Deerhunter - Microcastle
Atlas Sound - Let the Blind Lead...
This has been a big year for Brandon Cox.
He's a young guy from Atlanta, but he might not have a lot of time left. Marfan Syndrome saps his body. I've seen conjecture that this is why he is kicking out music at a fantastically frenetic pace. Last year, the debut of his band Deerhunter blew me away, with its intensively expansive reverb-laden sound. This year's Atlas Sound album showed Cox was able to work magic with a clearly less talented cast around him, as he expanded the atmospheric Deerhunter palette into something more fragile and structured. He rejoined his old band mates to put out two Deerhunter albums. Of the two, Microcastle is much stronger, a masterpiece. The pleasurable Deerhunter guitar sound and crunching pace is still there, combined with a new sense of structure and lyrical hooks. This is, at its heart, a pop album. And among the best I've heard in a long time. I think there is credence to some of the reviewers' claims that Cox's health is forcing him to push out as much music as he can, while he still can. You can hear the urgency in the songs and lyrics about time---"Too get older still," and "I was saved by old times," are both repeated over and over hauntingly, and lovingly. I just cannot get past how catchy this album is. How thoughtful it is. I hope Brandon can stick around to give us more.
Rhymefest and Mark Ronson - Man in the Mirror, Michael Jackson Tribute album
For VERY DIFFERENT REASONS, I love this album as much as Microcastle. At their heart, there is a sense of joi d'vivre in both. But Rhymefest really is all about fun. This album is a true celebration; of life, of the time we are in, the folks he sees here on the South Side getting beyond their rough circumstances. But most of all, it celebrates the weird genius of Michael Jackson and how he has helped people escape into pop bliss for three minutes at a time. Rhymefest and Ronson are true fans. And while they spend a lot of time poking fun at MJ, it is clearly not with spite. The album is built entirely around samples spanning Jackson's career, and as Greg Kot (or was it DeRogatis?) wrote, it is the best thing Jackson has been associated with in more than a decade. The beats and Rhymefest's flow are brilliant---showing once again how he stands as Chicago's most underappreciated MCs, due largely to his willingness to be funny even when tackling difficult subjects. It is easy not to take the album seriously when it is peppered liberally with "conversations" that Rhymefest has interjected himself into with archival Jackson interviews. In some ways, the skits are the best part of the album; some looking to the pop star as a mentor, others with curiosity at the freaky genius' quirks. All hilarious and worth the download even if you don't dig the grooves---I cannot stress this enough, the album is FREE, download it now from Rhymefest's MySpace page.
TV on the Radio - Dear Science
Though there's little doubt about the heft and growing brilliance of their discography, much of their work has left me cold. But this album has clearly been a step towards human warmth. Horns pepper the tracks and open the door to hearing something other than the electronic production. The songs seem more open too. Less focused on dystopia and onto actual human relationships. Oddly, they actually sound like they are having fun, even occasionally channeling Prince circa Sign o' the Times. It is still a dense sound, but one that draws the listener in, rather than keeping them at arms' distance. And that's change we can believe in.
The Walkmen - You and I
This one clicked on the first listen. Timeless. The Walkmen have a style unto themselves, and while this release doesn't have the standout heights of songs like "The Rat" (one of the best singles of this decade), they are back on track after a pair of bad releases. The dark, brooding guitar and haunting vocals create the mood. And the sorrowful ballads of loss and regret are oddly the tinged with hope and wonder that manage to ward off the morose. The combo of amazing performances and thoughtful songwriting will keep me returning to this album for years to come.
Russian Circles - Station
I seem to be fairly Chicago heavy again this year. It's not boosterism, really...
Russian Circles do something that is very hard to pull off---smart, instrumental, metal. Wh-wha-what? I know, it sounds unlikely. And while my friend Scott is a connoisseur, always pushing "intelligent metal" my way, the formula rarely works out. I have a weakness for instrumental rock, and in this case I think that the lack of vocals is part of what opened the door for me here. There is no throaty call for Satan or opera-esque high-pitched howl for violence. Sure that paints with a broad brush, but this is what has kept me away from bands like Isis and High on Fire in the past. What is left are intricate guitar interplays that engage, and at times hammer. But that is tempered by instrumental tension that buoys and brings out moments of surprising classical beauty. These guys can really play! And that brings me back to Chicago, where a burgeoning metal scene has brought this formula to the fore with the Circles and the, perhaps superior, pummeling of Pelican.
Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual
The real find in Austin this year. My spirit was flagging at SXSW until I witnessed a scene of youthful exuberance so fantastic, I was unphased by the clear reminder that I am getting old. Onstage, two guitarists with chops that belied their twelve-year-old looks played spiraling interlaced licks that sent my spirit soaring. I think I described it as "serpentine spazz pop" at the time and that summarizes the album too, though they tend to rely heavily on a Feelies-esque guitar groove that never gets old. For most listeners, the vocals will be the make or break (probably "break" would be the majority opinion). In Austin, the stage was ruled by Ponytail's vocalist, an energetic four-foot monchichi with shocking red hair. I choose vocalist, purposefully. She does not sing. Instead, focusing on a vocal palette of purrs, coos, happy screams, and a variety of other guttural noises. I find it endearing. Jo-Elle has deemed it annoying. She might be right.
Heliocentrics - Out There
The album title is dead-on. Madlib, one of the most gifted production geniuses in hip hop today, has built the sci-fi instrumental soundtrack for the space age bachelor pad. Funk, jazz, Afrobeat, 50's space movie clips. It is all in there, but despite the kitsch description, he's come up with something oddly compelling and most of the time, serious.
Girl Talk - Feed the Animals
So, I play (or used to?) in this band with a coupla guys. Tim and Pete. They are indie rockers. Which means that shoe gazing is about as hyped as you will see them in a concert. I had never, ever, seen them dance until I talked them into closing out SXSW with Girl Talk last year. The pastiche of classic rock, hip hop, indie rock, and dance clips is impossible to resist and within a minute they were pogo-ing and running man-ing with the best of 'em. This year's release---the second Web download available for free online---is more of the same. A parade of unlikely samples that careen into one another creating something entirely new and broadly inclusive. It is great for hip hop heads. It is great for rockers. Jo-Elle doesn't like when I play this one at home, as it pulls heavily from some pretty nasty Dirty South samples. But if you don't mind getting your eagle on...and you aren't scared off by laughy taffy...and you don't mind the bootie bootie droppin' or games about trains---this is the best dance music you will find. Download it now, for whatever price you want to pay...
King Kahn and the Shrines - The Supreme Genius of King Kahn and the Shrines
Speaking of dirty. Everything about this album is dirty. The songs. The scruffy low-fi sound. It is so scratchy and rough that the recordings feel like you have found ancient, pure gold at the bottom of a cutout bin---a forgotten gem from one of those soul bands you must have heard before, but cannot place their name. King Kahn was nowhere near my radar until his performance at the Pitchfork Festival this summer. He won the weekend hands-down. Best show of the fest---here's a taste.
Gnarls Barkley - Odd Couple
I wish I had their costume wardrobe. And their uncanny knack for writing amazing songs with a retro sensibility with "in the now" sound. Who's Gonna Save My Soul? could have been written in 1968, but sounds so appropriate now.
Q-Tip - The Renaissance
Ahh, the 90's. Hip Hop's halcyon era. Q-Tip reminds us why it was so good.
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah: Part One
Gone are her jazz chanteuse songs. Apparently her days hooked up with half of OutKast and being the root of Ms. Jackson left a lasting impression. She still has an amazing voice, but now it is pitted against tough hip hop beats and disarming Funkadelic grooves.
White Denim - Exposion
The first full-length from Austin's best freaky blues funk weirdness trio. And incidentally, the second band with a member who looks like a monchichi. If the White Denim bassist coupled with the Ponytail vocalist, you'd have some freakishly small and ugly babies.
Also of Note:
- Black Mountain - In the Future
- Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
- Eagles of Death Metal - Heart On
- Santogold - Santogold
- Fujiya and Miyagi - Lightbulbs
- No Age - Nouns
- Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
- Brightblack Morning Light - Motion to Rejoin
- Blitzen Trapper - Furr
- Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Loves
- El Guincho
- The Knux - Remind Me in Three Days...
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges
It kills me to write that... I love, Love, LOVE these guys, but the new album is painful to listen to and includes the worst song so far recorded in this decade in Evil Urges. Blech.
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