I break headphones a lot, and I'm no audiophile, so this year I found that you sometimes get pretty decent headphones packaged with little $20 mp3 players. With such limited storage capacity, I've been putting 3 or 4 albums on them at a time, so I can't say that I've been listening to any of these albums all year long. But these were ones which stuck in my mind even if I couldn't listen to them, and for my money, that's better.
Click on the album art to listen.
1. Withered Hand - Good News (2011)
Slight but sturdy, spare but spacious, shy but sure, Dan Willson's debut album is wonderful. It's a folky, thoughtful record where the melodies still manage to take over. His brittle voice and articulate guitar are instantly affecting, the sound of someone who has recognized his limitations and turned them into his greatest strengths. The lyrics are profound and profane, as likely to provoke a thoughtful frown as a goofy smile. His band are culled from various Edinburgh folk outfits, and they add depth to his tunes with rare delicacy. "I took a minor role in my life / behind two kids, a cat and my wife," he sings on 'I Am Nothing,' "you can keep your blood, you can keep your glory / I'm just looking for my voice." Safe to say that on Good News, he's found it.
2. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (2005)
This is an unsettling, hateful, and unparalleled album. Will Sheff expands on the eponymous Tim Hardin folk song with eleven of his own compositions. These build upon each other almost like a musical would, winding from one memorable tune to the next. Weaving and wrecking his way through this world is the Black Sheep Boy, a mythical entity possibly based on the heroin addict Hardin became. The arrangements are elegant and raw, atmospherically enhancing the beautifully crafted acoustic tunes and Sheff's hoarse croon. The characters in this picaresque are all seething masses of memories and murderous impulses, and their "black diapason" is a tour de force.
3. Serengeti - Family and Friends (2011)
Serengeti trades the "Bears, Hawks, Sox, Bulls" of Chicago for the Lakers, Clippers, Dodgers and Kings of L.A., teaming up with producers Yoni Wolf (of Why?) and Owen Ashworth (formerly Casiotone for the Painfully Alone). Geti is a master craftsman: song structure is innovative throughout, and the rhymes are playful even when the story is serious, from the same-old-story corniness of "Long Ears" ("Guess who's back, your old broken down dad / came back to say he loves you and that he feels bad") to the enjambed-instead-of-obvious "California" ("Just get it over with / that blog post got viewed the most" vs. "That blog post got the most hits"). And the stories on Family and Friends are plenty serious, even dystopic: illicit and licit drugs, abandonment, bigamy, delusion, and injury abound. It's a downright depressing record, come to think of it, but it's the expertly and lovingly observed minutia of eleven evocative situations where "things aren't going quite as planned" that pulls me through.
4. The Drones - Havilah (2008)
My favourite Australian garage rockers have always taken a dim view of humanity, which I approved of insofar as they seemed to prefer guitars. On Havilah they've finally taken their misanthropy to its logical conclusion and gotten apocalyptic. "People are a waste of food," Gareth Liddiard barks in "Oh My," and on an album he made on diesel generators in his remote mud-brick home, you've got to take him seriously. The guitars are muscular and beautifully sloppy, the band a tightly-wound ramshackle in support. The end of the world has never seemed like so much fun.
5. The Streets - Computers and Blues (2011)
The last-but-not-last Streets album is some of Mike Skinner's best work. It could be seen as a middle ground between The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living and Everything is Borrowed: the lyrics manage to marry some of the former's cleverness to the latter's attempt at depth. It's also fearlessly topical, from a song about a facebook status update to the (cringeworthy?) hook "you can't google the solution to people's feelings." The production mirrors this topicality, the inimitable collage-like beats littered with digital squeaks and squelches of crashing computers. It's an album that makes me think, and one where even the missteps require relistening.
6. Beauty Pill - The Unsustainable Lifestyle (2004)
I've been intrigued by the only LP from this somewhat enigmatic D.C. band since it was reviewed in the Transworld skate mag, my main source of music as a 15 year old. But for years all I could find was the title track from the first EP, "The Cigarette Girl from the Future." Its puttering keyboards and sinuous horns only deepened my curiosity. Finally I found it on Grooveshark, and it lived up every bit to the seven-year wait. It's an off-kilter, cinematic record whose prototypical indie rhythmic core is augmented by an understated but innovative corps of keyboards and auxiliary percussion. The songs paint a bleak picture of Western society, somewhere between poetically oblique and openly political. For Beauty Pill, this album is both a critique and a call to arms. "Terrible things, they are going to happen," Chad Clark intones on the last track, but "this record's over, so why not go outside and stop them?"
