Were you expecting our top albums for 2010? That’ll have to wait, as the other guys have been lagging on sending me their top albums (so if you guys are reading this, then send me those top album lists!!). I figure, however, you guys and myself wait for the other contributors’ Top albums of 2010, I’d share the top posts of 2010….this is ranked by hits, and is excluding all podcasts. Relieve these top posts. Where were you when it happened? What were you doing? Did your life change? Should I stop being lame?

1. The Slackers Rocksteady Swindle Interview – The interview Gabe did with the Slackers’ Dave Hillyard has proved to be our most popular post of the year. Maybe it’s because everybody was interested in what the Slackers were eating when they were recording this? “The Rocksteady Swindle,” would prove to be (in this blogger’s humble opinion) their best album in recent years and has proven to be a popular hit amongst the the ska/reggae/rocksteady world out there.

2. The Bullets Interview w/ Roger Rivas – Of course 2010 was a barren year as far as new Aggrolites material goes, but their organist Roger Rivas came to the rescue with his own side project THE BULLETS. Shortly before their debut album, “Sweet Misery” came out, we talk to Roger himself about the band, the album, and their interesting mix of Chicano Soul and early reggae. It’s not a coincidence, I think, that the top two posts are about some of the top albums of this year.

3. Tokyo Ska Orchestra With the World Ska Symphony! – It must be my influence that this post is #3. Or maybe you guys just love TSPO that much. Whatever the case, this post made it to number three. Unfortunately (again, in this blogger’s opinion), “World Ska Symphony,” wasn’t their best album, but more TSPO is always good for the SOUL! And even if TSPO aren’t coming to the USA in 2011, at least our friends in Mexico will be able to enjoy some Tokyo Ska. Now let’s move on before I cry.

4. Interview with Buck of the Toasters – Buck has been involved with the USA ska scene before I was even BORN. With the Toasters, of course…but also with Moon Ska, and more recently, Megalith Records. So when we talk with the man himself about the state of the ska scene these days, the music business, and The Toasters of course, I would HOPE that this would have been in the top 10.

5. Mos Def meets…Desmond Dekker? – DJ and Producer Max Tannone might not have been known in the ska and reggae world. If you listen to hip hop, might have been familiar with his Jaydiohead project (a mashup of Jay-Z and Radiohead). Well, I would say that more people in the ska and reggae world know of Mr. Tannone now, thanks to his phenomenal Mos Dub project…a mash up of Mos Def with classic reggae riddims. His follow up mashup, Dub Kweli, is pretty good too.

6. The Caroloregians are coming! The Caroloregians are coming! – How exciting for you East Coasters! You got to experience Belgium’s Caroloregians (as well as their ska/rocksteady counterpart, the Moon Invaders). Maybe one day, us lowly peons on the West side will be able to experience that joy.

7. Free Download from U-Roy & Subatomic Sound – Jason describes this as dubstep. I have no idea what dubstep is, it’s just that a lot of my (non ska/reggae listening) friends have been listening to dubstep a lot. And apparently, you the reader, happens to love dubstep too! Or maybe you guys just like free stuff. Or maybe you just like U-Roy. Or maybe you DO love dubstep. What is dubstep anyways?

8. Interview Podcast: Chris Murray – Yard Sale – Chris Murray has also done more than anyone can imagine for the US Ska scene. He didn’t release anything this year (instead, deciding to travel the world playing his music…I’m jealous), but his 2009 release of “Yard Sale” was one of my favorite albums of that year. So we talked to him about it.

9. Babylon Party Machine Mashes Up The Grandma DJ – Speaking of mashups…Babylon Party Machine (AKA MATT WIXSON) is a genius at em. What do you get when you mix Grandma DJ by Portugese early reggae band The Ratazanas with Soulja Boy’s Supman Dat Hoe? Why, you get Supaman that Grandma, of course. And it works. Oddly enough it works really well. If you haven’t heard it yet, do yourself a favor and hear it.

10. Dekker! Desmond Dekker tribute album! – We don’t seem to be closer to seeing the release of this Desmond Dekker tribute album, a collaboration of the Aggrolites with Suzanne Couch. Still, this made our top 10 blog post this year, which shows that there is considerable interest out there for the album to see a distro deal. Hopefully, this album will see the light of day, and not fade into obscurity as so many of these projects do (unfortunately).

Those were the Top ten Blog Posts of 2010, according to hits, but what about the visitors? Who’s reading our blog? Did your country make the hit? If not, then why not? Here are the top ten countries:

1. USA
2. Canada
3. United Kingdom
4. Germany
5. Australia
6. France
7. New Zealand
8. Italy
9. Poland
10. Japan

We are mainly North Americans (with the exception of one) writing about ska, so it’s not surprising that USA and Canada are #1 & #2, and since we write in English…the UK and Australia shouldn’t be too surprising too as well. New Zealand being so high is surprising, but I guess we have Nate to thank for that! Germany, France, Italy, and Poland round out our top European readers, and Japan is the sole Asian representative in the top 10. Interestingly enough, we don’t seem to be too popular in South America (the first S. American country is #16, Venezuela). Maybe that should change.

Thank’s for reading this mainly pointless post. We hope to be better and bigger in 2011, so just stick around. Thank’s for making us your source for News, Views, and Interviews as far as the ska/rocksteady/world goes. Our top albums of 2010 shall be up soon, so hold on!

Now…onward to 2011!