*If you happen to be viewing this on a mobile device and you find the videos are loading slowly, tap the youtube logo on the bottom right of the video. I’ve weighted down this post with lots of treats!

50. Jamie Woon Mirrorwriting (post dubstep, r&b)

49. Wolfram Wolfram (elctro pop)

48. Seun Kuti And The Egypt 80 From Africa With Fury: Rise (afro-pop)

47. COOLRUNNINGS Dracula Is Only The Beginning (indie pop, electronic, lo-fi)

46. Joanna Syze Rodina (drum & bass, gothic, dubstep)

45. Beirut The Rip Tide (indie pop, balkan)

44. French Films Imaginary Future (indie pop)

43. Das Racist Relax (hip hop, rap)

42. Active Child You Are All I See (ambient, electronic, dream pop) 

41. Rustie Glass Swords (electro, idm, glitch)

40. Two Beasts Smother (dramatic indie rock)

39. Miracle Fortress Was I the Wave? (synth pop)

38. Big Spider’s Back Memory Man (synth pop, dream pop)

37. Canon Blue Rumspringa (orch pop)

36. tUnE yArDs WHOKILL (indie pop, afro pop, experimental)

35. Lake Giving & Receiving

Straddling a line between the 80s Soul Pop of Orange Juice, horn driven R&B and folk rock, Lake accomplish something phenomenal; a sound drawing from clear influences while still sounding wholly original. This is an LP full of good, straightforward pop songs that feels anything but straight.

34. Wilco The Whole Love

There are two reasons why this album is one of my favorites of 2011: 1). the opening track, “Art of Almost” and 2). the closing 12 min. plus opus “One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend). Both of these tracks recall the best of Wilco’s more experimental albums Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born. The mere fact that these are bookend songs to an album released on the band’s own label, however, should suggest there’s a bit of substance and love in the middle as well. And there is. This is a snapshot of a band, a real band, in a comfortable place.

33. Frank Ocean nostalgia/ultra

You know it’s hard not to have affection for an artist with the audacity to sample The Eagles’ unironic magnum 70s epic “Hotel California” (oh, and I do have a soft spot for it), stretch it out a minute longer, keep the lead, and then reshape it into an equally epic story of marriage and divorce. So there’s that, but there’s also the great DIY R&B songwriting instincts, a George Clinton like nastiness where needed and just enough abstraction around the edges to keep it fresh.

32. Little Dragon Ritual Union

I’ll say it outright, I wasn’t feeling this on my 1st or 2nd listen. Truth be told, I was kind of hoping for more of the bouncy synthpop found on 2009’s Machine Dreams. And not that I wanted part 2, but the strength of that album suggested there was mileage still left in that particular tank. But these Swedes had other ideas, like, say, 80s era Prince. From that angle, Ritual Union is minimal, synth punctuated R&B that you can funk to. What’s not to like?

31. Raphael Saadiq Stone Rollin’

Former lead singer of the Oakland R&B group Tony Toni Tone and the short-lived Lucy Pearl, Raphael Saadiq arguably has one of the most exciting, quintessentially classic soul voices in music. Given this, it’s easy to understand why he might be drawn to the 60s Motown sound of his last 2 albums. Well, that and his obvious love and connection with the music. But where 2008’s The Way I See It felt like a spot on nostalgic exercise in capturing an exciting bygone production and songwriting style, and left you wanting the real thing, Stone Rollin’ is the perfect, hybridized modernist take on the sound; highlighting Saadiq’s exceptional voice and the genre’s infectious backbeat.

30. Braids Native Speaker

Patient, cinematic and endlessly interesting; imagine the whimsy of Clare Grogan’s voice and delivery fused with Afro Pop guitars and rhythms, and you might feel the soil between your toes from where Native Speaker is blossoming. With half the album’s songs clocking in at over 6 min., the album accomplishes something special; despite the meandering and building nature of the songcraft, one never loses interest. In part, this is due to Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s airy vocal delivery – twee one moment, full and emotional the next. A beautiful, beautiful LP from this Montréal band.

29. CunninLynguists Oneirology

Somewhat of a concept album dealing with the intangibles of the unconscious, desires, dreams and fears, Oneirology is this southern hip hop group’s best LP to date. Anchored by a cinematic, and at times overreaching, production style by Kno, the album feels like a successful shot at something epic. And that’s what makes it all such a worthwhile experience; its ambition. Of course, the flows work, the rhymes are clever, and the guests are great, but that can be said of a lot of rap albums in 2011, this just happens to be, well, in my top 30.

28. Panda Bear Tomboy

Falling somewhere between the aural sonics of Panda’s day job with Animal Collective and their masterwork Merriweather Post Pavilion and his 2007 solo release Person Pitch, Tomboy is an album best listened to multiple times in single complete sittings. This isn’t to say there aren’t songs, in the classical sense, which function as singles, it’s just the overriding vibe of the whole experience is so rich. Things move along at a measured pace, punctuated by pulses of bliss and lyrical keys which unlock beautiful places.

27. St. Vincent Strange Mercy

As we roll into the 2nd decade of the 21st century, who would’ve thought Kate Bush, over 30 years ago, would give birth to so many amazing female artists inhabiting some of the more interesting/experimental corners of indie pop music? Even I, with a soft spot for Kate, wouldn’t have predicted it. But here we are, appropriately about to start 2012, and the new children of Kate seem like the correct ones for the soundtrack duties. This is an endlessly unpredictable, spaced out pop album anchored by odd lyricism, instrumentation and an angelic voice. It took me a couple of listens before it really sank in, but now that it has… wow.

26. Holy ghost! Holy Ghost!

Look, there’s nothing too deep I need to say here about this album; it’s bouncy, it’s funky, it’s melodic, it’s got hooks to spare and it’s not conflicted about offering more. But hey, like, sometimes all you want to do is dance. Not the best electro pop album of 2011 (that would be Cut/Copy’s Zonoscope), but it’s a worthy runner-up.

25. Mathemagic II

Measured, shimmering, reverb drenched, with a heavy dose of pre-sunrise beach vibe thrown in for imagery’s sake, this is the quintessential summer soundtrack for 2011. Male/female vocals harmonize, wrap around your heart, ebb and flow like a coastal eddy marine layer you hypnotically welcome and then burns clear beneath a sunny pop song structure, its gold. A warm, narcotic paced wonderment.

24. Gang Gang Dance Eye Contact

Think Dead Can Dance meets Lene Lovich meets disco and you might have a sliver of the picture of what this neo-goth electronic group’s spaced out dance gems are all about. Never taking itself too seriously or sacrificing weirdness for melody, this is an album that begs to be taken as a whole while clearly understanding the value of a good hook.

23. Dum Dum Girls Only in Dreams

The sound here isn’t original by any means, in fact you could argue the whole lo-fi 60s girl group sound might have seen its best indie rock days already, but nevertheless whatever ubiquitous subgenre Only in Dreams is hanging its hat on, there’s no getting around that these are just damn catchy rock songs – start to finish. Still, there’s a production trick at play here as well; a quixotic balance between a lo-fi aesthetic and a high-gloss rock sound that lets the music shine. If you liked the Go Go’s first two albums or appreciate Chrissie Hynde’s rock ‘n roll snarl, you’ll love this.

22. Blue Sky Black Death Noir

Seattle producers Kingston and Young God yet again deliver another hazy, melodious, ambient hip-hop album. Less on vocals than 2010’s Third Party or 2008’s Late Night Cinema, but maintaining the same epic sonic sweeps of emotion, Noir has more in common with orchestral music than it does with its foundational boom-bap rhythms. In many ways it feels like a soundtrack to a silent movie; one fused with glowing, shimmering colors as opposed to stark black and whites.

21. Cocos Lovers Elephant Lands

Hailing from Kent, this multi piece group draws influences from Northern Africa, the Middle East, Ireland, the Balkans and English folk music. It’s an infectious, joyous, dizzying mix, to be sure, that never feels gimmicky. Strangely, all these cooks in the broth are exactly what feels right about being the accompaniment to the beautiful male-female vocal harmonies — rather than being a distraction, they circle, play and elevate the songs. A nice discovery.

20. Wes Swing Through a Fogged Glass

Through a Fogged Glass is exactly why I love and consume so much music; the discovery of a new gem. Part orchestral pop (bells, violins, cellos, standup bass, keys, etc.), part country, and a whole mess of acoustic folk (with male and female harmonies) to wrap around your heart, this is a beautiful album. I continually come back to it, falling more in love each time.

19. Washed Out Within and Without

Arguably one of the 1st artists to break the chillwave scene into the mainstream with 2009’s super smooth Life of Leisure EP, this Sub Pop debut picks up where that release left off. Lazy beats, silky synths, barely audible, reverb soaked vocals and melodies that push the syrup boundary right up to the point of gagging you with sweetness, this is a beautiful, pleasant, inoffensive collection of 9 songs that only those without a soul (or those too cool to admit they have one) could shrug their shoulders at. It’s just too damn consistent not to like.

18. YAWN Open Season

If there was ever a distinct sound or record that would provide a trajectory for dozens of indie bands in these first 11 years of the 21st century, that sound would have to come from Animal Collective. And while YAWN’s influence is clearly worn on its sleeve, I wouldn’t call that a bad thing. Hell, the best artists steal, and besides, there’s still the issue of actually writing good songs. You can almost argue that if you’re going to riff on a masterpiece such as Merriweather Post Pavilion, you better bring the goods. Thankfully Open Season does. Layered, tribal, beat driven, joyous, and synthpoppy around its edges – this is the record you put on when you want to prolong a foolish grin.

17. The Decemberists The King is Dead

Not the best Decemberists’ LP (see The Crane Wife), not even the third best (Picaresque and Castaways and Cutouts) , but that hardly matters when a record is this consistent, melodic and focused. Of course all the beloved Colin Meloy elements are here, they’re just hung from a more countrified, jangle pop line is all. And sure there are explicit nods to REM and Fleetwood Mac, but if you’re going to steal (all right, honor), why not do it from the best? Truthfully, I can’t get enough of this record.

16. Loney Dear Hall Music

My favorite Swedish sad romantic bedroom pop musician, Emil Svanängen, has done it again; dropping yet another album of lovely melancholic songs that somehow manage to sound both hopeful and hopeless in the same package. A bit denser and more orchestrated than previous LPs, and finding yet another way to breathe life into Loney Dear’s trademark crescendos, the album oddly feels more minimalistic and intimate. How Emil pulls this off, while diving into such emotional lyrical content and sumptuous sonics, is a wonder to be sure, but by the end of the record you realize this music couldn’t work any other way and that this balancing act is exactly what this music is all about.

15. Timber Timbre Creep On Creepin’ On

As it was with the last album, the deliciously eerie self-titled Timber Timbre, at the dark, southern gothic heart of Creep On Creepin’ On is the same pulsing tinny piano, reverb and Taylor Kirk’s beautiful 50s style baritone voice. My, this is creepy fun. Think Screaming Jay Hawkins meets Tom Waits meets Nick Cave meets New Orleans funeral jazz and it’s something like that. But, you know, different. Macbre.

14. SBTRKT SBTRKT

It’s been a good year for bass music. 2011 has seen the further splintering via assimilation (sounds contradictory, doesn’t it?) of electronic music into nebulous post post post genres. Try to pin something to a particular branch on the techno tree and you’ll find something to contradict its placement. SBTRKT is a perfect example of all of this: post-dubstep, juke, disco, soul, glitch, what have you. But rather than coming off sounding schizophrenic, the synthesis of styles makes for a listen that, while fusion, sounds comfortable and familiar.

13. Kendrick Lamar Section 80

Start any rap album – or any album for that matter – with a song titled “F**k your Ethnicity” and you know you’re probably in for something a little different. No matter how incendiary or ambiguous it may seem, it pricks up one’s ears. And it’s that kind of confidence/punk ethos that sets Section 80 apart from other rap albums this year. You don’t know what you’re in for until you take the ride. But in this case, the ride is well worth it; it’s dark, it’s explicit, it’s political, it’s spiritual, it’s conscious and its powerful. A talented young voice commenting on the complicated world around him.

