Top 10 Albums of !010.According to Tim

10. The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild

Hunt - Dead Oceans Records | The Tallest Man on Earth is the nickname of folk musician Kristian Matsson, who hails from Leksand, Sweden.In October, I purchased his five-song EP titled Sometimes the Blues is But a Passing Bird and was instantly smitten by the incredible song-writing and poetic lyrics.

his led me to get a grip of The Wild Hunt LP, which was released in April.I was not disappointed!The LP contains eleven stripped down folk songs that highlight Kristian's vocals and acoustic guitar playing.The vocal lines and lyrics on the album remind me of Bob Dylan's best folk music from the early 1960's.But rather of just copying Bob Dylan, the medicine and lyrics have amazing depth that demand repeat listens.

9. The National - High Violet - 4AD Recordings | The National's Boxer was one of my favorite albums of 2007.I had very high expectations for their new release, and I guess this made it very difficult for me to put this album very high on my top 10 list.As opposed to Boxer, which open up with the extremely energetic yet contemplative track "Fake Empire", High Violet begins with heavily distorted base pedal notes on the guitar and lead singer Matt Berninger singing "It's a tremendous love that I'm walking with spiders".Overall, I found High Violet a darker and more demanding listen than The Boxer.But in the end, I found myself enjoying it more and more the more I played it.It has been said before, but The Home have a large early-morning, post-drinking binge sound that comes through brilliantly throughout this album.

8. The New Pornographers - Together - Matador Records | Is it possible to write smart pop songs better than this?Doubt it!The Canadian super-group returned in power with Together, with A.C. Newman and Destroyer (Dan Bejar) teaming up to write 12 outstanding pop songs.My favorites are "Crash Years", which features Neko Case's powerful vocals, "Valkyrie in the Roller Disco", and "A Bite Out of My Bed" which features a trumpet cameo from Zach Condon of Beirut.

7. The Vampire Weekend - Contra - XL Recordings |

Led by lead singer Ezra Koenig, New York based indie-rock band Vampire Weekend put in an excellent sophomore effort with Contra.Self-professed as specialists in "Upper West Side Soweto" music, Contra does a big job of mixing quirky lyrics, with up-beat melodies and luscious instrumentation.Even after hearing this album more than a dozen times, it's tough to recognize any deeper meaning in the lyrics, but who cares!With medicine that sounds this good, just turning it up an enjoy.

6. Spoon - Transference - Merge Records | This album could have been aptly titled "Another Side of Spoon".Coming off their bright and heavily-produced 2007 release Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Transference features a different Spoon sound: raw and fiery.While the songs are often more stripped down, they arrest just as much depth as anything Spoon has put out in the past.Transference contained my favorite musical moment of 2010: about halfway into the dog "Who Makes Your Money".Check it out!

5. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz - Asthmatic Kitty |Sufjan Stevens, the amazingly creative singer-songwriter from Detroit, Michigan, put out a large album this class in The Age of Adz.In past albums such as Michigan (2003) and Illinois (2005), Sufjan's songs spoke of love, lost, and economic decline through vast stories that often contained multiple characters and historical figures.The Age of Adz is a tremendous departure from thesepast albums in that the songs are in the low person, providing a more direct link to Sufjan and his thoughts.This is not the most accessible of Sufjan's albums, so I wouldn't recommend it to people who are new to his music, but it has more astuteness and raw emotion than anything he has done before.

4. Beach House - Teen Dream - Sub Pop | This album came out in the other years of 2010, but it had such big impact on me that I had to put it on my top 10 list.Teen Dream is the third album put out by the Baltimore indie pop duo Beach House, and my first institution to their work.From the melodic counterpoint of the inaugural track "Zebra", to the dreamy zig zags of "Norway", Teen Dream works as a complete album, with a surreal, dreamy feel throughout. I've heard some complain that this album would put them to sleep. I disagree.This album has such a heavy good to it, that I can't help but listen to it complete and over again.

3. Surfer Blood - Astro Coast - Kanine | Surfer Blood has to be my choice for the best new set of 2010.These young University of Florida students have guitars and they recognize how to use them.I can't recall the end time guitars sounded this good.Track after track, they pop out amazing guitar riffs, which just want me to go up the volume.I can't expect to see more thrust from these guys in 2011.

2. Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest - 4AD Recordings | This album was the biggest surprise for me this year.Being my first institution to Deerhunter, I had no thought what to expect.What I discovered was a ring that combined an awesome late-night, hazy sound reminiscent of the better of the Velvet Underground with a guitar rock sense reminiscent of Spoon. Not merely does Halcyon Digest have a great cohesive sound, which may be the termination of mixer Ben Allen (who also worked on Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion), but it also contains some immensely creative song-writing.I had to put this album at the top of my list.

1. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs - Merge Records| This is a stunning third album by the Canadian indie-music supergroup.I was taken off by their debut album Funeral (2004), which contained stomping anthem after stomping anthem of emotion.Their 2nd album, Neon Bible (2007), left me perplexed.Instead of honing their large sound, Neon Bible's dark, melancholic anthems began to feel great and tiresome.The Suburbs, however, is an unqualified return to form.The album's songs are inspired by two of the band members' upbringing in the suburbs of Houston, Texas.Over the course of the album's 16 tracks, we go through the desert streets, shopping malls, and highways of the suburbs.Paired with Arcade Fire's crafty melodies and non-stop energy, this is my favorite album of 2010.