My Favorite Albums of 2010

Here goes:

25. Girls-Broken Dreams Club EP-Chris Owens and co. progress logically from 2009's Album. There's more to the music and the lyrics are better. Looking forward to hearing more. Maybe they'll call their next release Another Album.

24. Flying Lotus-Cosmogramma-Didn't listen to this much, but it's still tremendous. A gifted beatmaker with a jazz mindset.

23. Tamaryn-The Waves-Massive stuff, not unlike early 90s shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive. "Mild Confusion" is real sexy.

22. The Love Language-Libraries-Great pop songs. Phil Spector might be proud.

21. Gorillaz-Plastic Beach-Not sure how well it flows as an album, but there are too many great singles here to not include it on this list. "White Flag" is a really neat song.

20. Beat Connection-Surf Noir EP-High-quality beach tunes. AND it was free on their Bandcamp.

19. The Radio Dept.-Clinging to a Scheme-I was really into Saint Etienne when this came out, and this sort of sounds like/is good as one of their early albums. It would be even better if there was more "Heaven's on Fire" and less shoegaze.

18. The Morning Benders-Big Echo-Would've been number one if there were more songs like "Excuses."

17. Crystal Castles-Crystal Castles II-A bit inconsistent, but when they're good, they're REALLY good. "Baptism," "Celestica," and "Pap Smear" are worth the price of admission.

16. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti-Before Today-Weird lo-fi pop. Sags in the middle big-time on tracks seven and eight. "Round and Round" is an instant classic, though.

15. Free Energy-Stuck on Nothing-I hate using the word "fun" when describing music, but I can't resist here. Good clean rock n'roll fun.

14. Beach House-Teen Dream-Beach House put some muscle behind their characteristic dreaminess and produced their best album to date. Beautiful tunes.

13. Baths-Cerulean-Such an original sound. The beats are crazy, the vocals are wacky, and Cerulean is off the chain.

12. Four Tet-There Is Love In You-Speaking of beats, here's another dude who knows what he's doing. Even my dad said that this is "nice music." If Janek Wawrzyniak, a man who has no idea what is cool in 2010 says it's good, it's good.

11. Twin Shadow-Forget-Danceable tunes with clever lyrics. I thought this guy was a joke when I first saw him on Hipster Runoff. Dumb ol' me.

10. Perfume Genius-Learning-Sometimes you're sad, and when you're sad it can be good to hang with other people who are sad. Makes you feel less alone in the world, ya know? This was my go-to "sad album" in 2010.

09. Deerhunter-Halcyon Digest-This was a weird one for me. I thought it was the BEST ALBUM EVER after the first listen, and since then I've liked it less and less. The first and last tracks are forgettable, the middle is great.

08. Dom-Sun Bronzed Greek Gods EP-Please please please don't become the next Passion Pit or MGMT, Dom. Infectious pop songs with "I don't give a eff" lyrical sentiments.

07. Janelle Monae-The ArchAndroid-Janelle is rad and has crazy skills. She's got a great voice and uses it to take us on a journey through popular music. This album's got a lot: R&B, Rock n'Roll, 60s psych, Outkast-esque bangers, and for the love of God the dude from Of Montreal's on here! Still waiting for "Tightrope" or "Cold War" to become a smash hit. Maybe in 2011...

06. Kanye West-My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy-Doesn't contain as many radio-ready singles as Kanye's previous albums, but it's a classic nonetheless. So many great collabs-obviously Nicki Minaj kills it, but what about Chris Rock on "Blame Game?" Effing hilarious.

05. Vampire Weekend-Contra-They proved that they're here to stay with this album. More atmospherics and more risk taking. Drummer Chris Tomson is a vastly underrated component of this band. Seriously, listen to the drums on "Run" or "Cousins." He makes those tracks go.

04. Tame Impala-Innerspeaker-Let's have a toast for the introverts! Awesome psych pop, and the singer is a dead ringer for John Lennon. My most listened to album during the summer of 2010.

03. LCD Soundsystem-This is Happening-One of the best album titles ever. One of the coolest album covers ever. Music's pretty cool as well. "You Wanted A Hit" is sort of boring, but we'll give James a mulligan on that one.

02. The Walkmen-Lisbon-Disclaimer: The Walkmen are pretty much my favorite band. Anything they put out will be enjoyed immensely by yours truly. Howling vocals, loud guitars, insane drumming. S'where it's at.

01. Sleigh Bells-Treats-Came completely out of nowhere and melted my face off. Hip-hop beats with heavy metal intensity? Ain't nobody made an album like this before, and that's why it's #1.