There’s only so many hours in a day, and so much time in a year. And within that, the way I listen to music is fractured. On a very rare occasion do I don my Grados and lay on my couch, eyes closed, and listen to a record front to back. Most full listens happen on car trips, with the A side going there and the B side coming back. Sometimes I’m mowing the lawn or shoveling snow or washing the dishes or doing some sort of random chore that doesn’t require much thinking. Or maybe it’s just on in the background while I’m writing something like this (current soundtrack: The Antlers’ Hospice given iTunes sez I haven’t listened to it in full in a while).
That said, there are many albums I only give a single listen in any given year. And there are some albums I give a few listens and have a feeling that, had I listened even more, they’d make my coveted list. Regardless, below are a collective of “at least good” records that provide a solid listen but didn’t get the attention they (probably) deserve.
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
I never know what to make of an Andrew Bird record. They’re all lush and gorgeous and pretty, sure, but that’s where my mental capacities end. The only Bird track I ever dug deeper into was “Fake Palindromes,” which is about torture or something.
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
I like this album. I swear I do. And, my god, the first time I listened to it was probably the perfect occasion – I was playing with my sister’s dog in the backyard. But somewhere around the second listen it just kind of fizzled out. I was counting the minutes between “My Girls,” “Summertime Clothes,” and “Brothersport.” And, as I’ve mentioned online a few times, the songs either sound like they’re in a cave or a bubble bath. Or a bubble bath in a cave. Also, the awful abrasive noise starting off “Summertime Clothes” is endemic of some of the downright-bad samples used on the album. I may be a “hater” of individual AC records because I think they’re good, not great, but I admire the band as a whole, given that their sound has evolved to a ridiculous degree in very few years. The only similar leaps were Radiohead’s OK Computer to Kid A jump in three years and pretty much the whole Beatles catalog of the mid-60s.
Atlas Sound – Logos
Much friendlier than the icy prior album (which has a name so long I won't bother to type it), and with some highlights like the much-lauded “Walkabout” and “Quick Canal.” I guess it’s good that Bradford Cox has Atlas Sound as his outlet for confessional bedroom rock, given that some of the best parts of Deerhunter’s Microcastle were Cox-less, such as the not-sung-by-Cox “Agoraphobia” and the written-by-the-bassist “Nothing Ever Happened.”
Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue
Bibio, who I assume is just one guy, plays some ultimate shapeshifter on this album. It runs the full gamut of folky-rock (the title track), to trip-hop (“Fire Ant”), to damn-fine indie rock (“Haikuesque”). There are some heads and tails of songs that sound pitch-perfect replications of Boards of Canada, which makes sense given he excellently covered their song-snippet “Kaini Industries” for the Warp20 collection, complete with a robot-children-playing-with-rusty-toys end-of-track finale.
The Decemberists – The Hazards of Love
Herein lies the classic Decemberists problem: their albums are sequenced and mashed together for one song to run into another, but they're
so long. I usually have, at maximum, forty-five minutes to listen to music (hence that usual limit for my muxes), and that extra fifteen minutes that pushes The Hazards of Love to near an hour is too much. I do, however, like the band’s shift from sea-shanties to what I guess you can call indie-prog, given Colin Meloy, somewhere around The Crane Wife, cut guitarist Chris Funk loose to fucking shred.
Do Make Say Think – Other Truths
While I’m sure the band would be livid to here this, Do Make Say Think makes the best background music. It’s quality post-rock that doesn’t beg for your attention like a Tortoise record. It’s a bit jazzier, a bit laid back. You can write blog posts to it which, for me, is pretty important.
Also, they get points for ditching the long, confusing tracknames of past records and having the four tracks called the easy-to-remember “Do,” “Make,” “Say,” and “Think.”
The Dodos – Time To Die
My friend Jacqueline is gay for this band, and my admission that I listened to Visiter “probably twice” got a reaction as if I skinned one of her cats in front of her. I’m not of the camp that just loves my “Fools” (and, by default, Miller Chill). I’m pretty sure this is an album band, which is why I haven’t devoted enough time on Time To Die to make any sort of definitive statement. But “Fables” is pretty fun, and these guys have serious musical chops, which is pretty rare in the indie world.
