Now we come to my annual playlist that caps off my list. I find it way to difficult to do a ranking of songs, so this is my way to capture the tracks that defined the year. As always, I try to make a playlist that fits on a standard CD-R, to kind of limit myself. Keep in mind these aren’t necessarily my favorite songs of the year, but rather a mix that I think is a good look at what 2015 had to offer. Also, the order is based on how the songs show up on their respective albums, and is in no way a ranking.
This year’s mix consists of 19 songs, down one track from year’s past. Seven of the songs come from albums in my top 10, with five songs from albums in my 11-25 range, leaving the remaining seven from those outside my top 25. The lowest ranked album to have a song featured is Pagans in Vegas from Metric, whose new synth pop direction didn’t always work rendering it 64th in my rankings, but it did give us one of the year’s best pop songs.
Below, you’ll see the tracklist as well as the Spotify playlist (RIP Rdio). Also, Amazon has discontinued their Listmania service, which is dumb, but if you want to see my entire Top 25 in simple list form, I’ve got it here on the list app. And finally, this is the 8th straight year Amy Runner has provided the album art for the mix. She’s basically the only person who gets even a hint of how my list is shaping up, so you should be extremely jealous.
2016 has a tough act to follow, but some recent developments (LCD Soundsystem!Radiohead, maybe!) have me more excited than I was just a week ago.
Formerly known as Mirror Kisses, this is the first release from Clanton under his own name which he released on Bandcamp through his own record label. I like to describe it as a poor man’s LCD Soundsystem mixed with the chillwave vibe of Washed Out. Clanton clearly has a love of 80’s music as there’s a nostalgic feel throughout the album, most notably on the albums final two tracks, which close out a stretch of 5 songs as strong as anything you’ll hear in 2015.
The second album from the Seattle girl group sees the band use their fuzzed out but catchy DIY post-punk songs as avenues to describe their fed up feelings with mansplaining (“Drone”) and slut shaming (“Cool Slut”), among many others topics with feminist undertones, making it one of the year’s most slyly confident and on-point releases.
Once again Youth Lagoon releases one of the more underrated albums of the year. Even though Savage Hills Ballroom can’t quite match the fragile vulnerability of Wondrous Bughouse (which finished 2013 in my top 10), I still come away impressed with the songwriting chops of Trevor Powers, who seems to have memorable melodies in abundant supply.
The second album from Australian punk rockers is the year’s finest punk album, full of throwback garage-punk tunes as catchy and confident as any album you’ll hear in 2015, but with enough skuzz that its authenticity can’t be questioned. What sets it apart for me are Shogun’s lead vocals which are some of the best punk rock pipes I’ve heard in quite some time; soulful and full of range that allow these 10 tracks to truly become something special.
Really more of a compilation (so yeah, I guess I’m kinda breaking my rules here), Teens of Style is the first release for Seattle’s do it yourselfer Will Toledo on Matador Records, who signed Toledo to put out this album of some of his reworked lo-fi melodic indie rock songs from his 11 (!) self-released Bandcamp albums, and then follow it up with an album of brand new material in early 2016. Toledo is only 22 years old, but is a fantastic songwriter with no shortage of great ideas, and emerged as one of 2015’s best new artists.
The debut album from the Los Angeles jazz saxophonist is perhaps the most appropriately titled album of the year as this nearly 3 hour long triple album is indeed best described as epic. Now I’m no jazz expert, so it’s hard for me to say what makes a great jazz album or what makes a bad one, but I do know that collection of easy listening accessible but boundary pushing modern jazz tunes is easily among the best 25 albums I heard in 2015.
Emerging from the ashes of the band Women, Viet Cong’s debut album (and Polaris Music Prize shortlisted) is a visceral album of 7 post-punk songs which paint industrial soundscapes of immense but not overwhelming magnitude. It’s a rewarding listen that presents itself as vital throughout. These guys will reportedly return in 2016 with their follow up, albeit with a different name.
One of the most consistent bands going, Deerhunter’s seventh album may also be their most accessible. Aside from funky lead single “Snakeskin”, the tunes on Fading Frontier have a dreamy quality to them and as a whole feel cleaner and lighter than anything Deerhunter has produced, while in no way being less substantial.
