While we certainly don’t pretend to be experts on the world of hip-hop around these part, we undoubtedly had to sit up and take notice when two of the biggest
Since we’ve spent the entire week recounting our favorite albums of 2010, and quite frankly you’re probably tired of reading about them, seemed like a no-brainer to end the week
For the second consecutive year at Hidden Track, we concocted our innovative little experiment for the year-end Best Albums list. Instead of picking the old fashioned way – subjectively – we opted for something a little different: a collaborative, collective list that incorporates the opinions of everybody here at HT.
To begin, we devised an all-encompassing list of well over 100 nominees, whereby most everything our contributors recommended made the list. Then we invited our crew of writers to independently and blindly vote on the whole list on a scale of 1 to 20 (20 = five stars). We ended up with varying degrees of familiarity with the nominees as some folks voted on just about everything, while some just a few. From there, we deployed our egghead algorithm for rating albums: (two times the average rating) + (the total number of votes). At that point, we took the top 25 highest scores and presto: the Hidden Track 25 Best Albums of 2010. No bullshit, no big opinions; just the results.
We’ve come to the end of our week long countdown, let’s check out our Top Five…
5) LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
Sounds Like: Dance Yrself Clean, I Can Change
Key Tracks: Modern spacefunk, Talking Heads with an indie twist
The Skinny: James Murphy and company’s third full-length finds the eccentric front man exploring the benefits and trappings of stardom accompanied by the funky dance-pop we’ve come to know and love. Not at all a departure from the first two records, This Is Happening takes the LCD sound in a slightly more laid-back, introspective direction. Gone are some of the dancehall sounds in favor of a more organic, live band-sounding approach which brings the seemingly more personal material to life beautifully. Murphy’s impassioned vocals are direct and honest, particularly on the monstrously catchy single I Can Change. This record has all of the things we love about LCD – the Talking Heads-esque bounce, Murphy’s staccato delivery, thick, ever shifting soundscapes – but with a maturity and comfort that shows Murphy growing as an artist and a person.
READ ON for the final four albums in our countdown…
With everyone probably counting down the minutes till the long weekend which will either include opening some Christmas presents or chowing down on some Chinese food followed by at least one movie this weekend, we wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays from all of us here at Hidden Track.
To keep everyone in the holiday spirit I’ve pulled together a batch of Christmas related links that would even get Santa to bring something to this Jew on Christmas, enjoy…
Finally, Christmas came a bit early for those who bought Julian Casablancas solo debut Phrazes For The Young
