When I look back at the month and 12 days worth of albums that have come out so far this year, I realize there have been a ton of great ones. It's kind of crazy really how many albums have blown me away and been totally surprising in their quality.
That led me to encourage my listing nature even more: I'm going to update every month with my five favorite albums from the previous month (based off when I acquired them, not off of release date). So here we go with the inaugural edition of this trite and ridiculous exercise that I love putting upon myself.
1. Owen Pallett - Heartland
Why it's number one: Owen Pallett, previously recorded under the name Final Fantasy and string arranger for Arcade Fire, is a bit of a virtuoso when it comes to instrumental arrangements. He makes some of the most cleverly designed songs in the world today, and his sound ends up being somewhat akin to a marriage of Jens Lekman and Andrew Bird, with perhaps a bit of the instrumental verbosity of Anathallo or Sufjan Stevens. It's a hell of a record that really works in every situation you can put it in, acting as a bit of a musical skeleton key. Can't praise it enough.
2. Vampire Weekend - Contra
Why it's number two: I've talked about this plenty, so I won't go into too many details on this record. It's Vampire Weekend doing what they do best but filling it with a lot more of the electronic influence that they have shown in recent side projects. It's only ten tracks, but 7 of them are complete smashes, one is damn good, and two are decent. If this album was a baseball player, it would have been Barry Bonds circa 2001. Except Bud Selig would have said "no Barry, it's cool if you use steroids."
Oh wait.
3. Hot Chip - One Life Stand
Why it's number three: I just reviewed this earlier this week, so my thoughts on it should be fresh. It's the most complete record Hot Chip has made to date with eleven straight damn good tracks drawing the listener in. While it may not have reached the same peaks of their previous records, it's more than made up for by a previously unseen consistency from the band. Plus, you have to love an album that effortlessly makes you want to dance and practically compels you to be happy. One should never underrate such a simple and forgettable trait as that.
4. Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM
Why it's number four: This album came out of nowhere for me, but I guess it shouldn't given that it's an album featuring the sultry voice Gainsbourg with all tracks written and produced by Beck. In a lot of ways, this album feels like a mix between Feist and St. Vincent. Feist has a tendency to verge on the side of innocence too much, while St. Vincent can be a bit on the darker side. While Gainsbourg touches on both of those polar opposites (particularly on the St. Vincent side with the French language track "Le Chat du Café des Artistes", which is ridden with a flair for the ominous), she provides a good balance that results in one hell of a release.
5. Beach House - Teen Dream
Why it's number five: While I liked their previous release Devotion, it had a tendency to fall too easily into the background. Just because it's dreamy pop does not mean it has to be music lost in the transition of day to day life. This album though has a level of immediacy that is sorely lacking from that previous release. When combined with the innate beauty of the vocals and the arrangements, it's hard not to be swept off to a different place. This album gets bonus points for making me whistle as I walk around the gym listening to it, making me that weird guy who whistles while working out. Thanks for that Beach House!
When a band releases a successful first album they are placed in a very unenviable position once they decide to follow it up. You have a fork in the road as a collective of artists: keep on the path that worked so well the first time or forge ahead in an entirely new direction because that is what feels right.
The former decision is tricky because of two reasons. First, if you're successful in your venture you are questioned by fans because you didn't attempt to expand your sound and challenge yourself. Second, if you aren't successful you are dismissed as a one hit wonder who got lucky (if that is at all possible when it comes to art).
If you make the latter decision you are faced with very similar realities. Attaining your goal brings you the onslaught of fans who lament the loss of the band they used to love, while botching the job drives fans to question how talented you are (again).
Given that Vampire Weekend didn't just release a successful debut but perhaps the most universally acclaimed debut of the past decade save The Strokes initial release Is This It, this pressure is even greater upon them. What could they do to possibly survive the expectations?
Well, to me, it appears that they selected the option so many artists miss. Following the lead of other immediate successes like The Strokes or Interpol, Vampire Weekend created a fairly similar album to their debut while expanding their sound in other directions they were interested in.
While Contra is not the top to bottom stunner that their self titled debut was, I find it hard to fault them for most any decision they made and it is almost as enjoyable of a listen in a whole different way.
