Top Albums of 2010: Honorable Mentions

January 13, 2011

Honorable Mentions:

First up is my honorable mentions that couldn’t quite crack my top 25. These are not necessarily the next highest ranked albums after 25th. I just felt like these albums deserved a mention for one reason or another, but had yet to be mentioned previously in a post.

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Free Energy – Stuck on Nothing

Free Energy’s brand of power pop is incredibly infectious and there’s plenty to love in the debut album from the Philadelphia 5-piece. Produced by James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), Stuck on Nothing shows a great knack for songwriting, featuring some super catchy hooks gleaming with confidence. Free Energy isn’t going to change rock ‘n roll, but Murphy sure saw enough in them to sign them to his DFA record label, because sometimes just creating some super fun music in traditional ways is all you need, especially when it’s done this well.

[“Free Energy” – Stuck on Nothing]

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Delorean – Subiza

Delorean is the kind of band that I have grown to appreciate in the last few years. The Spanish quartet is a dance-rock band which is a genre that I used to have no interest in. However, this isn’t your typical dance music, and it’s not something you’ll be clubbing to, but they’re version of electro-pop reminds me of a mix of Passion Pit and M83, with a little bit of Animal Collective thrown in. Subiza is their 3rd full-length album, probably their best, and includes one of the finest songs of 2010 in “Real Love”.

[“Real Love” – Subiza]

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Best Coast – Crazy for You

Crazy for You is the highly anticipated debut album from the Los Angeles trio founded by Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno, and while I don’t rate this nearly as high as others, that doesn’t mean I don’t find it enjoyable. Best Coast writes lo-fi beach rock music full of catchy little melodies crammed into 2 and a half minutes or so. Crazy for You flies by at just over half an hour, and while my main criticism is the lyrics that seem like they come from the diary of a 12 year old, I do have to give Cosentino some credit for the brutal honesty she exudes in her songs.

[“When I’m With You” – Crazy for You]

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Wild Nothing – Gemini

One of the more under the radar releases this year is the excellent debut album from Jack Tatum, aka Wild Nothing. The Blacksburg, Virginia artist is another lo-fi shoegazing type band much like last year’s indie darlings The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Wild Nothing continues in that C86 style and Gemini features some very well written pop songs especially the excellent “Chinatown” which is one of the songs of the year and shows the talent and potential of Tatum.

[“Chinatown” – Gemini]

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Dishonorable Mentions:

I really can’t come up with too many albums to put here this year, which is a very good thing. That’s not to say there weren’t albums I didn’t like, but for the most part I enjoyed a little bit of every album I got this year. And while there were some disappointments, I just don’t think they deserve to fall in this category. So, what I’m going to do is feature one album that I will call a dishonorable mention, and then do a little write up on another album that you won’t see on my countdown which I’m sure will make some people angry, but I felt the need to explain myself.

The Whigs – In the Dark

The year’s lone dishonorable mention comes from the Athens based rockers The Whigs. It’s not like I was expecting a whole lot from this album, but I did enjoy their 2008 debut, Mission Control, so I was at least looking forward to hearing some more of their southern rock brand. But man, they just plain dropped the ball on this one, creating some uninteresting generic tunes, completely lacking inspiration. Even when some of the songs could work, the production is just dreadful. And I mean dreadful. The title track is the best song and really the only one that I could see fitting on Mission Control, but it’s not enough to save this mess. The sophomore slump strikes again.

[“In the Dark” – In the Dark]

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Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More

So let me start by saying this is not a dishonorable mention. This is an album that ended up ranking in my top 50, and that I did enjoy listening to. However, as much ridiculous hype as this album got, I figured some people might wonder why it wasn’t going to show up in my countdown, so I wanted to give a quick little blurb sharing my thoughts. There’s no denying the talent of this group, especially for a debut album, and often the lyrics do convey a great deal of passion (although, after a while it starts to come across as just plain whining and wears me down. And there are a few lines that irk me, like a lot). The harmonies and ho-downs (or fauxdowns) are enjoyable, but when you do them on EVERY SINGLE TRACK with pretty much the same formula, it can be a bit much and border on self-indulgence. Now, as a fan of indie rock, I’m pretty good at looking the other way regarding self-indulgence, but sometimes, and it’s just hard to ignore the pretentiousness…and that’s the feeling I get with this album. The formula most of these tracks follow (slow acoustic start, building to the fauxdown) is actually quite generic, but my God, do people eat it up. Mumford & Sons take a lot from their influences, which I don’t have a problem with, but I just hate that the bands that pop in my head when listening to M&S have never gotten the same kind of love that these guys have garnered, despite the fact that I think they’re writing much more interesting music. Oh well.

So that’s just the music…I won’t even go too in depth of just how much I question this groups authenticity. I mean we’re talking about 4 guys from the super rich London suburbs, who for some reason decided to play American bluegrass folk. Far be it for me to question the type of music a band wants to play, but when you’ve already stated that your next album could go a completely new direction, I just can’t help but wonder where this is coming from. Can you imagine a band like Brooklyn’s Vampire Weekend (also known for their rich, educated, and preppy upbringing) deciding to play bluegrass music? (And trust me, they could if they wanted.) Absolutely not…it’d be a joke. They have embraced their “preppyness” in their tunes and while their music is certainly that type of corporate indie rock, I give them a pass, because I find it much more genuine.

So there you go. Once again, I don’t think this is a bad album whatsoever, but I also don’t think it deserves nearly the amount of hype it’s getting. There’s soooo much great music out there, and the fact that something like this is what people eat up, just bothers the hell out of me. The Pitchfork review was way too harsh and unfair at times, and frankly, reviews like that is why people despise Pitchfork, but there are certainly parts of it I agree with. The great reviews, on the otherhand, I think are also way off base. This album needs to fall somewhere in between, but if Sigh No More is how people get their jollies, then so be it.

