2010 was a great year for Hoodlums.  It didn’t hurt that 2010 was a great year for music.  Even though we are excited about 2011, we’d like to do a quick recap of 2010′s best music, in case you may have missed a gem.

Below you will find the Top Ten of 2010 lists of the Hoodlums’ staff, or as we more commonly refer to ourselves, The hoodlums at Hoodlums.  We always start with the the current employees, and then we give our Hoodlums’ Hall of Famers a chance to weigh in.  If the hoodlum specified anything, or wrote anything, or included pictures, I left it in there. If they put ‘em in order, I left ‘em numbered.  If they didn’t, I used bullets.  If they made more than one list (thanks for the extra effort gang), I included ‘em all (except for my extra ones, which I’ll list separately in a Record Store Geek post). For me, half the fun is reading the 0ther lists.

Hopefully you’ll find some interesting stuff (I know I’ll be looking end up ordering stuff off of my colleagues’ lists), then come right on down to grab the LP or CD at Hoodlums.  Don’t forget to check out the Customer Top 10 of 2010 Lists as well.  Lotsa good stuff.

Top 10 Lists of 2010 – The current hoodlums at Hoodlums

Kristian’s Top 10 new releases of 2010

• Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
• Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues
• Carolina Chocalate Drops – Genuine Negro Blues
• Dave Rawlings Machine – Friend of a Friend
• Trampled by Turtles – Palomino
• Robert Plant – Band of Joy
• Budos Band – III
• Jenny & Johnny – I’m Having Fun Now
• Ray Lamontagne – God Willin’ and the Creek Will Rise
• Jerry Garcia Acoustic band – Ragged but Right

Steve’s 10 Favorite New Albums of 2010

• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo.
• Black Keys – Brothers
• What Laura Says – Bloom Cheek
• Jenny and Johnny – I’m Having Fun Now
• Budos Band – Budos Band III
• Lissie – Catching a Tiger
• Dr. John and the Lower 911 – Tribal
• Blitzen Trapper – Destroyer of the Void
• John Legend and the Roots – Wake Up
• Steve Miller Band – Bingo

10 more albums Steve really enjoyed in 2010

• BeachHouse – Teen Dreams
• Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
• Junip – Fields
• Aloe Blacc – Good Things
• Robert Plant – Band of Joy
• Gov’t Mule – Mulennium
• Broken Bells – Broken Bells
• Sharon Jones and Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way
• Derek Trucks Band – Roadsongs
• Spoon – Transference

In order to get on to the diverse lists of my friends/colleagues, since I am the self-imposed “blogger” (hated word alert) of this bunch, I put all of my other lists in a Record Store Geek Top 10 blog.  I go deeper in that blog, including older music, movies, TV shows, and books… and I do a bit of descriptive writing on my Top 10 that you see above.  Just a little FYI in case you are interested.  (Steve)

Andy’s Top 10 of 2010

1. AM Taxi – You Don’t Stand A Chance

Top Tracks:  “The Mistake”, “Dead Street”, “Champagne Toast”

2. Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues

Top Tracks:  “Christchurch Woman”, “Harlem River Blues”, “One More Night In Brooklyn”

3. The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang

Top Tracks:  “The Diamond Street Choir”, “Bring It On”, “The Spirit Of Jazz”

4. Jakob Dylan – Women + Country

Top Tracks:  “Smile When You Call Me That”,  “Lend A Hand”, “Everybody’s Hurting”

5. Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More

Top Tracks:  “Awake My Soul”, “Little Lion Man”, “The Cave”

6. Jimmy Eat World – Invented

Top Tracks:  “Invented”, “Coffee & Cigarettes”, “My Best Theory”

7. Alkaline Trio -  This Addiction

Top Tracks:  “This Addiction”, “Off The Map”, “Dead On The Floor”

8. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Mojo

Top Tracks:  “I Should’ve Known It”, “Running Man’s Bible”, “Good Enough”

9. Steel Train – Steel Train

Top Tracks:  “Bullet”, “You and I Undercover”, “Touch Me Bad”

10. Bad Religion – The Dissent Of Man

Top Tracks: “Only Rain”, “Won’t Somebody”, “Cyanide”

Nine More that Andy Loved

• Jenny  & Johnny – I’m Having Fun Now
• Hanson – Shout It Out
• Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses – Junky Star
• The National – High Violet
• Josh Ritter –  So Runs The World Away
• Junip – Fields
• Black Keys – Brothers
• Mavis Staples – You Are Not Alone
• Robert Plant – Band Of Joy

