This forum is giving me ear fatigue.

This thread is for anyone looking to revisit the albums released back in 2010. It’s essentially a space for music critics—or those who fancy themselves as such—to share their thoughts on the 2010 releases.

For those actually contributing: I'd ask you to write just a few words—maybe even just a couple of sentences—about an album you feel is worth owning if we lived in some imaginary utopia where money wasn't an issue for buying records. Your contribution could be as brief as two descriptive tags, or even just the kind of tags you'd slap onto an album profile on Last.fm.

As per the usual rules for threads like this in years past, please try to stick to just one album per post, even if that means you have to make several consecutive posts to get through your list.

Yeasayer - Contra

This album feels... I don't know, kind of detached? It’s as if they decided to push themselves right to the edge of their own limits—to see where they actually break. In that sort of restless searching, they stumbled onto some truly beautiful tracks, and through all that internal wandering, they managed to craft some of the most stunning lyrics I've heard in a while. At the end of the day, people are just flesh and blood—even if some of them are Indian.

Biggest hit: O.N.E.

Honestly, I think this track alone is already capable of sitting comfortably in the top five hits, especially considering we're only at the start of 2010. I can't wait to see which other songs from the record might eventually join it up there.

Live, Yeasayer - O.N.E.

Cut Copy is basically Metronomy, not really Hot Chip - One Life Stand

I've always been the least enthusiastic about Hot Chip compared to all those other recent dance acts, but honestly, this album is actually great. Sure, you can hear the influence of those two other bands lingering in there, but I don't really care; what matters is that it hits the mark.

Specifically tracks like Thieves in the Night and We Have Love

the music video for One Life Stand

Vampire Weekend - Contra

I can’t claim to be 100% objective here because Vampire Weekend holds a massive place in my heart, but I honestly feel like they’ve reached a new level of maturity on this record. They might have lost a bit of that frantic, playful energy that defined their early stuff, but the core essence of their style is still very much intact. What I’m struggling with, though, is... Cousins Since they picked that for the lead single, I'm torn. Would "Holiday" or "Giving up the Gun" have been a better fit?
All in all, it’s a really solid effort.👍

Well, we’ve officially kicked things off! 👋

Aufgang - Aufgang ****1/2


Two pianos, drums, and electronic elements—it’s classic avant-garde meets experimental electronica. Honestly? That track "Channel 7" is just absolute peak music 🙏 (you can check out the full album version on YouTube or find the radio edit and some remixes over on their MySpace page). On my first listen, it completely blew me away—total euphoria! 👍 The rest of the album is super solid, even if the tracks are pretty extreme: they're either lightning fast or draggingly slow, or crashing loud or whisper quiet, with very little middle ground. After finishing the whole thing, I feel like I just sat through an entire hour's worth of every piano piece ever composed all at once, LOL 😁 though you can actually dance to parts of it sometimes 😬 😳

I'm on the same page as Betty Booth5 regarding Yeasayer—I am genuinely curious to hear the full album, especially since "O.N.E." hits so hard enough on its own.
And honestly, the guy looks like a total tool (if it's easier for me to just say it that way).

Then there's that bit where he's shyly rubbing his foot against his other leg: for the time being, I'm actually finding Groove Armada quite enjoyable; they used to irritate me, but now I catch myself singing along to "Paper Romance."

Can we please get a decent rock album released soon? I can't just rely on this Armada stuff forever—that whole Vampire Weekend and Cousins vibe is just too grating for my taste.

redgull44 said:

Cut Copy is basically Metronomy, not Hot Chip - One Life Stand

I've always liked Hot Chip the least out of all those new dance bands, but this album is actually solid. Sure, you can hear influences from those two other bands mentioned, but who cares? It's good.

The tracks "Thieves in the Night" and "We Have Love" are the best.

The music video for One Life Stand

👍 👍 👍 👍 👍

Definitely the best album released so far this year...

Not entirely sure if I’m allowed to jump in here, but apparently, I am... Anyway, about Yeasayer... I checked out that Tightrope track a while back and thought it was alright, though the vocals really rubbed me the wrong way. But I just sat down with O.N.E. and honestly? The song was pretty solid—even the vocals worked for me this time. 😁 Now I'm wondering, what's actually going on with their vocal style? Which direction are they leaning into more heavily (on which album)?

