2010 has come and gone, so it’s time for my annual Albums of the Year list. Usually, I like to give a little summary, but I’m done trying to come up with a theme for a given year. Music has become so varied and can mean different things to different people, that trying to pinpoint an overarching idea for all of music is pretty pointless. So I guess that’s a theme in and of itself…so there.
As usual, I’ll start off my countdown by providing a list of all the albums I purchased in some form this year, thus making them eligible for my list. Soundtracks, EPs, live albums, and b-side/rarities releases are once again not eligible. For 2010, I have 81 albums, 76 of which are eligible. There are plenty of albums that I’m sure could have made my list had I purchased them, but just like any year, there’s always a few that slip through the cracks. Over on the right, you can see my schedule over the next few days as I continue my countdown. After the jump, I present my eligible albums (in order of release date).
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know what you’re saying. It’s December…the 3rd Quarter of 2010 ended like two months ago and it’s only a month or so before the year end lists get going, but as much as I’ve been lacking on posts, I figured the least I could do is another quarterly recap. So, better late than never!
It was kind of a slow quarter musically (and really, things haven’t picked up much in quarter number four), but there were a few notable albums I came across in the July-August-September time frame, and I felt like they needed mentioning. I still hope to get a review or two up that I was planning on before the end of the year, so keep a look out for those, but it’s also quite possible that my next post will be the beginning of my 2010 recap.
The Love Language – Libraries
The Love Language is the baby of Stuart McLamb, an incredibly talented songwriter, whose self-titled debut in 2009 was one of the under appreciated surprises of the year and immediately put the group on my radar. Libraries trades in the lo-fi tendencies that made the group’s debut so raw and energetic, but really doesn’t sacrifice any of its charm. It’s a more polished, and musically ambitious release that was also obviously given more studio time. The Arcade Fire comparisons in the arrangements and vocals still remain (albeit only slightly), but to me McLamb has moved on to more of a polished pop sound, and has certainly cemented himself as an AC Newman type songwriter, overflowing with glorious melodies.
[“Heart to Tell” – Libraries]
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Menomena – Mines
What’s interesting about Menomena is how accessible their songs sound despite the fact that there is a great deal of experimentation going on. Granted Mines is their most straight forward release, but you could play it to any newbie and they would probably not dismiss it as anything out of the ordinary. However there is much more going on underneath the surface and that’s something to be praised. Mines is the follow up to the critically acclaimedFriend or Foe and while it does slightly fall below that one’s standards, it’s still a fine release that’s sure to please fans old and new.
[“Five Little Rooms” – Mines]
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Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Here’s the big one. Easily the biggest release from the third quarter is also one of the best releases of the year from one of, if not, the greatest bands in the world. This is one of the albums I’ve been planning to do a review on so I won’t go into too much detail here, but just know that it is an absolutely beautiful take on suburban living that really can be taken in many contexts. The sense of paranoia and underlying tension on this album is just stunning, and it’s themes come across lyrically and musically to form an album of such intelligence and majesty, that’s it’s no wonder we’re talking about yet another masterpiece from this group.
[“Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains” – The Suburbs]
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The Thermals – Personal Life
As I’ve said before, if all pop-punk was like The Thermals, then maybe it’d be a genre worth a damn. Personal Life is the 5th album from the Portland trio and their follow up last year’s fine Now We Can See, which managed an honorable mention in my albums of 2009. Now this is the least punk of their albums, this time focusing more on a rock sound, which makes it less immediate, but it still features some of the great hooks and “whoa whoa whoas” (see “I Don’t Believe You” and its great video) that one comes to expect from a Thermals release. And as always, their lyrics are second to none, although much more introspective than their past releases (duh, see the album title). It’s maybe not seen as much in the music this time, but the passion is still there which is something other pop-punkers could learn from.
[“I Don’t Believe You” – Personal Life]
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Junip – Fields
You may think you don’t know who Junip is, but you actually do. Junip is the longtime band from Jose Gonzalez (and if you do know him, it’s probably from this…and if you don’t you should go watch that video, like now.) Despite having formed about 10 years ago, Fields is actually the first full-length album from this trio of Swedes. It’s basically a more musically expansive version of Gonzalez’s intimate folksiness, full of synths, afro-beat percussion, creating a bit of groove not seen in his previous work. However, the heart of Junip is still Gonzalez and I’m pretty confident in saying that if you like his solo stuff, it won’t be too hard for you to enjoy this album as well.
