Honorable Mention #15: Future Islands - On The Water

With so many indie bands sporting Unknown Pleasures and Movement t-shirts and preferring synths to guitars (nothing wrong with that), the second coming of New Order was inevitable but possibly unwanted. And what we have are bands that are so indebted to what New Order, and before them Joy Division, accomplished that the only logical starting point for a listener is to focus on how much or how little they sound like that influence. And whether or not a particular artist is really wanting to be seen in the light of such an archetypal band, the obvious comparisons are there to be made.

Future Islands have been refining this brand of New Order inspired synth-rock for years, beginning with their less-than-stellar debut Wave Like Home and on through their underrated 2010 Thrill Jockey released album In Evening Air.  With their latest release On The Water, Future Islands have made the final steps to carry them from the labors of their influences into a place few bands ever reach, a place where their creative works no longer sound like mere mimicry and where the efforts spent emulating the bands that they love produce an unqiue take on those same influences. Lead singer Samuel Herring takes his Morrissey/David Byrne stage presence and applies the same vocal histrionics across these tracks as he does on stage--and if you've never seen Future Islands live, see them now, with all its melodramatic sweaty chest beating, floor slapping intensity.  "Before The Bridge" may be the culmination of their synth-rock aesthetic, with its building synth-laden crescendos and emotionally wrecked, yet still hopeful, lyrics. Other songs like "The Great Fire", with guest vocals from Wye Oak singer Jenn Wasner, and "Where I Found You" showcase the particular strengths of Future Islands, that dedication to the complex build-up and emotional--both positive and negative--payoff that was the calling cards of both Joy Division and New Order.  By building on what was inevitably going to be seen as emotional plagiarism from their influences, Future Islands have outstripped their synth contemporaries and created a work of stunning beauty and emotional resonance. They've managed to work within and outside what was only hinted at on their earlier albums and develop a singular musical vision, devoid of obvious pretense and musical caricature.  And for those of you who only hear their influences, you're only skimming the surface of this ocean. Listen closely, look at the stars and know Future Islands can help make the hurt go away.

Tracklisting:

01. On the Water
02. Before the Bridge (listen to the mp3 below)
03. The Great Fire
04. Open
05. Where I Found You
06. Give Us the Wind
07. Close to None
08. Balance
09. Tybee Island
10. Grease

Honorable Mention #14: The War On Drugs - Slave Ambient

In our exploration of our own restlessness, do we ever come close to pinpointing a single cause for that most vague sense of unease and a want to do, our unfailing inability to do “something”? Throughout the last 100 years and further back, bands have attempted, mostly unsuccessfully, to corral this most ethereal feeling into specific thought and explanation. Much like The Boss before him lead singer Adam Granduciel sees this attempt to explain an inborn restlessness as folly and just wants to get the fuck out of town. And like Springsteen, he sees this restlessness paired with the desire to change, to move, mentally and physically, if you have to leave, then leave….don’t worry about it, just go. That stagnation comes from the lost hopes of those who have resigned themselves to a static life, that this is as good as it gets. On The War on Drugs newest album Slave Ambient, the spirit of The Boss and Tom Petty and every other journeyman who has paid their dues snakes around and carries these songs toward that indefinable horizon that is the destination of any restless soul. And they should know.

By taking what made their predecessors so memorable and admittedly making use of more than a few of those well-worn road music stereotypes—the open air, the examination of the journey, and our forced place within some defined system of controlled networks—The War On Drugs manages to wring some last vestige of individuality from what should ostensibly be a dead sentiment by this point in time. With songs like the rollicking “It’s Your Destiny” and “Baby Missiles”, which sounds like a lost masterpiece from Jason and The Scorchers, Slave Ambient treads familiar ground and treads it well. The typical contrast of rural Americana with current indie trends has been fair game for years but it has rarely been so intensely personified as it is on Slave Ambient. Bands like Holopaw and Mojave 3 have been mining this particular vein of chiming, autumnal indie rock for years, and while the music on Slave Ambient has a bit more complexity than the aforementioned bands, the comparisons are apt. The War On Drugs have created an album that spills over with the yearning of the road and the need for change and escape.

