To quote Bethany Cosentino's arch-nemesis Carles, "Best Coast is a fuzzy buzzy band that sings abt dank, California, boys, and kitty cats," which for better or worse sums up the band pretty well. Of course that summation also misses out on the nuances of the band, like how they perfectly combine Patsy Cline like vocals with 90s rrriot girl guitar rock and beach pop sensibilities, or how Bethany's seemingly simplistic lyrics hit closer to home than a knotty wordsmith like Joanna Newsom, or how no other album ruled the summer of 2010 like Best Coast's "Crazy For You." I think I listened to this record at least three times a day throughout the summer, and given the chance I'll do it again next summer. Full review here.
What would it sound like if a R&B singer who occasionally sounds like Justin Vernon fronted This Mortal Coil? It would be one of the most haunting and beautiful records of this, or any, year. That's not only what would happen, but that is exactly what did happen on How To Dress Well's incredible debut album "Love Remains." This is a record that recalls so many classic 4AD releases, but is shot through with urban influences that make it all the more resonant, because while Elizabeth Fraser is nice and all she doesn't quite make you quiver like Marvin Gaye. Every time I listen to this record I am surprised by how amazing it is, and I am overwhelmed by its otherworldly beauty, so much so that I find myself saving and savoring it for those times when time can slow down and I am able to let myself be absorbed in the gauzy haze between its grooves. Full review here.
This album came out of nowhere and floored me within the first minute of listening. If it wasn't for Luna guru Dan, I would have likely passed this up entirely and remained all the more ignorant and impoverished as a result. This didn't have a bunch of buzz behind it in an effort by tastemakers to force it down listeners' throats despite merit, which was kind of nice because the direct immediate love I had for this record was one of the purest musical experiences I had this year, something not to take lightly in this day and age of internet hype that shapes far too much of the conversation and our reaction to music. It was the closest thing I had this year to an old school 'holy shit this is good! what the fuck is it?' discovery. So what the fuck is it? It's a a quasi brand of chillwave that incorporates heavy doses of R&B as well as off kilter electronica into heartfelt pop songs. As a result Autre Ne Veut have crafted an original sound that is as challenging as it is comforting. It's soul soothing, yet jarring at the same time. The familiarity locked within the complexity of the music is what makes this immediately lovable, while at the same time rewarding repeated in-depth immersions into this record. It also sounds like it might have been made by Unicorns. Yes, it is that magical. Full review here.
Locrian crafted "The Crystal World's" nightmarish sound world out of remnants of krautrock, drone, post-rock and black metal to create their own unique brand of experimental terror. The album was inspired by J.G. Ballard's novel of the same name, which describes the earth's vegetation succumbing to an apocalyptic crystallization. The world that Ballard creates sparkles even as it devastates, and Locrian have perfectly captured that quality of glimmering beauty amidst inevitable destruction. What made the record the truly great work it is, and which resonated with so many (as evidenced by its appearances on numerous 'Best Of' lists for 2010), is the human heart that beats at the center of the album, making the darkness surrounding it that much more threatening. As a result, "The Crystal World" is 2010's most harrowing listening experience. Full review here.
Of all the genres, 2010 was the year of metal. Regardless of the accolades I am awarding to some indie rock releases on this list, it was an anemic year overall for Pitchfork favored bands, and a hella good year for readers of Decibel. Yet, even within the black shirt clad community while there was so much to celebrate, there was division as well; namely in the form of Nachtmystium's "Addicts." Certainly the band pushed the limits of heavy in every direction to include industrial, psychedelia and even darkwave, but for my money "Addicts" proved that mainman Blake Judd was so far ahead of the fucking curve that the neanderthals in the scene simply couldn't keep up (I am instantly sorry for that comment already, since I personally know of good intelligent metal fans who just can't get with this record). An album about substance abuse that was as intense and as dark as its subject matter, there wasn't a wrong note on "Addicts." Even if the keyboard arpeggios of "No Funeral" couldn't be less black metal, it was a hell of a lot more grimy than anything on the overblown, second-rate post-rock of Agalloch's "Marrow of the Spirit," which seems to be the consensus "Best Metal Album of the Year" in a year when so many better releases, like "Addicts," deserved the title. Full review here.