[“Rope & Summit” – Fields]
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The Walkmen – Lisbon
These New York rockers return with Lisbon, the follow up to 2008’s fantastic You & Me(my #10 album of ’08), with another set of sorrowful, energetic and well, Walkmen-esque tracks. The immediately recognizable songs do everything the Walkmen are known for, from the passionate vocals to the crescendo building tunes complete with their climactic crashes of emotion. The Walkmen have established themselves as one of the most consistent bands out there, releasing record after record that never fails to impress. It may not have quite the amount of memorable tracks as it’s predecessor, but in no way does it fall short in doing what they do best.
We’re halfway through what has been a fantastic year for music, so it’s time for me to summarize 2010 in my usual Mid-year fashion. Despite the lack of posts here on the blog, I’ve still been keeping up with new releases just as much as I usually do (although it’s been harder to find the time to listen to them as intently as I want). With that said, this post is a very preliminary look on the music of 2010 and is all subject to change by the time I get to my end of the year list. But this is my initial jab at what the year has looked like for me at its mid-point.
Joanna Newsom
Top 10 albums (plus one) of 2010 (in order of release date):
Beach House – Teen Dream
It’s going to be hard for this one to not end up in my top 10 at the end of the year. As I said in my 1Q Review, I’ve never been a huge Beach House fan, but along comes Teen Dream which is easily my favorite Beach House release and the first one I truly love from start to finish. It was 2010’s first great release, and for me one of the year’s biggest surprises.
[“Norway” – Teen Dream]
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Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
Probably the year’s finest debut album comes from this Los Angeles quintet. It’s got a bit of Grizzly Bear, a dash of Fleet Foxes, some Vampire Weekend, and even a little of fellow Californians The Dodos, but they’re not blatantly ripping off their influences, which is refreshing. Granted, I’m not as big into this album as others, but it is an impressive release and the group does what they do very well. Their future is bright.
[“Sun Hands” – Gorilla Manor]
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Fang Island – Fang Island
I really can’t get over how much I love this album. Maybe it’s because it’s only half an hour long and is just incredibly fun to listen to with no pretensions. As busy as life can be, sometimes an album with no smoke or mirrors that gets straight to the point and just plain rocks is exactly what is needed. Fang Island’s debut could not have come out at a more perfect time.
[“Daisy” – Fang Island]
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Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me
And then on the flip side of the Fang Island album, you have Joanna Newsom’s epic triple LP which clocks in at over 2 hours. But the beauty of Have One on Me is that even with the time and effort required to give it a listen, it is quite accessible and is much easier to navigate than the albums predecessor, Ys. The multi-instrumentalist is on top of her game on this one and may have put out the best album of 2010.
[“Good Intentions Paving Co.” – Have One on Me]
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Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
Speaking of epic albums…nothing in 2010 can quite match on the “epic scale” what Titus Andronicus does on The Monitor. The album flows together as one glorious masterpiece that is extremely ambitious, and just so freaking huge. The blood, sweat, and tears put into the album from this young group is almost palpable throughout the listen. No easy task.
[“Four Score and Seven” – The Monitor]
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The Morning Benders – Big Echo
While Big Echo isn’t The Morning Benders debut album, it might as well be, because the improvement on this sophomore release from their previous work almost makes them indistinguishable from where they were. Much of that is thanks to the help from Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor who stepped up to produce this album, and man, you can hear the impact he had right from the start. They went from writing dinky little three minute generic pop songs to full-fledged sophisticated songwriters in a snap. Just watch this, and you’ll be an instant fan…guaranteed.
[“Excuses” – Big Echo]
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The Radio Dept. – Clinging to a Scheme
For fans of The Radio Dept., this album was anticipated for a long time. And I mean a long time. While their last release was only four years ago, the release date for this album just seemed to keep getting pushed back. And for a band that has been around in some form for 15 years to be sitting on only two full length album releases, patience had to be running thin for Radio Dept. diehards. Well, the Swedish pop group finally released Clinging to a Scheme and while it may have underwhelmed some fans expecting a bit more than 10 songs at 35 minutes, and disappointed those hoping for more of the lo-fi shoegaze tracks of their previous work, I think it’s an immensely enjoyable collection of finely tuned pop songs.
[“Heaven’s on Fire” – Clinging to a Scheme]
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Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
Another great release from the Canadian super-group, borrowing from their usual foray of indie-rockers all over the landscape, however this time it seems a little more of a condensed group as many Broken Social Scene mainstays only show up as guests. I think it works very well, as this is one of their most focused releases and for me can stand up against any of the band’s albums. While I do expect more of the Broken Social Scene Presents: albums to be done in the future, I really hope we don’t have to wait another 5 years for the next BSS release.
