Tag: Fleet Foxes

Best Albums of 2020

And here we are in the nick of time, before the closing hours of 2020, to present you with the highly-subjective lists of our favourite albums of the year. We won’t pretend that 2020 wasn’t an especially horrible year for many people, but we can highlight that excellent artistry may arise despite tragedy (and it has been argued that the finest artistry emerges from tragedy necessarily). We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading and to wish all of our readers a very happy New Year, full of love, peace and joy.

Elijah & Greg

10. Fetch the Bolt Cutters
Fiona Apple

Full disclosure: 2012’s The Idler Wheel… passed me by. In fact, I haven’t given Fiona Apple much of a listen since 2005’s Extraordinary Machine, which I found relatively underwhelming. I am grateful for venturing back into Apple territory for this record, which is the first of her five records (a slim catalogue over a 25-year career) in which she oversaw all of her own production. Without Jon Brion’s instrumental settings, Apple has produced something more primal. The title of the record comes from the television programme The Fall. In the scene in question, Gillian Anderson’s detective protagonist Stella Gibson is seeking to reach a torture victim through a locked door.

Without wanting to belabour the parallel, Fetch the Bolt Cutters is an expression of artistic liberation: ‘Fetch the bolt cutters… I’ve been in here too long’ (from the title track). Additional percussion is provided by the bashing of walls and floor of her Los Angeles home. These are accompanied by barking dogs (à la Brian Wilson), and, apparently, her deceased dog’s bones. Perhaps she is musing on her prodigal beginnings as a seventeen-year-old pop star when she sings ‘I grew up in the shoes they told me I could fill’. Whatever artistic journey she has been on, she has rediscovered a particular artistic freedom with this album.

9. Women in music Pt. III
HAIM

HAIM is comprised of the three Haim sisters: Este, Danielle and Alana. Women in Music Pt III is their third studio album and explores various personal challenges faced by the sisters as well as the sexism faced by women in the music industry (especially in the Joni Mitchell-esque ‘Man from the Magazine’). (A geeky side-note is the fact that the album cover was photographed by Paul Thomas Anderson [one of my favourite directors] at the famous Canter’s Deli in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles. Anderson also directed the several music videos from the album singles.) In addition to the deeply personal lyrical content of WIMPIII (each of the three Haim sisters have expressed personal traumas faced in the period leading up to the recording of the album), this record is notable for its employment of a wide variety of musical genres. Even with (though not necessarily in opposition to) the sometimes depressive content, WIMPIII is full of momentum, harnessing the energy of 1990s West Coast pop rock.

8. The Slow Rush
Tame Impala

When Greg first introduced me to Tame Impala over a decade ago, I was enamoured with the ‘band’s’ sound. Neo-psychedelic rock soundscapes with heavily-effected drums and vocals. There was something simultaneously classic and contemporary about the sound and I couldn’t get enough of it. When I discovered that the band was actually just Kevin Parker, my mind was well and truly blown. Since 2010’s InnerSpeaker, every Tame Impala record has scratched its way into my top ten lists.

When I first heard this record, I didn’t know whether The Slow Rush would buck the trend or not. It is both very Tame Impala and very much a departure. The psychedelic and effected elements remain, but The Slow Rush, in keeping with its name, features a distinctly softer sound than previous Tame Impala records while keeping time with punchy disco beats. In the opening track, Parker sings ‘Not caring if we do the same thing every week / of living like I’m only living for me / of never talking about where we’re gonna be / of living like the free spirit I wanna be.’ As an admitted superfan of the more distorted guitar-driven, gravelly Tame Impala sound, I remain entranced with the intimate interlude that is The Slow Rush.

7. Set My Heart on Fire Immediately
Perfume Genius

Michael Alden Hadreas, aka Perfume Genius has continued the trend of exploring embodied existence through song in his fifth album. Somewhat familiar narratives remain, but Set My Heart on Fire Immediately picks up on Hadreas’ decade-long musical journey from the art rock industrial ballads of his early releases, through the land of the flamboyant showman and to this amalgamation of a considerable number of musical styles and influences spanning the last sixty years of pop music. And while Hadreas persists in his exquisite lyrical poeticism, he also leaves the sonic soundscapes to complete the picture, to express the verbally inexpressible. The tone of the whole of Set My Heart on Fire Immediately is one of more confidence and earthiness (as opposed to the equally-valuable frailty and dreaminess of his previous releases).

6. songs / instrumentals
Adrianne Lenker

Since the release of Masterpiece in 2016, Big Thief has been one of my favourite bands of the last decade. This has been due primarily to the contribution of lead singer and guitarist Adrianne Lenker. In both songwriting and musicianship, Lenker has been a pleasure to explore. (Unbeknownst to me at the time, she has been writing and releasing music for the last 16 years.) Having released two excellent records last year (U.F.O.F. and Two Hands), Big Thief was set to embark on a European tour when, due to the pandemic, it was cancelled (boo…). As a result, Lenker saw an opportunity to take a break from the demands of recording and touring (as well as to work through a recent break-up), staying in a small cabin in Western Massachusetts to be near to her sister. It may come as no surprise that with a creative force such as Lenker, these circumstances proved ideal for the gestation of new material.

While Lenker’s previous material is known for its lyrical honesty, Songs in particular is a further journey into her feelings, borne, was The Independent’s Roisin O’Connor puts it, ‘with complete abandon.’ The opening track, ‘two reverse’ indicates this complete abandon: ‘Lay me down so to let you leave. / Tell me lies, I wanna see your eyes. / Is it a crime to say I still need you? / Crime, wanna feed you.’

In the midst of this vulnerable outpouring of emotion, Lenker continues to demonstrate her musical confidence, albeit stripped down to mostly her guitar and vocals (and the occasional sound of falling rain). This doesn’t feel like a Big Thief album, but perhaps something better, or at the very least, something more intimate.

5. græ
Moses Sumney

It is perhaps a testimony to my own musical ignorance (rather than the opposite) that I don’t often hear an album and feel as if it is unlike anything I have ever heard before. Even albums that may catch me off-guard tend to also harbour a strong relationship to my other musical interests. Without a doubt, Moses Sumney’s græ bears little resemblance to other music with which I am familiar. This is not to say that Sumney’s influences are unrecognisable, but instead that the composition of græ is a wholly unique expressive force. In addition to the experimental melding of genres including jazz, classical, folk, art pop/rock and spoken word, græ is also an exceptionally personal record. With confidence and skill, Sumney approaches various issues close to home including immigration (Sunmey was born in California to Ghanaian immigrants and spent a number of years in Ghana as a child), race, gender and queer culture. While these genres and concepts might appear ham-fisted or pretentious on any other record, the pacing and tone of græ facilitates natural expression and is a triumph of contemporary music.

4. RTJ4
Run the Jewels

I have been a fan of El-P since 2002’s Fantastic Damage. I even loved the electronic jazz fusion of High Water (recorded with The Blue Series Continuum in 2004). When he partnered with Killer Mike for 2013’s Run the Jewels, El-P went from strength to strength. Every subsequent RTJ record has continued to impress (albeit, peppered with humour on the level of Cartoon Network’s [adult swim] programming), but none so significantly as this latest release.

RTJ4 is the quintessential 2020 record. Pandemics, although horrific in their destruction of human life, come and go. Police brutality/racism is the more enduring illness in the United States. The opening track, ‘Yankee and the Brave (Ep. 4)’ heralds the tone of the record, closing with the words, ‘Yankee and The Brave are here / everybody hit the deck / we don’t mean no harm / but we truly mean all the disrespect.’ Run the Jewels have always exercised pointed social commentary, but RTJ4 is a step up in terms of agitation and clarity of thought. The lyrics express the reality of black Americans resisting systematic racism as well as the solidary in this struggle that can be expressed by allies of the black community. In a sense, Killer Mike and El-P are a shining example of what a unified, pragmatic and socially-conscious America can be, all bolstered by the superb production for which El-P has become legendary in the field of experimental hip-hop.

3. Hannah
Lomelda

Hannah is Lomelda’s fourth studio album (although ‘Lomelda’ is Texas songwriter Hannah Read, who has been releasing music for nearly a decade, in one form or another). Last year’s release, M for Empathy passed me by. Approaching Hannah with a tabula rasa was probably the best way in for me. As it turns out, whether by nature or design, Hannah Read is one of the most unassuming contemporary musicians I have encountered. There is a profound modesty in her songwriting, paralleled by the gentleness and unmilled tone of her singing voice. Hannah feels like a series of letters that Read has written to herself (as opposed to the convention of most self-titled records). It is almost as if Read is not interested in performing, per se, but rather, expressing herself in the most natural way possible – almost as if she is singing in the privacy of her bedroom. This openness disarms the listener and draws them in to Read’s narrative. She unveils grace and beauty in the mundane and ordinary, and through this, the listener is absorbed into that transcendence.

2. THE ASCENSION
Sufjan Stevens

I resisted. I promise that I resisted. When the album’s first single, ‘America’ was released in July, I had assumed it was a one-off, perhaps a comment on the state of play in the United States, what with the ongoing pandemic and the circus of a presidential election on the horizon. (In reality, Stevens penned ‘America’ during the Carrie & Lowell sessions.) Then August brought the second single, ‘Video Game’. As soon as it was released, I listened with measured anticipation. Was this to be the sound of The Ascension? I wondered, ‘Maybe this won’t be my cup of tea…’ ‘Video Game’ was followed by ‘Sugar’ in September and then the release of the album in full. I had placed a pre-order as soon as the album was announced, but I was beginning to think that its addition to my collection would be a matter of mere Sufjan Stevens ‘completism’, rather than a treasure to be cherished.

In part, I was relieved when I didn’t fall in love with The Ascension after hearing it for the first time. In the past, every time had Sufjan Stevens released an album of new material, it always seemed to climb its way to the top of my ‘best of’ list. To be sure, I am under no impression that my end of the year lists are anything more than subjective rambles about music that I—an ignoramus—enjoy. Yet, the more I listened, the more I realised that this was a true grower. Stevens has grown tired of folk music convention (he tends to dip in and out of love with this form) and songwriting in The Ascension exercises more force and certainty (even while expressing uncertainty) than ever before. In an interview with Spencer Kornhaber of The Atlantic, Stevens admits that this album is ‘bossy and bitchy’. In a sense, The Ascension is less dynamic than most of Stevens’ previous releases, but when that dynamism appears, it really pays off. The Purple Rain-era-Prince-sounding ‘Death Star’ stands out especially — I could not have guessed that jingle bells would give me the chills time and time again.

