Clarence Ewing: The Million Year Trip writesClarence Ewing’s Best of 2010

Throughout December CHIRP Radio presents its members' top albums of 2010. The next list is from CHIRP Radio's Assistant Online Media Director Clarence Ewing. (Click here to get the complete list of CHIRP Radio members' picks.)

1. Sleigh Bells – Treats (Mom & Pop Music)
   BUY: Amazon / Insound / iTunes
   The debut album from duo Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss is a hail storm of big, visceral, static-and-feedback-soaked fun, both anchored and elevated by the sugar and spice of Miller’s catchy-as-hell hooks and Krauss’ assured, flirty vocals.
2. Delorean – Subiza (True Panther Sounds)
   BUY: Amazon / Insound / iTunes
   Waves of sunny, pastel happiness from the Spanish former punk-rockers. It’s been said that great music transports you to other places. Whenever I listen to this album I want to be somewhere in southern Europe dancing on a beach.
3. Laetitia Sadier – The Trip (Drag City)
   BUY: Amazon / Insound / iTunes
   This solo effort from Stereolab's lead singer is an expertly crafted, urbane, emotionally open Euro-pop that reflects the melancholy of life without ever becoming maudlin.
4. Avey Tare – Down There (Paw Tracks)
   BUY: Amazon / Insound / iTunes
   Music as (swamp) water. Listening to Animal Collective or one of its members, I usually get the feeling I'm hearing something intensely personal, expressed digitally. Avey Tare’s solo album is no exception, as is his relentlessly unique uses of rhythm and song structure.
5. The Depreciation Guild – Spirit Youth (Kanine)
   BUY: Amazon / Insound / iTunes
   Sweeping, romantic guitar-and-synth dream-pop peppered with old-school computer blips. "Dream About Me" was my favorite single from this past summer.
6. Reds and Blue – Son of the Stars (Addenda)
   BUY: Amazon / Insound / iTunes
   Hip and groovy dance floor post-punk with a distinctly New Wave pop feel, due in no small part to Ellen Bunch’s sharp, slinky vocals.
7. Azure Ray – Drawing Down the Moon (Saddle Creek)
   BUY: Amazon / Insound / iTunes
   Orenda Fink and Maria Taylor use electronics and acoustic guitars to weave graceful and passionately intimate confessions, with vocals that only occasionally rise above a whisper.
8. To Rococo Rot – Speculation (Domino)
   BUY: Amazon / Insound / iTunes
   The Berlin trio with the palindromic name conjures up an engrossing collage of deep beats and atmospheric grooves, continuing post-rock’s style of meditation and experimentation.
9. Various Artists – Tradi-Mods vs. Rockers: Alternative Takes on Congotronics (Crammed Discs)
   BUY: Amazon / Insound / iTunes
   Various Western World artists explore and interpret the urban tribal music of Kinshasa, Congo, and create a kaleidoscope of unique hybrids that never lose the spirit of the source material.
10. Blue Giant – Blue Giant (Vanguard)
    BUY: Amazon / Insound / iTunes
    A vibrant blend of contemporary pop-country and alternative folk that alternates between thoughtful ballads and driving, anthemic jams.

Honorable Mentions

• Korallreven – "The Truest Faith" + "Loved-Up" + "Honey Mine" + "A Dream (Mix Tape)" (Acephale)
  BUY: Amazon / Insound / iTunes
  To me, this Swedish duo’s hypnotic, celestial tracks don’t sound like the “Next Big Thing” as much as “The Next Step” in electronic music, where melodies, samples, effects and grooves all melt together until they become indistinguishable.

Some more outstanding singles from 2010...
Coltrane Motion, "I Forgot There Was a War On"
El Guincho, "Bombay" (including the [NSFW] video)
How to Dress Well, "Ready for the World"
The Radio Dept., "Heaven's On Fire"
Twin Shadow, "Savannah Howel" and "Slow"
Laura Veirs, "Sleeper in the Valley"
Warpaint, "Undertow"
Zola Jesus, "I Can't Stand"