Écailles De Lune – Alcest As with many albums that came out this year, this one shows Neige growing musically and really finding his sound. Where Souvenirs D’un Autre Monde seemed a little rough around the edges and Amesoeurs got it mostly right, Écailles De Lune really feels like it is a completion of the sound he was searching for accurately merging elements of shoegaze and black metal into one beautiful, dreamy medley. While mostly inseparably merged together, there will be occasional segments of blistering black metal that will break free from the songs, this may seem jarring but is necessary to break up the album where the dreamy effected wash can get tiresome.

The Monitor – Titus Andronicus My first play through of this album left me really unimpressed, however I kept coming back to this album for “No Future Part Three” and “A Pot in Which to Piss” where singer Patrick Stickles’ mournful crooning really shines. On second and third listens I found similarities to Neutral Milk Hotel in style, performance, and composition. Especially exciting was a guitar tone that I love from ITAOTS, sounding similar to grinding gravel across a speaker cone. Not to say that these guys really sound much like Neutral Milk Hotel, but I assume they know the works of the band well. They perform with an emotion and intelligence that you probably wouldn’t expect from a bunch of history nerds. You can check the music video for the first single off the record “A More Perfect Union” here.

Recitation – Envy I cannot believe that this album is the first I have heard of this band. Envy plays a very emotional hardcore where you can really feel the sentiment behind the song. They truly understand the power of dynamics and go from quiet subtle beauty to full on brutality and back again. I don’t know how much I can gush about this album before it starts to negate the effectiveness of my praise but I really can’t express how great this album is. Listen for yourself on the band’s website.

This Is Happening – LCD Soundsystem This album is so far from “Tribulations” and the much dancier self-titled album and yet actually very similar. James Murphy has grown so much since the first LCD release and this album really shows it. As you would expect from LCD lyrically the album is full of heartfelt lyrics expressed in a truthful and somewhat uncomfortably candid way. If you listen to one song from 2010 make it “Home”.

(II) – Toundra – just straight up awesome post-rock

Comadre/Glasses – Split EP – Comadre just keeps getting better and better, and Glasses is probably one of the best new hardcore bands of this year

Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles – bad-ass abrasive electronic destruction, I am one of the few that likes this album better than their first (I hated it)

A Determinism of Morality – Rosetta – an amazing emotional post-rock/hardcore hybrid

Failures – Millions of Them – brutal mathy hardcore with some great tones and grooves

Full of Hell – Howl – great metal, full of extra chunky riffs

Kvelertak – Kvelertak – at its base hard rock, but heavily influenced by hardcore and black metal

Push Pull – Punch – fast and brutal hardcore

Something For Everybody – Devo – Devo still has it, they never lost it! Devo tells us how stupid we all are and we love it

The Suburbs – Arcade Fire – Arcade Fire continues to impress everyone with their beautiful and frightening music

Maiestrit – Negură Bunget – great atmospheric black metal

Messy isn’t It? – Dangers – Dangers provides a fast paced chaotic hardcore, with mean spirited yet honest and concious lyrical content

To All My Friends – Atmosphere – Atmosphere continues to stay awesome with no signs of slowing