#25(Track 1)(Duo): Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependance - 24-25
Not a whole lot to say here, just very nice, quiet acoustic music, with some of the best man-man harmonies around.
#24(Track 2)(Solo): Langhorne Slim - Be Set Free - Say Yes
Langhorne is real poppy folk. High Quality.
#23(Track 3)(6-piece): Volcano Choir - Unmap - Seeplymouth
Volcano Choir is a collaboration between the band Collections of Colonies of Bees and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. CCB is kinda math-post-rock, and when that is mixed with Justin's haunting vocals, the result is fantastic.
#22(Track 4)(Duo): Zorch - Demo - Gimme the Axe
I've been going through a bit of a noise pop phase, and this duo are some of the all-stars this year. This is less noise and more electronic-sounding than you might expect.
#21(Track 5)(Duo): Sleigh Bells - Demo - Beach Girls
I have this other duo listed as noise pop, but they're slightly to the hip hop side of center, along with extensive use of electronics, rather than piles of distortion.
#20(Track 6)(Solo): tUnE-YaRdS - BiRd-BrAiNs - LITTLE TIGER
tUnE-YaRdS is Merrill Grubus, a total lo-fi genius. If I remember right, this album was recorded on a four-track, using a drum machine, guitars, ukes, and random things for percussion. Mind = Blown.
#19(Track 7)(Sextet): Passion Pit - Manners - Sleepyhead
It's likely that you've heard this song from the electro-pop band that started as Michael Angelakos' belated Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend. Best falsetto around. I went (alone) to see them last Wednesday (12/9/09), and they were absolutely fantastic. Most dancing I've done in a long time.
#18(Track 8)(Quartet): Post Post - Meta Meta - Say When
Some nice bright, shine pop out of Philly. I'm definitely a sucker for (slightly stretched) girl vocals, something that can be found here in droves.
#17(Track 9)(Solo): Micachu - Jewllery - Lips
Micachu is another make-music-out-of-whaterver-she-finds artist. She's one of those musicians that music-lovers like myself envy; musician parents, studied violin and viola, offered a scholarship to study composition at a music school. Anyway, she makes some of the coolest, weirdest music I know of.
#16(Track 10)(Duo): A Hawk And A Hacksaw - Déliverance - The Man Who Sold His Beard
A Hawk and a Hacksaw are like a more potent Beirut. They're another duo, the drummer from Neutral Milk Hotel, and a violinist. The go-to band if you're feeling Easter-European.
#15(Track 11)(Sextet): Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains - And the Hazy Sea
One of many great New York bands this year, they're kind of like "New Punk," if that makes any sense. Loud guitars, liberal use of keys, loud-quiet-loud and back and forth.
#14(Track 12)(Sextet): The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love - Margaret In Captivity
Another great album from the great band, The Decemberists. They're one of my absolute favorites; I've seen them five times. This track comes from their ambitious rock opera, which can only mean good things coming from them.
#13(Track 13)(Duo): Slow Club - Yeah So - When I Go
Another duo, this time hailing from Sheffield, England. They've got quality range, from some of the nicest folk you can imagine, to some of the poppiest folk you can imagine. What more could you ask for? (Significant other not included.)
#12(Track 14)(6-piece): Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career - The Sweetest Thing
Glasgow's all-stars. They've been around for quite a while, and always deliver some of the best, slightly twee, pop you could ever want. I struggled to choose between this song and their other song, French Navy, both so incredibly good, that I want you to go YouTube French Navy while you're waiting for this to download.
#11(Track 15)(Solo): M. Ward - Hold Time - Fisher Of Men
Anthony observed one day that music is making more references to God and Christianity lately. Here's an example of that. Hold Time is my favorite of M.'s, and I'm beginning to have trouble coming up with original adjectives and similes worthy of describing this album.
#10(Track 16)(Sextet): Noah & The Whale - The First Days of Spring - My Broken Heart
I first heard some of these songs when I went to see them this last April, and was truly impressed. To compare to their last record, Peaceful The World Lays Me Down, The First Days of Spring is much more subdued overall, very much akin to the song Peaceful The World Lays Me Down. Well, except for the orchestra-filled tracks, which brighten things up considerably when they happen along.
#9(Track 17)(Trio): Thao With The Get Down Stay Down - Know Better Learn Faster - Body
Bright, pounding indie-rock. Very sing-along-worthy, again, not much to say about it other than you'll get a good feel for what it's all about from this song.
