Best of 2010: 10-6

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Honorable Mentions : 25-21 : 20-16 : 15-11 : 5-1

#10  Lower Dens - Twin Hand Movement

Purchase Twin-Hand Movement here.

Read the original review here.

This album was truly the unexpected treasure of the year for me. When I first gave it a listen, I was struck by the reserved nature of the band and the power that was accrued from that ideal. Most recently as I started making my "Best Of" list, this album kept creeping up the ranks after each reshuffle. The entirety of Twin Hand Movement is like when someone speaks softly to you with conviction, so you have to lean in close to absorb every single word. The minor chords from the guitars chime like the echo of an alley as frontwoman Jana Hunter breathes life into her bereft lyrics. The stark nature of "Tea Lights", the sultry sway in "I Get Nervous" and the near pop shimmer on "Hospice Gates" are all glittering gems in this bountiful, newly discovered trove of riches.

Lower Dens - 2 tracks from Twin Hand Movement

#9  Twin Shadow - Forget

Purchase Forget here.

Read my original review here.

After all the talk of the comeback of 80's glam in 2010, with LCD Soundsystem's Bowie album to new LP's former Roxy Music members Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno, the era was best captured on a debut full length from a New Yorker born in the Dominican Republic. George Lewis Jr. took on the pseudonym Twin Shadow and provides in Forget a rollercoaster love story where he shoulders all of the blame for its inevitable finish. Couple that with being taken under the wing on the production end by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor and you have a pulsing, swirling album of pure romance for the 21st century. From the bloodletting confessional of opener "Tyrant Destroyed" to the new wave steppers "I Can't Wait" and "At My Heels" to the darker feel of seducers of "Tether Beat" and "Castles In The Snow", this debut set the bar high not only for Twin Shadow but for the entire nouveau new wave genre. (Hi, chillwave!)

#8  The Besnard Lakes - Are The Roaring Night

Purchase Are the Roaring Night here.

Read my original review here.

The big prog rock clatter of The Besnard Lakes started with 2007's Are The Dark Horse. In 2010, the band decided to go bigger than they had previously before, constructing epic tracks that are laid out like stormy oceans and fiery landscapes with each power chord strum. On my shortlist for best song of 2010 is the first song (split into two tracks, because it is so damn BIG) "Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent" which slowly builds from broken transmissions to raging fury. Other massive numbers on Are The Roaring Night include the 70's anthem (and other two-parter) "Land Of Living Skies", the anti-pop single "Albatross" and the futuristic Western "And This Is What We Call Progress". If you like you rock music to move mountains, this may do the trick.

The Besnard Lakes - 2 tracks from Are The Roaring Night

#7  Beach House - Teen Dream

Purchase Teen Dream here

Read my original review here.

This album came out early in the year and because of that Teen Dream was my first "Best Album" of 2010. Beach House took their shimmering, hazy sound from earlier efforts and gave the whole production some muscle and clarity. The result is an intense and nuanced album where the shimmers become blinding flashes and the haze is now an engulfing cloud. The newly epic nature of Beach House was necessary because Victoria LeGrand's voice and lyrics never commanded so much attention and been delivered with so much power. At the front end of Teen Dream is an amazing trio of grabbers in the airy "Zebra", the haunting slide guitar of "Silver Soul" and the breathy beauty of "Norway". The album finishes with raw emotion in the plaintive "Real Love" and the moving "Take Care", completely unfurling the amazing band that Beach House has become.

Beach House - Norway

#6  !!! - Strange Weather, Isn't It?

Purchase Strange Weather, Isn't It here.

Read my original review here

I understand that this is not the prototypical best album for this year as many don't have it on their lists at all. On Strange Weather, !!! chose not to follow their previous dub formula, shortening their songs and opting for a disco blowout. However, I have three strong reasons for placing this album in the rarefied air of my Top 10. For starters, the live show this year was, as usual, a shoulder-shimmying freakout. I mean, you can't help but dance at a !!! show. Next, if this album came out five years ago during the dance rock peak or was released by some unknown band who burst on the scene with these fresh, funky grooves, you would have to beat off the love the album would get with a big stick. It is tough to compartmentalize an album and avoid comparing it to the entire catalog. Strange Weather, Isn't It? is simply a different album from the rest by !!! and stands up well on its own. The third reason is simple. Despite all the other new stuff that kept coming out throughout the year, I kept on listening to this album. A lot. You can't argue with that.

!!! - 3 tracks from Strange Weather Isn't It?

Review: Lower Dens - Twin-Hand Movement

Lower Dens is an outfit I knew nothing about until the release of their debut LP Twin-Hand Movement. After giving it a listen, then after not helping myself to even more listens, this is finally another interesting and textured debut for the new decade. After hearing many sidesteps and backward leaps by indie royalty this year, it is a welcome surprise to get something this intriguing from an unfamiliar source.

After doing some research, I have uncovered the following: Lower Dens is fronted by Baltimore-via-Texas songstress Jana Hunter, who also has some solo releases on freak folkie Devendra Banhart's label Gnomonsong. This new band leaves behind the stripped away acoustic balladry in favor of this elegantly understated collection of basement tracks. These dank, echoing songs barely fill the listening space, but command your attention based on the insistent guitar twangs and plaintive vocals of Hunter pushing through the mix. Her voice invokes the style of varied female indie artists depending on the needs of the song. At times she is like PJ Harvey at her most restlessly tense, in others she is Cat Power's Chan Marshall far removed torch singer then she is like Victoria Legrand of Beach House's deeply woven inflections. It is apparent that Jana Hunter does what is necessary to make her point felt.

The album's eleven tracks are essentially restrained expressions that never goes for the big finish. Lower Dens' techniques prefer that the listener pays attention throughout the song's entirety, sliding in the interesting moments and turning a phrase without calling attention. Starting with the throbbing bass of "Blue & Silver", the track slinks along keeping pace with the dreamy vocals until the guitars crash in to break up the sleepiness. "Tea Lights" is EVOL-era Sonic Youth at the most barebones, propped up by guitar stabs to keep the whole song from imploding. First single "I Get Nervous" is an introverted drifter accented with gauzy shoegaze synth and lyrics delivered on a whisper. At the end with "Hospice Gates" and "Two Cocks", Lower Dens stretch their legs for their versions of pop music with the latter almost a delighted finale to a stirring first full length.

Purchase Lower Dens Twin-Hand Movement here.

Lower Dens - Blue & Silver


Lower Dens - Hospice Gates


Lower Dens - Two Cocks