“…cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run…” We all have our heroes.

Tracklisting:

01. Best Night
02. Brothers
03. I Was There
04. Your Love Is Calling My Name
05. The Animator
06. Come to the City
07. Come For It
08. It’s Your Destiny
09. City Reprise
10. Baby Missiles (listen to the mp3 below)
11. Original Slave
12. Blackwater

Honorable Mention #13: Deerhoof - Deerhoof Vs. Evil

Over the course of their career, Deerhoof have made each of their albums a matter-of-fact exploration of the kind of ADD genre-riddling songs which were so prevalent on their early records and which have been gradually refined on their most recent run of releases. And to a large degree, your acceptance of the various eccentricities on display across most of Deerhoof Vs. Evil may be born out of an inherent ability to accept what others may find as absurb as being part of something substantive. Because for all of it's clever conceptual levels, the new album by Deerhoof is a hell of a lot of fun.

Deerhoof have always known how to mix the serious with the outlandish. Take a quick look and listen through their discography and you'll hear a band who isn't afraid to take risks which other bands might consider crazy and who still, despite the disparate elements involved, create a cohesive album from the results. That penchant for instilling even the most self-styled seriousness with the goofiness of a group of high school kids on helium continues full steam across the 12 tracks which comprise Deerhoof Vs Evil. Songs like "Super Duper Rescue Heads!", with its' shimmering indie rock tendencies, or "No One Asked To Dance", which may be the most strangely hypnotic and beautiful song Deerhoof have ever released, show that through whatever refinements and changes they've made to their sound, Deerhoof still sound like themselves. They've managed to showcase the best parts of their past albums and successfully condense their history into a little over 30 minutes of music. And it may be in that brevity that the real strength of Deerhoof's music comes through. They've tied together our expectations with the forward momentum common to Deerhoof records and created a sometimes joyous, sometimes ridiculous--in the most fantastic way--album in which the free flow of ideas among the band members have free reign to expand and contract, and in that respect, feeling more like an improvised jazz album than an indie rock album released in 2011. Deerhoof continue to confound as much as gratify, and with Deerhoof Vs Evil, they expertly straddle the line between being too self-aware and coming off as completely unaware of current musical trends. And it's in this seeming indifference to those same musical trends that lends this album the heft needed to keep it grounded and never slip into parody. Say what you will about the constant genre switching or the eccentric vocals of singer Satomi Matsuzaki but Deerhoof have released consistently challenging--read, great--albums for almost 15 years and I'll be damned if I know what their next album will sound like. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Tracklisting:

01. Qui Dorm, Només Somia
02. Behold a Marvel in the Darkness
03. The Merry Barracks
04. No One Asked to Dance
05. Let’s Dance the Jet
06. Super Duper Rescue Heads! (listen to the mp3 below)
07. Must Fight Current
08. Secret Mobilization
09. Hey I Can
10. C’Moon
11. I Did Crimes for You
12. Almost Everyone, Almost Always

Honorable Mention #12: The Decemberists - The King Is Dead

The Decemberists have never been a band to shy away from something as intrinsically difficult to pull off as a concept album. Hell, for the most part, that is all they release. You can’t fault them necessarily. Their seeming erudition and focus on archaic language for language sake does seem to derive from some perceived want to distance themselves from other bands. After their last album, the underrated Hazards Of Love, was met with minor enthusiasm and guarded indifference, it seemed that the limits of their affectations had finally been reached, even diehard fans whispered quietly about the lack of emotional connection they felt for the record. And that is the very thing that The Decemberists records thrive at, that personal connection felt through all the pretense. For all their ambition, these albums feel small and personal, all the story songs and vague anecdotes only endear the listener more to Meloy and Co. There were always songs or sets of songs that felt as personal as a private journal kept by the band. But on their last album, the personality changed and became defensive and somewhat sinister, not what fans were really expecting, and so the album was relegated to the have-it-because-it’s-a-decemberists-record stack of various cd’s in your collection. How to maintain the goodwill still felt by their fans after that unfairly perceived misstep was something that I’m sure weighed heavily upon the band.

