My Favorite Albums of 2009

[Derek]

Well, it's that time of year again. Unfortunately, I will not be taking my usual 2-week break to head back east for the holidays, so I won't have quite as much free time to devote to this. I decided to still do a full Top 30, as there were enough deserving albums to fill up that many slots, but will stick to shorter, less-detailed write-ups and only link to one track, as opposed to three, for #'s 30-21. I'll try to keep things moving, but I can't promise a new entry every day. Don't worry though, I'm aiming to keep this in the 2-3 week, not month, range. :)

So, with that out of the way, let's kick things of with some HM's.

Honorable Mentions

Mokira – Persona

Key Track: “Lord, Am I Going Down? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux_kLPXiD0o)”

In all honesty, the only reason Persona isn’t in the top 30 is that this was simply an exceptional year for ambient music. The album is remarkably patient with sounds and textures that blend together for an accumulative power that leads not to release, but extended stretches of pure bliss. It’s like getting a massage for your ear drums.

Gui Boratto - Take My Breath Away

Key Track: “No Turning Back (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZiCvGFnpJ4)”

In a down year for ambient techno, I’m not sure why Gui Boratto’s follow-up to the widely praised Chromophobia didn’t garner a bit more attention. Although it doesn’t have a show-stopper like “Beautiful Life”, Take My Breath Away is more consistent and engaging. Tracks like “No Turning Back” highlight Boratto’s skill at working with multiple tempos with various rhythms and riffs which allow you to get something new from each subsequent listen.

Burial / Four Tet - Moth / Wolf Cub

Key Track: Well, there’s only two, but I prefer “Moth (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdTbgx5ZXSk&feature=related)”

I’m not big on dub-step, but Four Tet’s contribution to this 12” fill out the sound I always find a bit lacking in Burial’s music (aside from “Archangel” which is incredible). Not to take anything away from Burial here – the sense of urgency is his sound is ever-present in both tracks, which add subtle beats atop repetition to propel the music forward towards it’s logical conclusion.

[Winston*]

I am going to listen to every one of these albums and tell you what I think of them in three words or less.

[Derek]

I am going to listen to every one of these albums and tell you what I think of them in three words or less.

Awesome. I will hold you to that you know.

[Derek]

30

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A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar

Key Track: “Failure (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnwzVST2y2M)”

One of several bands whose debut I fell in love with, yet the critical establishment waited until the inferior follow-up to shower it with praise. Not that Ashes Grammar isn’t a great album and, in actuality, it is far more cohesive and expansive than Scribble Mural Comic Journal, functioning more effectively as a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Journal had amazing individual tracks that took the shoegaze of My Bloody Valentine and dreampop of The Cocteau Twins in exciting new directions. Ashes Grammar is in many ways more of ambient album with Lauren Daniel‘s ethereal vocals transformed into a form of orchestration as opposed to a messenger. Songs blend into one another, flowing as natural extensions of what came before, making Ashes Grammar one of the few modern dream pop torchbearers to take that first word very seriously.

[Derek]

29

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Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy

Key Track: “Freak Train (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdIXrcH7QLU)”

If Bradford Cox is the Flamin’ Hot dust spread every form of chip out there (http://www.cokemachineglow.com/record_review/4884/atlassound-logos-2009), Kurt Vile is the grimy orange smear stuck under your nails once you’ve repeatedly attempted to lick your fingers clean. Vile takes a similarly warbly, dreamy aesthetic and infuses it with propulsive, guitar-driven energy reminiscent more of 90s alternative music and grungy garage rock than 00’s experimental rock. Vile’s near-monotone voice will undoubtedly rub some the wrong way, but not for its lack of inventiveness and emoting. His vocals are often incongruous with the music surrounding it, almost competing with it rather than going along with the flow, especially on the albums several beautiful come-down tracks. The music is simple but not simplistic, emotionally charged but not bombastic. Childish Prodigy was one of the last new albums of ’09 I got to and had I been given more time with it, I imagine it’d be a few spots higher.

[Winston*]

Awesome. I will hold you to that you know.

I'm going to raise it to 6 words if that's okay with you Derek.

[Derek]

I'm going to raise it to 6 words if that's okay with you Derek.

That is acceptable.

[Boner M]

You bumped the Kitchen's Floor rating on RYM down too low; boycotting this list.

Actually I'm glad you sorta liked it; lots of external factors influenced my high opinion of that album, esp. their live show.

Need to check out SDIG & Kurt Vile's new ones, liked their both of their preceding albums plenty.

[Derek]

You bumped the Kitchen's Floor rating on RYM down too low; boycotting this list.

Actually I'm glad you sorta liked it; lots of external factors influenced my high opinion of that album, esp. their live show.

Need to check out SDIG & Kurt Vile's new ones, liked their both of their preceding albums plenty.

Sorry 'bout that, though I like it more than the somewhat similar, but overhyped stuff like Vivian Girls, Wavves, etc. I figured you'd like the Childish Prodigy when I first heard it. It's the only thing I've heard from him, so I don't know how it compares to his earlier albums.

[Derek]

28

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James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game

Key Track: “Cross (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIW_TeQj_ds)"

After the slight misstep of Litany of Echoes, James Blackshaw returns to form with The Glass Bead Game with a combination of 12-string guitar and piano-driven songs. Some have complained about the albums two piano tracks, but while it might at first seem like an unnecessary departure for such an absurdly talented guitarist, how can one deny the album the achingly beautiful “Fix” and the epic classical/ambient “Arc”? These songs add another layer to Blackshaw’s already full-developed sound, leaving us with a 5-track elegy infused with a melancholy hopefulness that continuously gives me goose bumps.

[Derek]

27

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Atlas Sound - Logos

Key Track: “Walkabout (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcMGACqsg5A) (w/Panda Bear)”

Logos is everything you’d expect from a Bradford Cox record, but trust me, I mean that as a compliment. It’s laid back to the point of being gentle and what it lacks in the heavier sound of Deerhunter, it makes up for with songs that are intensely personal and direct. Since “Walkabout”, the albums clear stand-out, is also quite different than most of the other songs, it’s a tad underwhelming at first, but its simplicity lends it a certain directness and charm that inevitably won me over. Yet again, Cox solidifies his spot among the best psychedelic pop musicians out there today.

[Winston*]

A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar

Waking up in a Future Monastery

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/colpot10/thumbs-up6.jpg

[Melville]

Lots of lush, dreamy music so far. Good stuff as always.

[Derek]

26

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Fever Ray - Fever Ray

Key Track: “Triangle Walks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VJvZ0hXwAk)”

Not as dense as Silent Shout, but equally haunting, Fever Ray’s self-titled debut takes the creepy aesthetic Karin Dreijer created with her brother and strips it down to its most basic elements. Icy beats and taut rhythms are balanced against Dreijer’s elastic, elongated vocals which, as always, are as terrifying as they are sexy. Like The Knife’s music, this is nearly impossible to pin down; it’s undanceable dance music, it’s electronic beats paralyze rather than energize. All I can do is sit back and enjoy the weirdness.

[Derek]

25

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PRE - Hope Freaks

Key Track: “Haircut, Tacos (http://www.myspace.com/prepreprepre)” (also check out "Teenage Lakes" which is on there too)

In “Teenage Lakes”, when Akiko Matsuura screams “I am gonna rape you, rape you, rape you, rape you”, it’s not a promise or even a threat. No, it’s as if, microphone in hand, she’s sprinting full steam and hunting you down before you even have your bearings. PRE’s Dadaist noise punk leanings are about as divisive and abrasive as music gets, but that’s not to say they’re out simply to annoy. Hope Freaks is full of magnificent guitar riffs and rapid drumming that might damn well give you whiplash. The music is propulsive and moving so fast, it seems like the band can barely keep up with one another, leaving us with no hope at all. The often non-sensical lyrics are a perfect match for their style being tossed around like grenades by a madman indifferent to where they land or the damage they cause. Barely crossing the 20-minute mark, it might seem apt to complain about it being as short as some EP's, but after 11 songs, even these crazy mofos know everyone's ready for a breather.

