Top 2010 albums from Chicago indies

2. Disappears, “Lux” (Kranky): A freight train of swarming guitars riding relentless beats, and vocals that manage to stay deadpan even as all hell is breaking loose. It’s a simple, timeless formula that evokes the brutality of the second Velvet Underground album, the amphetamine rush of Motorhead, but honed into a relatively concise, almost pop-song format; a couple of the tracks check in at under two minutes. The production is border-line anarchic, murky and foreboding. If you’re a stickler for cleanliness, stay away. The band is now working with Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley as its drummer while it searches for a full-time replacement, and it has a new album, “Guider,” that’ll be out early next year. (10 p.m. Feb. 4 at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Av., $10; ticketweb.com.)

3. Yakuza, “Of Seismic Consequences” (Profound): On the progressive tip of metal, this quartet has been part of an exceptional decade of heavy music out of Chicago, with spiritual kin Nachtmystium, Minsk, Pelican and more. Their latest release is a typical shape-shifting onslaught of doom-metal riffing, druids-in-the-mountains atmosphere, free-jazz saxophone, and oddly moving vocal testifying. No one on the hard-rock landscape sounds quite like this quartet, a testament to the singularity of their sound and vision.

4. The 1900s, “Return of the Century” (Parasol): The second album from these pop stalwarts is so beautiful, the songs swept along by open-hearted vocals, swooning violin and counterpoint melodies, that it might be easy to miss the turmoil beneath. The band retooled its lineup since its excellent 2007 debut, “Cold & Kind,” and the aftermath left behind a few wounds and some bittersweet songs that’ll invade your head and haunt you for weeks afterward.  

5. Psalm One, “Woman at Work” (psalmone.tv): While working on her next official album, this gifted MC has dropped a trilogy of “Woman at Work” mix tapes on her Web site. If that somehow suggests a less-than-focused dumping of leftovers, guess again. This bounty of tracks is in many ways a portrait of the artist at her loosest and funniest, while still maintaining her scythe-like incisiveness, as encapsulated by the aptly titled “Ginsu Knives” with the like-minded Del tha Funkee Homosapien.

6. White Mystery, “White Mystery” (whitemysteryband.com): At 24, Alex White is already a seasoned veteran in the Chicago underground scene, a one-woman tornado with a voice that can blow down walls. With her younger brother, Francis, on drums, she makes what is in many ways her most stripped-down album, and that’s saying something. Whether describing a crumbling relationship or a stroll around the city, the duo radiates can’t-be-denied joy and revels in rescuing melodies from the chaos they throw down. (10 p.m. Dec. 18 at Subterranean, 2011 W. North Av., $10; subt.net.; 10 p.m. Dec. 31 at Abbey Pub, 3420 W. Grace St., $20; abbeypub.com.)

7. Nachtmystium, “Addicts: Black Meddle, Pt. II” (Century Media): The group busted its way out of the black-metal niche in 2008 with “Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. I,” and “Addicts” continues the transformation. While the forbidding drone and density of the guitars remain, the group continues to incorporate less-traditional elements with hints of electronic texture, psychedelic expansiveness and – gasp! – blazing melodies. (5:30 p.m. Feb. 20 with Cradle of Filth at House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn, $23; livenation.com.)

8. Apteka, “Traitors” 7-inch, Apteka EP (myspace.com\Apteka): The quartet’s MySpace site is loaded with goodies, documenting an increasingly commanding quartet that embraces the power of guitar drone, tribal drumming and the deep, shoegaze-era swoon. Plus, you have to love a band’s sense of humor when it posts a track titled “Aragon Sound” or a 27-second guitar-smashing video entitled “Adam vs. the Curse of John Mayer.” (9:30 p.m. Monday with Sybris at Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Av., free; emptybottle.com.)

9. Rhymefest, “El Che” (dNBe Entertainment): Turns out this release was just a prelude to the year’s most significant announcement from Che “Rhymefest” Smith, who recently announced his candidacy for 20th Ward alderman. Though not as consistently strong as his 2006 release, “Blue Collar,” or his brilliant Michael Jackson tribute mix tape, “El Che” presents Rhymefest in all his complexity. He can be put out or putting us on within the space of a couple lines, and his mix of politically tinged testifying and street-smart mischief-making makes him difficult to pigeonhole. His musical tastes are equally wide-ranging; no standard issue boom-boom-pow for this guy. Here’s hoping his political career is as forward-thinking as his approach to hip-hop.

10. David Singer, “Arrows” (The Sweet Science Records): A master of slow-motion psychedelia, the better to appreciate his wryly bittersweet lyrics, the former Kid Million vocalist and multi-instrumentalist remains one of the city’s most evolved pop craftsmen of the last decade.

    greg@gregkot.com