I think part of the reason why they struck gold once again is similar to why The Strokes did as well. While the band is great as a whole, each individual artist has disparate interests that they bring into the equation. VW is much the same way, although I think as a band they are more top heavy with Ezra Koenig and Rostam Batmanglij bringing most of the creative heat.
In between their self titled debut and Contra we've seen pieces of what to expect to be added to their sound. Whether it's Rostam Batmanglij's work with Ra Ra Riot's Wes Miles in their electropop side project Discovery or Ezra Koenig's singing on The Very Best's "Warm Heart of Africa", you see a lot of the warm washes of electronic influences that eventually will permeate through Contra.
While we still have the instruments in hand from time to time, gone are the days when they sell us with pure pop blasts crafted around angular guitars, drums and Koenig's vocals like they did with debut single "A-Punk." Okay, maybe even that is a lie as they still manage to have a knock your socks and shoes off two minute and 26 second jam in lead single "Cousins." But the point is, this band is a one that keeps all of the charm from their first album but pours it more into dreamy, atmospheric soundscapes.
The album begins with two tracks that almost act as rubrics for what we should expect from this album - "Horchata" and "White Sky." "Horchata" was the first track we heard off this album and something that was initially off putting to me. Yet, it has steadily grown and worked to ably prepare me for what to expect from this album with its pulsing synths, swirling strings, and charming steel drums. "White Sky" takes it to the next level, and in many ways feels like what the Koenig sung track from Discovery's album should have sound like: jangly synths, driving drums, and perfect opportunities for Afropop influenced vocal affectations (particularly in the chorus). A perfect intro to their new sound.
Of course, this is naturally where my two least favorite tracks fall. "Holiday" feels like a Vampire Weekend contribution to a The Strokes cover album - it's a decent song but feels too ordinary for them, while "California English" is burdened with borderline laughable auto-tune and cheesy instrumentation during the chorus. The song is partially saved by a very strong final minute or so when the strings kicked in, but these two tracks are my least favorite VW releases to date.
"Taxi Cab" and "Run" return us to the more dreamy elements of the first two tracks, with buoyant synths, twinkling pianos, and Koenig's lilting vocals making these two of the stronger tracks on the album. These are perhaps the prettiest songs the band has ever released and stand out as unique even amongst their brethren on this album.
"Cousins" comes next, and as I said this track is a bomb of energy. It comes at the perfect moment, as VW cared for their track listing on this album. They knew after the last tracks their listeners would be a bit slowed down, and "Cousins" is the perfect remedy to that.
The trio at the end are where the VW boys absolutely knock it out of the park though. Starting off with warbled synth pulses in the beginning, "Giving Up the Gun" quickly dives into an almost hysterically awesome driving guitar rhythm. Like "White Sky", this fits what I was hoping for from Koenig's track on Discovery's album. It's a well crafted pop gem with eclectic instrumentation arrangements that seem to dive in and out at the most random of times.
It's impossible to deny "Diplomat's Son". This is one of the most original songs they've ever released and perhaps their best, starting off feeling like an Amadou et Mariam track with an Afropop like chant being enveloped by soft vocals and warm synth from the very get go. It ends up being a six minute stunner that strongly emphasizes Koenig's charming croon and Rostam's ability to create an almost ambient hip hop structure that never seems to overwhelm. That the second half of the track mixes the tempo up to the point where it often doesn't feel like the same song should be surprising, but it isn't. It is inviting however as it provides an almost spellbinding power to the close of the track.
"I Think Ur a Contra" is to me the most cinematic and atmospheric track the band has ever done. It's for the most part soft, sweet synth throughout (with mini-glitches thrown in throughout) and Koenig holding notes to the maximum length that will allow him to still be melodic. It's a high point in terms of warmth and genuine feel to the album, and by the time the strings wash over you around the two minute, 40 second mark you start to feel that this is a fitting coda to an exceptional album.
My apologies for length. I love Vampire Weekend and think this album is quite good, and I think it is one of those albums that will connect with people quite effortlessly like their debut did. Perhaps not to the same degree, but in a whole new and exciting way.