Andy – Top Songs of 2010

1. Alkaline Trio – “This Addiction”
2. Bad Religion – “Only Rain”
3. Steel Train – “Bullet”
4. AM Taxi – “Champagne Toast”
5. Hanson – “Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’”
6. The Gaslight Anthem – Bring It On
7. Justin Townes Earle – “Christchurch Woman”
8. Jakob Dylan – “Smile When You Call Me That”
9. Ryan Bingham – “The Poet”
10. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – “I Should’ve Known It”
11. Jimmy Eat World – “Invented”
12. Alkaline Trio – “Off The Map”
13. AM Taxi – “Fed Up”
14. Josh Ritter – “Lantern”
15. The Gaslight Anthem – “The Diamond Street Choir”
16. Motion City Soundtrack – “Her Words Destroyed My Planet”
17. Jenny & Johnny –  “Big Wave”
18. Mumford & Sons – “Little Lion Man”
19. Street Dogs – “Hang ‘em High (Bernie Madoff)”
20. Ray LaMontagne – “Beg, Steal or Borrow”
21. Black Keys – “Next Girl”
22. Justin Townes Earle – “One More Night in Brooklyn”
23. The National – “Afraid Of Everyone”
24. Cee-lo Green – “Fuck You”
25. Robert Plant – “Angel Dance”

Andy – Other Good Records Released in 2010

• The Weakerthans – Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre
• Bruce Springsteen – The Promise
• Daptone Gold
• Nada Surf – If I Had A Hi-fi  (Covers)
• The Flaming Lips – Dark Side of the Moon
• Kyle Kinane – Death Of The Party (Comedy)

Andy – Albums From 2010 I Bet I’d Like But Haven’t Quite Made It To Yet

• Matt Pond PA – The Dark Leaves
• Bad Books – Bad Books
• Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – III/IV (just started listening to it)

Andy – Most Listened to in ‘10

• Graham Parker
• Grateful Dead
• The Weakerthans
• Tom Petty
• Lucero
• Bad Religion
• Alkaline Trio
• Hanson
• The Gaslight Anthem
• Wilson Pickett

Andy – Biggest Disappointments of 2010

• Guster – Easy Wonderful
• Good Old War – Good Old War
• Against Me! – White Crosses
• Matt Skiba solo album delayed

Andy – Favorite TV Shows of ‘10

• Community
• Bored To Death
• The League
• How I Met Your Mother
• Louie

Andy – Concerts I Saw in 2010

• The Vandals
• Lucero
• Bad Religion
• Matt Pond PA
• Budos Band
• Sharon Jones
• Tom Petty / Chuck Berry
• Alkaline Trio
• NOFX
• Mumford & Sons
• Something Corporate
• The Gaslight Anthem
• Hanson
• Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
• Limbeck
• John Mayer
• JJ Grey
• Steel Train
• Jimmy Eat World
• Kinchmas
• Rx Bandits

Andy – Top 10 from 2009 If I Were To Do It Over Now:

1. Lucero – 1372 Overton Park
2. Ben Kweller – Changing Horses
3. Dave Rawlings Machine – A Friend Of A Friend
4. Tegan & Sara – Sainthood
5. NOFX- Coaster
6. Tinted Windows – Tinted Windows
7. Jerry Garcia Band – Let It Rock
8. P.O.S. – Battle Studies
9. M. Ward – Hold Time
10. Third Eye Blind – Ursa Major

Top 10 Lists of 2010 – The hall of former hoodlums

**Thanks to those of you that weighed in!!

Lloyd “Label Guy” Hummel (original partner)

1.  FITZ & THE TANTRUMS/Pickin’ Up The Pieces I don’t think I’ve enjoyed an album more in the past 10 years.  This band has Motown roots, but the interplay between Fitz and Noelle ain’t nothing like Marvin and Tammi’s duets.  The songs are the amazing thing – lots of bands do soul-revue type stuff, but these originals already sound like instant classics – no boring extended jams, just tight vocals and harmonies, keyboards that complement the melodies, solid bass lines and just enough horns.  No guitars either.  Put this on and if you don’t love “Breakin’ The Chains Of Love” or “Don’t Gotta Work It Out” or really any of the songs on the album, I will be concerned about you.  And if “Tighten Up” by the Black Keys can be a big hit, “Moneygrabber” is next in line.  I can’t wait for this album to break big, everyone is going to love this record.

2.  ARCADE FIRE/The Suburbs No doubt I can relate to the lyrics and the urgency of songs like “We Used To Wait” and “Modern Man”.  But Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains), with its lament of “dead shopping malls rise like mountains beyond mountains/and there’s no end in sight” and synth-pop backdrop, reminds me of driving into my hometown of Phoenix, on the west side of town and I-10.  Growing up, out there was nothing but desert and you were miles from civilization and now the housing projects seem to stretch out into the horizon to where I think I’m hallucinating.  I wonder if people really live out there now.  Anyway, I used to know every corner of Phoenix and its suburbs and now when I’m home, I will find I get completely lost between the miles of stucco-brick walls that face the main streets and hold in those new cookie cutter homes’ tiny backyards, until I find a strip center with a Walgreens and an Applebee’s and a Bed Bath and Beyond, and an eerie sense of both calm and nausea overtake me.

3.  KANYE WEST/My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy Dude is a hot mess. But he knows how to make records.  “Monster” is one of his best ever – with an absolutely ferocious Nicki Minaj feature to go with Rick Ross and Jay-Z takes, it’s like sitting on the edge of your seat (and oh the video should be interesting).  “Power” and “All Of The Lights”, the latter of which features more famous people than We Are The World, are equally cool.

