While I consider my Best Concerts list to be a pretty definitive guide to what concerts totally rocked socks in the DC area in the past year, I think that top album lists are a bit more vague and really only serve as guides to albums the reader may have missed. I am much more a theme-based best-of list maker. I usually don’t compile a best albums of the year list, but I have received several requests for me to do one this year.

I acquire music rapidly and without much regard to year. So really albums are not so much attached to years for me as they are tied to whatever genre or sub-genre kick I am on at a given time.* It was actually pretty difficult for me to put together my starting list. A lot of what I thought were 2010 albums were actually from ’09! That said I did put together a list of about 50 or so albums from this year that are worthy of mention. From that list I battled them down to a top 10. These are not the best albums of 2010, they are simply my favorite. Maybe you’ll find something new here to check out. Maybe you won’t. Readers you asked for it, you got it. My picks in reverse order (along with a taste of each) after the jump…

Favorite EP:

Seefeel – “Faults”

Favorite Albums of 2010:

10. Titus Andronicus – “Monitor”


9. The Charlatans UK – “Who We Touch”

8. Emeralds – “Does It Look Like I’m Here”


7. Lorn – “Nothing Else”

6. Underworld – “Barking”

5. Jonsi – “Go”

4. Gorillaz – “Plastic Beach”

3. The National – “High Violet”

2. The Besnard Lakes – “…Are The Roaring Night”

1. Simian Mobile Disco – “Delicacies”

Honorable Mentions for being fun as hell:

Fear Factory – Mechanize

Kelis – Flesh Tone

Also check out my Best Shows of 2010 list.

* Case in point – Although I do own it, I still haven’t heard the new Kanye because, frankly, I haven’t been in the mood for it.

Michael Darpino

Michael splits his free time between defending the little guy and championing the underdog. He has been haunting the concert halls, dive bars, and greasy spoons of DC for the last 16 years. His interests include live rock music, researching obscure military/political conflicts, and good hamburgers. He is a friendly grump, has wisdom beyond his years, and is on a life-long quest to attain music nirvana. Follow him on Twitter if you dare!