayer – Odd Blood

5. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

6. Sleigh Bells – Treats

7. Shad- TSOL

8. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

9. Broken Bells – Broken Bells

10. Vampire Weekend – Contra

11. Blu(e) – Her Favorite Colo(u)r

12. Reflection Eternal – Revolutions Per Minute

13. Foals – Total Life Forever

14. Black Keys - Brothers

15. Best Coast – Crazy For You

 

Beach House- Teen Dream gets the top spot for 2010.   Teen Dream is a perfect album start to finish.  They aren’t extravagant, 20 piece, orchestral backed epics, like some bands like to do.  They are simple songs.  It is a collection of simple, well-crafted pop music.  Please take my word and listen to this album. 

 

Top 40 Songs:

1. Beach House – “Norway”

2. Local Natives – “Sun Hands”

3. Arcade Fire – “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”

4. Beach House – “Lover of Mine”

5. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – “Round and Round”

6. Shad – “Yaa I Get It”

7. Local Natives – “Airplanes”

8. Gayngs – “The Gaudy Side of Town”

9. Best Coast – “When I’m With You”

10. Black Keys – “Tighten Up”

11. Beach House – “Zebra”

12. The Roots – “Dear God 2.0”

13. Yeasayer – “Ambling Alp”

14. Reflection Eternal – “Strangers”

15. Sleigh Bells – “Rill Rill”

16. Kanye West – “So Appalled”

17. Sleigh Bells – “Crown on the Ground”

18. Kanye West – “Gorgeous”

19. Yeasayer – “O.N.E.

20. Jaill – “That’s How We Burn”

21. Blu – “Amnesia”

22. Vampire Weekend – “Horchata”

23. Shad – “Rose Garden”

24. Blu – “Vanity”

25. Broken Bells – “Vaporize”

26. Beach House – “Ten Mile Stereo”

27. Best Coast – “Boyfriend”

28. MGMT – “Flash Delirium”

29. Matt & Kim – “Block After Block”

30. Gorillaz – “Stylo”

31. Arcade Fire – “We Used To Wait”

32. Matt & Kim – “Cameras”

33. The Roots – “Right On”

34. Broken Bells – The High Road”

35. Vampire Weekend – “Cousins”

36. Foals – “Blue Blood”

37. Beach House – “Real Love”

38. The Roots – “Walk Alone”

39. Hot Chip – “I Feel Better”

40. The Radio Dept. – “Heaven’s On Fire”

Biggest Pleasant Surprises:

Sleigh Bells – Treats

Local Native – Gorilla Manor

Beach House – Teen Dream

Biggest Disappoint(s):

MGMT – Congratulations

Menomena - Mines

Hot Chip – One Life Stand

Gorillaz- Plastic Beach

Spoon - Transference

 

Albums that didn’t come out in 2010 but I listened to a lot:

Wild Beasts – Twin Dancers (2009)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz (2009)

Overrated Albums:

Titus Andronicus: The Monitor

The Morning Benders- Big Echo

Wavves – King of the Beach

 

Albums to look forward to in 2011 with fingers crossed:

The Decemberists – The King is Dead

Lupe Fiasco- Lasers

Santigold – TBA

The Strokes – TBA

Lykke Li- TBA

Dr. Dre.-Detox…another year has passed without this coming out. I won’t hold my breath.

Hopefully this message finds you well.  This year it was hard to list a top 15 albums, but it was really easy to come up with 40 great tracks.  I guess that is a sign of the times where singles are more prominent than albums.  Damn this ADD-iTunes-Technology obsessed world… which I am totally guilty of falling into.  Well, last year when I did this people suggested a bunch of music in the thread.  It would be cool to do that again.  I don’t get a chance to listen to everything out there.  If I made some omissions please help me out.   Put your own list together and we can share, and be friends.  Best friends.  Together in harmony… forever. 

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with prosperity and happiness.

Your friend and colleague,

Bojan Jovanovic