{"id":47641,"date":"2010-12-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/2010-a-new-decade\/"},"modified":"2010-12-20T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-12-20T00:00:00","slug":"2010-a-new-decade","status":"publish","type":"feature","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/features\/2010-a-new-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"2010: A New Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I came up with my list of “best albums of the decade” last year, I was surprised at the number of albums that came out in 2000. The biggest cause for surprise was that in 2000, I didn’t remember the year being all that noteworthy with the exception of Outkast’s Stankonia<\/i> and Radiohead’s Kid A<\/i>. It just goes to show you how much the element of time plays in these “best of” lists. <\/p>\n

Nine years from now, I’m not projecting the same phenomenon. Looking at my Top 10, I’m seeing nearly eight albums that would be my number one or number two choice during any other year. If there was a unifying theme that most of the best albums of this year shared, it was ambition. There was Kanye West’s six-minute song stretches in My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy<\/i>, an R&B newcomer whose first album does nothing less than structure a concept album using time travel and the film Metropolis<\/i> as inspiration, or an indie artist whose voice is a hurdle for even the most open-minded of listeners releasing a TRIPLE CD, with each CD surpassing the length of some full-length albums. Album sales may have dropped again this year, but thankfully, quality was not lacking. <\/p>\n

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10.\u00a0 <\/b>Sharon Jones And The Dap Kings – <\/b>I Learned The Hard Way<\/i><\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If soul music shares a commonality with heavy metal, it would be that both genres just seem to sound better when the volume is cranked. Listening to I Learned The Hard Way<\/i> at a low level is a polite and almost pedestrian experience. But on high, you feel each key horn blast, each percussion hit, which only makes Sharon Jones\u2019 vocals hit that much harder.\u00a0 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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9.\u00a0 The Arcade Fire – <\/b>The Suburbs<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

I’m still not entirely sold on The Suburbs. After a solid beginning, I still can’t remember the melodies of songs like “Deep Blue,” “Empty Room,” and “Half Light I” and “Half Light II (No Celebration).” And the less said about “Rococo” the better. But each listen to The Suburbs reveals a little more. At one point, the band is regaling stories of the friendships that only the ‘burbs can provide. And at other points, the band wants to take a blowtorch to the entire thing. And finally, there’s the “Sprawl” \u2013 a two-part anthem in which the song\u2019s characters wonder if they can ever really escape “the sprawl,” regardless of where they move \u2013 something that resonates with almost every disaffected “kid” young or old. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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8.\u00a0<\/b> Big Boi – <\/b>Sir Lucious Left Foot\u2026 The Son of Chico Dusty<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to believe that the solo artist of the most successful duo in hip-hop history would have trouble releasing a solo album. It\u2019s even more baffling given that most fans and critics consider Big Boi to be the more straightforward hitmaker of Outkast and Andre 3000 as the left-field experimentalist. But that\u2019s exactly what faced Big Boi on Sir Lucious Left Foot\u2026The Son of Chico Dusty<\/i>. Big Boi\u2019s album could have been a rusty mess, plagued with delays and label wrangling. Instead, it comes across as a cool, confident, unified whole. The relative lack of chart fire Sir Lucious Left Foot<\/i> generated can be blamed solely on Big Boi\u2019s label. No worries, though, like most great music, Sir Lucious Left Foot<\/i> will find its audience years from now. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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7.\u00a0 The Roots – <\/b>How I Got Over<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Complacency is one of the most lethal creativity killers for artists. And nothing’s more complacent than a cushy, stable full-time job. Though the album may not have shared the indignation of Rising Down<\/i> or Game Theory<\/i>, How I Got Over<\/i> excels at showing how incredible The Roots are as a live band and how Black Thought continues to grow as a lyricist even as his band enters its third decade on the charts. Any other album would have buckled under the weight of a guest list like Joanna Newsom, Monsters Of Folk, John Legend, and P.O.R.N., but on How I Got Over<\/i>, these artists just enhance the quality of the source product. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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6.\u00a0 Surfer Blood – <\/b>Astro Coast<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Astro Coast<\/i> was released in 2010’s infancy. And while more innovative and expansive albums have come out this year, any time Astro Coast <\/i>wound up back on my turntable, I was amazed at how effortlessly the songs blew me away. “Swim” sounds like it could rupture your speakers with the volume on two. A clean, crisp debut album by a band who just got signed to the majors on the basis of their songs, Astro Coast<\/i> practically defies you not to hit play once the closing chords of “Catholic Pagans” leave your ears. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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5.\u00a0 Deerhunter – <\/b>Halcyon Digest<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The best way to describe the listening experience of Halcyon Digest<\/i> is to compare it to exploring a forest or a park. The exterior may be underwhelming, but it’s necessary in comprising the whole. “Earthquake” and “Don’t Cry” are quiet, delicate numbers that do not bowl you over. But the further into Halcyon Digest <\/i>you dig, the richer the rewards, especially with the shimmering “Basement Scene,” spacey “Helicopter,” and the rocking “Fountain Stairs.” The seven minute closer “He Would Have Laughed,” a sonic collage of keyboards, guitars, and sparse percussion, is a moving tribute to Jay Reatard. “Where did my friends go?” Bradford Cox laments in that track. We may never know the answer, but Halcyon Digest<\/i> shows that the act of asking such questions is a reward onto itself.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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4.\u00a0 Drive-By Truckers – <\/b>The Big To-Do<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

