Man, I am getting old. I don’t know how else to interpret my favorite albums of the year. As I look at the list, there are a lot of repeat performers, a noticeable slide in hip hop representation and a bunch of acts that might just be included solely for nostalgia’s sake. Sigh.
Nonetheless, it was a a tuneful year. So, I've dashed off a list of the albums that made me happy in the year soon to pass (Jeez, I am even still saying "albums") :
Ponytail :: Do Whatever You Want All the TimeFilled to the gills with intertwined, hooky, soaring guitar textures, the kids from Baltimore have crafted an album that got a little less spazzy, but no less thrilling. The hair stands up on the back of my neck on some of the songs when they get the grooves really cooking. Dustin Wong has the opportunity to be this generation’s guitar god. If they could intersperse a couple honest-to-goodness real songs, they might get over with a big audience, though I hope it doesn’t happen.
tUnE-yArDs :: W H O K I L L Waiting expectedly in the pews of a big Austin church, I didn’t really know what to expect when they/she were set to play SXSW this year. I liked the previous album, but sensed there was something more exuberant to come as the musical palette expanded on a new album---and oh boy, no disappointment. The set that followed was heavy on weird, quirky looped vocal snippets, Afrobeat codas, hip hop and reggae references for all to see (though the songs don’t really sound like the genres they are giving tips to) and it is all built around the husky, gorgeous voice of Merrill Garbus. The performance was great. This album is better. Really a triumph.
And this bit from
WBEZ's
Sound Opinions is an interesting look at the songwriting process (
Powa is among my favorite tracks of the year):
Disappears :: GuiderThink of
Neu! running through an angrier, louder reverb filter. Each song sets up its own little sonic world, gets to the groove fast, ending long before the welcome is worn---that includes a 15+ minute track that whizzes by in seemingly a third of the time. A wall of guitars that I am happy to slam headlong into repeatedly.
Battles :: Gloss DropThese frickin’ guys can play. Lots of instrumentals (or songs with vocals that are meant to be another percussive instrument) that come out of left field. It is all over the board, but distinct. Really, they just make very interesting sounds. I love this stuff.
Mike Watt :: hyphenated-man
The Feelies :: Here BeforeThis is the best thing the grand bass man has done since
fIREHOSE. No, that is not saying much... Yes, this is pure nostalgia... What of it? I’ve always loved Mike Watt’s
econo schtick, now he has some good tunes to go along with it for the first time in a loooooong while. The Feelies do not have the same massive sucking hole in their discography---everything they have put out has been great. This is no exception. Tight. Engaging. But it doesn’t feel new or different. That is OK for me…like I said, I am nostalgic.
TV on the Radio :: Nine Types of LightTruth be told, this album is actually a disappointment. The letdown after their previous release (
Dear Science stands as one of my favorites in the last decade) was impossible to avoid. Still the solid songwriting makes up for a loss of the wall of sound that marked previous efforts.
Thee Oh Sees :: Carrion CrawlerThey put out an album earlier in the year that got a ton of hype and I just didn’t get it. Then I stumbled onto this, more guitar focused effort. Wow, wow, wow. The hooks! The glorious chewy guitar hooks that grab you and hold on through each of these spectacularly engaging garage jams that channelling The Cramps and King Kahn without the schtick and tighter rhythm sections! Oh, this is a classic for me.
Icebird :: The Abandoned LullabyRJD2 had been a pretty sad sack in recent years. His Def Jux big beat turntablist stuff rose to amazing heights, but he’s crashed to earth with spectacularly boring compositions of late. This new partnership with vocalist Aaron Livingston brings great classic rock-R&B songs to the table for people who don’t really like classic rock or R& B (the R. Kelly kind). Livingston's vocals are really fantastic---he has pretty interesting range of delivery and a unique voice. I will be watching these two and hope they stick together to let this grow.
The Roots :: UndunThe Roots are not done. They are unDONE. In fact, these guys just get better with every album. Hip hop tied with a Sufjan Stevens instrumental suite? Huh. Think about that!
Others worthy of note:
- Royal Bangs :: Flux Outside (they found Ponytail's lost spazziness and hooked it up to pop song structures)
- Obits :: Moody, Standard and Poorer (I've always liked Rick Froberg, now that Hot Snakes is dead, more straight ahead rock from his new project).
- Timber Timbre :: Creep On Creepin’ On (moody torch songs from Canada, very unique sound)
- Anika :: Anika (Remember Nico? Monotone delivery vocals for Velvet Underground? Same thing here, but with heavy, creepy reggae)
- Russian Circles :: Empros (intelligent, instrumental metal from Chicago---bounces from baroque to broken ears quickly)
- White Denim :: D (drugs pulled away their spazz too---they've gone waayyy psychedelic and it works for now)
- WU LYF :: L Y F (I cannot understand a word the singer utters, but they have a very interesting, expansive sound that uses empty space to their advantage)
- Ringo Deathstarr :: Ringo Deathstarr (speaking of nostalgia, everything about these guys---from their name to their prototypical shoe-gazer sound---screams of the late-90's. I liked the late-90's.)
Disappiontments:
- Gorillaz :: The Fall (aptly named and a sad way for one of the most entertaining bands in recent years to go out)
- My Morning Jacket :: Circuital (should be called “Unlistenable”)
- Wolves in the Throne Room :: Celestial Linneage (enviro metal heads? Oh I so want to love these guys, but this is a horrid combo of Enya and gutteral screams, the plaudits from reviewers are shocking to me)
- Decemberists :: The King is Dead (it is OK, sort of boring. Frankly, I just expect a lot more from these guys)
Watch your mailboxes and this blog for my year end mix.