12. The Middle East I Want That You Are Always Happy

There’s this thing in standup comedy where a comedian will push a joke up to the point of breaking and risk losing the audience – a line, if you will, if crossed, where the joke ceases to be funny. Most comedians adhere to this line, while a special, audacious few have the confidence/faith to go beyond it, into that territory of uncomfortable awkwardness for the audience. But here’s the thing; they don’t care, they keep going and at some miraculous, unknowing point in the joke it becomes funny again – way more so, in fact. This Australian indie folk group’s confident songcraft is a lot like that; extended, slow burning tunes that push toward unexpected results. This auspicious debut follows an EP with my favorite song from 2009, the hauntingly beautiful “Blood”.

11. Clams Casino Instrumentals

It’s not a new thing for hip-hop producers (or producers in general) to release stripped down, instrumental versions of their work sans the MCs, but this mixtape feels like something different. 1st, it works completely on its own as an album, not feeling hobbled together or incomplete. 2nd, the sonic palette draws from sources not typically used by your average crate diggers and beat makers; these songs are big, expansive, hazy, melodious shoegaze hybrids. To this end, it’s hard to imagine anything but these versions. Beautiful. Dreamy.

10. The Weeknd House of Balloons; Thursday; Echos of Silence

Sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll, are ever present and not easily separated from contemporary, popular music’s rebellious side. In fact, rock ‘n roll – in no small way – gets its mojo from the first two in that clichéd expression. But R&B, on the other hand, while often dripping with sexual energy, rarely gets down in the dirt with the drug part. At least, not to the extent this trilogy does. Feeling a lot like the auditory flipside to the movie Kids, this is a slow burning, grimy, frightening exploration into the darker side of excess. Released as free mix tapes, this trilogy has generated a lot of hype, and while it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, the hype is justified.

9. Bon Iver Bon Iver

Of all the albums I’ve anticipated coming out this year, this was at the top of my list. Not quite as emotionally focused or instrumentally sparse as 2008’s For Emma, Forever Ago, at the heart of this sophomore eponymous release is still the haunting falsetto of Justin Vernon. And that’s what keeps it all together, even on the syrupy head scratcher, the Steve Winwood/Bruce Hornsby influenced closer “Beth/Rest”. And even though the palette here is larger, the production cleaner and the lyrical content more abstract, it’s that beautiful, unique voice that transcends it all.

8. James Blake James Blake

If there were another album in 2011 that so beautifully articulated that the machine has a soul, I’m not sure what it would be. And that’s a pretty heady trick to begin with — anthropomorphizing the machine in a way that makes you want to cuddle up and spoon with it for hours. But that’s why this album is so mesmerizing, and why I keep coming back to it, in spite of the post-dubstep, locked in rythmns, vague message and heavily processed vocals – all of which I’m quite down with – this is a soul record first and foremost.

7. Cut/Copy Zonoscope

The third LP from this Australian group, Zonoscope owes as much to Australian new wave icons Icehouse as it does modern dance music. Fusing elements of electro, psychedelic rock and new wave, Cut/Copy have created an album that feels like a night out at the club. Sequenced to perfection and capped off with the epic trance infused 15 min. plus “Sun God”, the DJ DNA that runs strong in this group, is ever more apparent and greatly appreciated. The best dance oriented album of the year.

6. The Drums Portamento

I don’t think this record is going to show up on a lot of year-end lists for 2011, which is a shame because I think it’s more due to the fact that there wasn’t really a style leap from their debut to this LP. Nevertheless, it’s as infectious is ever. Seriously though, was there much of a leap from the Beatles’s Rubber Soul to Revolver? I’d argue no, which doesn’t take away from either album. I’m not suggesting The Drums have made a record which compares to either of those iconic releases, but I am saying the comparison is fair in terms of progression. Straight up, these kids write catchy, beachy synthpop — end of story. Their melodies are as good as anybody has written this year. That’s a gift. Besides, what’s not to like about a band with nods to Morrissey’s endearing whining (“Money”) and Real Life’s melodramatic synthpop classic “Send me an Angel” (“If He Likes It Let Him Do It”).

5. Mirrors Lights and Offerings

We’re living in a time where calling a lot of today’s music derivative – while often true – is a bit pointless. Because in and of itself, what difference does it make? But here’s the thing, while it may be pointless to label it as such, more often than not it leaves one craving for the real thing. This is not the case with Lights And Offerings. In fact, Mirrors have created an authentic dark synthpop wonder that stands with the best of the earliest recordings by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Human League or OMD. With hooks that run for miles and not a weak spot to be found, this is the album I’d hoped OMD’s comeback LP last year had sounded like.

4. The Roots Undun

This is the best Roots album yet. Okay, every successive Roots album is the best, but that’s probably because you can’t pin down this hip-hop band’s sound at any one time. Hip-hop, sure. Rap, sure. But the rest? Mercurial stuff. As for Undun, everything here is impressively austere and serves the album’s goals in telling the death to birth story of a street hustler; from the guest MCs to the Sufjan Stephens motif to the closing orchestral arrangements to the album’s surprising brevity.

3. M83 Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

Continuing to evolve the pallet of the last 3 albums, especially Saturdays = Youth’s epic dark wave vibe, Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming is a bombastic, stadium ready synth rock album at its core. The songwriting instincts aren’t far from those found in the best of U2 (expansive soundscape). The ambitions are big, the album is big, hell, even the minute plus interlude songs are big. And while all this grandiosity might seem pompous, there’s something admirable about such audacious bombast. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the songwriting is spot on; melodic, visceral and soul expanding.

2. Shabazz Palaces Black Up

2011 has been by far the most interesting year in hip-hop/rap in a long time, and no record, in my mind, took the genre to a more creative and expanded space than Shabazz Palaces. Trying to describe what’s exactly going on here on this record is kind of ridiculous; it’s boom-bap, it’s free jazz, it’s conscious, it’s glitchy, it’s deep, it’s way out, man. The 1st time I listened to this record I was blown away. Not really surprised by what I was hearing exactly, the pedigree here speaks for itself, but hoping that a new trajectory had been ignited under hip-hop’s stagnant ass. Make no mistake, this is an important record now, but let’s see where hip-hop has bubbled out in, say, 5 years – I think we’ll see just what Black Up is really about. Massive.

1. Destroyer Kaputt

Not missing a step between 2009’s epic nu-disco masterpiece Bay of Pigs EP (a portend of brilliant things to follow) and this equally masterful LP, Destroyer have crafted two of the most compelling pieces of songcraft I’ve heard in a long time. Smart, Emotional, groove laden and laced with saxophones (not an easy thing to pull off since the 80s - the saxophones, that is), Kaputt is an unqualified pop accomplishment of quixotic depths. Hyperbole aside – and history will bear this out, mark my words – this is one of independent music’s finest moments.

Happy New Year!

pau

Given all the music I’ve come to listen to over the last several years (300 plus LPs and EPs this year so far), you’d have thought my appreciation for the midyear list would’ve come sooner than 2011, if for no other reason than I try to be Zen about such chores. And while I know I’ve shrugged them off in the past as being a bit meaningless, I’ve moved on since, well, last July and I now see their purpose; re-visitation and repeated listens. Because the truth is, if you want to fall in love with something you need to spend time with it.

And time spent I have. All 13 of these LPs have been on heavy rotation over the last six months – some since January, some as near as two weeks ago – and all of them I’ve loved coming back to, gleaning more with each lyric memorized and each song sung aloud.

In the end, however, I narrowed it down to these few because these are the ones I felt compelled to say something about. In some ways – save for a few – the order is arbitrary, meaning next week (including my honorable mentions) things could look very different (okay, a little different).

Nevertheless, it’s a fine list. But knowing what I know about what’s out there on the future release horizon, I imagine it might look a little different come December. Or, maybe not. Maybe 2011 – like a lot of fine LPs – is frontloaded and this will be as good as it gets.

Nah.

The best 13 albums of 2011 (so far)…

13. Blackbird Blackbird Halo LP

The biggest news related to the genre of chillwave/glo-fi this year will probably be the release of Washed Out’s Within and Without on uber hip indie label Sub Pop (which is a fine and pleasant record), when it should be this collection; a grab bag of B-sides, rarities (funny) and remixes from the San Francisco’s producer’s prolific output. And this is exactly why it should be news; these are castoffs. Still, don’t let the grab bag nature of the album fool you, Halo LP feels like a perfectly sequenced whole. Last year’s Summer Heart was good… this is better. The album can be grabed for “name your price” on Blackbird’s bandcamp site.

12. Frank Ocean nostalgia/ultra

You know it’s hard not to have affection for an artist with the audacity to sample The Eagles’ un- ironic magnum 70s epic “Hotel California” (oh, and I do have a soft spot for it), stretch it out a minute longer, keep the lead, and then reshape it into an equally epic story of marriage and divorce. So there’s that, but there’s also the great DIY R&B songwriting instincts, a Prince like nastiness where needed and just enough abstraction around the edges to keep it fresh.

11. Lake Giving & Receiving

Straddling a line between the 80s soul pop of China Crisis, horn driven R&B and folk rock, Lake accomplish something phenomenal; a sound drawing from clear influences while still sounding wholly original. This is an LP full of good, straightforward pop songs that feels anything but straight.

10. The Decemberists The King is Dead

Not the best Decemberists’ LP (see The Crane Wife), not even the third best (Picaresque and Castaways and Cutouts) , but that hardly matters when a record is this consistent, melodic and focused. Of course all the beloved Colin Meloy elements are here, they’re just hung from a more countrified, jangle pop line is all. And sure there are explicit nods to REM and Fleetwood Mac, but if you’re going to steal (all right, honor), why not do it from the best? Truthfully, I can’t get enough of this record.

9. Braids Native Speaker

Patient, cinematic and endlessly interesting, imagine the whimsy of Kate Bush’s voice and delivery fused with Afro Pop guitars and rhythms, and you might feel the soil between your toes from where Native Speaker is blossoming. With half the album’s songs clocking in at over 6 min., the album accomplishes something special; despite the meandering and building nature of the songcraft, one never loses interest. In part, this is due to Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s airy vocal delivery – twee one moment, full and emotional the next. A beautiful, beautiful LP from this Montréal band.

8. The Weeknd House of Balloons

Sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll, are ever present and not easily separated from contemporary, popular music’s rebellious side. In fact, rock ‘n roll – in no small way – gets its mojo from the first two in that clichéd expression. But R&B, on the other hand, while often dripping with sexual energy, rarely gets down in the dirt with the drug part. At least, not to the extent House of Balloons does. Feeling a lot like the auditory flipside to the movie Kids, this is a slow burning, grimy, frightening exploration into the darker side of youthful sexuality. Released as a free mix tape, Balloons has generated a lot of hype, and while it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, the hype is justified.

7. Bon Iver Bon Iver

Of all the albums I’ve anticipated coming out this year, this was at the top of my list. Not quite as emotionally focused or instrumentally sparse as 2008’s For Emma, Forever Ago, at the heart of this sophomore eponymous release is still the haunting falsetto of Justin Vernon. And that’s what keeps it all together, even on head scratchers such as the syrupy Steve Winwood/Bruce Hornsby influenced closer “Beth/Rest”. And even though the palette here is larger, the production cleaner and the lyrical content more abstract, it’s that beautiful, unique voice that transcends it all.

6. Gang Gang Dance Eye Contact

Think Dead Can Dance meets Lene Lovich meets disco and you might have a sliver of the picture of what this neo-goth electronic group’s spaced out dance gems are all about. Never taking itself too seriously or sacrificing weirdness for melody, this is an album that begs to be taken as a whole while clearly understanding the value of a good hook.

5. James Blake James Blake

If there were another album in 2011 that so beautifully articulated that the machine has a soul, I’m not sure what it would be. And that’s a pretty heady trick to begin with — anthropomorphizing the machine in a way that makes you want to cuddle up and spoon with it for hours. But that’s why this album is so mesmerizing, and why I keep coming back to it, in spite of the post-dubstep, locked in rythms, vague message and heavily processed vocals – all of which I’m quite down with – this is a soul record first and foremost.

