BUT ANYWAY - here's another year-end-list to throw on to the seemingly endless scrap heap of content out there. Couple of surprises this year and plenty of good albums made it an interesting one but incredibly satisfying.
High Honors:
Alkaline Trio - My Shame is True
Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic
Los Campesinos! - No Blues
Ra Ra Riot - Beta Love
Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (technically from 2012, which is why it ain't in the Top 10)
Washed Out - Paracosm
Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana
Surfer Blood - Pythons
Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse
Yo La Tengo - Fade
Top 10 of 13
10. Arctic Monkeys – AM
Everything I’ve read so far praising this album has been
all, “the Arctic Monkeys are back” and “How Alex Turner got his groove back,”
but the truth is that they’ve never went anywhere. Sure, they spun their wheels
too much on “Humbug,” but since that record their songwriting and balance of
style has only increased – and this is that record that perfectly balances it. Opener
“Do I Wanna Know?” has a seductive hook that gives way to a traditional
exploding Arctic Monkeys-style chorus, and even the chilled out “No. 1 Party
Anthem” sounds like you’re just taking a break between parties at 3 am. But if
that’s not quite your style, it’ll still sound great on a dark road at night.
9. The National – Trouble Will Find Me
For the first time, the National put out a record that I
didn’t have to wait until daylight savings time to listen to. Not to say that
the subjects in Matt Berninger’s 13 songs weren’t heavy or troubling, but more
so at how laid back the band songs. “I Should Live In Salt” has a gentle strum
in a 9/8 time signature that takes time for the band to all coalesce, while
“Graceless” and “Sea of Love” soar in swelling crescendos that should be
weighted by the subject matter, instead sound triumphant (unlike most of their
last record High Violet). Probably the best thing about the band is that they
can combine the bummed out with the humorous in their lyrics and the gentle and
abrasive in their music. They’re not ‘dad rock,’ yet, bro. Let’s just enjoy it.
8. Arcade Fire – Reflektor
What do you do when you win an unsuspecting Grammy award
(and get a nod from this guy athankyouverymuch) for ‘Album of the Year?’ This,
apparently, because that was everyone in the blogosphere’s most anticipated
question for the last three years. They didn’t need all the hype campaigning,
but it sure got people talking about what working with producer James Murphy
was going to do to them. For better or worse, that’s almost what this double
album is verbatim. The first disc shows off their adventurous side, showing off
a Haitian disco style of the band that they picked up after a trip to that
country (cause they won a Grammy, right?). Disc 2 has a bit more of the band’s
sound they’ve honed over the years, which isn’t a bad thing. Still, songs like
“Here Comes the Night Time,” “Normal Person,” “Afterlife” and the title track
rank with some of their best work thanks to all of that eclectic inspiration.
7. Danny Brown – Old
Since his verse on (RIP) Das Racist’s “Power” in 2011, I’ve
been fascinated with Danny Brown. Likely because the second I heard his
unmistakable snarl he’s been impossible to ignore, but more so because of his natural
ability to shape-shift and make any style all his own – which is exactly what
he does on Old. Side A of the album finds him at odds with himself - reflecting
on his troubled Detroit upbringing, spinning detailed stories of getting jumped
on his way to buy Wonder bread (“Wonderbread”), hearing relentless gunshots
that sound like fireworks (“Torture”) and living off of his mom’s hair cutting
money (“25 Bucks,” which features beat from the uber-hip Purity Ring). The second side is all drug-fueled Danny
Brown debauchery that anyone familiar with his previous efforts can expect. And
really, just look at that cover art.
6. Dr. Dog – B-Room
It’s almost unfair how Dr. Dog can make putting out another
great album in a year seemingly effortless. In fact, from my count, they’ve
been doing it since 2005’s Easy Beat, and this year’s B-Room is yet another
stunning addition to the already brimming Dr. Dog canon. Singer-guitarist Scott
McMicken’s opener “The Truth” seems to slowly emerge on airy strings and drifts
along a catchy hook and eventual sing-along coda, while bassist Toby Leaman
follows up with his boozy howls on “Broken Heart.” It’s that back and forth vocal
play and overall soulful sound of the band that perfectly balances this record.
“Distant Light,” “Cuckoo,” and “Nellie” are definitely some of Leaman’s best
works vocally, and McMicken is not so bad himself with “Minding the Usher,”
“Phenomenon,” and “Love.” Dr. Dog is and has been one of the best bands we have
out there, and B-Room is no exception…and I think it’s safe to say that if they
haven’t gone the Mumford route by now, they won’t be anytime soon.
5.The So-So Glows – Blowout!
