My top five...
5. Christina Aguilera - Bionic
Full of conceit, and glued together with some filler and unnecessary tracks, but is ultimately redeemed by a lot of solid material. Her vocals are also the best they've ever been here, and miles beyond the capabilities of other pop divas (or anyone for that matter, now that Mariah is ruler supreme no more). Production from Ladytron, M.I.A. and Le Tigre give this pop record a unique edge over the masses of bland pop, even if it is at the expense of commercial success.
4. Foals - Total Life Forever
A nicely fine tuned indie album here...not exactly groundbreaking, but very listenable. If you want to listen to a solid, catchy indie album, then here it is.
3. Hole - Nobody's Daughter
This choice might seem ludicrous, but nobody is doing what she's doing with this album right now, even if it is a re-hash of nineties grunge...nobody ever did grunge quite as good as Courtney either (except for her hubby of course), and the quality, though not as fine as her earlier releases, remains intact nontheless.
2. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles 2010
The creepy artwork is every bit as gloomy as the jagged, violent production that dominates the album, and it reamins turbulent from beginning to end. A focused and dilligent effort that will have you on the edge of your seat.
1. Caribou - Swim
Caribou peaks with this latest release, a splendid album that puts all the genius' talents to good use. Fresh sonic perfection, from beginning to end. Even the 'weaker' tracks on the album, that sound repetitive on first listen, become more booming and rhytmic on repeated listening.