Best of 2010 – Graham Burks’ Top Ten Albums

1. Superchunk – Majesty Shredding
Looking back at the albums that grabbed me in 2010, many were from bands that had already earned a permanent place in my heart. Superchunk’s new album, their first in nine years, tops this list. Perfectly rocked out

2. The Morning Benders – Big Echo
My favorite new discovery of the year. Full of psychedelic texture and great pop songwriting, it sounds old and new at the same time.

3. Good Luck Darkstar – Hologram/I Told You 7″
Memphis’s best band keeps vinyl alive, and vinyl seems like the right way to listen to their 70’s influenced space-age powerpop.

4. Dr. Dog – Shame, Shame
Another favorite band of mine that can do no wrong. This album sounds bigger-budget than Dr. Dog’s past records, and they use it to their advantage, dressing up their classic songs with shiny production.

5. Snowglobe – Little More Lived In
title says it all. Possibly my favorite Snowglobe album since Doing the Distance, this album is comfortable.

6. MGMT – Congratulations
Much less sticky than their first album, I have gotten many more miles out of this one.

7. Cloudland Canyon – Fin Eaves
Memphis’s Kip and Kelly Uhlhorn drench their music in fuzz and reverb and ear candy, and make you listen really hard for the simple pop songs underneath. I like this album for the same reason that I like Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion.

8. Broken Bells – Broken Bells
Danger Mouse and the Shins’ James Mercer. The last Shins album hinted that this type of production on Mercer’s songs may work, but this is a pairing that I would not have imagined. See also: Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse – Dark Night of The Soul, where Mouse and Mercer first collaborated on the track “Insane Lullaby.”

9. Tame Impala – InnerSpeaker
Fuzzy and psychedelic and warm. Fans of Dungen should check this one out.

10. Leatherface – The Stormy Petrel
A big influence and former BYO Records label-mate of my band Pezz (our latest release The Wicked Leading the Blind EP features a cover of Leatherface’s “Watching You Sleep”, available on 7″ or digital download).