Post Shwackin' Post - Me Best Of

Top 10 of 2010

Difficult year. Personally I felt there were many good albums but not many great albums. In other words, many releases had great songs but were unable to hold onto that greatness for an entire 40 to 60 minutes.

10. Whigs- In the Dark   Gritty and catchy. Great percussion work.

  9. Against Me!- White Crosses   Sure a sell out, but a well done sell out. Let their fall begin....

  8. Richard Thompson- Dream Attic  Parts are slow, but the guitar work is god-like.

  7. Drive By Truckers- The Big To Do  Off-beat southern drawlers that grow on you.

  6. JP Chrissie Hynde and the Fairground Boys- Fidelity!   Big surprise. Great songs about building good relationships.

  5. The National- High Violet   Self reflecting low keyed anthems.

  4. Black Mountain- Wilderness Heart  Zeppelin-Sabbath rocker with a dash of prog.

  3. The Orbans- When We Were Wild   Poppy Wilco meets the Avett Brothers.

  2. Capstan Shafts- Revelation Skirts   Late to the party. Straight ahead lo-fi power pop.

  1. Electric Six- Zodiac  The best they have released. Deliberately goofy that is beyond catchy. It rocks.

On the Cusp

The below artists almost had the legs for my list

Superchunk, Two Cow Garage, Spoon,  Len Price 3, Black Keys, Pretty Reckless, Titus Adronicus, Scissor Sisters, Alejandro Escovedo

Biggest Disappointments

Oh there were some disappointments where there was originally hope.

Magnetic Fields- Realism  They have gone from clever and quirky to dumb and witless.

Priestess- Prior to the Fire  I guess they decided to be Metallica clone. Bleech.

Nada Surf- If I Had a Hi-Fi  I expect more. Hi-Fi wasn't horrendous, just a little uninteresting.

LCD Soundsystem- This is Happening  No it really wasn't happening. A little shortening would have helped.

OkGo- Of the Blue Colour of the Sky  Except for "This Too Shall Pass" one big Prince emulated yawn.

Rory Erickson/Okkervil River- True Love Cast Out All Evil  Hype did not soften the awfulness of this CD.