The Best Music Of 2010 & More....

A few weeks back, I was asked to contribute to the Village Voice’s 2010 Pazz & Jop poll. (The results, of which, were published this past Wednesday.) What follows is what I sent in to the publication: my album and singles choices as well as some commentary on the musical output in the year 2010 with one important addendum.

Albums:
The Sea – Corinne Bailey Rae 20 points
Fellowship – Lizz Wright 20 points
The Promise – Bruce Springsteen 15 points
Iconos – Marc Anthony 10 points
The Fame Monster – Lady Gaga 8 points
20 ten – Prince 7 points
The Ladykiller – Cee Lo Green 5 points
Soldier Of Love – Sade 5 points
Olympia – Bryan Ferry 5 points
Teenage Dream – Katy Perry 5 points

Singles
"Bed Intruder" – Antoine Dotson
"Nothin’ On You" – B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars
"F…. You" – Cee Lo Green
"Shine" – Pharoahe Monch
"When A Woman Loves A Man" – R. Kelly
"Telephone" – Lady Gaga featuring Beyonce
"Soldier Of Love" – Sade
"Second Chance" – El DeBarge
"Need You Now" – Lady Antebellum
"California Gurls" – Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg

The 2010 albums that affected me the most were The Sea by Corrine Bailey Rae and Fellowship by Lizz Wright. They’re such emotional polar opposites that they fused as one in my mind. Rae’s The Sea – the most devastating album about the death of a spouse since Yoko Ono’s Season Of Glass – ruminates on the lost of a love and the rage and confusion that comes with it while Wright’s Fellowship wholeheartedly believes in the joys of spiritual uplift and the power of hope. Loss & hope and hope & loss…ain’t that truly what 2010 was all about?

Put aside the fact that the superb quality of the 21 tunes on Bruce Springsteen’s The Promise are proof positive that during the years 1977 & 1978, the Boss was at a creative peak. No, the truly amazing thing about The Promise is that Springsteen’s decision not to put any of them on what is still his greatest album Darkness On The Edge Of Town was absolutely correct. As wonderful as songs like "Someday (We’ll Be Together)" and "Save My Love" are, they would have shattered Darkness’s carefully crafted mood of angst and desperation. But 33 years removed from the shadow of that masterwork, as compiled and sequenced in this collection, each individual track thrills and delights.

"Bed Intruder" justified Autotune. This time.

"Nothin’ On You" was pop music’s tastiest hook-laden confection.

What made Cee Lo Green’s "F… You" so wonderful is every lovestruck individual has felt that same sentiment in the midst of a romantic pursuit. The problem, of course, is that none of us could vocalize it as soulfully and melodically as Sir Cee. Until now, that is.

"Shine" was 2010’s greatest near-hit. Anchored by Mela Machinko’s anguished vocal, Pharoahe Monch – the best bubbling-below-the-surface rapper extant – and his cool, confident, concise cadence reminded many of us what’s missing in much of modern-day hip-hop: verbal clarity and rhythmic control.

Gotta admit that whenever I heard the Kool Moe Dee “Wild Wild West” quote in Sade’s "Soldier Of Love," I’d break out into a smile.

Whenever R. Kelly breaks out his retro soul man guise as he does on "When A Woman Loves A Man," he’s awfully hard to resist.

The joy of El DeBarge’s "Second Chance" is realizing that the sweetest male voice in R & B since Smokey Robinson still has his chops.

Why do I suspect that Ke$ha will end up being to Lady Gaga what Stacey Q was to Madonna?

Was I the only one who after reading for months all about her abusive relationship with Chris Brown who was discomfited by Rhianna singing the sadomasochistic hook on "Love The Way You Lie"?

The problem with Kanye West’s My Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy is it wasn’t that beautiful, wasn’t that dark, wasn’t that twisted and wasn’t that fantastic. It was a solid professional effort but certainly not the burn-the-house down album he’s capable of like, say, How I Got Taylor Swift Her Grammy! Now that’s a record even Matt Lauer could love.

Addendum: A couple of days after I sent in my list to the Voice, I was channel-surfing when I came upon a Banco Popular special entitled "Salsa: Un Homenaje A El Gran Combo." The show saluted arguably Puerto Rico's greatest musical big band - who else? - El Gran Combo. Now, El Gran Combo’s a group that always been part of the soundtrack of my life. From birthday celebrations to family get-togethers to blaring social club jukeboxes to raucous block parties, I’ve grown up surrounded by and enjoying their music. And, as one oft does with things they’ve spent their life around, I'm ashamed to admit that I took their wit, musicianship and verve - their consistent excellence - for granted. But, for some reason, it took that Banco Popular program to remind me of the staggering number of great records they’ve turned out in their near-half-century of existence. (Call it, for lack of a better term, a Salsa epiphany)

So I ran out and picked up El Gran Combo’s aptly-titled 2010 release: Sin Salsa No Hay Paradiso which was featured throughout the Banco Popular special. It’s a ten-track masterwork with these talented veterans at their very best. The songs, the singing, the playing, the arrangements are all superb. It's a disc that I just can’t stop playing. (Or - much to my neighbors’ dismay - stop dancing to it either.) If I were to hand in my list to the Voice today, it would certainly tie my previously listed top two albums. As it is, this time next year, it will probably reign atop of my 2011 list. I implore you not to wait until then to hear this sensational album. Do yourself a favor and check it out as soon as possible.