Favorites from 2010

In a true testament to our timeliness, soldoutmusic presents a pictorial history of our favorite things of 2010.

Favorites From 2010 In No Order Other Than You Should Consider The First Two Albums Tied For Most Important Records Ever

Salem, King Night

Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 

Between Salem's sadistic, twisted goth-crunk-gaze and Kanye's self-effacing and world-lacerating rhymes paired with some of the most genius production we've heard from him ever (saying a lot), these two records redefined what "important record" means in a year that was bemoaned by many as being a crap year in music. Those people weren't fucking listening. 

and the rest, in arbitrary order: 

The National, High Violet

Dad-rock reimagined as the working man's paranoia for our time. "I defend my family/with my orange umbrella/and I'm afraid of everyone."

 

Drake, Thank Me Later

Clouded in hollow braggadocio and false misogyny, Drake made an album of growers. Through the entire album, Drake does nothing but lose love and struggle to find some idea of truth in his world of false flash and amalgam. In that way, really, the record plays like Shakespeare. 

High Places, High Places Vs Mankind

An early favorite from 2010, this record saw High Places making the album they needed to make--cheeky, painful, ass-rocking. Think New Order and you're in the right camp.

Less for Treats than for every fucking thing Sleigh Bells were to 2010: loud, uncompromising, a band that was booed by hipsters at the Mad Decent SXSW party and ended up winning their hearts and Am Ex cards for concert tickets by year's end.

These New Puritans had a darkly genius record on their hands with Hidden, and nothing reverberated deeper than "We Want War".

aTelecine,  adult film star Sasha Grey's haunted ambient music project, is music to dream to if you're fucked up. Which all the best people are.

The myth, the legend, the booze, the brilliance: Ke$ha owned 2010 and was played in every god damn DJ set we did. 

Diddy Dirty Money, Last Train To Paris

Why the fuck will you not listen to us? FUCK DIDDY FOR REAL, this album barely has Diddy at all other than random existentialist ramblings like "can she hear me at all?" The production on this record is so fucking good, so fucking good, that it basically operates as a lesser  full-team version of the Kanye album.

Los Campesinos!, Romance Is Boring 

There's no more twee, this emo-pop band has begun to make music that's a cacophony of importance. 

Big Boi, Sir..

This shit will still sound from the future in 3010.

Melissa Auf Der Maur: from her Out Of Our Minds to her fucking onslaught of a live show, XMADMX really owned 2010 and shall continue to own our very asses. 

Laurel Halo: call her witch-pop or futuretro death dance, this Brooklyn producer/singer/songwriter/DJ/genius is one of our new crushes.