The D Man's Top Twenty Albums of 2010

The Grand Statement vs. The Overarching Vibe. Great albums may be grouped into one of these two categories. Take this year in music. Several albums merit Grand Statement distinctions (Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Kanye West), while others deserve honors for creating The Overarching Vibe (Beach House, LCD Soundsystem, Twin Shadow). These two musical camps, when rarefied aesthetics are involved, are worthy of our critical praise.

The Grand Statement primarily delivers a musical message. An album that earns this title--lyrically, sonically, thematically--tells a story, imparts a wisdom, or discloses a secret. The Grand Statement asserts a worldview, or at least offers a profound reference point, and forces listeners to weigh and consider. For example, Arcade Fire's The Suburbs is a sweeping narrative of the impending, and a remembrance of the spark of youth in the midst of an unavoidable unwinding. It is, in essence, an elegy. Listeners must grapple with the album's search for home amid the tumult of the modern world.

On the other hand, the Overarching Vibe delivers a musical feeling. The sound of the album is more significant than any lyric, topic, or theme. It is about the music, the moment, or the magic. It is experiential rather than topographical. For example, Beach House's Teen Dream, while chronicling the romance of youth, is primarily an iridescent escape into the feeling of youth, the dream of romance, indeed, the very sound of the fantasy.

On closer scrutiny, of course, these two distinctions begin to erode. The Grand Statement is often a function of the Overarching Vibe, the essential feel and sound of a record. The Suburbs is so seamless in its musical approach, it would be foolish not to recognize its holistic sonic current. Meanwhile, the Overarching Vibe is sometimes a product of the Grand Statement, as the stories, themes, and motifs that a given artist employs creates the (un)intended feeling, the personal musical experience, as it is with Teen Dream. Ultimately, these two distinctions are probably only servicable as a kind of shorthand to delineate between albums that contain a decipherable narrative arc, and albums that bury such narrative into the inscrutable nature of their musicmaking. Even then, such shorthand is underwhelming. After all, last decade's millenial masterpiece, Radiohead's Kid A, is arguably the penultimate Grand Statement (post-modern breakdown) and Overarching Vibe (post-modern breakdown).

One thing is certain: 2010 was a great year for music. The new decade failed to usher in a major movement or storyline. Unlike 1980, where disco and punk were giving way to post-punk and new wave, or 1990, where pop and hair-metal were dying a slow death as the underground presence of art-rock and grunge emerged, 2010 was a testament to the creative strength of the previous decade and its best artists. Indeed, the best albums of 2010 include releases from some of last decade's finest musicmakers: Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, The National, and Kanye West, to name a few. Three of those artists have produced albums that previously topped The D Man's year-end lists. That is some staying power. That is some relevance.

A final word of encouragement. Last year, The D Man discussed his concerns regarding the slow-death of the album. The past year in music confirms (again) that such worries are premature. The mainstream offered up few albums worthy of aesthetic consideration, however, thankfully, myriad independent artists created long-form musical statements that were striking, original, and worth writing about and listening to. So enjoy.