Eyedea & Abilities – By The Throat
I think these guys beat Lil Wayne to making a rap-rock album that is on the other side of the Limp Bizkit coin. (That is to say, one side of the coin is shit and the other side could be fantastic and... ah, fuck it.) Abilities throws down some hard rock beats and even some riffs, and Eyedea is the second-angriest MC from the Twin Cities (Brother Ali being first, obviously). This album is lean and muscular, which is rare for a rap album. Gone are the expected skits (e.g Outkast, early Kanye) or long sound clips from either cartoons (e.g. DOOM) or movies (E & A’s E & A), replaced with a record twenty-nine no-frills minutes.
Fever Ray – Fever Ray
Forget what everyone else says – this is a Knife album. Let’s all remember that, prior to Silent Shout, The Knife, stylistically, was all over the place. “Heartbeats,” anyone? Or anything else off Deep Cuts? But now, apparently The Knife is the official soundtrack for Night, and so is Fever Ray. This stuff is so pitch-black that I hardly even find appropriate times to spin it, so I usually just toss the brilliant “If I Had A Heart” (and the awesome Fuck Buttons remix) on a mix if I’m leaving the house past nightfall.
Franz Ferdinand – Tonight
Did everyone suddenly forget this album? It’s a near-miracle for a band that, on its debut, sounded pretty much the same on every song, to move in a close-but-new direction for a third record in five years. You Could Have It So Much Better initially sounded alarm bells when single “Do You Want To” sounded like “Take Me Out” was applied the Pro Tools “make a hit single like the last hit single” filter. That album was a bit more exploratory, which is quite a statement when considering this record features, if nothing else, an in-the-red rock-out at the end of “What She Came For,” bouncing synth bleeps on “Live Alone,” and, of course, the colossal “Lucid Dreams,” which eschews the single’s straight-ahead rock and veers off into electro-wonderland near the end of its eight-minute runtime. They somehow then pull it together for a quiet ballad “Dream Again” before the acoustic ballad “Katherine Kiss Me” for the closer. It’s always great when a buzz band can make it past a second album.
Health – Get Color
If early Animal Collective was playing with electronics, early Health (see: self-titled) was playing with drums and, most memorably, serving as fodder for Crystal Castles to remix into a better product. Get Color, though, has the band finding its way. Much has been said about the knife-in-the-chest rip of “Die Slow” and the blast of “Before Tigers.” But the true album highlight is the mesmerizing “In Violet,” which skitters along on a synth pulse and evokes the most beautiful electronic chords since “Idioteque.”
The Hood Internet – The Mixtape Volume Four
Call it this year’s “grower.” I’ve been a fan of The Hood for about a year, and after getting spoiled of having instantly available to me Mixtapes One, Two, and Vs. Chicago, I had a fevered anticipation for Volume Three that paid off. Its most memorable moment, for me, was the end track of R. Kelly over Rogue Wave’s “Endless Shovel,” the latter of which has now become one of my favorite songs. It seemed The Hood could do no wrong, even if it seemed like Volume Three, with its shorter tracks, was veering into Girl Talk territory.
That’s what initially put me off on Four. First of all, I barely recognized any of the tunes (excepting the fantastic Lil Wayne vs. Royksopp, Michael Jackson vs. Ratatat, Drake vs. The Rapture [a real pleasant surprise], and Dead Prez vs. Grizzly Bear), and the tracks were even shorter than Volume Three. I’ve read interviews where The Hood talks about their love of Girl Talk and how they’re flattered to be compared to him. But whereas I love Girl Talk because of the snippet oh-shit moments, I like The Hood because they provide coherent, can-dance-to-it-for-a-few-minutes tracks. Also, while Girl Talk, post-Night Ripper and post-Feed The Animals, looks like he has nowhere to go except tread old ground, there’s an infinite number of possible mash-ups for The Hood to mix.
So after five or so listens, I’ve started to warm to Four, namely since it’s becoming familiar. I know when to anticipate the Drake vs. The Rapture track, which takes the jagged guitars and killer bassline from “House of Jealous Lovers” and loops it into bliss. And I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty of “Fire Ant Paint Job,” which eschews The Hood’s trend of having an indie-rock ender (see Vol. One’s “I’m A Flirt [Shoreline],” Vol. Two’s “If I Could Rock [It Would Be Like This],” and Vol. Three’s “Endless Hookup”). Yeah, Volume Four’s Keyboard Cat vs. Usher ender is obviously a joke, but it’s a bit unsettling that they re-use Usher’s “Make Love In This Club,” which was previously used over a Los Campesinos tracks near the end of Vol. Three.
