via//chicago

2010 Year in Review
Part I: The Introduction

It may not have started out very promising, but as we reach the finish line for 2010 - I have to admit that the year ended up being pretty damn great. On a personal level, not only did I finally receive my architect's license after an intense year of studying and exam-taking, but I also began a fantastic new job back in August. When it comes to the music I heard this year, it felt pretty much the same. If you'd have asked me at any particular point during the first 7 or 8 months of the year, I'd have told you I was pretty underwhelmed by what I'd been hearing. There were a lot of albums that I liked, but few that really and truly blew me away from the start. And pop radio? Even more dismal than 2009, particularly when mediocre talents like Drake, Ke$ha, and Katy Perry dominated nearly every moment. There were bright spots, to be sure, particularly the unexpected success of La Roux's "Bulletproof" (via//chicago's #20 single of 2009) in America and Cee Lo Green's internet-fueled breakthrough, but I pretty much spent the year avoiding the radio and chasing down different, more exciting paths.

As anyone who has followed this blog over the last couple of years, you've noticed that I've increasingly found new and exciting sounds in the world of metal and its multitude of off-shoots and crossbred sub-genres. This year was no exception. Old favorites delivered big time this year, as were granted amazing new material by groups like Nachtmystium, Enslaved, Kylesa, High On Fire, and Electric Wizard. But many new (and just plain new to me) bands caught my ear with thrilling material. Agalloch, Thou, Ludicra, and Christian Mistress all dropped albums well worth hearing by fans of any forward-thinking music, not just metalheads.

Hip-hop was in a weird state of flux this year and I found very little to get excited over. A lot of the big talk this year was surrounding Drake's mainstream breakthrough and, honestly, I've yet to hear a more boring "rapper". The square quotes are necessary because the guy has one of the laziest and most lackluster flows I've heard in years, even his sung hooks are snooze-fest. I can't wait for his 15 minutes to be up. There was also a lot of rumbling about Waka Flocka Flame and continued buzz about Gucci Mane, but, outsides of the former's "Hard In Da Paint", I'm just still not excited about either. I'm encouraged by some of the stuff I've heard from Yelawolf and the Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All crew (once I got past the obvious shock lyrics), but we'll have to see what 2011 holds. For me, 2010 in hip-hop was all about the veterans bringing their 'A' game. After months of leaks and internet buzz, Big Boi (he of Outkast fame) dropped a front-to-back classic early in the year, but the bigger surprise came in the form of the Bay Area's E-40 and his two Revenue Retrievin' albums. A more exciting, sprawling mass of hooks and killer verses was not to be found this year. Of course I can't mention rap this year without Kanye and his impressive statement album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. I hope to spend more time talking about this in a longer post dedicated solely to it, so I'll keep it short here and just say that, yes, it really is good, but far from the classic status that people so desperately want to grant it.

Some of the most exciting stuff I heard this year didn't exactly fall into easy to define genres. The hip-hop influenced Flying Lotus album was huge for me this year, but its jazz and techno tendencies made it hard to pigeonhole. The ambient-drone trio Emeralds, out of Ohio, made some great noise this year, as did the instrumental trio Rangda (featuring Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance and Sir Richard Bishop) - the latter of which featured some of the greatest guitar work of the year. Definitely a record to recommend if you are into extended psych jams. And I was truly blown away by this year's record from Toronto's Holy Fuck, an instrumental orgy of dance beats, keyboards, and guitars. There was so much great stuff out there if you took the time to seek it out.

Without spoiling the lists that will be unveiled over the next several days, I have to say that even some of the old standbys made strong showings this year. Albums from Spoon, Caribou, Bottomless Pit (formerly Silkworm), Deerhunter, Superchunk, My Chemical Romance, and The Fall made the year worth living. But, as I always love to see, lots of new names pop up here for the first time - Gayngs, Jaill, The Drums, Tame Impala, The Soft Pack, Glasser, and Warpaint all made me excited for what is to come in the years ahead.

So join us over the next couple of days as via//chicago explores the best in 2010 music.

A quick look back at past number ones:

Albums:
2003: Outkast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below
2004: Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
2005: Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
2006: Mastodon - Blood Mountain
2007: Battles - Mirrored
2008: Erykah Badu - New Amerykah Part One (4th World War)
2009: The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

Singles:
2003: "Hey Ya" - Outkast
2004: "Take Me Out" - Franz Ferdinand
2005: "Since U Been Gone" - Kelly Clarkson
2006: "When You Were Young" - The Killers
2007: "Stronger" - Kanye West
2008: "Time To Pretend" - MGMT
2009: "My Girls" - Animal Collective