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Emeritus
Reviews 174
Approval 98%
Soundoffs 124
News Articles 14
Band Edits + Tags 2
Album Edits 33
Album Ratings 276
Objectivity 73%
Last Active 12-20-22 3:51 pm
Joined 11-15-08
Review Comments 10,260
| Knott's Top 20 Of 2010
It's been a good year. Half of the last 12 months I was in France and
Spain so getting hold of new music was difficult but I have definitely
caught up pretty well since I got back to the UK. I'm sure there's still
things I've missed so rec them; happy 2010 folks. | | 20 |  | Eminem
Recovery
It crept on. Fired-up Marshall Mathers again. Of course it crept on. | | 19 |  | I Am Kloot
Sky At Night
Mercury Award nominated singer-songwritery stuff from Manchester.
Imagine if Oasis got a violin and were still good and Liam didn't exist. | | 18 |  | Snowing
I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted
Messy, raw, emotional pop-punk. Fuck emo. | | 17 |  | Daft Punk
Tron: Legacy
Haven't seen film. Doubt I'll enjoy it as much as this though! | | 16 |  | Parades
Foreign Tapes
Pretty! | | 15 |  | Foals
Total Life Forever
To be honest, this is just pretty good, with the exception of 2 mid-album
songs which are genuinely astounding. Spanish Sahara and This Orient are
the perfection and essence of the band's new, more expansive, less rigid
sound, but it's displayed elsewhere with aplomb as well. | | 14 |  | Stars
The Five Ghosts
Sincere! | | 13 |  | Frank Turner
Rock & Roll
But what if it's over, and we're sober. and we still feel like fixing to die? | | 12 |  | Motion City Soundtrack
My Dinosaur Life
This is just an enjoyable set of songs with remarkable staying power. The
band's previous record was overloaded with pop at the expense of real
energy or passion but it's all replaced here on an album which draws from
the best of their previous work and puts it all in one place. | | 11 |  | Frightened Rabbit
The Winter Of Mixed Drinks
I was so, so excited for this and it didn't let me down. It has atmosphere -
a different one to Midnight Organ Fight, but one just as powerful - and
hooks in abundance. I loved the band when they were sad; I love them
when they're happy(er) too. | | 10 |  | The National
High Violet
OMG! SO FAR DOWN! Yeah, despite a plethora of plays through this hasn't
connected with me anywhere nearly as much as Boxer or Alligator ever did;
Conversation 16 is sublime, the closing trio in general is as strong as any
other The National song, Bloodbuzz Ohio and Terrible Love are brilliant, but
too many of the other songs feel like they slightly miss the mark, and
Lemonworld is awful. | | 9 |  | Taylor Swift
Speak Now
I was very, very careful not to overrate this when I wrote about it; truth be
told, I think this girl was fantastic even back when she was writing songs
about Tim McGraw, so I knew I'd enjoy this at least to some extent. It
surpassed those expectations; it's subtly diverse, there are a few
absolutely perfect songs on it, not a single moment of filler, and who
doesn't love a little bit of John Mayer-bashing? | | 8 |  | Steel Train
Steel Train
A month and a half ago this probably wouldn't have gotten a look in but
after revisiting the harmonies and the strings and the playful melodies it's
impossible for me to deny its excellence. You & I Undercover and Fall Asleep
are both track of the year contenders. | | 7 |  | Jimmy Eat World
Invented
Everybody else thought Chase This Light sucked; I loved it. These guys
might be my favourite band in the world, simply off the back that I can put
their entire back catalogue on shuffle and actively love any track that comes
on. This just adds to that catalogue with fantastic pop-rock tunes and is
gorgeously constructed as a record, too. | | 6 |  | Mae
(e)vening
There probably isn't a more straight-up beautiful trio of songs released this
year than Seasons, but everything on here is so completely effortless. Off
the back of 2 mediocre-to-poor EPs, Mae came back stronger than they've
been since The Everglow. Stunning indie-pop. | | 5 |  | Bomb The Music Industry
Adults!!!
To lift directly from my review, this is nothing but a summary manifesto of
what BTMI! do well. That makes it awesome. | | 4 |  | Kanye West
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Brilliantly ambitious, I've heard it described as hipster-hop and I think that's
pretty accurate, but what an immense collection of daring, superbly-
produced songs this is. | | 3 |  | Los Campesinos!