I mean honestly, they have released three straight masterpieces. High Violet may not be as immediate as Boxer, but it doesn’t take a backseat to that album in song-writing prowess by any means. They can do no wrong at this point and are easily one of the best American bands going today. It has a legit chance to make The National my first two-time winner of album of the year. My review covers it pretty well.
[“Afraid of Anyone” – High Violet]
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LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
If this is indeed the final album under the LCD Soundsystem moniker for James Murphy, he’s sending it out in very fine fashion…although that shouldn’t really be a surprise. This is Happening is another excellent collection of Murphy’s dance-rock tunes with an opening twosome of “Dance Yrself Clean” and “Drunk Girls” which is possibly the finest openers of any album this year, with the former currently out in front for my favorite track of 2010.
[“Dance Yrself Clean” – This is Happening]
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The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang
The Gaslight Anthem took the Bruce Springsteen comparisons up a notch on their latest release, American Slang. The New Jersey quartet’s last album, The ’59 Sound, was quietly one of the best in 2008 and was such an homage to Springsteen that the Boss himself took some time out to perform on stage with the group. Well, with American Slang, The Gaslight Anthem have put together another set of pure American rock that expands on those influences especially in the vocals. This one doesn’t quite have the nostalgia and rock/garage-punk fusion that made The ’59 Sound such a brilliant release, but it’s still 10 fantastic rock songs full of hooks and the blue-collar charm that makes them so appealing in the first place.
[“American Slang” – American Slang]
Biggest Surprise:
Owen Pallett – Heartland
In all honesty, Teen Dream probably goes here, but I wanted to give it to something other than what mentioned above, so Heartland from Final Fantasy Owen Pallett gets this award. This may not have been a big surprise to others, but as I said in my 1Q Summary, I was never a big fan of Pallett’s previous work, so I didn’t expect to get into this album as much as I have.
[“Lewis Takes Action” – Heartland]
Biggest Disappointment:
Blitzen Trapper – Destroyer of the Void
Unfortunately, there were a few releases I could’ve put here, but I’ll go with the latest album from Blitzen Trapper. Their last album was soooo good and featured one of the best songs in the last few years in “Furr”, but this album is just blah, running short on memorable melodies and extremely boring. I was hoping for much more, but I think Furr may have been a high water mark for these guys because none of their other stuff even comes close to matching it.
It may be hard to call this one underrated considering at this point it hasn’t really even been, uhh, rated at all. Now, clearly there have been reviews, but as of this point there is no page on Metacritic. The reviews I’ve seen haven’t been bad, it’s just I would have expected more attention considering how well their debut EP was received last year. With an internet sensation in “It Gets Your Body Movin'”, which even managed to find its way on my 2009 Mixtape, I expected Wild Smile to be one of the more highly anticipated releases of the year, but upon its release there hasn’t really been much talk. And that’s a shame because it really is an impressive debut album and expands on the sound of their EP in ways I wasn’t really expecting.
[“Black Sheep” – Wild Smile]
Most Overrated:
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today
Isn’t it interesting how as soon as this whole glo-fi/chillwave craze is all the rage, the critics are all of the sudden all about Ariel Pink, who has been making this kind of music for years? Granted, Before Today is his best produced album and features his best work, but I guess I just don’t quite get the genre. It’s enjoyable, but deserving of album of the year talk?…No. (However, “Round and Round” is pretty fantastic.)
[“Round and Round” – Before Today]
Need to Give More Listens:
Sleigh Bells – Treats
I almost put this as my most overrated, but I decided to hold off on that and give it a few more listens because I really don’t think I’ve given it enough of a shot. Pretty much everyone has this as one of the top albums of 2010 and I’ve seen it called the “future of music”, so I should give it the benefit of the doubt and give it a few more tries. However, it’s not out of the question that when all is said and done, I’ll indeed consider it overrated. I will say this…it is freakin’ LOUD.
In my write up for my pick of 2007’s album of the year, I remarked that “no album grabs you by the heart and hits you in the gut like The National’s Boxer.” Three years later, I may have to re-phrase that to say no band grabs you by the heart and hits you in the gut as The National, because with High Violet, The National have once again created an album full of haunting anthems that burrow beneath your skin and become implanted in your every thought. No band does somber, yet somehow not depressing, like Brooklyn’s The National. There is a subtle bit of hope in all of their tunes that gives it a sense of majesty that really can’t be matched by any band. It’s an accomplishment that is truly remarkable and probably doesn’t get the credit deserves, but with High Violet, the band’s achievements are becoming harder and harder to ignore.
