Another day, another list. Up next, the 5 best rock and 5 best pop records of 2010.
Rock
5. Girls - Broken Dreams Club
Less frisky ‘Frisco rock and roll and more a collection of gloomily epic crowd pleasers, the follow-up to Girl's debut: Album sees the pair really get in their stride. Arguably more grim and distant, it maintains the simplistic form fans know and love, while adding some subtle experimental flourishes.
4. Tokyo Police Club - Champ
An engaging slice of mid-20s, middle-Americana, Champ see TPC inch away from their crooning indie debut in favour of something a little more mature. There's something darkly humourous about it too, Favourite Colour sees the boys make lyrical poetry of inane small-talk and Bambi is a gloriously sardonic ode to casual alcohol and narcotic abuse.
3. These New Puritans - Hidden
NME lauded, but somehow still barely registering as a blip on the public sphere's radar, TNP leave the classroom and head onto the battlefield for second album Hidden. Their debut Beat Pyramid was something of a suckerpunch, roaring onto the indie scene with a bizarre topical base, mostly revolving around primary colours, historical references and a keen interest in geometry. Their follow-up this year was radically different, with a distinctly aggressive orchestral sound, the instrumental battle anthem We Want War could soundtrack the march of Sauron's horde, yet the soft piano of Hologram with its pounding kettle drum beat and cross-dimensional vocals could just as easily be applied to the world of science-fiction.
2. Delphic - Acolyte
I have yet to come across a band that married superlative arena rock with speaker-busting electro quite as well as this Mancunian four-piece. From the emergency announcement of opener Clarion Call to the breathless techno-piano of closer Remain, there isn't a note out of place because Delphic are a group with exhaustive technical proficiency: every chord, every pause, every word, was hand picked with breathtaking consideration. And the results fully justify their efforts, Acolyte is consistently epic and evocative and nowhere is this more obvious than the titular track, a near-nine minute odyssey of sparkling synths that rise to levels of pure audio-ecstasy, writhing besides gorgeous choral harmonies in a storm of architectural electronica. Sure my personal highlight might be entirely electronic, but if Acolyte is the only track you listen to, consider this: every other will contain some variation of Delphic's stunning electro formula, and it perfectly compliments their Silent Alarm-inspired rock sound.
1. The National - High Violet
I'll be honest here, I consider myself to be a little like Dexter, faking the most commonplace social interactions because I'm emotionally numb. And it's for that reason, that I'm am so utterly obsessed with finding the next album capable of stirring some kind of glandular response. High Violet achieved this in so many ways I could spend the entirety of this article outlining them, but, for your sake, I'm not going to. Instead I'll try to summarise why it is the best rock record of the year, and quite possibly, the decade. Every single track is a soul-bearing diatribe, mostly on the pains of family life but branching out into themes like life-after-death, marriage and the predictability of social cliques.The musicianship is exemplary, if not particularly original, leaning on grinding guitar riffs and accessible piano work. But to derogate its paint-by-numbers sound would be to completely miss the point, also my current nonchalance regarding anything involving guitars would be equally artisan, but considering that, The National's almost constant weight on my mind, is a testament to their ability to produce music with their hearts on their sleeves regardless of sonic influence.
Pop
5. Marina & The Diamonds - The Family Jewels
Charting a familiar course between Lady Sovereign's tomboyish rough-&-tumble and dizzy piano purism, The Family Jewels is a glitzy, well-polished pop record. For more info, go here: http://www.redbrickonline.co.uk/music/album-review-marina-the-diamonds-the-family-jewels/
4. Sleigh Bells - Treats
Noise pop should be loud and Jesus, are these two ever; Treats sounds like Green Day and Michael Bay collaborated on a chart-topper and the studio was just an igloo built from cocaine. Single Crown On The Ground is the worst (or best?) offender, the only legally safe way to listen to this on speakers more powerful than say, the one on your phone, is in one of those bunkers the military use to test nuclear warheads. But somehow riding over every megaton chord are Alexis Krauss' saccharine-sweet vocals and the juxtaposition is bizarrely perfect, if I continue to run with the scatter-brained similes here, it's kind of like watching the Titans tearing the world apart because they can't decide on their favourite rom-com. In short: violent, but adorable.
3. Hurts - Happiness
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Their lyrics are vapid-as-fuck but there's something to be said for Hurts' 80s baroque pop sound. Quite a lot actually, as Happiness is one of the most musically accomplished debuts this year. They hit new theatrical highs at every opportunity, with a charming electro angle on the otherwise soporific genre of New-Romantic ballads. I bad-mouthed their lyrics, but of course I would, I'm a hollow shell of a human being yet even I'm forced to admit that their vocalist Hutchcraft is perfectly qualified, turning every insipid line into a glorious operatic harmony.
2. School of Seven Bells - Disconnect From Desire
I've got nothing against dream-pop particularly, it's just that most of it is pretentious crap, a natural fusion of twee-pop and shoegaze, that no-one ever managed to really make anything of. Until last year, when School of Seven Bells released Alpinisms and blew me away with their thoughtful lyrics and the kind of inspired melodies the Ting Tings would like awake at night, dreaming of being capable of. DFD though, had all that and so much more, from the spacey Jack Wall synths of Heart Is Strange to the Fuck Buttons meets Jonsi wall of distortion on The Wait, this is a record of near-perfect scale and intimacy, flitting gracefully between epic soundscapes and minimalist balladry. What makes this possible are the vocalists: Claudia and Alejandra Deheza. As you're probably capable of guessing, they're sisters, what might not be so obvious is that they are twins, and with this in mind, it becomes apparent why they sing so comfortably together and why their delicate harmonies gel so perfectly.
1. Robyn - Body Talk Pt. 2
The strongest of the triad of Body Talk iterations, Pt. 2 demonstrates everything great about the Scandinavian songstress while sidestepping the pitfalls the other two stumbled into. Sure Pt. 1 might have the lonely-Disco ballad Dancing On My Own and Pt. 3 the man-eating siren song Call Your Girlfriend but as always it's moderation that takes the gong. Exuding far more swagger, Body Talk Pt. 2 is all pomp and circumstance, Include Me Out is a a toe-tapping initiation to popular dubstep and U Should Know Better's audacious back-and-forth with Snoop Dogg just begs you to underestimate her. Fans of Robyn have come to expect Grade-A synth lines and flawless production and they weren't disappointed, all three Body Talk records are leagues ahead of the competition. Move the fuck over Lady Gaga, 'cause Robyn is the legitimate heir to the throne of Queen of Pop.
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