Far from an objective declaration of the best music out there, the following is a list that we have compiled of our favorite albums of the past year. We like them because they make us feel good, because we relate to them in some strong personal way, or because, yes, we can\u2019t ignore their pure objective beauty. In some cases, as with our number one album, it may be all of the above. In any case, we like these albums, and we present them to you as humble examples of God\u2019s common grace in the form of musical creativity.<\/em><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The Arcade Fire \u2013 The Suburbs<\/em><\/strong><\/a> 2. Sufjan Stevens \u2013 The Age of Adz<\/em><\/a><\/strong> If Sufjan was setting out to revolutionize the album and the pop song, I am not sure he succeeded, but what he has done is produce another very impressive album.\u00a0 Many long-time fans don\u2019t like the new wild electronic direction of Age of Adz. After all this album feels very schizophrenic at times<\/a> even if it is a calculated schizophrenia. Age of Adz is after all a very ambitious album and I for one hope Stevens continues to make such ambitious music. -Drew Dixon<\/em><\/p>\n 3. <\/strong><\/em>The Roots \u2013 How I Got Over<\/strong><\/em><\/a> 4. <\/strong>Shearwater \u2013 The Golden Archipelago<\/em><\/strong><\/a> 5. <\/strong>Beach House \u2013 Teen Dream<\/em><\/strong><\/a> 6. Vampire Weekend \u2013 Contra<\/em><\/a><\/strong> For me, Contra was the first in a series of musical discoveries, probably because of my previous apathy and ignorance toward music in general. Still, there\u2019s something special about Contra\u2019s insistence on cultural awareness and the idea that life can be both analyzed and deeply felt. It\u2019s a mantra I live by, and now I can sing along with it as well. -Richard Clark<\/em><\/p>\n 7. Swartz \u2013 Nighttide<\/em><\/a><\/strong> 8. Suckers \u2013 Wild Smile<\/em><\/a><\/strong> 9. <\/strong>J\u00f3hann J\u00f3hannsson \u2013 <\/a>And In The Endless Pause There Came The Sound Of Bees<\/a> 10. Mumford & Sons \u2013 Sigh No More<\/em><\/a><\/strong> For me, <\/span>Contra<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n was the first, probably because of my previous apathy and ignorance<\/p>\n toward music in general. Still, there\u2019s something special about Contra\u2019s<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n insistence on cultural awareness and the insistence that life can be<\/p>\n both analyzed and deeply felt. It\u2019s a mantra I live by, and now I can<\/p>\n sing it as well.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is a CCM free zone. It just worked out that way.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1238,"featured_media":8516,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7,11,13],"tags":[91],"class_list":["post-8509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asides","category-featured","category-headline","category-music","tag-arcade-fire"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nRecommended reading: \u201cI Need the Darkness<\/a>\u201d
\nArcade Fire is a secular band, but their songs never cease to dissect the culture around them in ways that Christians ought to take note of.\u00a0 The Suburbs<\/em> is far tamer musically than Funeral<\/em> and less preachy than Neon Bible<\/em> but I think I actually like it more than those two albums.\u00a0 This is one of those albums that you will listen to all the way through several times when you first pick it up and once the charm of the music has subsided a little, you will enjoy dissecting the lyrics.\u00a0 Whereas Neon Bible<\/em> feels like a pretty strong indictment on Western consumerism, Suburbs<\/em> finds Butler, Chassagne, and company realizing just how much the surrounding culture has affected them and how much they have bowed to it (\u201cCity with No Children,\u201d \u201cSprawl II\u201d).\u00a0 There is still the occasional scathing social commentary (\u201cRococo\u201d) but this is primarily an album that promotes self-reflection and community (\u201cHalf Light II\u201d) and reflects on failed idealism (\u201cThe Suburbs\u201d) and the music beautifully accentuates these themes throughout. \u2013 Drew Dixon<\/em><\/p>\n
\nRecommended reading: \u201cWe Can Do Much More Together<\/a>\u201d
