It was a fine year for the discovery and rediscovery of music. After tallying up all the scores, the following are the albums (or reasonable approximations thereof) that stood out for me in 2010.
Essential listening (the best of the best)
King Crimson - "Discipline"
The pinnacle of prog rock. If it weren't for the groundbreaking work of these guys, then two of the bands mentioned below may never have existed as such.
Kutiman - "ThruYOU"
A series of absolutely brilliant mashups of videos found on YouTube.
Haken - "Aquarius"
An incredible debut album - the kind that heavy prog rock veterans Dream Theater should have released instead of their recent turkey.
Talk Talk - "The Colour of Spring"
80's pop/new wave with a bit of jazz and other eclectic bits thrown in. Altogether a very fine effort from a very skilled band.
Honourable Mentions (worth a spin, for kicks and giggles)
District 97 - "Hybrid Child"
One more prog rock album to round it out (yes; it was an unusually good year for the genre), and another debut at that. This one has a more "classic" feel, including a long concept song in many parts.
Vampire Weekend - eponymous
Preppy, young white guys mixing African-style pop with a bit of classical, and having all kinds of fun with it. Catchy and very original.
Metallica - "Death Magnetic"
The grizzled veterans of metal return to form with a kick-ass album that rivals their efforts of decades past. Note: the version ripped from Guitar Hero 3 sounds infinitely better than the official CD/download release.
Tool - "Ænima"
Arguably the angriest album from the angriest white boy band ever, this is what all other angry white boy bands have striven for since the late 90's (admittedly or not).
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