Romance Is Boring
Lots of albums cause controversy among communities and critics but few
are the cause of internal controversy quite the way this one is for me. Los
Campesinos! were and remain one of my favourite indie bands but even I
had no idea how to approach the abrasive, all-over-the-place sound on
Romance Is Boring. But it's drilled its way into my skull and it's there to
stay. | | 2 |  | The Weakerthans
Live At Burton Cummings Theatre
I fell in love with this band this year and how this album just gorgeously
encapsulates the best things they've ever done in a flawless live
performance. Incredible. | | 1 |  | Titus Andronicus
The Monitor
This is just, simply put, why I listen to music. It's melodic, honest,
instinctive, intelligent and fucked-up. I've said numerous times over the last
6 months that I can see this topping a decade list in 2019, and nothing has
happened or come along to throw this album off that pedestal. It sounds
like a ridiculous amount of praise to be heaping on a year-old record - not
even that - but The Monitor hit me like I can't remember anything doing
since I first heard Kid A. It's that good. | |
Knott-
12.11.10 | There you go you fuckers. | SeaAnemone
12.11.10 | Hey I didn't know 2 was allowed! | FatChickIrl
12.11.10 | Good list, mine is Top 40 and totally opposite to this haha | Knott-
12.11.10 | I'm Knott staff so I'll do what the fuck I want! | Blackbelt54
12.11.10 | 4 and 5 are awesome, i'm about to get 1 | FatChickIrl
12.11.10 | Knott, I mean mine has alot of metal in it | Knott-
12.11.10 | Lol I know, I was talking to SeaAnemone :) | couldwinarabbit
12.11.10 | 1 is 1 | deathofasalesman
12.11.10 | I should listen to 1 soon. Not now but soon. | FatChickIrl
12.11.10 | If you knew mine would have alot of metal in it then guess what my #1 is and dont look at my ratings lol | deathofasalesman
12.11.10 | OPETH. | Aids
12.11.10 | good list strikey | Sowing
12.11.10 | Great list. 1, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 20 were all on mine. | Knott-
12.11.10 | I meant I knew what you meant by your first post! I have no idea what the metal classic of the year is. I doubt I would care :P | thebhoy
12.11.10 | 1,4,10 are on mine, and that's it. | flalafell
12.11.10 | 18, 14, and 10 would make my list | Deviant.
12.11.10 | Definitely agree with you on The National, about 7 of these are on mine | EVedder27
12.11.10 | Very nice, quite a few in common. Mine will be up tomorrow (spoiler alert - we have the same #1) | couldwinarabbit
12.11.10 | So 2010 is the official "let's compare albums to Kid A" year | Deviant.
12.11.10 | Urgh | Brontosaurus
12.11.10 | #1 is without a doubt the greatest album of 2010 | Knott-
12.11.10 | What Dev said. | couldwinarabbit
12.11.10 | Kanye is compared to it constantly (which I can totally see)
then you compared the monitor
then you have the knife's album on the whole "social suicide" thing
then obviously phil selway's album...which no one gave a fuck about. | Knott-
12.11.10 | I didn't compare the Monitor to fucking Kid A I compared their quality, seriously you make me wish I didn't like that album sometimes. | couldwinarabbit
12.11.10 | now I am not an English major
"The Monitor hit me like I can't remember anything doing since I first heard Kid A."
but that, to me, seems very very very close to a comparison. | Knott-
12.11.10 | Urgh I could have put In The Aeroplane Over The Sea there and it would have been exactly the same fucking point. | couldwinarabbit
12.11.10 | ha ha ha ha ha ha. That was actually really funny well done sir. | Mordecai.
12.11.10 | yeh some good stuff here some gay as well | Knott-
12.11.10 | What's gay.
Don't say Taylor I'll rip your fucking arms off. | Deviant.
12.11.10 | "but that, to me, seems very very very close to a comparison."
There's a difference between saying this sounds like Kid A, and i haven't had an album hit me this hard since I heard Kid A 10 years ago etc. An English major would know that | couldwinarabbit
12.11.10 | fine w/e but Knott when you referenced NMH did you know that pitchfork compared it to the Monitor in their review or was it pure serendipity? | Knott-
12.11.10 | pure coincidence i think is a better word but yeh i had no idea i didn't even read the p4k review of it | DaveyBoy
12.11.10 | Great read as always Adam. I did not like your #1 & #3 at all though. | Knott-
12.11.10 | Cheers man. That doesn't surprise me to be honest, they're both a bit too messy to fit in with your tastes. Parades got on here though! :P | mvdu
12.11.10 | Good list - our tastes seem to intersect sometimes. Really enjoyed Stars, The National, Jimmy Eat World, and Taylor Swift. Others I have interest in checking out. | Knott-
12.11.10 | Yeah check out I Am Kloot, Parades and Mae. Kate Voegele still sucks though. | Kiran
12.11.10 | ruuules, i'm so happy every time i click a list and titus is #1 | climactic
12.11.10 | aw man i thought you said kanye was your #2 right behind titus | Mordecai.
12.11.10 | "yeh some good stuff here some gay as well"
eeeeerrrrrrr
7 is so awesome.
coffee and cigarettes | klap
12.11.10 | good list knott | mvdu
12.11.10 | Well, you can still be wrong about one artist, Knott - lol. Thanks; will check those out. | qwe3
12.11.10 | nice one strikey we share 1 | Mordecai.
12.11.10 | yeh 1 is fantastic | captaincrunch11
12.14.10 | needs more Flying Lotus
Total Life Forever is so good | Enotron
12.14.10 | nice to see 18 on here
great list | Defeater
12.14.10 | Knott the best, but good. |
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