Another year, another list. After putting this together, I’m far too lazy to do short write-ups for each of the albums. If you’d like to read some of my random thoughts on the year in music, please read this lengthy list I typed up, complete with overdone tumblr hipster-lingo and two bullets reserved just for Ayumi Hamasaki.
As far 2010 goes, this has been a very lackluster year of solid albums and I’m hesitant to name any of these as exceptionally noteworthy aside from the top three, but a Top 3 Albums of the Year list just didn’t have the same ring to it. I think it’s safe to predict that whenever Kent releases an album, that album is going to be the best album of the year. That being said, this is one of Kent’s weaker albums, lacking any consistent musical narrative. Goldfrapp’s Head First was the most underrated (that and I think people had a problem with it because it was sincere), but there’s a song about rockets on it and that moment in “I Wanna Life” when the music fades and then comes back full volume is probably my favorite musical moment of the year. Hurts’s and Kylie’s albums are complete opposites, but I like them both for their commitment despite the fact that they are best taken in small doses. Volume Two by She & Him was cute, right? The rest of this list was a matter of looking at how many tracks stood out on an album, so you can probably stop reading at that point.
This is the first year I’ve felt confident enough to add a list for the Top Ten Indian Film Soundtracks and the subsequent Top Twenty Filmi Songs to cover cuts that weren’t on significant albums. This is a maybe-temporary list that could fade due to lack of interest one year, as you can expect that this will probably be the last year I put together a Top Twenty Trance/House list. R.I.P. 2007-2010, etc. What’s awful is how undeserving of the incredible music so many of the films have been. Aside from Band Baaja Baaraat and Ishqiya, the films these soundtracks were in were terrible, from the messy 70’s-flashback Action Replayy, to the listless story of two suicidal NRIs in Anjaana Anjaani. But the songs, unlike the movies, have interesting things happening, whether it’s remixing traditional Punjabi wedding songs or showing off the talent of playback singers like Sonu Nigam who are capable of producing sixty different voices for one song.
For more, see Musical Consumption, 2010: 50 Incomplete Thoughts.
01. Kent: En plats i solen
02. Ellie Goulding: Lights
03. Goldfrapp: Head First
04. Hurts: Happiness
05. Kylie Minogue: Aphrodite
06. Marina and the Diamonds: The Family Jewels [ read full review ]
07. She & Him: Volume Two
08. Katy Perry: Teenage Dream
09. ARIA: MUSIC AND THE CITY [ read full review ]
10. Polarkreis 18: Frei
- Top Ten Indian Film Soundtracks
01. Salim & Sulaiman: Band Baaja Baaraat [ Hindi ]
02. S. Thaman: Mirapakay [ Telugu ]
03. Pritam: Action Replayy [ Hindi ]
04. Vishal & Shekhar: Break Ke Baad [ Hindi ]
05. Vishal & Shekhar: Anjaana Anjaani [ Hindi ]
06. Pritam: Khatta Meetha [ Hindi ]
07. Bharathwaj: Aasal [ Tamil ]
08. Vishal & Shekhar: Tees Maar Khan [ Hindi ]
09. Vishal Bhardwaj: Ishqiya [ Hindi ]