There is so much to say about James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem. How it is the voice of a couple of generations, how it is the smartest, snarkiest, and most heartfelt music of the last decade, how it is the soundtrack of so many lives, and how no one has made art pop this good since the heyday of the Talking Heads and Brian Eno. There is so much to say that it is almost paralysing as a writer to approach a LCD Soundsystem album and do it any justice. You can see my full review here of "This is Happening" to see how much I struggled with expressing anything about this record. When it comes down to it James Murphy makes music for a certain subset of people in our society of which I, and likely you, happen to be a member of, and nothing moves our hearts, minds and bodies quite like it.
With the Crystal Castle's second self-titled release the band proved that they were no passing fancy, soon to be forgotten bunch of "fucking hipsters." No, with the band's tour de force sophomore album Crystal Castles proved they are here to stay and while they are at it they are going to make some of the best dance pop/punk around, haters be damned. At times romantic and lush and at others abrasive as a scouring pad, the album provided music that was consistently challenging, engaging and addictive. Every time I listen to this record I am blown away at the level of perfection throughout, whether it is the rave infected punk of "Baptism" or the visceral thrill of the updated "Not In Love" that was still great before Robert Smith came along and made it even better. And you know what? Unlike with Beach House, I don't have to think about whether or not I am a Crystal Castles' fan. They fucking rule. Period. Full review here.
Cameron Stallones followed up his stellar 2009 output with yet another mind-blowing record. More spacious, darker and submerged than before, "On Patrol" is an epic double album that takes the listener through an urban waterfront jungle chock full of riff raff and danger. What starts out with subdued tribal beats and disembodied vocals eventually gives way to menacing drone and minimalist guitar ambiance, charting a journey straight into the heart of darkness. If you haven't given yourself to the absolute awesomeness that is Sun Araw yet, "On Patrol" is the perfect starting point. Full review here.
"Belus" marked the rather victorious return of one of the most notorious musicians in the history of music. Murderer, arsonist and racist idiot, if you can separate Varg Vikernes from his often brilliant music then "Belus" is cause for serious celebration. It refines the classic Burzum buzz and pushes it toward mesmerizing territories thus far unexplored, while still remaining as brutal as ever. The album has one foot firmly planted in traditional Norwegian black metal, while the other is inching toward La Monte Young. Hopefully Varg will stay out of trouble long enough to continue to produce music as powerful and visionary as "Belus." Full review here.
I admit an open bias for Belle & Sebastian, they are easily in my top five favorite bands of all time, and I can spend days on end listening to nothing else (which I realize is odd given my propensity for the blackest of metal), but even with that bias "Write About Love" was one of the most pleasing releases of the year. Like a great visit from a longtime friend who you don't see often enough, the record reminded you why you loved them so much in the first place, while giving many new and fresh reasons to continue to hold them so dear. Full review here.
Released in the heat of July, "Admiral Fell Promises" was a wintry album full of all the haunted and quiet beauty of a fresh snow fall at night. For this outing as Sun Kil Moon, Mark Kozelek, who just happens to be one of this generation's greatest singer/songwriters, strips his tales of loss and longing down to little more than acoustic guitars and vocals, and the effect is romantic, riveting and devastating throughout. This album deserves to be on a lot more Best Of lists for 2010 than it has been. For my money this was the most beautiful album I heard all year. Full review here.
Last year at this time I could give a fuckall about Beach House. "Teen Dream" changed that. An album made for Sunday mornings and snow storms, "Teen Dream" found the band going beyond knockoff Mazzy Star shoegaze and producing an album that cascaded, twisted and turned (no matter how slowly) and generally produced a sense of wonderment for patient listeners. Nearly 12 months in, this album just gets better and better. I'm not sure I would call myself a Beach House fan at this point, but "Teen Dream" at least puts me in the ballpark.