1. Rough and Rowdy Ways
Bob Dylan

Here are several potentially controversial statements: This is easily Dylan’s finest original work since 1997’s Time Out of Mind. This might well be his finest release since 1975’s Desire (or, when the notion takes me, 1989’s Oh Mercy). For all of the strengths of 2001’s “Love and Theft”, 2006’s Modern Times and 2012’s Tempest, Rough and Rowdy Ways showcases Dylan’s Nobel-prize winning, transcendent and perhaps, unparalleled songwriting prowess better than anything he has produced in the last two decades.

I find only two weaknesses in Rough and Rowdy Ways. The first is a single phrase in ‘I Contain Multitudes’. In the midst of throwing out seemingly-pithy pop-culture references intermixed with more profound figures among the ‘multitudes’ he ‘contains’, Dylan offers up this cringe-worthy line: ‘And them British bad boys, The Rolling Stones’. At 79, I can accept Dylan’s characterisation of the The Rolling Stones here—who were beginning to favour of edgier rock-n-roll cuts like ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ and ‘Paint It Black’ when Dylan was making his own transition to the electric guitar—but referring to them as ‘British bad boys’… I shudder even as I type the expression. My second grievance is with Dylan’s occasional dependence on cookie-cutter blues rock arrangements. Yet, even within the likes of ‘False Prophet’, ‘Goodbye Jimmy Reed’ and ‘Crossing the Rubicon’, his exceptional songwriting genius shines through. Thanks, Bob, for reminding me why you’re my favourite artist of all time.

Shore Fleet Foxes

Fountain Lyra Pramuk

Mystic Familiar Dan Deacon

Flower of Devotion Dehd

Microphones in 2020 The Microphones

Healing is a Miracle Julianna Barwick

SHall We Go on Sinning So That Grace May Increase? The Soft Pink Truth

Whole New Mess Angel Olsen

Fear of Death Tim Heidecker

Live Forever Bartees Strange

10. SURVIVORS EP
Tim Baker

I had originally slotted the new Car Seat Headrest album into this tenth slot, but then I realized that… I honestly REALLY only like about 3 songs on it. And so I came to the conclusion that I should instead honor this 5 song EP from my last year’s top album artist, Canadian troubadour Tim Baker. The song “Survivors” was MY ANTHEM for this year, so here’s to you Tim, for helping me to get through the lousiest year on record. You spin gold out of tragedy…

9. Born again
Ellis

Her voice is hard to distinguish from another dreamy bedroom pop singer named Clairo, but there’s something deeper in her deconversion narrative that keep this album from turning into another collection of broken heart stories. The lyrics aren’t too profound, but they’re honest, like a gauzy reflection on a #metoo world from the evangelical subculture with smashing cymbals and guitars on overdrive. I guess I’m just a sucker for a song that starts “Lately I have been romanticizing shit…” (“Embarrassing”).

8. Color Theory
Soccer Mommy

To be honest, a lot of the songs on this album sound the same to me… but the thing is, it’s such a great sound that she’s mastered. 90’s atmospheric rock with a girl-ish wistfulness (“I’m the princess of screwing up”) beneath which lies trenchant insights pulled from the wreckage of self-doubt, depression, loss, and splintered relationships. She’s like the prettiest, smartest, saddest, and angriest girl in the world at the same time, standing at the mic with a Fender Strat wrapped around her shoulders.

7. SLEEPYHEAD
Cavetown

For the first time ever, I have an album on my top ten that MY DAUGHTER Katrina turned me onto. This Gen Z wunderkind, whom his parents named Robin Skinner, wrote, produced, and played most of the instruments on the record in his major label debut and he is the most earnest of bedroom indie heroes imaginable, singing about how he hates the way he looks as an adult (“Snail”), wanting someone to tell him that they like him after he confesses his own affection (“Sweet Tooth”), and recounting how he almost killing himself at age 13 (“Empty Bed”). His double tracked vocals are charmingly lovely, he strums the acoustic minimally or grinds the electric Weezer-ly in just the right amount of accompaniment. It gives me hope for the future.

6. The Slow Rush
Tame Impala

This album had to grow on me. The dance-y vibe didn’t originally capture me as much as the sonic homages of Kevin Parker’s previous work (Beatles, 60’s psychedelic, 80’s pop, etc.), probably because I’ve never been a fan of songs that repeat a theme over and over, building and dropping out again and again. But, in the end, I had to give into the groove that this kid laid down. He’s a genius, this one.

5. Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was
Bright Eyes

This is a triumphant come back after 2011’s The People’s Key, which I found almost unlistenable. Conor Oberst may have been reinvigorated by his new muse (hint: see my #1 album) after creating the masterful collaboration Better Oblivion Community Center with her last year. His lyrics, songwriting, arrangements, and instrumentation are all back to the highest level of some of his best previous work with his long-time band. He touches on some deep wounds and finds cathartic creative power amidst the pain. Let’s hope that he stays this inspired for some time to come!

4. The New Abnormal
The Strokes

You know, I’ve never actually owned an album by The Strokes before. I mean, I knew and liked the songs that everyone did, but I would not have considered myself a fan. Perhaps I should have listened more closely. When I put this record on, I immediately connected with the catchy post-punk melodies and weary nostalgia that they were peddling. I even found myself cracking up at the melodic thievery (Psychedelic Furs in “Eternal Summer”), inside jokes (“Drums please, Fab” and “I was just bored, playing the guitar / Learned all your tricks, wasn’t too hard” in “Ode to the Mets”), and the bands coming to terms with being the old guard at this point in their career. This album brought me a lot of joy in this joyless crapheap of a year, so I thank them for that.

3. Shore
Fleet Foxes

This was the album that made me feel like everything would be okay again one day. Robin Peckhold et al were a bit obscure (though still brilliant) on 2017’s Crack-up, but it was like he was now inviting us to explore “land / Overgrown / No words, no false, no true / Water stands / Waves just pass through it / Like something moves through you.” That’s what listening to this album feels like… just the thing that I needed so much.

2. The Ascension
Sufjan Stevens

I had a listening party for this album on the night that it was released. For the first few songs, I was dialed in, willing to follow Suf wherever he wanted to take us. But then, beginning with “Die Happy” I became pretty… unhappy. Song after song began to revel in discordance, melodically and lyrically. I felt like it was a repudiation of the old Sufjan that I loved so much—his faith (“I want to be my own redeemer” and “I was acting like a believer when I was just angry and depressed”), his love of his country—though this somewhat understandable—in “America,” and his musical aesthetic (it was hard to make out any discernible natural instrument on the album—even Age of Adz allowed for the occasional acoustic guitar or orchestral part! It’s funny that the “America” B-side “My Rajneesh” was the EXACT Sufjan sound that I wanted!!). But then… I just decided to let Sufjan do what he needed to do, to say what he needed to say. And I once again recognized his genius and began to appreciate the album more and more. I may not love it as much as previous albums (I’d rank his oeuvre as follows: Illinois, Carrie & Lowell, Age of Adz, Michigan, The Ascension, Planetarium, A Sun Came, Seven Swans, Aporia, Enjoy Your Rabbit), but I will stand behind my artistic apotheosis whatever path he takes.

1. Punisher
Phoebe Bridgers

I’ve seen the Phoebe Bridgers backlash. It’s a real thing. And it’s not pretty. But to my ears, this is it. This is the best that this damnable year had to offer. She kept at it too, releasing the orchestral re-mix EP Copycat Killer and a melancholovely Christmas EP as well. I won’t say any more other than to say, “Take up and listen.” (PS. Katrina loves it too!! She dressed up as Phoebes for Halloween, which is meta, cause it’s one of the song titles on the album.)

folklore Taylor Swift (my beautiful youngest daughter is looking over my shoulder right now to make sure that I included this album on my list… heh heh)

Another Decade of Bests (2010-2019)

This post is the second of two parts. With hindsight and in living with particular albums for longer, we have compiled lists of our ten favourite albums for each year from 2000-2019. Perhaps these lists will be of some interest for those who wish to walk down Memory Lane, or indeed, for those who might wonder if any of these [subjective] gems passed them by (as we have discovered from comparing our respective lists). Whatever you—dear reader—might glean from our produce, we are grateful for the opportunity to indulge in our list-making and music-listening passions here.

Elijah & Greg

— E —

  1. The Age of Adz / All Delighted People EP
    Sufjan Stevens
  2. The Winter of Mixed Drinks
    Frightened Rabbit
  3. Halcyon Digest
    Deerhunter
  4. The Suburbs
    Arcade Fire
  5. Teen Dream
    Beach House
  6. InnerSpeaker
    Tame Impala
  7. High Violet
    The National
  8. This is Happening
    LCD Soundsystem
  9. Clinging to a Scheme
    The Radio Dept.
  10. The Monitor
    Titus Andronicus

— G —

  1. The Age of Adz / All Delighted People EP
    Sufjan Stevens
  2. The Suburbs
    Arcade Fire
  3. The Winter of Mixed Drinks
    Frightened Rabbit
  4. InnerSpeaker
    Tame Impala
  5. Forget
    Twin Shadow
  6. The Reluctant Graveyard
    Jeremy Messersmith
  7. High Violet
    The National
  8. Contra
    Vampire Weekend
  9. Together
    The New Pornographers
  10. So Runs the World Away
    Josh Ritter

— E —

  1. The SMiLE Sessions
    The Beach Boys
  2. Belong
    The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
  3. Dye It Blonde
    Smith Westerns
  4. Strange Mercy
    St Vincent
  5. Bon Iver
    Bon Iver
  6. Let England Shake
    PJ Harvey
  7. Humor Risk
    Cass McCombs
  8. Helplessness Blues
    Fleet Foxes
  9. The Year of Hibernation
    Youth Lagoon
  10. Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
    M83

— G —

  1. The Last of the Country Gentlemen
    Josh T. Pearson
  2. Helplessness Blues
    Fleet Foxes
  3. 100 Acres of Sycamore
    Fionn Regan
  4. Rapproacher
    Class Actress
  5. Build a Rocket Boys!
    Elbow
  6. Strange Negotiations
    David Bazan
  7. Making Mirrors
    Gotye
  8. Endless Now
    Male Bonding
  9. The Family Tree: The Roots
    Radical Face
  10. 12 Desperate StrAight Lines
    Telekinesis

— E —

  1. Shields 
    Grizzly Bear
  2. Bloom 
    Beach House
  3. Dept. of Disappearance 
    Jason Lytle
  4. Lonerism 
    Tame Impala
  5. Silver & Gold
    Sufjan Stevens
  6. America 
    Dan Deacon
  7. ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!
    Godspeed You! Black Emperor
  8. All We Love We Leave Behind 
    Converge
  9. Shrines 
    Purity Ring
  10. Sweet Heart Sweet Light 
    Spiritualized