[Derek]

24

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Mount Eerie - Wind's Poem

Key Track: “The Mouth of the Sky (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggLYt8euqd8)”

Not being a metal fan, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard Phil Elverum say his latest was inspired by black metal. Inspired being the key word as this is most often, a few tracks aside, far more of an ambient album than metal, yet it does creates a similarly foreboding and terrifyingly enveloping atmosphere. The Twin Peaks inspired “Through the Trees” and “Between Two Mysteries”, the latter essentially a massive reworking of the show’s theme song, anchor the album, grounding it in a reality similar to that of the show. Even when things are calm, it has a sense of uneasiness and dread that won’t let you go, until, as expected, we’re thrown back into the forest at night where all that creepy, mysterious shit goes down.

[Melville]

A random (more ambient than metal) black metal song I like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luFCBdS5PAs

I can only assume that I first heard of it on match cut.

[ledfloyd]

i couldn't get into that fever ray album. i've given it more than a few shots too.

[Spaceman Spiff]

A question about Fever Ray, I like her more brooding almost Badalamenti-ish pieces as opposed to her electro-pop/dance stuff. Should I check out that album?

[Derek]

A question about Fever Ray, I like her more brooding almost Badalamenti-ish pieces as opposed to her electro-pop/dance stuff. Should I check out that album?

I wouldn't call Fever Ray Badalamenti-ish, but this album is definitely more brooding than poppy. I'd say give it a whirl.

[Derek]

23

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The Horrors - Primary Colours

Key Track: See Within a Sea (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sse_UmiVDA) (I’m a sucker for krautrocky baselines like this, so of course I pick one of the less rockin' tracks)

Image aside (and honestly, if I hated every band that looked like a bunch of douches, my music collection would be cut in half), The Horrors are one of the few 2009 bands to live up to the hype. Their slow-burning brand of post-punk carries the baggage of Joy Division and a baker’s dozen other bands who they draw influence from (“Mirror’s Image” is straight out of The Chameleons playbook), yet The Horrors effectively layer their sound with whirring noise and distortion, taking basic guitar riffs and beats and coming out the other side with something energetic and new. It’s certainly not groundbreaking, but The Horrors bring a welcome dose of darkness and hard-rockin’ attitude that’s often lacking in today’s post-punk revival acts. Primary Colours also benefits from having no bum tracks or fillers; solid stuff from start to finish.

[Melville]

Key Track: See Within a Sea (”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sse_UmiVDA”) (I’m a sucker for krautrocky baselines like this, so of course I pick one of the less rockin' tracks)
Awesome song. I think I'll get the album.

[Acapelli]

i couldn't get into that fever ray album. i've given it more than a few shots too.
same here. couldn't really get into oni ayhun (olof dreijer) either, beyond one track

i really do prefer it when they work together

[Boner M]

Not being a metal fan, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard Phil Elverum say his latest was inspired by black metal. Inspired being the key word as this is most often, a few tracks aside, far more of an ambient album than metal, yet it does creates a similarly foreboding and terrifyingly enveloping atmosphere.
Dunno what you've heard of the genre, but much of black metal is more ambient than metal. Even the stuff that uses a basic rock setup is often produced to sound like a dark, forbidding haze rather than something to headbang to. Burzum's Filosofem (which Melville posted the first track from) and a lot of the San Fran scene (Weakling, Xasthur, Leviathan...), especially.

Leviathan's Tentacles of Whorror might be up your alley, actually. It has a none-too-subtle hint of shoegaze added to the usual serving of grim murk.

[Melville]

Burzum's Filosofem
I've been listening to this for the last couple days. It gets to be a bit monotonous, but hot damn, that's some misappropriated-Tolkienesque mystic neo-Nazi goblinoid ambient doom I can really get behind.

Listening to The Horrors album now. Good stuff.

[dreamdead]

Glad to hear that the Blackshaw album is satisfying. I've used his music vis-a-vis Pandora while writing frequently, and was looking at finally purchasing an album. That one looks to be the full introduction, unless there's an even more introductory album... would that be the case?

The Mount Eerie album seems interesting. I must say, the finest black album for me this year has been Fen's "The Malediction Fields," with this track (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEWj-bnVjNo) being a solid ambient, dreamy encapsulation of their lighter moments.

[Derek]

Dunno what you've heard of the genre, but much of black metal is more ambient than metal. Even the stuff that uses a basic rock setup is often produced to sound like a dark, forbidding haze rather than something to headbang to. Burzum's Filosofem (which Melville posted the first track from) and a lot of the San Fran scene (Weakling, Xasthur, Leviathan...), especially.

Leviathan's Tentacles of Whorror might be up your alley, actually. It has a none-too-subtle hint of shoegaze added to the usual serving of grim murk.

Yeah, I'm not too familiar with Black Metal. I have liked some of the more ambient metal I've heard, as well as the more non-screamy noise-based stuff, so I'll give Burzam and Leviathan a shot. I liked the track Melville posted.


Listening to The Horrors album now. Good stuff.

Nice.


Glad to hear that the Blackshaw album is satisfying. I've used his music vis-a-vis Pandora while writing frequently, and was looking at finally purchasing an album. That one looks to be the full introduction, unless there's an even more introductory album... would that be the case?

The Mount Eerie album seems interesting. I must say, the finest black album for me this year has been Fen's "The Malediction Fields," with this track (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEWj-bnVjNo) being a solid ambient, dreamy encapsulation of their lighter moments.

You may want to start out with The Cloud of Unknowing which is more of a showcase for his guitar skills, but really you can't go wrong with that or The Glass Bead Game. Both are gorgeous.

Save the Mount Eerie album for when you're looking for something dark. I think you'd like it.

I dug that Fen song aside from the singer's voice. Still, very atmospheric.

[Derek]

22

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The Antlers - Hospice

Key Track: "Wake (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH-jd5gYNIA)" (esp. the last 3 1/2 minutes)

With their penchant for gentle harmonies and Peter Silberman’s near-falsetto vocals, The Antlers seem like a band for the twee or emo crowds. Fortunately, their music is infused with the kind of honesty and emotional depth that most bands cannot effectively communicate without outbursts or predictable linear progressions. With their music box melodies, textured ambiance and infrequent yet invigorating explosions into full-out rock, they approach melancholy and nostalgia as states of mind constantly influx. Songs tinged with sadness and regret also carry a measure of hope, even bittersweet happiness. It’s a difficult album to describe as its style is never constant and its transitions, both within songs and from one track to the next, are as natural as they are unexpected. If The Antlers did anything right with Hospice, it’s creating the experience of emotional instability without the typical faux-badass posturing or weepy emoting that would be associated with such a description.

