Best National Albums of 2010

By Andrea Swensson Fri., Dec. 17 2010 at 12:34 PM

Categories: Year-end blitz

Pin It

As 2010 winds to a close, many of us here at Gimme Noise have been hard at work drafting up as many lists as humanly possible. Rather than create on unified list of the national albums that we loved this year, we thought it more appropriate to post each of our individual picks for the best albums of 2010 -- feel free to post your own favorites in the comments.

ERIK THOMPSON

1. The National, High Violet
2. Superchunk, Majesty Shredding
3. The Drums, The Drums
4. Weekend, Sports
5. Beach House, Teen Dream
6. Shearwater, The Golden Archipelago
7. Justin Townes Earle, Harlem River Blues
8. Spoon, Transference
9. Crocodiles, Sleep Forever
10. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs

NIKKI MILLER

Blake Shelton, Hillbilly Bone and All About Tonight EPs
Dierks Bentley, Up On the Ridge
Willie Nelson, Country Music
Justin Townes Earle, Harlem River Blues
Jamey Johnson, The Guitar Song
Josh Turner, Haywire
Vampire Hands/Daughters of the Sun (split), Skull Judge
Seawhores, Blunt Force to the Everything
Leisure Birds, Copper Scroll
Moonstone Continuum, NR:4;3.1-3

ANDREW FLANAGAN

1. Archie Bronson Outfit, Coconut (Domino)
2. Daughters, Daughters (Hydra Head)
3. Big Boi, Sur Lucious Left Foot...The Son of Chico Dusty (Def Jam)
4. Beach House, Teen Dream (Sub Pop)
5. Odd Future, Radical (OFWGKTA)
6. STNNNG, Smoke of My Will (Modern Radio)
7. These New Puritans, Hidden (Domino)
8. Grinderman, Grinderman 2 (Anti)
9. Glasser, Ring (True Panther)
10. Gayngs, Relayted (Jagjaguwar)

PAT O'BRIEN

1. The National, High Violet
2. The Walkmen, Lisbon
3. Les Savy Fav, Root For Ruin
4. Broken Social Scene, Forgiveness Rock Record
5. Foals, Total Life Forever
6. Superchunk, Majesty Shredding
7. Shearwater, The Golden Archipelago
8. Eels, End Times
9. Broken Bells, Broken Bells
10. Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles II

RAY CUMMINGS

Burning Star Core, Papercuts Theater (No Quarter)
Skullflower, Strange Keys To Untune Gods' Filament (Neurot)
Katt Hernandez, Unlovely (Ehse)
David Dove & Lucas Gorham, Screwed Anthologies: Improvised Music Under the Influence of DJ Screw (Cangrejito)
The Roots, How I Got Over (Def Jam)
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Before Today (4AD)
Ascites, Caput Medusae (Deadline)
Fred The Godson, Armageddon (No Label)
Kanye West, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam)
The Dead C, Patience (Ba Da Bing)

ANDREA SWENSSON

Dessa, A Badly Broken Code (Doomtree)
Crystal Castles, Crystal Castles II (Fiction)
Brian Eno, Small Craft on a Milk Sea (Warp)
Gayngs, Relayted (Jagjaguwar)
The Roots, How I Got Over (Def Jam)
Sleigh Bells, Treats (Mom and Pop)
Tame Impala, Innerspeaker (Modular)
Peter Wolf Crier, Inter-Be (Jagjaguwar)
Gonjasufi, A Sufi and a Killer (Warp)
The Soft Pack, The Soft Pack (Kemado)

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Music Newsletter: Keep your thumb on the local music scene with music features, additional online music listings and show picks. We'll also send special ticket offers and music promotions available only to our Music Newsletter subscribers.