Best Albums of 2010 (15-11)

15. Halcyon Digest - Deerhunter

"When you were young, you never knew which way to go" - "Desire Lines"

Besides winning the 2010 Richard D. James Award for Creepiest Album Cover, Halcyon Digest represents exactly what we've come to expect from Deerhunter. Like the band's previous albums, Halcyon Digest combines churning shoegaze with Beatles-esque melodies and filters frontman Bradford Cox's reminiscent and sentimental lyrics through a dreamy haze. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Though Halcyon Digest is not a huge stylistic departure from Deerhunter's previous work, it does sport some of the band's best songs. "Helicopter" showcases the band's ability to mix unconventional instrumentation to create something that sounds both innocent and alien, and "Desire Lines" works into a slow instrumental groove that most Indie bands are not capable of sustaining. Deerhunter is rivaled only by Animal Collective for their ability to make the avant-garde seem so Pop.
Standout Tracks: "Helicopter," "Desire Lines," "Revival," "Don't Cry"

14. Teen Dream - Beach House

"We were sleeping till you came along" - "Norway"

Teen Dream, like Halcyon Digest, has a strong shoegazer and dream pop vibe, but uses its slow vibe and powerful vocals by Victoria Legrand to paint a portrait of general teenage emotion, as opposed to Bradford Cox's highly personal songs. Teen Dream marks a giant leap forward, as their accustomed snail-like pace becomes hypnotic, instead of just boring. "Norway" utilizes a churning drum beat and liquid keyboards to depict the cold beauty of the song's namesake. "Walk in the Park" is a gorgeous lament that makes the loss of a loved one sound breezy. Ultimately, the record lies on Legrand's voice, which expands upon the instrumental tracks and elevates and illuminates Teen Dream's many inspired artistic flourishes.
Standout Tracks: "Walk in the Park," "Norway," "Zebra," "Used to Be"

13. Plastic Beach - Gorillaz

"All hail King Neptune and his water breathers!" - "Superfast Jellyfish"

While his former rivals Liam and Noel Gallagher have devolved into a snarling, irrelevant self-parody of their angry selves, Damon Albarn manages to retain a relevance that bypassed his contemporaries over a decade ago. The flexibility of his Gorillaz alter ego allows Albarn to shun expectations and do whatever he desires, musically. While previous Gorillaz releases are mixed bags, inevitably featuring one or two excellent songs and lots of filler, the loose concept and impeccable guest casting of Plastic Beach keeps the record fresh and an insane amount of fun. The concept (everyone on the record is reporting from a resort island made out of trash and plastic floating in the ocean, hence the plastic beach) provides for some fantastic songs, such as underwater fast-food jingle "Superfast Jellyfish" (featuring a welcome appearance by De La Soul) and "Rhinestone Eyes," which examines the consequences of our modern materialistic lifestyle through a hypnotic electro background. Old-guard alt-rock legends Mark E. Smith and Lou Reed stop by for "Glitter Freeze" and "Some Kind of Nature," and Snoop Dogg welcomes us to the world. The key guests are Mos Def, who graces "Stylo" with a brief rhyme and carries "Sweepstakes," an album highlight, and Bobby Womack, who imbues "Stylo" and "Cloud of Unknowing" with genuine soul. However, the key track is a solo performance by Albarn, "On Melancholy Hill," which echoes the Kinks' classic "Waterloo Sunset" in both melody and lyrical subject matter (manufactured, yet true nostalgia through voyeurism). I can't wait to watch his musical vision continue to evolve.
Standout tracks: "Superfast Jellyfish (ft. De La Soul)," "Sweepstakes (ft. Mos Def)," "Rhinestone Eyes," "On Melancholy Hill," "Some Kind of Nature (ft. Lou Reed)"

12. New Amerykah Part II: Return of the Ankh - Erykah Badu

"If I get off my knees, I might recall I'm 20 feet tall" - "20 Feet Tall"

I'm gonna get this out of the way early: New Amerykah Part II is not as good as Part I. But there's no one else who can do what Erykah Badu does. Badu is better than anyone at fusing her revolutionary vision of the future with the all-too-rare Marvin Gaye-style concept soul of the past. Though Return of the Ankh's laid back atmosphere can't quite match the revolutionary fervor of 4th World War, the songs are uniformly terrific, including bubbly "Umm Hmm" and the wonderful "Window Seat," with its effortless jazz piano groove and emotionally bare lyrics (illustrated by her more literally bareness in the music video). Even the iTunes bonus track is awesome ("Jump Up in the Air and Stay There," featuring a fantastic guest verse from Lil Wayne).
Standout Tracks: "Window Seat," "Fall in Love (Your Funeral)," "Umm Hmm," "Incense"

11. Cosmogramma - Flying Lotus

"I need to know you're out there. Need to know you're listening." - "And the World Laughs With You" (ft. Thom Yorke)

Flying Lotus filters the belches and whines of IDM legend Aphex Twin through the futurist lens of Sun Ra and George Clinton, lending his music an alien and jazzy quality that you can't find anywhere else in modern electronic music. Like Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus excels at combining individually ugly sounds to make them sound beautiful and like Sun Ra, he claims to channel his experimental jazz through cosmic, space-inspired concepts. Cosmogramma, while a work of instrumental genius, also represents the rantings of a crazy person. See this blog post off Steve Ellison's myspace (FL's real name). Cosmogramma is the translation of a cartoon world's ancient language into aural form. It's no surprise that Thom Yorke, a fellow insane genius, sees a kindred spirit in Ellison; Cosmogramma does not sound like it was composed as much as it was beamed to our hard drives from the Moon.
Standout tracks (the album should really be taken on its own, but here are a good few places to start if you are intimidated by instrumental works): "...And the World Laughs With You (ft. Thom Yorke)," "Satelllliiiiiiiteee," "MmmHmm (ft. Thundercat)"