#8(Track 18)(Trio): The XX - XX - Crystalised
Tied with Edward Sharpe for my favorite artist of the year. They're the next generation of shoegaze. Boy-girl vocals, with some of the simplest melodies and instrumentation around combine to make some of the best music of the year.
#7(Track 19)(Solo): David Bazan - Curse Your Branches - Please, Baby, Please
This is one of the saddest records I've ever heard. It's all about David's loss of faith in God, his alcoholism, and how it's tearing up his family.
He says in the opening track: "Wait just a minute, You expect me to believe that all this misbehaving grew from one enchanted tree?"
He goes on to describe his family: "...My faithful family, some of whom are already fasting to intercede for me."
Things don't get much heavier than that.
#6(Track 20)(Duo): The Dutchess & The Duke - Sunset / Sunrise - Let It Die
A duo from Seattle this time, The Dutchess & The Duke are ranked high on my list again this year. They almost sound like they belong in the '70s, mixing folk with a bit of super-crunchy blues guitar here and there.
#5(Track 21)(10-piece): Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - From Below - 40 Day Dream
My other favorite new band of the year. I can't get enough of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. They are a huge band, TEN members, and they create something of an event with each song. I first heard about them from the All Things Considered SXSW wrap-up podcast, where they were described to as a band that couldn't be recorded and be as good. Well, judging by the quality of album they managed to release, I figure I have to see them, or my life will never be complete.
#4(Track 22)(6-piece): Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca - Temecula Sunrise
They're a band that has been around for a while, and for good reason. The basis of this album is crazy, spastic-yet-beautiful guitar, combined with cooing-to-wailing guy-girl vocals. That's enough adjectives for one band. A must-have.
#3(Track 23)(Duo): Japandroids - Post-Nothing - Crazy/Forever
The best slamming, driving, turn-it-up-way-past-what-your-speakers-can-handle record for some time. It's just two guys on drums and guitar, making the best garage-pop since De Stijl.
#2(Track 24)(Solo): St. Vincent - Actor - Save Me From What I Want
Alright, so I have a crush on Annie Clark. If you know about her, you probably do to, so leave me alone. She's guitar alumni from The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan's Illinoisemakers. She released one of the best albums of 2007, Marry Me, which, along with the obvious attraction of such a sentiment, is really a quote from Arrested Development. The Perfect Girl? Maebe. Nay, Surely. (Get it?) Anyway, she sends the blistering guitar a bit back in the mix this time around, and replaces it with bodacious beats and glistening guitar. Top it all off with her irresistible croon, and you have the second-best album of this, frankly, amazing year of music.
#1(Track 25)(Trio): The Antlers - Hospice - Wake, Or, Letting People In
This is the most emotion-filled, heart-wrenching album I have EVER heard. It's the product of Peter Silberman hibernating in an apartment in Brooklyn for several years, telling a story about a person losing a loved one to cancer, and having to witness it. The album delves into the relationship, that clearly wasn't anything near easy:
"I wanna bust down the door, if you're willing to forgive. I've got the keys, I'm letting people in."
"But something kept me standing by that hospital bed, I should have quit, but instead I took care of you."
"Please, please calm down. Steady out, I'm terrified. Sorry, I want us to ally, but you swing on little knives. They're only sharp on one side."
"Sylvia, can't you see what you're doing? Can't you see I'm scared to speak, and I hate my voice 'cause it only makes you angry."
"I'd happily take all those bullets inside you and put them inside of myself."
"There's a bear inside your stomach. The cub's been kicking from within. He's loud, though without vocal chords, we'll put an end to him. We'll make all the right appointments, no one ever has to know."
Sylvia - "Pull me out... Pull me out... Can't you stop this all from happening? Close the doors and keep them out."
"In the middle of the night I was sleeping sitting up, when a doctor came to tell me, 'Enough is enough.' ...That there was nothing that I could do to save you, the choir's gonna sing, this thing is gonna kill you."
"I've woken up, I'm in our bed, but there's no breathing body there beside me. Someone must have taken you while I was stuck asleep."
I marvel at this every time I listen to it. It's one of those things you want to listen to over and over and over, as if that would help ease the protagonist's pain. You never can, but it's well worth the try.
