Best Albums of 2010 (Jon) 

What a year for music!  2010 saw the release of countless new sounds and artists making a name for themselves across a variety of genres, from outsider folk to outsider folktronica.  Here are my picks for the year that was (2010).

1.) Jandek - Seersucker/Minneapolis Monday/Worm Face/Salutations/Empty Glass/Your Private Space/Elements of Paper/Unfurled As A Blanket/Grass Fed/Lying Down Forever/Glucosamine

Okay, so this is really 11 albums, but I really had a hard time winnowing down from the 38 records the mysterious musician known as Jandek released this year.  38 is a lot!  These albums show Jandek at his best, strumming his guitar and such.  Actually I didn’t care much for Unfurled As A Blanket, but other people did so I’m going with the wisdom of crowds.  I like the part in Empty Glass where it sounded like he was using an empty glass to play his guitar!

2.) Jim O’Rourke, Ikue Mori, Yoko Ono and Zeena Parkins - Hats Off for Helium!

What a star-studded ensemble!  Parkins is really the standout in this one, as her electric harp plays off of Ono’s vocal stylings beautifully.  Not to be outdone, Mori spends the last 20 minutes of opener “Timeemit” playing nothing but her high-hat, and she comes up with some pretty good rhythms!  The only reason this isn’t at the top of my list is because I wish O’Rourke spent more time playing keyboards, especially when he gets on a roll with those arpeggios - pun intended!

3.) Otomo Yoshihide and Merzbow - Otomo Yoshihide and Merzbow

What can I say, I’m a sucker for sine waves and static!  Both of those things are here in spades, with Otomo providing the former and Merzbow the latter, as usual.  Otomo’s composition “Multiple Sequences with Turntable and Merzbow” takes top marks, washing over the listener with multiple repeated sequences featuring the turntable, and also Merzbow.

4.) Keith Fullerton Whitman and Steve Shelley - Clarity

Now here’s an unusual pairing.  I’ll bet there’s a story there!  Whitman provides his usual, gorgeous electronic soundscapes (usually heard under his own name or as Hrvatski), combined with a solid, steady and unchanging backbeat from Shelley.

5.) DJ Thrilliam H. Bassy - My Fair Lady original cast recording (Slowed and Throwed)

2010 will truly go down as the year when the sounds of Houston rap broke through in a way that it never has done before.  Remember when someone slowed down that Justin Bieber song!  How neat!  The same idea is in operation here, as DJ Thrilliam H. Bassy (pronounced like the actor, William H. Bassy) slows down the original cast recording of the classic musical My Fair Lady.  You can only find this mixtape on a few websites, but “I Could Have Danced All Night” is sure to become the  ”Box Chevy” of the summer of 2011.