35. The Watson Twins

35. The Watson Twins - Talking To You, Talking To Me

Chandra and Leigh Watson are out of Los Angeles, CA and basically have a country/ folk/blues sound. I have loved The Watson Twins since they were brought to light on Jenny Lewis' Rabbit Fur Coat. This pair of twins are master songstresses and have performed in the city several times. They are both incredibly beautiful and very nice. Their new album has taken on a more groove heavy, gritty soul sound. It fits in great with a lot of the music I've been into lately and I'm glad they chose to go with a harder edge. I wonder which one is the evil one.

The Watson Twins - Savin' You from Vanguard Records on Vimeo.

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36. Frightened Rabbit

36. Frightened Rabbit - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks

Frightened Rabbit is a Scottish band originally started by Scott Hutchison. At first, the band was just Scott, but has since added his brother as a drummer and Billy Kennedy as a guitarist. Andy Monaghan has been recently added as a guitarist as well. I have been listening to this band for a few years and this particular album is a lot more fleshed out than earlier efforts. Scott's voice is incredibly distinctive and creates a melancholy backdrop to the indie rock folk.





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37. Punch Brothers

37. Punch Brothers - Antifogmatic

I saw Punch Brothers perform one night on late night television and was instantly hooked. They have a basic Bluegrass template, but the framework is classical and jazz based. This leads to complex, experimental bluegrass songs. I love the extreme talent base and the lead, Chris Thile has gone to great lengths to make the mandolin relative. Other members of the band include, Gabe Witcher (fiddle), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Eldrige (guitar), and Paul Kowert (bass). If you like Avett Bros. at all, you should definitely check out these guys.



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38. Admiral Radley

38. Admiral Radley - I Heart California

If you know me at all or have read my blog you knew this was going to make the top 50. Probably the highlight of my year was getting to meet Jason Lytle and seeing AdRad perform their first live show ever. If you are not familiar with this band, read up on them in my post about them here.



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39. Frankie Rose And The Outs

39. Frankie Rose And The Outs - Frankie Rose And The Outs

Do you ever walk into a CD store and pick up something you've never seen or heard of before? I do, and not often enough, because it usually leads to aural gold. This is an example of one of those experiences. No hype, no nothing, just listening and loving. Frankie Rose has been the drummer in Vivian Girls and wrote their hit song, as well as doing a stint in Dum Dum Girls (who made this list as well) and Crystal Stilts. This is the perfect example of a girl group, noise-pop album if I've ever heard one. Great melodies and an underlying 60's Brit-pop sound make me love this album a lot.



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40. Broken Social Scene

40. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record

I have always loved Broken Social Scene. A Canadian Baroque pop band from Toronto, it can have from six to nineteen members at any given time. Some of the indie greats that have got their start with this band are: Emily Haines of Metric and her own solo effort with The Soft Skeleton; Leslie Feist of Feist; Amy Millan of Stars and her own solo effort; Jason Collett. Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning are the mainstay's and have each produced albums in their own right under the moniker: Broken Social Scene Presents:. I finally got to see this band live in October and it was spectacular and they will be at Cains in February. Should be an incredible show.



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41. Chew Lips

41. Chew Lips - Unicorn

Chew Lips are Tigs, James Watkins and Will Sanderson. They are from London, England and produce infectious electro-pop music. The name Chew Lips comes from a character in the Brendan Behan book, Borstral Boy. I found these guys in the SXSW buzz from last year and they have stayed on steady repeat on the iPod.



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44. OK Go

44. OK Go - Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky

OK Go is an indie rock band out of Chicago, IL. The band consists of Damian Kulash (guitar, vocals), Tim Nordwind (bass), Andy Ross (guitar, keyboards), and Dan Konopka (drums). I have always enjoyed their music immensely and they are known for their quirky, low budget, highly choreographed, one-shot videos (many examples shown below). This particular album invokes the spirit of Prince and 80's dance music in general and is a great listen. Their music always puts me in a great mood.







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45. Avi Buffalo

45. Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo

I discovered this band at the 80/35 music festival this summer in Des Moines, IA. Not knowing what to expect, I listened to their set and was pleasantly surprised, so much so, that I went over to the merch table and bought their CD immediately. They come from Long Beach, CA and are led by Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg. Avi recently signed to Sub Pop Records and is an extremely talented guitarist. In addition to the song I've loaded below, you can go here to grab a couple more. I would describe this band as indie pop, but with more complex layers than most and a touch of surfer rock. The album has met with much critical acclaim and is the single has been on constant repeat on the new 105.3TheSpy.



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46. The Radio Dept.

46. The Radio Dept. - Clinging to a Scheme

The Radio Dept. are a Swedish indie pop band who got their name from a sign outside a shop in Sweden, Radioavdelningen (which means The Radio Department in Swedish). Johan Ducanson and Martin Carlberg are the driving force behind the band. I have been listening to this band for the last five years. They have produced two other albums prior to their current release and no album of theirs has captured me the way this one has. I'm not saying the other two aren't excellent, but this one has that extra something special. I encourage you to check out all their work, their new video and enjoy my favorite song from the album below.

The Radio Dept. - Never Follow Suit (Official Promo Music Video) from theradiodept.com on Vimeo.

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47. Maximum Balloon

47. Maximum Balloon - Maximum Balloon

Maximum Balloon is the side project of David Andrew Sitek of TV on the Radio. TV on the Radio's last album, Dear Science, was in my top ten for 2008. David Sitek is also known for producing Yeah Yeah Yeahs as well. Like all good side projects, Maximum Balloon is rife full of collaboration, with artists such as Karen O and David Byrne. This interview with him breaks down each song and the guest artist on it. This has been on constant repeat since listening to it and really highlights Sitek's creative talent and the incredible talent he recruited for it. I really hope he does this again in the future.



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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!!!