Julia Holter’s fourth album of avant-garde pop is a personal yet approachable release full of gorgeous songs that manage to carry a sense of grandiosity despite being so intimate. Holter’s style exudes subtle experimentation that adds to the appreciation upon repeat listens, but somehow doesn’t come across as challenging for the casual listener.
One of the bands I featured in my 2013 Honorable Mentions post regarding the emo revival returns with their sophomore album and it just shows a great leap in quality that legitimizes this as not just an emo front runner, but a band that should be paid attention to across all genres. Granted, it is still something that will grab emo purists first and foremost, but with Harmlessness the group has gone though some lineup changes that allowed for a more focused and cohesive indie rock album while retaining their emo soul.
Released all the way back in January, the self-titled debut from the Richmond, VA based artist had some major staying power as one of my favorite albums of the year, thanks to impeccable songwriting, exquisite voice, and lush production. This is sophisticated pop from a musician who’s staying power is going to be much longer than just one year if she can continue to pump out songs as stunning as album bookends “My Baby Don’t Understand Me” and “It Is You”, the latter of which sounds like the best Disney song not actually written for Disney.
I don’t think Titus Andronicus will ever be able to match the epic scale of The Monitor (my 2010 album of the year) but they sure aren’t going down trying as evidenced by the 29 track, 90-minute, rock opera The Most Lamentable Tragedy. When announced I wasn’t sure if they were joking around, and if it wasn’t an exercise in self-indulgence, but they pulled it off with this concept album full of their patented punk-rock and highly literate lyrics.
Most people give Björk credit for creating the year’s best breakup album, but Norwegian artist Susanne Sundfør’s sixth album is where I’ll stake my claim. While lyrically it may not match the raw emotion of Vulnicura, Ten Love Songs is inventive baroque-pop music masquerading as club bangers, friendly enough for the radio but with a surprisingly dark core.
A victim of a stacked 2015, Joanna Newsom finds her album Divers just outside my top 10 which is in no way an indication of a drop in quality as compared to her previous releases. If anything, Newsom’s 4th release is arguably her most musically ambitious record yet, but by eschewing epic triple albums and long run times for 11 brisk (at least for her) chamber-folk songs, it’s also perhaps her most accessible.
One of the year’s most anticipated releases came from the Scottish electro-pop band Chvrches and their follow up to their brilliant 2013 debut. There is absolutely no let down with Every Open Eye, as the trio polished their crystalline sound to diamonds, while Lauren Mayberry somehow managed to improve her already dynamic vocals. If song of the year contender “Clearest Blue” is any indicator, this is a group that seems to be gelling into an absolute powerhouse and if they can continue to harness their skills, a true masterpiece very well may be on the way.
Finally, it’s time for the annual playlist that caps off my countdown. Rather than do a ranking of favorite songs, I choose to compile what I think is a good representation for the year in music, all on an 80 minute CD-R. This year, many of my favorite songs were just too long to fit on this mix, (“Pyramids”, “Wasted Days”, “Hey Jane”, “Nothin’ But Time”, etc…) and of course I always have to leave off some of my favorites because of dead time in the track due to production techniques of its respective album.
Other notes: I managed to squeeze 20 tracks onto this years mix, up one from 2011. The lowest ranked album that has a song appear on the mix comes from an album I didn’t really care for, Port of Morrow by The Shins which was my #63 album of the year. In addition to that track, there are 3 other songs coming from albums outside my top 25. There are nine tracks representing my #11-#25 albums, and 7 tracks from my top 10 albums. As usual, the order of the Mixtape is not a ranking, but rather an order based on how the song appears on its respective album.
Below, you’ll see the tracklist, and after the jump you can listen to every track if you so choose. If you happen to be a Spotify user, I’ve also created a Spotify playlist of my Mixtape (not including “Wildest Moments” and “Tallulah” due to them not being available on Spotify), which you can link to below. Also included is a link to my Amazon.com list which has my entire top 25 albums of the year, nice and neat in a one page form (as well as access to my all my lists since 2001). And finally, for the 5th straight year I give thanks to Amy Boyd for providing me with the album art for my Mixtape. She’s now a Pentagram employee, making this album art the most legit thing on my blog right now.
So, there you have it for 2012. I’m already 3 albums into my 2013 releases, so if you’ll excuse me I’ve got some listening to do.