— G —

  1. Fear Fun
    Father John Misty
  2. Silver & Gold
    Sufjan Stevens
  3. Break It Yourself
    Andrew Bird
  4. Tramp 
    Sharon Van Etten
  5. Port of Morrow 
    The Shins
  6. Adventures in Your Own Backyard 
    Patrick Watson
  7. The Idler Wheel is Wiser Than the Drive of the Screw… 
    Fiona Apple
  8. Lonerism 
    Tame Impala
  9. Through the Deep, Dark Valley 
    The Oh Hellos
  10. Who’s Feeling Young Now?
    Punch Brothers

— E —

  1. Pedestrian Verse
    Frightened Rabbit
  2. Reflektor 
    Arcade Fire
  3. Partygoing 
    Future Bible Heroes
  4. m b v
    My Bloody Valentine
  5. Big Wheel and Others 
    Cass McCombs
  6. Trouble Will Find Me 
    The National
  7. Wondrous Bughouse 
    Youth Lagoon
  8. Love’s Crushing Diamond 
    Mutual Benefit
  9. Monomania 
    Deerhunter
  10. Muchacho
    Phosphorescent

— G —

  1. Pedestrian Verse
    Frightened Rabbit
  2. Modern Vampires of the City
    Vampire Weekend
  3. Torres
    Torres
  4. The Worse Things Get, the Harder I Fight, the Harder I Fight, the More I Love You
    Neko Case
  5. Promises
    The Boxer Rebellion
  6. Trouble Will Find Me
    The National
  7. The Lives Inside the Lines in Your Hand / Threeep
    Matt Pond PA
  8. Alone Aboard the Ark
    The Leisure Society
  9. Us Alone
    Hayden
  10. Lily & Madeline / The Weight of the Globe EP
    Lily & Madeline

— E —

  1. pom pom
    Ariel Pink
  2. Burn Your Fire for No Witness
    Angel Olsen
  3. Nobody Wants to Be Here & Nobody Wants to Leave
    The Twilight Sad
  4. Lost in the Dream
    The War on Drugs
  5. St Vincent
    St Vincent
  6. Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son
    Damien Jurado
  7. Some Blue Morning
    Adrian Crowley
  8. Too Bright
    Perfume Genius
  9. Owl John
    Owl John
  10. Are We There
    Sharon Van Etten

— G —

  1. Heart Murmurs
    Jeremy Messersmith
  2. 1000 Forms of Fear
    Sia
  3. Second Sight
    Hey Rosetta!
  4. Brill Bruisers
    The New Pornographers
  5. Stay Gold
    First Aid Kit
  6. Upside Down Mountain
    Conor Oberst
  7. My Favourite Faded Fantasy
    Damien Rice
  8. Are We There
    Sharon Van Etten
  9. The Take Off and Landing of Everything
    Elbow
  10. In Conflict
    Owen Pallett

— E —

  1. Carrie & Lowell 
    Sufjan Stevens
  2. Currents 
    Tame Impala
  3. viet cong
    Viet Cong (Preoccupations)
  4. Depression Cherry 
    Beach House
  5. I Love You, Honeybear 
    Father John Misty
  6. Vulnicura 
    Björk
  7. Weirdo Shrine 
    La Luz
  8. Fading Frontier 
    Deerhunter
  9. White Men Are Black Men Too
    Young Fathers
  10. Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit
    Courtney Barnett

— G —

  1. Carrie & Lowell
    Sufjan Stevens
  2. Currents
    Tame Impala
  3. Teens of Style
    Car Seat Headrest
  4. Vulnicura
    Björk
  5. Bashed Out
    This is the Kit
  6. Dear Wormwood
    The Oh Hellos
  7. Depression Cherry
    Beach House
  8. Brother
    The Brilliance
  9. Sprinter
    Torres
  10. Times Infinity Vol. One
    The Dears

— E —

  1. Masterpiece 
    Big Thief
  2. My Woman 
    Angel Olsen
  3. Teens of Denial 
    Car Seat Headrest
  4. Painting of a Panic Attack 
    Frightened Rabbit
  5. Puberty 2 
    Mitski
  6. A Moon Shaped Pool 
    Radiohead
  7. Skeleton Tree 
    Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
  8. You Want it Darker 
    Leonard Cohen
  9. Emotions and Math
    Margaret Glaspy
  10. Next Thing 
    Frankie Cosmos

— G —

  1. Teens of Denial
    Car Seat Headrest
  2. Are You Serious
    Andrew Bird
  3. Painting of a Panic Attack
    Frightened Rabbit
  4. Puberty 2
    Mitski
  5. The Birds Outside Sang
    Florist
  6. A Moon Shaped Pool
    Radiohead
  7. Arranging Time
    Pete Yorn
  8. Remember Us to Life
    Regina Spektor
  9. Front Row Seat to Earth
    Weyes Blood
  10. 22, A Million
    Bon Iver

— E —

  1. A Crow Looked at Me
    Mount Eerie
  2. DAMN
    Kendrick Lamar
  3. Capacity
    Big Thief
  4. Planetarium
    Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner & James McAlister
  5. No Shape
    Perfume Genius
  6. Slowdive
    Slowdive
  7. Last Place
    Grandaddy
  8. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
  9. Powerplant
    Girlpool
  10. Antisocialites
    Alvvays

— G —

  1. (I Am) Origami Pt. 2 – Every Power Wide Awake
    John Van Deusen
  2. Stranger in the Alps
    Phoebe Bridgers
  3. Pure Comedy
    Father John Misty
  4. Planetarium
    Sufjan Stevens, Nico Muhly, Bryce Dessner & James McAlister
  5. Crack-Up
    Fleet Foxes
  6. Swin Inside the Moon
    Angelo De Augustine
  7. Sleep Well Beast
    The National
  8. Ruins
    First Aid Kit
  9. Mentall Illness
    Aimee Mann
  10. Painted Ruins
    Grizzly Bear

— E —

  1. 7
    Beach House
  2. Be the Cowboy
    Mitski
  3. And Nothing Hurt
    Spiritualized
  4. Only Love
    The Armed
  5. God’s Favorite Customer
    Father John Misty
  6. You Won’t Get What You Want
    Daughters
  7. Lush
    Snail Mail
  8. In a Poem Unlimited
    US Girls
  9. Singularity
    Jon Hopkins
  10. The Future Me Hates Me
    The Beths

— G —

  1. Be the Cowboy
    Mitski
  2. God’s Favorite Customer
    Father John Misty
  3. Something in the Rain (OST)
    이남연 & Rachel Yamagata
  4. Lush
    Snail Mail
  5. Boygenius
    Boygenius
  6. 7
    Beach House
  7. Big Red Machine
    Big Red Machine
  8. Love is Dead
    Chvrches
  9. You, Forever
    Sam Evian
  10. Hell-On
    Neko Case

— E —

  1. It Won/t Be Like This All the Time
    The Twilight Sad
  2. All Mirrors
    Angel Olsen
  3. U.F.O.F.
    Big Thief
  4. Remind Me Tomorrow
    Sharon Van Etten
  5. Reward
    Cate Le Bon
  6. Titanic Rising
    Weyes Blood
  7. Ghosteen
    Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
  8. Anima
    Thom Yorke
  9. 2020
    Richard Dawson
  10. Two Hands
    Big Thief

— G —

  1. Forever Overhead
    Tim Baker
  2. Cala
    Fionn Regan
  3. Better Oblivion Community Center
    Better Oblivion Community Center
  4. My Finest Work Yet
    Andrew Bird
  5. Titanic Rising
    Weyes Blood
  6. Tomb
    Angelo De Augustine
  7. Father of the Bride
    Vampire Weekend
  8. Remind Me Tomorrow
    Sharon Van Etten
  9. Anima
    Thom Yorke
  10. Immunity
    Clairo

See our lists from 2000-2009 here.

A Decade of Bests (2000-2009)

When we first launched Lost in the Cloud in 2010, we were on a roll from our previous blog, hoping to take LITC into different territory. One thing we carried over from our previous blog was our love for lists, especially music lists. We began Lost in the Cloud with productive intentions, but life, as it can so often do, got in the way of our keeping up with the blog.

For the first six years, we were diligent in posting the lists of our favourite albums of the year, complete with short descriptions of each. In those last couple of dwindling years, our ‘Best Albums’ lists were becoming the only new material we were producing for the blog. In time, even that dropped off of our list of priorities and Lost in the Cloud went quiet.

This year, we have decided to revisit our ‘Best Albums’ lists and to even elaborate on our whole ‘Best Albums’ corpus by travelling all the way back to the prehistoric year that was 2000. This post is part one of two. With hindsight and in living with particular albums for longer, we have compiled lists of our ten favourite albums for each year from 2000-2019. Perhaps these lists will be of some interest for those who wish to walk down Memory Lane, or indeed, for those who might wonder if any of these [subjective] gems passed them by (as we have discovered from comparing our respective lists). Whatever you—dear reader—might glean from our produce, we are grateful for the opportunity to indulge in our list-making and music-listening passions here.

Elijah & Greg

— E —

  1. Figure 8
    Elliott Smith
  2. Kid A
    Radiohead
  3. The Sophtware Slump
    Grandaddy
  4. Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
    Godspeed You! Black Emperor
  5. ÁGÆTIS BYRJUN
    Sigur Rós
  6. Bachelor No. 2
    Aimee Mann
  7. Winners Never Quit
    Pedro the Lion
  8. Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
    PJ Harvey
  9. And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
    Yo La Tengo
  10. Rising Tide
    Sunny Day Real Estate

— G —

  1. Kid A
    Radiohead
  2. Figure 8
    Elliott Smith
  3. Bachelor No. 2
    Aimee Mann
  4. All That You Can’t Leave Behind
    U2
  5. ÁGÆTIS BYRJUN
    Sigur Rós
  6. Fever & Mirrors
    Bright Eyes
  7. Heartbreaker
    Ryan Adams
  8. Rising Tide
    Sunny Day Real Estate
  9. Winners Never Quit
    Pedro the Lion
  10. MASS ROMANTIC
    The New Pornographers

— E —

  1. Amnesiac
    Radiohead
  2. Jane Doe
    Converge
  3. The Glow, Pt. 2
    The Microphones
  4. White Blood Cells
    The White Stripes
  5. Blue Screen Life
    Pinback
  6. Hot Shots II
    The Beta Band
  7. Vespertine
    Björk
  8. “Love and Theft”
    Bob Dylan
  9. The Photo Album
    Death Cab for Cutie
  10. Discovery
    Daft Punk

— G —

  1. The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads
    Lift to Experience
  2. Oh, Inverted World
    The Shins
  3. Asleep in the back
    Elbow
  4. Musicforthemorningafter
    Pete Yorn
  5. Origin of Symmetry
    Muse
  6. The Invisible Band
    Travis
  7. The Only Reason I Feel Secure
    Pedro the Lion
  8. Skyscraper National Park
    Hayden
  9. The Photo Album
    Death Cab for Cutie
  10. AMNESIAC
    Radiohead