7. Mutemath - Odd Soul (2011)
I saw these vaguely Christian rockers from New Orleans in 2007, when they were touring their debut album. Listening to this, their third, I was impressed, especially with Danger Mouse's production. BUT WAIT, he had nothing to do with this record. Odd Soul is self-produced, but equal parts The Odd Couple, Attack & Release, and Modern Guilt. It has a cohesive sound despite the genre-hopping, or maybe because of it; either way, you get the sense these guys would rather play than worry about it. Their guitarist left before this album was recorded, and bassist/producer Roy Mitchell-Cardenas fills in pithily, effectively shrinking the band's rhythm section to just two minds. And rhythm is a strong suit for this band, who employ bouncy Danger Mouse-style beats, complex syncopation and changing time signatures to great effect while melodically keeping the songs to their hooky/bluesy cores. Flattery to this, the sincerest form of imitation.
8. Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having (2005)
I'm riding my infatuation with Minnesota hip hop into 2012, and You Can't Imagine is as trusty a steed as I can imagine. Slug is confident, shouting less and sneering more. He alternates between navel-gazing and puffing out his chest until he can't see it any more as naturally as breathing. Ant is inspired, making melodic, piano-driven beats which complement Slug's delivery perfectly, so much so that you can't be sure that it's not the other way around. "Atmosphere, that's people in the background sitting around, drinking your beer, looking like you belong there," as a Cheers sound bite on the album goes. This is not a mainstream album, but it is a solid one, like two extras having a meaningful conversation while the actors rehash the same old dialogue for the cameras. Listen in, and like Paul you'll soon be asking "can I be atmosphere too?"
9. Deer Tick - Divine Providence (2011)
The boys from Deer Tick are back in their hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, and if they want to fight, you'd better let 'em. They get good and lickered up through the first three songs, and then let John McCauley catch his ragged breath as drummer Dennis Ryan warbles through a ditty about a clown that would probably terrify Sufjan Stevens. This is an album where the slow songs are hooky enough to keep pace with the barnburners (bar-burners?), and they cover a wide range of styles; Divine Providence is a strikingly pleasing agglomerate. In this age of digital piracy, successful albums are ones that get fans out to the show, and this one makes me want to go just so I can try to match them drink for drink.
10. Better Thank Ezra - Closer (2001)
Not every album that I love is critically lauded, but even so Better than Ezra probably counts as a guilty pleasure. I picked this album up from the CD section of my local library two and a half years ago, which clearly had some cash to burn in the early Aughts as I also took out Weezer's Green Album and Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It in People. For me, this New Orleans trio smokes them both, and it's something I have a hard time explaining. I guess they've found a safe and sunny spot in the middle road where I can go when I want to see the cars go by. If they had a boombox out there, I'd bring this CD.
11. The Argyles - Rage and Chill (2011)
Honourably mentioned is the first real album I've ever put together, with my band the Argyles. It was a lot of fun, and I look forward to making another. You can keep up with that on my other blog, if you're so inclined.
Click on the album art to listen.
Slight but sturdy, spare but spacious, shy but sure, Dan Willson's debut album is wonderful. It's a folky, thoughtful record where the melodies still manage to take over. His brittle voice and articulate guitar are instantly affecting, the sound of someone who has recognized his limitations and turned them into his greatest strengths. The lyrics are profound and profane, as likely to provoke a thoughtful frown as a goofy smile. His band are culled from various Edinburgh folk outfits, and they add depth to his tunes with rare delicacy. "I took a minor role in my life / behind two kids, a cat and my wife," he sings on 'I Am Nothing,' "you can keep your blood, you can keep your glory / I'm just looking for my voice." Safe to say that on Good News, he's found it.
2. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (2005)
This is an unsettling, hateful, and unparalleled album. Will Sheff expands on the eponymous Tim Hardin folk song with eleven of his own compositions. These build upon each other almost like a musical would, winding from one memorable tune to the next. Weaving and wrecking his way through this world is the Black Sheep Boy, a mythical entity possibly based on the heroin addict Hardin became. The arrangements are elegant and raw, atmospherically enhancing the beautifully crafted acoustic tunes and Sheff's hoarse croon. The characters in this picaresque are all seething masses of memories and murderous impulses, and their "black diapason" is a tour de force.
3. Serengeti - Family and Friends (2011)
Serengeti trades the "Bears, Hawks, Sox, Bulls" of Chicago for the Lakers, Clippers, Dodgers and Kings of L.A., teaming up with producers Yoni Wolf (of Why?) and Owen Ashworth (formerly Casiotone for the Painfully Alone). Geti is a master craftsman: song structure is innovative throughout, and the rhymes are playful even when the story is serious, from the same-old-story corniness of "Long Ears" ("Guess who's back, your old broken down dad / came back to say he loves you and that he feels bad") to the enjambed-instead-of-obvious "California" ("Just get it over with / that blog post got viewed the most" vs. "That blog post got the most hits"). And the stories on Family and Friends are plenty serious, even dystopic: illicit and licit drugs, abandonment, bigamy, delusion, and injury abound. It's a downright depressing record, come to think of it, but it's the expertly and lovingly observed minutia of eleven evocative situations where "things aren't going quite as planned" that pulls me through.