With the release of The King Is Dead, the Decemberists have reached back into American rural tradition and created their most straight forward, pretense-free album to date. They’ve bent the loose rules of country music and lent them a homely air of literacy. And while this may seem slightly disparate in terms of country music history and what history is detailed through the past Decemberists albums, Meloy and the rest of the band slip into their roles here as easily as on their best albums. Gliding along as effortlessly as ever, they ease through these songs like they’re traditionals, with everyone having known them for years. Songs like “January Hymn” and “This Is Why We Fight” showcase the beautifully swaying melodies we’ve come to expect from them and others like “Don’t Carry It All” and “Rise To Me” take many of country music’s beloved tropes and lace them with Meloy’s pensive, weary vocals to bring out a simple, yet effective, balance of pathos and insight, which is, after all, what a good country song should do. By forgoing the obvious, The Decemberists have created an ode to a simpler time, where the very worst of your worries could always be taken away by a song.

Tracklisting:

01. Don't Carry It All
02. Calamity Song
03. Rise To Me
04. Rox In The Box
05. January Hymn (listen to the mp3 below)
06. Down By The Water
07. All Arise!
08. June Hymn
09. This Is Why We Fight
10. Dear Avery

Honorable Mention #11: Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts

When discussing the route that Thurston Moore has travelled in his solo career, first and foremost you’ve got to discard the initial urge to assume that his solo albums are just dumping grounds for lesser songs and those that would be out of place on a proper Sonic Youth album. At least that’s what I’ve had to do. It’s a common thing for listeners to do but it generally leads to undervaluing the very thing we’ve come to expect from the artist. Take Psychic Hearts for example, the first of Moore’s solo albums that I came across. My initial reaction was a rejection--almost more a feeling of indifference--of the album on Sonic Youth terms, because, to be honest, that was my measuring stick: does it sound like what I think it should sound like? That was completely unfair to Moore, and an unjustifiable conclusion to jump to in hindsight. And so given my less than admirable introduction to Moore’s solo work, I never made that mistake again. And so I came to his later solo releases, a wiser(debatable) listener/fan. Like his 2007 release Trees Outside The Academy, Moore’s latest release carefully constructs concise pop songs out of his disparate influences and the idiosyncratic tendencies of his full-time band. Demolished Thoughts may very well be Moore’s most fully realized album to date, though to be fair there have only been—in my mind, although I’ll be corrected on this—three official Moore solo albums in all, not counting the collaborations and experimental albums he’s released, which are many. But I think that in examining all the ambition and creative manicism on display across his solo work and the obvious influence he has on SY that it’s fair to judge Moore as I would someone with a longer body of solo releases. Again, I’m really talking about his song-oriented albums here. And for all the talk of this being Moore’s “folk” album, he subtly sidesteps the obvious pitfalls that would generally accompany such a drastic change of pace. Thankfully, Moore has not retreated into the woods and grown a Will Oldham beard—no offense to Will Oldham. The same sharp vision and concerted attention to detail that was so evident on his previous releases is still intact and as strong as ever. Songs like “Benediction” and “Space” show that Moore can use whatever instruments are at his disposal, be they acoustic or not, to show that time and age have not softened his attitude. And when Moore throws everything into the mix as he does on “Circulation”, it’s with the practiced ability of someone who’s been doing this very well for a long time. And like the best singers, Moore can use the peaceful, calming feeling commonly associated with “acoustic/folk” music to show that, even though you’re playing an acoustic guitar, you can be as pissed off as you like, running from death, and obsessed as any guy with an electric guitar can be.