I just sound like a nerd now, and I typed far too much about a
mixtape.
Jay Reatard – Watch Me Fall
Reatard is the most prolific songwriter this side of Bob Pollard. Also astounding is that he’s gone so quickly from the blow-out Blood Visions to two varied singles compilations to another album proper, which eschews megadistortion in favor of some varied instrumentation. Oh, and apparently he’s an asshole (fistfights, his band quitting, etc.). Maybe that’s the secret.
Junior Boys – Begone Dull Care
Each subsequent Junior Boys album is good, but man, Last Exit was, well, Last Exit. It was, and still is, totally brilliant. Was it that it came out of left field? Had Junior Boys done anything prior? Barring all the other great tracks, “Last Exit” is a master’s course in sonic minimalism, and now the band seems to be (I’m sure you could connect a pun here) coasting on its chill vibe. What was great about Last Exit is that it wasn’t a dance album but you
could dance to it. Now it seems they’re trying too hard. Or maybe too little.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
I’d love for them to prove me wrong, but I don’t have high hopes for this band. I’ve always mentally referred to them as “My Bloody Valentine lite.”
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Phoenix, Daft Punk, and Justice make me hate French people a little bit less. WAP seems a little too prim and proper, though. It’s Never Been Like That had some jagged edges (like the shouting of the album title on “Long Distance Call”) that, to me, keep it up on the Best Phoenix Album pedestal.
A Place To Bury Strangers – Exploding Head
I’ve talked about how Fuck Buttons’ Tarot Sport doesn’t “replace” Street Horrrsing. Well, barring a few songs, Exploding Head definitely replaces APTBS’ debut. These songs just pummel the shit out of you, and I expect to feel it through my whole body when I see them in March. For now, I just blast the hell out of “Ego Death” (one of my favorite rock songs of the year) and “I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow of Your Heart.” Whereas the debut had APTBS’ Oliver Ackermann uncomfortably fronting some ballads with a warbly, bassier Ian Curtis impression, here he finds his element in hardcore noise and letting his voice sound as commanding as the ripcord guitars.
The Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns
This one is tricky because I know it’s a 2008 reissue, which took it out of the running almost immediately. I, however, listened to it a fair number of times, and my many muxes have plundered some of its more memorable tracks. I think the band is also a duo, cementing the odd fact that all my 2009 favorites are duos.
Sonic Youth – The Eternal
In preparation for this album, I listened to the entire back catalog of Sonic Youth. Yes,
the entire back catalog, including their SY-label releases and albums that everyone knew were shit. Here’s what I’ve unfortunately learned: Sonic Youth’s sound probably isn’t going to ever change again. So every time a new Sonic Youth record comes out, sure, it’ll have a great single like “Antenna,” but the wheel has already been invented.
Spoon – Got Nuffin’ EP
Apparently “Got Nuffin’” will be on Spoon's January release, Transference. Outside of that, this EP is a waste of time. Spend the eleven minutes reading a book to a homeless child or something.
Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer
I’m not one to make Honorable Mentions lists (and this is not an Honorable Mentions list, I swear), but if I
did make one, this would be on it. I read this somewhere else, so I’m stealing it: it seems that Spencer Krug’s best output is now in Sunset Rubdown, instead of Wolf Parade or, god forbid, Swan Lake. After the artsy, attention-demanding Random Spirit Lover, here comes the – I’m going to use the A-word again – accessible Sunset Rubdown record that, despite most tracks being six minutes, can be enjoyed by a great number of people.
We Were Promised Jetpacks – These Four Walls
Another record close to breaking my top eight, with the only points against it being that I haven’t listened to it enough times (though, yikes, my iTunes sez I’ve listened to it ten times). The album shines with the likes of the huge build-up on “It’s Thunder And It’s Lighting” and “This Is My House, This Is My Home,” and straight-up-loud tracks like “Quiet Little Voices,” but otherwise it kind of sinks into a quiet.