About 25 years ago, John Mellencamp released Scarecrow<\/i>, an album that was rural America\u2019s response to getting left behind in the economic boom of the go-go \u201880s. This year, we have Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley to thank for creating the definitive rock statement to The Great Recession. Murder ballads, straight-up bar rockers, and shuffling \u201870s-era boogie are the tools the Truckers use to create vivid character sketches of people working fast food wages, numbing themselves with alcohol, and cavorting with lap dancers to just get by in the new economy. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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3.\u00a0<\/b> Kanye West – <\/b>My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

“You’ve been putting up wit’ my shit just way too long,” Kanye sings on “Runaway.” He\u2019s not kidding. After last year, the general public, all the way up to the President, just wished Kanye would go away. Fickle fans that loved Kanye for his music but couldn’t stand his personality most likely celebrated at the relatively weak chart performance of 808s & Heartbreaks. After the public firestorm that Kanye created, most rational artists would have come back with a cautionary “test the waters” type album to gauge people’s reactions. Thankfully, Kanye’s wired just the opposite. West sought out an A-list roster, spent millions on production, and pushed several songs past the six-minute mark. Each song stands as its own epic, but at the same time, the album demands \u201cbeginning to end\u201d listening. When the stakes couldn\u2019t be higher, West responded by creating a hip-hop masterpiece. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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2.\u00a0 Beach House – <\/b>Teen Dream<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

If you were going to give \u201calbum of the year\u201d honors to an album based solely on the strength of its singles, Teen Dream<\/i> would be sitting atop any other album released this year. \u201cSilver\u201d and \u201cNorway\u201d are back-to-back pop symphonies, wrapping listeners in a warm blanket of pop bliss. The album ends with the immensely affecting \u201cTake Care,\u201d a song about the most unselfish kind of devotion. Beach House\u2019s name may conjure images of the worst elements of indie culture, but on Teen Dream<\/i>, they transcend the trappings of that genre. This is great pop. Pure and simple.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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1.\u00a0 Janelle Monae – <\/b>The Archandroid<\/i><\/b> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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It appears Janelle Monae knows nothing about the record industry. The Archandroid<\/i>, which features suites, a \u201cWTF\u201d concept album set 700 years in the future, and involves androids and time travel, is the type of album that artists should have the freedom to make after you\u2019ve made it big and amassed some label and audience goodwill, not something you release right out of the gate. \u201cCome Alive (War Of The Roses)\u201d sounds like a burning hot \u201820s-era jazz club with the melody of \u201cRock Lobster\u201d playing. \u201cCold War\u201d is a feverish, pulsating raver and \u201cTightrope\u201d chalks up another win for Big Boi. In a year full of ambitious releases, The Archandroid<\/i> deserves to be mentioned at the top for its scope and daring, not to mention a great collection of songs. Ten years from now, I hope to be using the phrase \u201cThis is The Archandroid<\/i>\u201d when I describe 2020\u2019s album of the year. <\/p>\n