10. Yuvan Shankar Raja: Kaadhal Solla Vanthaen [ Tamil ]
- Top Twenty Western Pop/Rock Songs
01. Madcon: Glow [ Norway ]
02. Rihanna: Only Girl (In the World) [ United States ]
03. Kanye West: Power [ United States ]
04. Keane: Your Love [ England ]
05. The Roots: The Fire ft. John Legend [ United States ]
06. The Ting Tings: Hands [ England ]
07. Reckless Love: Back to Paradise [ Finland ]
08. Quentin Mosimann: Il y’a un paradis [ Switzerland ]
09. Fefe Dobson: Ghost [ Canada ]
10. Elin Lanto: Give it All Up [ Sweden ]
11. Erik Hassle: Love Me to Pieces [ Sweden ]
12. Unheilig: Geboren um zu leben [ Germany ]
13. Tinie Tempah: Written in the Stars [ United States ]
14. Usher: DJ Got Us Fallin’ in Love ft. Pitbull [ United States ]
15. Drake: Find Your Love [ United States ]
16. Kelly Rowland: Commander [ United States ]
17. Far East Movement: White Flag [ United States ]
18. Kevin Rudolf: Late Night Automatic [ United States ]
19. Ke$ha: We R Who We R [ United States ]
20. Lolene: Fucked Up [ England ]
- Top Twenty Western Indie Songs
01. Robyn: Dancing on My Own [ Sweden ]
02. Metric: Black Sheep [ Canada ]
03. Lights: My Boots [ Canada ]
04. Flashworx: Love is Anywhere [ Switzerland ]
05. El Guincho: Bombay [ Spain ]
06. The Limousines: Fine Art [ United States ]
07. Erin Lang: Now [ Canada ]
08. Lissie: When I’m Alone [ United States ]
09. Cut Copy: Take Me Over [ Australia ]
10. The Bird and the Bee: Heard it on the Radio [ United States ]
11. Parov Stelar: Baska Brother [ Austria ]
12. Crystal Castles: Vietnam [ Canada ]
13. Grum: Through the Night [ England ]
14. Tying Tiffany: Storycide [ United States ]
15. Something Sally: Higher [ Norway ]
16. M.I.A.: XXXO [ England ]
17. Hey Champ: Cold Dust Girl [ United States ]
18. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Beat the Devil’s Tattoo [ United States ]
19. The Pipettes: Who Made You the Doctor? [ England ]
20. Underworld: Diamond Jigsaw [ England ]
- Top Twenty Eastern Pop/Rock Songs
01. 2NE1: Try to Follow Me [ South Korea ]
02. f(x): NU ABO [ South Korea ]
03. Girls’ Generation: Hoot [ South Korea ]
04. T.O.P.: Turn It Up [ South Korea ]
05. Super Junior: BONAMANA [ South Korea ]
06. Jolin Tsai: Mei Ren Ji (Dance With Me Remix) [ Taiwan ]
07. Ayumi Hamasaki: Virgin Road [ Japan ]
08. Nassun: RAP Zombie [ South Korea ]
09. BigBang: Lollipop Part.2 [ South Korea ]
10. GD & T.O.P.: HIGH HIGH [ South Korea ]
11. KAT-TUN: THE D-MOTION [ Japan ]
12. S.H.E: Ru Guo Ni Shi Nu Hai [ Taiwan ]
13. GP Basic: Game [ South Korea ]
14. MiCHi: All about the Girls ~Iijyanka Party People~ [ Japan ]
15. w-inds.: Some More [ Japan ]
16. Chihiro Onitsuka: Wakusei no Mori [ Japan ]
17. Tarkan: Sevdanin Son Vurusu [ Turkey ]
18. mini: Are U Ready? [ Japan ]
19. HALCALI: ENDLESS NIGHT [ Japan ]
20. AKB48: Beginner [ Japan ]
- Top Twenty Filmi Songs
01. Ranjith: Badmash (Badmash) [ Telugu ]
Music Director: Vande Matarom Srinevas
02. Yuvan Shankar Raja & Tanvisha: Iragai Pole (Naan Mahaan Alla) [ Tamil ]
Music Director: Yuvan Shankar Raja
03. Naveer, Shoba Chandrasekar & Jannai Nadhan: Naam Nadanthal Adhiradi (Sura) [ Tamil ]