Tracklisting:

01. Benediction (listen to the mp3 below)
02. Illuminine
03. Circulation
04. Blood Never Lies
05. Orchard Street
06. In Silver Rain With A Paper Key
07. Mina Loy
08. Space
09. January

Honorable Mention #10: Neon Indian - Era Extrana

Has the backlash against Chillwave subsided yet? Have we given up beating a dead genre label and gotten back to listening to the music? After the initial excitement generated by his debut Psychic Chasms, Alan Palomo received an avalanche of ill will based solely on the fact that his music was labeled as Chillwave, as did Washed Out, Toro Y Moi and others. This had less to do with the fact that the music was of poor quality, which it wasn’t, and more to do with the fact that it was cool to hate on Chillwave, a poorly conceived genre label if ever there was one. Palomo, as Neon Indian, has given the doubters enough reason to drop their misguided loathing and focus instead on the swirling, synth drenched rays of Era Extrana. By tightening up the arrangements and allowing less room for unfocused movement, he has taken what made his debut so memorable, the beautiful synth washes and lush, hazy melodies, and used his experience in the intervening years to produce an album of constantly shifting beauty and exacting precision. And while that may seem to take all the spontaneity out of a “genre” which by its very nature is based on the fluid movement of synths across programmed beats, the resulting album seems so effortless and lovingly crafted that the precision and specific nature of these songs feel even more a part of a whole than did the songs on his debut. He manages to make even the most ostensibly different sounding songs feel connected, in that there is less an emotional disconnect than you might expect. A song like the more traditional “Polish Girl”, with its structured synths and polished beats, never feels out of place or lightweight in comparison to the more epic songs like “Halogen (I Could Be A Shadow)” or “The Blindside Kiss”. Neon Indian have confounded expectations since their debut was released in 2009, even up to the slightly uneven split EP with The Flaming Lips earlier this year. Whether intentional or not, Neon Indian has unfairly been branded the unofficial pinata for Chillwave.  Remember, it's the music folks.  It's the fucking music that matters.

Tracklisting:

01. Heart: Attack
02. Polish Girl (listen to the mp3 below)
03. Blindside Kiss
04. Hex Girlfriend
05. Heart: Decay
06. Fall Out
07. Era Extraña
08. Halogen (I Could Be a Shadow)
09. Future Sick
10. Suns Irrupt
11. Heart: Release

Honorable Mention #9: Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra

How much of our perception of music is guided by what we know and see of the artist? A fair question to ask, and also, not so fair. Buried deep inside each of us is a deep-seated need to align our aural inputs with visual stimuli. That's just how it works...generally. So when we come across a band as murky and purposefully obscure as Unknown Mortal Orchestra, with so little known and shown from the band, what kind of associations do we as a listener tend to make? Do we begrudge them for being overly willful and possibly deceptive or do we imagine that the anonymity an artist can have/develop is deserved? In the end, as long as the music connects with us on a personal level, most of that doesn't mean shit, but we all--and I do this worse than most--try to understand where an artist stands stylistically and also try to find meaning where possibly none is intended. So where does all of this speculation about an artists identity leave us...? Well, from that hazy, depthless place, Unknown Mortal Orchestra released their debut album to a curious group of listeners, an album that revels in its anoynmity and murkiness. And while it does exhibit lo-fi tendencies, it never feels likes it's giving the listener a hurdle to jump. The aesthetic and stylistic paths tread familiar ground but are also welcome in a year where over indulgence on many albums has led to scattered, unfocused results. And unlike some of its lo-fi brethern, this album doesn't use a reliance on low fidelity as a crutch for having slight melodies. Listen to this album and tell me you're not humming at least three different songs after a days time. Songs like the lead-up to release "Ffunny Ffriends" and the nuggets-era sounding "How Can You Luv Me?" prove that, given an understanding of your influences and limitations, a band can be creative and not simply tread water in shallow homage. By using their collective influences as creative guideposts rather than connect-the-dots musical templates, Unknown Mortal Orchestra have proven that, even with virtual anonymity, a band need only release their best and the history will follow.

Tracklisting:

01. FFunny FFrends (listen to the mp3 below)
02. Bicycle
03. Thought Ballune
04. Jello and Juggernauts
05. How Can You Luv Me
06. Nerve Damage!
07. Little Blu House
08. Strangers Are Strange
09. Boy Witch

