• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Crushing Krisis

The Newest Oldest Blog In New Zealand

  • DC Guides
    • DC Events
    • DC New 52
    • DC Rebirth
    • Batman Guide
    • The Sandman Universe
  • Marvel Guides
    • Marvel Events
    • Spider-Man Guide (1963-2018)
    • X-Men Reading Order
  • Indie & Licensed Comics
    • Spawn
    • Star Wars Guide
      • Expanded Universe Comics (2015 – present)
      • Legends Comics (1977 – 2014)
    • Valiant Guides
  • Drag
    • Canada’s Drag Race
    • Drag Race Down Under
    • Drag Race France
    • Drag Race Philippines
    • Dragula
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars
  • Archive
  • Contact!
You are here: Home / consume / reviews / Krisis’s Recommended Music of 2010 – An Introduction

Krisis’s Recommended Music of 2010 – An Introduction

January 3, 2011 by krisis

The prohibitive critical favorite LP of the year was Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It was certainly twisted, but I didn't think it was as beautiful as everyone made it out to be.

All this month Crushing Krisis will highlight my recommended albums of 2010.

(Only one of the albums pictured in this post is recommended by me; the others are the #1s from various other web outlets. Stay tuned to find out.)

I love listening to music, maybe more than I love playing it. I’ve been a music collector ever since I hoarded Madonna 45s and Jem cassette tapes as a child. Of my 20,000+ song iTunes collection, I rate over a quarter of it as four or five stars – meaning I could stream a 24/7 all-hits personal radio station for fifteen days with no repeated tracks.

Amazon's #2 LP was Arcade Fire's fantastic The Suburbs, which placed behind the Mumford & Sons album that actually came out in 2009. WTG, Amazon.

As a huge music fan, when each year reaches its close I always want to issue a “Best Albums of the Year” list. Yet, I never feel like I’ve heard enough releases to offer a definitive retrospective.

For that matter, has anyone – or, any group of anyones – really heard enough albums in a single year to compile a “Best of” list? It seems improbable, because for all intents you can safely assume that an infinite number of records are released each year.

Don’t believe me? Check the 2010 top albums chart on Rate Your Music (RYM), an obsessively detailed music discography site I’ve used religiously since 2002 to track my collection. Even with all of the metal filtered out (RYM’s critical sentiment skews heavily to Scandinavian death-metal epics), the top LPs list extends beyond 1,000 albums without dipping below three stars. The no-metal Top 2010 EPs chart is similarly 1,000-deep.

Pitchfork had LCD Soundsystems's This Is Happening behind Kanye. Every song was too long.

For a single listener to make it through all of those 2,000 releases (optionally including the 500+ omitted metal releases, if they were so inclined) they would have to listen to over five new releases a day, every day, all year. To get that down to less than one album a day, you’d need an editorial team of at least six with no overlapping listens.

Neither equation takes into account re-listening for pleasure or, heaven forbid, listening to music from years prior.

MetaCritic had Janelle Monae's The ArchAndroid a hair behind Kanye in critical sentiment. I'm still not entirely sure what to think about it.

Even using Amazon’s Best of 2010 center to review the 100 best LPs of 2010 and 50 albums you might have missed is a huge time commitment – and they’ve narrowed it down to a manageable rate of three albums a week! Also, those lists don’t emerge until December.

My point is, even leaving aside matters of subjective taste, there is no such thing as a definitive “Best of” list. Not in Rolling Stone. Not on Pitchfork. Hell, even RYM‘s obsessive charts compiled by a cast of thousands left off my top LPs of  both 2008 and 2010.

Taylor Swift had 2010's best-selling album on Amazon with Speak Now. I thought it was okay; I preferred Fearless.

For 2010 I drew inspiration from one of my long-time blog heroes, Andre Torrez. Andre swore off all pre-2010 music starting in February, and spent the entire year listening solely to new releases and documenting his experience.

Rate Your Music has Agalloch's Marrow of the Spirit in a virtual tie with Kanye for #1. It's actually pretty interesting, for symphonic black folk metal.

I could never commit to that regimen (Hello, an entire year with no Madonna? Not likely.), but I took his ambition to heart. The point of the exercise was to absorb new music constantly without solely relying on the filter of radio or critics. Would my 1:4 “I love it” ratio hold up if I listened far outside of my normal comfort zone?

By trolling Ameoba Music’s release calendar and keeping an eye on trends on Rate Your Music I wound up hearing nearly 200 albums in 2010. I can’t tell you what the best ones were – from the captions in this post you can see I don’t entirely agree with a lot of the critical sentiment.

However, I do know what I can unequivocally recommend through my personal filter of loving pop and valuing quality songwriting, and I’ll blog about those releases all this month.

