Call Upon The Author

2010 is behind us, a rapidly disappearing speck in the rear view mirror. We may not be able to head back, but we’ll have plenty of memories from what turned out to be a pretty good year in music. Going through all the music we’ve listened to in the past year, it quickly became clear that our writers weren’t going to agree on a shortlist for their top albums, so as editor, I pulled rank and worked things out my own way.

What we have below are the top five albums of 2010 according to Call Upon the Author. Our list was drawn from the many albums we’ve reviewed and then picked based on how many times their reviews were read, what the writer thought of the album, and how well the albums stood up to repeated listening.

So, without further delay, here’s our list!

5) AM – Future Sons & Daughters

AM’s album was a bit of a bolt from the blue, being received with little fanfare, but something about it made us take interest. Ally summed it up best in her review, stating AM was “the complete package – great voice, smart lyrics, and excellent music bundled together to produce something really really enjoyable to listen to”. We couldn’t agree more and this blessed out west coast folkster has us hooked, with an eclectic attitude that brings to mind Beck, coupled to sun bleached Americana that could have been bottled in the sixties, this is a timeless classic!

4) BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – The Promise

When we heard Springsteen was releasing new material, we were understandably excited. We’ll happily argue the case that Springsteen is the most consistently good songwriter of the last 40 or so years (yeah, a couple of his albums are a little weaker, but they’re still head & shoulders above Dylan’s eighties output). However, when we discovered this new music would actually be a bunch of outtakes that are older than any of our team, we were a little disappointed. We shouldn’t have been, if Bruce had released these straight after Darkness On The Edge Of Town (the album these tracks were mostly written for) it would have stood among his best releases! From the title track to the excellent Racing In The Street (‘78) by way of Bruce’s own takes on tracks he wrote and gave away, including Because The Night, there are no weak points on these discs!

3) FOXY SHAZAM – Foxy Shazam

Sometimes, you just want to have fun and this is the album that you’d want to soundtrack it. Frontman Eric Nally sounds so assured you can almost hear the strut, but it’s all performed with a knowing wink. So far, so Darkness, but where they went for all out silliness, Foxy Shazam prefer a more subtle playfulness. Oh Lord was a perfect single, but most of the tracks here stand up and, let’s be honest, the album cover draws attention pretty quickly too!

2) THE STRANGE DEATH OF LIBERAL ENGLAND – Drown Your Heart Again

TSDOLE have become one of the most written about bands on the site, not least as they stand on the edge of big things. Hailing from our hometown of Portsmouth, these lads (and one rather lovely young lady) wrote what may well be the album we’ve listened to more than any other this year. The nautical themed songs contained within showcase the bands mix of macabre melancholy and uplifting anthems. The fact that they can write a beautifully uplifting tune and then leave front man Adam Woolway to yelp lyrics like“I walk on water but I’d rather sink / Tie my hands to my body and jump into the sea/ Run to the edge and jump off the pier / I said there’s nothing left, nothing left around here” and couple it all together without alienating the listener is a unique skill. We wouldn’t be surprised at all to see bigger things from these folks in the future, and we know they deserve it!

1) REVERE – Hey Selim

When we received Revere’s album, we liked it. We liked it a lot. But it wasn’t until we’d seen them play Southsea Fest with an epically beautiful set that we truly fell in love. Since then we can’t stop crowing about a band who we feel have been cruelly overlooked for some time. When we gave the disc to Ally for review, she wasn’t short of praise either. Describing the band as a blend of “the drama of Arcade Fire, the voice of Jeff Buckley, and the performance ability of Muse”. All of which are valid, but they‘re also so much more. From the haunting We Won‘t Be Here Tomorrow to the magisterial Throwing Stones, this album is like good wine (as opposed to, say, the bargain box plonk of N’Dubz) . We love them and we want you to love them too!

Those are our picks, we love each and every one of them and think you will too, but we’d love to hear your picks as well. Check back tomorrow for some of our writers personal lists.