4. Cut/Copy Zonoscope

The third LP from this Australian group, Zonoscope owes as much to Australian new wave icons Icehouse as it does modern dance music. Fusing elements of electro, psychedelic rock and new wave, Cut/Copy have created an album that feels like a night out at the club. Sequenced to perfection and capped off with the epic trance infused 15 min. plus “Sun God”, the DJ DNA that runs strong in this group, is ever more apparent and greatly appreciated. The best dance oriented album of the year.

3. Mathemagic II

Measured, shimmering, reverb drenched, with a heavy dose of pre-sunrise beach vibe thrown in for imagery’s sake, this is the quintessential summer soundtrack for 2011. Male/female vocals harmonize, wraparound your heart, ebb and flow like a coastal eddy marine layer you hypnotically welcome and then burns clear beneath a sunny pop song structure, its gold. A warm, narcoticly paced wonderment.

2. Mirrors Lights and Offerings

We’re living in a time where calling a lot of today’s music derivative – while often true – is a bit pointless. Because in and of itself, what difference does it make? But here’s the thing, while it may be pointless to label it as such, more often than not it leaves one craving for the real thing. This is not the case with Lights And Offerings. In fact, Mirrors have created an authentic dark synthpop wonder that stands with the best of the earliest recordings by Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Human League or OMD. With hooks that run for miles and not a weak spot to be found, this is the album I’d hoped OMD’s comeback LP last year had sounded like.

1. Destroyer Kaputt

Not missing a step between 2009’s epic nu-disco masterpiece Bay of Pigs EP (a portend of brilliant things to follow) and this equally masterful LP, Destroyer have crafted two of the most compelling pieces of songcraft I’ve heard in a long time. Smart, Emotional, groove laden and laced with saxophones (not an easy thing to pull off since the 80s - the saxophones, that is), Kaputt is an unqualified pop accomplishment of quixotic depths. Hyperbole aside – and history will bear this out, mark my words – this is one of independent music’s finest moments.

Honorable Mentions (Very):

Big Spider’s Back Memory Man; Shabazz Palaces Black Up; COOLRUNNINGS Dracula Is Only The Beginning; Holy Ghost! Holy Ghost!; The Generationals Actor-Caster; Beastie Boys Hot Sauce Committee Part 2; People Like Us Welcome Abroad; Panda Bear Tomboy; PJ Harvey Let England Shake; Hezekiah Jones Have You Seen Our New Friend; Monogrenade Tantale; SBTRKT SBTRKT; tUnE yArDs WHOKILL; Two Beasts Smother

pau.

A few observations about the music of 2010: First, and I pointed this out in July, so you can imagine what December must’ve been like, there was a ton of music to absorb. Second, synth-based music, with nearly 40 years of material to draw from, thoroughly has my attention. Third, the whole “beach/summer” sound may or may not be played out (pun intended), and I’m not sure how I feel about it (Summer, is after all, a mighty fine season). Fourth, genre, for all intents and purposes, is pretty much over, or if not over, at least soft around the edges. And lastly, it wasn’t until I sat down to write this blog that I finally decided my number one record.

To this end, my number one and number two albums are virtually interchangeable; they are both sonic wonders that spoke to me using different vocabularies and connected with me — right here-right now– in a deep, spiritual way.

In the end, I settled on my number one for the reasons mentioned below (see the album description), but also because my dear friend Greta (whose musical instincts, let alone lists, I respect with a bowed reverence) said it would be a copout to have a tie. “You need to commit, Tony”, she said. Which– if you ask me– is really just nicer way of saying, “Shit or get off the pot, Tony”.

Is she right? Perhaps. You tell me.

The 50 best albums of 2010

50.  The Octopus Project: Hexadecagon

49. Diamond Rings: Special Affections

48. El Guincho: Pop Negro

47. Twin Shadow: Forget

46. Wild Nothing: Gemini

45. Ra Ra Riot: The Orchard

44. Robyn: Body Talk

43. Tame Impala: Innerspeaker

42. Trentemoeller: Into The Great Wide Yonder

41. Lower Dens: Twin-hand Movement

40. Motorama: Alps

39. Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

38. Netherfriends: Barry and Sherry

37. How To Dress Well: Love Remains

36. Groove Armada: Black Light/White Light

35. Junip: Fields

34. Best Coast: Crazy For You

33. Cee Lo Green: The Lady Killer

32. Caribou: Swim

31. Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM

30. Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti: Before Today

29. Houses: All Night

28. Owen Pallett: Heartland

27. The Tallest Man On Earth: The Wild Hunt

26. Deerhunter: Halcyon Digest

25. Chancha Via Circuito: Rio Arriba

24. Broken Bells: Broken Bells

23. Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles

22. Clubfeet: Gold On Gold

21. LCD Soundsystem:  This Is Happening

20. The Philistines Jr.: If a Band Plays in the Woods..

In a time when the distribution of music has become so simple, it would seem the Philistines Junior’s appropriately titled LP if a band plays in the woods…?, could be taken as a comment on this zeitgeist. I mean, at the very least it can be seen as a tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating pronouncement of where the band sees the LP’s  mainstream acceptance potential let alone it’s ability to reach the hearts, minds and ears of indie fans. And if indeed it’s a prescient title after all, well, it certainly doesn’t deserve to be. This is lovely folk pop filled with beautiful melodic tunes, that while seeming large on the surface, are really all about the minutia.

19. Delorean: Subiza

Last year’s wonder of an EP, Ayrton Senna, was no fluke; it was an auspicious introduction of things to come. Subiza is every bit as infectious as its predecessor, but with a broader palette.  This is a house music valentine, filtered through a modern-indie dance aesthetic; keys climb, beats pound, surprises happen and the soul feels happy.

18. Hot Chip: One Life Stand

It would be a shame — almost tragic, really — if the LP with my favorite song of the year (by far), “Take It In”, with a chorus so anthemic and beautiful you need to take care your heart doesn’t explode, lacked the meat to make it in my top 10.  Fortunately, this isn’t a case. Instead, Hot Chip have delivered their best — and dare I say — most satisfying record to date.

17. Avi Buffalo: Avi Buffalo

In spite of the group’s age — which comes across in the “spirited” lyrics (and which I otherwise wouldn’t mention) — there’s a knack for songwriting here that transcends precociousness and veers into downright gifted savant territory.  In other words, these kids have the goods.  Jangly and raw in the best of possible California ways, this self-titled debut, feels good going in, and equally as good hanging around.

16. The Bambi Molesters: As The Dark Wave Swells

In the late 70s/early 80s Southern California saw a second wave renaissance of the reverb drenched instrumental surf music of the 60s snake its way into the punk and new wave scenes of Los Angeles and Orange County. And while a third wave is yet to happen, it could be argued that the “beach/summer” sound that has defined chillwave and scores of super lo-fi indie pop bands of the last two years, is as close as it’s going to get. And quite possibly. Unless, of course, you look toward the Balkans. Hailing from one of the most unlikely homes for surf music, Croatia, The Bambi Molesters have created an authentic album of melodramatic, bombastic, spaghetti western influenced surf music this side of, well, 60s Malibu.

15. Hooded Fang: Hooded Fang Album

As much as I love the experience of an album that grows on you over multiple listens, there’s something age-of-five-Christmas-morning-like about one that grabs you out of the gate and keeps delivering as each song folds into next on that first listen. Of course, the experience is further heightened when you know nothing about the band or LP you’re listening to and Hooded Fang fell into this category. A  lot of this depends on “where you’re at” at the time and I guess for this listen I was vibing on super melodic folktronica. Not an odd state for me to be in, per se, but nevertheless a certain amount of alignment had to occur. All that said, this is a great record no matter how many times you listen to it. Fun, upbeat pop.

14. The Radio Dept.: Clinging to a Scheme

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, could an end of the year “best of” list ever be complete without at least one Swedish pop group? Coming in at around 35 min., you’d be hard-pressed to find another LP this year that represents the age-old adage “quality over quantity”. Sun kissed around the edges and buoyed by electronics that give most the songs a preternatural ability to cause one’s head to bounce, this is catchy, brooding, smile inducing pop.

13. Germany Germany: Last Summer/Radiowave

It’s been a good year for synth-based music–a really really good year. And while a lot of the best stuff is drawing directly off the synthpop of the 80s, it would be too easy to call it derivative (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Rather, the best synth music of 2010 is drawing from a deeper well– electro, disco, house, kraut rock, trance, etc.– and Germany Germany is no exception. Categorically synthpop/electro at its foundation (see the audacious yet successful sampling of New Order’s iconic drumbeat from “Blue Monday” on “River”), it walks a successful line between four to the floor dance rhythms and washed out, nestled deeply into the mix melodic vocal lines that beg to reach into your chest with anthemic sweetness and yank out your heart. Two albums in one year… not bad!

12. Gil Scott-Heron: I’m New Here

Arguably one of the most important/poignant political-musical documentarians of the 70s and early 80s, Heron’s free jazz baritone, spoke truth to power where few were as successful or poetic.  I’m New Here, his first record in 16 years, is a surprise of sorts, given all the record is and is not.  What could’ve been a referendum on all that’s passed in the last decade or so, is instead a naked look inward, and feels like the perfect way to go.  Sharp, direct, moving, this is a stunning, thought-provoking piece of music.

11. Tanlines: Volume On

I’ll admit, throwing this up there as one of my favorite albums of 2010 might be considered a bit of a cheat, if for no other reason than half of it is from the EP Settings (2010) while the rest of it is filled out by mostly remixes; but damn if it doesn’t feel like an LP. Part of that–oddly enough–may come from the acoustic version of the standout track “Real Life” that closes the collection–a version that shouldn’t work in this context, but does. It just feels like a natural bookend. Of course, my love for the collection runs much deeper than its sequencing; it’s the buoyant, infectious tropical synthpop that has me grinning ear to ear which warrants its placement on my end of the year best of list. And, really, what else could it come down to?

10. Janelle Monae: The ArchAndroid

It seems every decade or so (sometimes less, sometimes more) an artist takes R&B/hip-hop for a left-field spin out toward the genres edges: Parliament/Funkadelic, Prince, De La Soul, Outkast, etc. With her debut album–the second piece of a “rock opera”–Janelle has made a compelling argument she should be considered amongst those rarefied names. Epic in ambition–the album is a genre bender of the highest order; throwing rap, disco, cabaret, contemporary R&B, classical and even some James Bond styled theme song theatrics into the mix (Of Montréal were even invited to the party). It should be an overreaching disaster, but at its core– and holding it all together–is Janelle’s voice and unwavering commitment to the material, making it anything but a disaster.

9. Sun Ariway: Nocturne of Exploded Chandelier

The idea of ambient music has always appealed to me, but upon execution, well, it simply drifts into the background and we’re no longer connecting in a meaningful way. Now if you throw in some sunshine, reverb, syrupy sweet, singing from beyond the ether vocals and a rhythm track that can just out race the BPM of most hip-hop, then you’ve got what the kids are calling these days “chillwave/glo-fi” and now we’ve got a meaningful relationship. The problem I find with this splintered offshoot of a genre, however, is the color by numbers approach to hitting all the categorical marks. Not a bad problem per se, given that most of its pleasant enough. On the surface–and why you shouldn’t judge a book entirely by its cover–Sun Airway would appear to be colored in with expert numerical precision; the summery name, the floaty, ephemeral album title, the washed out, psychedelic album art, etc. But here’s the thing–and all of that may be ironic, I don’t know–what separates this album from its peers are the great songs. Two, in fact, the stunning; “oh naoko” and “waiting on you”.

8. The Drums: The Drums

In the same way that The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psycho Candy took the whole Beach Boys meets Phil Spector thing to ridiculous but satisfying distorted extremes, so do The Drums take the synthpop ‡ la beach pop fusion to their own satisfying ends.  Like no other record this year, this LP screams summer.   And while some of that’s due to the lingering vapor trail of the infectious single “Let’s Go Surfing” off The Drums debut EP (included on the album as well), I’d say most of its due to the melodic bubblegum instincts the band so effortlessly lays down.