\nThe announcement of Sufjan\u2019s latest album (and the E.P. that preceded it only be a couple months) was shocking after Stevens had spoken cryptically about losing faith in the album<\/a> and the traditional pop song<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s not surprising that one of the most prolific living songwriters would hit a wall at this point in his career, but it is amazing that Stevens was able to release All Delighted People<\/em> and Age of Adz<\/em> in such a short period of time and that both are quite good.\u00a0 Age of Adz<\/em> is more personal, more self-reflective, and less historically aware than his previous offerings (except maybe Seven Swans<\/em>).\u00a0 Stevens is continually lamenting his failures in life and relationships but there is a very hopeful element to many of the songs in which Sufjan seems to be getting comfortable in his own shoes.\u00a0 And what about Sufjan\u2019s faith?\u00a0 Yeah that is there too only more self aware<\/a> this time (\u201cGet Real Get Right,\u201d \u201cVesuvius,\u201d and \u201cImpossible Soul\u201d).<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m a little ashamed to say that, over the years, I haven\u2019t paid nearly as much attention to the legendary Roots crew as I should have. I\u2019m glad that I was able to at least partially rectify that oversight with\u00a0How I Got Over<\/em>. It\u2019s a stellar album, full of amazing production and solid beats (courtesy of drummer\u00a0Questlove), funky grooves, and some soulful, thought-provoking lyrics that touch on spiritual and social issues. In other words, this album gets you thinking even as it gets you moving. And the icing on the cake is its eclecticism. On paper, the combination of one of America\u2019s premier hip-hop crews with everyone\u2019s favorite indie\u00a0harpstress \u2014 that\u2019d be\u00a0Joanna Newsom \u2014 sounds like a recipe for disaster. But the result is magical, especially on \u201cRight On\u201d, which was easily my favorite jam of 2010. -Jason Morehead<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThe Golden Archipelago<\/em> came out earlier in 2010 and, though it initially held me enthralled, it fell off my radar a bit as the year went on. A bit, but not entirely. What else would you expect from music this haunting and well-crafted? The music does become a tad pretentious and overly melodramatic in places, but even then, it achieves an epic-yet-intimate scope that I find irresistible. Perhaps the highest compliment that I can pay the album is that it feels like a spiritual successor to Talk Talk\u2019s seminal\u00a0Spirit of Eden<\/em> and\u00a0Laughingstock <\/em>albums. Like Mark Hollis, Shearwater\u2019s\u00a0Jonathan Meiburg has an amazing range, moving from\u00a0soft, emotive moments to really belting it out. And then there\u2019s the band\u2019s arrangements, which are full of nuance and detail, as well as the cryptic-yet-resonant lyrics. All in all, an indie-rock album that feels like a timeless, weather-worn artifact that stands the test of time, an impression added to by the gorgeous liner notes, which look and read like some long-lost scientist\u2019s field journals. -Jason Morehead<\/em><\/p>\n
\nIn a recent interview<\/a>, Alex Scally said that when he and Victoria Legrand record songs they always \u201cmake an album that isn\u2019t just a bunch of songs, but have it be a real family.\u201d\u00a0 This is certainly true of their latest album Teen Dream<\/em>\u2014each song feels like it belongs to the others.\u00a0 When I first purchased Teen Dream<\/em> I listened all the way through three times without pressing the skip button once.\u00a0 Beach House isn\u2019t the most innovative album of the year, but in my opinion it is the best.\u00a0 In a world where everyone seems to be trying to push the envelope of what is new, different, and genre-defying, Beach House keeps the arrangements simple (keyboard, guitar, and drums) and elegant and the vocals pitch perfect.\u00a0 Legrand and Scally take their music very seriously, the songs on this album are intimate sounding\u2014sad but never hopeless.\u00a0 It really is difficult to pick the best song, because Teen Dream truly is a work of art best experienced as a whole.\u00a0 However, if I had to choose a song, I would go with the album\u2019s closing track, \u201cTake Care.\u201d\u00a0 The song ends with Legrand promising someone, \u201cI\u2019ll take care of you, if you ask me to, it\u2019s true,\u201d it is such a beautiful song, its hard not to believe her. -Drew Dixon<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em>2010 was the year I seriously started listening to music again, thanks to the increasing popularity of iTunes and the increasingly low-priced mp3 downloads at Amazon. Still, I like to think that it was also because of Vampire Weekend\u2019s Contra<\/em>. It was the first album I\u2019d heard in years that I related to in any real way: an honest, personal and deeply heartfelt account of growing up within a culture while also remaining completely mindful of that culture. It\u2019s a mindset I\u2019m convinced is more and more common, evidenced by how many albums exhibit it within this very list.