SEE POLL OF POLLS 2009 RESULTS
HERE
The final votes are in, from Consequence of Sound, State and The
Line Of Best Fit, so it's time to run through the AnyDecentMusic
definitive summary of the Best Of 2010 lists.
We've compiled the best-album rankings from 27 magazines,
newspapers and websites from our sources to provide a comprehensive
reflection of the critical favourites of the year. It's the
ultimate "Best of the Best Albums of 2010" chart.
Declared: Uncut, Mojo, Q, The Skinny, Drowned in Sound,
NME, Bowlegs, Clash, AV Club, Spin, Rolling Stone, The Quietus,
music OMH, The Fly, Pop Matters, Prefix, Rave Magazine, Slant
Magazine, Faster Louder, No Ripcord, The Guardian, Tiny Mix Tapes,
Pitchfork, Daily Telegraph, Consequence of Sound, State, The Line
Of Best Fit
- 391 Arcade Fire The Suburbs
- 293 Kanye
West My Beautiful ...
Fantasy
- 288 The National High
Violet
- 251 LCD Soundsystem This Is
Happening
- 238 Beach House Teen Dream
- 175 Deerhunter Halcyon Digest
- 166 Janelle Monae The ArchAndroid
- 136 Big Boi Sir
Lucious Left Foot
- 131 Sleigh Bells Treats
- 116
Caribou
Swim
- 115 Vampire Weekend
Contra
- 112 Ariel Pink's Haunted
Graffiti Before Today
- 111
Joanna Newsom Have One On Me
- 104 Black Keys Brothers
- 99 These
New Puritans Hidden
- 97
Foals Total
Life Forever
- 85 Gorillaz Plastic
Beach
- 84 Flying
Lotus Cosmogramma
- 82
Titus Andronicus
The Monitor
- 77
Robyn Body Talk
- 76 Laura Marling
I Speak Because I Can
- 71 John Grant Queen Of
Denmark
- 71 Yeasayer Odd Blood
- 55 Liars Sisterworld
- 52 Avi Buffalo Avi
Buffalo
- 52 Warpaint
The Fool
- 48
Robert Plant Band Of Joy
- 46
Paul
Weller Wake Up
The Nation
- 40 Grinderman
Grinderman 2
- 40
The Roots How
I Got Over
- 39
Swans My
Father Will Guide Me ...
- 39 Villagers
Becoming A Jackal
- 38 Salem
King Night
- 38
Gil Scott-Heron
I'm New Here
- 37 Pantha Du
Prince Black Noise
- 36 Wild Nothing
Gemini
- 35 Crystal
Castles Crystal Castles
- 33 Emeralds
Does It Look Like I'm Here
- 32 Jamey Johnson
The Guitar Song
- 32 MGMT
Congratulations
- 30 Plan B
The Defamation Of
- 30 Jonsi
Go
- 29
Perfume Genius
Learning
- 29
Sufjan Stevens
The Age Of Adz
- 27
Best Coast
Crazy For You
- 27
The Fall Your
Future Our Clutter
- 27
No Age
Everything In Between
- 26
Hot Chip One
Life Stand
- 26
Lindstrom &
Christabelle Real Life Is No
Cool
- 26
The Walkmen
Lisbon
So what conclusions can we draw from how the critics have judged
the musical output of 2010?
There's no denying that rock still rules the roost, primarily
that of the indie variety. Half of the top 10 could be filed under
that loose classification, but rap / R&B has a strong presence
too, courtesy of Big Boi, Janelle Monae and, of course, possibly
the critical surprise of the year, Kanye West's almost unanimously
lauded My Favourite Dark Twisted Fantasy.
It has been a triumphant year for Arcade Fire, both on record
and live, and one in which they probably lived up to the claims of
many that they are indeed the best band in the world right now.
From the start, there was never much doubt that The Suburbs would
top our listings, but it would have been interesting to see how
close it was had Kanye West's album been released a month or so
earlier, giving more critics time to consider the views of an
extraordinary number of reviewers that it is a game-changing,
defining piece of work.
As it was, we suspect that its late-November release made it too
late for inclusion in those Best Of lists compiled early in
December.
Two other names stand out at the top of the listings. Beach
House have lived up to the opinion of several reviewers that their
multi-textured dream pop album Teen Dream was a slow-burner. We
doubt many would have predicted such a prominent presence for an
album which gained a comparatively modest 7.7 ADM rating on its
release back in January.
The other name is notable for its omission: that of Anais
Mitchell. The Vermont folk singer-songwriter sits on top of our
all-time chart (that's all time as in the two years of ADM's
existence) but received just one mention in the top 20 of any of
our sources, from The Guardian. This despite her Hadestown "folk
opera" album attracting adjectives such as awe-inspiring,
incredible, wonderful and memorable from a variety of print and
online reviewers.
Nor has another folk luminary fared as well as we might have
expected. Joanna Newsom's Have One On Me was garlanded with almost
as many 10/10 reviews as Kanye West on its release in March, but it
would seem that its appeal has worn somewhat in the ensuing
months.
Elsewhere, no-one is going to be surprised at the prominence of
The National, LCD Soundsystem and Deerhunter. Less easy to predict
would have been the strong showing for the idiosyncratic lo-fi pop
of Ariel Pink.
And, hearteningly, there is a healthy number of new names in the
higher reaches of the listings in amongst the obvious big-hitters,
including two debut albums in the top 10, from Janelle Monae and
Sleigh Bells.
* How the chart is calculated: To get a representative
cross-section, we award a corresponding number of points (20 for
No.1, 19 for No.2 etc) to the top 20 albums from each source.
Simple really.
SEE POLL OF POLLS 2009
HERE