Top 50 Albums of 2010: 11-20

11

The Budos Band

"The Budos Band III" (Daptone)

What sets Budos apart from other Afro-influenced acts is in the heaviness of their groove; no wonder that the Staten Island Soul band claim to be inspired by heavy metal as well as soul and Ethio-jazz. Solid as ever, the New York ten-piece yet again claims the title of heavyweight champion in the world of Afro-soul.
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12

These New Puritans

"Hidden" (Domino)

Hidden, the sophomore album from the rag-tag UK 4-piece, incorporates Foley samples, taiko drums and choral singing into their unique brand of experimental post-punk. Fusing the angular guitar of Gang of Four with the urban dance of MIA and a healthy dose of Björk and Scott Walker, the result is cerebral, percussive and powerful.

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13

Beach House

"Teen Dream" (Sub Pop)

Beach House is so subtle that you can almost be forgiven for not being immediately enthralled but once the melodies work their way into your skin you’ll be irreversibly hooked. The husky, sensual voice of Victoria Legrand and the minimal guitar hooks of Alex Scally are more potent than ever on Teen Dream, their third album release.
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14

The Roots

"How I Got Over (Def Jam)

Since signing to Def Jam, The Roots have been pretty disappointing but How I Got Over is a return to form for the Philly Hip Hop crew. Featuring familiar collaborators Dice Raw and John Legend as well as surprising use of a Joanna Newsom sample, this is The Roots doing exactly what they do best.

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15

PVT

"Church With No Magic" (Warp)

Church With No Magic is the third album by Aussie Synth-Rockers PVT (formerly Pivot) and their second for Warp Records. Despite the surprising addition of vocals, it retains the heavy drums and dirty synth sound that made their last album so infectious. Do not miss the chance to see these songs performed in a live setting.

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16

Caribou

"Swim" (Merge)

On Swim, Polaris Prize-winning Dan Snaith traded a lot of the Beach Boys influence, lo-fi drums and Psych Rock for a more electronic disco sound, summoning the spirit of Arthur Russell. From "Odessa", the blissed-out summery opener, onwards this is not only his most club-friendly record but also his strongest release to date.

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17

Sufjan Stevens

"The Age Of Adz" (Asthmatic Kitty)

One of the most inventive and ambitious musicians around, Sufjan is best known for two indie-folk masterpieces from his aborted ‘50 states’ project but also an electronic album based on the Chinese zodiac, amongst others. The Age of Adz brings these disparate styles together in an epic concept album about outsider artist Royal Robertson.

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18

Arcade Fire

"The Suburbs" (Merge)

With The Suburbs Arcade Fire merge the Springsteen-fest of Neon Bible with that melancholic yet deliriously optimistic bent that made their debut album so good, shooting the Montréallers into the international arena. This is Arcade Fire back on form but just a few songs too long to be the perfect album.

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19

Balmorhea

"Constellations" (Western Vinyl)

Balmorhea (pronounced Bal-moor-ay), an ensemble from Austin, Texas, takes influence from sources ranging from Debussy to Max Richter and Arvo Pärt. Constellations is their fourth full-length release and it is a masterpiece. Emotive and melancholic Modern Classical with a twinge of country, it will appeal to fans of Pullman and Rachel’s.

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20

Matthew Dear

"Black City" (Ghostly)

Matthew Dear makes a truly unique brand of music - a fusion of Minimal Techno, House, Synthpop, experimental sounds and singer-songwriter indie. The live instrumentation is more to the fore than on his three previous full-lengths and the end result is a highly accessible album that is also maybe his best.

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Music Review: Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

The suburbs: characterless, soul-crushing, boring – the kid that grows up there dreams only of one day moving to the big city. A place to pine to escape from, curse your parents for making you live in and spend the majority of your free time day-dreaming about getting out of. Time stands still, hours last forever but it’s still your home, it’s what you know and it shapes you, no matter how hard you try to shake it off.

"The Suburbs" captures this paradox beautifully; inspired by key band members Win and Will Butler’s upbringing in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. Win describes it as sounding like “Depeche Mode meets Neil Young”, which isn’t far off at times, especially on Half Light II (No Celebration). Penultimate track Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) even has an almost disco feel reminiscent of The Gossip, albeit on Valium. Elsewhere the sound is quintessential Arcade Fire both lyrically and musically.

Arcade Fire are coming closer to renewing the promise they showed on their Grammy Award-winning debut album Funeral, which shot the Montréal band into the international arena. For some, Neon Bible was something of a disappointment. The album had its share of great tracks: the blistering opener, "Keep The Car Running", the gorgeous, melancholic ache of "My Body Is A Cage" and a respectable reworking of "No Cars Go" from their first EP. It was energetic but, at times, stodgy and moreover sounded dangerously close to a Springsteen tribute album, losing the sound that made them unique on their first two releases. It was an album made by a band that had just started playing in large venues and festivals in front of crowds of thousands and had lost the intimacy of playing in small French Canadian clubs.

The Suburbs does more than correct this. It will not only appeal to fans of Neon Bible but also appease those who missed the intimacy and confessional quality of the first releases. It recaptures that melancholic yet deliriously optimistic bent that Funeral expressed so well, with its soaring orchestration, heartache and nostalgia of unrealized dreams half-remembered. The Springsteen influence is not entirely lost however, and is present on tracks such as "Empty Room" - which retains that pulsating, racing heartbeat of New Jersey rock - and the title track with its lyrics “In the suburbs I, I learned to drive, And you told me we’d never survive, Grab your mother’s keys we’re leaving” reminiscent not only of The Boss but perhaps of Terence Malik’s Badlands.

Singer Win Butler again leads on the majority of the songs but there is more interplay between him and spouse Régine Chassagne. The effect is taut and raw, like pulling on both ends of a string at the same time: a tug-of-war in miniature. Interestingly, for The Suburbs, Arcade Fire mastered each track on the album onto a dubplate and then transferred it back to digital so that the CD and digital versions of the album sound like the vinyl.

This is Arcade Fire at their best, bringing together what was good about both of their previous albums. At sixteen songs long it may be a little unwieldy but this is a band who have rediscovered what makes them great and aren't letting go anytime soon.