Much like Boxer, The National use High Violet to tackle such themes of urban alienation and other concerns of the middle class as those day to day tasks become mundane and fears of a life wasted start to creep into one’s mind. However, whereas Boxer‘s subject matter tended towards uncertainty during a transition period, High Violet is more concerned about the after effects of the transition and trying to find the vibrant colors in what may seem like a dull colorless existence (I mean, just look at the cover art.)
Musically, High Violet isn’t breaking any new ground for the group, but it does refine and improve on all the band’s strengths. Matt Berninger still doesn’t encompass enough of a range to be considered a great singer, but his baritone vocals remain a perfect fit for the moody music that backs him up. Only Berninger could pack a sadness into a string of “doo doo doo”s like he does on “Lemonworld”, and the vulnerability in his voice makes it seem like there’s as much being said in those short fillers than most bands try to say on a complete album. But with any National album, it’s those two set of brothers behind Berninger that take the band to it’s level of immense grandeur. As usual, this starts with the rhythm section and drummer Bryan Devendorf. While poor or uninspired drumming doesn’t necessarily kill a song, used effectively it can absolutely take it to new levels and The National have perfected that with Devendorf’s driving percussion. Other than Bernigner’s voice, there is probably not a more distinctive part of The National’s sound than it’s drumming, and it’s done in such a subtle way that it doesn’t overbear the rest of the music one bit. It’s truly mesmerizing how well these five guys work as a quintet.
The album’s most triumphant moments comes from the Sufjan Stevens assisted “Afraid of Anyone” and first single “Bloodbuzz Ohio”, which both rival anything the group has ever done. They’re the most immediate and memorable songs on an album full of intricate compositions that take a little more effort from the listener to appreciate, but don’t sacrifice any of their depth. It’s not all perfect, however, and unfortunately the flaws show up on the bookends of the disc. Opening track “Terrible Love” is a wonderful song and after being debuted on Jimmy Fallon, was thought of to be one of the album highlights, but for some reason the band ravished the song with questionable production. For a band known for its precise songwriting and meticulousness during the production process, there’s no doubt this was done on purpose. But intentional or not, why they decided to take such a promising song and muck it up with muddy production is beyond me. Likewise, while “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks” is a fine song, it feels unnecessarily tacked on to the end. The album would have been fine being capped off at 10 tracks and having “England” close it out. But when my biggest quibbles are production techniques and song placement, it’s clear that I’m grasping for straws when trying to find the album’s imperfections.
High Violet is another masterful release from this group of unassuming sorrowful rockers, their third such masterpiece in a row. While Boxer one upped its predecessorAlligator, it’s hard to say if High Violet has done the same to Boxer. But when your predecessor was one of the best albums of the last decade, merely matching up to it is an accomplishment of its own and I have no qualms saying High Violet has done at least that.
Prior to the release of The Hold Steady’s fifth album I was preparing myself for a let down. 2008’s Stay Positive was the group’s first glimmer of a transition to more modern rock sound and away from their “bar band” roots, and with the group that much older in 2010, it could only be expected to see that movement continue. The band hinted at a “less anthemic and more complex” album which raised a huge red flag for all THS fans and then of course, energetic keyboardist Franz Nicolay left the band taking his accordion and mustache with him. So with all that said, everything seemed to be lining up for a bit of a bust, but after listening to Heaven is Whenever, I can honestly say I was not let down nearly as much as I expected.
There are still plenty of jams on Heaven is Whenever full of sing along choruses that fans have come to expect making the whole “less anthemic and more complex” warning maybe a bit of a ruse. Tad Kubler still gets a couple guitar solos in, most notably on “Weekenders” and “Rock Problems”. And who needs an accordion when you have a freakin’ clarinet?? (See solo on “Barely Breathing”.) Lyrically, the themes of partying and adolescent uncertainty are still captured and Craig Finn still does a masterful job of referencing his own work, this time even harkening back to their debut Almost Killed Me possibly as a way for the band to say they’ve grown up and it’s time to look back and see if they’ve carried through with what they set out to do…i.e. held steady.
Where the album falters is that it just seems to be a more restrained version of The Hold Steady. There are less of those jams I spoke of as compared to their previous work, and it’s the first album where I really noticed Finn singing rather than doing his usual speak-singing throughout the songs. For whatever reason, this seems to sacrifice some of the relatable qualities that has always characterized the band. The raw energy of the group doesn’t show up as much which in part can be attributed to those dreaded over-production techniques that has claimed oh so many albums. And make no mistake about it; this band misses Franz Nicolay. But if I can be blatantly cliché for a moment, while Heaven is Whenever is probably the band’s worst album, that’s more of a testament to the greatness of their previous four.
