Reaper's Top 30 (plus Honorable Mentions) Favorite Albums of 2010

[Reaper16]

This year, a very deep year for music, I will post a top 30, complete with descriptions and YouTube embeds to a song I really like from each album.

My top 30 isn't quite complete yet. I anticipate posting everything for that list tomorrow. But in the meantime, this thread will begin with a handful of Honorable Mentions, listed alphabetically, for people to mull over.

Honorable Mentions:
Brotha Lynch Hung - Dinner and a Movie
Enforcer - Diamonds
Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier
LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
Manticora - Safe
Oceansize - Self Preserved While the Bodies Float Up
Overkill - Ironbound
Pain of Salvation - Road Salt pt. 1
Sleigh Bells - Treats
Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Tech N9ne - Collabos: The Gates Mixed Plate
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Mojo
Bobby Watson - The Gates BBQ Suite
Kanye West - G.O.O.D. Fridays


Top 30:
30.) The National - High Violet
29.) Kutt Calhoun - Raw and Un-Kutt
28.) Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me
27.) Gayngs - Relayted
26.) Johnny Cash - American Recordings VI: Ain't No Grave
25.) Burzum - Belus
24.) Blind Guardian - At the Edge of Time
23.) High on Fire - Snakes for the Divine
22.) Karnataka - The Gathering Light
21.) Ihsahn - After
20.) Das Racist - Sit Down, Man
19.) Kvelertak - Kvelertak
18.) Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini
17.) Heathen - The Evolution of Chaos
16.) Briton Rites - For Mircalla
15.) Glasser - Ring
14.) Big Boi - Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
13.) Borknagar - Universal
12.) Sigh - Scenes from Hell
11.) Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here
10.) Alcest - Écailles de Lune
09.) Robyn - Body Talk
08.) Ces Cru - The Playground
07.) Triptykon - Eparistera Daimones
06.) Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
05.) The Lord Weird Slough Feg - The Animal Spirits
04.) Angra - Aqua
03.) Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
02.) Dessa - A Badly Broken Code
01.) Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit

Thanks for reading/listening! Feel free and discuss the albums mentioned or the albums snubbed.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Reaper, any takes on Volbeat and their new album? You like, you hate, you're ambivalent?

Sorry it took me so long to respond to this; I was in Columbia eating Shakespeare's Pizza all day yesterday.

I didn't listen to their new album in full. I don't care for the band; I generally don't like the sound of bands that try and play metal-tinged rock. To me, Volbeat would sound better if they didn't try and show any metal influence.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Sorry it took me so long to respond to this; I was in Columbia eating Shakespeare's Pizza all day yesterday.

I didn't listen to their new album in full. I don't care for the band; I generally don't like the sound of bands that try and play metal-tinged rock. To me, Volbeat would sound better if they didn't try and show any metal influence.

Damn, dude, I'll take a slice. Shakespeare's single-handedly put 30 lbs on me as a grad student. Two slices and an iced tea for $5 (I realize they are $2.50 apiece now).

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla

Damn, dude, I'll take a slice. Shakespeare's single-handedly put 30 lbs on me as a grad student. Two slices and an iced tea for $5 (I realize they are $2.50 apiece now).

If there were any slices left you'd be welcome to some.

Shakespeare's pie is one of my three favorite pizzas ever. Being back in MO for the holidays, there was no way I wasn't hitting up Shakespeare's at some point.

[chiefs1111]

A lot of great metal stuff on your list this year,awesome.

[Thig Lyfe]

Das Racist killed it. It's too bad people think they're just a novelty act. I certainly thought so before I listened to Sit Down, Man.

[Thig Lyfe]

Oh, and thoughts on Childish Gambino? I listened to Culdesac nonstop when it first dropped but I haven't returned to it for a while. I think he's extremely talented but suffers from the same sort of expectations Das Racist has to deal with.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by SportsRacer

Das Racist killed it. It's too bad people think they're just a novelty act. I certainly thought so before I listened to Sit Down, Man.

Same.

Originally Posted by SportsRacer

Oh, and thoughts on Childish Gambino? I listened to Culdesac nonstop when it first dropped but I haven't returned to it for a while. I think he's extremely talented but suffers from the same sort of expectations Das Racist has to deal with.

