Payola scandal rocks WVRockscene's Top 10 CDs for 2010

We got probably 30 CDs from bands from all over West Virginia and beyond this year. We were even lucky enough to get a whole slew of releases from out of state bands who may or may not have been passing through, and were kind enough to hook us up. Getting two Whiskey Daredevils CDs in any given year is always great.

As WVRockscene prepares to enter its fourth and likely final year of existence, it’s always both a pleasure and a challenge to look back and put a rank on what we feel like are the best local releases in a given year. There’s no real scientific ranking system like the BCS, which settles everything with no debate, but pretty much, the formula is as follows:

*Number of total songs on a CD

+ and/or divided by

*How much we personally like the music

There were a few variables that seemed to factor into how inclusive we were with bands; whether we count them as an out of state act or an in-state one. For example, Hurricane native Mark Bates’ spring release Down The Narrow could’ve likely found a spot in the top 10; he’s now not only living in Nashville, but the musicians on the record are not from around these here parts. It’s a great CD though.

Morgantown native J Marinelli may have recently moved to Lexington, Kentucky, but he’s a one-man band, one of our all-time favorite acts, and, hey, he recorded Pre-Emptive Skankery Sessions in the Mountain State, so, he’s supporting local business.

Hucklebuck is a pretty cool Americana/alt-country act with members from the Eastern Panhandle and Maryland, consequently, we didn’t really know how to count their solid debut Bender, so we counted ‘em as foreigners, but would have given ‘em a high slot in the out of state top releases, if there was one this year. Their song “Good Stuff” would’ve likely been our favorite song of 2010, if we put one of those together, which we did not. We got lazy.

There were a few releases that we didn’t snag, and we realize that. Anyone and everyone is free to put their own two cents in here re: why they think our picks suck, but doing so in a constructive manner would be much appreciated. Did you listen to more than one of the CDs? Or are you just dating the band’s drummer and hate all the other bands?

We don’t really know or hang out with anybody in any of these bands, so it’s not like we play favorites; these are just our favorite CDs from this year. So in a sense, you can indeed say we play our favorites. You, the reader, may have your own favorites and if you’d want to tell us why or just how much you like the CD please feel free.

Since the Huntington Herald-Dispatch is running our Top 10 in print over Thursday and Friday, we will here also tier the countdown similarly, so you can get the scoop here online or in print if you choose. They’re paying us the same for an article, so thank them for that and we of course will let them get first whack at it. Maybe they’ll get any hate mail instead of us.

We started WVRockscene to spotlight bands we like and think are rockin’, and for 2010, it’s mission accomplished.

Look for the countdown to start in a few hours...