GOOD
The National - High Violet
At first, I couldn't get into this record because it seems more like a collection of greatest hits than a proper album, then I realized that wasn't a bad thing. Every song is good enough to be a single, even though it's all as depressing as all get out.
Broken Bells - s/t
I love the Shins. I also love Danger Mouse. So when I heard that they had gotten together and recorded this spacey pop record with lusher atmospheres than either had ever made, I was already a fan. And when I listened to it, I wasn't disappointed at all.
M.I.A. - /\/\ /\ Y /\
M.I.A. is not a stranger to politically charged take-no-prisoners pop. She's just never been so brutal or so brave before.
I love the Shins. I also love Danger Mouse. So when I heard that they had gotten together and recorded this spacey pop record with lusher atmospheres than either had ever made, I was already a fan. And when I listened to it, I wasn't disappointed at all.
M.I.A. - /\/\ /\ Y /\
M.I.A. is not a stranger to politically charged take-no-prisoners pop. She's just never been so brutal or so brave before.
Jonsi - Go
Sigur Ros has, for the past eleven years, been the go to band for orchestral hymns to the beauty and despair of what it means to be alive. So what happens when the lead singer is removed for a solo project? The same hymns, only faster and more playful, but on occasion, just as crushing. Like Thom Yorke's Eraser, this is a solo project that isn't as surprising as much as it is welcome.
Sigur Ros has, for the past eleven years, been the go to band for orchestral hymns to the beauty and despair of what it means to be alive. So what happens when the lead singer is removed for a solo project? The same hymns, only faster and more playful, but on occasion, just as crushing. Like Thom Yorke's Eraser, this is a solo project that isn't as surprising as much as it is welcome.
Gayngs - Relayted
After two releases from Bon Iver and his work in Volcano Choir, I'm convinced that everything Justin Vernon touches is gold. Relayted is an excellent example, because it shouldn't have worked at all. Eleven songs of 69 BPM soft rock doesn't exactly sound awesome, but it is. Trust me.
BETTER
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Admittedly, I didn't give this as much of a listen as it deserves, but I still recognize it as a wonderful record. It says a lot about a band when they can release a great album that can be taken for granted. This is a fitting addition to Arcade Fire's already legendary discography.
BETTER
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Admittedly, I didn't give this as much of a listen as it deserves, but I still recognize it as a wonderful record. It says a lot about a band when they can release a great album that can be taken for granted. This is a fitting addition to Arcade Fire's already legendary discography.
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest
I first fell in love with Deerhunter for their atmospheric, ghostly noise rock with a strange sounding pop song emerging from the haze every few minutes. Here, the rock is considerably less noisy and their pop song is perfected. This is a record that sounds like it wished it was still the sixties, while being tragically connected to the present.
Spoon - Transference
Spoon is just plain good. And even though Transference has an unfinished quality to it, it's just as cohesive as anything else they've released.
I first fell in love with Deerhunter for their atmospheric, ghostly noise rock with a strange sounding pop song emerging from the haze every few minutes. Here, the rock is considerably less noisy and their pop song is perfected. This is a record that sounds like it wished it was still the sixties, while being tragically connected to the present.
Spoon - Transference
Spoon is just plain good. And even though Transference has an unfinished quality to it, it's just as cohesive as anything else they've released.
Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
Any time this huge group of people from every good band in Canada get together to record, the result is wonderful. This is indie rock from the guys who wrote the text book.
Any time this huge group of people from every good band in Canada get together to record, the result is wonderful. This is indie rock from the guys who wrote the text book.
MGMT - Congratulations
Just about everyone I know hated this record, and I understand why. It's not an easy thing to make a record that you know will alienate your accidentally acquired fanbase, even if it's an incredible record. Here, MGMT harkens back to the psychedelia of the Doors and Syd Barret era Pink Floyd without sounding like a rip off.
Just about everyone I know hated this record, and I understand why. It's not an easy thing to make a record that you know will alienate your accidentally acquired fanbase, even if it's an incredible record. Here, MGMT harkens back to the psychedelia of the Doors and Syd Barret era Pink Floyd without sounding like a rip off.