[Derek]

21

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St. Vincent - Actor

Key Track: "Marrow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9prpAv6kvo)"

Actor is an unsettling, deceptively complex album that, with as promising a debut as Marry Me was, I did not expect from St. Vincent. With a voice as pure and beautiful as Annie Clark’s, it takes guts to make an album that doesn’t highlight it. Instead, it is used as a counter to the offbeat music which uses various rhythms and speeds to create a sense of urgency and anxiety within every note. The album starts off perfectly with “The Strangers”, driven by a kick drum beat whose speed is unsettling when matched with Clark’s otherworldly crooning until the song collapses into a noisy guitar riff before finally calming down. It sets the tone for an album that always keeps you on edge, where every instrument, including the vocals, are combined not to create the melodic bliss Clark’s voice begs for, but a musical representation of the mental state of her subject. That said, this is not an ugly album. It’s actually incredibly beautiful – it just makes you do a little bit of legwork to really appreciate that beauty.

[ledfloyd]

i think it's a huge step up from marry me. marry me is nice, but actor feels like a fully formed artistic statement. the mixture of beauty and horror echoes the brothers grimm. and that aesthetic is really in the blood of the songs.

[Winston*]

Acquired the rest of them so far, apart from Fever Ray and St. Vincent which I already had, and put them on my ipod for my holiday.

[Derek]

Acquired the rest of them so far, apart from Fever Ray and St. Vincent which I already had, and put them on my ipod for my holiday.

Sweet. I'll be interested to hear what you think of them.

[Derek]

20

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Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

Key Track: “Said the People (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8wqA_B9lCQ)”

After finding their acclaimed comeback Beyond shapeless and merely satisfying, I went in expecting more from a band likely 10-15 years past their prime. To my surprise, Farm is impeccable, meticulously crafted noise rock of the highest order and possibly my favorite Dinosaur Jr. album to date. Their dual guitar attack has always helped create their unique sound, but here, the impressive yet efficient solos flow perfectly with the rhythm guitar, melding into a sound that is emotionally raw and purely visceral. The album’s pacing is near-perfect striking the right balance of slow and fast, soft and hard, thoughtful and flat-out rockin’. Its centerpiece, “Said the People”, embodies everything great about the album – simple yet effective rhythmic progressions, tremendous solos and, of course, J Mascis’s sad, froggy vocals driving the point home with every note. With Farm, Dinosaur Jr. has taken their place among the few 90s alternative rock torchbearers worth hanging onto.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I should really get around to hearing that. Maybe some torrenting is in order.

[Adam]

I saw Dinosaur Jr burn through Farm this past June in Brooklyn and it was pretty much the most disappointing show I've ever been to. For a band that meant so much to me in high school, that one night retroactively tainted an awful lot of the goodwill I had for them

[Derek]

I saw Dinosaur Jr burn through Farm this past June in Brooklyn and it was pretty much the most disappointing show I've ever been to. For a band that meant so much to me in high school, that one night retroactively tainted an awful lot of the goodwill I had for them

That sucks. I've never seen them live, but I'd never let a bad live show prevent me from enjoying a band's studio albums.

[Boner M]

Farm is one of my top 3 albums of the year, but I echo Adam in that Dino Jr. were really disappointing when I saw them three years ago. It didn't help that they were supported by The Drones, who had just beat them at their own game before Mascis & co got on stage.

[Derek]

19

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Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport

Key Track: “Olympians (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQZo2rsReEM)” (though several others are just as good)

I can’t quite put my finger on why Tarot Sport has garnered even more praise than Street Horrrsing. Perhaps its favoring more accessible ambience and dance beats over muted screams and melodic noise was easier on critic’s ears, making for an album easier to recommend to a wider audience. Whatever the reason, it’s still not too far a step backwards for the band and while no track absolutely floors me, all are very good to great. From the pulsating weirdness of “Surf Solar” and the thumping tribal beats of “The Lisbon Maru” through the transcendent ambient bliss of “Olympians” and the wailing guitar-driven “Space Mountain, Fuck Buttons continue to cover new ground, blending together a wide variety of sounds and genre in unique, exciting ways. Everything sounds a bit familiar, yet the way tracks are pieced together and layered keep them fresh and unpredictable. Though it doesn’t pack the emotional punch of Street Horrrsing, it holds up remarkably well over repeated listens and its accessibility does lend itself an appropriateness to more moods and situations than its predecessor. It has been a rather anemic year for electronic music however, so the Fuck Buttons quick turnaround time is much appreciated.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

From the pulsating weirdness of “Surf Solar”

Supposedly the distorted vocal sample is a song from a Naruse film.

Of course I read that via a youtube comment, so who knows, but it kind of makes me want to watch all his films to find out if its true.

[Derek]

18

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Do Make Say Think - Other Truths

Key Track: “Make (http://hypem.com/track/993784/Do+Make+Say+Think+-+Make)”

Good old Do Make Say Think. They never got the massive exposure of other post-rock acts, yet while those other acts have gotten stuck in creative ruts and repeated themselves and others have simply broken up or faded away, they remain productive, consistent and exciting. Easy to overlook simply because they’re so damn reliable, DMST put out the Other Truths right at the end of the decade to reassure us they’re as relevant now as they were in the first half of the decade. The guitar work here may be their most impressive yet, bringing structured math rock progressions in line with their seemingly, though far from, improvisational jams to create lengthy songs that are both loose and structured. There’s nothing earth-shattering or groundbreaking about the album, but as proof that there’s still room for interesting new post-rock when many have declared the genre dead, it’s one of the more important albums released this year. With four 10+ minute tracks, Other Truths may appear at a glance to be excessive, yet its songs progress so organically that their length seems a non-issue.

[Derek]

Probably my last entry until Friday when I'll have more time again...


17

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Hildur Guðnadóttir - Without Sinking

Key Track: “Iridescence (http://idisk.mac.com/olneyce/Public/iridescence.mp3)”

Perhaps the closest approximation of heartbreak or dusk on a cold, gloomy day you can’t wait to end, Hildur Guðnadóttir brings modern classical into the realm of dark ambient. I’m not entirely sure if the album’s title is a tip of the hat to Gavin Bryars’ masterful The Sinking of the Titanic, but I can only imagine it is as that’s the only thing I’ve heard that sounds anything like this. As was Bryars motive, Hildur G. replicates the feeling of an orchestra underwater, with instruments distorted as songs go on, reshaping the sounds we hear and creating a true sense of fluidity through its otherwordly tones. As with all great ambient music, this one is perfectly suited for the background while reading, but ends up all the more impressive upon a close inspection. It is packed with little details and touches that fill out its sound, which is dense yet not overstuffed and overpowering as it finds way to strike you at the center of your core.

[Derek]

Ok, I lied. One more.


16

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Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains

Key Track: “And the Hazy Sea (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuP4y0Dfyyk)”

One of the most exciting new bands to debut in ’09, Cymbals Eat Guitars came out with a straightforward, no-frills rock album that is more than the sum of its parts. Taking their cues from a number of popular indie rock acts of the past few decades, Cymbals throw them all in a blender and end up with a potent mixture that is more of a journey through its various sounds than a definitive establishment of their own. I don’t mean that as an insult either as their statement of purpose seems clearly to reappropriate pre-established styles and put their own spin on it. As their spin, from Joseph (I hope that's your given name) Ferocious‘ hoarse, earthy voice and the band’s subtle use of a variety of instruments, is pretty damn impressive, it’s hard to complain that their first goal was not pure originality. Most importantly, Why There Are Mountains flat out rocks, but it also shows the potential for greatness when coloring within the lines. Refusing to accept the growing belief that experimentation = creativity, Cymbals garner their greatness from paying close attention to the great ones that came before them.

[D_Davis]

Key Track: “Lord, Am I Going Down? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux_kLPXiD0o)”

In all honesty, the only reason Persona isn’t in the top 30 is that this was simply an exceptional year for ambient music. The album is remarkably patient with sounds and textures that blend together for an accumulative power that leads not to release, but extended stretches of pure bliss. It’s like getting a massage for your ear drums.