The Countdown can now begin with my 15 albums that make up #11 through #25. There’s really no logic governing which albums I chose to do a write up for here. I didn’t want to write something about all of them, but felt like a few deserved a little blurb.
#25) Titus Andronicus – Local Business
Titus Andronicus’s previous album was my 2010 album of the year and quite possibly my favorite album of the last half-decade, so a let down was to be expected on their follow up release. Local Business certainly doesn’t reach the heights of The Monitor but there’s no shame in that, especially when Patrick Sickles and crew continue to pump out punk-rock anthems few bands can match. With a smaller cast of musicians, Titus has tightened up a good bit musically leading to maybe the most radio friendly track they’ve produced in “In A Big City” and a focused set of songs without sacrificing their spontaneity. The album opens with the line “I think by now we’ve established everything is inherently worthless / and there’s nothing in the universe with any kind of objective purpose”, so their nihilistic world view remains in full force, but there probably isn’t a better example of a band today who believes rock ‘n roll might just be powerful enough to reverse that thinking.
[“In A Big City” – Local Business]
#24) Animal Collective – Centipede HZ
#23) Chairlift – Something
The second album from the Brooklyn duo is a polished set of synth laden indie-pop songs which could be used as a shining example of how to create such music. This is just plain an enjoyable album full of exquisite pop songs carried by the voice of Caroline Polacheck but built around catchy melodies and an 80’s nostalgic vibe. In no song is this more evident than in the glorious “I Belong In Your Arms” which feels ripped directly from a John Hughes teen flick. Something is accessible enough to get immediately immersed in, but complex enough to not come across superficial. It’s a confident and elegant release that announces Chairlift as a pop band not to be forgotten.
[“I Belong In Your Arms” – Something]
#22) Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls
#21) Jessie Ware – Devotion
#20) Allo Darlin’ – Europe
London-based Allo Darlin’s second album of sophisticated indie-pop is a step forward for the Elizabeth Morris fronted group. On Europe, Morris has penned songs more maudlin than twee which serves her well as it gives these songs a depth that puts Allo Darlin’ in the same breadth as Belle & Sebastian or better yet, Camera Obscura. The songs are instantly memorable but have a heartfelt sensibility allowing for a stunning ukulele soliloquy “Tallulah” to stop the listener dead in his or her tracks. “Tallulah” is the kind of song that can completely overshadow an album, and as one of the best songs of the year, it does that to an extent. But that’s more a testament to its greatness and not the quality of the other songs on Europe. Start to finish, this is an album of infectious brit-pop overflowing with warmth and richness.
[“Tallulah” – Europe]
#19) The Mountain Goats – Transcendental Youth
#18) Twin Shadow – Confess
Another notch in the bedpost of 80’s pop revivalism, Brooklyn’s Twin Shadow has created another nostalgic album channeling 80’s pop mainstays from The Police to Prince. The brainchild behind Twin Shadow is Dominican born George Lewis Jr, and for Confess, Lewis fully embraced his 80’s persona churning out song after song of new wave synth-pop that instantly conjures images an era he clearly reveres. Whether it’s the power ballad of “Be Mine Tonight” or the driving rhythm and guitar hooks of “Five Seconds”, Lewis unabashed esteem for 80’s pop is clearly on display, but in no way ironic. Sure, the stylization may be a little on the nose and contrived (I mean, just look at that album cover), but who cares when the music is crafted so masterfully.
[“Five Seconds” – Confess]
#17) Father John Misty – Fear Fun
#16) Grimes – Visions
The eccentricities of Claire Boucher really can’t be discussed without first mentioning her failed attempt to house-boat down the Mississippi River, an example of her ambitious confidence that is scattered all throughout her breakthrough album Visions. Listening to this hodgepodge of an album, it’s hard to nail down a specific genre Grimes is conveying as the tunes are an eclectic mix of influences yet somehow incredibly cohesive. But when she’s writing more straightforward electro-pop songs, the results are breathtaking, as seen on “Genesis” and “Oblivion”, a couple early album stunners that showcase her knack for melody and sweetness with an underlying darkness, intensity, and well, feminism. Visions is one of the most original albums of the year from an artist allowing us a peek inside the workings of her idiosyncratic mind.
