(and really, nobody else's opinion matters)

As it happened, 2009 was not such a bad year for new music after all…it just took until the first part of 2010 for me to discover The Wildhearts' "Chutzpah!" and Cheap Trick's "The Latest". I have found that, more and more, buying my music online because of a lack of availability in local retail stores. Both of these albums were a case in point. 2010 got off to a slow-ish start but there have been shining lights along the way.

The albums below form MY top 10 of 2010, so disagree as you may (and are most likely to do), but please feel free to comment liberally. Also, it should be noted that my brother Courtney Murphy's album 'BIG' is definitely one of my favourites of the year, but is disqualified on account of the drummer on the album being me. Part two, my top 10 gigs should follow shortly, with a possible third instalment - my top 10 movies of 2010 after that.

1. Brandon Flowers - FLAMINGO

The lead singer of 'The Killers' branched out this year with his first solo album, a sort-of-paen to his hometown of Las Vegas. Many of you will be familiar with the first single 'Crossfire' or perhaps 'Only The Young', but it was the opening track 'Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas' that captured my attention. Musically and lyrically, Flowers has captured everything that makes Vegas so attractive yet seedy, incongruous and in a way, anachronistic. The only issue I had with this album is that I'm not sure why it needed to be a solo project, unless Flowers was growing tired with the democracy of The Killers.

2. The Black Crowes - CROWEOLOGY

Fittingly, before they put the band on hold for 'an indefinite hiatus', The Black Crowes celebrated 20 years in the music business with a stripped-back reimagining of some of their finest moments. Indeed, the band has been renewed by their latest lineup featuring the Robinson brothers, the loyal and ever-present Steve Gorman on drums, as well as former and current bass player Sven Pipien and the new guys, Adam McDougall on keys and Luther Dickinson on guitar. With two of their most exciting recording projects coming from this lineup, it seems criminal to put the band on hold, however I have to remain positive that Croweology is not a career-ending retrospective, but a loving look back before moving onto the next phase.

3. Bleu - FOUR

After 5 years in the side-project wilderness, Bleu came back to wake up his power-pop loving fanbase with last year's excellent 'A Watched Pot', an album that was shelved by his former label, leaving Bleu in solo career limbo. However, the Boston native didn't spend the intervening time sitting idly by, as this year's 'Four' proves he had managed to stockpile an impressive number of modern pop gems in order to keep things rolling. Buoyed by a successful Kickstarter program that saw his loyal fans pledge $40k US towards the completion and promotion of the new independent project, Bleu has delivered spectacularly on his early promise. 'Singin' in Tongues' and 'B.O.S.T.O.N.' should be on high rotation on modern rock radio, except that modern rock radio stations don't play anything good anymore.

4. Delta Spirit - HISTORY FROM BELOW

Delta Spirit's sophomore effort was, for me, one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the year. Their album 'Ode To Sunshine' was one of those debut albums with so much promise that I was justifiably curious to see whether they could catch the quicksilver again. From the opening acoustic strums of '911' it was clear to me that Matt Vasquez and company had managed to build upon their impressive debut. Assured, joyous and fully-realised, the album is full of amazing moments. I'm sure that few songs will affect me in the way that the album closer, 'Ballad of Vitaly' did upon first listen. And each subsequent listen since.

5. Dr Dog - SHAME SHAME

In a similar vein to Delta Spirit, and perhaps Band of Horses (below), Dr Dog are at the forefront of a psychedelic country rock revival that arguably began with Wilco and Whiskeytown and has helped restore my faith in an American music scene that hadn't captured my imagination in years. It's interesting to note that for such an unabashed Anglophile, 9 of the 10 albums in my list here are from US artists. Dr Dog, along with Delta Spirit, were introduced to me by my friend Dan Forrestal - a musical omnivore of the most voracious kind. I immediately purchased 'Fate' and 'We All Belong' and then set about doing that annoying thing where you try to get all your friends to like the new band or artist you've 'discovered'. Dr Dog's "Shame Shame" retains the same adventurous spirit as their previous releases but is somehow a more cohesive effort and in places, surprisingly funky.

6. Anberlin - DARK IS THE WAY, LIGHT IS A PLACE

Easily the year's biggest surprise for me was not that Anberlin's latest album would make my top 10 for the year, but that I liked it at all. Proving that former emo poster boys are capable of traversing the chasm between that much-maligned genre and respectability, Anberlin teamed with super-producer Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, RATM, pretty much everyone else) to produce an album of outstanding melodic, modern rock tunes; a kind of American version of Coldplay, if you will. This was an album that I heard playing instore and bought it on a whim. I'm very glad I did.

7. Band of Horses - INFINITE ARMS

There was so much hype surrounding the release of Band of Horses 'Infinte Arms', I'd almost given up hope of liking it, such is my distrust for modern music media. Once again, humble pie devoured, I found an album worthy of the accolades and praise heaped upon it. Although the group has had several line-up changes in a very short space of time, the lead vocals of Ben Bridwell and his guiding hand in production assured that the album was able to stretch beyond the confines of their previous two releases without alienating an already strong fanbase. For me, the trend towards CSNY/The Band style experimentation with alt.country rock or whatever you want to call it is a welcome return to a style that had fallen out of favour with the kids.

8. Ben Folds and Nick Hornby - LONELY AVENUE

Teaming the piano-shredding japester and one of modern literature's most gifted novelists seems so incredibly clever that it could only go horribly wrong. Thankfully, the album is a treat from beginning to it's amazing end. The final track 'Belinda' is a beautifully crafted tale of an ageing performer singing his biggest hit onstage to adoring fans, all the while re-writing the lyric in his head to tell the sad, lonely truth; he screwed up and he regrets it. Sung and played by Folds with a nod to 70's balladry, the result is one of the finest moments in his already impressive catalogue. The album is full of beautifully-realised vignettes courtesy of Hornby's incisive storytelling style paired with Folds' dry and understated approach to the production, never once skimping on melody. A Taupin/John collaboration for the new age.

9. Ray La Montagne & The Pariah Dogs - GOD WILLIN' AND THE CREEK WON'T RISE

I had not heard any of Ray La Montagne's music until Jill brought home a copy of his latest album. I was vaguely aware of his status as an up-and-coming blues/folk/roots artist with a voice like coffee mixed with gravel and stark approach to instrumentation; this time out, though Ray is backed by The Pariah Dogs and the overall result is one of the most authentic 'revivalist' albums in years, not to mention a well-crafted album of growly blues and wistful folk. The opening track 'Repo Man' is worth the admission price alone.

10. Teenage Fanclub - SHADOWS

Time and time again, Glasgow's finest have managed to deliver an album of stunningly simple pop songs with achingly beautiful melodies, sublime harmonies and the quirky touch of 'immediate nostalgia' that makes you feel as if you've known these songs forever. In a career that has straddled fuzzy proto-grunge and glorious Big Star-esque britpop, TFC have settled into a middle age where angular, art-school rock sits next to their particular brand of breezy, uplifiting pop simply because they are now elder statesmen and masters of both.

Honourable mentions -