I’ve had this “Best Of 2010″ type series sitting in the drafts folder for a good 5 months now. I guess I was waiting to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything, but since the list hasn’t changed since December, this is probably as good as it’s going to get. The idea is to make something other than another “top 10 albums/songs/whatever of the year”. Those things are everywhere (though I guess not in May), and in my opinion they tend to come off condescending and elitist. Instead, this is a “top 10 music-related events that happened to me in 2010″ list. These could be new albums, used finds, songs, concerts, YouTube vids, anything as long as music is involved. Also, I reserve the right to completely change this list at a later date. Hope you enjoy, here we go…

10. Fine Young Cannibals, The Raw And The Cooked (1989) — I know, I was skeptical too.  There was some serious initial doubt+disappointment when Scott dumped this one on me about a year ago. I mean, everyone knows “She Drives Me Crazy” and if you were at least semi-aware of music in the early 90’s you probably know “Good Thing” as well. What else could there be? Well, apparently quite a bit. And the crazy part is that it sounds surprisingly fresh. Seriously, tracks like “I’m Not The Man I Used To Be,” “Don’t Let It Get You Down,” and “As Hard As It Is” sound like they were pulled straight from some lost 80’s-era TV On The Radio album. Every song on here is solid. The only real downside is the length–only 35 minutes–but even that may be just about right given their sound. Give ’em a chance, you’ll be surprised.

CIOIYL… TV On The Radio, pop with beat, singers with creepily high vox, to hang out with friends and drink Hopslam while eating homemade pizza at twilight–seriously, it was made for this situation, though maybe you skip the first two songs so you don’t get any haters right up front.