Random notes on albums released in 2010.

Each year around this time, I look at a dozen or more year end “best of” lists from sources I follow, ranging from UK music magazines to various web sites.  I then seek out those I haven’t heard, load them into iTunes, load them onto the iPod to play in the car, and then never get to listen to most of them.   I’ve got a backlog of 20 or so from last year and just added another 20 or 30 from this year.  Some day I’ll catch up.  Until then, what were the albums that I actually played more than once this year?

Alejandro Escovedo – Street Songs of Love – His second album with producer Tony Visconti isn’t quite as strong as Real Animal but still proof that Escovedo is one of the great American singers and songwriters.

Arcade Fire – The Suburbs – Three albums in and I get the feeling they just keep getting better.

Bettye LaVette – Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook – One of the great soul singers of the past 50 years tackles Pink Floyd, The Who and Led Zeppelin?  It shouldn’t work at all but it ends up a triumph.

Bruno Mars – Doo-Wops and Hooligans – The best pop album of the year, more hooks on one album than other guys come up with in an entire career

Bryan Ferry – Olympia – I didn’t think I liked this when I first heard it but I’ve played it more often than any other Ferry solo album.

Cee Lo Green – The Lady Killer – Fuck You is my choice for single of the year and the rest of the album doesn’t disappoint.

Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse – Dark Night of the Soul – a 2009 recording that finally saw legitimate light of day in 2010, this worked for me on all levels.

Elton John & Leon Russell – The Union – Working with one of his idols produces Elton John’s best album in decades and Russell sounds invigorated as well.

Gorillaz – Plastic Beach – Not sure I love any of the 3 Gorillaz’s albums start to finish but this sounds a whole lot better after seeing them live earlier this month – was that one of the best concerts HK has ever had or what?

Jackson Browne & David Lindley – Love is Strange – The first Jackson Browne record I’ve played more than once in 30 years, probably due to the reunion with Lindley.

John Legend and The Roots – Wake Up! – Mostly covers of 70s soul protest songs, it sounds modern and vital; The Roots are an American treasure.

John Mellencamp – No Better Than This – Still working with T-Bone Burnett, recorded in historic places with just 1 microphone for the whole band, his best songs in at least a decade.

Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – He may be certifiably insane but you can’t argue with his music and this is a rewarding work – one critic called it the Highway 61 Revisited of rap and he could be right.

Manic Street Preachers – Postcards From a Young Man – As always, arena rock done right.

Neil Young – Le Noise – Working with Daniel Lanois, Young heads out in a new direction and finds his best album in years.

Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday – I don’t go for much current hip hop but I love her

Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back – Gabriel redefined what a covers album could be, though this is best taken in small doses.

Peter Wolf – Midnight Souvenirs – The former J. Geils Band singer’s albums are always worth hearing; this time he heads off into country territory but it still doesn’t disappoint.

Ray Wiley Hubbard – A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C) – I don’t think there’s anyone I’ve played this to who doesn’t want to rush out and get it; after more than 30 years this could be the best album of Hubbard’s career.

Robert Plant – Band of Joy – not as earth shaking as Raising Sand, this shows Plant still has a lot left to offer.

Robert Randolph & the Family Band – We Walk This Road – With a little help from T-Bone Burnett, Randolph finally makes the album I’ve been waiting for him to make.

Ronnie Wood – I Feel Like Playing – This may be the best solo album from a member of the Rolling Stones, not that there’s a lot of competition in this field.

Rumer – Seasons of My Soul – After multiple plays, I’m convinced she’s the real deal.  Burt Bacharach loved this so much he’s just done an EP with her.

Sade – Soldier of Love – I’m hard-pressed to hear any major differences between this and all their other albums but sometimes that ain’t a bad thing.

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way – A great voice and a tight band, still wish they had better material

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – Mojo – I’ve played this more often than any Petty album in the past 10 or 20 years.

Worst album of the year?

Brian Wilson – Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin – Where to even start with this mess?  Gershwin needed reimagining?  And Wilson’s singing, it sounds like he got bored midway through each line in each song.

In terms of reissues -

Bruce Springsteen – The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story – How do you take a 10 song album and expand it into a six disc reissue that’s a must-own?  This is how.  Two discs of unreleased songs, many of which never appeared even on bootlegs, all of which are worth hearing.  Three discs of videos including, finally, a full concert from 1978 when he was hitting his peak as a live performer.

It was nice to see the Beatles (and the rest of the Apple catalog) done right; the Syd Barrett reissues; Exile on Main Street; the ZTT stuff; Teardrop Explodes; B.B. Blunder; King Crimson; The Cure; Madness; Mansun; Saint Etienne; Spiritualized; Dylan.

Further investigation:  Album Leaf, Anais Mitchell, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti,  Avi Buffalo, Beach House, Belle and Sebastian, Ben Folds & Nick Hornby, Bill Frisell, Blitzen Trapper, Brandon Flowers, Brasstronaut, Brian Eno, Broken Bells, The Burns Unit, Corinne Bailey Rae, Deerhunter, Dylan LeBlanc, Edwyn Collins, Elvis Costello, Field Music, Frankie Rose and the Outs, Frightened Rabbit, Graham Parker, Hot Chip, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lonegan, Jamey Johnson, Janelle Monae, Jenny and Johnny, Joanna Newsom, John Grant, Jonsi, Junip, Justin Townes Earle, Karen Elson, Laura Marling, Laura Veirs, Magic Numbers, MGMT, Mumford & Sons, The National, New Young Pony Club, Plan B, Ray LaMontagne, Richard Thompson, Robin Trower, School of Seven Bells, Sharon Von Etten, Stornoway, Villagers, Warpaint.

Hmm, I’m sure I left something off, maybe an update later.