My taste in music has changed quite a lot over the last few years. I’m listening to a lot more old music and jazz and a huge amount of more ambient, soundscape-y stuff which I find really helps me concentrate when I’m working as well as rewarding more careful listening. Most of my discoveries have come from the Norman Records weekly email and then scouring Soundcloud, Spotify and MySpace to find them.

I decided not to put the albums into an order as I don’t really care whether one album is slightly better than another and that usually depends on my mood anyway. These are just the records released this year that have meant a lot to me. There are more than 10 albums and countless others that almost made the grade. There is however, a standout favourite: Richard Skelton’s Landings. It is unlike anything I’ve heard before and I’ve been listening to it pretty much non-stop since I found it. I also feel particularly warmly towards it because an unsuccessful search for a copy on vinyl led me to email Richard and he sold me a copy from his own personal stash!

So here are my favourite albums of 2010 complete with Spotify links. There is also a link at the bottom to a Spotify playlist containing all of the available albums on the list.

• Richard Skelton – Landings (Spotify)
• Nina Nastasia – Outlaster (Spotify)
• Mulatu Astatke – Mulatu Steps Ahead (Spotify)
• Max Richter – Infra (Spotify)
• Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can (Spotify)
• Jane Weaver – The Fallen By Watchbird (Spotify)
• Micah P. Hinson – And The Pioneer Saboteurs (Spotify)
• Archie Bronson Outfit – Coconut (Spotify)
• Voice of the Seven Thunders – Voice of the Seven Thunders (Spotify)
• Liz Green – Shadow Play (Spotify)
• Tindersticks – Falling Down A Mountain (Spotify)
• Ethan Rose & Laura Gibson – Bridge Carols (Spotify)
• Moon Duo – Escape (Spotify)
• Bonnie “Prince” Billy and The Cairo Gang – The Wonder Show of the World

Albums of 2010 on Spotify