— E —

  1. Control 
    Pedro the Lion
  2. Turn on the Bright Lights 
    Interpol
  3. Fantastic Damage 
    El-P
  4. Alice / Blood Money
    Tom Waits
  5. The Creek Drank the Cradle
    Iron & Wine
  6. Sea Change
    Beck
  7. Unfortunately We’re Not Robots
    Curl Up & Die
  8. [A→B] Life
    mewithoutYou
  9. We Are the Only Friends We Have
    Piebald
  10. Give Up
    Postal Service

— G —

  1. Control
    Pedro the Lion
  2. Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground
    Bright Eyes
  3. The Creek Drank the Cradle
    Iron & Wine
  4. Sea Change
    Beck
  5. The Last Broadcast 
    Doves
  6. Give Up 
    Postal Service
  7. A Rush of Blood to the Head 
    Coldplay
  8. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
    Wilco
  9. Turn on the Bright Lights 
    Interpol
  10. The Seamonsters
    The Seamonsters

— E —

  1. Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State 
    Sufjan Stevens
  2. The Ugly Organ 
    Cursive
  3. Hail to the Thief 
    Radiohead
  4. The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place 
    Explosions in the Sky
  5. Sumday
    Grandaddy
  6. You Forgot it in People 
    Broken Social Scene
  7. Dear Catastrophe Waitress 
    Belle & Sebastian
  8. Monday at the Hug & Pint 
    Arab Strap
  9. Frail Words Collapse 
    As I Lay Dying
  10. Happy Songs for Happy People
    Mogwai

— G —

  1. Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State 
    Sufjan Stevens
  2. Hail to the Thief
    Radiohead
  3. Cast of Thousands
    Elbow
  4. Absolution
    Muse
  5. Final Straw
    Snow Patrol
  6. Marvelous Things EP
    Eisley
  7. O
    Damien Rice
  8. Transatlanticism
    Death Cab for Cutie
  9. Log 22
    Bettie Serveert
  10. Desprate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
    TV on the Radio

— E —

  1. From a Basement on a Hill
    Elliott Smith
  2. Funeral
    Arcade Fire
  3. Seven Swans
    Sufjan Stevens
  4. Antics
    Interpol
  5. You Are the Quarry
    Morrissey
  6. Sung Tongs
    Animal Collective
  7. Achilles Heel
    Pedro the Lion
  8. Our Endless Numbered Days
    Iron & Wine
  9. A
    Cass McCombs
  10. How It Ends
    DeVotchKa

— G —

  1. Sung Tongs
    Animal Collective
  2. From a Basement on a Hill
    Elliott Smith
  3. Antics
    Interpol
  4. Seven Swans
    Sufjan Stevens
  5. Achilles Heel
    Pedro the Lion
  6. Our Endless Numbered Days
    Iron & Wine
  7. FUNERAL
    Arcade Fire
  8. The Autumns
    The Autumns
  9. How It Ends
    DeVotchKa
  10. Turning Tide
    The Seamonsters

— E —

  1. Illinois 
    Sufjan Stevens
  2. The One Above All, The End of All That Is 
    Curl Up & Die
  3. Emoh 
    Lou Barlow
  4. Takk...
    Sigur Rós
  5. Feels 
    Animal Collective
  6. LCD Soundsystem 
    LCD Soundsystem
  7. Headphones 
    Headphones
  8. And the Glass Handed Kites 
    Mew
  9. Guero 
    Beck
  10. Surf
    Roddy Frame

— G —

  1. Illinois
    Sufjan Stevens
  2. Takk...
    Sigur Rós
  3. Several Arrows Later
    Matt Pond PA
  4. Silent Alarm
    Bloc Party
  5. Feels
    Animal Collective
  6. Emoh
    Lou Barlow
  7. Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
    Andrew Bird
  8. I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning
    Bright Eyes
  9. Headphones
    Headphones
  10. Pixel Revolt
    John Vanderslice

— E —

  1. Yellow House 
    Grizzly Bear
  2. The Avalanche 
    Sufjan Stevens
  3. Happy Hollow
    Cursive
  4. No Heroes 
    Converge
  5. Everything All the Time 
    Band of Horses
  6. Victory for the Comic Muse 
    The Divine Comedy
  7. Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards 
    Tom Waits
  8. Sing the Greys 
    Frightened Rabbit
  9. Brother, Sister
    mewithoutYou
  10. The Eraser 
    Thom Yorke

— G —

  1. The Avalanche
    Sufjan Stevens
  2. Gang of Losers
    The Dears
  3. The End of History
    Fionn Regan
  4. The Eraser
    Thom Yorke
  5. Begin to Hope
    Regina Spektor
  6. Everything All the Time
    Band of Horses
  7. Sing the Greys
    Frightened Rabbit
  8. The Cost
    The Frames
  9. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
    Neko Case
  10. Camping by the Railroad Tracks in December
    Harmony and Pollution

— E —

  1. Neon Bible
    Arcade Fire
  2. In Rainbows
    Radiohead
  3. Sound of Silver
    LCD Soundsystem
  4. Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
    The Twilight Sad
  5. Strawberry Jam
    Animal Collective
  6. White Chalk
    PJ Harvey
  7. Cease to Begin
    Band of Horses
  8. Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow!
    Orchid
  9. The Shepherd’s Dog
    Iron & Wine
  10. Person pitch
    Panda Bear

— G —

  1. In Rainbows
    Radiohead
  2. Strawberry Jam
    Animal Collective
  3. Boxer
    The National
  4. A Few More Published Studies
    The XYZ Affair
  5. Wincing the Night Away
    The Shins
  6. PERSON PITCH
    Panda Bear
  7. Cease to Begin
    Band of Horses
  8. A WEEKEND IN THE CITY
    Bloc Party
  9. Voxtrot
    Voxtrot
  10. Neon Bible
    Arcade Fire

— E —

  1. The Midnight Organ Fight
    Frightened Rabbit
  2. Songs in A&E
    Spiritualized
  3. Fleet Foxes
    Fleet Foxes
  4. In Ear Park
    Department of Eagles
  5. Dig That Treasure
    Cryptacize
  6. Dropping the Writ
    Cass McCombs
  7. Microcastle
    Deerhunter
  8. Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
    David Byrne & Brian Eno
  9. In Ghost Colours
    Cut Copy
  10. Rip It Off
    Times New Viking

— G —

  1. The Midnight Organ Fight
    Frightened Rabbit
  2. Fleet Foxes
    Fleet Foxes
  3. The Seldom Seen Kid
    Elbow
  4. Vampire Weekend
    Vampire Weekend
  5. Með Suð Í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
    Sigur Rós
  6. Dropping the Writ
    Cass McCombs
  7. Words & Music
    Aqualung
  8. In Ear Park
    Department of Eagles
  9. At War with Walls & Mazes
    Son Lux
  10. @#%&*! Smilers
    Aimee Mann

— E —

  1. Veckatimest
    Grizzly Bear
  2. Merriweather Post Pavilion
    Animal Collective
  3. Axe to Fall
    Converge
  4. Album
    Girls
  5. Forget the Night Ahead
    The Twilight Sad
  6. Logos
    Atlas Sound
  7. These Four Walls
    We Were Promised Jetpacks
  8. Mythomania
    Cryptacize
  9. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
    The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
  10. Curse Your Branches
    David Bazan

— G —

  1. Merriweather Post Pavilion
    Animal Collective
  2. Middle Cyclone
    Neko Case
  3. Curse Your Branches
    David Bazan
  4. Veckatimest
    Grizzly Bear
  5. Far
    Regina Spektor
  6. Romanian Names
    John Vanderslice
  7. Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
    The Low Anthem
  8. Hospice
    The Antlers
  9. Manners
    Passion Pit
  10. Goodnight Unknown
    Lou Barlow

See our lists from 2010-2019 here.

Best Albums of 2012

Print

+++++

Dear faithful LITC readers,

Our favourite post of the year is here!  We apologise that it’s taken so long, but think of it as a late Christmas gift.  As with previous years, we’ve included our respective Top 10 Albums of the year as well as some honourable mentions and some not so honourable ones.  Feel free to share your favourite records of the year in the comments section.  Maybe you’ll even discover some unknown treasures within our lists.  Take care, readers.  See you in 2013.

Love,

Elijah & Greg

+++++

Elijah’s Top 10 Albums of 2012

Valtari

10.  Valtari  Sigur Rós — Whilst I loved 2005’s Takk…, I found that 2008’s Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust left much to be desired.  Valtari leans more toward Sigur Rós’ earlier style, a more ambient and reflective record although I’d hesitate before calling it ‘samey’.  Incredible tracks like ‘Varúð’ and ‘Varðeldur’, some of the finest I’ve ever heard from the Iceland post-rock legends kept me from pushing this record out of the top ten.  For this record the band also came up with they’ve called the ‘Valtari Mystery Film Experiment‘ in which they employed twelve filmmakers to make music videos for the album based upon what the song brought to their minds and without the final approval from Sigur Rós.  See ‘Varúð’ below, created by Inga Birgisdóttir, who designed the album cover and also directed the video for ‘Ekki Múkk’:

+++++

Gentle Stream

9.  Gentle Stream  The Amazing — This was the first record of 2012 that really caught me by surprise.  Released in Sweden in 2011, Gentle Stream proves to be just that, a gentle yet wide stream of quality, what I would describe as a subtle mixture between Simon & Garfunkel and Dinosaur Jr.  Like their previous releases, The Amazing and Wait for Light to Come, there are still hints of psych rock (influenced by the presence of various members of Dungen) and classic rock and the finished product it is most satisfying.

+++++

All We Love

8.  All We Love We Leave Behind  Converge — Before I listened to this record, I didn’t want to include Converge in this list because it’s starting to look like whenever a few of my favourite artists make a new album they inevitably end up on my ‘Best Albums’ list.  For those who know how I rate music, it’s unlikely that the top four will come as any surprise this year.  But give me some credit; I can betray bands I love when they make subpar records – like Animal Collective’s Centipede Hz or my ‘dishonourable mentions’ below.  Or last year when I resisted We Were Promised Jetpacks’ In the Pit of the Stomach, Atlas Sound’s Parallax, David Bazan’s Strange Negotiations, DeVotchKa’s 100 Lovers, Danielson’s Best of Gloucester County, etc.  See, so when I include one of my favourite bands in my top ten I really mean it!