Sadly this is the last studio album we will hear from noise/drone/ambient titans Yellow Swans. On the plus side they went out on a major high note, delivering this subtle masterpiece to cap off a career full of grand arcs and valleys of sound. The Yellow Swans made noise beautiful and emotionally intense, instead of just intense. They humanized what was a cold and harsh medium and made it something more massive than simple sonic assaults as a result. "Going Places" is such a dense work, full of so many subtle currents and diverging streams that it will continue to provide discovery long into the future, and will always be a monument to the brutal beauty that was the Yellow Swans. Full review here.
This vinyl only trilogy of post-hauntology electronica is one of the most restless and exciting releases of the year. Spooky, pulsating, cosmopolitan, and always evocative, Demdike Stare continue to defy categorization and convention to craft this massive assemblage of sounds that combine minimalist techno, drone, world, library music and horror soundtracks. It's immensely dark, but far too sexy to be considered dark ambient, and far too dark to be considered anything else. It's best not to attempt to pigeonhole it really. Instead, rewards aplenty await those who simply give themselves to a journey through Demdike Stare's unique and original soundworld. I've been travelling it throughout the year, and I still find something new to marvel at each and every time. For those who missed these superb LPs, there will be a cd reissue with 40 extra minutes of music coming out in January.
"Ancestral Star" is a doom-drenched Earth-indebted soundtrack for one of the most powerful, epic and mesmerizing films never made. The album paints a journey through a scorched-earth hellscape that ends as heroically as it does horribly. "Ancestral Star" is a submersive listening experience that makes for the most fully-realized Barn Owl release to date and is one of this 2010's precious few essential releases for fans of experimental, drone or doom. Full review here.
Ten songs of precise furious punk-infused sludge thrash in barely thirty-five minutes. The last time I heard an album this short and this intense it was by a band named Slayer. "Taste the Sin" announced the arrival of the next great metal band, and one that defies genre in exchange for pure fucking fury. Thankfully there is nothing subtle about Black Tusk, they go all the way to 11. Full review here.
This is hardly a perfect album. It's overlong, has a weak middle section and is far too earnest to have any real fun with. At the same time, I couldn't help myself from going back to it over and over again. For better or worse, Arcade Fire are one of the great bands of our time, and "The Suburbs" provides plenty of reasons why. From simple Springsteen rock to Radiohead-like dystopia to the overblown stadium anthems "The Suburbs" had it all. Even when lead man Win Butler sounded more dour than ever, the band's streamlined approach never let the proceedings get bogged down in unbearable navel gazing or cynicism. Yeah, I had a lot of problems with this record, but to pretend it isn't one of the best albums of 2010 would just be petty. Full review here.
Australia's Tame Impala couldn't sound more English if they were. Maintaining the long and fruitful line of experimental pop that began with The Beatles' "Revolver" and winds through early Radiohead and The Stone Roses, Tame Impala carry the torch forward in a manner that does justice to those hallowed names. The band's mixture of English psych pop with just a touch of krautrock made for one of this year's most pleasant and unexpected surprises. It's a wonderful hook-ridden work that never wears out its welcome and will have you believing in britrock all over again, even if it is from Australia. Full review here.
Beach Fossils' debut album was the perfect sleepy summer soundtrack, which combined lo-fi with 80s college rock à la early R.E.M. and The Feelies. The album oozed a hazy lazy atmosphere that hit perfectly with carefree sunny days and clear warm nights. Unlike fellow sun-worshipers Best Coast and Wavves, Beach Fossils were more introverted and twee, making for a rather unassuming album that didn't demand to be heard, but paid off in spades once you chilled-out long enough to listen. Full review here.
These were all more than worthy albums that I highly recommend, but because I'm only counting down 25, I'm going to have to list them here in a rather generic fashion, even though there is nothing generic about any of these excellent records. Here they are in no particular order...
