DAMAGED 2.0 PRESENTS LOUIS'S (BELATED) FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2010!

I was originally not going to run this because on my radio show, DAMAGED Hearing (Tuesdays at 1 PM on KRFC-FM!), I felt that over three consecutive shows detailing and playing cuts from my favorite albums of 2010, I said all that I needed to say.

And then the Grammys happened.

All the social media networks were ablaze with the typical complaints and praises, ranging from well-regulated gushing of the faux-shock superficial-feminism of Lady Gaga to the knuckle-dragging idiotic wishes that someone like Danzig (they're still popular, right?) should win “Album of the Year”. And let's not forget the Great Bieber Debates and the Arcade Fire fans who finally felt like, for the first time in their life, they had some semblance of self-esteem.

The best music of 2010—according to me, natch—was in no way manipulated and fellated by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. And that's something I respect. Awards are, for the most point, pointless. A moment of glory for a fleeting trend, a badge of honor for something that will be regarded as dated and hokey in six months. The best music has staying power and replaying power and, to me, that's better than any recycled hunk of bronze.

Because of DAMAGED Hearing, I am inundated with new music on a constant, almost overwhelming basis. Most of it, true enough, is crap that goes right into the re-sell bin, but those treasures you come across...those are the things you want to turn other people on to in the hopes that, maybe too, they'll see what you see, especially of singers and bands they're unaware even exist. Does it work? Sometimes. And it for those “sometimes” that I live for.

The two albums that I became most obsessed with in 2010 were Shooter Jennings & Hierophant's BLACK RIBBONS and Texas Tornados' ESTA BUENO. Everyone who came in contact with me was probably given a Gospel of sorts about these records.

After a string of fantastic neo-outlaw country albums, Shooter Jennings did a complete 180º, releasing BLACK RIBBONS, a powerful, hallucinogenic, not-so-paranoid treatise on New World Order censorship, with angry, grinding industrial guitars (“Wake Up!”, “Don't Feed the Animals”, “Lights in the Sky”) willfully mingling with melancholy, dark ballads (“Black Ribbons”, “All of This Could Have Been Yours”, “When the Radio Goes Dead”) about the loss of all our American freedoms. Stephen King acts as a narrator of sorts, a COAST2COAST-esque DJ named Will O' the Wisp, who, on the last night before the government commandeers the airwaves, plays the apocalyptic tunes of his favorite band, Hierophant. It's a true, out-of-left-field masterpiece that is equal parts scary and moving, prophetic and heart-breaking.

On a lighter note is the return of Tex-Mex rockers the Texas Tornados. With original members Freddy Fender and Doug Sahm long gone, Augie Meyers and Flaco Jimenez heroically soldier on (with Doug's equally-talented son Shawn in tow), creating an album that is impossible not to completely and totally fall in love with. Their latest is ESTA BUENO and it's filled with the clever, get-up-out-your-chair-and-bailar Tejano-tunes that is like the best Mexican dinner you've ever had: wholly satisfying and filling and tomorrow, you'll want it all over again. “Who's to Blame, Senorita?” and “My Sugar Blue” should've been the top country hits of 2010, while “They Don't Make 'Em Like I Like” has become a personal anthem of sorts. Pure, unironic fun that goes down smooth like a six-pack of cold Lone Star. In bottles.

Other albums I spun quite a bit: The Bad Plus-NEVER STOP / The Bird and the Bee-INTERPRETING THE MASTERS, VOL. 1: A TRIBUTE TO DARYL HALL AND JOHN OATES / Calibro 35-RITORNANO QUELLI DI... / Neil Diamond-DREAMS / Jeff Finlin-THE TAO OF MOTOR OIL / John Francis-THE BETTER ANGELS / Tom Jones-BLAME & PRAISE / Toby Keith-BULLETS IN THE GUN / Jerry Lee Lewis-MEAN OLD MAN / Raul Malo-SINNERS & SAINTS / Eli “Paperboy” Reed-COME AND GET IT / Sade-SOLDIER OF LOVE / Ringo Starr-Y NOT / Zac Brown Band-YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE

Honorable mentions: Cee-Lo Green-THE LADY KILLER / Chromeo-BUSINESS CASUAL / The Flaming Lips-DARK SIDE OF THE MOON / David Hidalgo and Louis Perez-THE LONG GOODBYE / Scissor Sisters-NIGHT WORK / Rob Zombie-HELLBILLY DELUXE 2

Best compilations, reissues and remasters of 2010: Bronco-MIS FAVORITAS / Freddy Fender-GREATEST HITS / Alan Jackson-34 NUMBER ONES / John Lennon & Yoko Ono-DOUBLE FANTASY: STRIPPED DOWN / Paul McCartney & Wings-BAND ON THE RUN / The Rolling Stones-EXILE ON MAIN STREET / Various Artists-COME AND GET IT: THE BEST OF APPLE RECORDS / Various Artists-SWEET HOME ALABAMA: THE COUNTRY MUSIC TRIBUTE TO LYNYRD SKYNYRD

Best ultra-indie releases of 2010:

The Burt Bacharak Fight Club-KILL POPULAR EP: Out of Nottingham, UK, The Burt Bacharak Fight Club is poppy and acerbic, with the stellar “In the Miso Soup” leading the charge. This song is impossibly catchy and bouncy, a bit different than the other songs on the EP, but it sets the tone and immediately alerts you that these guys ain't f*cking around. Download KILL POPULAR for free here.

Dead Neon-DEAD NEON: The literal, absolute soundtrack to the upcoming Apocalypse. Grinding, growling and radiation-scarred beyond recognition, Dead Neon is the last remaining band in a decimated Las Vegas, an ear-boxing doom-n-sludge travelogue that still manages to eschew typical harder rock cliches by always finding an irrepressible melody throughout. Download DEAD NEON for free here.

Feel Spectres-FEEL SPECTRES: From the ashes of American Boyfriends, the finest b-movie-infused power-pop band to come out of Oklahoma City, comes the Feel Spectres. This go round, there's less power and more trash (let's just go ahead and coin the sub-genre now: trash-pop!), keeping the grindhouse vibe proudly going with tunes like “Vampire Bop” and “13 Dead Cats”, but with the sweetest harmonies this side of a Raspberries LP. Listen to FEEL SPECTRES here.

Just As Good As Ezra-POLITICS, VOL. 1: As an alternative-conservative, as I consider myself to politically be, I'll be the first to admit that most “art” created by typical conservatives is woefully lame and hilariously heavy-handed. We can mostly thank 9/11 for that. But, as these “young gun” alt-cons with an actual fandom (and understanding) of pop-culture start to replace the stodgy old regime, thankfully the art created by (and for) us is actually getting good. Let's go ahead and refer to the one-man band Just As Good as Ezra as the “Rocket '88” of this new sub-genre, the originator and the emancipator, writing and producing ear-drum candy that is heavy, introspective and, most importantly, accessible. Actually, the most important thing, now that I think about it, is that it's just plain f*cking good. Sorry, terrorists! Listen to POLITICS, VOL. 1 here.

Ben Prytherch-SONGS TO MAKE LOVE TO YOUR BOYFRIEND BY: Ben is a close, personal friend of mine. And, when a friend of yours releases an album, as many of mine are wont to do, it can become a slippery-slope of bitter resentment and hurt feelings. I mean, what if it's not very good? Even worse, what if it just totally sucks? With Ben, however, I never worry about that because he consistently delivers the goods. On his first solo record, Ben, minimally armed with a guitar, is at his bitingly self-deprecating best, but unlike the typical Fort Collins singer-songwriter who puts on the mask of a sensitive guy in a cheap ploy to score hippie-trim, he actually has a fun point with his album, like an heir to the throne of Randy Newman. Classic Randy Newman, not “I Love to See You Smile” Randy Newman. Listen to SONGS TO MAKE LOVE TO YOUR BOYFRIEND BY here.