2010 Third Quarter Review

December 3, 2010

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 acclaimed Friend 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.

[“Angela Surf City” – Lisbon]

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A Round of Sound: 2009 Mixtape

January 17, 2010

Now that the countdown is complete, all that is left is to present my 2009 Mixtape, an annual mix of the songs that helped shape the past year in music.  This is maybe becoming my favorite part of my yearly top albums tradition because it’s fun to see what tunes I can pack into an 80 minute disc.  I started doing this on my own just to make a mix cd of some of my favorite songs of the year to keep for listening in my car, but it has evolved into a way for me to kind of summarize the best music of the year in just a “mixtape” form, especially since I find it pretty impossible to do a ranking of the best songs of the year.  And people seem to enjoy it, so here we are again.  By the way if you want to see my complete top 25 Albums of 2009 on one nice, put together page, head on over to my Amazon.com list to give it a look.

So, here’s some stats about the mix.  This year I packed 19 songs on the disc (down one from last year’s 20), but as usual this does not necessarily mean these are my 19 favorite songs of the year.  There a plenty of songs that I had to leave off because they were too long, or maybe they just didn’t fit with the mix.  Also, as usual the order here is how they appear on my mix, but it is not a ranking.  The songs are placed based on how they appear on their respective albums.  For this year, 9 of the songs are off albums in my top 10 (Antony & the Johnsons is the only top 10 album not represented).  Five of the songs are from albums in my #11-#25 range and two songs come from albums outside my top 25.  The lowest ranking album with a song in the mix is Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free by Akron/Family (ranked #44) with “River”.  And finally, three songs (“Blood Bank”, “My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille”, and “It Gets Your Body Movin'”) are songs off of EPs, and thus came from albums not eligible to be in my rankings.  Most of these songs have been featured somewhere on this blog in the past, or in the top albums countdown, but now here they are all in one place!

The picture above is thanks to Amy Boyd, who for the second year in a row has provided me with the album art for the Mixtape.  Another fine job indeed. Today is her birthday (as well as Zooey Deschanel’s) so she also has that going for her.  Enjoy!

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[“French Navy” – Camera Obscura :: My Maudlin Career]

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[“Blood Bank” – Bon Iver :: Blood Bank]

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[“1901” – Phoenix :: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix]

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[“Two Weeks” – Grizzly Bear :: Veckatimest]

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[“River” – Akron/Family :: Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free]

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[“My Girls” – Animal Collective :: Merriweather Post Pavilion]

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[“Young Adult Friction” – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart :: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart]

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[“Crystalised” – The xx :: xx]

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[“Funeral Singers” – Califone :: All My Friends Are Funeral Singers]

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[“Now We Can See” – The Thermals :: Now We Can See]

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[“Stillness is the Move” – Dirty Projectors :: Bitte Orca]

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[“Don’t Haunt This Place” – Rural Alberta Advantage :: Hometowns]

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[“Never Seen” – Lightning Dust :: Infinite Light]

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[“Home” – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros :: Up From Below]

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[“Two” – The Antlers :: Hospice]

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[“My Night With The Prostitute From Marseille” – Beirut :: March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland]

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[“Marrow” – St Vincent :: Actor]

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[“Sleepyhead” – Passion Pit :: Manners]

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[“It Gets Your Body Movin'” – Suckers :: Suckers EP]

2 Comments | All, Music, Rounds of Sound, Top Albums of 2009 | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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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]

2 Comments | All, Music, Top Albums of 2009 | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Hawkins