2010, the year that rocked... kind of

Lets face facts, as the music industry goes, 2010 was not a 'major' year.  While there were a few stand out albums, the majority of major-label releases felt *meh* at best.  So instead of a traditional best album of the year round-ups we are , looking back at what was great, and seriously not in 2010.

Interpol's self titled fourth album was a highlight of 2010Things that made us think good music still exists

After major media attention, and a presidential endorsement for their 2008 album Boxer,  The National follows up with High Violet, a dark, brooding and musically memorizing album that has old and new fans alike ecstatic, and  just a little bit curious as to what "I was afraid I'd eat your brains" actually means.

Interpol released their self produced, self titled fourth album which proved a successful farewell for bass player Carlos Dengler who subsequently quit the band. The album showed a new, more layered, more mature sound that foreshadows a decades long career in the making for the remaining three band members.

Ambient drum and bass isn't usually found in many "best of" lists but the debut release by Sunchase of Static Nitro changes that. Having lived up to its pre-release hype, Sunchase proved that drum and bass is not just for fans of the genre but is capable of garnering the attention of music fans far and wide.

With a career that has, at best, spluttered along since 2002, 22-20s released their second album Shake/Shiver/Moan and suddenly found themselves in the spotlight. The album reminds the listener of everything great about British rock of the last 20 years and has deservedly given the 22-20s a kickstart to stardom. Look out for a lot more from this band on 2011 as they start to write their next album.

Hip hop, soul, R&B, psychedelic are all genres used to try to define the sound of New Zealand outfit Electric Wire Hustle. With the worldwide release of their self-titled debut album the rest of the world finally got to hear what this talented group of musicians had to offer. 

if this is the future of music, we want a cynacide cap!Things that made us want to stab pencils in our ears:

Real Housewife Countess Luann is permitted to record and release the single Money Can't Buy You Class.

Taylor Swift sings about how everyone has wronged her on her album Speak Now.

Justin Bieber releases My World 2.0 and a mass epidemic of autotune-amnesia breaks out. 

Fatboy Slim and David Byrne record and release a rock opera dedicated to Imelda Marcos, Here Lies Love with a bevy of their super-talented friends. It sucked. (we so wanted to love it, we so did not).

Justin Bieber releases My World 2.0 and it portrays the 13 year old's total and complete tone-deafness. It is also so horribly over-produced it makes choosing another album for the list virtually impossible, so we are choosing it twice!