All that being said, I didn’t want to include Converge this year, so when I heard the first track, ‘Aimless Arrow’, I was relieved and heartbroken simultaneously.  I would consider the track their weakest opener to date (especially compared to their last record’s first track, ‘Darkhorse‘), and with its hints of ‘screamo’ and melodic hardcore (don’t worry, there’s no ‘singing’ on this track), I was fearful of listening to the rest of the record.  But the eight tracks to follow are all heavy, quality tunes!  The rest of the record features some spoken word, which works on top of the slow, thoughtful guitar work by Kurt Ballou.  But my heart was nearly torn in two upon listening to the tenth track, ‘Coral Blue’.  It’s not all that frightening until the chorus, which isn’t quite ‘screamo annoying’, but more confusing for those who listen to Converge.  Thankfully, that’s the extent of this ‘singing’ charade on All We Love We Leave Behind.  It closes out with the sufficiently epic title track and sufficiently heavy ‘Predatory Glow’.  No, on the whole this was no serious transition for Converge, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  They tried that on You Fail Me and they failed me indeed.

+++++

Sweet Heart

7.  Sweet Heart Sweet Light  Spiritualized — I know, great cover, right?  OK, it’s probably one of the worst album covers this year, but don’t let that put you off!  This here is an excellent record.  Jason Pierce, also known as J. Spaceman, the creative force behind all of Spiritualized’s incarnations over the last 22 years, wrote the album whilst undergoing serious medical treatment for his liver, which was left in a sore state as a result of many years of drug use, both prescribed and recreational.  But unlike 2008’s Songs in A&E, which was also inspired by a serious medical emergency (aspiration pneumonia and periorbital cellulitis), Sweet Heart Sweet Light is a much more hopeful, inspiring record, somewhat in the vein of 1997’s Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space.

+++++

Don't Bend, Ascend!

6.  ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!  Godspeed You! Black Emperor — This is the Canadian post-rockers’ first record since 2002’s Yanqui U.X.O., and whilst I found Yanqui rather uninspiring after 2000’s masterpiece Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, ‘Allelujah! is a return to form and then some.  Godspeed has a rare skill (shared with Sufjan Stevens) for making 20+ minute songs engaging throughout.  The tracks are engrossing and become, as the album title suggests, transcendent objets d’art, ushering the listener into heavy aural ascension.

+++++

America

5.  America  Dan Deacon — I appreciated Dan Deacon’s music before (his 2009 release, Bromst was among my honourable mentions that year), but this record caught me by surprise.  The opener, ‘Guilford Avenue Bridge’, is a buzzy digital number, which flows into the two subsequent tracks until Deacon decided to change the pace with ‘Prettyboy’, which seems to ruin the rhythm of the album, that is until we’re brought back into the jam with ‘Crash Jam’.  The highlight of the album is the four-part ‘USA’ opus below:

+++++

Lonerism

4.  Lonerism  Tame Impala — Tame Impala’s last record, Innerspeaker, which came to me as such a surprise thanks to Greg’s preaching of the gospel, ranked 6th on my Best Albums of 2010 list, so in my desire to not be let down, I was suspecting that the follow-up wouldn’t be as good.  As with Kevin Parker’s previous material, Lonerism draws much from the past (‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards‘ could’ve been part of Magical Mystery Tour, right between ‘Blue Jay Way‘ and ‘Your Mother Should Know‘, or it could’ve totally replaced the latter and I wouldn’t have minded), but always with a sense of artistic integrity and completeness.  Thank you, Tame Impala, for defying the mediocrity of your stage name name yet again and coming up with another excellent piece of psychadelic groove rock!  Oh and isn’t it groovy!

+++++

Bloom

3.  Bloom  Beach House — After their excellent third album, Teen Dream (which ranked 8th in my Top 10 Albums of 2010), I expected Beach House to lose steam.  Every subsequent record was getting better and no band can keep that up.  Well, this loss of steam will have to wait until their next record, because I’d say that Bloom might very well be their best record to date.  Whilst their sound remains distinctively ‘Beach House’ (those keyboard and guitar-driven dream pop soundscapes and that husky female voice), the songwriting in Bloom has taken a step forward.  And even though this record demands more time and attention than their previous releases, the payoff is tenfold.  And how amazing is this Ghostbusters-inspired video for ‘Lazuli’?

+++++

Dept of Disapearance

2.  Dept. of Disappearance  Jason Lytle — This was an exciting year for us Grandaddy fans: the band reunited after six years apart!  And very fortunately for us, the excitement didn’t end there.  Grandaddy principal songwriter, lead singer and guitarist, Jason Lytle, has kept busy since the break up in 2006.  In fact, Grandaddy’s final record, 2005’s Just Like the Fambly Cat, was written and recorded entirely by Lytle.  After the break up, a move inspired by lack of commercial success, Lytle relocated from California to Montana and toured with Rusty Miller in support of Just Like the Fambly Cat.  In 2009, Lytle released his first solo record, Yours Truly the Commuter and followed that with an EP, Merry X-mas.  Lytle and former drummer of Grandaddy, Aaron Burtch, joined with members of Earlimart to form the band Admiral Radley, who released their debut record, I Heart California, in 2010.  Each of these incarnations were superb (I Heart California was an honourable mention in my Best Albums of 2010 list), but none seemed to capture the magic that Lytle’s earlier work possessed in great measure.  Until now.  It’s safe to say that Dept. of Disappearance is a grower, but there was enough of pure goodness present from the first listen to keep me going.  Each track is excellent, and some are among the best Lytle’s ever written, such as the title track, ‘Matterhorn’, ‘Last Problem of the Alps’, ‘Somewhere There’s a Someone’ (below), ‘Gimme Click Gimme Grid’ and ‘Elko in the Rain’.

+++++

Shields

1.  Shields  Grizzly Bear — I won’t make excuses or defend my pick despite the fact that Grizzly Bear’s previous record was my number one album of 2009.  Shields is just that good.  Still present are the Grizzly Bear trademarks we know and love, but this record is the band’s most aggressive and coherent to date.  At times it is far darker than their previous material (‘Speak in Rounds’), yet it still takes the listener into the clouds (‘Half Gate’).  In the midst of this more aggressive direction, Grizzly Bear also ventures into the realm of more accessible pop music, music that isn’t as dissonant as their previous releases yet retains its creative bearings.  On top of all of their unique qualities as proficient musicians and songwriters, Grizzly Bear demonstrate a continuing process of maturation, one that solidifies them as—in this listener’s opinion—one of the best bands of their generation.

+++++

Elijah’s honourable mentions

Elijah’s dishonourable mentions

  • Mirage Rock  Band of Horses
  • Silver Age  Bob Mould

+++++

Greg’s Top 10 Albums of 2012

Another conflicted year of listening for me:  some of my favorite bands put out albums I thought were shite (Animal Collective, Sigur Rós) and other bands that I expected more from turned out mediocre fare (Passion Pit, The Avett Brothers).  Then there were the albums that had real moments of brilliance on them…but which couldn’t sustain that level of greatness throughout the entire record.   The following albums didn’t break into my top ten, but you should definitely check out the songs indicated:

  • Bloom  Beach House — ‘Myth’, ‘The Hours’, ‘Irene’
  • Charmer  Aimee Mann — ‘Labrador’, ‘Soon Enough’, ‘Slip and Roll’
  • Confess  Twin Shadow — ‘Golden Light’, ‘Five Seconds’, ‘Be Mine Tonight’
  • Lonerism  Tame Impala — ‘Feels Like We Only Go Backwards’, ‘Elephant’, ‘Sun’s Coming Up’
  • Shields  Grizzly Bear — ‘Yet Again’, ‘Gun-Shy’, ‘Half Gate’
  • Time Capsules II  Oberhofer — ‘HEART’, ‘I Could Go’, ‘oOoO’; also did a great cover of Kanye West’s ‘Runaway‘

+++++

Young Man Follow

10.  Young Man Follow  Future of Forestry — I don’t mind if I lose all indie credibility for putting a Christian, anthem rock band on my top ten.  This album falls somewhere in between Delirious?/Phil Wickham and post-Pop U2/Snow Patrol (right now, Elijah is raising his eyebrows/giving me a look of consternation/experiencing a slight taste of bile in the mouth).  I know that there’s a strong hint of  songwriting formulae, mixed with sentimental emotionalism, strategic falsetto insertion, and derivative production sleight-of-hand, but I can’t help it…I eat it up.  This is my sonic Kryptonite.  It moves me and I can’t help loving it.  So there you go.

+++++

White Rabbits

9.  Milk Famous  White Rabbits — This was a late addition to the list.  I had loved the track “Everyone Can’t Be Confused” earlier in the year, but never got around to purchasing the whole album.  Two weeks ago, I finally got it and have enjoyed the carefully orchestrated arrangement and production of each song immensely.  As I began reading reviews, many of which were not kind, there was some talk about the band selling out and transforming into Spoon-lite (one of that band’s members produced the album).  I actually can’t stand Spoon, but I love these guys!

+++++

Fiona Apple

8.  The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do  Fiona Apple — I’ll be honest, I’m not such a fan of the craziness that exists inside this woman’s head, but her startlingly stark songwriting, passionate confessionalism, and uncompromising originality make this album a work of undeniable greatness.

+++++

Port of Morrow

7.  Port of Morrow  The Shins — There may be some measure of sentiment and nostalgia in this pick.  The 2001 album Oh, Inverted World was a life-changer for me (a moment captured and corrupted in Zach Braff’s film Garden State) and I can hear echoes of those glorious times in songs like “It’s Only Life,” “No Way Down,” and “For a Fool.”  For those purists who find this a shameless exploitation of The Shins brand (being that only one member of the original band plays on this album), a stance which I myself initially considered, I respectfully disagree.  The magic is still here…

+++++

Adventures in Your Own Backyard

6.  Adventures in Your Own Backyard  Patrick Watson — Watson is one of those artists whose voice alone puts him into a category of talent and beauty that should earn accolades–but he is also a brilliant songwriter and musician whose idiosyncratic vision comes into its own on this release.  If you’ve never listened to his work before, his catalog is well worth exploring, including his work with The Cinematic Orchestra.

+++++

Heaven

5.  Heaven  The Walkmen — This band has been loitering in the periphery of my musical tastes for a while–a great song here or there, but no album that absolutely blew me away.  Until now…you MUST listen to this record.

+++++

Tramp

4.  Tramp  Sharon Van Etten — Such fine, delicate songwriting; beautiful, haunting, and frequently spare instrumentation to accompany her striking, melancholy voice; and brilliant production & instrumental assistance from The National’s Aaron Dessner (who better be working on a new album himself!).  I love so many of these songs with an affection that is reserved for a select few artists.  Listen to the song belong and try not to simultaneously smile AND ache:

+++++

Break it Yourself

3.  Break It Yourself  Andrew Bird — I wrote about this album earlier in the year, wondering if it would grow on me more and more.  Boy, did it ever.  As I said before, Andrew Bird cannot make a bad album, but here, he’s certainly made a great one.  I think it really comes alive after the first 1/3 of the album is over, so don’t give up on it if you don’t immediately sense the genius.