The mystery of exactly when “heaven is whenever” is doesn’t come until pseudo title-track, “We Can Get Together”. Turns out “heaven is whenever we can get together, sit down on your floor, and listen to your records.” For a band that is always preaching about the redemptive power of rock ‘n’ roll, this should come as no surprise. They may be transitioning to an older rock band, but Craig Finn and the boys still know who they are, where they come from, and what they stand for, and as long as that spirit continues to pervade throughout the band, there should be no fear of a Hold Steady let down.
Here we are in April, so it’s time to recap the first quarter of 2010 and pick out some of the albums that highlighted the first three months. I reviewed a couple albums here and here, so I’ll leave those out for this recap and just focus on a few standout albums that I have yet to mention on the blog. (There’s a lot of them…I’ve been lazy) So lets get to it…in order of release date.
Laura Veirs – July Flame
January was a very busy month for album releases and one of the more under the radar records that unfortunately didn’t quite get the hype of some others was July Flame, the seventh release from the Portland based folk singer-songwriter Laura Veirs. Granted, it’s a bit hard for a singer-songwriter to break free of the pack, much less a soft spoken folk singer from Portland, but on July Flame, Veirs does her best to set herself apart with her songwriting, and she does it quite well. She has to be one of the more under-appreciated artists in her genre, but with a release like this, maybe she’ll start to get a bit more love.
[“July Flame” – July Flame]
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Owen Pallett – Heartland
Previously known as Final Fantasy, Heartland is Pallett’s first album under his own name and I found myself enjoying this album much more than I expected. I was never much of a Final Fantasy fan, mainly because when the last FF release came out 4 years ago, experimental music wasn’t something I was quite ready to…uhh…experiment with. Since then, I’ve opened my mind up a bit and after hearing great things upon Heartland‘s release, I decided to give it a shot. It is such a well crafted album and listening to Heartland, you just get a sense of Pallett’s songwriting ability and musicianship in his compositions. It’s not something that will immediately grab you, but if you’re will to put in the effort, it’s quite easy to appreciate.
[“Lewis Takes Off His Shirt” – Heartland]
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Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
After garnering loads of praise from their single “Swim” released in 2009, Astro Coast was one of the more highly anticipated debut albums in the first part of 2010, and the record displays plenty of the 90s era alternative/indie rock that made “Swim” so intriguing. Surfer Blood is a five-piece from Florida and their brand of high energy rock-pop has been compared to early Weezer and other 90s indie groups, and a few of the tracks on Astro Coast even have a bit of Vampire Weekend feel as well. It’s an immensely fun listen of straightforward rock complete with some awesome melodies…an impressive batch of tightly written pop songs indeed. (And fyi, I had a hell of a time choosing which song to feature here…”Floating Vibes” or “Swim”. The tiebreaker is always handclaps, so “Floating Vibes” it is.)
[“Floating Vibes” – Astro Coast]
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Los Campesinos! – Romance is Boring
I debated leaving this one off this post because I feel like I’m always talking about these guys, but then I realized I actually don’t have one post on here about my beloved Los Campesinos! It has been so much fun watching this group of youngsters from Wales grow up through their first three albums, and while I don’t think I can say Romance is Boring is their best album, it is their most mature and shows how they’ve grown as songwriters. It’s still packs the energy of their early releases when they burst onto the scene back in 2007 with the internet sensation “You! Me! Dancing!” (absolutely one of my favorite songs of the decade), but displays a little more depth in the songwriting, and the lyrics…oh my lord, the lyrics. Gareth Campesinos! was never one to hold back and he sure as hell doesn’t on this release. The confidence of this group is mind blowing.
[“There are Listed Buildings” – Romance is Boring]
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Beach House – Teen Dream
Many people’s clubhouse leader for album of the year comes from Baltimore’s dream-poppers Beach House and their third album Teen Dream, their first on Sub Pop Records. I’ve always thought Beach House was a bit overrated, and a bit boring. They always seem to have that one song that sticks out on their releases that gets a huge amount of hype from indie-pop lovers everywhere, and then the rest of the album is just kinda, there. So while Teen Dream was certainly on my radar, I didn’t have huge hopes for it. But man, from start to finish it is easily their strongest and most consistent release yet, and when thinking of the best albums from the first quarter of 2010, Teen Dream is always one of the first that comes to mind. Is it my clubhouse leader for album of the year?…I’ll never tell.
