(original post link embedded above)
10. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer: Listening to this album can really only be quizzically described as what it would sound like to visit Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory if only it resided somewhere in the depths of the Never Ending Story. When Spencer Krug’s endless chants of “We’re not at home!” on ‘Language City’ or his crooning question of, “Well you burn your bridges down… you turn away. How can you turn away?” on ‘Bang Your Drum’, it’s difficult not to think about the land of which has been left behind. However, ‘An Animal in Your Care’, brings a new dawn of wonder that invigorates the soul and gets the fists in the air. If there was such a thing as operatic indie rock, ‘Kissing the Beehive’ would be at the forefront. A top song of the year for sure.
9. Sigur Rós – Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust: Sigur Rós make beautiful music. Whether you understand Icelandic or not (I do not myself), there is no argument. You need to merely see them live if you’re in doubt. On this particular go, the Rós have produced a more uplifting set compared with previous albums. From the raging horns and thumping drums of second track ‘Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur’, it is clear that this effort was made for an introspective celebration. One best served upon the sun’s glowing erasure of a spring rain. Maybe it happens in Fairmount Park, maybe in Victoria Park… either way, the moment is one that comes along like a long lost friend. In a world that constantly feels like it’s being torn apart at the seems, Jonsi Birgisson’s dramatic falsetto brings a hope that globalization, at least on the musical front, can bring a hope to the citizenry and calm the madness.
8. Department of Eagles – In Ear Park: This Grizzly Bear spin off is something special from the first bass line of ‘No One Does It Like You’. The album masterfully mixes thumping beats, electronica, acoustic guitar and folk lyricism to form a unique sound that’s somewhere between Lennon, Beirut and the Chemical Brothers. Sentimental favorite ‘Floating Down the Lehigh’ is a reminder of near forgotten memories of a simpler time when only a rubber tube separated myself and the murky waters of the Lehigh River slowly ‘floating on to Bethlehem’.
7. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend: The hype machine for this album kicked off early in the year, and it didn’t disappoint. This so-called ‘whitest band’ in the world produced one of the most original sounds in years. A cross between Ivy League pretentiousness, folk, indie rock, and afro pop, there’s no doubt that this quartet are genre bending. With an energetic live show, VW are a band that have no trouble getting the white kids hips swinging and sing-a-long highlights include, ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’, ‘One’ and ‘Walcott’, but VW are at their best on ‘Oxford Comma’ and ‘I Stand Corrected’.
6. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular: When an album kicks off with the hands-down song of the year, you know you’re in for a treat. ‘Time to Pretend’ is a life=defining composition for every cog in the machine. For anyone who feels like their childhood ended too quickly and misses the simpler times when life wasn’t ‘real’, when life was only bound by the vastness of a young mind’s imagination, then this brilliant four and a half minutes of escapism is all-time worthy. The rest of the album joins the queue in turn, with reflections on youth, life, mind-exploration, relationships, and the future. Music has always been used as an outlet for that which we strive for and/or need to forget and this electro, head=nodding fest is everything you could ask for from an album.
5. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes: This mesmerising, reverb induced debut LP is everything you wanted My Morning Jacket to be five years ago. MMJ never quite put all the pieces together, but thankfully Fleet Foxes have. A defining album of the summer and one in which the seeds of renewal were planted. A musical moment that won’t soon be forgotten was a brilliant, yet unbelievably sweltering set in the basement of First Unitarian Church in July. It was debatable what would cause someone to pass out first, the pure delight of the Foxes tempered sound or the death-defying heat. Fortunately neither, but when lead singer Robin Pecknold broke into ‘Your Protector’, it was damn close. This will permanently remain an album that is synced to the ipod. When an album makes you feel as if you were sitting around a campfire with your mates in the middle of the forest where nothing else in the world matters, how could it not?
4. TV On The Radio – Dear Science: With 2008 hopefully putting the belated, final nail in the coffin of Guns ‘n Roses era rock music, humanity can only be lucky enough if TVOTR represent the replacement. Interestingly enough, Dear Science is arguably less commercially accessible than their 2006 release, Return to Cookie Mountain. Wide-acceptance speaking then, the third time has been the charm as TVOTR have successfully merged funk, handclaps, orchestral sets, and guitar rock into a tight 11-track album. Highlights lay throughout, but ‘Golden Age’, ‘Family Tree’, ‘Love Dog’, and the powerfully politicizing ‘DLZ’. If no one rocks out to this song at a post inaugural party on 20 Jan as a final f* you to W, then the kids just aren’t as hip as we thought they were.
3. M83 – Saturdays=Youth: M83 have always been a band of hymnal elegance that forces ones mind to render a greater perspective on the world that, fair or not, quickly passes us by. In this respect, Saturdays=Youth is no different. Many a journey, whether by tube, plane, or the occasional car, have been spent absorbing the beauty of this collection of songs about the highlights and perils of teenage lust and loss. No matter how many listens in, no matter how painful the circumstances, this album always managed to shine a light on the path to life, however convoluted and irrational that path may be. ‘You, Appearing’ and ‘We Own the Sky’ are particularly striking. It can’t be said much more eloquently than NQ, when he said, ‘Saturday only comes around once a week, but your youth is here for as long as you want it.’ I’d argue it’s here forever, and should you find yourself flying to country ‘x’ or riding to city ‘y’ this Saturday… welcome back.
2. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours: Along with an associated, awkward solo dance session, it was love at first listen with this album. Pumping beats and emphatic synth ride this album throughout, leaving listeners in a sweaty pile of elation in its wake. A quietly advertised, Thurs. Glasto appearance solidified their sound in the minds of many with easily the most entertaining gig of the year. Entertaining in a way that if nothing ever topped it, the kids could have dried up and crumbled into dust being content with their live music viewing experiences. Cut Copy truly have the ability to make any season an ‘Unforgettable Season’, a superb anthem for those in need of an escape from the inescapable. Other highlights include ‘Out There on the Ice’, ‘Lights & Music’, ‘Hearts on Fire’, ‘Strangers in the Wind’ and ‘Nobody Lost, Nobody Found’. Yeah, that’s almost the entire album. It’s that amazing.
1. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago: Not much more can be said about this album that hasn’t already been said a hundred times over. So on a personal level, this album first presented itself to me on a defiantly, English summer day (i.e. cold and rainy) on the southern coast. The painfully intimate sound of this album provided for an inner reckoning of proportions I’ve never experienced before. It acted as an awakening. Much like myself, many people have experienced a deep connection with this album, which is something that is rarely found in these hyper-channeled times. It is a tribute to Justin Vernon. By now, everyone knows the background to For Emma, Forever Ago, and the pain and heartbreak that provided its inspiration. And because of Vernon’s innate ability to interpret that into a musical format that only too few of us are capable of, but one in which we can all see the absolute beauty in, is why this album will stick with me for a long, long time. It’s once in a lifetime.
Posts
