10 Best Albums 2010

Oh, 2010. I was just 16 years old and just beginning to know the endless universe of independent and experimental music. Glee was on vogue and that was my threshold to a whole new world of classics and modern trends on Western music. Secondary school, weird friends, personal issues; they all come to my mind and make for a year that was interesting in some unexpected and unusual ways.

I actually didn't even know most of these albums at the time, but they were lately discovered and admired for their intrepid storytelling and utter sense of cohesion and artistry and love for music. Each of them holds a special place on me for a specific reason, and I'd be glad to show you why.

1. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma 

Score: 9.0 

The third album from the American electronic producer Flying Lotus disarmed all my expectations of what this kind of genre should be sounding like. Hip hop, jazz and alien sounds combine together to form otherworldly palettes that feel as extraterrestrial as moving. It's my first spot on that year because it opened up a hole into experimental electronic that will never ever be closed; it's the best definition of a trip with no return.

2. Vampire Weekend - Contra 

Score: 9.0 

Vampire Weekend's first record absolutely blew my mind up, and their sophomore release was no different. Trippy, suffocating and compellingly enjoyable pop tunes packed up with psychedelia, Afrobeat and electronic lull feet and bodies, while clever, cryptic lyrics embellish minds and provoke thoughts and debates. There's sweat on the songs, as well as summer, love, nostalgia and social commentary; I couldn't have asked for more.

3. Forest Swords - Dagger Paths 

Score: 9.2 

Even though it's considered an EP, it runs for an average-album time and contains enough substance to form more than a short and tiny piece of music. I'd even say it's quite the opposite. Matthew Barnes is my favourite electronic producer and one of my favourite artists. Period. And discovering his first release was a magical entrance into hidden gems, fulled with chaos and harmony. A mind like no other, that I'm glad to get to know.

4. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening 

Score: 9.1 

The supposedly final record from this American dance-punk band that broke schemes and charts with their maximalist, utterly fruitful approach to politics and heaviness is their most realised, with almost 10-minute tracks that agitate bodies and souls like few others this decade. It's plagued with absolute bangers and with moments of reflection, self-love and catharsis. It's like the end of the world while we're all dancing; I'd love an apocalypse like it.

5. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs 

Score: 8.9 

The third album from the Canadian band Arcade Fire came with huge expectations after their two already-classics Funeral and Neon Bible. The greatest definition of nostalgia comes in 16 tracks that retell stories about youth, poverty, simplicity and agony, accompanied by emotional arena rock and gargantuan electro-pop melodies. This is a maximalist adventure on minds that continued to be in complete aereal synchrony.

6. Tame Impala - Innerspeaker 

Score: 9.1 

The debut full-length studio album from this Australian band literally destroyed my mind as a 20-year-old weirdo. Psychedelia mixed with modern rock and pinches of electronic music made me travel to unexplored places in my mind and helped me cement my obsession with experimental music. Kevin Parker grew up to be one of my favourite minds around, and this is enough proof of his capacity to drop jaws and sweeten ears and hearts alike.

7. Sleigh Bells - Treats 

Score: 9.0 

The latest addition to this collection, I came to know the band watching The Bling Ring by Sofia Coppola. There was this weird, extremely atonal and noisy track sounding in a scene that turned out to be one of my overall classics ("Crown On The Ground") that blew my mind away. And listening to the rest of the album lingered on that experience. Cacophony and whim never sounded this addictive; I think this is the heaviest record of that year.

8. Nails - Unsilent Death 

Score: 8.8 

How can an almost 14-minute-long album sound this oppresive, nerve-wracking and engrossing? Only Nails and their debut record could set up grindcore in such a compact and gargantuan manner. Plus, look at the marvellous cover art! My unexpected love for powerviolence started here, and there's enough evidence to say that if not the best, Unsilent Death comes as one of the milestones on the genre in the latest years.

9. The Black Keys - Brothers 

Score: 8.6 

The Black Keys is one of those bands I've always wanted to see live but never had the chance to. They must sound crazy there. In the meantime, I still have their records, and particularly their sixth one, the one who introduced me to their colourful and constantly engaging universe. Brothers breathes musicality and badass attitudes, and is surrounded by some of the most intoxicating and loveable rock bangers of the decade.

10. Ghost - Opus Eponymous 

Score: 8.6 

The debut full-length record from the Swedish band Ghost came to me after listening and loving their third album, Meliora. Performatic, cinematic instrumentals that set up a histrionic mood and clean vocals that sing doomed and apocalyptic verses hardly ever sounded this pleasant to hear. The band has set up an imagery and a reputation that's hard to beat, and their beginning marks the reason why their my favourite metal outfit out there.