The record industry is still dying, and yet very fine albums keep right on coming out. Here are my 10 favorites from 2010 -- that was the year that was.

(1) Arcade Fire, "The Suburbs" (Merge) -- Supposedly there aren't any "consensus" bands anymore, acts everyone can agree are worthy. Except for Arcade Fire, a Montreal band that's easy to love all the way around. Truly great.

(2) Laura Veirs, "July Flame" (Raven Marching Band) -- If you want someone's attention, whisper. Better still, murmur softly and set it to catchy, exquisitely crafted acoustic pop arrangements. Lovely.

(3) Doug Paisley, "Constant Companion" (No Quarter) -- Speaking of quiet, this is the sort of record that might have you holding your breath for fear of breaking the spell. It's sturdy enough to hold up, though.

(4) Robert Plant, "Band of Joy" (Rounder) -- Plant continues his Appalachian Mountain hop, this time with iconic Nashville country-blues guitarist Buddy Miller in charge of the proceedings, yielding wonderfully spooky results. Plant will bring this show to Raleigh in February. You'd be crazy to miss it.

(5) Titus Andronicus, "The Mointor" (XL) -- Screaming bloody murder also has much to recommend it, especially if one is obsessed with the Civil War and Bruce Springsteen in equal parts. Club-sized arena rock never had it so good.

(6) Kanye West, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" (Roc-A-Fella) -- You have to give the guy credit for boundless ambition, as befits an ego of West's magnitude, and danged if he doesn't pull it off. West still ain't quite as good as he thinks he is, but he's getting closer.

(7) Carolina Chocolate Drops, "Genuine Negro Jig" (Nonesuch) -- In which the best new old-time stringband in America (not just the Triangle) graduates from cool novelty to serious contender. The aforementioned Buddy Miller is tentatively set to produce their next album, which should be fantastic.

(8) Sharon Van Etten, "Epic" (Ba Da Bing) -- It's only 32 minutes long, barely album-length nowadays. Nevertheless, the cheekily titled "Epic" packs a year's worth of obsession, single-minded determination and emotion into its seven songs.

(9) The Love Language, "Libraries" (Merge) -- Brian Wilson has nothing on Stuart McLamb, main man of The Love Language. "Libraries" is a sonic pop cathedral, both beautiful and terrifying, haunted by McLamb's dead-of-night howl.

(10) Alejandro Escovedo, "Street Songs of Love" (Fantasy) -- Love lost, found, squandered and thrown away is the overriding theme to Escovedo's rippin' new album, a great followup to 2008's equally stellar "Real Animal." Long may he roar.

Sharon Van Etten isn't opposed to using a notebook for songwriting. But she never seems to use one, mostly because she can't keep up with it.

"I'm just a naturally spacy person, so I'm always forgetting my notebook," Van Etten said in a recent interview. "So I'll write something on a scrap of paper, put it in my pocket and then find it weeks later -- 'Oh yeah, I like that line.' It's always bits and pieces here and there, never a whole song. I think I need to get back in the habit of carrying a notebook. I have to work on that."

Regardless, it's working for her pretty well lately. For more on Van Etten's excellent new album and upcoming Triangle show, see the preview in Friday's paper.

If you don't already have plans for the next two nights, I'd like to urge you to head over to Hayti in Durham for the "Sounds of the South" live-recording extravaganza with Megafaun and friends. Friday's opening night was truly special. The music was fantastic -- inventive rearrangements of venerable folk and gospel songs, done up as stately jazz and exuberant, house-shaking second-line funk straight out of New Orleans -- and the overall vibe even better.

Megafaun's Phil Cook is a guy who smiles a lot, and he was positively beaming onstage throughout the evening. That sense of joy was contagious. This is obviously a project that means a great deal to its participants, and they did a terrific job bringing this music to life in a new way. Fight the Big Bull and Sharon Van Etten were both extraordinary, and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon was a revelation -- a flat-out monster soul man, startlingly and ridiculously great. Plus they closed with an encore surprise that was very cool; I won't give it away.

I can't wait to hear the recordings. So if you're on the fence, go. You won't regret it. For more on the project, see this preview from Friday's paper.