[“Little Lion Man” – Sigh No More]

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Top Albums of 2009: Honorable Mentions

January 9, 2010

Honorable Mentions:

Before we get into the countdown, I wanted to mention a few albums that just missed out on the top 25.  These are not necessarily the next highest ranked albums after 25th.  These are just a few of the albums that I have yet to cover on the blog that couldn’t quite crack the top 25, but I felt like needed mentioning for whatever reason.

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The Thermals – Now We Can See

Following up their landmark album The Body, the Blood, the Machine, the Portland trio return with another pop punk album full of guitar driven hooks.  While Now We Can See doesn’t quite have the politically-charged themes as their previous effort, the lyrics are still some of the best in the business from one of the best songwriters in the game.  There was a great deal of anticipation for this album following the critical acclaim of TBTBTM, and while this album isn’t nearly as epic, it is an excellent follow up overflowing with catchy melodies and some great sing along tunes.

[“Now We Can See” – Now We Can See]

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Elvis Perkins in Dearland – Elvis Perkins in Dearland

After initially being disappointed with this release, I did eventually come around to appreciate it.  This is the follow up to Perkins’ cathartic debut Ash Wednesday, one of my favorites in 2007, and it is much more ambitious than his previous effort this time employing a multi-instrumental backing band that adds a little bit more pomp to his tunes. My first reaction to the album was that some of the emotion was sacrificed, but considering the subject matter of Ash Wednesday, I think that was a little hard to re-create. This release shows Perkins maturation as a songwriter and songs like “Shampoo” and “Doomdsay” are a couple of the year’s best. (“Shampoo” was featured on my mid-year Round of Sound here.)

[“Doomsday” – Elvis Perkins in Dearland]

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The Low Anthem – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin

Initially self-released in 2008, Nonesuch Records picked up Oh My God, Charlie Darwin and re-released it this year maybe trying to pull their own For Emma, Forever Ago success story.  However, while this album can’t quite match the brilliance of Bon Iver, it does pack some immensely beautiful and intimate folk tunes that serve as a lovely listen.  This is the 2nd full-length release from the Rhode Island trio and if anything it sets them up for much greater success in the future.

[“Charlie Darwin” – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin]

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Islands – Vapours

The third album from the ex-Unicorns members is a return to form to their gloriously quirky debut Return to the Sea.  Founding member Jamie Thompson departed after that release and follow up Arm’s Way was a much darker album and while still enjoyable, it was a disappointment.  However, Thompson returned for Vapours and while everything on Return to Sea hasn’t been recaptured, Vapours is the kind of album these guys should be putting out.  This is one of those albums where there really isn’t a standout track, but that’s due to the abundance of consistently good songs on the album as a whole.

[“Switched On” – Vapours]

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Girls – Album

With what has to be one of the least Google-able band names and album titles ever, the San Francisco duo of Girls introduced themselves to the masses with a debut album thats sure to garner some sort of gut reaction due to the incredibly earnest lyrics.  Frontman Christopher Owens has an interesting backstory having grown up in the Children of God cult and his world view was obviously molded from his traumatic upbringing.  It’s a fascinating and refreshing release of pop songs with a variety of influences.

[“Hellhole Ratrace” – Album]

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Dishonorable Mentions:

Now for some albums, that for lack of a better term, I can only call my Dishonorable mentions.  These are some of my lower rated albums of the year (but by no means my lowest rated…these all fall in the lower half of my rankings).  Now, since I am usually only going to buy albums that I have some sort of interest in, I can’t say these are bad albums.  For the most part these are just releases that disappointed me in some way that deserve a mention.  And just like my honorable mentions, I’m only featuring albums that I haven’t previously done a write-up on here on the blog.

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Monsters of Folk – Monsters of Folk

I honestly don’t know why I was expecting so much out of this album.  Oh wait, I know…it’s because it features M. Ward, Jim James, and Conor Oberst!  However, “supergroup” albums are frequently disappointing and this one is no different.  It’s just uninspired, way too long, boring and not enough Jim James (and too much Oberst).

[“Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.)” – Monsters of Folk]

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Wilco – Wilco (The Album)

This is an example of one of those albums that is by no means a bad release, it’s just that I miss what Wilco used to be.  They have completely evolved into an adult oriented rock band and while the music isn’t bad, it is quite boring.  I was hoping Sky Blue Sky was just an aberration, but Wilco (The Album), while better, did nothing to excite me.  Maybe I’ll like it more when I’m 40.

[“You and I” – Wilco (The Album)]

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Muse – Resistance

Now this one is hard on me.  I like Muse, I really do.  Their debut album, Showbiz, was a very important album for me and my musical evolution.  But ever since then (except for Origin of Symmetry), they have been on a slippery slope of becoming caricatures of themselves.  Well, Resistance pretty much completes that downfall.  It’s one of the most self-indulgent, overtly pretentious albums I have heard in quite some time.  And this is coming from a fan of indie-rock…I hear plenty of pretentious music.

[“Uprising” – Resistance]

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Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson – Summer of Fear

I loved loved loved MBAR’s self titled debut album released in 2008 (I even mentioned it in my first ever AROS post), which is why I am so disappointed in this absolute mess of an album, Summer of Fear. A few of the songs are keepers, but even those can be grating to listen to.  MBAR’s ambitions got the best of him here, and it doesn’t work out well at all. The lyrics are awful, and the music is disjointed and just plain hard to listen to.

[“Losing 4 Winners” – Summer of Fear]

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Posted by Hawkins