This is a good album. And yes, 2009 was an AMAZING year for ambient music. And so much being released via Creative Commons, I'm finding it more and more difficult to actually pay for commercially released ambient music, especially when it is no better, and often times worse, than the stuff released for free.

However, Persona is one that I return to frequently. I'm sure that its being a thematic tribute to Spacemen 3 helps this fact.

[D_Davis]

Farm is pretty amazing. I liked Beyond, but it didn't blow me away. Farm, however, did. It's like a long lost gem from the early '90s.

[Derek]

15

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Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy

Key Tracks: “Done (http://blip.fm/profile/ellenk/blip/29929847/Built_To_Spill-Done)”, “Things Fall Apart (http://hypem.com/track/912989/built+to+spill+-+things+fall+apart)”, “Aisle 13 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQiR-rn5WEE)”

The reigning kings of slowcore, Built to Spill once again slightly alter their formula and come through with another consistent, well-crafted album. Following You in Reverse, an album too often chided for its bombast, There Is No Enemy relies more on toned down melodies that allow songs to calmly drift along until the occasional guitar solos remind you these guys can still rock out with the best of them. While it’s nothing earth-shattering, its lush guitars and Doug Martsch’s typically melancholy vocals fill your ears with typical BTS goodness from start to finish. Songs like “Done” and “Things Fall Apart” take basic riffs and stretch them to the breaking point, giving the songs room to breathe and the musicians time to stretch their muscles and show what they can do. There Is No Enemy’s back-to-basics approach shows off the band’s talent as pure songwriters and masters of tone.

[Derek]

14

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The Field - Yesterday & Today

Key Tracks: “The More That I Do (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0aI6CJHqKs)”, “I Have the Moon, You Have the Internet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvX9HNkWm8c&feature=related)”, “Yesterday & Today (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1oiVcVBA5I)”

In a year with few standout minimalist techno albums, The Field’s follow-up to the brilliant From Here We Go Sublime went damn near unnoticed by comparison. While its sound is more expansive, thus lacking the immediacy and urgency of the debut, Yesterday and Today is nearly as beautiful. Where Sublime’s icy chill makes it the perfect sound for winter, Yesterday and Today is far sunnier and I personally found it the perfect beach album for a solid month. Using repetition and the slow, subtle introduction of new sounds and rhythms to accentuate the central beats, Yesterday and Today benefits most from close, repeated listens to appreciate the complexity of Willner’s layering skills. Even a song as basic as “Leave It”, which even I will admit overstays its welcome by a few minutes, effectively takes a simple baseline and backs in with a variety of chimes and electronic whirs that keep it fresh and alive. The album’s centerpiece, “The More That I Do”, on the other hand is nearly as good as the best of Sublime’s tracks. Hard beats and more abrasive keyboards blend with the sensuous vocals to create a song whose sheer density contains almost too much to take in at once but also keeps it moving at a brisk pace without ever seeming rushed. It’s a shame most people saw Willner’s slightly new approach to be a full step backwards, when I think it’s great to see he’s unwilling to settle down and repeat what he’s already done before.

[Milky Joe]

Since when are Built to Spill the "reigning kings of slowcore?"

[Derek]

Since when are Built to Spill the "reigning kings of slowcore?"

1994? Or 1997 with their best album? I find arguing over musical genres about as pointless as anything, so suffice it to say, I consider them, as do many, to be partly a slowcore band...a genre essentially started by the band they most remind me of, Galaxie 500.

[Milky Joe]

You mean when they released a pretty straightforward pop album? I'm not usually this petty about subgenres, but... Pedro the Lion: slowcore. The New Year: slowcore. Bedhead: slowcore. Mazzy Star: slowcore. Built to Spill: not slowcore.

[Derek]

You mean when they released a pretty straightforward pop album? I'm not usually this petty about subgenres, but... Pedro the Lion: slowcore. The New Year: slowcore. Bedhead: slowcore. Mazzy Star: slowcore. Built to Spill: not slowcore.

Opinion noted.

My opinion - There Is No Enemy: not a pop album.

[Derek]

13

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Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms

Key Tracks: “Deadbeat Summer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWroI785ghU)”, “Should Have Taken Acid With You (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jma6Ojg2Vg)”, “Psychic Chasms (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_6uLlLqCrY)”

The unavoidable entanglement of sunny, psychedelic pop and hipsters is real shame because although Neon Indian’s debut is the kind of borderline ironic take on trendy 80s retro that’ll have plaid and tight jeans lined up around the block to get in, Psychic Chasms is too exuberant, creative and filled to the brim with pure joy to dismiss as anything close to pandering. No, this album takes beats that may seem at home in an old school Mariah Carey or Paula Abdul song (stay with me, please) and runs them through filters, distorting them into something twisted and unique. It’s weird and danceable and produced to within an inch of its life, but in doing so is a really wicked and entertaining reimagining of 80s and early 90s pop music, like, as if it didn’t completely suck. One in a long line of recent laptop musicians, Neon Indian uses technology to revive dismissed, long lost sounds and transforms them into lively, exciting and self-reflexively modern dance pop tunes with an attitude. Undoubted, this is one of the most fun albums of the year.

[Melville]

I'm enjoying the music, of course, but I've noticed that a lot of your links don't work (probably because of an excess of quotation marks).

[Derek]

I'm enjoying the music, of course, but I've noticed that a lot of your links don't work (probably because of an excess of quotation marks).

Thanks for head's up. The links should all work now, but let me know if there are still any dead ones.

[Melville]

Thanks for head's up. The links should all work now, but let me know if there are still any dead ones.
Yeah, they all seem to be good now. My apologies for seemingly following you around pointing out your mistakes on New Year's Day. Take solace in the fact that I have such faith in your usual reliability that when I went to IMDb to make sure that Preston Sturges directed Unfaithfully Yours, even when I discovered that I was correct, I momentarily wondered if somebody had sabotaged the site by maliciously changing the film's director from Lubitsch to Sturges.

[Derek]

Yeah, they all seem to be good now. My apologies for seemingly following you around pointing out your mistakes on New Year's Day. Take solace in the fact that I have such faith in your usual reliability that when I went to IMDb to make sure that Preston Sturges directed Unfaithfully Yours, even when I discovered that I was correct, I momentarily wondered if somebody had sabotaged the site by maliciously changing the film's director from Lubitsch to Sturges.

Haha, it's okay. I'm actually surprised no one pointed out the link's earlier and at least now they'll work for the rest of the entries as well. As for the Lubitsch/Sturges error, I don't know what I was thinking. I even looked at my own list of Lubitsch films and thought I must've forgotten to add it.

[D_Davis]

In a year with few standout minimalist techno albums.

I disagree. There were a ton of great minimal techno albums released....just not commercially.

:)

[Derek]

I disagree. There were a ton of great minimal techno albums released....just not commercially.

:)

I'll change it to "In a year with few standout minimalist techno albums that anyone other than Daniel Davis heard...", okay? ;)

[D_Davis]

I'll change it to "In a year with few standout minimalist techno albums that anyone other than Daniel Davis heard...", okay? ;)

That sounds kind of awkward.

We need people like you to help spread the word of CC music. Seriously. More people with fine tastes such as yourself are what the CC community needs. Probably even more than it needs additional talented artists. It has those in spades. It needs more listeners and champions.

[Derek]

That sounds kind of awkward.

We need people like you to help spread the word of CC music. Seriously. More people with fine tastes such as yourself are what the CC community needs. Probably even more than it needs additional talented artists. It has those in spades. It needs more listeners and champions.

