Despite being so connected that I often feel like Neo when he wakes up in his Matrix-pod all submerged in pink goo and attached to a dozen different wires, many of my favorite albums from any given year don’t make their way into my iTunes playlist until the the year after they’re released.
It amazes me how much effort I still put into finding new music. I don’t necessarily spend as much time as back in… say… ‘06 or ‘07. But that’s partly because web technology keeps improving, and it’s now easier for me to track various sources that announce new releases. Just to name a few, I get a weekly email from Allmusic.com, I’ve got Pitchfork and Metacritic in Google Reader, and I listen to Last.fm almost as much as my MP3 collection.
So in the interest of not leaving out those who should have been included in the first place, here are ten albums from 2008 that came to me too late to make that year’s wrap-up. The point is, I’m still listening to these, and you should too!
In the interest in getting all these wrap-ups over with, I’m going to try and make this really speedy. Don’t blink…
2009 Albums – Honorable Mentions
I couldn’t narrow it down to 10. Think of it as a game of Blackjack if that helps (as in, top 10 plus 11 honorable mentions).
21. Nosaj Thing – Drift: While not nearly as captivating as his 2006 EP Octopus Views, this is still a noteworthy release when viewed from the perspective of the budding electronic/instrumental hip hop scene in Los Angeles. The dark, futuristic sounds and L.A. stamp always make me think of Blade Runner. 20. Wild Beasts – Two Dancers: I’m no fan of Antony (Antony and the Johnsons, Hercules and Love Affair) and his sexually ambiguous cooing, and I was quick to group Wild Beasts in that same general category. However, I was also quick to admit my folly. This album offers operatic vocals and humid atmospherics, along with hushed guitars and keyboards that fit within the general New York indie rock style of the last decade (though this group is actually from England).
Wow, I have 17 unpublished drafts on this blog — and this is a new one on top of that. Apparently I’ve been totally overwhelmed lately (say, for the past five months straight). A boring winter might be just what I need!
To make this intro brief, I’m going to try and get through two or three more post of decade wrap-up before returning to the regular rotation of music news, concert reviews, and the like. With that said, here is a run-down of some of the bands that I feel didn’t get enough attention from either audiences or music critics. They weren’t invited to big festivals, nor did they ever sell many records. But they all recorded great music, and some — I can say from first-hand experience — are (or were) incredible performers. Here they are, in no particular order.
1. Doves – This British band released three amazing records in the 2000s before putting out the lackluster Kingdom of Rust in 2009. Like many bands emerging under the Brit-pop umbrella at the beginning of the decade, they were completely eclipsed by the major labor monster that Coldplay became. These fellows should be ranked among the U.K. greats in their genre: Badly Drawn Boy, Supergrass, even Radiohead (in their earlier, less godly existence). 2. Aloha – One of the many bands I found on the Xbox snowboarding classic Amped, I’ve found something to appreciate in every stage of their band development. 2000’s That’s Your Fire was a sprawling work with an abstract jazz flavor, mostly thanks to the prominent use of vibraphone. The middle phase of Here Comes Everyone and Some Echoes showed their growing confidence and pop sensibilities. Then the glistening, majestic Light Works appeared suddenly in December 2007 — and that’s the last I’ve heard from them. It’s a shame that they couldn’t garner the attention that other Polyvinyl artists (like of Montreal) have managed to. Oh well…
In case you were wondering what some of the albums were in that audio slideshow, or you just want to see what albums and artists mattered most to me in the past decade, here is THE LONG LIST! These are 200 of my favorite albums of the decade, years 2000-2009.
I feel like I should explain some of these, but there are stories behind all of them! It would take me days — I mean entire days, to do that. So a part of me doesn’t want to even try. I will definitely be writing essays about some of the choices in the top 50. I may even break this list of 200 into genres or styles, or put them all on a time line based on when they were released. I’d much rather provide some context and analysis than just spurt out the trite little blurbs that populate so many music publications today.
