Best Songs of 2010 – Honorable Mentions

Rufus Wainwright released his most straight-forward and personal album this year. Titled All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu, it featured just vocals and piano on a series of ballads inspired by the illness of his mother (who died shortly before the album’s release).

It’s a touching and contemplative work, though it doesn’t represent what I love best about Wainwright. I’m drawn to his brash theatricality and the way he blends horns, strings, choirs, banjos, you name it, into his complex compositions. On this album he leaves his bag of tricks behind, which is effective in its own way but not as much fun.

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