Dear 2010, You've Been Smanged. Best Of:

As the sun begins to set on 2010, I can't help but look back on the incredible year. In the last 12 months, I was in The United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Latvia, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and The Czech Republic. I've finished my second to last semester of college. I've aquired an addiction to Sriracha. And to The Wire. I ran a half marathon, went dog sledding, shot guns in a soviet bunker, turned 21 in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and sang the National Anthem at an Eagles game. I bought some awesome Norwegian sweaters, brewed beer in my closet, and listened to some great music. Thus, the top albums, songs, and discoveries of 2010:

Top Albums of 2010:
Note: * Links to an earlier album review. Click to read it!

1. Local Natives - Gorilla Manor (*)
2. Beach House - Teen Dream (*)
3. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - I Learned the Hard Way
4. The Black Keys - Brothers
5. Dr. Dog - Shame, Shame
6. Cee Lo Green - The Lady Killer
7. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
8. Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore - Dear Companion (*)
9. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
10. Sleigh Bells - Treats

Honorable Mentions:
Major Lazer & La Roux - Lazerproof
Gayngs - Relayted
Cold War Kids - Behave Yourself EP
The Walkmen - Lisbon

Top Songs of 2010:
1. Beach House - "Walk in the Park"
2. Gayngs - "By Your Side" (Daytrotter Session)
3. Local Natives - "Who Knows Who Cares"
4. Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore - "Try"
5. Freelance Whales - "Generator 1st Floor"
6. Sufjan Stevens - "All Delighted People"
7. Cold War Kids - "Audience"
8. The Black Keys - "Everlasting Light"
9. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - "Mama Don't Like My Man"
10. Casiokids - "Fot i Hose"

Top Discoveries of 2010:

1. DeYarmond Edison - Silent Signs
- Old Justin Vernon. Speaks for itself.
2. Dawes - Dawes
- Really great album by the LA-based band. Fantastic live.
3. Caravan Palace
- Definition of Electro-Swing
4. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
- Just a great album. Unique and fun.
5. Koop
- Compiled of all jazz samples. Really easy-listening.
6. Eric Bibb - Booker's Guitar
- I can thank my jazz PR internship to this. A great blues feel.
7. Bad Veins
- A raw and emotional album by a Cincy-based duo. You can check out my review here.
8. "Lemme Smang It" / "Lemme Smell Yo Dick"
- Both YouTube sensations. When you are in times of trouble...
9. Fat Freddy's Drop
- New Zealand-based Dub/Reggae.
10. El Ten Eleven
- The self-titled album is great. Also the soundtrack for the incredibly dull movie Helvetica.

Heartless Bastards - The Mountain

Want to turn your room into a dive bar? Grab some beers, light up a cigarette, and blast Heartless Bastard's new (esque) album, The Mountain. The Ohio-based band gives off a stellar bar band feel that captures that feel-good time and dive bar grit. The album's simplicity and shockingly consuming vocals really makes for a great listen. Especially the title track, "The Mountain". Talk about being blown away - it really feels like your approaching the daunting peak of a huge mountain. Strait Lord of the Rings forreal.

On Fat Possum Records (former The Black Keys record label), Heartless Bastards have created a really good album that's upbeat, captivating, and refreshingly unrefined. Be sure to check out the tracks, "The Mountain," "Hold Your Head High", and "Sway".

Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night of the Soul

Think mellow. Add in some Tom Waits at times. Some Flaming Lips. A little Beatles. And a very little Black Keys-y soul-blues-rock, and you've got something close to Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse's Dark Night of The Soul. Danger Mouse (The Grey Album, The Black Keys' Attack & Release, Gorillaz' Demon Days, Beck's Modern Guilt) collaborated with Sparklehorse (Mark Linkous) to create a rather good album with an awesome flow that leaves you in a very interesting place. The simplicity and fantastic use of vocals creates a flow that pulls you up. Not quite forward - just up. It creates a weird sense of being at a strange yet comfortable height. And as the album finishes and drops you back off where you started, you can't help but feel a sense of deja vu.

Featuring Jason Lytle (of Grandaddy), Wayne Coyne (of The Flaming Lips), James Mercer (of The Shins), and multiple additional awesome artists, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse take you on a ride. Not a journey, but a cool ride that's definitely worth having.

Also, due to legal issues you can listen to the entire album on NPR's website here.