7. The Love Language: Libraries

The downbeat, lo-fi debut that sparkled with melodies arising from a muddy DIY mix was–despite its lyrical content–a joy to experience. And while some of the authenticity of the songs were buoyed by the intimate DIY production, it was easy to see the possibilities that lay ahead. Libraries, for me, was a confirmation of sorts: on the one hand, it confirmed the songwriting talent of Stuart McLamb, while on the other, showing authenticity can be found in an actual studio with cleaned up, clear sonics just as easily as it can in the bedroom with fuzzy vocals. In many ways, this record–with its filtered 60s Mersey meets Phil Spector influences (very filtered mind you)–is a soul record as much as it is a rock one. And as such, it digs in deep.

6. Girls: Broken Dreams Club

Last year’s much-hyped (albeit worthy) debut Album from San Francisco’s Girls was no fluke, all the lo-fi melodic songwriting instincts were just seedlings taking root for the bounty to come. And come it has. Technically an EP (clocking in with just seven songs), it feels bigger than that. Its scope, particularly the closer “Caroline”, gives it an epic feel that renders the number of songs meaningless. Away from the lo-fi aesthetic of the debut, the tighter, cleaner production on Broken further enhances the quality of the songs. This is tight, thoughtful songwriting and an exciting next step for The Girls.

5. Summer Fiction: Summer Fiction

A record such as this is precisely the reason I listen to so much music; every now and then, in the middle of what seems like an un-sortable mix, a gem rises to the surface and slays me. Summer Fiction’s just-released (November 30) eponymously titled debut, is just such a record. Crisply produced jangle pop folk with melodious instincts that run for days, the only downside I can find to this LP is its release date, and the fact that you probably won’t find it on many “2010 best of” lists. A real shame too, because it deserves to be heard. To this end, be suspicious of all lists that came out before December.

4. The National: High Violet

I’ll admit when I first heard High Violet, I was like, meh, it’s good, but definitely no Boxer.  Outside of “Bloodbuzz Ohio”, with one of the most poignant lines of the year — “I still owe money to the money to the money I owe” — I was finding it difficult to latch on to any of the melodies (which is saying something given Matt Berninger’s instincts in this regard).  But here’s the thing, it began to grow on me.  And after seeing the majority of the LP performed live, it’s depth and sonic emotion made complete sense.  Sure, it’s the same melancholic stuff of previous records,  but what’s a little co-misery amongst friends.

3. Beach House: Teen Dream

Dream-Pop, for good or for bad (for me, at least), is a genre best taken in a heightened state.  This may seem like contradictory advice, but to truly appreciate the sugary, fuzzed out, languorous sonics you want to be wide awake.  That said, it’s the sleepy quality of the music, that gives it its mojo … and Teen Dream is no exception.  Tighter and more focused than previous Beach House releases, this feels more like a re-occurring dream than one that will quickly fade as the morning unfolds into the subsequent hours.

2. The Books: The Way Out

At least once a month or so when I was in undergrad at Cal I would go to the UC Art Museum and sit in front of a giant Hans Hoffman painting they had in their permanent collection on the top floor and simply get lost in its scope. Nine times out of 10 I would lose track of the time, and on more than one occasion found myself weeping with joy because of its beauty. Abstraction has always done this for me, far more so than literal expression. I find intention is able to take a backseat to interpretation and that’s liberating. The Books, for the most part, have always dealt in abstraction, but in the long player format–in my opinion anyway–with mixed results. Which isn’t to say the albums aren’t good (quite the contrary), just lacking an overall cohesion. The Way Out doesn’t suffer from this problem and that’s why this album is so exciting; it walks a fine line between having a point of view–intention–while remaining abstract enough to allow the listener to shape it for themselves. Were tears shed in the process? Oh yeah, this was a transcendent LP.

1. Jonsi: Go

Jumping off and running with the exuberance that made the leftfield pop opener “Gobbledygook” off Sigur Ros’ last album so exciting, Go — as the title would seem to suggest — is about movement.  Which isn’t to say it’s a record about going from point A to point B, but rather about ignition — that bursting out of the gates moment; the exhilaration and the fear.  His falsetto, the crescendoed songwriting, the layered instruments, all feel like a mouthful of Pop Rocks and Coca-Cola. Which — when you think about it — might be the ultimate liftoff.

Ultimately Go was my favorite album of 2010 for one very simple reason; every time I came back to it I fell more in love with it. From the moment I heard it back in the spring — those squeaky, unabashedly joyful synth pulses opening the record on the track “Go Do” up until two days ago, when I stopped doing what I was doing and just got lost in the cacophonous ending of “Grow till tall” — this record has had me in a state of wonderment. Ambitious and optimistic in a way few records ever are, it wears its heart on its sleeve with unwavering courage.

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

pau

 

Last week when it came time to finally nail down my top 10 albums of the year (so far) — a labor of love — I was a bit stunned to find the smart playlist I’d built had ballooned to a dizzying 372 albums and EPs.  Jesus Marimba.  And while you might be asking yourself, “how in the name of all things large and small is this even possible?” I might just say, “it’s what I do.”

But more interesting than the 372 itself as… well… a jaw-dropping sum, is what it represents.  About 99% of the music I’ve listened to so far was downloaded, not acquired as a physical product, i.e. CD, vinyl, tape.  And about 80% of it was free or “pay what you want”, released directly through the artist or posted on music blogs, with the majority of that being EPs or singles.

Now, I won’t go into the significance of what that might mean to the music industry *cough-deathknell-cough*, but I will point out how it’s contributed to the discovery of new artists and my ability track their careers.

This list, if nothing else, owes a great deal to that last fact.  Over the last few years, about two thirds of the artists on this list first came to my attention in the form of either a posted single or EP.  Which is cool, because, make no mistake, making the leap from from a promising EP or single to a great album is no easy feat.

And while I’d love to include the many EPs and singles that have grabbed my attention so far this year (another list for another time perhaps), I’m going to forgo that impulse, remain traditional, and give you instead my top 10 albums… an artform — I suspect — that’s becoming less relevant by the month.

The times they are a changn’.

The list (in alphabetical order):

Avi Buffalo Avi Buffalo

In spite of the group’s age — which comes across in the “spirited” lyrics (and which I otherwise wouldn’t mention) — there’s a knack for songwriting here that transcends precociousness and veers into downright gifted savant territory.  In other words, these kids have the goods.  Jangly and raw in the best of possible California ways, this self-titled debut, feels good going in, and equally as good hanging around.

Beach House Teen Dream

Dream-Pop, for good or for bad (for me, at least), is a genre best taken in a heightened state.  This may seem like contradictory advice, but to truly appreciate the sugary, fuzzed out, languorous sonics you want to be wide awake.  That said, it’s the sleepy quality of the music, that gives it its mojo … and Teen Dream is no exception.  Tighter and more focused than previous Beach House releases, this feels more like a re-occurring dream than one that will quickly fade as the morning unfolds into the subsequent hours.

Delorean Subiza

Last year’s wonder of an EP, Ayrton Senna, was no fluke; it was an auspicious introduction of things to come. Subiza is every bit as infectious as its predecessor, but with a broader palette.  This is a house music valentine, filtered through a modern-indie dance aesthetic; keys climb, beats pound, surprises happen and the soul feels happy.

The Drums The Drums

In the same way that The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psycho Candy took the whole Beach Boys meets Phil Spector thing to ridiculous but satisfying distorted extremes, so do The Drums take the synthpop ‡ la beach pop fusion to their own satisfying ends.  Like no other record this year, this LP screams summer. Which is good considering summer’s basically just begun (hey, I’m on the coast of California, what can I say).  And while some of that’s due to the lingering vapor trail of the infectious single “Let’s Go Surfing” (included on the album), I’d say most of its due to the melodic bubblegum instincts the band so effortlessly lays down.

Gil Scott Heron I’m New Here

Arguably one of the most important/poignant political-musical documentarians of the 70s and early 80s, Heron’s free jazz baritone, spoke truth to power where few were as successful or poetic.  I’m New Here, his first record in 16 years, is a surprise of sorts, given all the record is and is not.  What could’ve been a referendum on all that’s passed in the last decade or so, is instead a naked look inward, and feels like the perfect way to go.  Sharp, direct, moving, this is a stunning, thought-provoking piece of music.

Hot Chip One Life Stand

It would be a shame — almost tragic, really — if the LP with my favorite song of the year (by far), “Take It In”, with a chorus so anthemic and beautiful you need to take care your heart doesn’t explode, lacked the meat to make it in my top 10.  Fortunately, this isn’t a case. Instead, Hot Chip have delivered their best — and dare I say — most satisfying record to date.

Jonsi Go

Jumping off and running with the exuberance that made the leftfield pop opener “Gobbledygook” off Sigur Ros’ last album so exciting, Go — as the title would seem to suggest — is about movement.  Which isn’t to say it’s a record about going from point A to point B, but rather about ignition — that bursting out of the gates moment.  His falsetto, the crescendoed songwriting, the layered instruments, all feel like a mouthful of Pop Rocks and Coke. Which — when you think about it — might be the ultimate liftoff.

Magic Man Real Life Color

I always hope that somewhere amongst the 200 plus unsigned and micro-indie bands I listen to during the course of the year (or half year, as the case may be), that there’ll be at least one LP that makes me go “whoa” and prick up my ears.  It seems odd, given the numbers, that it’d be so rare, but if we exclude EPs and singles (which I am — and trust me, there are some good ones… strike that, great ones), it seems to be.  A strong LP — from start to finish — for a myriad of reasons, is a difficult thing to create.  Which is why Real Life Color is such a joy.  Is this this year’s Passion Pit?  Could be. Get the album free here. 

Surfer Blood Astro Coast

Here’s where you can pretty much judge a book by its cover.  Let’s see… heavy, check.  Surf/Summery, check.  New wave/postpunk influenced… well… okay… check.  Anyway, you get the point, this is a heavy guitar-based, distortion drenched, reverb informed postpunk/indie mid-January released summer record that rocks nostalgia without feeling nostalgic.  Hells yeah.

The National High Violet

I’ll admit when I first heard High Violet, I was like, meh, it’s good, but definitely no Boxer.  Outside of “Bloodbuzz Ohio”, with one of the most poignant lines of the year — “I still owe money to the money to the money I owe” — I was finding it difficult to latch on to any of the melodies (which is saying something given Matt Berninger’s instincts in this regard).  But here’s the thing, it began to grow on me.  And after seeing the majority of the LP performed live, it’s depth and sonic emotion made complete sense.  Sure, it’s the same melancholic stuff of previous records,  but what’s a little co-misery amongst friends.

Honorable mentions:

Trentem0ller Into the Great Wide Yonder, The Radio Dept. Clinging to a Scheme, Broken Social Scene Forgiveness Rock Record, Toro y Moi Causes of This, Janelle Monae ArchAndroidl, Dinosaur Feathers Fantasy Memorial, Marching Band Pop Cycle, Owen Pallett Heartland

pau.

I recently heard an interview with actor/musician Billy Bob Thornton talking about his band and music in general and one of the things he said that struck me as odd was; “There has been no good music since 1980″.  Not more than a week later I got an e-mail from a friend (going through a serious Talking Heads phase) who lamented that all the music he heard in cafés these days sounded like wood veneer paneling and wondered if our generation (the 80s) was the last generation to do anything musically original, adding, “perhaps this is what Terence McKenna meant when he talked about the end of novelty”.

Now, I won’t argue that the seminal bands of the 60s and 70s have a place in the lexicon of rock ‘n roll, or the startling originality of the Talking Heads, or the fertile musical soil of the 80s (sorry Billy Bob), or whether Terence McKenna was… well… whatever. But I will argue that the music today is as vital, interesting and, yes, as great as anything that’s come before it.  Sure, there’s an element of the derivative, but I don’t see that as a bad thing — it just means that bands of today have so much more to play with, riff on and reimagine.

I have a theory — and it’s probably not too original — that whatever music you grew up listening to as a teenager, or while in your 20s, that’s the music that will resonate most deeply with you.  For Billy Bob it’s the Beatles, Smokey Robinson and The Stones, for my friend it’s the Talking Heads, The Replacements and The Swans and for me, well, for whatever reason, I feel connected with whatever’s happening at the moment.  Which isn’t to say I don’t feel connected with the music of my past, because I do, it’s just that my appetite for music is like a shark, if it stops moving it dies.