Honorable Mention #8: Beyonce - 4

Maybe it was inevitable that Beyonce would be welcomed into indie cultures waiting arms. After all, Jay-Z was brought into the fold years ago, even after releasing consecutively disappointing albums. But in his case, to some degree, I think it was more the man, the ideals, than the music. And that’s why it seems a bit late, but about time, for Beyonce to be afforded the same respect. She has, after all, been releasing consistently more interesting music than her husband in the past few years. With 4, she further cements her reputation for releasing hook-filled, operatic ballads and broken-hip shaking club tracks and with far greater creative muscle than her mainstream pop “peers” like Lady Gaga or Ke$ha. Over the course of her career, she has managed to gradually move away from the limiting, generic dance/pop that made her a radio star and focus on the emotionally intense, though no less hook-filled and melody rich, connective songs which she has released on her last few records. With songs like the MIA-aping—in a good way—bombastic “Run The World (Girls)” and the curiously, critically maligned ballad “I Was Here”--and yeah I know that the first line is god awful, Beyonce proves that execution of any given musical trait has never been a problem for her. Over the course of 4, she never strays radically from the topics she has covered on her previous albums, including (female)empowerment for the down-trodden, her overarching love for her husband and the adoration she holds for her fans. But it’s the simple and subtle beats, musically and lyrically, beneath the surface which hold the album up and never let it fall into caricature or laziness. “1+1” and “I Miss You” both touch on her love for her husband but they feel more universal than that; it seems as if she knows that these songs can and should mean more than just a love for a particular man. She also knows the ramifications of love gone wrong, which are well documented in “I Care” and “Best Thing I Never Had”. And thankfully, these emotionally volatile songs never fall into the easy steps common to mainstream pop music platitudes. Beyonce has finally broken free of only being known as that woman who sang those songs with Destiny’s Child and as the wife of Jay-Z. With 4, she allows us to see that even in a genre as void of general creativity as mainstream pop, there exists the capability, given an artists’ determination and talent, to extend the borders between musical tastes and allow everyone to see and hear what she’s been talking about for the last decade.

Tracklisting:

01. 1+1
02. I Care
03. I Miss You
04. Best Thing I Never Had
05. Party
06. Rather Die Young
07. Start Over
08. Love On Top
09. Countdown
10. End Of Time
11. I Was Here
12. Run The World (Girls) (listen to the mp3 below)

Honorable Mention #7: Megafaun - Megafaun

The stylistic evolution of any given band is something that is thoroughly scrutinized by their fans. This can be subtle shifts in tonality and instrumentation or drastic overhauls, complete with lineup changes. The most adaptive bands, and some of the more interesting ones, are those that handle these large and small changes with a careful eye as to the longevity of the band. They see what further changes may come and prepare the listener through gradual, or not so gradual, slants and twists to whatever formula has given them those fans in the first place. Megafaun, though relatively brief in discography, have imparted each of their albums with this knowingness, this assumption that things can and will change. By looking back through their admittedly brief tenure as Megafaun, you can see the musical arch which so informs their music. From their beginning as DeYarmond Edison, alongside Justin Vernon, to their inception as Megafaun, their use of folk music has always been slightly left of center. Bringing along equal parts Laurel Canyon and the Pacific Northwest, they have always been well aware of the limitations that can easily befall any band trying to wring the last bit of sentiment out of an acoustic guitar. By taking what made their earlier albums so memorable, the sweeping harmonies, strangely beautiful melodies and a tendency to fracture the usual folk stylings, and pairing them with the further refinement of their own rural sound, they've managed to deftly balance between the avant and the accessible. With their latest release, Megafaun have taken a long look at the roots and evolution of their own influences, and even their previous releases, and come away with an album that not only showcases the influences of their favorite artists but also uses that admiration to hone their own craft and create something wholly of its time, and also timeless.

Tracklisting:

01. Real Slow
02. These Words
03. Get Right
04. Hope You Know
05. Isadora
06. Second Friend
07. Resurrection
08. Kill The Horns
09. Scorned
10. Serene Return
11. You Are The Light
12. State/Meant (listen to the mp3 below)
13. postscript
14. Everything

Honorable Mention #6: SBTRKT - SBTRKT

The beats skitter and synths roll around and somewhere SBTRKT wants to write a pop song.