Evidently you can expect an outpouring of posts in the next couple months. Aside from the individual album essays, there should be discussions of my favorite concerts of the decade, notable EPs, music formats (as in vinyl and MP3), MP3 players, P2P networking, music festivals, and more.
Posted by Nick Meador on Aug 20, 2009 in MP3s, Records
As you may know, I’m not usually one to embrace indie media darlings. Since I began diligently following music news around 2005, I’ve disagreed with music critics far more often than I’ve shared their views. And thanks to Metacritic.com, I can be pretty sure about which bands I label “media darlings” — as opposed to just bitching about the irreverent behavior of a single publication.
Metacritic’s “best of” lists are probably automatically generated from the calculated averages of critic ratings. Example 1: TV on the Radio got the #3 spot on the 2008 list. I don’t see a valuable thing about the band, but that’s pure opinion. Then again, I haven’t even heard of most artists on those yearly Metacritic lists. Perhaps this is a sign that critics still get off on praising the most obscure stuff they can find. And to be honest, I don’t cringe quite as often over the recent lists as I have in years past.
The 2009 list isn’t finalized yet (hell, there’s still about three months of upcoming record releases this year) but I’m fairly sure that Japandroids will show up on it — at least in the top 20 or so. They’re currently just off the top 10. And yet I’m having trouble snubbing them. Especially after reading that it was a duo of one guitarist and one drummer — both of whom provide vocals — I figured they were another in a long line of minimalist, garage-y, hipster rock bands. I haven’t had much luck with that sub-genre, though the rest of the listening public tends to love it. There are scattered gems, like…say…the Kills. Who knows, maybe the White Stripes ruined it all for me. I despised them long before Jack White embarked on his cowardly flight from hometown Detroit to Tennessee.
Look at me ramble! I spend too much time on this blog yapping about how I hate critics and how I’m almost embarrassed when my musical tastes line up with their reviews. Can you blame me? Those dirty pirate hookers are a bad rash on the music world. There was a time — at some point between the Stone Age and the Internet Age — when they might have provided some kind of service. Not everyone had friends who worked at a record store to tell them what new music should be listened to. But the present-day world of music criticism has devolved into a sloppy pile of Lester Bangs wannabes who are less interested in sharing the music experience than they are in placing themselves in the spotlight.
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Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, let the real story begin. Japandroids ain’t all that bad. Their album cover is classic. Just two dudes standing around, hugging, looking kind of worn out but overall content. I didn’t know what to make of the album title at first. Post-Nothing could mean…well…anything. Obviously the band could be asking in a straightforward way that you not lump them in with any trendy category or current revival. And this decade’s seen so many of those — but most notably post-rock and post-punk. Still, it’s almost as if they recognize how ineffectual any such request would be, and then preempt the critics once more by exuding pure indifference to the public response. It’s not that they’re claiming they don’t build on pre-existing sounds. It’s more that they want to shake you out of your lazy habit of categorization so that you’ll consider them on their own terms.
After a few listens, I’m beginning to think that the title adapts to your impression of the music. The one word that dominates my impression is “transition.” I feel like this album isn’t the result of obsessive songwriting, yet neither instrument is handled sloppily. In fact I’d say some of the guitar arrangements are particularly impressive. The guitar tone is another highlight. It’s got a garage rock aspect, yes, but it has such a full-bodied ring. He probably recorded at least two or three guitar tracks, most of the time keeping the tuner bar in the “low” position, only occasionally allowing any treble to escape through the amplifier.
I suppose I can’t explain the “transition” statement. I can’t suggest that these guys have gone through a lot of difficult changes in their lives. I just get the feeling that they could make it through all sorts of hardship armed only with their immense spirits. It’s almost like they’ve just been released into the real world, perhaps post-college graduation (see, it’s hard being post-nothing!). And they’re not really pleased with what they see, but at the same time they don’t let it get them down. There’s an obvious feeling of nostalgia in these songs, but in a tone that’s more appreciative than regretful.
