Dots & Dashes Records of '10
20. Flying Lotus, Cosmogramma
Transcending genre, time signature and occasionally consciousness, Steven Ellison's latest record made a Thom Yorke cameo seem all but irrelevant alongside undulating frequencies and avant-garde tendencies that made freeform jazz seem all but acceptable.
19. Kisses, The Heart Of The Nightlife
Ostensibly the year of Chillwave, a pigeonhole many flocked into yet nigh on nobody actually understood (we're still scratching...) cutesy boyfriend/girlfriend duo Kisses made such deliberation disappear in a debut doused in a pristine 80s pop sheen as indebted to Hall & Oates as ATP.
18. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Before Today
Motown-infused sketches from Ariel Pink and the record MGMT believed Congratulations to be, Ariel Pink Before Today slammed on Zappa flange, darting about generations, flittering through eras atop saxophonic harmony and frivolous wig-outs mind-mangling enough to send Chris Cunningham into seizure.
17. Tinie Tempah, Disc-overy
Self-proclamation of stardom - check. Ubiquitous reference to the US of A - check. Lyrics of birds, booze and BMWs - check. Ridiculed hyphenation and ambivalent predictability aside, Sarf Lahndan boi Patrick Okogwu constructed a debut that gleamed with starry-eyed nonchalance, and stomped all over anything and everything in his way, from the Top 40 to the inner, circular sanctuary of Jools' Later... studio. And Frisky, in the right hands, could flog the crumbiest, cardboard-flavoured biscuit.
16. Sleigh Bells, Treats
Raucous, roisterous and imbued with girl group past, Treats was as riotous as a Bolognan afternoon of '68, Rill Rill providing the only subdued letup, its sumptuous gleam-pop slump the highlight of a record brimming with inventive destruction.
15. of Montreal, False Priest
Chameleonic and charming, tales of Godly Intersex and girls named after salutations warped further our vague wander into the mind of Kevin Barnes. Intermittent collaborations with the likes of Solange and Janelle Monáe made things that little bit more intriguing, as camp-as-Christmas-round-Mr.Winton's song structure met R'n'B polish in a slow-mo firework of a record.
14. Surfer Blood, Astro Coast
Barely of consenting age, Floridian Weezer-indebted pop punks Surfer Blood sunk their teeth into 2010, drawing copious blood. Aptly serenading a picture-postcard, sunset-soaked early evening at Barcelona's Primavera Sound, Take It Easy profusely quelled preoccupations of perpetual journeys and lack of Ryanair communication. Eternal thanks, Surfer Blood.
13. Mount Kimbie, Crooks & Lovers
The blueprint for post-dubstep as far as we're concerned, Crooks & Lovers was nigh on flawless, soundtracking every scenario imaginable, from stargazing at Somerset House whilst supporting The xx, to an endless slew of foggy-windowed night bus slogs across the smoke and smog of the capital.
12. Amiina, Puzzle
The Sigur Rós string section broke taboos left, right, and centre on Puzzle, recruiting the most metrosexual of male members, and incorporating a mechanistic side of electronica; Puzzle saw the saw used to its full musical potential.
11. Mark Sultan, $
Deep down South and dirty, BBQ Canadian Mark Sultan's $ united runaway garage guitars with the doo-wop finesse of The Shangri-Las in an irrevocably berserk album that sounded somewhere along the lines of Craig Nicholls smashing down your front door, before lassoing your crockery with a bundle of rusty guitar leads.
10. Liars, Sisterworld
Slow-mosh impresarios capable of inducing the most exasperating of sonic destruction toned things down slightly, creating a pulsating, throbbing effort bristling with anthems concealed in incoherence and utter wretchedness. Proud Evolution proved particularly hypnotic, live shows distinctly predatory.
9. Blue Hawaii, Blooming Summer
Blooming Summer, the In Rainbows of 2010 of sorts (given away for free by Blue Hawaii) was awash with quite beautiful swathes of shoegaze reverb, and sounded, as its artwork (above) suggests, somewhat downcast with a severe sense of triumph. Entirely impossible to categorise, and all the better for it, Blue Gowns serves as an alt. anthem forever to be locked away in a handful of harddrives.
8. The New Pornographers, Together
Arms aloft anthemia from the unapologetically poppier Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers carved a formidable slab of soothing Americana worthy of opera house appreciation.
7. El Guincho, Pop Negro
Whilst much was made of Balearic infusion, los españoles proved to know best, with Pablo Díaz-Reixa's sophomore long player proving to be, well, the indisputable best of the bunch. Bombay sizzled with steel pan despondence, whilst Novias was perhaps the greatest slab of Iberian pop this side of Iglesias' I Like It. Honest.
6. the Books, The Way Out
The cutting and pasting of self-help tapes, sewn together by ochre cello strings should never have sounded quite as emphatic as The Books' The Way Out proved to be, as frenetic instrumentation rubbed up reversed voices of children bemoaning the cold and gender reassignment in all the right ways.
5. These New Puritans, Hidden
Skulls smashing, oriental drum kits, a sense of impending doom, and the greatest score since Sergio Leone's Cinema Paradiso, Hidden slumped out of post-Christmas trenches of doom and gloom in resplendent majesty, cloaked in chainmail as per. Quite how Southend produced a record of such cataclysmic proportions as Hidden only the Barnett progenitors will ever know, but who are we to care, or even inquire?
4. Gorillaz, Plastic Beach
The only record here listed to have been strung out in Syrian citadel and O2 Arena alike, Albarn's multicultural cast of thousands gyrated, moaned and groaned in blissful melancholy, the track named after a certain manatee-inhabited Hill clambering to our Top Track of 2010 accolade.
3. Gold Panda, Lucky Shiner
We ranted and raved, then relaxed to Gold Panda's asiatic adoration that was Lucky Shiner incessantly for months upon months, whilst Derwin's Milan show provided joyous escapism from the grim monotony of shadowy underpasses and standoffish elitism earlier on in the year.
2. Beach House, Teen Dream
Despite a Glastonbury set marred by MDMA comedown, Teen Dream is, was, and always will be a swooning masterpiece equal parts Beach Boys and Best Coast, Babe, Terror and Born Ruffians, chock-a-block with glorious songsmithery of ethereal essence.
1. Caribou, Swim
