10- Gorillaz- Plastic Beach
Think of Plastic Beach as an experiment gone horribly wrong, and then wonderfully right. Originally conceived as a sort of mix tape featuring various artists with Damon Albarn and Gorillaz acting as producers only, the whole thing sort of devolved into an incoherent mess of misdirection. So Albarn stepped in with a much more direct and patriarchal role; scraped what didn't work, and repurposed what did, inserting parts of prior recordings into their own songs and reconstituting the roles of the various contributing artists. The end result is a widely varied and engrossing album loosely centred around the concept of climate change (as if the album's title wasn't obvious enough). What makes the album so compelling is that although the narrative is fairly consistent throughout, the tone and source of narration is constantly shifting, creating a densely layered and challenging album to fully decipher. The central message is inserted in most of the tracks, but done so in multitude of ways, based on the stylings and mannerisms of whichever artist is prominently featured. In several cases, the topic is approached by taking the better and most adored aspects of our culture and mixing them together with the subtle metaphors related to the detriments of our planet. Lou Reed at one point goes on about the beauty of person, he wants to preserve it... by wrapping it in plastic. Part of the fun of Plastic Beach is rummaging through it, looking for such examples. The genre spanning and, at times genre defying body of work takes so many different types of music and packages them in Gorillaz' characteristic blend of goofiness and subtle insight. Gangster rap from Snoop at his most relaxed, playful hip hop in the form of “Super Fast” and the utterly engaging “Sweepstakes”, deathly serious funk in the form of “Stylo”, illicit club freak outs like “Glitter Freeze”, and mammoth works of pop art like “Empire Ants”- there's a lot to Plastic Beach. Some of it's just reasonably fine, but so much of it is terrific- like nothing else this year.
9- Caribou- Swim
Swim is all about atmosphere and mystery. It creates an aural environment engineered from combinations and clusters of sounds that seem almost mystifying at times. Computerized beats are constructed very carefully to bubble up and then evaporate. As the album's name would imply it really does create an aquatic vibe or sorts, as if front man Dan Snaith wanted the source of this album's inspiration to come from somewhere devoid of human culture- hence the perceived mysteriousness. Furthermore, Swim cultivates a very specific set of digitally approximated violin notes, and peppers them throughout some of the songs. Like the aquatic beats, they are noticeably distinct and really quite stunning. These specific sounds, like they were trademark beats give Swim a very singular and unique place in the music released in 2010. These qualities are especially perceptible in the sly and serene track “Sun”. However this conceit is cleverly kept in check by the album's mostly ambient tone. It doesn't beat you over the head with an alienating fever, rather it spends most of its time fairly subdued. It gives the album a more genuine quality to it, as opposed to being merely sensationalistic for no reason. On the few occasions, where Snaith does break out of his shell, like in the violently cathartic “Jamalia”, it's all the more impactful. It's an intense experience made partly possible by Swim's overall endeavour to take contemporary pop music and translate it into something slightly bizarre and just a little more challenging to interpret or perceive. The whole album carries a slightly unnerving tension to it- not enough to scare you away, but to make your response to it that much more acute, even if some of the tracks seem a tad dull at times. This point is made ominously clear in the harrowing “Hannibal”- with a shaky slightly ruptured and bumpy melody that is ensconced in these massive, thunderous horn sections that grow more and more domineering. It leads you to believe something terrible is just seconds away, however it segues into something much more sedate for its conclusion. A false alarm; however by this point you should be used to Caribou toying with how music affects us. That's why, for all its foreboding curiosities, I keep coming back to Swim.
8- Sleigh Bells- Treats
I was late to the Sleigh Bells party, and I really regret that being the case. Had I had my ears to the ground a little more often I assure you a couple tracks off Treats would have made it onto my year end songs list- I'm thinking “Tell em” or “Crown on the Ground”. With their debut album, Sleigh Bells have so far been characterized as a noise pop or aggro pop duo. I think these are horrible descriptors as at worst it's a little misleading, and at best only indicates part of what is going on here. Yes, Sleigh Bells are loud; thunderously ear rupturing loud. They even give Sleater Kinney and Fever to Tell era Yeah Yeah Yeahs a serious run for their money. But what makes Treats so undeniably successful is they way Derek Miller harmonizes distortion. For so much of the proceedings, the actual guitar notes are imperceptibly drowned in the grating distorting noise that runs from them. But through adept and intuitive post production and engineering he is able to tame those distortions into a melody of their own. As a result, while it's at times violently loud and brash, it is wonderfully palatable and easy to take in and follow. Couple this with Alexis Krauss and you have something oddly, really special. She seems reminiscent of Kathleen Hanna from Le Tigre, only without the alienating feminism or parochialism. Between Tracks like “Tell em” and “Infinity Guitars” Krauss reveals herself perfectly comfortable at occupying both ends of the vocal spectrum- sweet and frail, and grizzled and coarse; she wastes no time at any bland points in between; Krauss deals only in exaggerations and extremes- and its awesome. When she engages you with destructive ferocity she is stunningly able to contend with the rattling guitar. When she is more euphonic her voice is so silky smooth that it seems to exist on a distinctly separate vocal plane compared to the guitar, making here voice still remarkably perceptible. She sounds almost angelic at times like in “Run the Heart”. Her vocal delivery is incredibly skillful; Between selective repetitions at some points and lighting fast delivery at others, her lyrics on their own are melodic enough to be songs in their own right. With the dichotomous delights of Treats, Sleigh Bells is easily one of the best new acts of 2010.