One specific line really got to me though. It’s in the second track, “Young Hearts Spark Fire,” which I provided above. At the chorus they yell confidently, “Ohhh, we used to dream. Now we worry about dying.” That’s a pretty big statement! I mean, about the way most people live! Of course they don’t consciously know that they’re wasting their lives in fear of death…but they are. It’s poking up from their unconscious at all times. And if they would just take a moment and come to terms with that fear, they might be able to get back to the fantastical dreaming. That’s more fun, isn’t it? It’s more rewarding, at least.
It’s this sort of simplified judgment that come across in Japandroids’ music. The lyrics aren’t remarkable, but they’re suggestive enough to shed light on the music. The album’s only about 35 minutes in duration, but not one of the songs is less than three minutes long. Not that the song length matters inherently, but they don’t leave their ideas unfinished. Clearly I’m missing the bulls-eye here, but I’ve made an attempt, that that’s what matters (I think). If you don’t mind the hype and the above song sounds interesting, then I recommend you seek out more of their music.
Posted by Nick Meador on May 10, 2009 in MP3s, News, Records
And on we go with the MP3-riddled blog posts. The next song I’d love to share with you is “The Strangers” by St. Vincent, the recording name of Texan twenty-something Annie Clark (I recommend starting the MP3 here, so you can listen as you read).
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Clark has bounced around some well known groups during the past few years. She sang on The Polyphonic Spree’s 2007 album The Fragile Army, and she was a member of Sufjan Stevens’ touring band circa Illinois. Now she seems to have established herself as a standalone force.
The opening track to her sophomore album Actor (released on May 5, 2009) is a brilliant tone-setter. I’ve only listened to the whole record once so far, but my overall first impression was positive (despite my automatic skepticism over super-hyped music). Most of the time I see the indie press glorify a new release, I wait a bit to let the digital dust settle. However, I was a big fan of St. Vincent’s 2007 debut Marry Me — so I guess I feel a bit entitled to talk about her new music. In fact it was a live recording from the LullaByes blog that hooked me. Clark played by herself (as she apparently often does) and was facing many equipment issues, but she kept her chin up and kept on playing.
That version of the song “Marry Me” was so endearing that it took me a while to realize how different it was from the album version. It just featured her guitar and voice, but that gave the lyrics more weight. She seemed to be simultaneously convincing a guy to marry her and convincing herself that marriage is actually what she wants. After all, we’ve all been sold the Disney princess myth, regardless of gender. (Another thing that caught my attention was a video clip of Clark playing the Beatles song “I Dig A Pony” in the back of a London taxi cab. Probably illegal. Definitely awesome.)
“The Strangers” is currently among my top five favorite songs of 2009, which is funny because it’s a really odd arrangement. The movements are repetitive, the song’s back end is purposely flat (there might only be one or two percussive elements, and the bass notes sound synthesized instead of played). But Clark’s voice floats and flutters, carrying the whole thing along as if without effort. To maximize the pleasure effect, I recommend listening in spring (aka right now) with the windows open, to mix in the sound of chirping birds with the song (for a minute just now, I thought the birds were a part of the recording).
The album has its darker moments, but like I said I can’t provide a full review at this time. Perhaps now she’ll get added to a festival or two…maybe a late addition to PMF (since Pitchfork was probably the first group to blow hot wind up her skirt after Actor dropped) or the initial line-up for her home state’s Austin City Limits. We’ll see.
Posted by Nick Meador on Apr 5, 2009 in News, Records
I’m pretty excited about the release of The Future Will Come, the newest album from Brooklyn group The Juan MacLean (also the name of the group’s front man, Juan — or John — MacLean). I say “pretty excited” and not something more stirring like “flabbergasted” because it’s not the greatest dance (or dance-able) album of the past few years. It may not live up to Simian Mobile Disco’s Attack Decay Sustain Release, Crystal Castle’s self-titled record, or Cut Copy’s In Ghost Colours (others music nuts might include Justice’s Cross and the self-titled album from Hercules and Love Affair, so I’ll at least acknowledge them here).