I must admit - in my intense anticipation of Vampire Weekend's new album Contra I've been searching for a leak on a daily (if not hourly) basis. There have been a number of bait and switches so far, but the best thing next to that option is finally upon us.
Vampire Weekend has now put up the entirety of Contra up for stream on their Mypsace page. If it is anywhere near as good as the initial releases indicate, we're in for one of the better albums of 2010 right off. Check it out yourself and look for a review of this coming up tomorrow, along with (hopefully) looks at Yeasayer's Odd Blood and Los Campesinos!' Romance is Boring. Both of those albums are also being released later this month.
Vampire Weekend's Contra is being released January 11th in the UK and January 12th in the USA. Don't forget to pick it up.
Man...after the weirdness that was "Horchata," Vampire Weekend has managed to release consecutive stunners. First we had "Cousins" appearing much to the delight of hipsters across the world (and much to the chagrin of the WebSheriff), and now we have the release of the B-Side to that very single. This track is titled "California English, Pt. 2" and it is everything that Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij's side project Discovery should have sounded like. It's an exceptional track that sounds a lot more electro pop influenced than the standard (and fantastic) indie afro-pop sound we're used to from VW.
No less, I'm excited to hear "California English, Pt. 1" and the rest of their new album Contra January 12th of 2010 (or whenever it leaks). Definitely an early contender for my next new favorite album.
Thanks to Pretty Much Amazing for posting this track. Much appreciated. They're a great music blog and deserve some love.
Vampire Weekend made one of my top 20 favorite albums of this past decade, as their self titled debut was a modern day Graceland filled with ska rhythms and unforgiving hooks. On January 11th, they will be releasing their follow up album titled Contra. While I'm excited, the first track off that album (titled "Horchata") did not really blow me away and actually made me sit back and reassess my expectations. Somewhat predictably they unveiled the first single off the album today and it once again moved my expectations to possibly unreachable levels. Check it out yourself and see what you think. I had to take down my link, but I'm sure you'll find it plenty easy to find if you simply search "Vampire Weekend Cousins Hype Machine." It's already at the tip top of my most highly anticipated albums list for 2010.
For our next big list, Sheri and I are churning out a mixtape version of our favorite songs of all time, with a 20 song tracklisting encompassing our musical tastes for all time. However, because that is such an arduous affair and neither of us really had time to work on it, we're taking a break from our list comparison event. Instead, this week I'll do another list I'd been intending to get to: my mid-year favorite albums of 2008.
Once again, these are favorite albums of the year, not necessarily best...whatever exactly that would entail anyways. I also only included seven albums, as these are the only albums that have been released so far that I think can legitimately make my end of year list.
Also, check out my muxtape of my favorites along with assorted other tracks I enjoy here, all for your listening pleasure.
1. Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground - Self Titled
Favorite track: Birds (On a Day Like Today)
Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground is the brainchild of soon-to-be indie rock god Kirk Huffman (former bassist of my favorite band Gatsby's American Dream) and Kyle O'Quin (keyboardist from Gatsby's self titled album), and for a child of the 90's, this album gives me a little piece of what it was like to live in the 60's.
It's psychedelic rock at its finest, at times jammy, dreamy, and grandiose as all get out, it was my most anticipated album of the year coming in and blew me away even after I got my hands on it. Lyrically bizarre but told through gloriously sweet vocals brought to you by Huffman, the true star of the album is the dense soundscapes the band creates with a massive amount of instruments. To say they are original doesn't cut it, they make music like no one else does today.
To seal the deal, I saw them at Sasquatch and they played half the album in stellar fashion, both perfecting and reinventing the sound brought on the album within the same performance.
This band should be in every music aficionados regular musical rotation, and I can't wait for more of the world to bask in their glory. Blow minds baby, indeed.
This is an album I've already raved about within my blog here, but I'd like to emphasize once again how superb this debut is. I was a fan of their A Lesson in Crime EP and I saw them at Bumbershoot last year, but I felt as if they had a chaotic energy that would be better suited if focused in a more structured sound.