4. The Drones - Havilah (2008)
My favourite Australian garage rockers have always taken a dim view of humanity, which I approved of insofar as they seemed to prefer guitars. On Havilah they've finally taken their misanthropy to its logical conclusion and gotten apocalyptic. "People are a waste of food," Gareth Liddiard barks in "Oh My," and on an album he made on diesel generators in his remote mud-brick home, you've got to take him seriously. The guitars are muscular and beautifully sloppy, the band a tightly-wound ramshackle in support. The end of the world has never seemed like so much fun.
5. The Streets - Computers and Blues (2011)
The last-but-not-last Streets album is some of Mike Skinner's best work. It could be seen as a middle ground between The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living and Everything is Borrowed: the lyrics manage to marry some of the former's cleverness to the latter's attempt at depth. It's also fearlessly topical, from a song about a facebook status update to the (cringeworthy?) hook "you can't google the solution to people's feelings." The production mirrors this topicality, the inimitable collage-like beats littered with digital squeaks and squelches of crashing computers. It's an album that makes me think, and one where even the missteps require relistening.
6. Beauty Pill - The Unsustainable Lifestyle (2004)
I've been intrigued by the only LP from this somewhat enigmatic D.C. band since it was reviewed in the Transworld skate mag, my main source of music as a 15 year old. But for years all I could find was the title track from the first EP, "The Cigarette Girl from the Future." Its puttering keyboards and sinuous horns only deepened my curiosity. Finally I found it on Grooveshark, and it lived up every bit to the seven-year wait. It's an off-kilter, cinematic record whose prototypical indie rhythmic core is augmented by an understated but innovative corps of keyboards and auxiliary percussion. The songs paint a bleak picture of Western society, somewhere between poetically oblique and openly political. For Beauty Pill, this album is both a critique and a call to arms. "Terrible things, they are going to happen," Chad Clark intones on the last track, but "this record's over, so why not go outside and stop them?"
7. Mutemath - Odd Soul (2011)
I saw these vaguely Christian rockers from New Orleans in 2007, when they were touring their debut album. Listening to this, their third, I was impressed, especially with Danger Mouse's production. BUT WAIT, he had nothing to do with this record. Odd Soul is self-produced, but equal parts The Odd Couple, Attack & Release, and Modern Guilt. It has a cohesive sound despite the genre-hopping, or maybe because of it; either way, you get the sense these guys would rather play than worry about it. Their guitarist left before this album was recorded, and bassist/producer Roy Mitchell-Cardenas fills in pithily, effectively shrinking the band's rhythm section to just two minds. And rhythm is a strong suit for this band, who employ bouncy Danger Mouse-style beats, complex syncopation and changing time signatures to great effect while melodically keeping the songs to their hooky/bluesy cores. Flattery to this, the sincerest form of imitation.
8. Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having (2005)
I'm riding my infatuation with Minnesota hip hop into 2012, and You Can't Imagine is as trusty a steed as I can imagine. Slug is confident, shouting less and sneering more. He alternates between navel-gazing and puffing out his chest until he can't see it any more as naturally as breathing. Ant is inspired, making melodic, piano-driven beats which complement Slug's delivery perfectly, so much so that you can't be sure that it's not the other way around. "Atmosphere, that's people in the background sitting around, drinking your beer, looking like you belong there," as a Cheers sound bite on the album goes. This is not a mainstream album, but it is a solid one, like two extras having a meaningful conversation while the actors rehash the same old dialogue for the cameras. Listen in, and like Paul you'll soon be asking "can I be atmosphere too?"
9. Deer Tick - Divine Providence (2011)
The boys from Deer Tick are back in their hometown of Providence, Rhode Island, and if they want to fight, you'd better let 'em. They get good and lickered up through the first three songs, and then let John McCauley catch his ragged breath as drummer Dennis Ryan warbles through a ditty about a clown that would probably terrify Sufjan Stevens. This is an album where the slow songs are hooky enough to keep pace with the barnburners (bar-burners?), and they cover a wide range of styles; Divine Providence is a strikingly pleasing agglomerate. In this age of digital piracy, successful albums are ones that get fans out to the show, and this one makes me want to go just so I can try to match them drink for drink.
10. Better Thank Ezra - Closer (2001)
Not every album that I love is critically lauded, but even so Better than Ezra probably counts as a guilty pleasure. I picked this album up from the CD section of my local library two and a half years ago, which clearly had some cash to burn in the early Aughts as I also took out Weezer's Green Album and Broken Social Scene's You Forgot It in People. For me, this New Orleans trio smokes them both, and it's something I have a hard time explaining. I guess they've found a safe and sunny spot in the middle road where I can go when I want to see the cars go by. If they had a boombox out there, I'd bring this CD.
11. The Argyles - Rage and Chill (2011)
Honourably mentioned is the first real album I've ever put together, with my band the Argyles. It was a lot of fun, and I look forward to making another. You can keep up with that on my other blog, if you're so inclined.
3 comments:
Thanks for sharing! Now I know what to listen to next. Love your descriptions, they give me a good idea for what to look out for.
Let me try if I can comment.
Thanks! Greg.
Christina (it is I that tried to comment, just to let yo know)
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