7-The National- High Violet
High Violet seems important, perhaps more so than it really is. Not in terms of influence across various genres, or even it's place in 2010's pantheon- it just seems that way- sounds that way. As if every song was soundtracking some momentous occasion, this album is inescapably unforgettable. It's a combination of regal elegance, and poundingly dense and heavy sound engineering. The guitar is bloody and messy, as if the notes are splayed violently open. The bass strikes your ears with guttural thuds as the violin, sparingly used though it may be, is just slightly crass and volatile. This is not to say the album is a cacophonous eruption of unrestrained vitriol and little else. It's a brooding and harsh concoction that is tempered and restrained by a sort of patriarchal, albeit subdued contribution from the piano and keyboards- but it doesn't seem like angry music. It's emotionally draining yes, but not angry. Rather it presents itself with a macabre sense of determination and seriousness. High Violet runs the gambit from abandonment and alienation in tracks like “Anyone's Ghost” and “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”, to enduring optimism and perseverance in tracks like the brilliant “England” and “Terrible Love”. The unique distinction here is that through the melody and Matt Berninger's voice, High Violet is obsessively determined to communicate this to you- no matter what the cost; henceforth the imposing sense of dread that permeates the music. Berigniger captures this tone expertly in his voice. He maintains a stark and delicate balance of sounding aristocratic while avoiding a sense of being pompous. Throughout the album his voice exudes an interesting juxtapositional tension- he is torn between bitter and cynical rationale and dangerous and vengeful emotional release. He seems tantalizing tense because of this, never quite sure which way his voice could sway, only finally giving into his demons at the end of the noir trek, “Afraid of Everyone”. He spends much of the latter half of the album regaining his sanity. By the end of High Violet, one can't help but sympathize. Even if you don't, there is no denying High Violet is an intoxicating experience of sophistication and an utter lack of refinement.
6- Hot Chip- One Life Stand
At times music can be an escape from the drudgery of life, confined by social norms and consensus; it allows us to engage with our darker impulses and taboo desires. At other times music can be a cathartic, healing and curative experience, helping us try to make sense of and recover from the tribulations life throws at us. It just depends on what album you're listening too. But rarely does music explore both of these facets at once. One Life Stand is one of those rarities. The name really says it all, conflating a one night stand with a sense of commitment and heart. It communicates volumes about Hot Chip's ability to make degenerate, hedonistic, and sordid experiences a transitory pathway for a more profound and wholesome sense of sincerity. The opening lyrics of “Thieves in the Night” are stern warnings of the murky and salacious dangers of night life, accompanied by a narrowly binding and stalking synth beat. But this part acts as a mere gate way, as the song literally opens up with a sonic fluttering and energetically propulsive melody that seems to brighten up the song in such a palpable, almost tangible way. The lyrical structure shifts just as dramatically as Joe Goddard now gleefully boasts “Happiness is all we want”. The group's mastery of analogue and digital instruments and keen sense of awareness regarding the connotative effects that even the simplest sounds have allows them to forge and craft a staggering array of melodies and harmonies; all of them seem analogous to some concept they want to explore, be it depredation and intrigue, or opposites like companionship and family. The group is sure to always use a broad sampling of hyperbolic euro trash synth, but often in tandem with a more classical and sophisticated piano. They could just have easily utilized any number of electronic key board stylings for such notes, but by going the classical route, they keep their juxtaposition of ideas in balance. These ideas and rhythms are intricately meshed together to create densely rich songs. Listen to “One Life Stand” and you'll notice at least four distinct melodies, carefully synthesized together. A sleazy bass line, bellicose and brassy key board notes seem to bounce off each other for example, representing both ends of Hot Chip's spectrum at once- scandalous and wholesome. The closing track “Take It In” proves this point exceptionally. Opening with a melody overflowing with a dread and terror, segues into Goddard serenading us, “My heart has flown to you just like a dove”; so take it in. With One Life Stand, Hot Chip offers the listener so much more than most albums; it is a stunning blend of ideas that shouldn't be analogous, yet somehow are.
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