However, this Juan MacLean album is in a position to generate a lot of hot wind in 2009 because it’s an American dance album and we don’t have many of those lately. I’m sure of this because last year’s debut from Hercules and Love Affair was one of the highest rated albums of 2008 (it was #8 on Metacritic’s list, with an average of 86). Both groups are on DFA Records. Both are from Brooklyn, N.Y. But the two groups have enough differences for each to appeal to certain tastes and offend others.
For example, Hercules and Love Affair usually features a vocalist who goes by the name Antony. He has a deep, dampened voice that some might call sensual or soothing. I think he sounds like an inebriated hobo who has suffered one too many concussions. But that’s just me. I much prefer the casual, disco-house vocals provided by MacLean and Nancy Whang.
The Future Will Come has a romantic gloss to it, but it’s done with a light tongue-in-cheek. Songs like “One Day” and “No Time” discuss the tribulations of finding love in an American urban metropolis. But the group seems to acknowledge that these lyrics are being sung over semi-cheesy disco grooves, especially on the single “One Day,” a duet on which MacLean and Whang alternate singing parts.
The only moment when the album crosses into awkward is the second-to-last track “Human Disaster,” a beat-less, melody-less sub-ballad. At least the album closes with the “excellent” 12.5-minute single “Happy House,” which first appeared in mid-2008, and which is sure to keep people dancing for that entire time span when dropped at a party.
I actually got into The Juan MacLean when John performed a solo DJ set at Rothbury 2008. I’m hoping the whole group will appear on that festival’s final artist line-up this year (or at least Lollapalooza or PMF)! The group has a European tour scheduled in April and May; hopefully we’ll see some U.S. dates added afterwards.
Without further hullabaloo-baloo-baloo, here’s the music video for “One Day,” from the new album (directed by Patrick Longstreth).
Posted by Nick Meador on Mar 26, 2009 in MP3s, News, Records
I think it’s about time that I expressed some opinions on the new releases we’ve seen to date in 2009. I already discussed the new Animal Collective album back in January. As a general rule, I try to avoid slipping in the hype puddles that present themselves all over the Internet. So just because I omit an album right now doesn’t mean I don’t care about it. I may just be waiting for the dust to settle, since a lot of web talk about new music ends up being unjustified — especially in the most hype-riddled of all seasons, before and after the SXSW Festival every March.
I’ve recently been exposed to a couple very different artists who nonetheless can still be described as ambient experimental music or sound art. The first is Bibio, the one-man recording project of Stephen Wilkinson, a British man who (according to allmusic.com) set out to combine his love of traditional British folk and modern electronica. His third album Vignetting the Compost came out in February on Mush Records. The easiest way to describe it is like the most natural soundtrack for a hazy summer day in the British countryside. A more complicated explanation: think of Caribou (especially circa Up In Flames), but scale back all the percussion and most of the vocals. It also reminds me of the song “Collecting Things,” on the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind soundtrack by Jon Brion.
Scanning through Bibio’s other work, it seems like this is the first time that Wilkinson has used so many vocal tracks; the first two albums were mostly instrumental. I know I say that some albums have a seasonal feel, and sometimes it’s a stretch or it’s due to some obscure personal experience when the music was playing. However, I don’t think there’s any way that this album (or most of Bibio’s other work) can be fully appreciated until summer comes around. I can already see the fireflies!
The next artist in this ambient experimental post is Tim Hecker, a Vancouver musician who sculpts chillingly beautiful soundscapes. In fact, his sixth studio album is titled An Imaginary Country, almost directly suggesting that Hecker’s music is a world within itself. Aside from the snowy mountains of Montana and Hecker’s home province of British Columbia, what Country reminds me of is the 1975 album Metal Machine Music by Lou Reed.
