You Can Argue but You Can't Win: Mr Shuffleupagus' Favourite Albums of 2010 (Part One)

Let's make it very clear that this is a list of favourite albums. Not best albums--favourites. So yes, I know that Ariel Pink is awesome and Deerhunter did everything right, but at the end of the day, those albums just didn't give me a boner like like these ones did. And you can't argue with a metaphorical boner.

What follows are the first six of my eleven favourite 2010 albums**:

11. Girls, Broken Dreams Club
Techncally this is an EP, but I'm letting it in because as soon as you listen to it, you'll want to listen to it again. And then one more time. And then one more time, all the while thinking If I had a guitar I would learn to play every song on this album... Unless you have a guitar. Then you probably already have.

10. The Walkmen, Lisbon
This album makes me nostalgic. For my childhood, for my parents' childhoods, for emotions and ideals I can't put my finger on and don't even understand. Listening to it makes you feel wistful. And 100 years old.

9.The Morning Benders, Big Echo
This album does lose its way by the end, but it the first two-thirds go down so good, you'll barely notice. Recommended for sunny mornings when you can wake up slowly.

8. Yeasayer, Odd Blood

I've already discussed this album and the fact that it's not perfect (still can't get into Ambling Alp--no chance) But the more you listen, the better Odd Blood sounds. It's energetic, ambitious and interesting, all of which is way more important than perfect.

7. The National, High Violet

Ornate and deep, the only reason it doesn't rank higher is because I can't listen to it all that often--it has a way of sweeping you into a dark, dramatic world that's not always an easy place to be. 

6. Sleigh Bells, Treats

It would be cheap and easy to play on the album title here, but screw it--I am cheap and easy. And from sweet, girly electronic beeps to riotous guitar riffs, this album is full of treats. It's been awhile since listening to a record was so much fucking fun.

**Eleven because I can't stand even numbers. No even numbers and no orange M&Ms. Deal with it.

Because We All Have Limited Gigbytes: "Odd Blood"

These days if you're in a band it's impossible not to create a genre. Or claim to create one, anyway. YOUR BAND is not just "rock"; you're "post-metal-neo-new-wave". Or the first to deem your sound "pseudo-Lauper-low-fi-punk". Maybe you alone have mastered the potential of "new millennium-Broadway/porno soundtrack/chill hybrid".  And while I do get the wanting to be distinct thing you need to know that, while avoiding pigeonholing, it also places your image somewhere between awesomely descriptive and totally useless. For example, I am the leading writer of random-music themed-Moscow based-Canadian expatriate-snark-blogger commentary. Set up a niche small enough and you're bound to rule it. But it's also like being president of the club you set up in your mum's closet--kinda fucking sad.



Unless this is your club. No wait--I meant especially. Especially if this is your club.



When their last album came out, Yeasayer dubbed their sound "Middle-eastern-psych-snap-gospel", placing them squarely in the "Muliticoloured Kangarabbit Kids Club" camp. This year's Odd Blood has a slightly different sound from their last album but they're still in the club. It's a little less psych, a little more pop, and a dash of synth. (I wouldn't go so far as to say synthpop but, y'know, it's there.) There's something very 1984 about it. The year and the novel. 

Not following? Okay, imagine you take a shitload of acid and go to an 80's party. Tripping balls and surrounded by electric guitars, synthesizers and Simon le Bon haircuts you are asked to compose an album on the spot. That album is probably going to come out sounding like the bastard child of a back alley condomless one night stand between Pink Floyd and Tears For Fears.

Simply put, it's going to come out sounding like Odd Blood.

And that's not a bad thing. The album is bold, experimental, and pretty much kicks ass. Trouble is, the band doesn't seem to know where the strengths are. Their first single was "Ambling Alp". I'll give them musically catchy, but the lyrics put my ears into a diabetic coma. This song sounds like something a youth group leader plays to show how hip he is. It's, like, totally the best song at church camp. And I am not big on church camp.

Then there's "Love Me Girl," which sounds direct from the synth no-man's-land of the late 90's. Heading back to that time for this genre is like one of Moses' Jews heading back into the desert for a walk down memory lane. Dude you're lucky anything survived; don't go picking through the bones.

So the album has its weaknesses. And since iPod space doesn't grow on trees, here (in my opinion and open to debate) are the songs to make room for on Odd Blood:

Third Best: "Madder Red" (released as a single Sept 13th) --for it's wordless chorus that everyone will sing along to, and for the fact that I can now use "experimental-psych-Celtic-anthem" in a sentence.03 Madder Red by Mr. Shuffleupagus

Second Best: "I Remember"-- Because as you read this, some Hollywood asshole is pitching a remake of Say Anything. And if that should come to pass,  this is the song that John Cusack 2.0 will have playing from his boombox04 I Remember by Mr. Shuffleupagus

Best on the Album: "Mondegreen"-- Because it's the musical equivalent of doing a line of coke: euphoric surge of adrenaline, the world picks up pace, and you feel way cooler than you actually are.09 Mondegreen by Mr. Shuffleupagus