[“Genesis” – Visions]
#15) Beach House – Bloom
#14) The Walkmen – Heaven
#13) Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light
#12) Swans – The Seer
Adjectives that can be used to Swans monumental, career defining album: Dark. Heavy. Intense. Powerful. Terrifying. Progressive. Experimental. Challenging. Demanding. Exhausting. Ambitious. Beautiful. Atmospheric. Brutal. Bleak. Immense. Bold. Epic. Triumphant. Brilliant. I could go on…
[“Lunacy” – The Seer]
#11) Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
The third album from Van Etten is her best work yet featuring guest spots from Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner, Beirut’s Zach Condon, and The Walkmen’s Matt Barrick, to name a few, but the smartest move she made was in recruiting The National’s Aaron Dessner to produce these 12 tracks. (Dessner’s brother, Bryce, also appears on lead single “Serpents”.) Dessner takes Van Etten’s folk tunes to new levels of significance fully realizing her songwriting potential as well as emphasizing her voice and emotional depth of her music.
Titus Andronicus – The Monitor[XL; released 3/9/2010]
“The enemy is everywhere.”
“Titus Andronicus Forever”
Using the American Civil War as a metaphor for personal internal strife is really nothing new. In fact, it’s actually a pretty tired cliche. Generally, if a band tries to pull off something of that caliber, it’s seen as an incredibly overblown attempt at self-importance and quite pretentious. So how then is Titus Andronicus able to pull off a concept album loosely based on events of the Civil War to the point where it seems not only genuine, but also original? Answer: I don’t know exactly. But, with The Monitor, they sure as hell do. And in doing so, they’ve created the best album of 2010.
One thing that certainly doesn’t hurt is the fact that the album absolutely rocks. There is no shortage of riffs one bit, and it contains an abundance of hooks that many rock bands would spend an entire career searching for. Every song is a go-by for sing along anthems, complete with massive choruses that just urge you to belt from the top of your lungs “It’s still us against them!” over and over again as lead singer Patrick Stickles does to close out album centerpiece “Four Score and Seven”. There’s some Irish jig type sounds in the music, but it’s the Springsteen influence (and the Civil War motif, obviously) that make this a truly great American rock album. For an album that is so intelligent and clearly was labored on in fine detail, it’s amazing how natural and fun the entire thing sounds. The emotion and angst heard in Stickles vocals is that of legends and really is what keeps the album grounded as a personal experience but nothing that ever really comes across as too self-indulgent.
The 10 tracks of The Monitor clock in at 65 minutes thanks to half the tracks passing the 7 minute mark. A release of that length can usually come across as exhausting, but for The Monitor, there really is no better word to describe it other than epic. We hear that term thrown around quite often (hell, I’ve probably used it numerous times during this very countdown), but no offense to any other so called “epic” releases this year, you’ve got nothing on The Monitor; nor does any album released in the past 3 or 4 years. The raw and gritty nature of this album is something you can truly sense throughout its 10 tracks. The tears and sweat put into it are truly palpable, as is the blood spilled on the battlefield. With all that said, it still comes back to the music. In any album I name as my album of the year, there’s often a moment that just gets to me and offers a moment of pure joy that pretty much nails it down as my album of the year. Well, there’s numerous moments of joy on The Monitor, but the one that gets me the most comes about an hour into the disc, during the 14 minute closer “The Battle of Hampton Roads”. After a buildup featuring some incredible lyrics, awesome little guitar solos, and a final breakdown consisting of the simple refrain “Please don’t ever leave,” we reach the climax: an instrumental outro when none other than bagpipes show up to perform a solo. Bagpipes! What an amazingly poignant way to close out not just any album, but this album. It gives me chills every time. The bagpipes eventually come to an end and we’re left with yet another set of guitar riffs that an entire album could be made out of. So when all is said and done, the reasons a band like Titus Andronicus could pull off such an ambitious project like this is actually pretty clear: just put your heart into it and have a blast. It really isn’t all that new of a concept, and if the listener puts in the same effort, he or she will get just as much out of it as Titus Andronicus did.
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]
———-
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]
———-
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]
———-
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]
———–
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]
———-
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.
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.
Posted by Hawkins 
A Round of Sound 