I imagine that statement was accurate sometime around February of this year, or possibly earlier. After releasing consistent if not earth-shattering remixes and well-intentioned instrumentals, SBTRKT has taken the mechanics of his singles and debut album and turned them outward. Instead of the heady dubstep(ish) whirl of his previous releases, he has tighten up the production and clamped down on the excess which tended to undermine the impact of his earlier tracks and concentrated on building cohesive “songs” out of his compact, tightly structured instrumental experiments. It doesn’t hurt that he has selected singers whose voices compliment his musical tendencies perfectly. By allowing each singer plenty of space in which to settle in these songs, a natural cadence develops and flows from track to track. From skittering, oddly touching lead single “Wildfire” featuring Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano to the fitting closer “Go Bang”, with its' chiming and undulating synths, SBTRKT never diminishes or compromises on his exacting vision of the perfect “pop” album, though it be fractured and run through about a dozen musical trends. 2011 has come to be the touchstone for the year of purposeful anonymity, and SBTRKT hides behind a mask in order to present the music without artifice or influence, but of course, by doing so, he is inadvertently, or not, placing particular emphasis on that aspect of the music. In the end, whether he goes by SBTRKT or Aaron Jerome, I’ll be waiting for his next attempt at distilling whatever musical by-ways he’s likely to travel in the future.

Tracklisting:

01. Heatwave
02. Hold On
03. Wildfire (listen to the mp3 below)
04. Sanctuary
05. Trials Of The Past
06. Right Thing To Do
07. Something Goes Right
08. Pharaohs
09. Ready Set Loop
10. Never Never
11. Go Bang

Honorable Mention #5: DJ Quik - The Book of David

DJ Quik has been laboring long and hard under his own set of rules. He’s been producing and releasing music for the last 20+ years and by this time in his career, some amount of autonomy is afforded him and rightfully so. From his exploits producing hits for Dre, Tupac, and other mainstream rap heroes, Quik has earned the right to be as prolific as he’d like to be, with no expectations or assumptions made on his behalf. With the release of his newest album, he proudly displays the ever-present talent that brought him the luxury of working with some of the biggest names in rap music. And as such, The Book of David is not an album that calls attention to itself, at least not in the way an Outkast or Dre album does. The boasts and bravado are there but it is tempered with a sad, almost poignant outlook on life. That said, The Book of David never feels like a compromise, nor a backing-down of the nerve and grit that Quik has brought to every piece of music he has released. The real reason that this album succeeds as well as it does is a simple one: beneath the sometimes caustic, sometimes bitter edge in these songs, there is a heart that beats louder than any regrets made manifest. Tracks like “Ghetto Rendevous”, a vicious stab at his family and the jail time served as a result of a fight with his sister, and “Hydromatic”, a thumping horn-inflected jazz romp (yeah, you read that right), showcase the maturity that Quik brings to bare across this album.  The level of musicianship and restraint (odd to use that word concerning a rap album) that is on display across The Book of David is astonishing. Working the trenches from the inside out, here’s hoping that DJ Quik finally achieves that rare sort of musical stature, where the respect long afforded him from his peers is finally matched by the respect from his fans.

Tracklisting:

01. Fire and Brimstone
02. Do Today
03. Ghetto Rendezous
04. Luv Of My Life
05. Babylon
06. Killer Dope
07. Real Women
08. Poppin'
09. Hydromatic (listen to the mp3 below)
10. Across The Map
11. Nobody
12. Boogie Till You Conk Out
13. Flow For Sale
14. So Compton
15. Time Stands Still
16. The End?
17. Quik's Groove 9

Honorable Mention #4: The Weeknd - House of Balloons

Anonymity is a hard thing to come by. But it is possible. Ask Abel Tesfaye, otherwise known as The Weeknd, and you'll find a man who relishes his obscurity, all the while making us even more curious about the man. But does the shroud of mystery surrounding The Weeknd prove to be anything other than smoke to obscure a record more indebted to hype than substance? Thankfully, in this instance, after all the hype has left and the smoke has billowed away, the record we're left with stands just fine on its own.