In which the hometown hero brothers of Brooklyn step out of
the boroughs and destroy everything in its path, Blowout! Is the group’s best
and most concentrated effort to date. Its complete lack of pretense and a
genuine garage punk swagger make it sound like a band that rose from the ashes
of CBGB’s. Infectious guitar hooks and chorus sing-alongs are abundant on “Son
of an American,” “Diss Town,” and “Wrecking Ball.” Brothers Alex and Ryan
Levine’s songwriting skills have put the band in a place – that not unlike
their good buddies Titus Andronicus – could earn them a crossover crowd of
punks and hipsters alike. Don’t be worried, though, cause there is still a
‘fuck Hollywood’ song, and that’s some true east coast punk rock shit.
4. Kanye West – Yeezus
There are enough reasons to not want to acknowledge Kanye
West as a person at all, so when I was looking at my top played songs in iTunes
and saw “Bound 2” coming in at fourth I knew there was no denying the insanity
that is Yeezus. At this point, somehow, all of his arrogance has proven to be
simultaneously ridiculous, hilarious and brilliant. Who really knew what his
next move would be after 2010’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy except him,
keeping the making of this record completely hidden and it’s guests (including
now-bro Bon Iver) sworn to secrecy. Yeezus is an even darker, more raw Kanye
then we’ve seen yet on opener “On Sight” and then gets even deeper on the
following “Black Skinhead.” One of Kanye’s best songs might be “Blood on the
Leaves,” it booms with production by soon-to-blow-up duo TNGHT and a Nina
Simone sample. Oh, and it also compares a pregnant bitch sitting court side opposite you
and your current girl to Apartheid (that I truly hope hip-hop fan Nelson
Mandela was able to hear before he passed away). Then there’s the
aforementioned closing act “Bound 2,” which is all soul-sampling,
back-to-rapping Kanye that squashes any doubts that this is still a hip-hop
album and West isn't going anywhere. Damnit.
3. Frightened Rabbit – Pedestrian Verse
A band’s third album can often be the most difficult,
especially when you have a pretty good following and other folksy British bands
are in the Top 40 all over the world. Not to say that Glasgow, Scotland’s
Frightened Rabbit’s last album was a clunker, but it seemed to leave fans
wanting more based upon singer-songwriter Scott Hutchinson’s previous output
and maybe a bit worried they’d become a soccer mom band. Luckily, the band
refocused on Pedestrian Verse, choosing song craft over sound to great effect
and produced their most concise album to date. Hutchinson’s lyrics and ear for
melody have rarely been stronger than on “Backyard Skulls,” “Holy,” and “Late
March, Death March.” Purists will be glad that they haven’t lost any edge in
word choice either, as Hutchinson is still ‘that dickhead in the
kitchen/Stealing wine from your best girl’s glass,’ he sweetly proclaims on
opener “Acts of Man.” He even feeds off of the stadium energy the band aimed
for on that last album in the towering “The Woodpile,” one of their best songs
to date on an album that perfectly blends all of their strongest skills.
2. Queens of the Stone Age - …Like Clockwork
On a recent episode of Marc Maron’s popular podcast WTF, QOTSA mastermind Josh Homme
revealed to Maron that in the six years since the group’s last album he almost
died. Not in the Keith Moon or GG Allin kind of way that you’d expect from a
rock and roller, but instead by a MRSA brought on by his constant working
schedule and the number it did on his immune system. Homme understandably took
a few years off and seemingly distilled his demons into his best work in a
decade. …Like Clockwork is another record that champions song over sound, as
longtime fans won’t hear any extended tracks that ‘pound rhythms into your head.’
Slow-burning opener “Keep Your Eyes Peeled” rides in on a dark wave and soars
with driving guitar and drums as a panicked Homme yelps “Over and over/gasping
in horror/so breathless you surface” as he literally comes back to life. Follow
up track “I Sat By the Ocean” and “My God is the Sun” sound as if they’re
leftover from the Songs for the Deaf sessions in the best way possible, and
falsetto and creshendos make tracks like “The Vampyre of Time and Memory”
downright thrilling.
1. Vampire Weekend – Modern Vampires of the City
This was easily the best album that I’ve heard this year for
plenty of reasons, but even the first time I hit play on the opening track
“Obvious Bicycle” I could almost sense that this was a special one. Modern
Vampires of the City is the first Vampire Weekend album that plays like an
actual album rather than songs strung together, mostly thanks to front man Ezra
Koenig’s lyrics about growing up, getting old, and swooning over the sound of
someone spinning Desmond Dekker’s “Israelites” into the Rolling Stones’ “19th
Nervous Breakdown.” Swirling organs and hand-claps lighten things up on
“Unbelievers” and “Step” is a perfect song that captures everything that the
band does well with a hip-hop beat and harpsichords. “Diane Young” is
definitely the liveliest track on the alum and works this album’s version of
‘Cousins.’ “Ya Hey” ponders over religion with help from some vocal effects and
and synth skills courtesty of keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Rostam
Batmanglij. Most importantly, this is the kind of album this band needed to
make if they wanted to remain at the forefront of the music landscape. And so
now that they did make it, it seems safe to say we don’t have to wonder if
they’ll be able to do it again.
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