The First Great Records Of 2010 Revealed!

If a year begins with the release of an album clearly capable of stealing the "album of the year" crown, said album will face the inevitable backlash. Animal Collective went in hiding after the first negative comment about 'Merriweather Post Pavilion' emerged following the barrage of "this album cannot be topped!" hyperbole that not so much trickled, more stampeded in through the internet.

And so it's fortunate that in the first couple of months we have two of these formidable albums lined up. Yeasayer, first of all, look set to arrive with a sense of popstar immaturity displayed albeit in a mature, diverse second album, 'Odd Blood'. Beach House on the other hand, with the public support of Grizzly Bear's Ed Droste, will be keen on progressing with their third album 'Teen Dream', a really significant development from 2008's 'Devotion'.

On 'Teen Dream', only the odd fluttering moment is as tender and soft on the ear as the bands previous two offerings. But the courageous move to shift from simple dream pop into more experimental offerings is a rewarding one, as 'Norway' brushes up on stunning vocal loops and '10 Mile Stereo' provides a heady, relentless pace with soaring synthetics and tap-tap beats. The highs of this record are unlike anything else on the band's discography to date. Everything soars into the previously unknown as this ambitious collection of songs rewards you over time more than simply from the first eerie chorus.

But 'Odd Blood' is the one to really set your alarms to. Everything applied is perfectly calculated, performing its own unique role, adding to a constantly hectic atmosphere that ranges from cinematic to just plain ridiculous. And Yeasayer sound like a band that have been working not just together but on this very sound for an incredibly long time. Balladry is perfected in the far-from-one-dimensional 'I Remember' and the stunning Washed Out-meets-Bollywood 'Madder Red'. More up-tempo affairs such as single 'Ambling Alp' and must-be-next-single 'O.N.E' are instant and distinctive, the latter of which packs punch and power above tap-tap percussion and Keating's down-beat melancholic vocal performance.

The first half of the record is precise but progressive, the second half even more surprising; sporting a Cure-esque vibe in 'Rome' and a well-rooted reference to their debut in aptly-titled 'Strange Reunions'. There is variety but this takes the biscuit and yet somehow, 'Odd Blood' comes out of the storm in one piece, a cohesive album. It's nigh-on impossible to work out how that was achieved.

Don't take this glowing praise with a pinch of salt, though. Approach both records with caution and a neutral frame of mind. If you expect 'Odd Blood' to be the best album of the year, it most likely won't be. Expectation can be the killer blow to good music, some previously overrated records can become shadowed out and even underrated. That's the sound of the blogosphere and the internet weaving its way in and around the way we approach music these days.