I will definitely try to make a concerted effort to check more of that stuff out. Considering my preference for ambient and minimal techno, I imagine there's a lot of CC stuff out there that I'd love. Keep the recs coming and I'll be sure to listen to more this year!

[D_Davis]

I will definitely try to make a concerted effort to check more of that stuff out. Considering my preference for ambient and minimal techno, I imagine there's a lot of CC stuff out there that I'd love. Keep the recs coming and I'll be sure to listen to more this year!

There are more releases worth your time than you will ever have time for. It's insane.

[D_Davis]

Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy[/CENTER]



I dug this album - especially the cover. Really nice.

[D_Davis]

Probably my last entry until Friday when I'll have more time again...


17

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Hildur Guðnadóttir - Without Sinking

Key Track: “Iridescence (http://idisk.mac.com/olneyce/Public/iridescence.mp3)”

Perhaps the closest approximation of heartbreak or dusk on a cold, gloomy day you can’t wait to end, Hildur Guðnadóttir brings modern classical into the realm of dark ambient. I’m not entirely sure if the album’s title is a tip of the hat to Gavin Bryars’ masterful The Sinking of the Titanic, but I can only imagine it is as that’s the only thing I’ve heard that sounds anything like this. As was Bryars motive, Hildur G. replicates the feeling of an orchestra underwater, with instruments distorted as songs go on, reshaping the sounds we hear and creating a true sense of fluidity through its otherwordly tones. As with all great ambient music, this one is perfectly suited for the background while reading, but ends up all the more impressive upon a close inspection. It is packed with little details and touches that fill out its sound, which is dense yet not overstuffed and overpowering as it finds way to strike you at the center of your core.

This is gorgeous. Love Sinking of the Titanic. Wish I had heard this in 2009... :( I can't buy it now. Remind me in a year. :)

Really great pick.

[ledfloyd]

hmm. i've never thought of built to spill as being similar to galaxie 500.

[Derek]

hmm. i've never thought of built to spill as being similar to galaxie 500.

Maybe it's just me, but the latter's sluggish guitars immediately reminded me of BTS (I first heard G500 after I'd heard several BTS albums). Built to Spill is rarely as slow, but both bands seem to have a similar use of dual guitars.

[ledfloyd]

Maybe it's just me, but the latter's sluggish guitars immediately reminded me of BTS (I first heard G500 after I'd heard several BTS albums). Built to Spill is rarely as slow, but both bands seem to have a similar use of dual guitars.
maybe. martsch in general seems more proficient on guitar than wareham is. also, built to spill tends to be poppier. less shoegazey.

[Llopin]

BTS are by no means a slowcore band. At all.

Their last album is pretty nice though, and I heard many bashing comments.

PD: Oh, and BTS have three friggin guitars, while Galaxie has only Wareham's.

[Derek]

Ok, Built to Spill are not in any way shape or form slowcore and they sound nothing like Galaxie 500. I was wrong and apologize for the damage caused to both bands reputations and anyone reading my campaign of misinformation. Can we move on now since people coming in here just to bitch really makes the idea of putting any more effort into to this seem really unappealing?


12

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Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics - Inspiration Information

Key Tracks: “Addis Black Widow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwIucSHEUnI)”, “Cha Cha (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAX09zyurlM)”, “An Epic Story (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdfdShvUr-4)”

Forty years into his career, legendary Ethiopian jazz musician Mulatu Astatke combined with The Heliocentrics to create a jazz-funk-rock that contains enough of each element to keep all fans happy. Inspiration Information is an album that quickly finds it groove and never lets go, unrelenting jams fleshed out by a soulful trumpet section and Astatke’s magical fingers on the keyboards. Every instrument is given its chance to sign, but the album flourishes most noticeably when the musicians are fully keyed into one other developing complex rhythms that tickle the eardrum and would make even the most somber listener bob their head and smile. Songs have the freshness of an improvised session, yet the attention to detail that comes only from carefully designed compositions. In that, it’s equally suited for setting your rhythm for the day as it to closer listens to admire the pure talent of everyone involved.

[Derek]

11

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Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Key Tracks: “Ready, Able (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Puph1hejMQE&feature=related)”, “Two Weeks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjecYugTbIQ)”, “Cheerleader (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbhO7rsnAz0)”

Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House is one of my favorite albums of the decade, so I expected the release of Veckatimest to be the musical highlight of my year. To my surprise, the lush, dense homespun melodies of their previous album were replaced by more deliberately constructed songs which use the space between notes rather than a relentless flowing of one to the next. In a way, Veckatimest is the more patient album with its more minimal approach whose pleasures lie in its restraint and occasional interlocking of all four band members in perfect unison rather the crashing waves of sound on Yellow House. There were always several songs that I loved (the three above along with “Southern Point”) and others that could never quite capture my interest. I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed that this album got the press and praise that Yellow House should have, until I finally got to see them live. Not to say their live show forced me to completely reappraise Veckatimest, but their sheer meticulousness and the talents of everyone on stage somehow allowed me to feel the power and precision behind every note on the album. It’s a perfectionist’s album that leaves room for some rust and torn edges to give it some character. It’s quaintness may be a turn-off to some, but it’s part of the band’s old-timey charm that continues to make them one of the best young bands out there.

[ledfloyd]

that's my favorite album of the year. i think it improves upon yellow house because, as you said, the four band members are working in perfect unison here. also, every song does it for me. i really have trouble picking out a 'weakest' song.

i haven't had the pleasure to see them live yet. seeing st. vincent live did lead to me liking actor alot more. the songs have really grown on the road with her band. there's stuff hidden in there i didn't hear until i heard it live.

[Derek]

10

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OOIOO - Armonico Hewa

Key Tracks: “Polacca (http://magazine.jamsbio.com/2009/11/10/ooioo-armonico-hewa/)”, “O O I A H (http://magazine.jamsbio.com/2009/11/10/ooioo-armonico-hewa/)”, “Sol (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fiHyEA6t30)”

While we’re all sitting back and praying for another Boredoms release, Armonico Hewa comes along to slap our faces and remind us that sometimes side projects can approach the greatness of the original act. OOIOO is an all-girl band with a pure punk attitude and a penchant for seemingly nonsensical lyrical play (including phonetically pronounced song names, my favorite being “Honki Ponki”) and tribal drumming that will send you higher into the stratosphere than anything since Vision Creation Newsun. Reducing them to an all-girl band, as undeniably sexy as that notion is, is not meant to deny the fact that these girls flat-out rocked it harder than any other band in ’09 and yet their abrasive edginess doesn’t completely cancel out their cuter, more feminine qualities. If this description seems all over the place, it’s because OOIOO is the kind of band that is creatively restless and never confined to a genre or “sound”. Their music seems driven by nothing other than a desire to create in a progressive way and ultimately shatter all barriers by simply ignoring the fact that they exist. Break into a random prog jam for a minute with “Konjo”? Sure, why not? Follow that with a 6-minute synth-driven downer that threatens to stop the album in its tracks? No worries, we’ll awake you from your slumber with the epic jam and contender for best track of the year, “Polacca”, which is the kind of song that really can unite the children around the world. Or maybe “O O I A H” would be best to further that cause. Either way, I’d pay good money to see a children’s chorus cover that one.

[Derek]

that's my favorite album of the year. i think it improves upon yellow house because, as you said, the four band members are working in perfect unison here. also, every song does it for me. i really have trouble picking out a 'weakest' song.

i haven't had the pleasure to see them live yet. seeing st. vincent live did lead to me liking actor alot more. the songs have really grown on the road with her band. there's stuff hidden in there i didn't hear until i heard it live.