I had never heard of that beast until reading an essay in Lester Bangs compilation Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung. Reportedly Reed took a bunch of drugs and sat in front of massive amplifiers for days and days. He would play guitar and cycle the reverb until what came out was either sound art or terrible noise, depending on your tastes. But I’d be really surprised if Hecker hasn’t been at least slightly influenced by MMM. And Hecker’s music, instead of being challenging or eardrum-shattering, is totally serene and calming — especially for those of us aching for the vast open spaces his songs seem to represent.
So…ambient music for winter…or ambient music for summer. Take your pick, or, since it’s spring, listen to both, like I have been doing. Neither Bibio nor Tim Hecker have any shows scheduled in or around Michigan. Below, the song “Sea of Pulses” from Country.
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Posted by Nick Meador on Mar 4, 2009 in MP3s, Records
Last week I was scanning Stock.xchng — the ever-useful free-license stock photography web site — while gathering content for the newest issue of Supraterranean.com. I needed an image that portrays a frosty window in the dead of winter, so I searched “winter window.” A few pages deep in the search results, I saw a photo that looked rather familiar. I viewed the image at full resolution, and then it hit me: it was the cover of Bon Iver’s 2008 breakout album For Emma, Forever Ago.
The original image
I don’t pay a lot of attention to “professional” music critics these days, but from time to time I do still glance at the average album ratings on Metacritic.com. And at sixth place overall in ‘08, with an average score of 88 (out of 100), Bon Iver’s debut album definitely made an impact last year. In fact I was probably among the minority of music writers who didn’t catch wind of For Emma until around December. The band is of the one-man variety — that is, Justin Vernon of Wisconsin, all by his lonesome. He reportedly spent a winter at his family’s hunting cabin, writing and recording the album himself. I think that do-it-yourself method strikes a chord with fans and music writers alike, because it represents a drive to create music that cannot be subdued or put off. Naturally the DIY approach can also be an aesthetic choice, since many musicians — especially those who fall into the folk category — tend to prefer a gritty or unpolished feel to their songs.
The album cover
It’s a recurring theme of this decade, but one with a meaning that has changed throughout the years. What was first a straightforward act of defiance in the face of major recording label tyranny might now represent something different. After all, there’s now a lengthy list of self-constructed musicians who skirted age old methods of recording and promotion, who have built a fine fan base by themselves. And the RIAA — who watched over the industry and tried to protect the financial interests of the major labels — has declared that they will no longer attempt to sue individuals over illegal music file sharing. Theoretically we should be in a position to experience a second-wind of the total musical free-for-all that happened almost 10 years ago with the spread of high speed Internet.
And yet, everything seems to have slowed down. The world of independent music has apparently lost much of its momentum. It’s not that there isn’t any good music. It just doesn’t feel overwhelming, as if it were constantly unfolding or spilling over the walls of containment. Maybe this is the in-breath before another massive yell. And that could be why Bon Iver ended up in the #6 spot on Metacritic’s 2008 list. For Emma makes me want to return to Traverse City, where I spent summer 2008 listening to quiet outdoors-y music: Iron & Wine, Jose Gonzalez, Devendra Banhart, Fleet Foxes, etc. I’d say it’s a Midwestern thing, but his appeal doesn’t seem confined to any one geographic region of America.
Anyway, the point of this post wasn’t to discuss why Bon Iver is cool, but instead to point to the fact that he used a free-license photo for the cover of his debut album. Vernon didn’t take the photo himself; nor did he commission a photographer to take it for him. (Of course, there is the slim possibility that Vernon or someone connected with him took the photo and then posted it on Stock.xchng. For now I’m assuming that didn’t happen. My theory is more fun.)