BEST
Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid
At some point during the funk barrage of the first three proper songs, you'll ask yourself, "Has Janelle Monae really not heard any music released since 1977?" But as you hear the punk rock pulse of "Come Alive" or the Britpop of "Oh, Maker," or the indie rush of "Cold War," you'll realize that she's heard just about everything that's been released since then, and somehow made an album that influence-drops James Brown and Jack White in juxtaposed tracks while still sounding cohesive. Also, it's a concept album about a messianic android that falls in love, but it's subtle enough that you wouldn't notice the first few times through.
At some point during the funk barrage of the first three proper songs, you'll ask yourself, "Has Janelle Monae really not heard any music released since 1977?" But as you hear the punk rock pulse of "Come Alive" or the Britpop of "Oh, Maker," or the indie rush of "Cold War," you'll realize that she's heard just about everything that's been released since then, and somehow made an album that influence-drops James Brown and Jack White in juxtaposed tracks while still sounding cohesive. Also, it's a concept album about a messianic android that falls in love, but it's subtle enough that you wouldn't notice the first few times through.
LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
Dance music, as a genre, has a pretty fundamental flaw in that there's not really too much you can do within its boundaries of 4/4 beats and synthesizers, which is why most of it sounds like mindless pop music. This Is Happening is what dance music sounds like with a brain. And a heart. A lonely, contemplative, sarcastic heart.
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
How does Kanye West top a year of putting his foot in his mouth and acting the fool? By dropping the biggest and best rap album of his career. One listen will remind you that Kanye West is Kanye West, and no one does any of it better than Kanye West.
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
It's no coincidence that the newest Gorillaz album found the animated live shows being replaced by live action performances featuring a huge crowd of performers, including Mos Def, Snoop Dogg, the Clash's Mick Jones and Paul Simon, legends Jeff Beck and Bobbie Womack, and in the center of the hugeness, Damon Albarn, who has been the hidden puppet master of the group all along. It's like in Wizard of Oz when the curtain was pulled and you see the real Wizard, only the man behind the curtain is bigger and more powerful and even more brilliant than you imagined in the first place.
Dance music, as a genre, has a pretty fundamental flaw in that there's not really too much you can do within its boundaries of 4/4 beats and synthesizers, which is why most of it sounds like mindless pop music. This Is Happening is what dance music sounds like with a brain. And a heart. A lonely, contemplative, sarcastic heart.
Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
How does Kanye West top a year of putting his foot in his mouth and acting the fool? By dropping the biggest and best rap album of his career. One listen will remind you that Kanye West is Kanye West, and no one does any of it better than Kanye West.
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
It's no coincidence that the newest Gorillaz album found the animated live shows being replaced by live action performances featuring a huge crowd of performers, including Mos Def, Snoop Dogg, the Clash's Mick Jones and Paul Simon, legends Jeff Beck and Bobbie Womack, and in the center of the hugeness, Damon Albarn, who has been the hidden puppet master of the group all along. It's like in Wizard of Oz when the curtain was pulled and you see the real Wizard, only the man behind the curtain is bigger and more powerful and even more brilliant than you imagined in the first place.
Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
When I was living in Chicago last summer, I came across three new Sufjan Stevens songs on YouTube that were unlike the Sufjan I knew before. They were glitchy, frantic, hugely long, and beautiful. Since that first listen, I had waited for any news on a new album like a puppy waiting for his owners to come home with dinner. When All Delighted People came out in the fall, I was disappointed to find those three tracks missing. But when he said, "But wait, there's more! New full length in a month!" I waited again, and was delighted to find those three songs, plus an entire album to match.
When I was living in Chicago last summer, I came across three new Sufjan Stevens songs on YouTube that were unlike the Sufjan I knew before. They were glitchy, frantic, hugely long, and beautiful. Since that first listen, I had waited for any news on a new album like a puppy waiting for his owners to come home with dinner. When All Delighted People came out in the fall, I was disappointed to find those three tracks missing. But when he said, "But wait, there's more! New full length in a month!" I waited again, and was delighted to find those three songs, plus an entire album to match.
