Reviler Best Local Albums of 2010

We believe pretty strongly that our live music scene here in the Twin Cities is one of the best, if not the best, in the country.  Virtually any night of the week you can check out great local bands and the excellent labels run from our city churn out great new music on what seems like a weekly basis.  Below are Reviler writers ten favorite albums from local bands from the last year. 

Jon Behm (Reviler)

1. Tender Meat – Live at the Ritz
2. Dark Dark Dark – Wild Go
3. Mike Swoop – New Love
4. Mother Of Fire – S/T
5. Buffalo Moon – Wetsuit
6. Roma Di Luna – And Then the Morning Came
7. Velvet Davenport – Warmy Girls
8. Dosh – Tommy
9. Food Pyramid – I
10. Jeremy Messersmith – The Reluctant Graveyard

Josh (Reviler)

1. Regolith Vol. 1

2. Retribution Gospel Choir-2

3. Velvet Davenport- Warmy Girls (plus White/Blue and Lemon Drop Square Box tapes)

4. Food Pyramid- I and II

5. Whitesand/Badlands- Seeding the Clouds

6. Mother of Fire- Mother of Fire

8. Buffalo Moon- Wetsuit

8. Dada Trash Collage (Rain War EP  + Neighbors + Cool Waves/Bad Days)

9. Tender Meat-Live at the Ritz

10. Capricorn Vertical Slum Various Portals and Sleazo Inputs Vol.1: Tourism

(Honorable Mention: Hastings 3000 “A New Monster” Chelsea Boys “Chelsea Boys” Audio Perm “Audio Perm in Full Effect” Sleeping in the Aviary “Great Vacation!” Leisure Birds “Copper Scroll” Guante and Big Cats! “Don’t Be Nice”)

Adam Bubloz (Reviler)

1. Mother of Fire – s/t
2. STNNNG – Smoke Of My Will
3. Thunderbolt Pagoda – Second Ascension
4. Whitesands/Badlands – Seeding The Clouds
5. Seawhores – Blunt Force To The Everything

Ali Elabbady (Background Noise Crew, Egypto Knuckles)

1.  Atmosphere “To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy” EP

2.  Lazerbeak “Legend Recognize Legend”

3.  Mike Swoop “New Love”

4.  Dosh “Tommy”

5.  Dessa “A Badly Broken Code”

6.  Paper Tiger “Made Like Us”

7.  Trama “Viet-Tram”

8.  Muja Messiah “M-16s”

9.  The Tribe & Big Cats! “Let’s Be Professional: The Mixtape”

10.   A.R.M.  “Two Africans & A Jew” EP

Jon Jon Scott (Sound Verite)

1. Gayngs – Relayted

2. Muja Messiah – M-16’s

3. Phantom Tails -Sounds Of The Hunchback Whale

4. Mally – “Heir Time”, “Lights Off”, “Renaissance”

5. Red Pens – Limitations EP

6. A.R.M. (M.anifest & Krukid) – Two Africans and a Jew EP

7. Velvet Davenport – Warmy Girls

8. BNLX -1, 2, 3 & 4 EP’s

9. Lazerbeak – Legend Recognize Legend

10. I.B.E. – I-Dilla

10. Is Is – This Happening EP

Minneapolis is so full of new music whether  it’s the Gayngs soft-rock takeover stacked with Kanye West’s new bff Bon Iver and tons of local talent, but it’s “No Sweat” with P.O.S. on vocals playing a soul-crooner that’s “fuckin’ ridiculous”. There’s the hard-knock satire and politically-incorrect rhymes of Muja Messiah and the new-wave boogie-shake of Phantom Tails. The Twin Cities growing psyche-scene offers its brightest hope in Velvet Davenports warm & fuzzy lo-fi dream-pop.

The righteous flows from on-fire Mally, an explicitly detailed lyricist who releases 1 song a month, every 15th, all produced by rookie The Sundance Kid. The pop cool of Doomtree’s Lazerbeak who broadens the scope of his crew even larger. The big guitars of veterans reborn as BLNX, led by Ed & Ashley Ackerson, fiery indie burst from of Is/Is along with talented newcomer I.B.E. who recently linked with Toki Wrights Soul Tools label for an upcoming I.B.E. & Benzilla collaboration record. M.anifest released a free awesome mix-tape The Birds And The Beats, then followed that up A.R.M. his project with Krukid & Budo with assist from Slug and Muja Messiah. The Minneapolis music scene is vibrant, diverse (somewhat) and ever growing and I didn’t get into electronica, jazz, improv & experimental music.