Whoa is me.

2010 was a solid year for music; at least as good as last year and my favorite since 2007. Sure, maybe a lot of it is derivative, but it's derivative of stuff I like. Everyone's a winner.

Top Albums of 2010

1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
2. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
3. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
4. The Walkmen - Lisbon
5. Janelle Monae - The Archandroid
6. The Mynabirds - What We Lose In The Fire We Gain In The Flood
7. Brian McBride - Effective Disconnect
8. Deerhunter - Halycon Digest
9. (homer pick) Super Duper - What We Call Sexy
10. Of Montreal - False Priest
11. Twin Shadow - Forget
12. Baths - Cerulean


Top Songs of 2010

1. We Used To Wait - Arcade Fire
2. Dance Yrself Clean - LCD Soundsystem
3. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Arcade Fire
4. The Numbers Don't Lie - The Mynabirds
5. I Can Change - LCD Soundsystem
6. Hand Me Down Your Love - Hot Chip
7. If You Gotta Go, Go Now - J. Tillman
8. Take It In - Hot Chip
9. Enemy Gene - Of Montreal
10. Rome - Yeasayer
11. Throwing Shade - Abe Vigoda
12. Our Composition Book - Wild Nothing
13. Mermaid Parade - Phosphorescent
14. Ready To Start - Arcade Fire
15. Bermuda - Kisses
16. Slow - Twin Shadow
17. Silver Jenny Dollar - New Pornographers
18. I Get Nervous - Lower Dens
19. Blue As Your Blood - Walkmen
20. Tightrope - Janelle Monae
21. Our Deal - Best Coast
22. Juveniles - Walkmen
23. Valkyrie At The Roller Disco - New Pornographers
24. Heaven's On Fire - The Radio Dept.
25. Helicopter - Deerhunter



Books I Read This Year

Many of these are new this year, others aren't -- but they are some of the books I read for the first time (or started reading) in 2010.

1. Freedom, Jonathan Franzen - Hate to say it, but this would be it. I was sad when I was done.
2. Appointment In Samara, John O'Hara - A petit-bourgeois "The Great Gatsby". Will make you drink ginger ale & rye.
3. A Visit From The Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan - A pure delight.
4. Springer's Progress, David Markson - A riot.
5. AM/PM, Amelia Gray - Such beautiful sentences.
6. Arkansas, John Brandon - Great story, complex characters, and the middle-management of a world most of us don't get to see.
7. Working Backwards From The Worst Moment Of My Life, Rob Roberge -- Awesome, gritty, and sad short stories, populated with characters you're afraid to recognize.
8. Daddy's, Lindsey Hunter - See above, only darker.
9. The Savage Detectives, Roberto Bolano - I'm not a convert yet, but this was an interesting book. I bet it's not his best.
10. The Orange Eats Creeps, Grace Krilanovich - OK, I haven't read the whole thing yet, but what I have read is absolutely stunning, daring, and wild.