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m always on the lookout for good ambient\/post-rock music that can work as aural wallpaper (i.e., background music) but that can also stand up to more active listening \u2014 and\u00a0Nighttide<\/em> is one such album. Emerging out of some \u201csessions\u201d originally played to help his young daughter fall asleep, Steve Swartz has crafted an album of hushed, evocative pieces composed of soft guitar drones, field recordings, and sparse electronics. At times recalling the mighty Labradford\u2019s desolate soundscapes, at other times the otherworldly electronica of Marconi Union,\u00a0Nighttide<\/em> is an album that is consistently enthralling regardless of whether I let it fade into the background or I choose ot plunge headlong into its particular soundscapes. -Jason Morehead<\/em><\/p>\n
\nI must admit that I am a big fan of quirky pop music, and Suckers certainly are quirky but in an incredibly refreshing way. <\/span>They cover a ton of ground on Wild Smile<\/em>, from rollicking Modest Mouse-like rock tracks (\u201cBlack Sheep,\u201d \u201c2 Eyes 2 C\u201d) to subdued love songs (\u201cSave Your Love for Me\u201d) to playful indie pop (\u201cRoman Candles,\u201d \u201cYou Can Keep Me Runnin\u2019 Around,\u201d and \u201cLoose Change\u201d). <\/span>It\u2019s becoming more and more common for indie bands to incorporate multiple singers\u2014Suckers do this uniquely in that the various band mates that sing have such different sounding voices\u2014sometimes these voices compete entertainingly for the spotlight (\u201cBlack Sheep\u201d and \u201cMartha\u201d) and yet they often come together beautifully (It Get\u2019s Your Body Movin\u2019 and A Mind I Knew). <\/span>One thing is clear, Suckers have produced the most memorable debut album of the year and this is quite a feat for a band from Brooklyn where unique is hard to come by. -Drew Dixon<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/em><\/strong>If you saw a recent trailer for the upcoming alien invasion flick\u00a0Battle: Los Angeles<\/em> and found yourself wondering who composed its beautiful-yet-tragic music, then wonder no further: it was Iceland\u2019s\u00a0J\u00f3hann J\u00f3hannsson, one of modern classical\u2019s brightest \u201cstars\u201d. And if you want to hear more, then a good place to start is this,\u00a0J\u00f3hannsson\u2019s\u00a0soundtrack for the animated short\u00a0Varmints<\/em> (which I haven\u2019t seen). J\u00f3hannsson\u2019s blend of \u201ctraditional\u201d orchestral arrangements, sparse piano melodies, choral vocals, and avant-garde\/electronica elements (e.g., field recordings, drones, industrial noises) is evocative and deeply melancholy \u2014\u00a0the opening number, \u201cTheme\u201d, is one of the most moving songs I heard in 2010 \u2014\u00a0without ever becoming maudlin or depressing, quite a mean feat considering the ominous areas that the soundtrack explores at times. -Jason Morehead<\/em><\/p>\n
\nRecommended Reading: $#*! My Favorite Christian Band Says<\/a>
\nI recently read a blog post by someone who had seen M&S play in a bar in which the author reflected that it was one of the most worshipful concerts he had ever attended. <\/span>That seemed appropriate because although M&S have not publicly claimed to be Christians, this is a very worshipful album. <\/span>These are honest songs about spiritual awakening (\u201cSigh No More\u201d) and patiently longing for Christ to return (\u201cAwake My Soul\u201d). <\/span>While Sigh No More<\/em> is a very spiritual album it never feels self-righteous and M&S\u2019s folksy sound is hard to describe as anything other than epic. <\/span>I should mention that Little Lion Man contains a pretty harsh expletive in the chorus<\/a>. Who knows, perhaps they are trying to fool us, because this is an otherwise incredibly encouraging album worthy of the Christian ear. -Drew Dixon<\/em><\/p>\n
\n2010
\nwas the year I got back into music, thanks to the increasing popularity
\nof iTunes and the increasingly low-priced mp3 downloads at Amazon.
\nThough, I like to think that it was also because of Vampire Weekend\u2019s
\n<\/span>Contra. <\/span>It
\nwas the first album I\u2019d heard in years that I related to in any real
\nway: an honest, personal and deeply heartfelt account of growing up
\nwithin a culture while also remaining completely mindful of that
\nculture. It\u2019s a mindset I\u2019m convinced is more and more common,
\nevidenced by how many albums exhibit it within this very list.
\n<\/span>\n