Anyway, it’s been a good year for music; it started with a bang and finished just as bangin’ i.e. bookended by two Animal Collective releases.  I hope some of what I’ve written or listed here inspires you to search it out, make a purchase, load it onto your iPod and move, dance or sway to the sounds of 2009.  All in all, it’s been a vintage bottling and if you’re in your teens or 20s, just think, in 2029 you too can wax nostalgic about the music of your past; “Man, they just don’t make music like the Dirty Projectors anymore.”

[Site note: As I’ve said before, numbered lists such as this are a slippery proposition.  Pretty much anything here could be moved around and it would be just as representative of what I was digging this year.  I’ve left some things off — such as EP’s (and there been some great ones: Delorean, Bon Iver, Washed Out, Animal Collective, Deerhunter, Memory Tapes, etc.) — simply because I wanted to keep this list at a manageable 50 (if you can call 50 manageable).  Bottom line; if I did this list next week it might look completely different.]

The list:

50.  Empire of the Sun: Walking on a Dream
48.  Travis Callison: Free
49.  Wild Beasts: Two Dancers
47.  Bear in Heaven: Beast Rest Fourth Mouth
46.  Real Estate: Real Estate
45.  Hush Arbors: Yankee Reality
49.  the dodos: Time to Die
44.  Cass McCombs: Catacombs
43.  Megafaun: Gather, Form & Fly
42.  Telefon Tel Aviv: Immolate Yourself
41.  Junior Boys: Begone Dull Care
40.  K’ naan: Troubadour
39.  Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Its Blitz
38.  Neko Case: Middle Cyclone
37.  The Very Best: Warm Heart of Africa
36.  The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come
35.  Field: Yesterday and Today
34.  Fever Ray: Fever Ray
33.  Bibio: Ambivalence Avenue
32.  Nosaj Thing: Drift
31.  Xx: xx
30.  Various artists: Dark Was the Night
29.  Röyksopp: Junior
28.  Atlas Sound: Logos
27.  Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs
26.  JJ: JJ N° 2

25. Various Artists: 5: Five Years of Hyperdub

Yeah, it’s kind of a copout to put a 32 song compilation on a list such as this, but this is number 25 and it’s just a damn fine record.  Arguably the most important dubstep label, Hyperdub, has amassed an impressive catalog of heavy, bottom-ended music.  And that’s the thing — catalog. Most of this has been released as singles, so unless you’re a DJ, or a collector of this stuff, you probably haven’t taken the time to pick any of it up. Split into two discs — past and present — it’s a good glimpse into where the label has been and where it’s going.  Can you dance to it?  Good question.

24. Clientele: Bonfires on the Heath

I wouldn’t say Bonfires on the Heath is treading any new ground for Clientele, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Sticking with the 60s style jangle pop, sorrowful lyrics and hummable melodies that swim inside your head for days, this is an another assured release.  Sublime and haunting in a way few albums are, #24 on this list seems ridiculously low (case in point why numbered lists are frustrating).  But here’s the thing; 10 years from now when I revisit the best music from the first 20 years of the 2000s, Bonfires on the Heath will probably be in the top 10. Or any Clientele record, for that matter.

23. Wilco: Wilco (The Album)

Stylistically, Wilco (The Band) has always been a bit slippery to pin down, but with Wilco (The Album) and Sky Blue Sky before it, a definite sound, from this incarnation of the group, is starting to emerge.  Feeling like a 1970s post-Nixon era drive down the PCH (or what I imagine that would be like), most everything on this LP would fit nicely onto 1970s AOR FM radio.  That said, there’s nothing nostalgic about the songwriting (see “Bull Black Nova”). Instead, Wilco (The Album) finds a band at the top of its game, digesting its influences and, again, defying expectations. Because, really, how else can you explain the audacity of a rock song with the lyrics “everlasting love” that wasn’t penned by Bryan Adams or Celine Dion for the closing credits of a romantic Hollywood blockbuster that’s absolutely free of irony?  You can’t.  And that’s what makes Wilco (the band) such a rewarding experience.

22. Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca

To say that everything that’s going on here is a bit dizzying, is to undersell what the Dirty Projectors are all about.  In fact, the band throws more at a single song than most artists do over a career; orch pop, R&B, electronica, chamber choir, you name it.  Is it a mess?  Well, that depends on how you like your pop… err… art pop.  If you’re looking to hook onto a melody or rhythm for an entire song, I suggest you look elsewhere.  But if you’re willing to let go — let the ideas (yes, ideas, it often feels a bit brainy) lead you through these, arguably, delicious nine gems, then you’re in for quite a treat.  Download “Useful Chamber” and if you like what you hear, the rest of the album will surely work for you.

21. Girls: Album

Hype is a funny thing. So is the knee-jerk reaction to it.  And while I’d like to say I’m immune to both, the truth is — where the indie music blogosphere is concerned — not so much.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to jump on or off a bandwagon because some Brooklyn music journalist tweeted I should, but until the record companies start sending me review copies of albums, before I plop down my nine bucks on this year’s Vampire Weekend, I’m going to follow a few social networking threads.  Which brings me to San Francisco’s own Girls, this years uber indie “love ‘em or despise ‘em” sensation. Toss off, the band’s colorful story, stick with the requisite lo-fi aesthetic, garagey Beach Boys melodies and dizzying songcraft and, well, you have yourself a hype/backlash defying, wonder of an album.

20. Andrew Bird: Noble Beast/Useless Creatures

This album was released in two forms; Noble Beast and Noble Beast/Useless Creatures.  And while I love the standard version Noble Beast (and perhaps it would have been on this list regardless), the two disc version, with the instrumental Useless Creatures, is revelatory, capturing everything Andrew Bird is about.  Of course, Noble Beast is still filled with Bird’s quixotic love of words for words sake lyrics, but on Noble Beast they seem to be accompanied by a surer sense of melody, making the odd word combinations resonate in ways they haven’t before.  For instance, every time I hear the lines from the song “Masterswarm”; “So they took me to the hospital, they put my body through a scan/what they saw there would impress them all for inside me grows out of man”, riding on the back of its rising melody, I want to melt.  I can’t tell you why exactly, but I understand what he means.

19. Serge Gainsbourg: Histoire De Melody Nelson

First, let me throw out a couple of caveats in regards to this one: 1).  I don’t speak French.  And 2).  This was originally released in 1968.  In regards to the first, this hardly matters when it comes to Gainsbourg — especially this record. All you need to know (and believe me there won’t be any confusion about it) is that machismo and sexuality are what he’s going for (surprise surprise).  As to the second, well, until this year, the album has essentially been out of print and unavailable to all but the most committed of crate divers.  So then caveats aside, what do we have?  A funky, dripping, sexy album that’s as hip now as it was no doubt then.

18. Mos Def: The Ecstatic

As much as I love Mos Def the renaissance man, his music so far this decade has been inconsistent at best.  Which is all the more reason why The Ecstatic leaves me… well… ecstatic — it bumps.  Funky, loose, poignant (and perhaps a little lazy at times), Mos has something to say that’s worth listening to, and thankfully he has the beats and production to deliver it over.  Working with the likes of J Dilla, Madlib, Mr. Flash, Oh No, Slick Rick, ex-Black Star partner Talib Kwelli and others, seems to make for an inspired work environment.

17. Passion Pit: Manners

How to make a pop album that’s both loved and loathed: Ingredients; 1/8 part Syrupy sweet/anthemic synths, 1/8 part contemporary indie falsetto: 1/8 part slightly vague yet.  romantic lyrics (of the happy sad variety), 1/8 part select choruses accompanied by children’s voices, 1/2 part uncanny sense of melody and songcraft.  Stir, package and release.  Serves untold amounts of summer indie music festivals.  Delicious.

16. Beirut: March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland

I don’t know, maybe I just have a soft spot for Balkan infused song stylings filtered through Mexican brass bands, but damn, if this isn’t another inspired delivery by Zach Condon’s Beirut.  But that’s only the half of it — literally — as Beirut technically makes up only half of this record, the other half goes to Condon’s electro-indie endeavor, Realpeople.  Two EPs, with two different aesthetics, merged into one record, this really shouldn’t have worked as well as it does.  But with Condon’s mournful voice as the through line and the brilliant bridging “My Night with the Prostitute from Marseille”, it’s a very satisfying journey that works in spades.

15. The Decemberists: The Hazards of Love

If there are two things as a music fan I’ve had trouble wrapping my head around over the years it would be prog rock and Jethro Tull… no, wait, there’s a third, rock operas.  Now if you told me in 2009 that one of my favorite records would have elements of all three (some more than others), I would’ve dismissed your suggestion outright.  But if you then told me it would be a Decemberists’ album, well, the conversation would’ve lasted a little bit longer.  Even still, the fact that the record is as good as it is, is a bit of a surprise;  heavy, crunching guitars, ridiculously rocked out vocals from guest singer My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden and repeating motifs… it’s a hell of a ride that gets better upon repeated visits.  And, yes, there’s some sort of story.

14. Loney, Dear: Dear John

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the album has two of my favorite songs of the year, “Airport Surroundings” and “I Was Only Going Out”, and while it isn’t Loney, Dear’s best (that would be Loney Noir), it is an affecting collection of songs dedicated to sorrow.  Oh, and just in case the title Dear John, didn’t give it away, multi-instrumentalist Emil Svanänen (Loney, Dear) is looking to work some things out… which is fine, because Dear John is well worth the time.  A folk-techno hybrid of sorts, this is a slightly new direction for the band.

13. Helado Negro: Awe Owe

This is another one of those albums that if you try to pull it apart and latch on to individual songs, you’ll probably be disappointed. On the other hand, if you let the beachy, fuzzy,  glitchy electronic tropicalia of Roberto Carlos Lange’s debut wash over you, then trust me, you’re in for a treat.  In heavy rotation late this summer, I’ve got some advice for you; if you’re stuck somewhere cold — oh, I don’t know, north east of the Mississippi, bracing for another dump of snow and you like your latin music with a dash of experimentation — look no further than Awe Owes, click download and start thinking about swimsuits and mojitos.

12. Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest

All right, you get it, I’ve got a particular soft spot for meandering, midtempo, throw every instrument you can think of into the protection mix orch pop.  And while you may want to keep that in mind in regards to my opinion about Veckatimest, it doesn’t change the fact that this is a brilliant, lovely record. Opening with the sprawling America-esqe “Southern Point” and then moving on to, arguably one of the best singles of the year, “Two Weeks”, you know what you’re going to get within first eight minutes — an album of meticulously produced, well thought out pop songs.

11. The Antlers: Hospice

The post-rock/indie rock aural tradition is loaded with sad sacks and melancholia to the point of almost ridiculous cliché.  And while I’ve got no problem getting down into the mud with the best of ‘em and vicariously rolling around in artistic pain, it’s not exactly what I’m looking for in my music these days.  Which is why my love (and inclusion on this list) of The Antlers Hospice is such a surprise. Sure, I’m a sentimentalist, and the brazen honesty and sadness on this record are indeed seductive, but tackling a concept album (a relationship with a terminally ill child) — regardless of how sincere it wants to be — is a harrowing endeavor, and one wrought with potential failure.  Hospice succeeds in spite of the odds and is an unqualified and paradoxically big and small sonic wonder.

10. Fanfarlo: Reservoir

Another Swede responsible for great indie rock?  Well, yeah.  Throwing everything into the mix — pianos, mandolins, violins, trumpets, toys and traditional bass, drums and guitars — lead Fanfarlo songwriter Simon Balthazar has created one of the best orch pop records you probably haven’t heard.  Why some records take off and others don’t, it’s hard to say, but with production by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol), you’d have thought this would have.

9. YACHT: See Mystery Lights

If there was ever an album where one song sold the whole thing for me, “The Afterlife”, the second track on this synthy retro fest, is that song.  Easily taken as ironic, See Mystery Lights, is anything but — optimistic, spiritual, bouncy and, yes, a little derivative (hey, what’s wrong with a little homage to the Tom Tom Club and Kraftwerk?), if I’m gonna reach for a quick pop fix to remind me of what’s really going on, I could do a whole lot worse than to cue this record up.