I thought they worked in perfect unison on Yellow House as well, but in a different way. Still, I can't fault anyone for preferring this album as I obviously love it myself.

They really are a treat to see live, as long as you're prepared for a more laid back show. I'd love to catch St. Vincent live, maybe this year.


COMING UP: Another entry by a band who's had a previous album as my #1 of the year, two great ambient albums that Daniel Davis won't listen to until 2011 and an album that somehow went from outside of my top 50 to #6 in less than the 6 weeks.

[ledfloyd]

I thought they worked in perfect unison on Yellow House as well, but in a different way. Still, I can't fault anyone for preferring this album as I obviously love it myself.
yeah, i love both albums as well. but on yellow house it sounds to me like they're learning how to play together, and on veckatimest it all comes together.

[D_Davis]

COMING UP: Another entry by a band who's had a previous album as my #1 of the year, two great ambient albums that Daniel Davis won't listen to until 2011 and an album that somehow went from outside of my top 50 to #6 in less than the 6 weeks.

Maybe I've already heard them. :P

Can't wait!

[Winston*]

Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy

This should be an instrumental act.

James Blackshaw - The Glass Bead Game

Dude is too talented to live.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/colpot10/thumbs-up6.jpg

Fever Ray - Fever Ray

Cuts like a dull knife.

PRE - Hope Freaks

Fuck yeah.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/colpot10/thumbs-up6.jpg

[Acapelli]

Fever Ray - Fever Ray

Cuts like a dull knife.
hehe

[Spaceman Spiff]

Fever Ray - Fever Ray

Cuts like a dull knife.

Heh.

[Derek]

A dull knife is better than nothing and still > Spoon

[Derek]

9

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Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

Key Tracks: “You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIOpn8aTRGU)”,
“Apollo and the Buffalo and Anna Anna Anna Oh! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsPkyMi2WWU&feature=related)”, “Nightingale/December Song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eh6jWLmKcc&feature=related)”

Random Spirit Lover was an album, that for me, was nearly impossible to follow, so the slightly more rock-based, yet even more lyrically playful Dragonslayer was about as great as I could’ve hoped for under the circumstances. Here, Spencer Krug is at his most preposterously unrestrained (“My heart is a kingdom where the king is a heart. My heart is king, the King of Hearts.” *cue eyeroll*) but also his most self-aware and amusing (“This ones for the critics…and their disappointed mothers.”). The album's two weakest tracks ("Black Swan" and "Paper Lace") leave an unfortunate lull right in the middle of the album, but sublime "You Go On Ahead..." fully revives it with one of the most powerful builds of any Krug song, heightened by Camilla's backing vocals and some of the most epic guitarwork the Rubdown have ever done. Overall, it's still a somewhat inconsistent album, but the three linked tracks along with "Silver Moons" and "Idiot Heart" are simply too good to ignore. Even my disappointed mother can't deny that.

[Adam]

Yep, Dragonslayer was great. Manages to feel epic and, surprisingly, beautifully melodic at the same time. One of the few albums I heard from 2009 that got infinitely better every time I listened to it

[Acapelli]

wasn't really all that impressed with random spirit lover and thought that dragonslayer was an improvement

i still prefer shut up i am dreaming and the self titled ep though

[Derek]

8

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Leyland Kirby - Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was

Key Tracks: “The Sound of Music Vanishing (http://www.sendspace.com/file/pscgy8)”, “Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was (http://www.sendspace.com/file/p8oa3m)”, “A Longing to Be Absorbed For A Wile Into a Different and Beautiful World (http://www.sendspace.com/file/ent9ka)”

Triple CDs are as intimidating as they are rare, but Leyland Kirby’s masterful Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was is the type of music suitable for relegating to the background while also being layered and beautifully produced enough to appreciate the seemingly infinite touches and details he throws into the mix. For me, the best ambient music has a certain plasticity that wraps itself so thoroughly around and within my mind that it shapes my thoughts and experiences. The 3+ hours of Kirby’s expansive soundscapes is certainly a lot to take in at once, but his various tones and moods runs the album through a variety emotions making for a final product that is not weighed down by its singularity. His lush, textured sound covers much ground, from more drone-based dreamy tracks to more deliberate piano-driven ones, an instrument I normally am not too taken with in ambient music, but which is here used to perfect effect. From the melancholy dark ambience of the title track to the playfulness of “I’ve Hummed This Tune to All the Girl I’ve Known” and the terrifying yet invigorating wavering madness of “A Longing to Be Absorbed For A Wile Into a Different and Beautiful World”, Kirby shows an understanding and appreciation of ambient music in all its forms and brings the skill and talent to make it extremely worth your while to take the plunge into his sonic world.

[Derek]

wasn't really all that impressed with random spirit lover and thought that dragonslayer was an improvement

i still prefer shut up i am dreaming and the self titled ep though

I can understand preferring Shut Up, but the Self-titled EP? That's madness.

But fear not my shift-less friend, there is at least one pick left I know you love and one other I think you do.

[Acapelli]

I can understand preferring Shut Up, but the Self-titled EP? That's madness.

But fear not my shift-less friend, there is at least one pick left I know you love and one other I think you do.
yeah, it even has my favorite sunset rubdown song, a day in the graveyard ii

[D_Davis]

8

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Leyland Kirby - Sadly, The Future Is No Longer What It Was



Interesting stuff here. Can't say I dig it, but I like that you chose it.

[Derek]

7

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Lokai - Transition

Key Tracks: "Roads (http://www.sendspace.com/file/ojylfm)", "Tik (http://www.sendspace.com/file/ophawo)", "Glimmer (http://www.sendspace.com/file/hobdh9)"

Approximating the experience of getting lost in a giant grandfather clock while tripping on mushrooms and hearing the sounds of its chimes and gears at slightly less than their normal speed, Lokai’s Transition secures its place among the years strangest and scariest albums. There is particularly odd deliberateness to the tracks, which stretch periods of near silence in a way that seems to grab a hold of time itself, treating as something malleable rather than concrete. Creaks, hums, bells and chimes are to create a very particular imagery which the music slowly takes you through. Rather than creating an overwhelming sense of confusion by layering these sounds atop one another, Lokai is patient, spacing them out to create a palpable sense of tension and suspense which, oddly enough, makes the album exciting to listen to. More than any album this year, Transition has an uncanny ability to take you exactly where it wants.

[Derek]

Interesting stuff here. Can't say I dig it, but I like that you chose it.

Bah, I figured you'd like that one and dislike Lokai. Oh well, we agree on most ambient music so I'll let this one slide. ;)

[D_Davis]

The Kirby is a little too abrasive for me. I can't just let the music wash over me, or fade into the background, and when I try to engage it I'm just not that interested in it. It's creatively made, and some of the textures are really nice but I find it a little irritating.


Lokai I haven't heard. I'll check out the MP3s.

Thanks.

[Derek]

The Kirby is a little too abrasive for me. I can't just let the music wash over me, or fade into the background, and when I try to engage it I'm just not that interested in it. It's creatively made, and some of the textures are really nice but I find it a little irritating.

Fair enough. I guess I'm more into abrasive, noisier music so I definitely find it more interesting than irritating.

[Derek]

6

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Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Key Tracks: “1901 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDkbo2Vbgtk)”, “Lisztomania (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtRQsCgYmtc)”, “Armistice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV8ENWz_ldA)”

Possibly the best produced album of the year, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is pop at it’s finest – catchy hooks, lyrical wordplay and a near-perfect sense of pacing and rhythm. Every track is immaculately crafted and packed to the brim with subtle touches that flesh out the melodies without overtaking them. It is ostensibly a headphones album where close listens led me to truly appreciate the precision of their rubbery guitars and the control they seem to have over every element of their music. I wasn’t particularly impressed with their previous album, It’s Never Been Like That, but here the band is perfectly comfortable in the niche they’ve carved for themselves and the bubbling joy and positivity is infectious.