[“Zebra” – Teen Dream]
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Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
The debut album from New York’s Phantogram is a bit hit or miss, but it has enough hits to make it one of the most beautiful records of the year, thanks in part to it’s very fine production. The duo makes a brand of electro-pop that borrows hip hop beats but manages to create a very atmospheric listen. It’s a fusion of multiple genres and Eyelid Movies manages to pull it off almost seamlessly. As I said, it is a debut album so there’s still room to grow and improve but it’s a fine introduction to where Phantogram is headed and very well could set them up for much greater success in the future.
[“When I’m Small” – Eyelid Movies]
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Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
I remember hearing a Local Natives track back in December (I think it was “Sun Hands”) on another blog and came away impressed, but then completely forgot about them despite the hype leading up to the release of their debut album Gorilla Manor. The Los Angeles five-piece has drawn comparisons to Fleet Foxes mainly due to the three part harmonies, but that’s really where the comparison ends as Local Natives is much more of a rock band and has none of the folksiness that characterizes Fleet Foxes. They actually remind me of an little known defunct emo band in the early 2000s named Lewis that I always thought was immensely underrated. So for me Local Natives is a bit of a nostalgic trip and gives me an idea of what Lewis would sound like today if they were still around. Gorilla Manor is a very impressive debut, and the excitement leading up to this album (thanks in part to it’s successful UK release in ’09) doesn’t hurt it’s appeal one bit as it’s a release that shows they are worthy of the hype.
[“Wide Eyes” – Gorilla Manor]
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Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
Coming into 2010, a new Joanna Newsom release wasn’t really on my radar as there hadn’t much talk of a new album, but then just a few weeks prior to the release of Have One On Me, Newsom and her label started to drop hints of…well…a new album. Then news came that it was a triple LP, and my excitement grew even more. Have One On Me is the follow up to the brilliant Ys (my #5 album in 2006), and features 18 songs broken into three separate albums for grand total of 2 hours of her harp playing freak-folksiness. While Ys was a masterpiece, it was much more of an entire composition broken into 5 movements, so it was hard to really jump into and immediately grasp. Have One On Me is much more accessible and you can actually listen to a song here or there without feeling like you’re missing something. For Have One On Me, Newsom also branches out from just her harp playing to employ the various other instruments in her arsenal. We already knew Newsom was one of the best songwriters in the business, and Have One On Me does nothing to dispel that fact.
[“Good Intentions Paving Co.” – Have One On Me]
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Fang Island – Fang Island
It’s pretty hard to resist any band that describes their sound as “everyone high-fiving everyone”, and after listening to the self-titled debut full-length from Fang Island, I’d say that’s a pretty legit descriptor. The Brooklyn by way of Rhode Island five piece plays highly energetic and infectious indie-pop with a flare for prog-rock and the tunes are guitar hooks galore. The songs are short on vocals as the guitars absolutely dominate the album, but when vocals do come in they bring the same great excitement and instant joyfulness as the rest of the music. It’s only 10 tracks long and just over half and hour, but with the amount of energy these guys put into this release, I don’t know if would have been possible to make it any longer without them passing out during the recording process. It’s as exhilarating of a listen that you’re going to find in 2010.
[“Daisy” – Fang Island]
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These New Puritans – Hidden
The second album from the British art rockers is a complex and bold, but overall stunning achievement of some of the most densely packed compositions you’re going to find. Listening to Hidden is nothing to be taken lightly as it transports you into it’s dark, eerie universe and leaves you contemplating what you’ve just heard even after it’s 45 minutes are up. It’s like going to a movie that you’re not exactly sure what’s going on as your watching it, but afterwards you can’t get it off your mind and eventually realize what you’ve just experienced is a pretty extraordinary work of art. I don’t know if I can find another way to describe Hidden, other than saying it’s unique and demanding and goes without saying that it’s not for everyone.
[“Orion” – Hidden]
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Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
The most epic release so far in 2010 comes from New Jersey rockers Titus Andronicus and their second album The Monitor. It’s so refreshing to hear a straight up rock record with this much intelligence, a la The Hold Steady, and at 65 minutes you’d think it would be an exhausting listen, but it’s not…at least not for me. The Monitor is a loose concept album based on the Civil War, hence some of the song titles, and those themes really carry the album from being just another energetic and rocking release to a stunning effort of 10 heartfelt and smart tracks that Springsteen himself would appreciate. The hooks are killer, and the songs pack some amazing sing along choruses and recurring themes. It’s an ambitious and remarkable achievement that at its heart is evidence of the power of true rock ‘n’ roll.