4.  LCD SOUNDSYSTEM/This Is Happening I finally realized after the band’s third album in a row made my top 10 of the respective year, I think I like them a lot.  Too bad it’s probably the last album.  “Drunk Girls”…one of the most hilarious tracks of the year.

5.  JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW/Early In The Morning Another artist who, with any justice, will break big in 2011, this beautiful understated album will resonate with fans of Fleet Foxes or Ray Lamontagne.  Stellar harmonies, delicate production, a perfect early morning record, as it turns out. Relatively unknown outside of Ireland, this is a record that played in offices around our building this year, and caused many to stop, resulting in many “who’s that?!” moments.

6.  BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN/The Promise How crazy is it that the guy makes two brilliant albums, and thirty years later he releases the excess material from between them, and it’s this good?  And the remaster of “Darkness” was sorely needed and man, it sounds GREAT.

7.  SHELBY LYNNE/Tears Lies & Alibis She told Nashville about 10 years to go piss off, and she’s made some great records and some not-so-great ones since then, picking up a Grammy along the way.  This one falls into the “great” category, with bare bones production and her Dusty voice keeping you warm.  “Alibis” takes on the story of a woman who sadly misses her cheating lover, wondering aloud if the other woman “has a fancy job / and works in an office like you”…breaks your heart.

8.  CODY CHESNUTT/Black Skin No Value An EP of new material finally surfaces from this enigmatic character, who came to public consciousness eight years ago, mainly around his work with The Roots.  “Do Better To The Young” sounds like it came from Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”.  Here’s hoping we get more music in 2011.

9. CHROMEO/Business Casual Fun, electro-squelchy pop that has me back hanging at the mall in 1986, rocking the Generras and looking for sales at Chess King.  I am hoping for a Debbie Deb cameo someday from these guys and yes, I am serious.

10.  TWIN SHADOW/Forget Channeling Morrissey and a whole lot of 80s new wave – feeling sophisticated and like a guilty pleasure both at once.

AND:   ROOTS/How I Got Over, HOLD STEADY/Heaven Is Whenever, BAND OF HORSES/Infinite Arms, BLACK KEYS/Brothers, JAMEY JOHNSON/The Guitar Song, JENNY & JOHNNY/I’m Having Fun Now, SHOUT OUT LOUDS/Work, TAME IMPALA/Innerspeaker.

PLAYLIST FOR 2010

1. Don’t Gotta Work It Out – Fitz & The Tantrums
2. Moneygrabber – Fitz & The Tantrums
3. Howling At Summer – You Me & Iowa
4. We’re OK – The Rescues
5. Hold On – Holy Ghost!
6. I Need A Dollar – Aloe Blacc
7. Sprawl II – Arcade Fire
8. Coffee Spoons – Cold War Kids
9. Symphonies – Dan Black
10. Laredo – Band Of Horses
11. Night Work – Scissor Sisters
12. Inside Of You – The Maine
13. Used To Did – J. Roddy Walston & The Business
14. He’s Not A Boy – The Like
15. Crossfire – Brandon Flowers
16. Ruthless – Topher Mohr (unreleased)
17. The High Road – Broken Bells
18. Shaky Ground – Jackie Greene
19. Windstorm – School Of Seven Bells
20. All Over Me – Josh Turner
21. The House That Built Me – Miranda Lambert
22. This Ain’t No Love Song – Trace Adkins
23. Tragedy – Peter Wolf & Shelby Lynne
24. Alibis – Shelby Lynne
25. Cousins – Vampire Weekend
26. Forced To Love – Broken Social Scene
27. Winter Passing – Taking Back Sunday
28. Pyro – Kings Of Leon
29. Let’s Go Surfing – The Drums
30. Power – Kanye West

AND…

• Fitz & The Tantrums playing our conference room
• My older daughter performing in two “musicals” and my younger daughter learning all the songs and moves too
• Meeting Ian Mackaye and spending time with him at Dischord house in DC
• Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – 18 months, 185K sold and counting
• The Rescues at NARM
• Cold War Kids at Apple
• Fistful Of Mercy at Easy Street
• The amazing, never-ending parade of musicians from all walks of life coming through the doors at Fontana
• Phineas & Ferb – making kids’ TV not only bearable but enjoyable
• eMusic – helping me discover subgenres I didn’t know I liked
• Live From Daryl’s House
• TV:  24 (RIP), Weeds, Rescue Me, Parenthood and the cancelled Swingtown.  And I pledge to watch Mad Men and Breaking Bad on DVD this year.  I don’t have time for TV.
• MOVIES: The Town, Inside Job, The Social Network, True Grit, Easy A, Unstoppable, Despicable Me, The Kids Are All Right, Ladies & Gentlemen…The Rolling Stones.
• THINGS I DON’T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT:  Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies, Wizards, Royal Families, Checking In, Katherine Heigl, movies in 3-D, whipping my hair, American Idol, reality TV, TV “news”, turning 40.

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