The xx – xx
Good god this took a lot longer than I thought. I’m hungry. But The xx’s xx is a good album. But you probably already knew that.
In the spirit of full disclosure, and the knowledge that some of my ’09 favorites won’t be discovered until early ’010 (much like Street Horrrsing last year), here’s every album I listened to in the calendar year.
A.C. Newman – Get Guilty
And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead – The Century of Self
Andrew Bird – Noble Beast
Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
The Antlers – Hospice
Asobi Seksu – Hush
Atlas Sound – Logos
Bat For Lashes – Two Suns
Bear In Heaven – Beast Rest Fourth Month
Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue
The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love
Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
BLK JKS – After Robots
Blues Control – Local Flavor
Bowerbirds – Upper Air
Box Elders – Alice & Friends
Brother Ali – US
Bruce Springsteen – Working On A Dream
Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career
Casiontone For The Painfully Alone – Vs. Children
Cass McCombs – Catacombs
Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains
Dan Deacon – Bromst
The Decemberists – Hazards of Love
Delorean – Ayrton Senna EP
Destroyer – Bay of Pigs EP
Dinosaur Jr. – Farm
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
Discovery – LP
Dizzee Rascal – Tongue N Cheek
Do Make Say Think – The Other Truths
The Dodos – Time To Die
Drake – So Far Gone
Eyedea & Abilities – By The Throat
Fever Ray – Fever Ray
The Fiery Furnaces – I’m Going Away
The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
Franz Ferdinand – Tonight
Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport
Future of the Left – Travels With Myself And Another
Girls – Album
Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown
Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
Handsome Furs – Face Control
Harlem Shakes – Technicolor Health
Health – Get Color
The Hood Internet – The Mixtape Volume Four
Iron & Wine – Around the Well
Japandroids – Post-Nothing
Jay Reatard – Watch Me Fall
The Juan MacLean – The Future Will Come
Junior Boys – Begone Dull Care
Magik Markers – Balf Quarry
The Mars Volta – Octahedron
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Matt and Kim – Grand
Memory Tapes – Seek Magic
Metric – Fantasies
Modest Mouse – No One’s First, And You’re Next
Mos Def – The Ecstatic
Mount Eerie – Wind’s Poem
The Mountain Goats – The Life of the World to Come
Neko Case – Middle Cyclone
Neon Indian – Psychic Chasms
No Age – Losing Feeling EP
Oneida – Rated O
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – The Pains of Being Pure At Heart
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart – Higher Than The Stars EP
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Pink Mountaintops – Outside Love
A Place To Bury Strangers – Exploding Head
Polly Scattergood – Polly Scattergood
Realpeople (aka Beirut) – Holland
Royksopp – Junior
The Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns
Shout Out Out Out Out – Reintegration Time
Sonic Youth – The Eternal
Sparklehorse – Dark Night of the Soul
Spoon – Got Nuffin’ EP
The Strange Boys – And Girls Club
Sunn O))) – Monoliths & Dimensions
Sunset Rubdown – Dragonslayer
Super Furry Animals – Dark Days / Light Years
Swan Lake – Enemy Mine
The-Dream – Love vs. Money
The Thermals – Now We Can See
Thom Yorke – The Eraser Rmxs
Thom Yorke – Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses / The Hollow Earth EP
Thunderheist – Thunderheist
Tim Hecker – An Imaginary Country
Tortoise – Beacons of Ancestorship
Tyondai Braxton – Central Market
Various Artists – 5: Five Years of Hyperdub
Various Artists – Dark Was The Night
Vivian Girls – Everything Goes Wrong
Volcano Choir – Unmap
Wavves – Wavvves
We Were Promised Jetpacks – These Four Walls
Weezer – Raditude
White Denim – Fits
Why? – Eskimo Snow
Wilco – Wilco (The Album)
Wild Beasts – Two Dancers
Woods – Songs of Shame
The xx – xx
Yacht – See Mystery Lights
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs
And while it’s too soon to make any calls, 2010 will, like any year, be a solid year for music. If notihing else, there’s a new Spoon album, a semi-confirmed Arcade Fire record, another full-length from The National, and an oft-promised My Bloody Valentine LP. That might be my top four, right there. Unless some band – like Japandroids – comes out of nowhere.