Followers of Jonathan Meiburg’s career to this point can certainly attest to his knack for theatrics, from his work in the Austin, Texas folk-rock group Okkervil River to his latest release, The Golden Archipelago, which is the most recent in a series of concept albums by his Shearwater project. Although, with Meiburg’s official departure from Okkervil River as of a couple years ago to focus 100% on Shearwater, project is no longer an appropriate descriptor for the band. Initially founded in 2001 along with his Okkervil River co-founder, Will Sheff, as an avenue for the pair to create quieter songs with increased instrumentation, Shearwater became more and more Meiburg’s baby as years went on. It all came together in 2008 with the band’s breakout album, Rook, an epic masterpiece that placed the group on the same pedestal as their sister band and emphasized Meiburg’s flare for grandiosity in his tunes maybe even Okkervil River couldn’t match.
The Golden Archipelago continues on the theme of man’s impact and ongoing relationship with this earth that was prevalent in the groups previous two albums, this time focusing on island life, something Meiburg can draw influence from considering his experience taking part in a travel fellowship shortly after his undergraduate days that sent him to numerous islands across the globe to study remote cultures and communities. Meiburg has a graduate degree in geology specializing in ornithology (hence the band name), so there’s no surprise his music features such an ethereal feel and contains so much imagery of the natural world. His education certainly plays a part in the intelligence of the music and Meiburg does admit he worries “that people think they’re getting a dissertation instead of just a record.” To which I respond: Why can’t it be both? However, that’s not to say the music can’t stand on it’s own, because it most certainly does, but it’s nice to have some muscle backing it up when the listener wants to delve a little deeper.
Musically, The Golden Archipelago still contains the bombast and triumph that Rook perfected so well, but doesn’t quite match the abundance of climactic moments found throughout Rook. The grandiose is sustained more throughout the songs of TGA rather than the building crescendos leading into crashes of grandeur that characterized it’s predecessor. It only hurts the music in that the songs aren’t quite as memorable as songs past, and don’t contain the amount of immediate hooks to grasp the listener. There are moments of that in The Golden Archipelago, such as songs “Black Eyes” and the excellent “Castaways” (which I wish was longer…only complaint), but for the most part, the songs create a more atmospheric feel, which is just as good, but maybe not as instantly accessible to the casual listener. So in the end, The Golden Archipelago doesn’t have as many standout tracks as Rook, but might actually work better as a complete album. The musicianship, especially from percussionist Thor Harris (and yes, he looks just like you would picture a Thor to look like), and Meiburg’s soaring vocals create another gorgeous and epic listen that rewards anyone willing to travel along with Meiburg on his ambitious journey.
Deciding which albums I choose to review here on A Round of Sound is not necessarily an arbitrary process. Rarely will I give a review to an album I don’t like, but I do save some negative reviews for those albums that I found more disappointing than horrible. I’m usually not going to review a so-so album that really offers nothing spectacular to talk about. There can be an amazing album that I won’t review because really whatever needs to be said about it has most likely already been said, and I can’t come up with anything new to say. Basically, it’s all about talking points. If an album speaks to me in a way that offers up some talking points, I’ll try to give it a review. Trust me, with Yeasayer’s Odd Blood, there’s pleny to talk about.
Yeasayer first hit the scene with 2007’s excellent All Hour Cymbals, an album full of worldly influences ranging from African drum beats to a little bit middle eastern flare. The first taste of what to expect on Yeasayer’s sophomore release came back last Fall when the band released lead single “Ambling Alp” which was an indication that Yeasayer was ready to release a pop album. The Brooklyn based group’s first album drew poor man’s Animal Collective comparisons, and while it took AC 9 albums to venture into pop, Yeasayer decided to go ahead and take the plunge on Odd Blood. The results, while mixed, are positive overall.
Sonically, Odd Blood is much bigger than All Hour Cymbals with a more polished production and “everything but the kitchen sink” songwriting techniques. Opener “The Children” features distorted vocals with a driving back beat full of electronic manipulations to create enough intrigue that keeps the vocals from being distracting before giving way to the aforementioned “Ambling Alp” which is the album’s best song, perfectly combining the group’s world music style with their pop ambitions. The couple songs that follow continue down this path but employ an unexpected twist with a bit of 80s style. It works to near perfection, especially on the excellent “Madder Red” which probably hasn’t gotten released as a single to this point because of it’s songwriting similarity to “Ambling Alp” which opened the door for “O.N.E.” to be the latest single released from the disc. By the time “O.N.E” closes out the front side of the record, Odd Blood has evolved almost into a dance album, and the second half of the disc only exemplifies this notion, especially on “Rome” whose intro immediately conjures up images of Christopher Walken dancing in that Fatboy Slim video.