With Elephant Shell, they did that to a stunning degree, channeling all of the talent that poured out of them into eleven tracks of sheer rock gold. My most listened to album this year so far.
I'm unsure as to whether or not anyone who reads blogs has heard of this band. They've received absolutely no hype whatsoever.
Oh wait, nevermind...they are the most hyped band so far this year by far. I get confused sometimes.
However for once, the hype is worth it as this band's debut is a breath of fresh air. It recalls one of my favorite albums that my mom had me listen to quite often when I was younger (Paul Simon's Graceland) but at the same time, it is its own animal altogether.
It's brilliantly orchestrated and wonderfully simple, and frankly if we had one new artist (alternately forward thinking and respective of the past) like this band ever year the world of music would be a very better place right now.
I know, I know, as recently as this blog post, I said that this was my favorite album of the year. But that was over a month ago. I mean come on, how can you expect me to maintain my opinion for that long?
Truth be told, I still say it's Death Cab's best album yet. Its a very well put together album that reaches new heights for the band while taking them in directions they had yet to go before, while still providing the same thing we'd expect from a Death Cab album. However, it is a very tough year and the three above this album could not be denied.
This album I'd say is the most unexpected of any on my list. I'd never had any experience with Jamie Lidell, his type of music isn't really my thing, and really, there wasn't a lot of hype behind this album.
But this is the most joyous of any album I've heard so far this year. Lidell brings back the fun and impassioned singing that I love Motown for and layers it upon incredibly catchy piano and drum based beats. This album is designed to get your toes tapping and to get you singing while you drive.
This is the feel good hit of the summer, except it is just me that is treating it like that. Not only that, but it gets better with every spin.
I just picked up this album recently after hearing "Bright Red Helmet" on UAA's college radio station KRUA (88.1 = best station in Anchorage), and before then I hadn't even realized this high quality electronic outfit was releasing a new album. I'd been a big fan of their previous album, but I must admit, this one may be even better.
This album has less well known guest stars than 2004's Nothing's Lost (come on, that album featured Ben Gibbard and Andrew Kenny), but makes up for it with songs that are more well put together and instantly catchy. While Styrofoam never reaches the same high they did with Nothing's Lost's standout track "Make It Mine," the new album is more consistently engrossing and the overall performance of vocalists are superior.
For fans of the Postal Service and glitchy electronic indie pop, this one is highly recommended.
I went on and on about this album in this post, but I just want to say once again that this band really took a big step in my eyes with this album. Islands were another band that I thought were too chaotic to ever really become a favorite of mine, but they tightened up their sound and really released an exceptional album.
Plus, there is a partial cover of one of my favorite tracks off the Rushmore soundtrack on the album, which earns them major kudos.
There you have it. My favorites to date, and listed below I have albums that need more spins but could get on there, honorable mentions, and releases I'm very interested in that I haven't had a chance to explore yet.
Need more spins: M83 – Saturdays = Youth, Coldplay – Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends
Honorable mentions: My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges, The Raconteurs – Consolers of the Lonely, Flight of the Conchords – Flight of the Conchords, The Mars Volta – Bedlam in Goliath
Haven't listened to yet: The Hold Steady – Stay Positive, Portishead – Third, Ghostland Observatory – Robotique Majestique, No Age – Nouns, Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin – Pershing, Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer, Fleet Foxes – Self Titled
There has been a bunch of great new music so far. Even better, I've been discovering a lot of music I missed from last year, such as Albert Hammond, Jr's solo debut Yours to Keep, Pinback's exemplary Autumn of the Seraphs, Ghostland Observatory's bizarrely genius Paparazzi Lightning, and White Rabbits' debut Fort Nightly. I definitely missed big time on all of them.
With that said, there are three albums this year that have stood out above the rest for me. Two I've raved about the bands already, with two self titled debuts coming out from Vampire Weekend and Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground respectively (review for Kay Kay may be coming...depending on something I'm looking to put together). But the other album is a bit of a surprise that I like it so much, especially when I say it is on par with the other two.
On April 22nd, Tokyo Police Club is releasing their first full length album titled Elephant Shell, and of course it is out there for the grabs if you so choose. I checked it out, mainly to decide if I will buy it when it comes out and the answer is an emphatic "yes!"