MOGWAI - Special Moves (Rock Action Records) GEOFF MULLEN - Bongo Closet(Type) LUDICRA - The Tenant (Profound Lore) WATAIN - Lawless Darkness (Season Of Mist) LOCRIAN - Territories (Small Doses) ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI - Before Today (4AD) THE NATIONAL - High Violet (4AD) XASTHUR - Portal of Sorrow (Hydra Head)
Combining the anguished emotionality of Jesu, the art-metal of various Aaron Turner and Sanford Parker projects and the skull crushing doom/sludge of fellow Louisiana legends Eyehategod, Thou crafted one of the most progressive and brutally heavy albums of the year with "Summit." Album opener "By Endurance We Conquer" sounds like it could have been an outtake from Sunn 0)))'s masterful "Monoliths and Dimensions," while "Prometheus" sounds like the saddest Corrupted song ever, all making "Summit" one of the most intense listening experiences of the year, if not the most intense. Yet, even in the midst of raw emotion and pummelling riffage, the band ensures that "Summit" contains, hooks, twists and turns a plenty so that even if you have listened to the record one hundred times over there is always something new to uncover. In a year where the progressive Agalloch's "Marrow Of The Spirit" ended up on top of so many metal fans' lists, it was hard to understand why the equally adventurous, and for my money thousand times more powerful, Thou was virtually absent from the year end accolades.
Type did the world a huge favor this year by reissuing dark ambient pioneer Thomas Köner's first three albums. Originally released in the early 90s, Köner's records have long been out of print, but their influence has been felt throughout the last two decades. These albums are hardly museum pieces though, they still sound as groundbreaking today as they did in 1990, 92 and 93. This isn't just the ground zero of dark ambient music, this is also its present and future. Full review here.
Before I get started on the long hike through 2010's albums, let me pause for a second and recognize two excellent albums that should have been on my Best of 2009 list. Part of the joy in reading these lists is discovering records you may have missed throughout the year, and even fanatics like myself let things slip through, so here are two records that came out in 2009, but deserve extra attention here.
The first is the hauntingly beautiful "Landings" by Richard Skelton. It's drone, it's neo-classical, it's ambient, it's shimmering, it's dark, it's light, it's one of the most perfect experimental records I have ever heard, and would have placed very high on any year end list, had I heard it in time. Full review here.
The second, Cloud Nothing's "Turning On" came to my attention with this year's reissue on Carpark records, but was originally released last year on Bridgetown Records. "Turning On" was a slice of Perfect Sound Forever lo-fi indie rock, heavily indebted to some of the 90s brightest heroes of indie rock like Archers of Loaf and Seam. Once this album gets its hooks in you they remain in you. Full review here.
While the mysterious and ghostly dubstep mastermind Burial has been relatively silent for the past couple of years, his influence permeated some of the most interesting releases of 2010. Among those releases are my two picks for ep of the year; James Blake's "Klavierwerke" and Forest Swords' "Dagger Paths." Each draw upon Burial's striped-down dubstep rhythms, disembodied vocals and grimy but gauzy atmospherics, while at the same time explore unmarked territory. Blake's ep recalls The Books at their best. "Klavierwerke" is soulful, moving and melancholy, yet life-affirming throughout. Take the phenomenal "I Only Know (What I Know Now);" the track features subtle to the point of silent beats that peculate underneath piano samples, which are punctuate by what sounds like the skeletal traces of a gospel choir long ago released from this mortal coil. It's gorgeous stuff and quite unlike anything else this year.
Forest Swords take a dirtier, more urgent approach. "Dagger Paths" is the sound of the urban jungle where races, religions and ethnic groups mix and clash in a fight to survive and maintain their own identity. This is not pretty stuff like Blake's ep, but it is a powerful, if somewhat apocalyptic take, on city life. Rather than channel in pianos and strings, Forest Swords rely on world rhythms, slithering guitars and Massive Attack style-bass to create their sonic dystopia. "Dagger Paths" is one of the most expansive and darkest releases of the year, and one that points toward greatness from Forest Swords in the future.
