Because 25 is a far too restricting number...
30. Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest- 2009
In some circles Grizzly Bear's music is unfairly dismissed as being too sophisticated in its construction that it looses its semblance of personality and comes off as artificial. The word construction is indeed an apt way to describe how the group writes and records. Songs are not slapped together, there are no rashly or hastily formed bits improvised into the album. Veckatmest is meticulously, even painstakingly pieced together. This may not make it the most exciting album you will ever here, but it is certainly one of the more engaging. One may not appreciate just how intricate music can be until you hear songs such as the ones from this collection. Every hook, melody, vocal echo, fade in, segue and so forth are timed and paced perfectly. Much of the content may be understated creating an air of malaise and monotony; but this is misleading as the aesthetic of so many of the songs constantly morphs and progresses into something else, doing so in a natural way so as to avoided schizophrenic shifting from one sound to the next. “Southern Point” starts as an unassuming meanderer but then creates a spiraling assent into something so much more expansive and vibrant. “Fine For Now” slowly but surely shifts from a quite acoustic nature to an epic electronic display. “Foreground” is one of the few tracks that holds its initial shape for its entirety; but its haunting and simple nature evokes the best of Thom Yorke's solo efforts. A great way to close such a deceptively complex album
Best Tracks- Southern Point, Two Weeks, Dory, Foreground
29. Fleet Foxes- 2008
Only recently have I started enjoying acoustic folk music, so Fleet Foxes came along at just the right time. What I enjoy most about this album is Robin Pecknold's voice. It’s very hollow and constantly echoes, yet it also carries a great deal of weight to it; something very unique and pleasing. The group realizes this it would seem, giving him ample time to be the only sound present for several parts of tracks like “Oliver James” and “White Winter Hymnal”. When it becomes more melodic or instrumental they make no effort to rush things, as if they have nothing to do other than do what they enjoy. That being said, the group still manages to avoid loitering or playing without any direction. Instead their music seems to carry a great deal of intent; something I find uncommon among their contemporaries and it is much appreciated.
Best Tracks- Sun it Rises, Ragged Wood, Your Protector, Oliver James
28. Vampire Weekend- 2008
In a way I can kind of understand the Vampire Weekend haters. It must be frustrating to see a group so effortlessly turn out such expertly crafted, precise, and intelligent pop and rock- almost to the point where it seems they don’t even notice what there doing might have some significance. But it’s foolish not to enjoy this album as the group is so clearly on the side of the haters: they have no interest in pretention or grandiose ambition in their music, instead they are more content to spin subtle tales about innocuous every day happenings in their lives. They’ll take the occasional break from their polite and wonderful melodies at times to simply linger in whatever moment the seem to be pondering. This is all the more perplexing yet refreshing as these boys are all Harvard grads and teachers. Even the climaxes on tracks like “M79” and “Oxford Coma” seem to just happen in an understated sort of way in spite of the restraint the band employs so as not to get too worked up- after all, this is indie, not emo. They have a wonderful talent to mix the highest breed of diction and vocabulary with more down to earth and colloquial mannerisms. It’s slurred together sometimes at such a pace that it’s hard to keep up with- as evident in, the at times relentless track, “A-punk”. The fact that they probably just threw together these lyrics between classes must be all the more infuriating for the haters.
Best Tracks- A-punk, Campus, Walcott
27. Broken Social Scene- You Forgot it in People- 2002
Canada’s ever present parental band got its start early in the decade, but even today maintains its ability to create very specific and encompassing yet unique tones in each of its albums and offshoot LPs. In “You forgot it in People” the group dances around a number of somewhat unpleasant issues in morose and depressing ways. Songs like “Cause = Time”, “Stars and Sons”, and “I’m Still Your Fag” mix topics of homosexuality, radicalism, feminism, abandonment and a bunch of others I probably missed into one not particularity pleasant pile. But it’s not an emo album, its one of defiance against these stigmas. Often when you think a song is giving way to a subdued nature, it breaks out in to a violent burst of screeching or guitar. At other times it rises above the unpleasantness and anger and fines something good in the aforementioned pile, such as Emily Haines plea to enjoy the little things in “Anthems for a 17 Year Old Girl”. The one track that is inconsistent with the rest is actually one of the best- “Pacific Theme”; completely instrumental, but maybe may favorite summer song ever.
Best Tracks- Cause = Time, KC accidental, Stars and Sons, Pacific Theme
26. Boards of Canada- Geogaddi- 2002
Trying to explain Boards of Canada to someone is just about as impossible as anything gets. The closest approximation to BoC I can think of is maybe Sigor Ros. Only Sigor Ros is like the playschool version of Boards, and far too pleasant in comparison. Boards, and to me Geogaddi more so than their other incredible albums, is the music that aliens would listen to; even the music that aliens would create. Its subtle, its mysterious, its unsettling, its subliminal. When you listen to this album you feel like something is going on in your head beyond just computing audio stimulus. What ever drugs the two gentlemen living on a farm somewhere in Scotland were doing when they made Geogaddi, they were doing a lot of it. BoC is definitely not for everyone though. Many even, most people would just call it noise. But its not, Boards is music in the same way that 2001: A space Odyssey was story telling; unconventional, extremely hard to interpret full of sounds/visuals that carry with it mysterious artifacts and clues. Once you get a sense of what it’s all about it becomes extremely engaging, creeping in your body in a way that most music can’t. As for the track Magic Window… I have no idea. Is it possible to hook a record player up to a projector, because I hear there is somehow an image embedded within the 90 seconds of silence.
Best Tracks- Music is Math, The Beach at Red point, The Devil is in the Details, 1969
No comments:
Post a Comment