Best of 2010

Let’s give 2010 a nice pat on the back, shall we?

TOP 40 RECORDS OF 2010

  1. Beach House – Teen Dream
  2. Lower Dens – Twin-Hand Movement
  3. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
  4. Midlake – The Courage of Others
  5. Neil Young – Le Noise
  6. Best Coast – Crazy for You
  7. Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles
  8. Wild Nothing – Golden Haze EP
  9. Male Bonding – Nothing Hurts
  10. Tamaryn – The Waves
  11. Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
  12. Woods – At Echo Lake
  13. Balam Acab – See Birds
  14. Conspiracy of Owls – Conspiracy of Owls
  15. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
  16. No Age -- Everything In Between
  17. Sufjan Stevens – The Age of Adz
  18. Tame Impala -- Innerspeaker
  19. Warpaint --  The Fool
  20. The National – High Violet
  21. Frank (Just Frank) – The Brutal Wave
  22. The Fresh and Onlys – Play it Strange
  23. JJ – No. 3
  24. Yeasayer – Odd Blood
  25. John Grant – Queen of Denmark
  26. Wavves – King of the Beach
  27. High Places – High Places vs Mankind
  28. Glasser -- Ring
  29. Sleigh Bells -- Treats
  30. Spoon -- Transference
  31. The Walkmen -- Lisbon
  32. Sade – Soldier of Love
  33. Teenage Fanclub -- Shadows
  34. Grinderman – Grinderman 2
  35. Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
  36. Sleigh Bells -- Treats
  37. Houses – All Night
  38. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
  39. Vampire Weekend -- Contra
  40. Superchunk – Majesty Shredding

TOP 10 SONGS OF 2010

  1. Beach House – “Zebra”
  2. Lower Dens – “Tea Lights”
  3. Best Coast – “Boyfriend”
  4. Deerhunter – “Desire Lines”
  5. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – “Round and Round”
  6. JJ– “My Life”
  7. Wild Nothing “Live in Dreams”
  8. Midlake “Fortune”
  9. Male Bonding “Weird Feelings”
  10. John Grant “TC and Honeybear”

TOP 10 LIVE SHOWS OF 2010

  1. The Breeders // ATP New York // September 4th
  2. My Morning Jacket // Terminal 5, NYC(the At Dawn show)
  3. Tom Petty // Meadowlands, NJ / August 24th
  4. Midlake // Bowery Ballroom, NYC / April 8th
  5. Mountain Man // Living Room, NYC / June 10th
  6. The Flaming Lips // Oklahoma City // New Years Eve (January 1st)
  7. Hole // Terminal 5, NYC // April 28th
  8. Tamaryn // Santos, NYC // October 20th
  9. Pixies // Philadelphia, PA / September 7th
  10. Maluca // Mad Decent Block Party, NYC/ August 7th

TOP 5 REISSUED RECORDS IN 2010

  1. Morrissey – Bona Drag (20th Anniversary Edition)
  2. The Cure – Disintegration (Deluxe Edition)
  3. Weezer -- Pinkerton
  4. Bruce Springsteeen – The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story
  5. Nine Inch Nails – Pretty Hate Machine
  6. Galaxie 500 – This Is Our Music
  7. David Bowie – Station to Station (Deluxe Edition)
  8. Black Tambourine – Black Tambourine
  9. The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main Street (Deluxe Edition)
  10. Miles Davis – Bitches Brew (Legacy Edition)

TOP 10 MOVIES OF 2010

Note: I’ve yet to see Black Swan or Blue Valentine, both of which sound like likely candidates for inclusion here.  I really wanted to include Best Worst Movie, but it technically came out in 2009.

  1. Winter’s Bone
  2. Exit Through The Gift Shop
  3. The Social Network
  4. A Film Unfinished
  5. Circus (PBS documentary)
  6. Trash Humpers
  7. The Crazies
  8. Jackass 3D
  9. Please Give
  10. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2010

  1. Listen to This – Alex Ross
  2. Imperial Bedrooms – Bret Easton Ellis
  3. Just Kids – Patti Smith
  4. Other Flowers: Uncollected Poems – James Schuyler
  5. Talking to Girls About Duran Duran – Rob Sheffield
  6. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction -- Rebecca Goldstein
  7. The Small Stakes: Music Posters – Jason Munn
  8. Life – Keith Richards
  9. Come On All You Ghosts (Poems) – Matthew Zapruder
  10. Apathy for the Devil – Nick Kent

Honorable Mention:

Catwise – Wilbur Pippin & Marian Winters (This was actually first published in 1979, but it might still be the most importantbook of all time. )

TOP 10 FAVORITE INTERVIEWS OF 2010

  1. Nick Cave // Numero
  2. Sufjan Stevens // Numero
  3. John Lydon // Stereogum
  4. Chely Wright // The Advocate
  5. Nicki Minaj // Interview
  6. Tracey Thorn // Interview
  7. Damon Albarn & Jamie Hewlett // Interview
  8. Tegan & Sara // The Advocate
  9. Karen Elson // Numero
  10. Lykke Li // Details

The Five MOST Randomly Amazing Things that Happened in 2010

  1. Meeting Joshua Sanchez, Kelley Deal, and Aaron & Kendra Marable. New friends and new loves.
  2. Ceramic cat hunting in Oklahoma with my mom, my sister, and Ginger London.
  3. Going to Bali with Heather and facing my own mortality on a daily basis while on the back of a speeding motor scooter.
  4. Being the DJ at Jenny Noyce’s wedding.
  5. Getting started on my new book (finally) while in Indonesia. This is what 2011 is gonna be all about.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

xo xo xo COLE