Paste's 50 Best Albums of 2010

Original Source →

50.

October 5, 2010
Critic Score
78
19 reviews

49.

May 4, 2010
Critic Score
85
35 reviews

On Cosmogramma, this never-ending stream of aural textures sounds effortless, and the enthralling swirl of jazz, drum 'n' bass, dubstep and hip-hop beckons you toward the edge of something damn near cosmic.

48.

November 2, 2009
Critic Score
77
20 reviews

Gorilla Manor is a bit too much of an amalgamation of its bi-coastal influences to really stake out any territory of its own, but it's a handy synthesis of two prevailing sounds.

46.

May 18, 2010
Critic Score
79
33 reviews

45.

September 28, 2010
Critic Score
83
37 reviews

Deerhunter has graduated, by degrees, from conjuring moods to writing proper songs, and fourth album Halcyon Digest finds Bradford Cox and company strip-mining new aural territory and toeing the line between structure and abstraction.

40.

March 9, 2010
Critic Score
75
20 reviews

39.

Sarah Jaffe - Suburban Nature
April 6, 2010
Critic Score
77
3 reviews

36.

January 19, 2010
Critic Score
77
30 reviews

35.

September 14, 2010
Critic Score
81
28 reviews

34.

November 15, 2010
Critic Score
71
15 reviews

32.

Carolina Chocolate Drops - Genuine Negro Jig
February 16, 2010
Critic Score
74
8 reviews

30.

She & Him - Volume Two
March 23, 2010
Critic Score
69
16 reviews

29.

Freelance Whales - Weathervanes
April 13, 2010
Critic Score
64
18 reviews

27.

January 11, 2010
Critic Score
79
37 reviews

Contra opener “Horchata” displays a caliber of pop songcraft and melodic intuition that gives The Shins’ James Mercer a run for his harmony, and the feathery lightness of lead singer Ezra Koenig’s voice allows him to indulge fluttering melodies that would sink under the weight of more overbearing pipes.

26.

August 17, 2010
Critic Score
68
13 reviews

24.

January 26, 2010
Critic Score
83
36 reviews

Dream is a go-for-broke collection that not only creates and sustains a hi-fi drowse-pop drama throughout its 10 beguiling songs, but comes across like a logical and gorgeous extension of all the band’s previous dreams.

23.

January 12, 2010
Critic Score
78
20 reviews

22.

April 13, 2010
Critic Score
79
27 reviews
If Sondre Lerche were a bluegrass-loving goblin, he might sound a little like this. Among the dead weights of the modern new-Dylans, Matsson is a real live wire.

20.

June 8, 2010
Critic Score
76
8 reviews

18.

November 5, 2010
Critic Score
81
32 reviews

17.

April 6, 2010
Critic Score
80
34 reviews

16.

September 14, 2010
Critic Score
77
13 reviews

12.

November 16, 2010
Critic Score
88
17 reviews

The joy of The Promise: The Lost Sessions of Darkness on the Edge of Town for any serious Boss employee is the notable twinkle of notions that would later grow into classic rock staples.

11.

May 10, 2010
Critic Score
84
37 reviews

Though High Violet lacks the front-to-back consistency that made Boxer such an unmitigated revelation, the new album’s peaks absolutely rival Boxer’s best tracks.

9.

October 12, 2010
Critic Score
77
34 reviews

It’s what you hope for from your favorite artists in your best moments—evolution, a little difficulty and, especially, something new.

8.

May 11, 2010
Critic Score
75
25 reviews

The songs on their gorgeously sadsack follow-up Here’s to Taking It Easy evoke lost days and lonely nights with keen observations and road-weary melodies.

7.

August 3, 2010
Critic Score
88
43 reviews

Swelling at 16 songs and an hour-plus runtime, it’s Arcade Fire’s most ambitious and concept-driven effort to date.

6.

May 11, 2010
Critic Score
83
38 reviews

Treats is just a whole goddamn lot of fun to listen to. It's a supremely raw and visceral pop masterwork, one appropriate to rocking out with headphones on, windows-down bumping on car stereos, four-A.M. warehouse dance parties and countless other summer moments that'll soon have soundtracks courtesy of Sleigh Bells.

4.

November 22, 2010
Critic Score
91
45 reviews

In its many contradictions, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy—perhaps this century’s definitive portrait of torment, vanity, self-delusion, and pathos—has given way to stirring new possibilities.

3.

October 2, 2009
Critic Score
72
19 reviews

This is an album that knocks you over at first. But when you gather yourself, get back on your feet and listen again, you’ll want to hit the play button a second time. Mumford & Sons have no reason on to apologize on Sigh No More—this is a killer debut.

2.

May 18, 2010
Critic Score
86
33 reviews
Monáe may be an alien or an android, but if this is just the beginning, she may wind up a legend.

1.

May 18, 2010
Critic Score
83
38 reviews

Murphy and his crew are fully committed to this album. There’s a remarkable sustained energy to this collection; its electronic textures thrum and shimmy, and wall after sonic wall is built up and torn down with impeccable precision.

Original Source: http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2010/12/the-50-best-albums-of-2010
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