Music Director: Mani Sharma
04. Wajid, Suzanne D’Mello, Khurram Iqbal, Bhishak Jyoti, Kamal Khan, Suganda Mishra & Altmash Faridi: No Problem (No Problem) [ Hindi ]
Music Director: Pritam, Vishal & Shekhar & Anand
05. KK: Oru Paithiyam Pidikkudhu (Baana Kaathadi) [ Tamil ]
Music Director: Yuvan Shankar Raja
06. Geetha Madhuri: Magallu (Golimaar) [ Telugu ]
Music Director: Chakri
07. Yuvan Shankar Raja, Chitra & Shreya Ghoshal: Sol Pechu (Thillalangadi) [ Tamil ]
Music Director: Yuvan Shankar Raja
08. Sukhwinder Singh: Chal Haath Mila (Tum Milo to Sahi) [ Hindi ]
Music Director: Sandesh Shadilya & Irshad Kamil
09. Mamta Sharma & Aishwarya: Munni Badnam (Dabangg) [ Hindi ]
Music Director: Sajid & Wajid
10. Mika Singh: Babu Rao (Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai) [ Hindi ]
Music Director: Pritam
11. Ritu Pathak, Neeraj Sridhar & Alyssa Mendonsa: Papa Jag Jayega (Housefull) [ Hindi ]
Music Director: Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy
12. Bobo Shashi: Kannire Olikenule (Thakita Thakita) [ Telugu ]
Music Director: Bobo Shashi
13. Vijay Antony, Encee Jaaz & Janani Iyer: Ussumu Laresey (Uthama Puthiran) [ Tamil ]
Music Director: Vijay Antony
14. Neeraj Shridhar & Sunidhi Chauhan: Desi Kali (Golmaal 3) [ Hindi ]
Music Director: Pritam
15. Chaitra, Anuj Gurwara, Achu & Allu Arjun: Prapancham Naventostunte (Vedam) [ Telugu ]
Music Director: M. M. Keeravani
16. Naresh Layer: Nenu Nuvvantu (Orange) [ Telugu ]
Music Director: Harris Jayaraj
17. Shweta Pandit: Ye Teega Puvvuno (Maro Charitra) [ Telugu ]
Music Director: M. S. Viswanathan
18. Salim Merchant: Teen Patti Ke Gulam (Teen Patti) [ Hindi ]
Music Director: Salim & Sulaiman
19. Amit Trivedi, Aditt, Nakash Aziz & Ash King: Suno Aisha (Aisha) [ Hindi ]
Music Director: Amit Trivedi
20. Ramya & Suchitra: Okka Danty Okkade (Ragada) [ Telugu ]
Music Director: S. Thaman
- Top Twenty Trance/House Songs
01. Kaskade ft. Dragonette: Fire in Your New Shoes [ United States ]
02. Steve Kaetzel ft. Brianna Holan: So Alone (Radio Edit) [ United States ]
03. Samantha James: Waves of Change (Kaskade Remix) [ United States ]
04. Super8 & Tab ft. Jan Burton: Empire (Radio Edit) [ Finland ]
05. Kyau & Albert: Once in a Life (Club Radio) [ Germany ]
06. tyDi ft. Audrey Gallagher: Calling [ Australia ]
07. Medina: Gutter [ Denmark ]
08. Nerutto: Addicted to Love (Original Mix) [ Lithuania ]
09. Haley: What Do You Say [ United States ]
10. Aly & Fila ft. Katherine Crowe: It Will Be OK [ Egypt ]
11. Armin van Buuren ft. Nadia Ali: Feels So Good [ Netherlands ]
12. Markus Schulz ft. Sir Adrian: Away (Album Mix) [ United States ]
13. Nadia Ali: The One (Ruby Edit) [ United States ]
14. Damien S ft. Femke: Stars Collide (Original Radio Edit) [ Netherlands ]
15. George Acosta ft. Fisher: True Love [ United States ]
16. Sacha M & Dave Mitz: Skyland
17. Pulser: Broken Universe [ England ]
18. Moonpax vs. Snatt & Vix: Winter of Love [ Israel ]
19. Hokkaido ft. Duality: Deya (Cressida Remix) [ Russia ]
20. Matt Darey pres. Urban Astronauts ft. Kristy Thirsk: Black Flowers (Aurosonic Remix) [ England ]
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