Hey, it’s Mike again, you know the friend of Sarah’s from way back who occaisionally fulfills her need for a list of albums because she spends 90,000 hours agonizing over her own. (Do I really like this Andrew Bird album more than this other Andew Bird album?) Ha. I keed.  So I did this thing last year, and since I mentioned Paper Route, and Gavin (Paper Route’s drummer) tweeted a link to the site, I gave Sarah a bunch of traffic, so she owes me, and that’s why you get the:

Seven Albums That Came Out in 2010 That Mike Listened To and Enjoyed the Most

Devo – Something For Everybody
Devo’s first foray into the world of music since Smooth Noodle Maps was met with much ado (mostly by the band itself who used focus groups and a lot of fake promotional material to choose everything from what songs appeared on the album, what order they were in, what type of outfits Devo would don, and of course what color the new Energy Domes would be).  Hoopla aside, this is actually a really awesome album.  What We Do and Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man) are worth the price of admission alone.

Something For Everybody was released June 15.
Devo: Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Store

Chromeo – Business Casual
This is my pick for album of the year. Nobody is able to mix 80s beats, Roger Troutman Voicebox, and fun better than chromeo, and this album is nothing short of spectacular.  I don’t think its possible to not like this album.  From start to Huey Lewis finish, this album is nonstop fun.

Business Casual was released September 13.
Chromeo: Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Store

Gogol Bordello – Trans-continental Hustle
Gogol Bordello’s music is absolutely nuts, and their latest album continues the trend.  With all this punk-polka it leaves me to wonder if there are any Mariachi Punk bands out there. That would be truely amazing, but I digress. [See Mariachi el Bronx. -S]

Trans-continental Hustle was released April 27.
Gogol Bordello: Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Store

The Soft Pack – The Soft Pack
It’s been a while since I’ve heard such awesome surf music.  Plus these guys use organ.  That alone puts these guys up there with Man or Astroman? as surf punk greats.

The Soft Pack was released February 2.
The Soft Pack: Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter

Frank Turner – Sleep is for the Week
I really like this album, but it’s just songs about being hungover, so thats probably why.  This guy is either the English equivalent of me, or he just reads my mind, and makes songs that I like.

[ Sleep is for the Week was released in 2007, apparently, but I'll let it slide.  This time. -S]
Frank Turner: Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Store

Balkan Beat Box – Blue Eyed Black Boy
Rarely do you get a mix of ska, dub, rap and disco, and even more rarely is it any good. Balkan Beat Box manages to pull it off, though.  This is great music to cruise around to in your convertable.  Especially in suburban areas where there are few Israelis.

Blue Eyed Black Boy was released March 29.
Balkan Beat Box: Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Store

The National – High Violet
My love of The National’s music can only be compared to my hatred of their live show.  High Violet is moody, emotional and beautiful.

High Violet was released May 11.
The National: Official Website | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | Store

Honorable Mentions
Butch Walker – I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart. Maybe it’s just cause Butch is now 40 but this is his most mature album to date.  That said, there aren’t any real rockers on this album, so it falls short of my list.

Gorillaz – Plastic Beach. I didn’t like this album as much as I liked Demon Days, but Stylo and Superfast Jellyfish are awesome.

Maroon 5 – Hands All Over. Maybe its because the first time I heard Misery I was in the middle of a break up and the person in question didn’t answer any of my texts that day, or maybe it’s just cause I have a secret love of Maroon 5.

And of course the Worst album of the year.
This year it goes to Katy Perry for Teenage Dream. I am no snob to popular music, as many people I work with will tell you how disturbing it is for me to sing along to Kelly Clarkson and Miley Cyrus when it comes on over the muzak, but Teenage Dream is just beyond garbage.  It’s not great dance music, its not great pop music, and there’s a song about penis. Well, that’s not bad in itself, but it makes it seem like its really hard for a girl like Katy Perry to see dong.  Though maybe it was in regards to Elmo, who ran away from her the entire Sesame Street skit that was yanked due to cleavage issues.