+++++

Silver & Gold

2.  Silver and Gold  Sufjan Stevens — I’m considering this a 2013 release, even though it is a collection of EP’s that Sufjan had privately given out to friends and family over the last five or six years.  Of course I love it—I’m a Sufjanite through and through.  But beyond my dedication to the man, this really is a beautiful collection of 58 songs that I think transcend the holiday season itself and act as a meditation on the human condition as a whole, refracted through the hopes and disappointments that we connect to a particular time of year and experience of faith, family, community, and tradition.  There are haunting covers of Christmas & holiday classics (“I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Joy to the World,” “Let It Snow!” and “Silent Night”), worshipful church hymns simply arranged and devoutly performed (“Ah Holy Jesus,” “Lift Up Your Heads Ye Mighty Gates,” and “Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light”), and Sufjan originals or adaptations that stand up to any of his other records (“Justice Delivers Its Death,” “Christmas in the Room,” “The Midnight Clear,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and “The Child with the Star on His Head”) along with a myriad of lovely instrumental meditations (my favorites include “Make Haste to See the Baby,” “Go Nightly Cares,” and “Even the Earth Will Perish and the Universe Give Way”), crazy experimental electronica (not my favorite genre but occasionally delightful), and simple fun communal musical merry-making.  It’s also fun to view the collection in tandem with the albums he was working on during these years (The BQE and The Age of Adz).  You can actually download some of the best tracks for free on Sufjan’s Noisetrade page—and that is a truly wonderful gift from the greatest artist of our age.

+++++

Fear Fun

1.  Fear Fun  Father John Misty — One day this year, I was listening to an unbelievably compelling live set of songs on KCRW by a band whose name I somehow kept missing.  I finally went onto the station website and discovered that it was Father John Misty.  This is the first release under this band name by J. Tillman, former drummer from Fleet Foxes.  I had some of his previous solo releases post-FF, which were pretty average folkish meanderings.  But this!  On this album, Tillman discovers some kind of alchemy that turns his melancholy into the rarest kind of beauty and wonder.  His songs sound like they were written 40 or 30 or 20 years ago—any age but now, yet they simultaneously capture the hidden spirit of some mystical contemporary world surrounding us that we may not perceive.  Even the songs I don’t absolutely “like” have a tangible genius to them.  I didn’t want to like this album—the creepy cover, the hipster pedigree, the critical darlingness of it.  But, for me, in 2012, this was it.

+++++

Greg’s honourable mentions (albums)

  • Among the Leaves  Sun Kil Moon — Such lovely instrumentation and melodies; such bothersome narcissistic lyrics
  • Born to Die  Lana Del Rey — I think one is not supposed to like this album due to its contrivances, over-production, other myriad reasons—nevertheless, I found it strangely compelling in a fashion from start to finish
  • Lonesome Dreams  Lord Huron — Quality folk/Americana
  • Strange Land  Yellow Ostrich — This ended up on exactly no one’s top ten—yet really quite a solid indie rock record!
  • Who’s Feeling Young Now  Punch Brothers — Not enough substance to crack the top 10, but some real winning songwriting here, with a eminently listenable sound throughout

Greg’s honourable mentions (EPs)

Best Albums of 2011

2012 is nearly upon us, which means it’s time for our Best Albums of 2011 list here at Lost in the Cloud!  We’ve been conscientiously consuming music to both nourish our culturally gluttonous souls and to deliver a collection of what we consider to be the finest music released this year.  Last month we proudly presented our Best Songs of 2011 list and now we have painstakingly selected our top ten albums each.  In 2010, we (Greg & Elijah) shared five albums in common on our Best Albums list.  This year we have discovered that we only share one album in common, which may be an indication of our decomposing friendship (we’re only joking, of course!), but this means that while last year we shared 15 ‘best’ albums between the two of us, this year we are presenting you with a 19-album smörgåsbord!

Elijah’s Top 10 Albums of ’11

10.  Bon Iver Bon Iver — Concerning Bon Iver’s 2008 release of For Emma, Forever Ago, a friend once commented, ‘Take the reverb away and there’s nothing there.’  I couldn’t help but agree at the time.  This is my confession: I wasn’t a huge Bon Iver fan, in fact, I wasn’t a Bon Iver fan before this record.  [I can already feel the rage boiling up inside many LITC readers…]  But Bon Iver captured me in its move beyond the self-wallowing, isolated cabin chat of For Emma.  This new record is a beautiful collection of multilayered sound and place names (some real, some fictitious), standing on its own without some self-indulgent backstory (though this is not attack on Justin Vernon, who is a lovely, lovely man).  I think it could’ve done without ‘Beth/Rest’…  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: ‘Towers’, ‘Wash.’ and ‘Calgary’.

9.   Demolished Thoughts Thurston Moore — When I first heard that Beck was producing a Thurston Moore solo album I was ecstatic, but I immediately began to feed myself a significant amount of scepticism leading up to its release.  Could the actualisation of such a record truly be as great as it sounds?  Probably not.  With this dose of low expectation I found myself pleasantly taken aback by Demolished Thoughts, and my appreciation only grew with additional listens.  This album plays on Moore’s Sonic Youth strengths and—like Lou Barlow—makes me feel like it’s the mid-90s in all the best ways while not sounding like ‘that guy from Sonic Youth’s side project’.  And perhaps the early stages of Moore’s separation from his wife of 27 years, SY singer/bassist/guitarist Kim Gordon, contributed to the depth of his sometimes heartbreaking songwriting.  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: ‘Benediction’, ‘Circulation’ and ‘Mina Loy’.

8.   Dancer Equired Times New Viking — I love lo-fi and the grittiness of Born Again Revisited, number eight on my Best Albums of 2009 list, was a significant part of its ranking alone.  While this record isn’t ‘clean’ by contemporary production standards, it is far less mucky than TNV’s previous releases.  But the lo-fi onslaught isn’t the only reason why I love TNV.  Their beautifully lazy harmonies and their catchy, shoegazy simplicity are what really attract me.  I’d even say that Dancer Equired is their catchiest record to date, though I don’t suspect these songs will be employed in any television adverts any time soon.  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: ‘No Room to Live’, ‘Downtown Eastern Bloc’ and ‘Fuck Her Tears’.

7.   Helplessness Blues Fleet Foxes — Fleet Foxes once again demonstrate their command of the Americana genre.  While I was not entirely blown away by their debut record, I was able to recognise their talent and potential.  I was eager to pick up Helplessness Blues and it did not disappoint.  Principal songwriter Robin Pecknold taps into the soul of a man twice his age and delivers timeless lyrics with a well-groomed musical backbone.  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: ‘Battery Kinzie’, ‘Helplessness Blues’ and ‘Grown Ocean’.

6.   Strange Mercy St Vincent — Annie Clark takes a step in the right direction with Strange Mercy.  Building upon her previous efforts, Clark explores both the cheery and dark on Strange Mercy (I find ‘Cruel’ and its accompanying video especially haunting).  As a whole, and perhaps because of this ‘darker’ element, the album is more engaging than her previous material.  While more sonically stripped-down than Actor (an honourable mention from 2009’s list), Strange Mercy somehow feels fuller and more mature.  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: ‘Chloe in the Afternoon’, ‘Surgeon’ and ‘Dilettante’ (not picked merely because of the ‘Elijah’ mentioned…).

5.   Father, Son, Holy Ghost Girls — About Father, Son, Holy Ghost, I will first say that I found this record a bit of a disappointment, but disappointment is a relative word.  Unlike most other sophomore records in which I prepared myself for disappointment with low expectations, I actually suspected that this new Girls record would be my number one pick before even listening to it.  Upon further listens I only grew more fond of their previous record, Album, ranked number six on my Best Albums of 2009 list, and last year’s EP, Broken Dreams Club, was equally impressive.  But generally speaking, Father, Son, Holy Ghost is an excellent record.  While I wouldn’t consider it a significant improvement on Album I also wouldn’t consider it any sort of regression.  Unlike the front-heavy Album, Father, Son, Holy Ghost builds up into its eight-minute ‘Forgiveness’ before bringing us back down for the final two tracks.  Like Album, this record does a fine job of holding in tension both the child and adult that is singer/guitar Christopher Owens, and it is certainly worth its place on this Best of 2011 list.  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: ‘Honey Bunny’, ‘My Ma’ and ‘Forgiveness’.

4.   The Year of Hibernation Youth Lagoon — For me, The Year of Hibernation was 2011’s most striking discovery.  Having heard the album without having previously known anything about its creator I was shocked to find that Youth Lagoon is just one person, Idaho-based Trevor Powers, and that Mr Powers is only 22 years old (which causes me to ask the question, ‘Elijah, what are you doing with your life‽’).  The Year of Hibernation, recorded for next to nothing by a 22-year-old in his bedroom in Idaho, offers far more than the sum of its parts.  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: ‘Posters’, ’17’ and ‘Montana’.

3.   Let England Shake PJ Harvey — PJ Harvey has released some excellent records – Dry, Rid of Me, Is This Desire?, etc.  But Let England Shake—which earned Harvey her second Mercury Award—may very well be her strongest.  While neither as dark nor necessarily as ‘personal’ as some of her previous efforts, this album is brimming with creativity.  Harvey did her homework for this record, which explores some contemporary conflicts in British history, ranging from the Gallipoli campaign to the more recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Without coming across as a ‘topical’ or ‘protest’ album, Harvey paints a critical and sober picture of Western military domination and its consequences both domestically and abroad.  The music’s excellent too (Harvey picks up an autoharp for this record!).  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: ‘Let England Shake’, ‘The Last Living Rose’ and ‘Hanging in the Wire’.

2.   Dye It Blonde Smith Westerns — What can I say, I’m a fan of good pop music.  This record is just one of several that caught me entirely by surprise this year.  While I had heard and enjoyed Smith Westerns’ first release, The Smith Westerns, it did not strike me in a way that would compel me to consider it one of my favourite records of 2009.  But this record demonstrates significant pop songwriting maturation, songwriting the vein of—dare I say—The Beatles (specifically King George).  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: ‘Weekend’, ‘All Die Young’ and ‘Smile’.

1.   Belong The Pains of Being Pure at Heart — After their debut record (which was an honourable mention on my Best Albums of 2009 list) I had no idea where PoBPaH (some acronym is necessary with such an obnoxiously long name) might go.  They had successfully composed an album in the style of 1980s Brit-pop with their first record.  I expected any subsequent releases to merely replicate that formula with varied success.  But this record is a witness to PoBPaH’s evolution into a true force to be reckoned with.  If we’re grouping the sound by decade, Belong showcases more of a 90s alt-rock feel than its predecessor.  While it’s unlikely to be found in the top spot on many other ‘Best Albums of 2011’ lists, I’ve only grown more fond of this record over the course of 2011 and can safely say that as a whole it is my favourite.  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: ‘Belong’, ‘Anne with an E’ and ‘My Terrible Friend’.

