48. Dark Dark Dark

48. Dark Dark Dark - Wild Go

I was just recently introduced to this sextet out of Minneapolis. Their album was released in October and it was only by the epic force of their single I got over the summer that they have made this list. Nona Marie Invie is the haunting vocalist and seems to be the driving force of Dark Dark Dark. They are described as a combination of New Orleans jazz, minimalism, Americana, Eastern European folk and pop. I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty incredible. In conjunction with Marshall LaCount, Nona writes songs that tell a story and Wild Go tells an apocalyptic one. They were in Dallas recently and luckily for me they tour a lot. Here's to hoping they come back by OKC soon. I posted a song below and there's a free one at their website just for signing up to their mailing list, but I highly recommend buying this album.



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49. School of Seven Bells

49. School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire

School of Seven Bells is named after a mythical South American pickpocket training academy. It consists of Alejandra Deheza and Benjamin Curtis. Benjamin used to be in Secret Machines and Tripping Daisy, which is probably why I like this band so much. Their debut was released in 2007 and made my top 50 list then and this one is just as compelling. Many bands fail to live up to the hype of their debut album, but SSB, I feel has done an incredible job. They are an electronic/dream pop band that utilize a unique process of writing the lyrics first and forming the music around them. If you like this, check out 'Alpinisms' as well.




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50. LCD Soundsystem

50. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening

James Murphy is the sole creator of all the groovy disco fed, new wave electro dance pop that you hear here. His music has been nominated for two Grammy's and is used by many pre-concert sound-tech guys and car commercials. An ultra fun concert if you ever get the chance to see live, he will get you dancing as will this album. Like his last two albums, there is a lot of great grooves and I love having this on in the background whether at home or work. Check out the video for the last track 'Home' below and watch a robot get its face raped off and enjoy my favorite song 'I Can Change'.




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Top 50 Albums of 2010

It is that time again. I really enjoyed putting this together last year, so I thought in my "spare time", I would do it again. As last year, I am ranking these albums based on play counts and longevity, not necessarily what I thought to be the most artistic. What I enjoyed the most is in this list. I listened to a lot more albums this year versus last year and saw a lot more shows (which led to me listening to more albums) and I noticed that this year I listened to a lot less electronic music and a lot more surfer rock. Don't know what to attribute this to, other than Surfer Blood. Lost Mark Linkous this year and that was terrible. He was a great musician and will be greatly missed. (see my tribute post here) Hope you had a great year. This year's potential releases look really exciting. Onto the countdown!!!