[ While not compiling Best Of lists for me, Mike can be found at landofabsurdity.com. ]

Related posts:

1. Guest Post: Seven Albums That Came Out in 2011 That Mike Listened To and Enjoyed the Most
2. Guest Post: Seven Albums That Came Out in 2009 That Mike Listened To and Enjoyed the Most
3. Lollapalooza 2010 Lineup

In case you took an internet hiatus overnight, here’s some “news” for you: Lollapalooza’s lineup for the 2010 festival has been released in full, including all the letters and &s and *’s, because god forbid they write out Fuck Buttons on their website.  The lineup had, of course, already been guessed to about 90% completion by the internet, thanks to leaks about the headliners and all those handy letters that Lolla put out for their Wheel of Fortune-esque teasers.

Aside from the fact that I’m always conflicted about Lollapalooza (I’ve lived here since 2006 and finally got around to dragging myself to the festival last year for the first time), the lineup seems a bit “…meh” to me.  The headliners overall aren’t as huge as I’d come to expect from the festival, and the supporting tiers seem a bit thin.  There aren’t a whole lot of acts who I’m dying to see, and a lot of the acts I’m excited about are actually ones who I’ve already seen (or will have seen by the time Lolla arrives).  And I’m sure someone else can analyze this more in-depth, but there’s a huge lack of local music on the line-up.  Lolla’s never made any pretense about being a local music festival — it’s a huge (inter)national festival which just happened to find its home in Chicago — but it would be nice to see some more nods towards its host city in its programming.

But, I’ll admit it, even though half of the internet is all OMG LOLLA SOLD OUT, I’m pretty excited that Lady Gaga is one of the headliners.  Go ahead, take away any music street cred I had left, but I am absolutely going to be at her set.  There, yeah, I said it.  (Also, it will be interesting to see how she adapts her notoriously over-the-top stage show to fit the throw-and-go nature of Lollapalooza.)

So now, of course, we just have to wait (and wait, and wait) for the set schedules to come out.  (Consequence of Sound has an unconfirmed day-by-day break-down.)  Because, knowing my luck, all of the bands I want to see will be playing at the same time. 

The lineup is under the jump for your perusal, in case you still haven’t seen it.

Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, the Strokes, Phoenix, Social Distortion, MGMT, Jimmy Cliff, Hot Chip, the Black Keys, the National, Spoon, Devo, Cypress Hill, Cut Copy, the New Pornographers, Erykah Badu, Slightly Stoopid, Grizzly Bear, Gogol Bordello, Chromeo, Wolfmother, Yeasayer, X Japan, MUTEMATH, Metric, Dirty Projectors, AFI, Mavis Staples, Matt & Kim, the xx, Drive-By Truckers, Blues Traveler.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, the Temper Trap, Jamie Lidell, Frightened Rabbit, F Buttons, Deer Tick, Blitzen Trapper, Stars, Raphael Saadiq, the Cribs, Minus the Bear, Switchfoot, the Walkmen, Mumford & Sons, Wild Beasts, Rogue Wave, Los Amigos Invisibles, the Big Pink, the Dodos, Hockey, Cymbals Eat Guitars, B.o.B, Dawes, Warpaint, the Antlers, the Soft Pack, Rebelution, Balkan Beat Box.

Wavves, American Bang, the Ike Reilly Assassination, Company of Thieves, Nneka, Harlem, the Constellations, Miniature Tigers, Mimicking Birds, the Kissaway Trail, HEALTH, Javelin, the Morning Benders, Foxy Shazam, Violent Soho, Royal Bangs, NEON TREES, Freelance Whales, Semi Precious Weapons, Dan Black, The Band of Heathens, Dragonette, My Dear Disco, Shawn Fisher, Neon Hitch, Skybox, The Ettes, Jukebox the Ghost, These United States, MyNameIsJohnMichael.

Related posts:

1. Scheduling for Lollapalooza is so hard.
2. This Week in Great Music: 8/2 – 8/8
3. Lilith Fair announces 2010 lineup