Elijah’s Honourable mentions

Because there were so many great albums this year (though I must confess, none quite as great as last year’s Age of Adz), I’ve taken the liberty of sharing an additional 15 albums that I believe are worth owning:

Elijah’s Biggest Disappointments of ’11

  • Parallax Atlas Sound — I am a huge fan of Bradford Cox and his band, Deerhunter, and solo project, Atlas Sound.  Cox’s first Atlas Sound release, Logos, placed ninth on my Best Albums of 2009 list and Deerhunter’s excellent Halcyon Digest placed third on my Best Albums of 2010 list.  While Parallax has received a fair amount of praise from critics I find that it only has a few songs that rise to the high standard set by Cox’s other efforts: ‘Mona Lisa’, ‘Angel is Broken’ and ‘Lightworks’.
  • Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds — I bought this record on a whim with the hope that Noel would offer something better than Liam’s Beady Eye project.  Unfortunately my foray into bestselling music was a tremendous let down.  Noel was the musical brains behind Oasis, but he’s capable of so much more than this record.

+++++

Greg’s Top 10 Albums of ’11

This has been a strange year in music for me.  A while back, I wrote a post about a number of albums coming out this year by bands whom I loved—four of which have ended up on this list.  Yet, due to a phenomenon that I am calling “the tragedy of unanticipated mediocrity,” a number of the other albums were crushing disappointments: boring, lifeless, and one-dimensional.  Even the ones that made the list (or almost made it—Low‘s C’mon) were a mixed bag, in which the album was only saved because the highs were so high that they overshadowed the lows.  This type of confounded expectations from bands that I dearly adore, like Bright Eyes, Radiohead, Cass McCombs (who had TWO swings for the fence, yet almost completely struck out), Panda Bear and, to a lesser extent (in terms of my adoration), DeVotchKa, We Were Promised Jetpacks, and Norman Blake’s new band, Jonny, elicited a certain measure of disorientation and disillusionment–if I couldn’t trust Radiohead to make even a passably good album (which I felt The King of Limbs wasn’t–not even a strong EP’s worth of songs) and the Bright Eyes “comeback” LP (which some critics called their definitive work) turned out to be a messy collection of B-side material strung together with clips of some bizarre, deluded pseudo-preacher, then what sense was there in the world at all? This was my year of losing faith in the old (indie) gods…

Another surprising feature of my picks for this year was the number that reflected some subgenre of electronic music, a style for which I have never had any great affection but which I have been developing a taste for due to albums from Passion Pit, the last few Animal Collective releases, and especially Twin Shadow, whose album was on last year’s Best Albums post.  I guess an old dog can learn to appreciate some new high-pitched whistles!

10.   12 Desperate Straight Lines Telekinesis — This album could end up much higher upon my favorites of the year, but to be completely honest, I just downloaded the full album today (this bumped off Low’s C’mon for the last spot on the list here…sad, but what can be done with a half-great album).  This is super duper INDIE-POP/ROCK, but it’s so well crafted, exhilarating, and above all KOOL AS ALL GET OUT!  This is this year’s Fang Island for my money.  A jolt of propulsive rhythms (the singer is the drummer!), thick driving bass lines, and Jeff Tweedy-esque vocals.  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: “You Turn Clear in the Sun,” “Dirty Thing,” “Car Crash,” and “Country Lane.”

9.   Burst Apart The Antlers — The Antlers and Bon Iver have a few things in common, to my mind.  First, the falsetto.  Second, the emergence of both bands in the last few years with epic debut albums (though there were apparently a few prior albums for The Antlers, Hospice was what put them on the aural map) that reflected a profound life-change quite beautifully.  Third, second albums that are much richer tonally, more diverse and layered, and resemble a flower opening up.  That being said, in the contest between the two albums this year, The Antlers’ Burst Apart win hands down (though Bon Iver is a strong honourable mention).  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: “I Don’t Want Love,” “Parentheses,” and “No Widows.”

8.   Rapprocher Class Actress — Some of the appeal of this album has to be found in the way that the synthesizer settings, drum tracks, and melodic pop songwriting takes me on a nostalgia trip back to another time: the mid-1980’s.  Seriously, we’re talking ABC, Pet Shop Boys, early Madonna, and some synthpop artists that are buried so deep in my subconscious that I am afraid to call them up, lest I find myself swept back into that age of longing, confusion, and heartache.  This album is half irresistible loveliness and the other half, resistible attempts at the former.  Still, if you skip some of the tracks in the middle, you will have a nearly quintessential example of the sythnaissance that is happening in music today.  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: “Keep You” (which is PERFECT!), “Love Me Like You Used To,” “Weekend,” and “Missed.”

7.   Build a Rocket Boys! Elbow — I wanted to love this album so much.  Yet it took a while to grow on me and still hasn’t completely won me over.  Still, Guy Garvey is the king of melancholic nostalgia & lyrical subversion and the band are in top form musically in the more mellow of their modes.  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: “Lippy Kids” (another eternally perfect song), “The Night Will Always Win,” and “Open Arms.”  (PS. Am I the only one who hears the intro theme from PRI’s program “The World” in the track “With Love” on this album?)

6.   Last of the Country Gentlemen Josh T. Pearson — Sorry about that girl’s lack of a shirt.  Josh T. Pearson is a strange and incredible man, about whom Elijah and I have written here so I need not say more.  SONGS TO CHECK OUT: It’s only 7 songs…pretty much all of them.

5.   Strange Negotiations David Bazan — Wrote about this album in detail here, including best tracks.  (And sorry for that girl’s lack of pants.)

4.   Helplessness Blues Fleet Foxes — Finally, no nudity on the cover.  I’m with Elijah on this, so you may see his write-up above.

3.   The Devil’s Walk Apparat — The fact that this album has not received any more attention this year makes me want to cry like a man at a Twilight screening.  It is simply amazing, so lovely, so hauntingly textured, the very best kind of electronic music and with a voice sweet as a mature Jeff Buckley.  I don’t really know anything about this band—which I think may actually be only one person, but you really owe it to yourself, and to the entire human race, to check the first few tracks out and see if you don’t buy it.

2.   Degeneration Street The Dears — Oh how I wanted this to be my number one album.  I am such a tremendous fan of songwriter/singer Murray Lightburn, but The Dears last album was deeply underwhelming and I feared that the bands best days were behind them (I’ve said it many times here, but their Gang of Losers is one of the best albums in existence).  And then, Degeneration Street appeared and I saw that they were back in every possible way (well, maybe some of the lyrics don’t quite meet the very highest standards).  I love this album—so very much.  I hope you would too.  Give it a chance.  They deserve to be topping lists all over the world, yet have been absent for all I can ascertain.  Tragic.

1.   Making Mirrors Gotye — I did NOT want for this to be my top album.  I actually resisted it quite vociferously.  “Gotye”—what kind of name is that?—and he looks like he would be a percussionist in Phish and he’s playing with all of these genres that I don’t even like—soul, electro-reggae, a kind of Peter Gabriel-esque “world pop” or something—and I think that this album is actually kind of…popular in some places in the world (imagine a pair of hipster glasses on Brando’s Col. Kurtz as he mutters, “The horror…the horror!”).  Yet, in the end, the singular talent of this guy (and his accomplices, particularly whomever is playing drums) broke through all of my resistance.  You may entirely disagree with me.  Heck, part of ME disagrees with me.  Yet, the other part won and convinced my fingers that the only place to put this album was at the very top.  You may listen to it here and decide for yourself.  (Also, I think the last song is about a cat dying, and it makes me tear up.)

Greg’s Honourable mentions

  • 100 Lovers DeVotchKa — There are a number of quite good songs here.
  • Bon Iver Bon Iver
  • C’mon Low
  • Portamento The Drums — Another singer/drummer act with some great tracks.

Best Songs of 2011

In anticipation of our favourite annual post here at LITC—Best Albums of such-and-such year—we are proud to share fifty tracks that we think are the best released this year.  Trust us, there was so much good music released this year that we found picking our fifty favourite tracks to be a rather excruciating process. We’d also love to hear about any songs that you feel should not have been left off of this list in the comments section! So without further ado, here are our fifty favourite tracks from 2011 (in alphabetical order):

  1. ‘All the Sand in All the Sea’   DeVotchKa   100 Lovers
  2. ‘Angel Is Broken’   Atlas Sound   Parallax
  3. ‘Animal’   Neon Trees   Habits   
  4. ‘Ash/Black Veil’   Apparat   The Devil’s Walk  
  5. ‘Battery Kinzie’   Fleet Foxes   Helplessness Blues
  6. ‘Belong’   The Pains of Being Pure at Heart   Belong
  7. ‘Circulation’   Thurston Moore   Demolished Thoughts
  8. ‘Codex’   Radiohead   The King Of Limbs
  9. ‘Country Dumb’   Josh T. Pearson   Last of the Country Gentlemen
  10. ‘Cruel’   St Vincent   Strange Mercy
  11. ‘Days’   The Drums   Portamento
  12. ‘Degeneration Street’   The Dears   Degeneration Street
  13. ‘Don’t Move’   Phantogram   Nightlife EP
  14. ‘Downtown Eastern Bloc’   Times New Viking   Dancer Equired
  15. ‘5 Chords’   The Dears   Degeneration Street
  16. ‘Fuck This Place’   Frightened Rabbit   A Frightened Rabbit EP 
  17. ‘Galactic Tides’   The Dears   Degeneration Street
  18. ‘Heaven’s Gonna Happen Now’   The Pains of Being Pure at Heart   Belong
  19. ‘Helplessness Blues’   Fleet Foxes   Helplessness Blues
  20. ‘Honey Bunny’   Girls   Father, Son, Holy Ghost
  21. ‘I Don’t Want Love’   The Antlers   Burst Apart   
  22. ‘Keep You’   Class Actress   Rapprocher     
  23. ‘The King’   RAMESH   The King
  24. ‘The Last Living Rose’   PJ Harvey   Let England Shake
  25. ‘Lippy Kids’   Elbow   Build A Rocket Boys!
  26. ‘Montana’   Youth Lagoon   Youth Lagoon
  27. ‘Municipality’   Real Estate   Days
  28. ‘No Room to Live’   Times New Viking   Dancer Equired
  29. ‘No Widows’   The Antlers   Burst Apart
  30. ‘People’   David Bazan   Strange Negotiations
  31. ‘Save Me’   Gotye   Making Mirrors
  32. ‘Scottish Winds’   Frightened Rabbit   A Frightened Rabbit EP
  33. ‘17’   Youth Lagoon   Youth Lagoon
  34. ‘Smile’   Smith Westerns   Dye It Blonde
  35. ‘Somebody That I Used to Know’   Gotye (ft. Kimbra)   Making Mirrors
  36. ‘Song Of Los’   Apparat   The Devil’s Walk  
  37. ‘Steve McQueen’   M83   Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
  38. ‘Strange Negotiations’   David Bazan   Strange Negotiations
  39. ‘Sweetheart I Aint Your Christ’   Josh T. Pearson   Last of the Country Gentlemen
  40. ‘Tatooine’   Jeremy Messersmith   Tatooine Single
  41. ‘To Every Man His Chimera’   Cass McCombs   Humor Risk
  42. ‘Trembling Hands’   Explosions in the Sky   Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
  43. ‘Try to Sleep’   Low   C’mon
  44. ‘Under My Nose’   Fucked Up   David Comes to Life
  45. ‘Video Games’   Lana Del Rey   Video Games
  46. ‘Wait’  Alberta Cross   The Rolling Thunder EP 
  47. ‘Wash’   Bon Iver   Bon Iver
  48. ‘Weekend’   Class Actress   Rapprocher  
  49. ‘Weekend’   Smith Westerns   Dye It Blonde
  50. ‘Your Eyes’   Bombay Bicycle Club   A Different Kind of Fix

If you’d like to check out these tracks for temporary review before you go out and buy the single or the record, you may click here to have a listen.