8. Bill Callahan: Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle

Sublime.  Contemplative.  Beautiful.  Purposeful.  Dark.  All these are apt descriptions for ex-Smog singer Bill Callahan’s new solo effort.  Orchestrated in a way his previous band never was — or attempted to be — the storytelling and arrangements of these songs suit Callahan’s deep melancholic voice perfectly.  Like last year’s For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver, this is a haunting, personal record that lingers long after it’s finished playing.

7. Le Loup: Family

Falling somewhere between tribal rock, freak folk, a bite off the Animal Collective and Fleet Foxes mushroom, and a celebration with friends and family around a bonfire on the beach, Family works, not only because it’s able to hold all these things together, but because it just should.  By that I mean, I can think of no other record this year I wanted to work more than this one.  Call me a sucker for reverb soaked songcraft, but this one had me at the first cavernous note.

6. Neon Indian: Psychic Chasms

When I was a kid I used to have this portable, yellow Panasonic AM radio shaped like a warped donut that could be twisted apart into an S- shape and that I would carry with me everywhere.  It was a beach radio more than anything else, the only one I had, and pretty hip looking.  But the thing I remember most about this radio was the sound; whether it was the salt air’s effect on the transistors or all the sand clogging the speaker holes, it had a sort of warbly fidelity that gave the music a psychedelic glow.  Psychic Chasms reminds me of that radio; warbly AM radio disco tunes that feel sunburnt and phased, but oh so cool.

5. Jack Peñate: Everything Is New

Pop music — despite the general misconception of what most people believe it is — is deep and complicated stuff.  Argue all you want about the complexities post-bop jazz, the musicianship of prog rockers, and the what have you of what have you, but a good pop song — in my estimation — is shoulders above it all.  Now don’t get me wrong, some pop has the lasting power of a snowflake on a dog’s warm nose, but even when it does, for that brief moment — when it’s makes that quixotic imprint on your brain and you’re humming something you didn’t even think you liked (*cough-Black Eyed Peas-cough*) — it’s nothing short of miraculous.  Everything Is New as an album title might be Peñate’s cheeky way of saying, “look, I understand what I’m doing isn’t exactly original (think Robert Smith and Edwyn Collins), but I really believe in it and these are great songs.”  Or maybe not.  Whatever.  Either way, this is brilliant pop album.

4. Amadou and Miriam: Welcome to Mali

The back story behind this husband and wife duo from Mali is the stuff of Hollywood rock biopics and the music on Welcome to Mali makes them deserving of one.  In many ways, this record begins and ends with Amadou’s virtuoso guitar playing, combining traditional Malian blues and other African elements with Western rock, but if there’s a sweeter, more achingly sincere voice than Miriam’s on any other record this year, I’d like to hear it.  And that’s ultimately what what one takes away from this breathtaking album.

3. Sin Fang Bous: Clangour

Stepping out from his usual gig, Seabear, Icelandic musician Sindri Mar Sigfusson has created a modern folk classic — a twee, glitchy, multi-instrumental (synths, banjo, guitar, etc.) songwriting tour de force with a whole mess of catchy melodies to wrap your head around.  Equally able to be dissected and listened to song for song or taken as a sonic whole with an odd psychedelic rhythm and logic, it’s a fairly obscure gem that deserves more buzz.  Not sure what it is about the far north — the cold, the long days and nights, what have you — but they certainly export some lovely music.

2. Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Another band on this list that has taken what they’ve done so well in the past and perfected it 2009.  Pure power pop electro fun, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, represents the best in sugary songcraft.  Deceptively simple and catchy, it might be easy to dismiss this record as lightweight.  But don’t let your desire to dance or the seductive hook-into-your-brain melodies fool you, there’s a whole mess of romantic angst going on here as well… I mean, c’mon, they’re French.

1. Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion

A friend of mine said upon hearing this record, “this is the first Beach Boys’ album I’ve ever liked”. And I understand where he’s coming from. It’s impossible to listen to Merriweather Post Pavilion and not hear the best ideas and elements of that seminal group. But it also must be said, this sounds nothing like a Beach Boys’ record. Animal Collective have indeed decided to explore a more pop aesthetic on Merriweather, focusing on Panda Bear’s melodic vocal harmonies and sensibilities, while foregoing instinctual forays into discordance and horror, but while the sampling and electronic beats do sound “familiar” and contemporary, the term “pop”, as it applies to Animal Collective, is a relative one. Densely layered and transcendent, this is nothing short of a masterwork.

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

pau

 

Okay, technically I suppose I’m a few weeks late on the whole midyear thing (July 2nd was the actual midpoint), but at this stage in the game trying to come up with a short list of my favorite albums — when there’s so many yet to listen to — is a dizzying prospect.  Seriously, each week seems to bring a new gem — either one that I’m catching up with or waiting on to be released — that deservedly warrants my attention.  I’m not complaining — such is the nature of this type of list — but, hey, ultimately it’s going to be incomplete.

Thus far, 2009 is shaping up to be an intriguing musical year, and with the exception of a couple of albums, most of these releases are from established artists several albums into their careers; representing a type of songwriting that’s about further honing and synthesizing musical ideas that have already been there.  For the most part, this means there are no radical shifts in style other than, perhaps, towards the more “accessible”.  But that’s not necessarily a bad thing — we’re still talking art here.

In tackling this list, I chose to forgo the standard 1 through 10 thing and went with an alphabetical one instead.  As I said above, the list is incomplete and, truthfully, I’m just too lazy to try to nail down something so fluid.  Call it a copout if you want, but, trust me, we’ll all be better for it in the end.  Besides, you’ll get your ranked top 10 list at the end of the year.

In the meantime, if you haven’t already, I highly recommend you pick up some of these albums.

The best albums of 2009… so far:

Amadou and Miriam: Welcome to Mali

The back story behind this husband and wife duo from Mali is the stuff of Hollywood rock biopics and the music on Welcome to Mali makes them absolutely deserving of one.  In many ways, this record begins and ends with Amadou’s virtuoso guitar playing, combining traditional Malian blues and other African elements with Western rock.  But if there’s a sweeter, more achingly sincere voice than Miriam’s on any other record this year, I’d like to hear it, and ultimately that’s what one takes away from this breathtaking album.

Andrew Bird: Noble Beast/Useless Creatures

This album was released in two versions; the standard Noble Beast and the deluxe Noble Beast/Useless Creatures. And while I love the standard version Noble Beast (and perhaps it would have made this list regardless), the deluxe two disc version, with the instrumental Useless Creatures, is revelatory — capturing everything that Andrew Bird is about.  Of course, Noble Beast is still filled with Bird’s love of words for words sake quixotic lyrics, but here they seem to be accompanied by a surer sense of melody, making the odd word combinations resonate in ways they haven’t before.  Every time I hear the lines from the song “Masterswarm”; “So they took me to the hospital, they put my body through a scan/what they saw there would impress them all, for inside me grows a man”, riding on the back of its rising melody, I want to melt.  I can’t tell you why exactly, but I understand what he means.

Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion

A friend of mine said upon hearing this record, “this is the first Beach Boys’ album I’ve ever liked”. And I understand where he’s coming from. It’s impossible to listen to Merriweather Post Pavilion and not hear the best ideas and elements of that seminal group. But it also must be said, this sounds nothing like a Beach Boys’ record. Animal Collective have indeed decided to explore a more pop aesthetic on Merriweather, focusing on Panda Bear’s melodic vocal harmonies and sensibilities, while foregoing instinctual forays into discordance and horror, but the term “pop”, as it applies to Animal Collective, is a relative one. Densely layered and transcendent, this is nothing short of a masterwork.

Beirut: March of the Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland

I don’t know, maybe I just have a soft spot for Balkan infused song stylings filtered through Oaxacan brass bands, but damn, if this isn’t another inspired delivery by Zach Condon’s Beirut.  But that’s only the half of it — literally — as Beirut technically makes up only half of this record, the other half goes to Condon’s electro-indie endeavor, Realpeople.  Two EPs, with two different aesthetics, merged into one record, this really shouldn’t have worked as well as it does.  But with Condon’s mournful voice as the through line and the brilliant “My Night with the Prostitute from Marseille” bridging the two projects, it’s a very satisfying journey that works in spades.

Bill Callahan: Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle

Sublime.  Contemplative.  Beautiful.  Purposeful.  Dark.  All these are apt descriptions for ex-Smog singer Bill Callahan’s new solo effort.  Orchestrated in a way his previous band never was — or attempted to be — the storytelling and arrangements of these songs suit Callahan’s deep melancholic voice perfectly.  Like last year’s For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver, this is a haunting, personal record that lingers long after it’s finished playing.

The Decemberists: The Hazards of Love

If there are two things as a music fan I’ve had trouble wrapping my head around over the years it would be prog rock and Jethro Tull… no, wait, there’s a third, rock operas.  Now if you told me in 2009 that one of my favorite records would have elements of all three (some more than others), I would’ve dismissed your suggestion outright.  But if you then told me it would be a Decemberists’ album, well, the conversation would’ve lasted a little bit longer.  Even still, the fact that the record is as good as it is, is a bit of a surprise;  heavy, crunching guitars, ridiculously rocked out vocals from My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden and repeating motifs, it’s a hell of a ride that gets better upon repeated visits.  And, yes, there’s some sort of story.

Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca

To say that everything that’s going on here is a bit dizzying, is to undersell what the Dirty Projectors are all about.  In fact, the band throws more at a single song, than most artists do over a career; orch pop, R&B, electronica, chamber choir, you name it.  Is it a mess?  Well, that depends on how you like your pop… err… art pop.  If you’re looking to hook onto a melody or rhythm for an entire song, I suggest you look elsewhere.  But if you’re willing to let go — let the ideas (yes, ideas, it often feels a bit brainy) lead you through these, arguably, delicious nine gems, then you’re in for quite a treat.  Download “Useful Chamber” and if you like what you hear, the rest of the album will surely work for you.

Fanfarlo: Reservoir

Another Swede responsible for great indie rock?  Well, yeah.  Throwing everything into the mix — pianos, mandolins, violins, trumpets, toys and traditional bass, drums and guitars — lead Fanfarlo songwriter Simon Balthazar has created one of the best orch pop records you probably haven’t heard.  Why some records take off and others don’t, it’s hard to say, but with production by Peter Katis (The National, Interpol), you’d have thought this would have.

Grizzly Bear: Veckatimest

All right, you get it, I’ve got a particular soft spot for meandering, midtempo, throw every instrument you can think of into the production mix pop.  And while you may want to keep that in mind in regards to my opinion about Veckatimest, it doesn’t change the fact that this is a brilliant, lovely record. Opening with the sprawling America-esqe “Southern Point” and then moving on to, arguably, one of the best singles of the year, “Two Weeks”, you know what you’re going to get within the first eight minutes — an album of meticulously produced, well thought out pop songs.

Loney, Dear: Dear John

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the album has two of my favorite songs of the year, “Airport Surroundings” and “I Was Only Going Out”, and while it isn’t Loney, Dear’s best (that would be Loney Noir), it is an affecting collection of songs about sorrow and longing. Oh, and just in case the significance of the title Dear John, slipped past you, multi-instrumentalist Emil Svanänen (Loney, Dear himself) is looking to work a few things out.  Which is fine, because Dear John is well worth the wallow.  A folk-techno hybrid of sorts, this is a slightly new direction for the band.

Mos Def: The Ecstatic

As much as I love Mos Def the renaissance man, his music so far this decade has been inconsistent at best.  Which is all the more reason why The Ecstatic leaves me… well… ecstatic — it bumps.  Funky, loose, poignant (and perhaps a little lazy at times), Mos has something to say that’s worth listening to and thankfully he has the beats and sounds to deliver it over.  Working with the likes of J Dilla, Madlib, Mr. Flash, Oh No, Slick Rick, ex-Black Star partner Talib Kwelli and others, seems to make for an inspired work environment.