I chronicled my own existential response to this song in my review of LCD Soundsystem's "This Is Happening" earlier this year, and I think that experience sums up the power and the glory of this song sufficiently enough:
"So I am walking down the street and listening to my new favorite song "Dance Yrself Clean" while struggling with a serious case of writer's block, namely how to say what I want to say about about this damn album. The song is playing and the night is one of those perfect spring nights clocking in around 72 with a breeze blowing from the west. Sure, it's pleasant now, but that breeze is the tip of a storm front ready to bring two full days of thunderstorms to my world. No need to worry about that now, just let the music sink in and feed off of some of that kinetic energy in the air. Then it all suddenly clicks, the song, the album, my immediate situation as an aged-indie rocker who still, to quote Triumph, has the "magic power of the music in me," and for a brief moment I feel enlightened, and "Dance Yrself Clean" is my soundtrack. Indeed, this is happening.
Looking back at that moment I am amazed at how James Murphy a/k/a LCD Soundsystem could create such a perfect song; one that can effect you so intensely on a personal level, but, as they used to say on American Bandstand, 'has a good beat, and you can dance to it.' He is also the same guy who, though so much self-referential irony, deflates what just happened. Nevertheless, in that moment of listening to his music, all of my own personal relations and emotions are imploded and then expanded. If there had been a camera...only if, I could have been a star, because in that moment, on that street, I was the character who finally let go of whatever baggage I was carrying around, and cleanse myself of it all, at least temporarily, much like a character in a Noah Baumbach film. After all, there was a reason Baumbach tapped Murphy to score his latest film "Greenberg." Looking back at that moment it strikes me that the success of Murphy's music is dependent on our own life experiences, our own existential situations and how well he is able to reflect them in his songs."
P.S. "If we wait until the weekend, we can miss the best things to do..."
This was personally my favorite song of the year. Sarah Martin takes the lead on "I Didn't See It Coming," a song about down on their luck lovers who are determined to live life in full despite their woes. Behind her the band finds a groove with a slight shuffle that slowly builds toward a climax, bringing frontman Stuart Murdoch out from the shadows to drive the song home with his pleadings of "make me dance, I want to surrender." The song is Belle & Sebastian in a nutshell; joyful in spite of crappy circumstances, happy, but not ignorantly so. As someone who can relate all too well to the song's protagonists, every single feeling and word rings true. There is no wrong move, no false step in "I Didn't See It Coming," instead it imparts authentic hope - not hope that things will get better, but hope that you can find joy even when life is dealing you a shit hand.
What do you call a song that mixes NWOBHM, doom, thrash and sludge to perfect effect? How about not only one of the best songs of 2010, but one of the best heavy metal songs of all time. Yeah, I said that. "Snakes for the Divine" is archetypal metal performed by one of the very best metal bands of the last decade (arguably THE best metal band of the last decade). If you like metal you worship at the alter of this track, if you don't then you simply don't like metal, poseur. This is the 100% pure unadulterated product, everything else is but a weak imitation. Initially I had listed this track at number 10 on my list, but I realized the error of my ways when it became apparent to me that everything that follows is some seriously wussy shit compared to this chunk of metallic perfection.
I never much cared for Beach House. I thought they were derivative, which isn't entirely a sin in my book, but they sounded like pale copies of so many better dream pop and shoegaze acts that I just couldn't feel much of anything about them other than boredom. "Zebra" changed all of that for me. This beautiful slice of transcendent pop stopped me dead in my tracks and found me raving about it to anyone that I could. Nearly 12 months after its initial release, it still stuns me with it's sheer beauty, and hypnotizes me with it's wave-like patterns. Listening to it is like wrapping yourself up inside the most comforting blanket ever while watching the snow turn the world pure.
