2010 was a weird year for me, both musically and life-wise - and it helped me realize what an influence my real life has over my musical life. When I was laid off from my job back in April - a job that found me in front of a computer in a cubicle with ready access to music eight hours each and every day - I found that not only did my listening time get cut back drastically, but my use of music as an outlet from the restrictions of a corporate jobby job bascially disappeared as well. As a result, I probably heard a mere fraction in 2010 of what I heard in 2009, and the things that stayed with me required more of a personal impact. The albums I loved were more than ever linked with shows, with experiences, with the way they soundtracked my actual life rather than my 40 hours a week at a desk. The list of my favorite five albums of 2010 reflects that.
#5. Spoon - Transference (Merge)
Spoon is one of my absolute favorite bands, and while Transference isn't my favorite album they've released, it was still a fantastic record that had its greatness solidified in my mind by an amazing show in Atlanta last year. Released almost a full year ago last January, it was one of those early-in-the-year records that slipped lower and lower on everyone's favorites lists as the months went on, and that's true of me as well. But while Transference cycled in and out of my top ten as 2010 passed, I still found that the album stayed in heavy rotation as time went on. Particularly after I lost my job and the amount of time I had to seek out new and exciting music was limited by new projects and the search for gainful employment, I kept falling back to "old" standards from the early months of the year.
What Transference lacks in excitement (though personally I have to say there are some really exciting moments here for a long-time Spoon fan - like "Who Makes Your Money"), it makes up for in being a completely solid record from a completely solid band. Steady ol' consistency may be a boring reason for favorite band status, but that's exactly why I love Spoon so much. I know that - like Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Kill the Moonlight, Girls Can Tell and Gimme Fiction - I'll continue to listen to Transference for years and years to come, continuing to discover little moments of lyrical brilliance, continuing to hear songs in a new way when I hear them in a new context, continuing to love Spoon.
"Who Makes Your Money"
"Nobody Gets Me But You"
On a little side note - this is also my favorite album artwork of 2010. That boy is adorably delicious and I would like this life-size and hanging on my wall. Um, let's just tell the boyfriend that it's because I love Spoon.
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