40 Teengirl Fantasy - 7AM
39 Fenech-Soler - Fenech-Soler
38 Suckers - Wild Smile
37 Blackbird Blackbird - Summer Heart
36 Diamond Rings - Special Affections
35 Geneva Jacuzzi - Lamaze
34 Everything Everything - Man Alive
33 Sleigh Bells - Treats
32 The Irrepressibles - Mirror Mirror
31 CocoRosie - Grey Oceans
30 jj - n° 3
29 The Hundred in the Hands - The Hundred in the Hands
28 Glasser - Ring
27 ceo - white magic
26 Hurts - Happiness
25 Best Coast - Crazy For You
24 Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be
23 We Have Band - WHB
22 SALEM - King Night
21 Jónsi - Go
20 How to Dress Well - Love Remains
Sweet, emotional lo-fi r&b, with a Bon Iver-like falsetto voice.
19 Stornoway - Beachcomber’s Windowsill
Zorbing was in last year’s best songs-list; Beachcomber’s Windowsill definitely deserves a spot in this list. An overlooked gem, something for fans of sweet indie pop with a British touch.
18 Yeasayer - Odd Blood
Yeasayer describe their sound as ‘middle-eastern-psych-snap-gospel’, I am not even going to try to come up with something better.
17 Foals - Total Life Forever
After the breathtaking Spanish Sahara, everyone got excited for Total Life Forever. Foals lived up the hype and delivered a splendid album. The boys have grown up since their joyful debut Antidotes, which you can definitely hear in their sound.
16 Owen Pallett - Heartland
Give this man a violin and he makes you happy. Give the man a string orchestra and he makes you really really really happy. Finally some recognition for a really talented man, who brings you an unique experience live as well.
15 M.I.A. - /\/\ /\ Y /\
Apart from the rather poppy XXXO, /\/\ /\ Y /\ destroys your speakers and makes you argue with your neighbours. I rly lovalot.
14 Fan Death - Womb of Dreams
One of the most over-looked albums of 2010, yet undeniably the most catchiest string-driven discopop release of 2010. I’m not sure if there even are any other bands in that genre, but it doesn’t matter. Womb of Dreams makes me dance, sing, jump and cheer; and I love it.
13 The Knife in collaboration with Mt. Sims and Planningtorock - Tomorrow In A Year
Tomorrow In A Year was one of the biggest surprises of 2010, then again The Knife loves surprising the world. A lot of people expected a ‘proper’ album, but you never know what to expect from the Dreijers. Treat this album as a soundtrack to an opera and learn to love it; worth the effort, believe me.
12 Perfume Genius - Learning
On his debut Learning, Mike Hadreas tells us the story of his rather sad youth. Ten touching songs that speak to your heart; fragile yet stellar. Almost 30 minutes of pure (lo-fi) emotion
11 The Golden Filter - Voluspa
Been waiting for this since Solid Gold, happy to see Voluspa lived up to my expectations. Penelope’s voice fits the sound of nu disco so well, a stellar debut from a stellar duo.
10 Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I’m pretty sure some of you are thinking ‘what is Kanye doing up there?’ right now. To be honest: I am thinking the exact same thing. It all started with Nicki Minaj’s verse on Monster, and now I’m loving the whole album. It’s not perfect (unlike a certain website states…), but it’s not crap either. Forget Kanye’s egocentric attitude and give this a chance: you might even end up liking it (that’s how it ended up here).
09 Twin Shadow - Forget
Dreamy synthpop with a wink to the smooth sound of the 80’s, welcome to the sweet world of Twin Shadow. His debut album Forget (produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor) holds an undeniably sexy 80’s synthpop sound mixed with some dream pop, which I love.
08 Robyn - Body Talk
When I heard Robyn had plans to release three albums in 2010, I was excited yet suspicious at the same time: happy about the fact we’d be getting lots of new Robyn-jams, suspicious if they’d all be as amazing as I’d hoped them to be. It all turned out to be amazing in the end, so it’s all good.
07 Antony and the Johnsons - Swanlights
This is not Antony’s sublime I Am A Bird Now, yet still very worthy of a spot in this list. Swanlights feels like a sad story, yet there’s a little spark of hope in there too. Still waiting for the day I can see mr. Hegarty bring these songs to life right in front of me - I think I might faint if he’d play the emotional Thank You For Your Love. Until then, I’ll have to put Swanlights on repeat.
06 The National - High Violet
A great album by a great band with great songs. That’s basically all there is too say, top-notch quality music. Strong, yet so touching at times.
05 Marina & the Diamonds - The Family Jewels
Can’t help but love Marina. We all need our guilty pleasures: Marina is mine, and I’m actually not even guilty about it. She infected my brain with her edgy, strong pop; let her infect your brain too.
04 Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Bedroom electronica recorded with a full orchestra. Never loses its charm, never loses its rhythm. Gets quite messy sometimes, but it will always remain a magical mess. Sufjan goes from intimate to drugged in seconds, and I love it.
03 Warpaint - The Fool
I’ve been a fan of the LA-ladies ever since their dazzling debut Exquisite Corpse EP, but their album just blows me away. From the classic Undertow, the heartbreaking Baby (don’t you call anybody else baby, i’m your baby still) or the wild Majesty, every single song on this album rocks. Literally.
02 Beach House - Teen Dream
2010 was the year of Beach House; they topped numerous ‘best of 2010’-lists (including the disco naïveté readers poll) and played gigs worldwide: and they deserve it. After two splendid yet overseen albums (Beach House and Devotion) the dream pop duo from Maryland managed to create an album simply everyone loved. Victoria and Alex describe it as ‘make-out music’, but somehow always end up crying when listening to Teen Dream.
01 Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me
Joanna created a whole new world with her Have One On Me. The voice of an angel, a rich orchestration and beautiful storytelling lyrics: perfection. Odd enough, Have One On Me is probably her most accessible record up until now. Over two hours of pure enjoyment.