Puerto Rico Flowers EP > Depeche Mode

*I should probably mention that this is easily my favorite release so far this year, though I am currently spinning the new Have a Nice Life EP—it might give this one a run for its money!

So, I’ve been spending the last couple of days absolutely jamming to Vampire Weekend on my Discman 😳 and man, they have some seriously catchy, upbeat tracks on there—like Diplomat's Son, Holiday, and Cousins—that I'm just loving! It actually makes me think they might be better than Hot Chip, because honestly, with Hot Chip, I can never tell if they're being totally serious with that sound or what, LOL. As for Yeasayer, I’ve actually forgotten about them already 😳 and I was just listening to their stuff earlier today... man, that was awesome!

I haven't really delved into Groove Armada before, but this new stuff? It's okay, I guess—pretty middle-of-the-road for me.

That said, I'm really digging the Puerto Rico Flowers EP; it's got such a great vibe, and yeah, it kind of reminds me of old-school Depeche Mode, maybe even a little better 👍
Also, big thanks to Raymond Bailey6 for the heads-up on the new Have a Nice Life EP 😁

Sometimes I just get this sudden urge to sit here and "review" everything, LOL 😬

Is it sophisticated electro-pop? A decent indie dance vibe?
I mean, what am I even supposed to call it? I'm just here to dance, man!
It’s nothing groundbreaking, nothing that’s gonna change the world, but damn, they really nailed the whole recycling thing! 😳

The absolute standouts for me: Paper Romance, I won't kneel, and that track with Uber 😁

Radiohead



How do you even follow up an album like Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga? They could've just kept that momentum going. They showed they had it with Alright on that DWTN compilation. But instead of making a sequel to Ga^5, they're retreating to their old sound. They're producing it themselves, aiming for that raw vibe rather than something polished, mostly because that's just how they feel. Raw, isolated. I guess 🙂. The album doesn't really have those standout tracks that jump out from the rest like their older stuff might have; it just feels like one big block🙂. Still, my personal favorites are the ones with a bit of light😁: I saw the light and Out of the Woods. Nothing with David Letterman

Unknown



This melodic, retro indie pop carries such a wild, driving energy reminiscent of The Smiths, yet I suspect even those who aren't typical Smiths fans will find themselves captivated by it... Truly a brilliant album. You simply must get it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xk5tyc-HUE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGZchLvem3Q

MGMT - Congratulations

MGMT decided to ditch the pop hits like "Kids" for this one—it’s pure psych. Some tracks are straight-up annoying, but then you get some fun ones like "Brian Eno."😁...some that are just super dreamy ("Congratulations")

Rufus Wainwright - Unknown

Never listened to him before—but a buddy told me this record hits totally different since it's basically just piano now instead of all those layers they used to have. Personally? "The Dream" is the winner for me.

Turin Brakes - Outbursts

Honestly? Just as good as everything else they've put out—maybe even better. They ditched the major labels to do their own thing, totally independent and free from all that corporate pressure. That's how you get an indie pop-folk gem like this.

Red Sparowes - The Fear is Excruciating, but Therein Lies The Answer.

Man, this is easily my favorite post-rock band—and their new album just dropped today. Honestly? It's actually good. 🙂

The Radio Dept. — Clinging to a Scheme

This album is killer—honestly, pretty much everything they drop is. It’s that dreamy shoegaze vibe, though it's weird because Freddie and The Trojan Horse isn't even on here despite all the hype. Maybe it's for the best? We've definitely had our fill of Freddie lately, haven't we? 😛

David Byrne and Fatboy Slim—Here Lies Love. Pure madness, right?

Fatboy Slim - here Lies Love http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Lies_Love

I think there’s already a thread about this... fingers crossed the mods let me split this post and move it over there—just to be safe, haha!

Here Lies Love 🤮

It’s basically The Radio Dept. meets Red Sparowes, bam!
Haven't really gotten around to listening to the rest yet.

Yeah, the topic definitely exists—it just has some weird-ass name, so I couldn't track it down on Google.

I finally got 😁

celeste - life and death

[IMAGE REMOVED]

the album of the millennium

Have you listened to the previous ones?

Hmm, looks like something worth checking out. 🙂