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Honorable mentions<\/b>: LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening<\/i> and Titus Andronicus – The Monitor<\/i>. <\/p>\n

5 Singles of the Year (Plus One)<\/b> <\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “Power” \u2013 Kanye West<\/p>\n

Years ago, I hated Deion Sanders for his cockiness and arrogance. I hated him even more on Monday mornings after watching him back up everything he boasted about on the field. \u201cPower\u201d is West\u2019s equivalent of someone who you want to see fail publically boast they\u2019re going to make the best song of the year and do just that. Opening with a tribal-like chant, sampling King Crimson, and veering between overblown ego and painful self-reflection, \u201cPower\u201d perfectly sums up how much Kanye West\u2019s presence is needed in today\u2019s fractured music world. <\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “Fuck You” \u2013 Cee Lo<\/p>\n

Like \u201cCrazy,\u201d \u201cFuck You\u201d was able to bridge gaps between nerds and hipsters, housewives and art majors, Conan fans and Leno fans. Sure, the title gave people a giddy thrill, but the song itself pays off long after its shock has waned. Despite the joyful early 70s-era soul sound of \u201cFuck You,\u201d it\u2019s a pained, sarcastic kiss-off to a loved one. This is hip-hop\u2019s \u201cDon\u2019t Think Twice, It\u2019s All Right.\u201d <\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk” \u2013 The New Pornographers<\/p>\n

Together marks the second time The New Pornographers has not achieved the same heights as their first three albums. But \u201cSweet Talk, Sweet Talk\u201d represents one of the finest three minutes in the band\u2019s cannon. The song starts off with a poppy piano chord, then goes into a sort of tennis match between the key players. The chorus raises \u201cSweet Talk, Sweet Talk\u201d to the stratosphere. The rest of Together<\/i> couldn\u2019t quite match the brilliance of this song. How could it? <\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cSilver Soul\u201d \u2013 Beach House<\/p>\n

A few years ago, I put on Cat Power\u2019s The Greatest and I was a tad disoriented during the second song, \u201cLiving Proof.\u201d The song was so complete, it seemed like it should be placed at the \u201cpeak\u201d of an album\u2019s track listings. Instead, it was only track two, and more peaks were on the way. With \u201cSilver Soul,\u201d Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally create a soundscape that sounds like an oceanic musical wave rolling in and out. \u201cIt is happening again\u201d is the refrain that sticks in your head. \u201cSilver Soul\u201d should disarm even the most hardened Beach House skeptic, readying them for an album\u2019s worth of such wonderful sonic moments. \u00a0<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 “This Fucking Job” \u2013 Drive-By Truckers<\/p>\n

Look at the title of my number two single and you can pretty much gauge the mood of our culture today. If The Big To-Do<\/i> is the soundtrack for our Great Recession, \u201cThis Fucking Job\u201d is the exhausted, weary song for the 99\u2019ers out there who are unemployed or underemployed. Patterson Hood\u2019s guitar chugs along with an angry urgency while he sings \u201cIt ain\u2019t getting me further.\u201d Sadly, this song will likely continue to resonate so long as the economy continues to grow without the jobs needed to make such a rally count as a recovery. <\/p>\n

“One Life Stand” \u2013 Hot Chip<\/p>\n

A few years ago, Hot Chip was part of an indistinguishable crop of indie electronic acts. Their album The Warning<\/i> was by no means a failure, but like Iron Man 2<\/i>, you\u2019d be hard pressed to remember any details about it after a single listen. No such problem exists on their follow-up. The electronic elements are very much in the here and now, but the guitar riff could have come from Peter Gabriel\u2019s \u201cBig Time.\u201d As cerebral as it is fun, \u201cOne Life Stand\u201d is a guilt-free pop gem. <\/p>\n


Reissues of the Year <\/b><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 David Bowie – <\/b>Station to Station<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

David Bowie sings \u201cNo, it\u2019s not the side effects of the cocaine\u201d on the leadoff track to Station To Station<\/i>. He could have fooled us. The album, which gave listeners the Bowie incarnation of the Thin White Duke, has been a lost favorite for many Bowie fans. This rerelease, complete with a great live concert at Nassau Coliseum, will no doubt win a whole new generation of converts.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Rolling Stones – <\/b>Exile on Main St.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