Phoenix: Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

Another band on this list that has taken what they’ve done so well in the past and perfected it 2009.  Pure power pop electro fun, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, represents the best in sugary songcraft.  Deceptively simple and catchy, it might be easy to dismiss this record as lightweight.  But don’t let your desire to dance or the seductive hook-into-your-brain melodies fool you, there’s a whole mess of romantic angst going on here as well. I mean, c’mon, they’re French.

Serge Gainsbourg: Histoire De Melody Nelson

First, let me throw out a couple of caveats in regards to this one: 1).  I don’t speak French.  And 2).  This was originally released in 1968.  In regards to the first, this hardly matters when it comes to Gainsbourg — especially this record — all you need to know (and believe me there won’t be any confusion about it) is that machismo and sexuality are what he’s going for (surprise surprise).  As to the second, well, until this year, the album has essentially been out of print and unavailable to all but the most committed of crate divers.  So caveats aside, what do we have?  A funky, dripping, sexy album that’s as hip now as it no doubt was then.

Travis Callison: Free

For good or for bad, a lot of contemporary pop music is either somewhat saccharine or filled with angst.  And while obviously I don’t have a problem with either, Free is neither of these things.  Blending elements of hip-hop, electro, soul and the best elements of modern folk, Travis Callison isn’t entirely creating new sonic landscapes, but rather new messages… and that, in its ambition alone, makes this record exciting.  Callison’s guitar playing certainly owes much to Hendrix, but only in the way hip-hop owes something to jazz — definitely worth checking out.  Download it for free here.

Wilco: Wilco (The Album)

Stylistically, Wilco (The Band) has always been a bit slippery to pin down, but with Wilco (The Album) and Sky Blue Sky before it, a definite sound is starting to emerge.  Feeling like a 1970s post-Nixon era drive down the PCH (or what I imagine that would be like), most everything on this LP would fit nicely onto 70s AOR radio.  But that said, there’s nothing nostalgic about the songwriting (see “Bull Black Nova”), but rather an attention to craft that comes from a seasoned band clearly in sync and at the top of their game.  I mean, really, how else can you explain the audacity and success of a rock song with the lyrics “everlasting love” that wasn’t penned by Bryan Adams or Celine Dion for the closing credits of a romantic Hollywood blockbuster?  You can’t.  And that’s what makes Wilco (the band) and Wilco (The Album) such a rewarding experience.

Honorable mentions:
Fever Ray: Fever Ray, Neko Case: Middle Cyclone, K’ naan: Troubadour, St. Vincent: Actor, Röyksopp: Junior, Dan Deacon: Bromst, Junior Boys: Begone Dull Care, Telefon Tel Aviv: Immolate Yourself, Japandroids: Post-Nothing, Red Hot Compilation: Dark Was the Night, Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Its Blitz, White Rabbits: It’s Frightening, Woods: Songs of Shame, the dodos, Time to Die

pau.

 

In Berkeley, there are roughly 5 days out of the year where the nighttime temperature gets to be around 70°.  Generally, even in summer, as soon as the sun goes down the mercury drops to about 50° or less.  If you live here, you’ve grown accustomed to it and accept the fact that if you wear shorts and a T-shirt during the day, you’re gonna be changing into something else later on; a scarf, a jacket, snowboard gear.  Which goes a long way in explaining why people in this town get so giddy and out of their minds when this particular meteorological anomaly occurs — we’re bursting at the seams with appreciation.

But while warm summer nights in Berkeley may be a rarity, an amazing show by Wilco at the Greek is not.  In fact, outside of their native Chicago, the band seems to be at home here like nowhere else.  They have the place dialed in in a way few bands do and the sound at the venue never sounds better than when they take the stage — from their melodic folk to the electronic dissonance, every nuance, every drum hit is clear.  Having been together now for several years, this current incarnation of the band is tight and almost feels familial, both in the way they interact with each other and the audience.  There’s a swing to the music now that feels improvisational, transcendent and oddly a little funky — coloring their hard to pin down style with an even broader palette.

By definition, this leg of the tour has been rather unconventional given that the band is supporting a new album that has yet to be released (Wilco (the album) drops June 30).  But for me, at least, this made the night all the more interesting.  I purposely chose not to listen to a streamed version of the album online (a difficult challenge I might add) so that the new material could hit me without the support of familiarity — songs would either work or they wouldn’t.  Thankfully, as it turned out, they did, especially “Bull Black Nova”, which moved and grinded melodically as well as anything Tweedy and the band has written to date.

In many ways, the evening felt like a party; from the sing-alongs during “A Shot in the Arm”, “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”, “California Stars”, “Jesus Etc.” (and, well, almost everything in their back catalog), to Tweedy’s inspired and hilarious Janis Joplin meets Marvin Gaye falsetto on “Hate It Here”, to Tweedy’s son coming on stage dressed head to toe in tie-dye, to the sweet dedication to his wife, to the new material the band seemed absolutely energized to play, to lead guitarist Nels Cline’s now seemingly traditional red pants, to the jammed out version of “I’m the Man That Loves You” that closed out the pre-encore part of the show — all of it seemed to suggest a certain type of feeling running through the band and everyone in the audience.

All this said — and while it was indeed a brilliant 2 1/2 hour set of music — where everything came together and demonstrated why Wilco, especially this incarnation, is so compelling live, was during their final number of the night, “Hoodoo Voodoo”, a song off the Woody Guthrie inspired project with Billy Bragg, Mermaid Avenue.  Blissfully funked out and complete with goofy, albeit heart exploding, dueling lead guitars, it was a breathtaking and joyous way to end the evening, and a fitting wink to the opening “Wilco (The Song)”.  Of course, they could’ve closed things out with the obvious deeply grooved “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”, complete with Tweedy sharing his guitar with the audience, and all would have been more than right in Berkeley, but they didn’t and, well, what more can you say than this, wow – a 70° starry night, 8000 bouncing souls and a band that loves you.

Okkervil River opened the show to a near capacity crowd with a near perfect 45 minute set that included songs from several of their records.  Some of the standouts: “Pop Lie”, “John Allen Smith Sails”, “Plus Ones” and “Lost Coastlines”.  The band truly provided for a great double bill.

Wilco setlist:

Wilco (The Song)
Muzzle Of Bees
A Shot In The Arm
At Least That’s What You Said
Bull Black Nova
You Are My Face
Deeper Down
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
One Wing
Radio Cure
Impossible Germany
California Stars
I Can’t Stand It
Jesus, Etc.
Handshake Drugs
Hate It Here
Walken
I’m The Man Who Loves You

Encore

You Never Know
The Late Greats
Box Full Of Letters
Misuderstood
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
Hoodoo Voodoo

pau.

 

As some of you may or may not know, last year I put forth a little project for myself; listen to a different album everyday for 365 days.  A project that, while on the surface, might’ve seemed like a marginal challenge (those who know me, know I listen to at least 5 times that per day), was actually no different than taking on meditation, working out or tackling a regimented diet.  It was an endeavor that — as with those others — required both an unwavering commitment and a certain amount of time in order to glean from it the desired results.

I wanted to try listening to albums again — not as I had for the last several years, as background music while I did other things or on my iPod while I was in transit somewhere, but as I had when I was younger; where I’d sit down, break out the art and lyrics and completely submerge myself in the experience.

Listening the other way is fine; I’m one of those people whose home — aside for a few specific moments — is always filled with music. But ultimately, that type of listening is like only reading the pages of a novel that pertain to the plot. You’ll get the gist of what’s going on, but you’ll lose the nuance and color that bring it to life.

What I discovered during the course of this project were two things: one, my affection for the L.P., as a compiled and time specific piece of art, is as strong as ever. When I revisited some old favorites I found — along with the nostalgic feelings they invoked — they had vital new stories to tell.  Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and The Clash’s Sandinista are just a few that come to mind.

But the project’s real joy came from the discovery of new material. In a time where the “age of the album” seems to be coming to an end (one of the unfortunate byproducts of the digital music revolution), I’ve listened to some of the best L.P.s of my life. It’s encouraging to see many artists (both new and established) — despite industry trends — still taking the time to conceptualize, craft and present ideas though a collection of songs.

Which brings me to the second thing I discovered while doing this project; an album a day, while rich from a sheer numbers perspective, made anything beyond a single listen rather difficult. My commitment to any one album while it was playing was unwavering, but I believe to truly absorb it’s potential you need to spend at least a week with it. Once the lyrics are memorized, and you’re singing along with it at the top of your lungs, something happens and everything seems to fall into place.

In the end, this experiment was an uber cool one. And while I won’t be doing it again this year — at least not formally anyway — I’ll continue with something in line with what I just said above — a spotlight album of the week. Whether my consumption of music this year will slow down will have to be seen, but whether it does or it doesn’t, rest assured that in the wake of the music flowing fast and furious from my iTunes, I’ll continue to write about what’s grabbing my attention and what I think you should check out.

So until next time, happy listening. And for those of you who played along with a similar project or checked out anything I mentioned here, good on ya, I hope you dug it as much as I did.

Click here for the pdf album listing of 365 albums vol. 4

Suggested listening:

Clem Snide: Hungry Bird While the turn to darker soundscapes and themes on Hungry Bird might be surprising to fans of Clem Snide’s previous albums, the direction is actually quite fitting given where singer-songwriter Eef Barzelay’s fine 2008 solo record, Lose Big, left off. Less a sequel and more of a companion piece (the two albums share the brooding “Me No”), Hungry Bird feels like the completion of an idea (especially when punctuated with the lovely “With All My Heart”). Not a perfect album by any stretch, but the tracks “Born A Man” and “Hum” or some of the finest Barzelay has written.

Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion A friend of mine said upon hearing this record, “this is the first Beach Boys’ album I’ve ever liked”. And I understand where he’s coming from. It’s impossible to listen to Merriweather Post Pavilion and not hear the best ideas and elements of that seminal group. But it also must be said, this sounds nothing like a Beach Boys’ record. Animal Collective has indeed decided to explore a more pop aesthetic on Merriweather, focusing on Panda Bear’s melodic vocal harmonies and sensibilities, while foregoing instinctual forays into discordance and horror. But the term “pop” as it applies to Animal Collective is a relative one. Densely layered and transcendent, this is nothing short of a masterwork and likely to be remembered for years. Will there be a better record in 2009? Perhaps. But it’s hard to imagine what.

Available on Amazon MP3 right now for $5.00

Special bonus alert; Bon Iver’s new EP Blood Bank is also available for $0.99. Worth picking up at any price.

Pau.

It’s been said — and I’m assuming the source is fairly reliable — that our sense of smell is the most proficient of all our senses in triggering memories.  And while I’ll admit the smell of coconut escorts me back to the years between 1974 and 1980 when surfboard wax was as important to me as girls or to a certain ex-girlfriend’s skin, songs are able to locate me in a particular moment where the details — the quality of light, the temperature, my emotions — are uncannily specific.

Like many of you who love music, a soundtrack accompanies my life and I can map it out with memories that are inextricably intertwined with songs. I can remember as a kid sitting in my room with my three sisters and our crappy record player singing The Beatles’ “When I Saw Her Standing There” at the top of our lungs in preparation for a lip-synced performance for my parents, or listening to “Pulling Muscles from a Shell” by Squeeze at the age of 15 while sitting in my buddy Kurt’s station wagon after one of our countless surf sessions and not wanting to get out until the song was over, or singing Macy Gray’s “I Try” with a girlfriend before she was to head back to her home in Argentina, and countless others before, in between and since. And while they’re not grand or well documented moments like a marriage or the birth of a child, every time I hear the song that’s associated with them they come flooding back with such specificity, weight and color it’s almost dizzying.

Choosing my favorite songs of 2008 wasn’t that difficult.  Narrowing them down to just 50, well, that’s another story entirely, especially when I got closer to the bottom of the list.  Unlike a great album which is like a journey and dependent on the interplay between the songs, a song — for me at least — is more like an instantaneous happening that can succeed independently of what happens before or after it.  Even more importantly, perhaps, is that it never takes more than one listen to get it — I either connect with a song or I don’t… it’s that simple.

