Enslaved -
Axioma Ethica Odnini
After seeing Enslaved pull off 4 out of the 9 tracks on this album live last night it really made me love the album even more. Brilliant production, song writing, and experimentation, I can honestly say I never would have expected to hear a David Gilmour-esque guitar solo in a black metal song but once again Enslaved have proven to me that they are so much more than normal black metal. Agalloch had a top contender though, but I still prefer Enslaved's contribution to 2010 as my top album of the year.
Hypnos 69 -
Legacy
One of the finest throwbacks to '70's progressive rock, in fact I was pretty convinced that there was some kind of error and this album was actually from the '70's. The band really manages to capture that sound and style perfectly yet still retaining their own artistic integrity. I sent this out to a couple of people but never heard back, in any case this was one album I was happy not to sleep on.
Kno -
Death Is Silent
2010 was kind of a disappointment for me hip hop wise, not a lot of releases from artists I like and not a lot of strong releases from artists I like. One day I was just browsing RYM and I see that Kno (from CunninLynguists) is holding the number one spot for the year. If anyone is not familiar with this fact, I am a HUGE CunninLynguists fan and always enjoyed Kno's contributions on the first two albums. I was a little sad that he took a background route with the production of the next few albums, but still his production is always top notch, but hearing him behind the mic is always appreciative. The album definitely follows some familiar patterns and has some familiar guest spots, but it's definitely Kno's. Some incredibly dark, yet hauntingly beautiful lyrics and beats on this album that definitely made hip hop 2010 enduring for me.
Killing Joke -
Absolute Dissent
As Lee has already pointed out, some incredible industrial post-punk, but what's even more incredible is all these guys are in their '50's by now and they still rock harder than everyone they've ever inspired. Not only that they really showed some variety with their electro dance number "European Super State" but still gave enough for us headbangers to headbang to. The production was a nice step from their last album which was a little murky at times, and the band really prove themselves as songwriters with some incredibly intelligent lyrics regarding the current state of affairs in the world. This was an album I was looking forward to last year and I was happy to hear that my anticipation wasn't spoiled.
Gil Scott-Heron -
I'm New Here
My first introduction to the name who gets name dropped by nearly every hip hop artist I like, and I can see why. A mixture of spoken word, world, and electronic must really showcase the man's talent and adaptability. But where his talent lies is in his writing, which on this album discusses the pros and cons of growing up without a strong male influence in his life. Some really moving stuff that I wish I grabbed back in February when I first spied it. I only wish it was slightly longer, but it still does it's job and has inspired me to look into the rest of his discography.
In Vain -
Mantra
I called them "the Opeth of this decade" and I am going to stand by that statement, unless of course their next album sucks, which I find highly unlikely. Some incredibly varied progressive death metal that can be pounding on my ass with a meat tenderizer one moment and then soothing it with a stringed quartet melody the next. With three vocalists playing different roles there is enough variety in vocal style to give a little something for everyone as well as some well crafted melodic pieces. Give them two more albums as good as
Mantra and I won't be the only one calling them "the Opeth of this decade".
Munly & the Lupercalians -
Petr & the Wulf
First Munly album since 2004's
Munly & the Lee Lewis Harlotts and I am not the only one happy to see this poor bastard come out of his shell. With a new backing band and what he says is the first of a three part trilogy he shows everyone that he still knows how to write music that is really in a league of his own.
Petr & the Wulf is his take on Sergei Prokofiev's story with each song using unique instruments just as in Prokofiev's orchestration. The fact that it's the first of three gives me hope that part two may come out within the next year or two, which is always a bonus when a band can have consecutive releases.
The Sadies -
Darker Circles
Let it be said that no band is beyond redemption, my first experience with Canadian alt. country/ rock band The Sadies was not a pleasant one. Last.fm kept on recommending me them because of my love for Elliott BROOD, another Canadian country band, but when I first heard
Favourite Colours (2004) last year I was pretty disappointed. That said when I saw that they had a release this year I decided to give it a try, I mean it couldn't disappoint me more than the new Deertick did, and it didn't, in fact
Darker Circles gave me a whole new appreciation for the band. It is an incredibly blend of straight forward rock riffs with hints of steel guitar and twang of their country influences with some really personal and well written lyrics. An album I have praised a lot over the year.
Massive Attack -
Heligoland
Not within spunking distance of their best work, but after 7 long years of silence it is nice to see that the band knows how to make some decent chillout music and keep to their roots. I was debating whether to give this spot to Morcheeba for their album
Blood Like Lemonade but that album started off strong, but didn't have enough interesting moments to really make an impact, and while
Heligoland wasn't mind blowing, it was still enough to stand up on it's own. Great for writing a paper to, and that can go a long way when it comes this time of year.
Solefald -
Norrøn Livskunst
One of my favorite avant-garde metal bands had a silent drop this year that's received nearly unanimous praise from critics and fans alike, but not enough attention from other media outlets. Keeping with tradition, Solefald have mixed things up yet again to avoid being type cast into a single genre. On
Norrøn Livskunst you'll find elements of progressive metal, black metal, rockabilly, jazz, and even scat. Vocalist Lazare continues to master his craft, utilizing different vocal styles and really making them his own. Definitely not an album for everyone, but if you're into odd music then it's definitely an album I would recommend.