The Best of 2010 Indie Music

"Somewhere there's an honest soul to mirror teeth where neon lures troll and what's extinct might come alive, a purple smoke in some internal shrine..." Magical.

As an indie fan, I’m aware of the terminology so I use the word indie rather loosely here, basing on the spirit of music rather than label affiliations (I don't even bother to check who's signed to whom and where actually the bands came from).

My initial idea was to present the best albums, then I switched to the best singles of alternative music of 2010. Finally I gave up on such strict formats. In our beautiful fragmented world, entire albums are listened only by avid fans, while singles, these carefully cultivated ghosts, are not released universally by new bands at all. Some young bands also lack music videos, which is really a shame nowadays, when YouTube has become the true new MTV.

Truth to say, I'm more inclined currently to dancier electro sounds, for there's more room for experiment in technology, although I like some new punk rock bands (No Age). So, the 80s trend, started in 1999 and then gradually losing its steam by the mid-2000s, is back again and powerful as ever. Looks like young people cannot get enough of the tight crisp bass and trembling synths of 1983. Good for them.

Gorillaz' Plastic Beach definitely skims the cream off the alternative music scene this year. Cool beats, familiar voice, rhythmic diversity and melodies at last. Currently it already leads various magazine polls as the best album of 2010 and it's got two Grammy nominations so far. So listen to On the Melancholy Hill, Stylo, Empire Ants, Broken – all are such great songs. As far as the whole album, I don't listen to it without skipping number of tracks. But someone may say that nowadays even that’s not that bad at all.

Give Grum a chance and they'll bring you to 1983 like no one else in 2010! It's like they discovered a recording studio sealed 25 years ago and tried to make something out of it. Think of I Feel Love, Blue Monday , Kraftwerk, Italo Disco, Madonna and Talking Heads. Can’t Shake This Feeling is not the best song off their album Heartbeats but it's quite a funny video! Because the band relies so heavily on retro technique, the LP, even with its weaker tracks, gets a consistent feel; to me it's the best indie dance album of 2010.

MGMT is an established indie favorite and this year they came up with their second album, Congratulations (the first came out in 2007). Their image and music are so New York that I cannot wholly embrace their style. Yet, they have a lot of good songs. It's Working and Someone’s Missing are some of them. Someone’s Missing sounds a bit underdeveloped. With the most amazing lyrics of 2010, it builds up to its apogee, after which it cascades into a holy end. Strangely, this song is not performed during their current world tour.

Ladytron are British veterans of the new wave revival, which started back in 1999, with four albums to date. Their latest single Ace of Hz is from their upcoming compilation album, 00 - 10. Nothing new here but it's a good complement to the sounds of 2010.

Talk about nostalgia! Neon Trees' track 1983 off their album Habits is probably the most blatant about going back to the past. Yet, listen to the track – it sounds nothing like an 80s song, it is actually modern rock of our days; so that's where Neon Trees separates its ways with the like of Grum and Ladytron. Check out also Girls & Boys in School and Animal .

Wild Nothing is a fresh band from Virginia with just one album on their back, Gemini. Chinatown is lovely pop rock and the surreal 60s video on YouTube nicely complements the track.

It seems every year there’s a new band that takes over the female indie pop realm. With a name like this, Best Coast are expected to deliver nothing but a wideopen sound of California. Which they do. I could not help thinking of The Sounds when I first heard them. Check out Crazy For You, Boyfriend and I Want To off their debut album Crazy For You, a nice collection of 2-minute pop.

Hot Chip, Ladytron compatriots from UK, finally hit the USA with their fourth album, One Life Stand. You may have heard their songs Hand Me Down Your Love and We Have Love on the street or in stores; they definitely get an airplay lately.

The duo Broken Bells debuted one year ago. With studio projects one can never predict if there'll be a folllowup album or any life after the initial input. The self-titled album carefully uses the space, making the sound minimalist, yet with cool beats. Check out Mongrel Heart and The Ghost Inside .

I like Phantogram's Mouthful Of Diamonds from their album Eyelid Movies. It's heavy and smartly programmed. The single's scintillating video perfectly matches the sound.

Have you ever heard Canadian funk? If not, check out Chromeo. It's more electro than the steamy 70s funk; that is, expect more Daft Punk than Jamiroquai. But then in the middle of Night by Night you cannot believe what you hear: it's a guitar solo not heard of since the 80s!

Sufjan Stevens's I Walked is the first single off The Age of Adz. This song is strange and it's not typical for the album as a whole with its quirky vocal mannerisms.

Listen to the Morning Benders' Sleeping In. It feels like you are present at... um...a funeral in the other world, tense shadows passing above asphodel meadows and lights quietly shimmer between black flowers. And then you are escorted out by a procession of sounds from yet another world.

This is really queer and again very New York. Either you like it at once or not. Worth to mention that Deerhunter's new single Helicopter (off the album Halcyon Digest) is released through 4AD, one of the oldest and respected indie labels.

1. Gorillaz – On the Melancholy Hill

2. MGMT – Someone’s Missing.

3. Grum – Can’t Shake This Feeling

4. Ladytron – Ace of Hz

5. Neon Trees – 1983

6. Wild Nothing – Chinatown

7. Best Coast – Crazy For You

8. Hot Chip – Hand Me Down Your Love

9. Broken Bells – Mongrel Heart

10. Phantogram – Mouthful Of Diamonds

11. Chromeo – Night by Night

12. Sufjan Stevens – I Walked

13. The Morning Benders – Sleeping In

14. Deerhunter – Helicopter