[Adam]

Hmmm, why didn't you like the last Phoenix album, Derek? I've been kind of baffled as to why this one caught on so hard when they've basically been putting out the same noise for years. And nothing on Wolfgang tops the one-two punch of "Napoleon Says" and "Consolation Prizes"

[Derek]

Hmmm, why didn't you like the last Phoenix album, Derek? I've been kind of baffled as to why this one caught on so hard when they've basically been putting out the same noise for years. And nothing on Wolfgang tops the one-two punch of "Napoleon Says" and "Consolation Prizes"

You know, I really don't remember. I really should go back and give it a shot considering how much I love this one.

As for one-two punches, "Lisztomania" and "1901" is pretty damn tough to beat.

[Derek]

5

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The xx - xx

Key Tracks: “Infinity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKEdv4B66eo)”, “Crystalised (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pib8eYDSFEI)”, “Basic Space (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFdBGW2uOEE&feature=related)”

The first couple times I heard xx, I found it charming yet forgettable. About two months ago, I returned to it and was instantly sucked into their intimate world and the verbal tete-a-tete between the breathy, sexy Romy Madley-Croft and the icy Oliver Sim. Comparisons to Young Marble Giants are apt (though this ain’t quite Colossal Youth) as their stripped down minimalist approach allows you to feel the space between the notes. So much music is inspired by love, sex and relationships, yet is almost exclusively sung by one sex or the other. The male-female vocal pairing that The xx brings the table makes for a fascinating dialogue of the joys and trials of a relationship with the music perfectly encapsulating the intimacy and sensuality of the lyrics. What at first seems simple soon reveals its depth through the careful placement of every note and the meticulousness with which is lyrical interplay in woven around them. This is the sexiest album of the year precisely because it understands that mystery is often contained in what is not seen or heard and silence can often cut just as deeply as words.

[Acapelli]

my first impressions on the xx mirror yours derek. as soon as the final vestiges of the summer disappeared, the album became infinitely more appealing to me

it's really hard for me to find anything to compare them too, which is very impressive these days

[dreamdead]

thefourthwall and I have purchased the St. Vincent and Phoenix albums. Good stuff, those. It's an odd case on the former artist, since I think Clark's material here is more sophisticated and developed, but it lacks the immediate catchiness that made Marry Me so hypnotic. Lots of good tracks, certainly, but Marrow is the only real track that immediately signals a memorable listening experience.

Are you of the opinion that Bat for Lashes improved with the release, or not a fan of her style (or did I miss an earlier mention)?

[thefourthwall]

6

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Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Key Tracks: “1901 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDkbo2Vbgtk)”, “Lisztomania (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtRQsCgYmtc)”, “Armistice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV8ENWz_ldA)”


I think of match-cut everytime I hear the song Lisztomania.

[Derek]

thefourthwall and I have purchased the St. Vincent and Phoenix albums. Good stuff, those. It's an odd case on the former artist, since I think Clark's material here is more sophisticated and developed, but it lacks the immediate catchiness that made Marry Me so hypnotic. Lots of good tracks, certainly, but Marrow is the only real track that immediately signals a memorable listening experience.

I'm in complete agreement. I lean towards thinking Actor is the better album because it is more complex and a definite step forward, but I'm also drawn to listen to Marry Me more often.


Are you of the opinion that Bat for Lashes improved with the release, or not a fan of her style (or did I miss an earlier mention)?

I wasn't much of a fan of the new album, but I honestly didn't give it much of a chance. I liked her last a bit more mostly because of the awesomeness of "What's A Girl To Do?" (and it's video).


I think of match-cut everytime I hear the song Lisztomania.

Heh, nice! I actually think of the brat pack now ever since I saw that mash-up video.

[Derek]

4

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Dan Deacon - Bromst

Key Tracks: “Snookered (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeeHGCPCvdM)”, “Of the Mountains (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRw2o-0c8GA)”, “Paddling Ghost (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgWQ_O3W5mw&feature=related)”

Dan Deacon’s blend of classical composer and over-sugared, ADD-addled kid-who-never-grew-up makes him as unique as he is divisive. His debut album, Spiderman of the Rings, showed promise, but also went overboard with some of his more grating tendencies and remained something I can only take in small doses. A feeling that no doubt many will have with regards to Bromst, but this is a more patient, thoughtful and gratifying album that flexing Deacon’s song-writing strengths without sacrificing any of his unfettered exuberance. Yes, the Alvin and the Chipmunks voices and 8-bit sounds are still found throughout, but on Bromst, Deacon gives his songs room to breath, build and flourish. There is an element of chill to balance the hyperactivity making the explosive moments powerful punctuations rather than the norm. Like every mother tells her misbehaving teen, maybe all he needed was a little structure and discipline. It sure has done a lot for our little Danny. He’s all grown up now.

[D_Davis]

I just can't get into Deacon, for some reason. That album got a lot of attention in the electronic community though, so it must be pretty good. Just not my thing.




Do you listen to many artists of Ghostly International?

Mainly Tycho, or The Sight Below? Saw both of those guys live last year at the DBFest - it was awesome.

[Derek]

I just can't get into Deacon, for some reason. That album got a lot of attention in the electronic community though, so it must be pretty good. Just not my thing.

That's an album where I can completely understand someone not being able to take it. To me, it's probably the most purely fun album of the year.


Do you listen to many artists of Ghostly International?

Mainly Tycho, or The Sight Below? Saw both of those guys live last year at the DBFest - it was awesome.

Looking through their artists, I've heard Deastro, Matthew Dear, School of Seven Bells and Skeletons & The Kings Of All Cities. Liked all to varying degrees, so I'll look into more starting with the two you recommend!

[Derek]

Sorry Daniel, though we both knew this was coming. :)


3

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/s2275493.jpg

The Flaming Lips - Embryonic

Key Tracks: “Powerless (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9ew_K9JKlc)”, “Convinced of the Hex (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ3S-c-96ik&feature=related)”,
“Watching the Planets (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htQX4R9yHWc&feature=related)”

Yoshimi Battles thePink Robots is one of those instantly likeable albums that goes down smooth every time like a fruity shot. It’s fun and boisterous like the popular girl who’s cool enough to invite everyone back to her place for drinks. It’s inclusive and inviting where Embryonic is abrasive and distancing. The Lips shows are legendary for their partylike atmospheres and embracing of life, so Embryonic initially caught me off-guard with is noisy, echoey production, thumping bass, Coyne’s vocals buried in the mix and guitars that cut like knives. And yet, it’s still playful and boldly experimental, throwing in pieces from all the band’s phases and using them to flourish into some completely exciting and new. As a follow-up to the decent but undistinguished rehash of Yoshimi, At War With the Mystics, Embryonic feels like an attempt to rectify that mistake and take a leap of faith into a whole new realm of sound. It’s fitting that it’s double album as everything is a bit over-the-top and scatterbrained, but fortunately in an absolutely wonderful way. Stripping the sheen off their recently more polished sound, Embryonic is raw even in its extravagant production and intimate even when it seems like it’s shoving you away. I’m rather surprised by the almost universal praise for an album that has everything from slow-burning jams to all-out rockers to Karen O. making animal sounds, but despite the album initially coming off as harsh, the spirit of experimenting, changing, growing and being born anew comes through in every song ultimately makes it just as charming as Yoshimi, if for entirely different reasons.