That stuff is good? I haven't found the time to listen to Donald Glover's music, figuring it's just straight comedy.

[Stanley Nickels]

If I were to create a list like this, I'd have a late-entry making a strong push for the top five this year. Aloe Blacc is incredible. There is no strain in his voice, no delusions of being something he's not (a recurring problem amongst revivalist types, whether or not classic R&B even needs a "revival"); Blacc simply seems content singing his heart out. And it works well.

[Stanley Nickels]

It's not Ghostface's best, and it's still better than nearly anything out there. JMO.

[Stanley Nickels]

Also, I just can't include Burzum on any list, ever.

[KcMizzou]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Same.


That stuff is good? I haven't found the time to listen to Donald Glover's music, figuring it's just straight comedy.

This is all I've heard, but I like it. I like Glover in general.

Childish Gambino: Realizing Awesomeness

by Becca Gleason on November 18, 2010

Childish Gambino is awesome. Many know him as Troy, the lovable jock from Community. Some recognize him as Jason, the nerdy detective from the soon-to-be cult classic, The Mystery Team (a Derrick Comedy Production). Or assuming you enjoy comedy, since you’re on Nerdist reading this now, you probably know him as Donald Glover – Stand up comic / former 30 Rock writer. Whichever version of this man you’re familiar with, today I prefer the musician.

This summer, Glover pulled a Radiohead and generously released his album Culdesac for free on his website, but this wasn’t where the musician first caught my attention. A while back I heard a recording of Childish Gambino rap over Grizzly Bear’s single, “Two Weeks”. Showin’ the love for the Indie Rock scene was all I needed to be convinced of his musical sensibility and refreshing stray from typical hip-hop stereotypes. Although he draws noticeable influences from artists like Lil Wayne and Drake, what I found most appealing was his unique voice, quirkiness and honesty- not to mention a lot of it is just plain clever.

So naturally, after listening to Culdesac a few times and falling in love the fantastic instrumentation, diverse melodies mixed with dirty jokes and general badassery, there was no questioning my attendance at the Los Angeles concert this past weekend.

Rap concerts can be a notch past disappointing and generally fall in the realm of embarrassing. Childish Gambino and his band shattered that notion after the first bar of the first song. He effervesced with confidence and coolness, even though it was clear that he came straight from the set of Community. His guitarist as well as Community composer Ludwig Goransson was extatic: “We were very happy about the show. A lot of people are surprised when there’s a big, 6 person, live band instead of just a rapper and a DJ.” And it really showed. The music was well-rounded. The crowd swooned when he poured his heart into “So Fly” a song comprised of just sensual falsettos. Some bits even resonated better live than recorded. In the string-heavy, new single “Untouchable”, the sound just struck better in front of you than through headphones. Seeing and hearing those extremely personal lyrics Childish is famous for made the listening experience that much better.

Glover and his band were the opening act for Mayer Hawthorne (another favorite of mine) -if Hawthorne has slipped past your musical radar, he’s the complete opposite of rap music. Picture a hipstery white boy who sings like he came straight out of Pleasantville. To put it simply, the music makes you want to swing dance in a park next to your packed picnic lunch. Rapping usually doesn’t have that same effect, so the pairing of the two, at first, seemed random. But it wasn’t. It was obvious they were both there for the same reasons, to party, to dance, and to jam.

Childish Gambino, congratulations, from what it looked, everyone seemed to want to “Put it in your video”. You can catch him on his I Am Donald tour where he will perform both stand up and music. Dates are set for SLIM’S in San Francisco on December 11th, and on the 12th at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles.

http://www.nerdist.com/2010/11/child...g-awesomeness/

[QuikSsurfer]

A link for "Sit Down, Man"? It's free from what I understand.

[Stanley Nickels]

How'd you feel about Flying Lotus' Cosmogramm? It played like something an overnight DJ at a pretentious college rock station would constantly spin.. but it's very accessible, as experimental albums go. I just don't know how to digest it.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Stanley Nickels

Also, I just can't include Burzum on any list, ever.

I judge the music, not the man.

[Stanley Nickels]

Originally Posted by KcMizzou

This is all I've heard, but I like it. I like Glover in general.



http://www.nerdist.com/2010/11/child...g-awesomeness/

Enjoyable, catchy.. something about his lyrics just annoys me, though