It’s no stretch to say that Odd Blood is quite front-loaded, with the most memorable moments all coming in the first five songs. It certainly has its missteps on side two especially with the five minute “Love Me Girl” which struggles to find an identity and comes across as a bit of a jumbled mess and plainly just doesn’t do it for me. With more upbeat songs comes more uplifting lyrics so I suppose I’ll forgive some of the cheese found throughout the songs but hearing stuff like “Don’t give up on me, and I won’t give up on you” or “You’re stuck in my mind all the time” isn’t very creative and really isn’t saying much of anything. Likewise, while catchy and easy to remember telling us to “Stick up for yourself, son” doesn’t really come across as inspiring as Yeasayer may have hoped. So, it’s not all perfect, but then again the 2nd half of All Hour Cymbals wasn’t nearly as strong as the first, but overall it still ended up as a fine album. All in all, Odd Blood can’t quite match the excellence of their debut as this one just doesn’t quite have that epic feel to it that All Hour Cymbals had, but there’s no doubt Yeasayer had a vision when they set out to create Odd Blood, and I think as a whole they accomplished those goals and pushed aside any notion of a possible sophomore slump, son.
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest [Warp; released 5/26/2009]
“While you wait for the others to make it all worthwhile, all your useless pretensions are weighing on my time.”
“While You Wait For The Others”
Much of the year’s best releases owe their success to a new found accessibility in the music, and no band refined their sound more from a previous release than Brooklyn’s (where else?) Grizzly Bear, whose 3rd album Veckatimest makes it to the top of my list as the best album of 2009. It wasn’t as if 2006’s Yellow House was a bad album, but it did peg Grizzly Bear as a ambient and boring band whose music didn’t really go anywhere, save for a couple excellent exceptions. However, the songs on Veckatimest don’t meander nearly as much and contain actual, honest to God, melodies. Grizzly Bear still retains their atmospheric tendencies and signature harmonies that characterized Yellow House, but the the songs are more traditional and much more memorable and strike a perfect balance between their experimental ambitions and straightforward pop to create an absolutely triumphant album.
You don’t have to look any further to find what Veckatimest does so well than the two opening tracks “Southern Point” and my song of the year “Two Weeks” which are rivaled only by the openers on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix as the best one-two opening punch of any album this year. “Southern Point” is the psych-folk opener led by Daniel Rossen that introduces the album in a way that almost seems like an appetizer for 11 tracks that follow. It leads into “Two Weeks” which is as standard of a pop song Grizzly Bear has ever written. An instantly memorable piano hook backs the entire song which is carried by glorious harmonies thanks in part to guest vocals from Beach House’s Victoria Legrand. From there the album wonders back and forth from orchestral tunes to other examples of sophisticated pop such as “Cheerleader” and “While You Wait For The Others”. Veckatimest is a meticulously crafted record in every sense, from its production to superb songwriting. It’s an album that many bands in similar boats as Grizzly Bear have probably tried to create, but not every band has the dedication and better yet, ability, to be able to create something so majestic.
The Antlers – Hospice [Frenchkiss; released 8/18/2009]
“Don’t ever let anyone tell you you deserve that.”
“Wake”
The absolute out-of-nowhere success story of 2009 comes from The Antlers with Hospice, the 3rd release from frontman Peter Silberman, but first with a full time band. The Brooklyn-based trio was relatively unknown prior to this year, but Hospice became a web sensation largely thanks to high praise from NPR’s All Songs Considered who featured it on their weekly podcast and even named it the year’s early leader for best album. Initially self-released, the original pressing sold out before Frenchkiss eventually picked up the disc and remastered it for an August re-release.
Written during a extended period of isolation from the outside world, Silberman emerged with Hospice, a tour de force of powerful and tragic anthems that serve as an emotional journey that trumps even last year’s similar cathartic success, Bon Iver’s For Emma Forever Ago. A concept album, Hospice centers around the story of a relationship forged between a nurse and cancer patient at Sloan Kettering Cancer Ward in New York City. Every song is a chilling look at the human emotions involved when a relationship is based around such tragedy. Silberman’s vocals are an eerie falsetto that add to the heartbreak and coupled with the striking imagery found in not only the lyrics, but also in the music, an atmosphere of sorrow is created so palpable it’s truly startling. Once drawn into Hospice, and it’s impossible not to be, Silberman ensures that you will be haunted long after the 10 songs have passed much like this experience haunts his characters.
Posted by Hawkins 
A Round of Sound 