I guess I had some idea about how this is a sign of our new, fantastic open culture and how the Internet is tying everything together, but I lost my train of thought and/or got distracted by other shit.
Below: Bon Iver’s song “Blood Bank”, from the 2009 EP of the same name.
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Hello SpartanEdge music fans. Welcome back to spring semester with your favorite obnoxious alumnus who refuses to go away. I’ve been trying to ride along on my 2008 End of Year Special (see posts below, or click here for my Top 10 Albums of 2008), but I figured I should post something new, seeing as y’all have been back in school for a couple weeks now.
It seems like, as time goes by, I have a harder time trying to snub the indie music press and bloggers. They tend to chomp through new music like it’s a juicy steak, because they want to build the reputation of precognizant tastemaker who can predict and control the future of music. Well that’s impossible, and anyone who seems to be doing that is either consistently lucky, or they’re controlling the system from behind the scenes. If it’s not obvious that I’m complaining about Pitchfork Media…well, I am. They do a damn good job with music news coverage, but they are devious editorial control freaks down to the very core. (For more ranting on that subject, please see the essay I published on Supraterranean.com back in August 2008).
The point of this ugly noise is that Pitchfork’s first Best New Music choice of 2009 was Animal Collective’s eigth album, Merriweather Post Pavillion (fully released on January 20). Like I mentioned recently, AC’s music wasn’t quick to grow on me. Then I saw them live last summer and was totally blown away. I got into their back catalog, and joined in the anticipatory excitement with all the other fans. But no matter how much I want to hate Pitchfork, I cannot disagree with them (or the legions of music bloggers who immediately hyped this album when it came out). In fact, the hype got out of control around November 2008, when there were a few controversies over MPP tracks leaking on the Internet. Someone even hacked into the AC email account and sent a message to a magazine, asking them to post the entire album on the mag’s web site!
Now that the album is out, I wanted to wait a bit for the fuss to subside before discussing it here. I also wanted to listen to it a few times, to let it really sink into my brain and mesh with my neural activity. As far as I’m concerned, there’s only one way to get the full MPP experience. That is to output the iTunes 8 visualizer to a 1080p screen (preferably over 40″), with the audio sent to some kind of juiced up sound system (5.1 would be ideal, but stereo will suffice). Whether or not you’re intoxicated is ineffectual; this audio/visual experience will sent your head into orbit on its own. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!
An album this complex and noble won’t really show it’s true nature for a few months (or even longer), but my first impression ties in with my current philosophical musings regarding the kind of creative experimentation that requires dedicated inward exploration (inspired by Steppenwolf and other literature). I think that’s the direction we’re slowly but surely heading. Perhaps not coincidentally, Animal Collective just released the music video for “My Girls,” which is likely the first single from the new album (I’ve embedded it below for your convenience). It actually stands as decent competition to the abovementioned visualizer scenario…that is, if they offer it in HD somewhere on the web. At this time the best quality version is seems to be on their web site.
Getting back to the music video, it shows the three-man band arranged how they would be on stage, except their bodies are shadows, and small bacteria-looking globules float around them. Everything is given digital treatment, so at times the musicians seem to be wearing the stars of outer space. (That raises an interesting question. Was one artistic intention to demonstrate that both microscopic bacteria and the stars appear to be the same size from our human perspective? Well, I think it’s interesting…but I’m also a science nerd). At other times, the globules appear to be sweating like a glass holding a cold drink on a hot summer day. In other words, it’s a psychedelic roller coaster.
As if we needed another reason to keep breathing, AC will play the Royal Oak Music Theatre on May 18. (They’re also playing at the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, CA, on May 27 — but that one is sold out).
- The Ruminant Bant by Fruit Bats
- Logos by Atlas Sound
- Psychic Chasms by Neon Indian
- Eyelid Movies by Phantogram
- East of Eden by Taken by Trees
- Ephemeral Exhibits by Starkey
- Immolate Yourself by Telefon Tel Aviv
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