"Terrible Love" is one of the National's big anthematic songs, with soaring harmonies, massive percussion and furious guitar playing. Yet, even if this is the kind of thing we expect from The National, there is a change in tone here from records past. Unlike similar songs on "Boxer" and even "Alligator" the sound here is less celebratory. The band sounds more constricted and withdrawn making for a more troubled, melancholic. The National have always been men on the verge of breakdown, but here they sound closer to the edge than ever. Gone is the darkly romantic bravado of past. In it's place is the regretful and world-weary sound of guys facing middle-age with fear and loathing in their hearts, but not the kind that finds you changing in your high-school sweetheart for that blond in the sports car, it's much more authentic than that. It's the kind of internal war that occurs when you wake up from the sleep of convention, it can be dangerous and self-destructive, but at least it's self-aware and honest, and "Terrible Love" made it sound exhilarating.
Bethany Cosentino became one of the closest things indie culture had this year to an internet celebrity, in part because of the hype surrounding Best Coast, in part because of the somewhat hilarious feud between her and Hipster Runoff, in part because of her propensity to write songs for Target and Converse, in part because of her propensity to typify a stereotypical southern California girl who really likes to dank, and in part because she dates another quasi-internet celebrity from southern California named Nathan Williams who also likes to smoke dank and make music. Lost in all of this is that Bethany is an insanely talented songwriter who crafts simple, but potent, jangle-pop songs. "Goodbye" is an instant classic heartbreak song delivered with equal measures of wit and sincerity. There are so many great lyrics in this one song, including my favorite; "I lost my job, I miss my mom, I wish my cat could talk" that it almost seems unfair to other songwriters that Bethany is this good. Once she gets to the chorus though, and the production shifts from light to heavy and dark, you get the sense that "Goodbye" isn't all shits and giggles. There is real hurt and heartache at the center of "Goodbye" that will have you crying in your drink, even as you crack a smile during its grin inducing verses.
I know, everyone else is picking "Power" "Monster" or "Runaway" for their year end lists, and arguably each of those tracks are serious contenders for best song of the year, but for my money no song moved me this year like "All Of The Lights" did. It is possibly the grandest note on an album full of grand notes, and no amount of effuse praise can come close to capturing the ecstatic experience of "Lights" once it gets under your skin. It energizes, brings tears, causes goosebumps and chills, and will make you just damn happy to be alive to hear this song. The track is based on a brass fanfare of french horns, trombones and trumpets giving it a baroque atmosphere. The beat is constructed out of a marching band tom rhythm giving the track an urgent feel that Kanye builds upon with a lyrical flow that tells the story of a man's attempt to reconstruct his life after a stint in the penitentiary only to be meet with restraining orders and unemployment. The titular "lights" change throughout the song from fast cars and shooting stars to sirens and spotlights, before the protagonist asks for all of the lights to be turned up extra bright so that everyone can witness his final fall in an act of desperation. It's such an insanely powerful and perfectly constructed song and the kind of song that only Kanye West could craft and execute.
"Bhang Bhang, I'm A Burnout" is a bad girl anthem filtered through the prism of the Ronettes and "Garageland" in equal parts, making for one of the most memorable girl punk/garage singles in recent years (years which have seen a slew of girl punk/garage singles). Lead singer Dee Dee's sultry girl-group vocals are perfectly complemented by band members Jules, Bambi and the ubiquitous Frankie Rose who play it lo-fi but full-throated, precise but serrated, and pretty but dangerous. "Bhang Bhang" is pop alright, but it's more poison than bubblegum.
Big Boi's phenomenal "Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty" boasts a buttload of perfect songs, any of which could/should be on countless Top 10 lists this year, but of them all "Tangerine" was the one that stopped everything in its tracks when it came on the stereo, and demanded that you lose your shit entirely right there on the spot. It is dark dank and x-rated, and contains one of the most descriptive and memorable lines of the year. Before Kanye's romp through the jungle on "Monster," Big Boi unleashed his own drums of death on "Tangerine," which features lo-end toms bashing out a beat, while a subdued blues guitar winds its way through the hot and heavy track like a snake. The song also contains the addictive refrain "shake it like a tambourine," which rivals OutKast teammate Andre 3000's infamous "shake it like a Polaroid picture." You can not deny this song, you just can't.