The songs sung by the Stones of today may slightly mar the rerelease of their 1972 classic. But any true fan of arguably the best double-album in rock will want to pick up this up, if only because their version is scratched to hell. \u201cSo Divine\u201d and \u201cPass The Wine\u201d are the highlights of the tracks that didn\u2019t make the cut the first time around. <\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Bob Dylan <\/b>– The Witmark Demos (1962-1964)<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

One of the greatest marketing feats of Dylan\u2019s \u201cbootleg\u201d demos is how they are able to make the purchase of almost all of his bootlegs justified for even casual Dylan fans. It started with the release of his infamous 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert, then it went to his earnest live performance before going electric, and two years ago, it was a collection of unreleased tracks from his late-career resurgence. With The Witmark Demos<\/i>, listeners are taken back to the very beginning, where Dylan, stripped of his mythology and \u201cvoice of a generation\u201d expectations, was armed only with a pen and a flood of inspiration.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Bruce Springsteen – <\/b>The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

A slight dock for confusion\u2019s sake. Some folks may have been led to believe that buying The Promise meant Springsteen\u2019s classic album that constituted the main source of all of this unreleased material was also included. That\u2019s only if you get the deluxe box set edition. Still, The Promise is well worth the purchase as it shows Springsteen at his frustrated best, following up a classic album that won him millions of followers, only to have his follow-up mired in legal woes. The Promise, along with Darkness, represents that halfway point that almost any Springsteen fan, be it his anathematic Born In The USA followers, or his acoustic Nebraska lovers, can agree on. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Iggy & The Stooges – <\/b>Raw Power<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

OK, so Raw Power is the rerelease of Iggy & The Stooges’ punk classic. But it\u2019s the rerelease of the original edition that David Bowie helped mix. If you want the remastered version that features the final mix that was approved by Iggy Pop, you\u2019ll still have to track down the 1997 version. Got that? Oh, fuck it, just buy this version, which features a live Atlanta performance that sounds like it was recorded in a warehouse basement, complete with Iggy threatening to punch an audience member\u2019s face in. <\/p>\n


Disappointment Of The Year<\/b> <\/p>\n

My Chemical Romance <\/b>– Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

In my high school DECA club, our teacher taught us that if a jingle stuck in your head, it was a success, no matter how awful that jingle was. If that is the case, \u201cNa Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)\u201d would be seen as being every bit as successful as Cee Lo\u2019s \u201cFuck You\u201d or Kanye West\u2019s \u201cPower\u201d or even Lady Gaga\u2019s \u201cBad Romance.\u201d \u00a0Like Green Day, My Chemical Romance is coming off of a triumphant critical and commercially successful album. And like Green Day, MCR fell into the exact same trappings that sank Green Day\u2019s 21st Century Breakdown<\/i>. Saddled with overglossy production and lame radio skits, Danger Days<\/i> was the equivalent of a Michael Bay remake of Repo Man<\/i>.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n


On The Horizon: 2011<\/b><\/p>\n

Given that it was hard enough narrowing my \u2018best of\u2019 down to 20, yet alone 10, 2011 has a lot to live up to. However, it promises to be a memorable year with something for everyone. Metal fans can hope for a new Baroness album, pop fans can count the months before the new Lady Gaga drops. For older fans, Dr. Dre plans to release his final album and The Cars have reunited and plan to release a new album. Lil Wayne has a likely lock for bestselling album of 2011 (unless Susan Boyle comes up with a Valentine\u2019s Day-themed album) and newcomer James Blake has generated some serious buzz. As for early \u201calbum of the year\u201d favorites, after his iconic debut and even his contribution to Kanye West\u2019s latest, the honor is Bon Iver\u2019s for the taking.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I came up with my list of “best albums of the decade” last year, I was surprised at the number of albums that came out in 2000. The biggest cause for surprise was that in 2000, I didn’t remember the year being all that noteworthy with the exception of Outkast’s Stankonia and Radiohead’s Kid […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":50347,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"tags":[],"feature_type":[5609],"class_list":["post-47641","feature","type-feature","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","feature_type-best-of"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/feature"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature\/47641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47641"},{"taxonomy":"feature_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/feature_type?post=47641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}