I’ll let you in on a secret: If you’re going to do a “Best of…” list, wait until the year is over so you can see what everybody else thought was the best and add to your own list.

This is not cheating. No one can keep up with all the music, books, movies and what-not that we clever mammals produce each year. I keep a running list of my favourite albums and add and delete from that list as the year goes on. But then I see other people’s end-of-year lists and realize that I missed a ton of great stuff. So, while I completely ignore retrospective news stories and generally turn my nose up at “what’s going to happen next year” commentary, I find “Best of…” for media a great way to grow and learn.

So, having digested a ton of other people’s lists and thought about my own favourites from 2010, here are my top 30 albums for the year.

Note these are in alphabetical order. I could never rank these absolutely — it would change daily.

• Good Things by Aloe Blacc
• The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
• Teen Dream by Beach House
• Belle & Sebastian Write About Love by Belle & Sebastian
• Crazy For You by Best Coast

• Brothers by The Black Keys
• The Way Out by The Books
• Broken Bells by Broken Bells
• Swim by Caribou
• The Lady Killer by Cee Lo Green

• Subiza by Delorean
• The Drums by The Drums
• Total Life Forever by Foals
• There Is Love In You by Four Tet
• Lucky Shiner by Gold Panda

• Plastic Beach by Gorillaz
• El Turista by Josh Rouse
• Harlem River Blues by Justin Townes Earle
• July Flame by Laura Veirs
• Gorilla Manor by Local Natives

• Twin-Hand Movement by Lower Dens
• Big Echo by The Morning Benders
• High Violet by The National
• goodbye, killer by Pernice Brothers
• Cling To A Scheme by The Radio Dept.

• How I Got Over by The Roots
• I Learned The Hard Way by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
• Volume Two by She & Him
• Five Ghosts by Stars
• Contra by Vampire Weekend

Well there you go. Lots of great music. I hope you take some time to really dig in and find some new tunes.

As an added bonus, here is my 8track mixtape featuring one of my favourite tracks from each of these favourite albums:

Let me know what you think! Leave a comment below and tell me what I got right, where I blew it, and suggest your own top albums.