Some of these songs are from brilliant albums, while others simply shine brightly on their own.  Some might’ve been released as singles, some not.  In the end what makes a great song or a song that connects with you is difficult to say.  Is it the melody, the lyrics or the rhythm… perhaps a combination of two or all three of these things?   Certainly, what speaks to many of us, probably won’t speak to all of us and that’s a beautiful thing.  As I’ve said, my musical tastes are very eclectic and different things speak to me for different reasons — sometimes it’s hip-hop, sometimes it’s pop and sometimes it’s a supercharged rock song.  And while I can’t say which of these songs will hold the most nostalgic resonance with me in the long run, rest assured in 2008 they tickled my pickle.

The top 50 songs of 2008

1. “Gorgeous Behavior” by Marching Band from the album Spark Large
2.  “Blindsided” by Bon Iver from the album For Emma, Forever Ago
3.  “Backwards Walk” by Frightened Rabbit from the album The Midnight Organ
4.  “Halfway Home” by TV On The Radio from the album Dear Science
5.  “Charity Case” by Gnarls Barkley from the album The Odd Couple
6.  “Work It Out” by Jurassic 5 from the album Feedback
7.  “ManWomanBoogie” by Q-Tip from the album The Renaissance
8.  “Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On The Roof Of The Chelsea” by Okkervil River from the album The Stand Ins
9.  “Do What You Do” by Noah and the Whale from the album Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down
10.  “Numerology” by Eef Barzelay from the album Lose Big
11.  “The Story I Heard” by Blind Pilot from the album 3 Rounds and a Sound
12.  “Transliterator” by DeVotchKa from the album A Mad And Faithful Telling
13.  “Many Things” by Seun Kuti & Fela’s Egypt 80 from the album Seun Kuti & Fela’s Egypt 80
14.  “Gobbledigook” by Sigur Rós from the album Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
15.  “Lights & Music” by Cut Copy from the album In Ghost Colours
16.  “Raise Me Up” by Hercules And Love Affair from the album Hercules And Love Affair
17.  “Kids” by MGMT from the album Oracular Spectacular
18.  “Kim & Jessie” by M83 from the album Saturdays = Youth
19.  “Strange Overtones” by David Byrne and Brian Eno from the album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
20.  “Kalise” by El Guincho from the album Alegranza
21.  “Criminal” by The Roots from the album Rising Down
22.  “The Shaded Forests” by Deastro from the album Keeper’s
23.  “Self Portrait With “Electric Brain”" by Stereolab from the album Chemical Chords
24.  “One (Blake’s Got A New Face)” by Vampire Weekend from the album Vampire Weekend
25.  “rr vs. d” by Au from the album Verbs
26.  “One Day Like This” by Elbow from the album The Seldom Seen Kid
27.  “Keep On Rolling” by Quiet Village from the album  Silent Movie
28.  “Tonight In Bilbao” by Sun Kil Moon from the album April
29.  “Lying In The Sun” by Koushik from the album Out My Window
30.  “¿Quién? (Suite)” by Juana Molina from the album Un Dia
31.  “Houston” by R.E.M. from the album Accelerate
32.  “Lost To The Lonesome” by Pela from the album Anytown Graffiti
33.  “Heretic Pride” by The Mountain Goats from the album    Heretic Pride
34.  “The ‘59 Sound” by The Gaslight Anthem from the album The ‘59 Sound
35.  “Nowheres Nigh” by Parts & Labor from the album Receivers
36.  “You! Me! Dancing!” by Los Campesinos! from the album Hold On Now, Youngster
37.  “Beat (Health, Life and Fire)” by Thao from the album We Brave Bee Stings and All
38.  “Walking” by the dodos from the album Visiter
39.  “No One Does It Like You” by Department Of Eagles from the album In Ear Park
40.  “Nothing Ever Happened” by Deerhunter from the album Microcastle
41.  “Blue Ridge Mountains” by Fleet Foxes from the album Fleet Foxes
42.  “Cape Canaveral” by Conor Oberst from the album Conor Oberst
43.  “Murder in the City” by The Avett Brothers from the album The Second Gleam
44.  “Shed Your Love” by The Helio Sequence from the album Keep Your Eyes Ahead
45.  “Tiger Phone Card” by Dengue Fever from the album Venus on Earth
46.  “Your New Twin Sized Bed” by Death Cab For Cutie from the album Narrow Stairs
47.  “Are You Lightning?” by Nada Surf from the album Lucky
48.  “Da Da Da Ich Lieb Dich Nicht Du Liebst Mich Nicht” by Senor Coconut from the album Around The World
49.  “Emerald” by Lusine from the EP Emerald EP
50.  “Lovers In Japan (Osaka Sun Mix)” by Coldplay from the EP Prospekt’s March EP

pau.

2008 may have been the year of the rat according to the Chinese calendar, but according to the Tony Schmiesing calendar, it was the year of music. Of course, a few other significant things happened along the way that might also qualify for the title (if you’ve been reading this blog, you know what I mean), but when you’ve been listening to a different album every day for the past 365 days, could you really call it anything else?

The fact is, I purchased more music this year than probably the past 10 years combined and a good percentage of that music was stuff released in 2008. Overwhelmingly, I found it to be a fine year with great releases from both established artists and those making their debut alike. And in spite of feeling somewhat inundated by the sheer quality and quantity of my consumption, I was still able to come up with a top 10 list that I think I’ll happy with in the weeks to come.

In a year that saw the influences of Afropop, The Jesus and Mary Chain and New Wave — sometimes all three — featured in some of the year’s most interesting albums, it was also a year where my favorite LP was a breathtakingly simple and intimate affair. It was this seemingly incongruent swing of styles that made the year so rewarding musically — from the densely layered to the sublimely quiet, great sounds came from diverse origins and songwriting sensibilities.

Choosing my top 10 was no easy feat. As I said, there were a lot of quality records to choose from. Couple this with the fact that I was engaged in my 365 albums endeavor and you can see that time played a part as well — there’s only so many hours in the day one can listen to music with undivided attention.

In many ways, I find the whole top 10 process frustrating and counterintuitive, as different music appeals to me at different times, but as somebody who paradoxically likes to read such lists, the challenge of actually doing one holds a certain amount of appeal.

How I came up with my list basically came down to two things; what album resonated with me upon first listen and/or got better upon repeated plays. In the case of the Bon Iver record, well, it had me at hello, whereas the TV on the Radio and the M83 record took a few spins before they really sunk in. Again, while I’m happy with the list I’ve come up with, any one of the records 11 through 25 could’ve been in the top 10 — the year was that good.

1. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago

This was hands down my choice for the number one record of the year. In fact, after my first listen almost a year ago it was hard to imagine anything topping it. Every time I revisit this record, I’m as moved and surprised as the first time I heard it. Equal parts haunting and uplifting, it’s an intimate sounding piece that feels as sparse as it does expansive. The cheap sounding acoustic guitar, reverb and heartbreakingly beautiful melodies are mesmerizing. A powerful, transcendent record.

2. TV on the Radio: Dear Science

As the dark days of the current grossly cynical political regime come to an end and are replaced with more hopeful, albeit uncertain ones, Dear Science is the record that more than captures this zeitgeist. Working both sides of the fence, it’s a look back and look forward without ever losing its grip lyrically or musically. Layered, funky, global, melodious and grinding, it’s the most “accessible” TV on the Radio to date and one that brings something new to each listen.

3. DJ/rupture: Uproot

It’s a cliché now to say DJs are the new rock stars, but I think it illustrates an understanding that as rock stars, DJs are at last being seen as musicians. For some, this might be difficult to wrap your head around — it certainly challenges assumptions of what a musician is — but for those intimately acquainted with dance culture, this is a no-brainer. DJ/rupture is hardly a “rock star” by DJ standards, but he’s every bit a musician and has crafted one of the most listenable and interesting musical experiences of the year. An nuanced bass heavy mash-up record that’s a marvel in its construction.

4. The Very Best: Esau Wmamwaya and Radioclit are the Very Best

The collaboration on this mix tape sample-fest by Malawian born/London based singer Esau Wmamwaya and European production team Radioclit, is a true celebration of music’s current global fusion. Floating on top of beats and samples ranging from Hans Zimmer’s True Romance theme (via Badlands) to the Beatles to Michael Jackson to Vampire Weekend, and from countries ranging from South Africa to India and beyond, is Esau’s — singing in his native tongue Chichewa — lovely voice. As a snapshot of the times, the collection succeeds both musically and spiritually. Click here for free a download.

5. M83: Saturdays = Youth

Somewhere between nostalgic, tongue-in-cheek and absolutely sincere, Saturdays = Youth might be the musical equivalent of a John Hughes movie. .. minus the happy ending. That said, this 80s influenced electro-rock album is the real deal. Individually the songs are melodic shoegazing anthems, but where they really shine is when they’re taken together as a whole. After my first listen I didn’t quite see this, but after the second and then third I was blown away by how much it worked. Alternating between quiet and bombast, the album is a surprising success.

6. Frightened Rabbit: The Midnight Organ

Frightened Rabbit aren’t the first band to write songs about loneliness, sex, or post-relationship misery — they aren’t even the first Scottish band to do it — but their jangly, chiming guitars and mournful melodies effortlessly dig their way into your heart and you’re happy to commiserate. Fresh on the heels (literally) of their wonderful 2007 debut Sing the Greys, Midnight Organ is less raw and punk driven, but no less powerful. In fact, the cleaner sound fits the band nicely and makes me wonder if there’s been a couple extra sunny days in Glasgow this past year.

7. The Bug: London Zoo

Sometimes you just need it a little dirty and this latest effort by The Bug a.k.a. Kevin Martin, delivers on all accounts. A grimy, dark ragga come dubstep collection, the LP feels like a dance hall soundtrack for the postapocalypse. Utilizing toasters, singers and MCs of varying familiarity, London Zoo only serves to reinforce the claim that some of the best and most interesting bass heavy hip hop productions are coming from across the pond not the United States.

8. Q-tip: The Renaissance

I’ll admit, a large part of this record’s appeal is based on nostalgia and the joy of hearing Q-tip’s voice and distinct flow again, but it’s also a return to form after his less than mediocre debut solo project almost 10 years ago. And while that might be enough to push it into my top 10, the truth is this is a great record. Of course, having one of my favorite songs of the year ManWomanBoogie doesn’t hurt, but that aside this album moves and speaks in ways few hip-hop records did this year. Funky and lyrically relevant, it’s a joy.

9. Nomo: Ghost Rock

Nu-jazz is an interesting animal and doesn’t always connect with me, but Ghost Rock — with its Afropop rhythms, transparent Can riffing and 70s four on the floor cop show funk — absolutely does. Throw in a slightly distorted African thumb piano, some glitchy synth sounds, horns and traditional jazz elements and you have a mighty tasty mix.

10. Marching Band: Spark Large

When I was kid I used to love a candy called Swedish Fish. It was a gummy, colorful, sweet and sour treat shaped like — you guessed it — fish. I’d buy them by the sack full at JCPenney’s and be in a sucrose coma for an entire afternoon… heaven. And while the origin of these fish may or may not actually be Sweden, I do know this much about the country… they export some seriously sweet pop music. Marching Band is no exception. Like Loney, Dear and The Shout Out Louds before them, all the ingredients are here; sweet melodies, bright guitars, deceptively simple lyrics and a sense of brevity that feels perfect.

Honorable mentions aka the alternates: 11 - 25.

11. Sigur Rós: með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, 12. Devotchka: A Mad and Faithful Telling, 13. Sun Kil Moon: April, 14. Deerhunter: Microcastle, 15. Fleet Foxes: Fleet Foxes/Sun Giant EP, 16. Erykah Badu: New Amerykah Part One (4th World War), 17. Gnarls Barkley: The Odd Couple, 18. El Guincho: Alegranza, 19. Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs, 20. Thievery Corporation: Radio Retaliation, 21. Blind Pilot: 3 Rounds and a Sound, 22. Apparat: Things to be Frickled, 23. Koushik: Out My Window, 24. Noah and the Whale: Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down, 25. The Dodos: Visiter.

Up next: the top 50 songs of 2008.

pau.