The guys in Tokyo Police Club are all very young (definitely younger than yours truly) but their music is remarkably technically solid and scatterbrained simultaneously. They had only released a pair of EP's before this, neither of which in my opinion really gave the idea that they were capable of an album so cohesive and consistently fantastic. I liked their material, but it really took seeing them at Bumbershoot last September for me to really get them. Well, that and the release of this album.
Elephant Shell maintains the kinetic nature of their previous material but manages to tighten it up into something that resembles a whole album. Instead of being disconnected two minute burn outs of songs, they now have pop sensibilities and the sense of connection that really makes their sound not only palatable, but addictive. Before they had all the elements of a delicious post-punk extravaganza, with their spacey keyboards, the hand claps, the gang vocals, but they didn't have the experience to tie it all together. Now? The whole is finally greater than the sum of the parts.
Take a look at single "Your English is Good." This track is a perfect example - I could legitimately see this becoming the feel good hit of the summer, as it is so toe tappingly great with the shoutalong background vocals and the repetitively genius keyboard lines, I can't imagine anyone not asking "who is this?" by the end of it (which is an incredible 3 minutes and 11 seconds after the beginning, quite possibly a new record for the band). If any track is representative of the step they've taken, that track is.
Want something that is catchy, driving, and a little bit off the beaten path? Pick up Tokyo Police Club's debut Elephant Shell April 22nd. It's a great album, albeit not exactly the world's longest one, clocking in at slightly less than half an hour. Also, if they come near you check them out for sure. Not only do they totally rule live, but they are really nice guys who seem to really care about putting on a good show.
The lineup is already an A- lineup without the comedy tent announced or other artists yet to be revealed (big rumors: Vampire Weekend (please god, let them be announced), MGMT, the Fall of Troy, and the Helio Sequence), so I feel as if I would be making a big mistake to not go. Erik deciding to go clinches it. Kim possibly going is icing on an already delicious cake.
All I know is, the Festival being closed out by the Flaming Lips at the Gorge...man oh man. It's going to be something.
Thanks to Amy for my horrible affliction, my ridiculous obsession with these things called haiku's! Anyways, because I've been spouting them off every fifteen seconds for the past thirty minutes, it felt fitting to start my post with that (and I may even continue doing that, because they're so fun).
Back to the point, I know I'm really late to this party, but I finally caved and purchased Vampire Weekend's debut album (shockingly titled Vampire Weekend)after having it downloaded for a few weeks. After my unfathomably ahead of the curve and very cool Mom told me over and over to download it in December, I finally got around to it in February after the hype around the album became deafening.
I try not to give into hype too often because quite often, it isn't remotely earned and sometimes the music isn't even listenable, let alone buzzworthy. For every deserving artist like Sufjan Stevens or Interpol out there, there is a similar number of bands with undeserved hype behind them (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! I'm looking at you!). It isn't the bands fault...they don't create the hype (although some go out of their way to make it happen), but they do receive it when they hardly create what some would refer to as great music.
With Vampire Weekend though, simply put: the music is too good.
I had to buy into the hype.
The first hype band I really got behind were the Strokes when they released Is This It?, and Vampire Weekend's rapid ascension simultaneously on the Billboard Charts and within the eyes of the critical elite is eerily reminiscent of the Strokes very own experience.
Strangely enough, they tend to remind me of each other, not just in sound (obviously VW has a lot more of a reggae-ish feel, while the Strokes were the poster boys for the garage movement, but the central ideas are the same I feel), but in the fact that they both exhibit musical talent that translates well to eminently catchy and listenable music.
This is why I am in no way surprised that Vampire Weekend has found success, but also why I think that unlike some of their hype band contemporaries (I know this will be controversial, but Arcade Fire, I'm looking at you), they will find only more success on further ventures down the road. So long as they choose the right paths, and don't choose "growth" for the sake of growth, or just keeping the same sound to try to capture lightning in the bottle a second time. It's a tricky road, but I get the feeling these guys can handle it.
As for now, they have their hands full with what's clearly the best album so far this year (or last year to my Mom).
