A quick scan of my last.fm page reveals that I have—shall we say—distinguished taste. I don't kid my self though. I'm very aware that I cast a pretty narrow net where music is concerned, and I'm pretty opinionated about other music. The reason that I'm doing this list, however, is that music is really important to me. I listen to a lot of music when I'm working and walking and driving and….

This time of year, tons of people do "Best Albums of The Year" lists, featuring their favorite releases of the past year. I've done those before, and they're fun. The only problem with that—for me—is that I buy maybe twelve new albums a year. Maybe. I just prefer older music more.

Since this is my blogfolio and I'm running the show the way I want, I'm doing my own type of list. These are the best albums that I've acquired this year—some old, some new.

Top 10 Albums (That I Bought in) 2010

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach I've been a fan of Gorillaz since my friends wouldn't stop playing a cheap CD-R that they got off an Italian street vendor and Clint Eastwood was on MTV all the time. I would say that Plastic Beach has a lot of good songs—and some that are less than good. Mostly, though, I really enjoyed this disc for being similar to the previous ones, but still different from any of their other releases. Going back and listening to their first album, it sounds like a much different affair.

Iggy & the Stooges - Raw Power (Legacy Edition) I've been waiting for this remaster for years. Literally. I've really liked some of the tracks on this album for a while, and obviously Iggy & the Stooges have a place in the History of Punk Rock. The controversy surrounding the mastering of the album always seemed weird to me. I was so close to purchasing this album several times, but then during the research process, I read that they were creating a definitive master of the songs. So I held out for this release, and it was definitely worth it.

999 - 999 I was hooked on this release from the moment that I heard "Emergency" somewhere. I had to go out and get this album. While no other track stands out quite as much as that one, it's still a great album as a whole.

Mission of Burma - Signals, Calls and Marches I have to confess that there are at least a couple of reasons that purchased this album. First off, I really love Boston rock ’n’ roll. It has a character all its own, and this city has created some of the best rock bands in history. I also really like to be able to talk knowledgeably about Boston rock bands. Secondly, Burma is legendary around here and the songs that I've really enjoyed are on this album. After listening to it, I've found it to be one of the most ambitious hardcore albums that I've ever listened to.

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality The initial seed of this purchase stemmed from some sessions of playing Brutal Legend. It turned out that at times, the soundtrack was a lot better than the game itself. Children of the Grave is one of the tracks on this one, and as far as I'm concerned, this album could be nine cuts of this one song and it would still be one of my favorite albums. I mean just listen to the intro riff. It runs shivers up my spine.

Six Finger Satellite - A Good Year for Hardness This one caught me on the blind side. I completely expected The Chinese Stars "Heaven on Speed Dial"—which I purchased at the same time—to be the album that really caught my attention. I didn't know too much about 6FS before this, and reunion albums aren't really known for being stellar. I enjoyed The Chinese Stars’ album a lot too, but this was the one that really grabbed me. It's driving and varied, but far more focused than their previous releases. A new era to be sure, but I'm excited for what the future has in store.

Devo - Be Stiff Ok, I'm cheating a bit here. Be Stiff is really and EP, but who cares? This one EP has better songs on it than have been played on the entirety of mainstream radio for the past year. To top it all off, the cover art is just fantastic, and really encapsulates Devo's off-kilter aesthetic so well.

Liars - Sisterworld For some strange reason, I always lumped this band in with The Killers, who I really have no patience for. Fortunately I caught the video for Scissor on a music blog. I'm glad I figured things out, though, because I really enjoyed listening to this album. It's one of those releases that really sounds like a cohesive whole. Each song is unique. Each has a really interesting structure, that may or may not really be recognizable as a "song". From start to finish, this is one great and really challenging album. It's the perfect obtuse, artsy shit that I really go for.

Crocodiles - Summer of Hate I grabbed this album cause I thought the cover was kind of sweet, in a subdued sort of way. Turns out the music is awesome. For me, the stand-out track is Soft Skulls, which is two and a half minutes of fuzzed out jangliness. This came out in 2009, so that's pretty close to coming out this year. I'll chock it up to a victory. Sleep Forever did come out this year, but it lacked some of the edge that really appealed to me, so it's not my pick for this slot.

Black Keys - Brothers I don't think that the importance of this album can't be overstated, both to me and to music as a whole. ’Round the time when my dad was coming up, the whole "Blues meets Rock ’n’ Roll" thing was pretty hot. He loved bands like Zeppelin and Hendrix, as well as Jonny Lee and Muddy. He passed that love on to me, and now thanks to bands like The White Stripes and these two white dudes, we're seeing somewhat of a revival. Sure, there's plenty of people who have trod this road before, but these guys own it. Hand down, this is the best album I've heard this year, and it's been a while since I've heard anything this good.

Wrap It Up

Ok, not too bad, right? 50% of these choices actually came out this year. Hopefully, if you didn't know about some of these albums before now, you'll have the impetus to check them out now.

So what did I miss? Any big ones that I should check out?