The Weeknd's debut/mixtape, is Tesfaye's take on modern R&B, something that indie culture has curiously enamored itself with these past couple of years. Artists like How To Dress Well and The-Dream, along with Drake and others, have proven that despite its late 80's-early 90's synth beat-fetishism (this would be an insult), R&B can, given the right set of circumstances, move past its club and womanizing ways to develop deeper more rewarding relationships with the listener. As is the case concerning the excesses of mainstream R&B, there is a fine line between earnest and caricature. The Weeknd exaggerates these same excesses until they take on absurdist proportions. The sexual predator/conquest undertones of R&B are magnified until you feel slightly uncomfortable with the subtle sexual manipulation from Tesfaye; you don't feel particularly safe in the same room with him. It's an uneasy feeling. And one that only intensifies with the passing of these tracks. From the opener "High For This", with its gentle come-ons and insistently manipulative praise, to the coked-out malaise of "Happy House/Glass Table Girls", House of Balloons creates an oddly compelling look at sexual frustrations under the guise of sexual prowess. Or I could be reading too much into this and all he wants is a really good lay.  Either way, with the continuation of this self-styled trilogy, including Thursday and the yet-to-be-released Echoes Of Silence, it'll be interesting to see how Tesfaye continues to work within this seemingly limiting genre to create songs that owe a great deal to the throw-away R&B that dominated the early 90's and hear him twist them until the songs/the listener squirm and surrender to his inappropriate suggestions.

Tracklisting:

01. High For This
02. What You Need
03. Happy House / Glass Table Girls (listen to the mp3 below)
04. The Morning
05. Wicked Games
06. The Party & the After Party
07. Coming Down
08. Loft Music
09. The Knowing

Honorable Mention #3: Marissa Nadler - Marissa Nadler

The world of the lovelorn traveler has been traversed in song more times that any one singer or listener can recall. If you can’t think of anything else to sing or write about, then write or sing about being heartbroken. And unless you’re one of the lucky few to duck and dodge that inevitable quagmire, you’ll have a good idea where you stand in relation to Marissa Nadler’s newest release, both for reasons obvious and not so obvious. This new album comes on the heels of four official consecutively lauded detours into the heart and mind of lonely and ill-fated women. And while this makes for less than ideal driving music, it does provide perfect material for deconstruction and investigation. Never one to rest on her laurels, Nadler has again driven herself to the edge with these tales of woeful women, but always knowing her material’s limitations, there breaks free a few strands of light throughout her new album. And while these periods of hopeful reserve may come as a contrast to the darker material, Nadler possesses the verve to never shy away from the dichotomy of love, even when she herself has rarely plied into the happiness that can result from it. No song better encapsulates these opposing views than “Puppet Master”, a collage of repackaged, repurposed girl group ideals, condensed down to their simplest forms, and devoid of the over-production and near-mythic studio manipulation so attributed to some of the songs’ obvious influences. The sway of the song, the loving call to her gone lover, fixes Nadler succinctly in the “being left” position in the relationship. And while this motif does make frequent appearances over the course of these songs, Nadler infuses a knowing contentment and resolve that naturally compliments these women’s travails. As for the hoped for reclamation of love, Nadler sings “The Sun Always Reminds Me Of You”, a sadly sweet song to a love as yet untouched by the dark of the world--but the dark is closing in--with a shimmering pedal steel loping along behind her vocals. By letting us see and hear these few bright burning glimpses into the hearts of these women, and by proxy herself, Nadler allows us to see that whatever may bury us in darkness, may also transform us in the light.

Tracklisting:

01. In Your Lair, Bear
02. Alabaster Queen
03. The Sun Always Reminds Me of You (listen to the mp3 below)
04. Mr. John Lee Revisited
05. Baby I Will Leave You In the Morning
06. Puppet Master
07. Wind Up Doll
08. Wedding
09. Little King
10. In a Magazine
11. Daisy, Where Did You Go?

Honorable Mention #2: Braids - Native Speaker

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
So your vocals sound an awful lot like Animal Collective? So do dozens of other bands that released albums in 2011. What else you got?