Related posts:

  1. Crushing On Crushing Krisis
  2. Crushing Comics
  3. Crushing Comics – Guide to Star Wars Comics, Films, Canon Stories, & Legends Comics

Filed Under: reviews

Previous Post: « Crushing On: Fashion Scarves
Next Post: permitted to learn »

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Crushing Krisis › 2010 Recommended Albums Roundup says:
    February 16, 2011 at 10:43 pm

    […] to @melissa_shae for inspiring/encouraging this endeavor, and for all of my office-mates for enduring […]

Primary Sidebar


Support Crushing Krisis on Patreon
Support CK
on Patreon


Follow me on Twitter Contact me Watch me on Youtube Subscribe to the CK RSS Feed

About CK

About Crushing Krisis
About My Music
About Your Author
Blog Archive
Comics Blogs Only
Contact Krisis
Terms & Conditions

Crushing Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Events Guide

Spider-Man Guide

DC Comics

  • Guide to Emma Frost, The White QueenPatron’s Choice: Guide to Emma Frost, White Frost
    It's my brand new Guide to Emma Frost - The White Queen. Learn how Emma is defined by tragedy and her vow that it's all "For The Children." […]
  • Marvel United Multiverse World War Hulk Expansion BoxMarvel United: Multiverse wages World War Hulk as their final expansion! (Plus: a BIG all-in pledge reward)
    Marvel United Multiverse World War Hulk is the final expansion box in the Marvel United: Multiverse Kickstarter, and it's packed with muscle - plus, an ever BIGGER surprise for the All-In pledge. […]
  • Drag Race Belgique Season 1 Episode 00 - Promo SquareDrag Race Belgique Season 1 – Pre-Season “Meet The Queens” Power Ranking
    It's time to meet the queens of a whole new Drag Race franchise - Drag Race Belgique, hosted by alien actress Rita Baga! […]
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15, Episode 6 – “Old Friends Gold” Girl Groups Challenge, Review & Power Ranking
    The drag queens of RuPauls' Drag Race Season 15 take on a golden oldies Girl Group challenge with unlikely musical genres in Old Friends Gold. […]
  • Marvel United Multiverse Kickstarter - Maximum Carnage Expansion BoxMarvel United: Multiverse adds Maximum Carnage to the campaign! (Plus, the High Evolutionary!)
    Marvel United Multiverse Maximum Carnage unleashed an unexpected group of villains onto the campaign in the from of a (very) New Sinister Six! Plus, High Evolutionary, and my predictions for the final expansion box(es). […]
  • New Mutants (2019) #7Updated: Guide to New Mutants, Generation X, Academy X, & other Young X-Men
    My Guide to New Mutants now covers every new class of X-Men, from the "3rd Class" of New Mutants through Generation X, Academy X, Generation Hope, & The Age of Krakoa - plus the return of the 1st Class of All-New X-Men! […]
  • Cable Math & Maps: Collected Issue Counting and Future Omnibus Mapping
    it's time for mathing and mapping Cable! How much of Cable has been collected from his 1990 debut onward, including his pre-history? And, how could it all fit into Omnibus? […]
  • Marvel United Multiverse Kickstarter - Annihilation BoxMarvel United: Multiverse adds Annihilation (plus, 20 potential Marvel Event expansions and their predicted contents)
    I perfectly predicted this new Marvel United Multiverse expansion box and all its contents, so what do my psychic powers say about the remainder of the campaign? […]
  • Guide to Spider-Man comics from 2018 to present day – now available to the public!
    Peter Parker has had a massive 5 years in comics, from Nick Spencer's Amazing Spider-Man run to Zeb Wells spinning Dark Web and the Summer of Symbiotes. Find every issue from 2018 to present day in this new guide! […]
  • X-Men Vote 2023 - Polls Are Open NowElect your favorite mutant with Marvel’s annual X-Men Vote! #xmenvote
    It's time for the third annual X-Men Vote to determine one new permanent member of the flagship X-Men team. Let's meet the six candidates and discuss the pros and cons of each one. […]
  • Marvel United Multiverse Secret Invasion Box KickstarterMarvel United: Multiverse adds a Secret Invasion expansion (plus, 20 events that could be expansion boxes!)
    CMON announced a surprising Marvel United Multiverse Secret Invasion expansion, which raises a question: What other events are still to come? I've got 20 suggestions for them. […]
  • New for Patrons: Guide to Wasp, Janet van Dyne
    This Guide to Wasp follows Janet van Dyne through her 60-year Marvel Comics history, from founding Avenger to finally getting own own series! […]
  • my weighted blanket is hungry
    Me getting 8hrs of fitful sleep doesn't seem to be enough to satiate the hunger of my new 10kg beast of a weighted blanket. […]
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 15, Episode 5 – House of Fashion, Review & Power Ranking
    It's Drag Race Fashion Week in this unconventional materials design challenge with a twist: the queens are split into three groups and have to present cohesive runway collections. […]

Layout copyright © 2017 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

Links from Crushing Krisis to retailer websites may be in the form of affiliate links. If you purchase through an affiliate link I will receive a minor credit as your referrer. My credit does not affect your purchase price. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to: Amazon Services LLC Associates Program (in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), eBay Partner Network, and iTunes Affiliate Program.