HT 25 Best Albums of 2010: Numbers 1-5

4) Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Key Tracks: All of the Lights, Monster, Blame Game

Sounds Like: Arrogant Hip Hop Witchcraft

The Skinny: Whatever one’s viewpoint on the psycho narcissism and club pop vibe of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, it’s impossible to overlook with any critical sensibility the unbridled ambition and execution of Kanye’s vision. Between the imagery of his Thriller-redux Monster, the fist-pumping likability of All of the Lights, the vocal morph on the Nicki Minaj guest vocals, the Chris Rock gut-busting comic bit on Blame Game, and the endless guest spots and producer sit-ins, Kanye deserves the accolades for putting it all on the line – including $3 million of Def Jam’s money – and pulling it off. From now until the end of eternity, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy will be  in the conversation for the greatest production quality – and specifically, mixing – ever captured on record.

3) Broken Bells – Broken Bells

Key Tracks: Vaporize, The Ghost Inside, The High Road

Sounds Like: Zach Braff’s new favorite band

The Skinny: It’s been a three years since the Zach Braff-approved, indie-darlings The Shins put out their third full-length album Wincing the Night Away. Since its release and support tour, the Portland via New Mexico-based act have switched labels from Sub Pop to lead singer’s James Mercer’s Aural Apothecary, shuffled their lineup and now appear to be on a bit of hiatus. With his new found free time Mercer found himself with the opportunity to collaborate with the “It” producer of the last decade, Brian Burton, who you may know better as  Danger Mouse forming the band Broken Bells. Recorded in secret at Danger Mouse’s LA studio, the pair’s self-titled debut, resulted in album that sounds something like a mix of Beck meets The Shins with spacey, psychedelic swaths courtesy of Mr. Burton’s production work.

2) Gorillaz – Plastic Beach

Key Tracks: Stylo, Some Kind of Nature

Sounds Like: What Kool Keith’s been pushing for the last few years

The Skinny: Don’t lie.  You’ve been grooving to Plastic Beach since it came out; it’s infectious.  Even though Gorillaz producer David Albarn has been doing it for over a decade, and others for even longer, 2010 is the time when fused music like this is not only acceptable, it’s desirable.  From the moment the waves crash on the aptly titled Orchestral Intro to the final blows of the kazoo on Pirate Jet, it is a nonstop album of bouncing heads, familiar voices, and, for lack of a better word, interesting sounds.  An almost never-ending list of all-stars, including Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Bobby Womack and Lou Reed, to name a few, tackle each track with an equally never-ending groove of electro-funk.

1) The Black Keys – Brothers

Key Tracks: Next Girl, Tighten Up, Howlin’ For You

Sounds Like: White boys from Ohio doing dirty Southern Blues

The Skinny: It took them long enough, but The Black Keys finally realized what Jack White did a few years back – that while you can make compelling music with just a guitar and drum kit, you can make it even more dynamic by adding things like bass and keyboards every now and then. Maybe it had something to do with recording amongst the ghosts in the room at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, but Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, walked away with their most fully realized album to date. Brothers oozes with a thick gooey stew of dark psychedelic blues and soul that’s dripping with Auerbach penned lyrics about the heartbreak stemming from Carney’s divorce.

HT 25 Best Albums Of 2010 was written by Jeffrey Greenblatt, Ryan Dembinksy, Scott Bernstein, Jonathan Kosakow and Joel Berk.

Previously On HT:

• HT 25 Best Albums of 2010: Numbers 21-25
• HT 25 Best Albums of 2010: Numbers 16-20
• HT 25 Best Albums of 2010: Numbers 11-15
• HT 25 Best Albums of 2010: Numbers 6-10