Keep a lookout for our upcoming Best Albums of 2011 post!

Band Evangelist, ch. 3

BEHOLD, the kingdom of heavenly music has come near!!  I come to you once again with the proclamation of good taste, so that you may keep your ears open for bands that are bearing good fruit–and I’m talking about music that will baptize you with the Indie Spirit!!

A voice calling out in the sonic wilderness…

–The Dears/Degeneration Street (February 15):  The Dears are among that coterie of artists whom I will probably always follow, based upon the brilliant songsmithery of Murray Lightburn (the Afro-Canadian Morrissey), most gloriously displayed in their impeccable 2006 album Gang of Losers.  Their last outing, Missiles, was a bit hit-and-miss, but I have greater expectations for this new album based on what I’ve heard so far.  Download free song here, along with pre-order information. [UPDATE:  The whole album is streaming here!]

–Bright Eyes/The People’s Key (February 15):  Supposedly, this may be one of Conor Oberst’s greatest albums, solo or with Bright Eyes (I am partial to their 2002 masterpiece Lifted).  I am going to wait to hear this when I get the physical CD in my hands (I’m old-skool like that).  You can stream the full album at NPR’s webpage.

–Elbow/build a rocket boys (March 7):  Ah, there is an eternal soft spot in my heart for this band…their last album, The Seldom Seen Kid, was a masterpiece, though previous efforts have been spotty.  I have no idea what this album will sound like, but on faith, I’ve ordered the deluxe import edition on Amazon.  Not sure if there will be an American release or what…

–Josh T. Pearson/The Last of the Country Gentlemen (March 29):  Pearson was the genius behind the one-album legendary band Lift to Experience (The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads was #2 on my top albums of the 2000’s).  This guy has a haunting magnetism in his voice, lyrics, composition, and instrumentation that is rare as a blue rose–I’m hoping to see him live in Scotland at the end of March as his shows are apparently life-changing.  You may get a free download of an alternate take from the album here for the simple price of your email address. [Update:  there is a version with bonus CD available on Rough Trade! And here‘s another free download.]

–Cass McCombs/Wit’s End (April 12):  This guy always intrigues me–I can’t quite place his genre–it seems at moments that he belongs to another time–but I am fascinated by the unique and enigmatic work he consistently puts out.  You may check out a track here.

–Low/C’mon (April 12):  Slowcore gods (they’re Mormon, so I guess that’s not as blasphemous to say) that have long been able to produce hauntingly beautiful songs with nary an excessive note in the mix.  Download the lovely track “Try to Sleep” here.

–Panda Bear/Tomboy (April 12):  I’m not quite sure if this will live up to some of the work he’s done in the past & most likely cannot touch his contributions to Animal Collective‘s albums (if you’re unfamiliar with them, I’d recommend Feels & Merriweather Post Pavilion).  I’ve got the title track and it has a fun groove, if not rather loose and loopish.

–Fleet Foxes/Helplessness Blues (May 3):  After all the hype died down, I found that I really did like these guys quite a great deal (as well as side projects White Antelope & J. Tillman).  From the sound of it, this is going to be lush lovely in the same vein as their eponymous LP.  Download the title track of the new album here.

There you have it, 8 amazing releases in just a few months time.  I really couldn’t be happier for the state of music in 2011 (supposedly Radiohead has a new album that should be coming out this year, as well as a new U2 album–don’t roll your eyes, and a new Coldplay album–ok, you can roll your eyes now, but I’m sure I’ll still buy it).

Any other impending recommendations that I’ve missed?

[Update:  The Low Anthem, whose previous album Oh My God, Charlie Darwin was brilliantly lovely and intriguing, has a new work, Smart Flesh, coming out on February 22, which can be streamed in full here]

A modest proposal for Sufjan Stevens regarding the completion of his 50 States Project

Dear Sufjan,

The other day my friend Erin Hennessy saw you on the F train in NYC, but she couldn’t get up the nerve to say anything to you.  That got me thinking of what I would say to you if I ran into you (even though I never would, as I live on the other side of the country).  The first thing that came to mind was to talk to you about your 50 states project, which you began so beautifully with Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State and Illinois/The Avalanche.

Now back in the day (the early two thousands or so), I took your proclamation to make an album (or EP, maybe?) for each one of the 50 states seriously, even though some of my more cynical friends would mock me saying it was impossible for you to do in your lifetime (they would start with some calculations, ask your age, etc. PS We share the same birthday!).  The reason I believed you was because I saw this limitless sort of creative genius in you, and even beyond that, it was as if you were the Emersonian “Poet” for this generation of Americans–seeing and showing us the beauty and agony and the divine in the everyday, transforming the mundane into the sublime, telling us stories full of wonder and longing and brilliant details from towns like Ypsilanti and Holland and Romulus.

You made me suddenly attentive to the people and places of America: you imbued them with a magical luster simply by naming them in the midst of your deeply moving, melancholic, and rich melodies and arrangements, or by inserting them amongst such evocative mystical lines of verse:

When the revenant came down
We couldn’t imagine what it was
In the spirit of three stars
The alien thing that took its form
Then to Lebanon, oh God!
The flashing at night, the sirens grow and grow
(Oh, history involved itself)
Mysterious shade that took its form
(Or what it was!), incarnation, three stars
Delivering signs and dusting from their eyes

-“Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois”

All that to say that I really, really wish the 50 states project would continue–I think it could become one of the national treasures of our country for centuries to come, a Leaves of Grass for the 21st century that American kids would listen to to understand where they’ve come from and what kind of people we are.  I heard at one point that you said the 50 states project was “such a joke,” but I would challenge you in earnest, if only for the sake of those future little kids, to reconsider abandoning this momentous endeavor.

Realizing that it might very well be impossible for you to write and record all of the albums yourself, what if you instead became the director of the project–you have set the standard quite high with your first two albums–and with the profound respect you have from your artistic peers, I honestly believe you could rally together the best artists from each state to collaborate with to make this happen, creating a kind of ark of American culture.

Here are some suggestions to begin with (I admit some may be wishful thinking) & I call on any reader to add to/better the selection of songwriters for any state (I have put brackets around bands with whom I have only a cursory familiarity & some states I have absolutely no idea about):

  • Alabama = The Snake the Cross the Crown
  • Alaska = Portugal The Man
  • Arizona = Calexico
  • Arkansas = ???
  • California = Elijah Wade Smith, Beck, Stephen Malkmus
  • Colorado = DeVotchKa, The Apples in Stereo
  • Connecticut = Rivers Cuomo?
  • Delaware = The Spinto Band
  • Florida = Iron & Wine, Aaron Marsh
  • Georgia = Deerhunter, Of Montreal, Bill Mallonee
  • Hawaii = Mason Jennings
  • Idaho = Built to Spill, Finn Riggins
  • Illinois = Sufjan Stevens
  • Indiana = Mock Orange
  • Iowa = Caleb Engstrom
  • Kansas = Drakkar Sauna, Mates of State, The New Amsterdams, The Appleseed Cast
  • Kentucky = Bonnie “Prince” Billy, My Morning Jacket
  • Louisiana = Jeff Mangum, Mutemath
  • Maine = [Phantom Buffalo]
  • Maryland = John Vanderslice, Wye Oak
  • Massachusetts = Lou Barlow, Winterpills
  • Michigan = Sufjan Stevens
  • Minnesota = Low, Cloud Cult, Lucky Wilbur
  • Mississippi = ???
  • Missouri = [Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin]
  • Montana = Colin Meloy
  • Nebraska = Cursive, Bright Eyes
  • Nevada = The Killers?
  • New Hampshire = [Wild Light]
  • New Jersey = Sufjan Stevens (?), Danielson, Yo La Tango
  • New Mexico = The Shins, Beirut
  • New York = The Magnetic Fields, Sonic Youth, Interpol, The Walkmen
  • North Carolina = The Mountain Goats
  • North Dakota = [The White Foliage]
  • Ohio = Robert Pollard, Over the Rhine, The National, Mark Kozelek
  • Oklahoma = The Flaming Lips, Kings of Leon
  • Oregon = Laura Veirs, M. Ward, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, The Decemberists
  • Pennsylvania = The Innocence Mission, Denison Witmer, Matt Pond PA
  • Rhode Island = The Low Anthem, Death Vessel
  • South Carolina = Band of Horses
  • South Dakota = Haley Bonar
  • Tennessee = Derek Webb
  • Texas = Josh T. Pearson, Ramesh Srivastava (formerly of Voxtrot), The Polyphonic Spree, Okkervil River, Devendra Banhart
  • Utah = [Joshua James]
  • Vermont = Anais Mitchell
  • Virginia = Thao Nguyen, Hush Arbors
  • Washington = David Bazan, Damien Jurado, Jeremy Enigk, Fleet Foxes
  • West Virginia = ???
  • Wisconsin = Bon Iver, Marla Hansen
  • Wyoming = ???

With the deepest respect & admiration,

Greg Stump

Prick Up Your Ears…2008 C.E.

What follows is my unsolicited list of the finest 10 music albums of this year.  Full disclosure:  I have a rather limited musical palate and have been called a bit “elitist” when it comes to music (i.e. all tastes are not equally valid), so I apologize ahead of time for any arrogant presumptions or pretentious hype.prick-up-pic

Continue reading “Prick Up Your Ears…2008 C.E.”