Some Other Fantastic 2010 Music

Here are some other excellent things I've heard/thought of that have come out this year:

Forgiveness Rock Record - Broken Social Scene
I was initially disappointed by this album, but it's grown on me a lot. I think at first I was hoping for it to be another You Forgot It in People, which is unfair for two reasons: one, You Forgot It in People is one of the greatest albums ever, and two, Broken Social Scene is not the same band that it was eight years ago. Bands evolve. They've got a different sound now, and it took me a little while to be cool with that.

"Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" - Arcade Fire
Gotta throw another track from the Suburbs on here. Man, this song is incredible.

"Fuck You" - Cee-Lo

"Cold War" - Janelle Monáe
One of the best videos of the year as well. Actually, the whole album (The ArchAndroid) is pretty great.

"Monster" - Kanye West ft. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver, and Nicki Minaj
This is a weird track, but I like it a lot. The production is fantastic, and Nicki Minaj absolutely kills this track.

"Elastic Love" - Christina Aguilera
I actually really like a lot of this album (Bionic). Her lyrics can be over-the-top to the point of silly, but it's really well produced, and her singing, no matter what you think of the lyrics, complements the productions pretty well; there's another high-profile Nicki Minaj spot here too, on "WooHoo." "Elastic Love", though, is the standout for me.

Heartbeats - Grum
This is just a really fun electronic dance record in the vein of French house (even though he's Scottish) with a big '80s disco thing going on. Can't play it without dancing. I am dancing right now.

And finally, this week, Royskopp released Senior (the sequel to Junior, one of my favorite albums of last year), and holy shit does it kick ass and take names. This is a very different album from Junior; it's largely instrumental, and has more of an instrospective, downtempo feel, but you can still come in at any point and know immediately that it's Royksopp. They've crafted a really unique and characteristic sound within the Scandinavian electronic scene. I dig it.