Overall, I’d say that my list of 2010 albums is pretty vanilla, and that I don’t think any one album really stood out to me in any special kind of way. I spent a lot of time writing this year, especially the latter half, so I didn’t get so into new music as I usually do, and I overall listened to a lot of older music. But this is about 2010 albums, and so, here’s my really boring list.

1. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs

Sure, I think I’ve burned this one out for a while, but it’s a totally solid record through and through. Why else would I have seen 4 Arcade Fire concerts this year?

2. Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz

I think this record divided a lot of people, but personally I loved it, and the electro-rock sound he’s on now has really hit a sweet spot for me.

3. The National – High Violet

Not my favourite album of theirs, but it’s still amazing. Totally dark, sometimes funny, and a return to “rocking” form.

4. Wolf Parade – Expo 86

Shame I didn’t get to see their last show ever, because this album is another “classic” from these guys, who have never written a bad song.

5. Shad – TSOL

After getting into TSOL this year, I’ve gone back into his discography, and I enjoy “The Old Prince” a lot more. With that said, I do enjoy a few tracks here, especially “Ya I Get It.”

6. LCD Soundsystem – Is This Happening?

I think this may be my favourite LCD Soundsystem ever.

7. Teenage Fanclub – Shadows

This is a really “new” band to me, and I was won over when I saw them perform on a late-night show. “When I Still Have Thee” is my favourite song of the year.

8. Mogwai – Special Moves

In some ways I think this might be the best Mogwai album ever, as it combines many, many “loud” parts, while maintaining an intensity that you don’t usually get all the way through one of their studio records.

9. Sun Kil Moon – Admiral Fell Promises

At first I found this one really boring, especially considering it was so sparse with just the nylon string guitar, compared to the older Sun Kil Moon records, like their masterpiece, “April.” But the songs slowly revealed themselves to me, and it stayed with me a lot more than I thought it would.

10. Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record

I keep going back and forth on this one, because for all the fun songs on here, like “Art House Director,” there’s a pile of really repetitive tracks that just seem like filler. I just can’t shake the feeling that this is the “slick” BSS record, and I miss the band when it was at it’s “Self-Titled” heights.

Here’s a live performance of Teenage Fanclub doing “When I Still Have Thee”:

Here’s the lyrics for “When I Still Have Thee:”

From the western isles to the tasman sea
There’s a world of men and machinery
But the birds still sing and the sun shines free
No, I don’t need much when I still have thee

Well, the rolling stones wrote a song for me
It’s a minor song in a major key
But the stars still shine, the museums free
No, I don’t need much when I still have thee

It’s a modern hymn for the you and me
For the go between and the red army
Long as I still breathe and the air’s still free
No, I don’t need much when I still have thee

But the birds still sing and the sun shines free
No, I don’t need much when I still have thee
For the rolling stones and the red army
No, I don’t need much when I still have thee