[D_Davis]

I'm just going to keep my mouth shut.

[Melville]

Key Tracks: “Powerless (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9ew_K9JKlc)”, “Convinced of the Hex (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ3S-c-96ik&feature=related)”,
“Watching the Planets (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htQX4R9yHWc&feature=related)”
I like all three of those more than any other Flaming Lips song I've heard, except "The Gash". Good stuff. I'm not sure if I'll get the album, though, as a perusal of samples from it makes me suspect that it has a lot of songs I wouldn't like.

I was a bit disappointed by Dragonslayer. It doesn't have the verve and wild inventiveness of Shut Up... and Random Spirit Lover.

[Derek]

I'm just going to keep my mouth shut.

Good, because I have no intention of arguing about production with a guy who owns more money worth of music equipment than I have in my bank account. ;)


I like all three of those more than any other Flaming Lips song I've heard, except "The Gash". Good stuff. I'm not sure if I'll get the album, though, as a perusal of samples from it makes me suspect that it has a lot of songs I wouldn't like.

It's a hard album to judge from 30-second samples - I do think it works better as a whole. If you like those three tracks, I'd at least pick up a "free" copy and see if it's worth your hard-earned dough.


I was a bit disappointed by Dragonslayer. It doesn't have the verve and wild inventiveness of Shut Up... and Random Spirit Lover.

I'd put it on par with Shut Up... It really took me a while to warm up to it and hearing most of the songs performed live did help as well. I was surprised critics seem to favor it over Random Spirit Lover though as I think that album is on a whole different level of awesomeness.

[Derek]

2

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Circulatory System - Signal Morning

Key Tracks: “Round Again (http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/13339-round-again-ft-jeff-mangum/)”, “Rocks and Stones (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi3pIq55bjM)”, “This Morning (We Remembered Everything) (http://newyorkrockmarket.files.wordpr ess.com/2009/12/03-this-morning-we-remembered-everything.mp3)”

If Embryonic is a bit scatterbrained, then Signal Morning is downright schizophrenic. An overwhelmingly complex blend of psychedelic rock, folk and electronic music, it is album that defies categorization as its chameleon-like tendencies not only make for an album full of a ridiculously wide array of sounds, tempos and moods, but songs that are themselves almost constantly transforming. But this is not free-form or improvisional music, although it is made with only the slightest barriers of separate and structured tracks. What the album lacks in discipline, it more than makes up by the sheer propulsive force of its songs, which are unpredictable, exciting and, most importantly, thoroughly engaging. Will Cullen Hart fills the album with a creative anxiety born that may at first leave the album appearing to be messy, but it is a messiness that reveals a multitude of possibilities within single songs and allows them to double back on themselves, pick another fork in the road and discover what lies ahead. I do not use the word visionary lightly, but if one album this year deserves that title, this one is it. Signal Morning doesn’t knock down barriers so much as completely ignore them, resulting in a finished project that is truly adventurous, mind-bending and challenging.

[D_Davis]

Circulatory System - Signal Morning


Hey, these guys sound great! Really cool. Kind of like the good old days of the Elephant Six collective. Good pick.

[Derek]

Hey, these guys sound great! Really cool. Kind of like the good old days of the Elephant Six collective. Good pick.

Oh wow, that's a nice surprise. I thought you'd hate them! :) Definitely let me know what you think of the whole album if/when you check it out...let's say Spring 2011?

A shocking, shocking #1 choice coming up...

[Derek]

1

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/s1848760.jpg

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Key Tracks: “My Girls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zol2MJf6XNE)”, “Brothersport (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGQjyGT1-mc)”, “Summertime Clothes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxhaRgJUMl8&feature=player_embedded#at=13) ”

And now for the inevitable. It was Animal Collective’s year even before the year officially started as I heard Merriweather Post Pavilion last December and quickly knew that it was virtually insurpassable. Admittedly they are one of, if not the one, my favorite bands, so watching their progression a more DIY-aesthetic with a healthy dose of screaming to the brilliantly produced electronic goodness of Merriweather has been a joy. The Collective have changed a lot as band, here all but abandoning the guitar in favor of lush, layered electronic beats, vocal harmonies and a dense atmosphere of creative rhythms and sounds that, for me, create the sensation of flying underwater while dreaming. But as much as it is an album to get lost in, it’s equally danceable, upbeat and, for the AC, surprisingly accessible. By crossing the boundary into, *gasp*, “popularity”, many fans are confronted with the difficult task of evaluating the albums worth now that it put the public spotlight, to some degree at least, on Animal Collective. No, they are underground no more, but their move towards accessibility comes not from sacrificing their own creativity but rather from a conscious effort to make their music more fluid and inviting. Their calmness, perhaps due to their moves towards domesticity and away from running around the forest tripping balls, does leave the carnal energy of some of their earlier songs in the dust, but it also allows for a more creative experimentation within the production booth, taking full advantage of their newfound studio freedom. What makes Merriweather such a special album often lies in the details buried in the mix and the beauty behind its meticulously crafted harmonies. Lyrically, it may leave a bit to be desired, but with Animal Collective, words have always been more a way of channeling feelings and, now here, setting the mood. And in doing that, there’s simply no album in 2009 that makes me as happy as this one. It is a great band coming into their own, shedding their old skin and showing all the doubters that they’re capable of more than just dicking around in the basement with nothing but drums and masks.

[D_Davis]

Still don't get AC. An entirely unremarkable band to my ears. But I realize that I am in the vast minority on that one.

Cool list though - nicely done. :)

[D_Davis]

It's funny. Even though you and I like a lot of the same kinds of music, we diverge greatly when it comes to the stuff we really love.

[D_Davis]

Oh wow, that's a nice surprise. I thought you'd hate them! :) Definitely let me know what you think of the whole album if/when you check it out...let's say Spring 2011?


Good songs, catchy melodies, interesting instrumentation, and a nice lo-fi, but listenable, production.

[Acapelli]

couldn't really get into mpp at all. love my girls, but found the rest of the album disappointing

give me sung tongs any day of the week

[Milky Joe]

2

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Circulatory System - Signal Morning

Nice! This album was a long time coming, but ended up being worth it. Now if the Olivias could just reunite...

[Spaceman Spiff]

Yeah, I quite disliked that album as well. Haven't heard any other AC, so I dunno what I'm missing, but it didn't sound like much).

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Yeah, I quite disliked that album as well. Haven't heard any other AC, so I dunno what I'm missing, but it didn't sound like much).

Try this song, as its about the complete opposite of MPP (plus its my favorite song of theirs):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c6VKN2oISM

[Boner M]

Well, I loved MPP and it'd be in my top 5 as well. Poo you all.

The Circulatory System one's on my radar now.

Good writeups Derek, even though our taste in recent-ish music are increasingly divergent.

[Winston*]

Atlas Sound - Logos

Pretty
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/colpot10/thumbs-up6.jpg

The Antlers - Hospice

:sad:

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/colpot10/thumbs-up6.jpg
Mount Eerie - Winds Dark Poem

Like a boring nightmare

St. Vincent - Actor

Feel I should like her more. Eh.

Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport

Dumb name, awesome band, epic musics.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/colpot10/thumbs-up6.jpg

Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest

Liked Yellow House, don't like this

Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer

Not Random Lover but still good
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/colpot10/thumbs-up6.jpg

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

These dudes are really really white.
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/colpot10/thumbs-up6.jpg

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

My favourite's Feels, is that wrong?
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll39/colpot10/thumbs-up6.jpg

[Winston*]

The Horrors - Primary Colours

More like the Bore-ors. LOL!