In the case of the debut album by Braids, Native Speaker, the answer is to concoct an album of elliptical emotional resonance that contorts and contracts in upon itself, in an attempt to both answer and question the framework that our lives hang upon. And if that sounds a bit lofty, it is. Braids never shy away from grand emotional statements, but neither do many other bands. So what makes this particular album of hazy, swirling indie rock more deserving than any other album released this year? In part, it’s the small precise details that connect the larger sentiments that really allow this album to take hold in the listeners mind and allow us to filter our own memories through lead singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s particularly bracing and direct tales of emotional deconstruction. But to be honest, we’ve heard this all before. The pointed vocals, the unexpected jolting use of profanity, and the drone-ish worship of early Animal Collective all have been pilfered to some degree by countless bands. Braids, to their credit, pilfer a good deal better than most other bands. By using these ill-gotten gains in an effort to create rather than copy, they realize that the best homage to your heroes is to create better than you imitate. And while this album doesn’t hit the highs of past Animal Collective albums, the push and fervor is there in spades. Opener “Lemonade” begins as a hazy, free-floating apparition which slowly rises and falls and makes way for the release of Standell-Preston’s vocals and the disassembling of its’ own influences. This method of using and creatively abusing their influences extends across the rest of these tracks. Drawing from their immediate and not so immediate influences, Braids craft an album that bewilders--in a good way--as much as it rewards. And in this less-than-tangible world that the band creates across these 7 tracks, the fact that so much is left to the listener to understand is refreshing in a time when overstatement has become so much the usual.

Whoever heard of an Animal Collective cover band? Let me get back to you on that.

Tracklisting:

01. Lemonade (listen to the mp3 below)
02. Plath Heart
03. Glass Deers
04. Native Speaker
05. Lammicken
06. Same Mum
07. Little Hand

Honorable Mention #1: Iceage - New Brigade

Brevity is the wit of soul, or so I've heard, and no album takes this idiom to heart more than New Brigade by Iceage.  The relative lack of caricature or self-aggrandizing and the concise construction found on this record may in fact owe more to the band members young age than to any possible pre-packaged facade decided upon by the band.  I think that in youth, sometimes, a certain wide-eyed optimism may still guide a band creatively, this ruling out any overt attempts to condition the band by managers, labels, or online tastemakers. New Brigade, beyond the obvious fact of its short length and unavoidable comparisons to punk and post-punk stalwarts, attempts to harness and creatively expand that youthful optimism in ways that do indeed remind us that regardless of age, these kids know their musical history.  And as is the case with many other notably short albums, among them albums by bands such as Bikini Kill and The Locust, Iceage accomplish their musical ends through the destruction and appropriation of punk and rock traits that were fashioned decades before their own bands inception. From the metallic ringing drums in "White Rune" to the rising vocals and clanging guitars in "Broken Bone", Iceage demonstrate that their knowledge about their roots goes beyond simple mimicry and brazenly turns that knowledge in on itself.  Iceage may be from Copenhagen, but their hearts lie squarely in New York City, circa 1974.

Tracklisting:

01. Intro
02. White Rune
03. New Brigade
04. Remember
05. Rotting Heights
06. Total Drench
07. Broke Bone (listen to the mp3 below)
08. Collapse
09. Eyes
10. Count Me In
11. Never Return
12. You’re Blessed

The Lead-Up to The Best Of 2011

And so, the end of 2011 is just around the corner.  Which can only mean that the slew of year-end lists which are always so plentiful and generally useless, including mine, are also just around the corner.  But they are extremely fun to compile and argue about. 

I will stick to the structure of last years list...which is 15 honorable mentions, not ranked critically, though listed from 1-15, and then the top 50 from 50 to 1, in order.  I'd like to be able to post one album mini-review daily, including posting one song off the album for you to hear. 

So, starting on November 21st, I'll begin posting the list.  It's a while away, I know, but it gives me a good long time to finesse the list so that it's perfect, for me. And believe me, there have been so many albums to go through.  Having this list done before the end of the year forces me to forgo listing albums that are released in the last month of the year, so I will go back after this list is complete and will point out albums that were released at the end of November and in December that I feel might have made the list had they been released sooner.

And my apologies in advance for any unintentional omissions.  As is inherent in making a list of this type, some records are bound to be left off that probably shouldn't be, and by having had upwards of 250 albums to go through, my guess is that it will happen on this list.

Hope you enjoy reading and listening.  We start on the 21st.