I don't listen to Arcade Fire to feel hopeless. I have Xasthur for that. I listen to Arcade Fire to pick myself up, dust myself off and get back into the ring. Yet, there was a futility that ran throughout Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" that undercut nearly every song on the album, and brought them closer to desperation than ever before. One of the album's many highlights "Ready To Start" did contain some genuine optimism though. The track found Win Butler and the band creating the kind of rousing soundtrack moment that made Arcade Fire so big in the first place. When Win sings "if the businessmen drink my blood like the kids in art school said they would, then I guess I'll just begin again," it's one of the album's few anthematic moments. "Ready To Start" had me wishing even more so that Win didn't sound like he had entirely lost his will to fight over the rest of the sprawl of "The Suburbs."
In one of the year's most pathetic moments of music writing, the genre "witch-house" was coined. I've already ranted enough about how stupid the whole debacle was, although it did give us the not so well thought-out term "rape gaze," which made it worth while for all the wrong reasons. Salem was the band at the center of it all. When they weren't being asked by music journalists what they thought of the absurd descriptors being attached to them, they were making some mighty fine experimental dance pop. "Redlights" was an inspired piece of cathedral-sized ambient dance that mixed classic 4AD atmospherics with amped up electronics and a beat that stumbled as much as it gently pulsated, like liquored up dubstep. With "Redlights" Salem proved that it was the music that mattered and set them apart, not whatever half-assed critic-invented genre that unimaginative writers were clamoring to pigeonhole them as.
On "Four Score and Seven," Titus Andronicus took the epic-song template and loaded it full of moments of real inspiration. Beginning with strummed guitars, mournful fiddle and harmonica, the song builds to a gorgeous fanfare of horns and percussion before the band explodes at the halfway point with a punk-inspired war cry that would make Joe Strummer proud of his children. The song proved that the band has it in them to write nine-minute epics, even if its shining brilliance somewhat underscored the mediocrity of every other lengthy track on their album "The Monitor."
Why? Because this song fucking rocks. Best blues-rock stomp I've heard in a while, plus the video is the best I've seen all year as well. It beats the shit out of overproduced videos by the likes of Kanye and Gaga.
"Odyssey" is as epic sounding as its name implies. It's a massive burner of a song complete with grand canyon sized riffage, god-like vocals, a stratosphere piercing snare drum and guitar solo, and a swamp boogie breakdown at the end. It traverses it's harrowing journey in under six minutes of some of the finest groove-based doom/sludge since Kyuss quite kicking up dust in the desert all those years ago. This is only one of the many fine examples of why it was a very good year for metal.
The move away from lo-fi scuz punk to crisp polished pop workouts on Wavves' "King Of The Beach" album was initially a little bit disconcerting and disappointing. Once expectations were adjusted, though, Nathan Williams' songwriting sensibilities won the day regardless of what fidelity they were recorded in. Even at their most lo-fi and noisiest, Wavves have always maintained a hell of an ability to craft killer hooks and melodies that couldn't be denied no matter how many layers of fuzz they were buried under. The polish on "King Of The Beach" only emphasized Williams' songwriting talent that much more. The record's titular track was one of this summer's theme songs. A breezy rock song about literally hitting the beach and ruling that motherfucker. Yes, it kind of sounded like early Weezer, but that was a good thing. "King Of The Beach," the song, and by extension the album, was a rousing simple track tailor made for sunshine and careless (mis)adventure, something we all need from time to time.
I have extremely mixed feelings about Ariel Pink, as expressed in my review of this year's much beloved "Before Today", but I have to admit he came closer to realizing his potential this year more than ever before. Several of the tracks on "Before Today," like "Round and Round," ended up being addictive pop gems that couldn't be denied, 70s schmaltz and all. There was something sincere about "Round and Round" that cut down the distance between Ariel and the rest of us in a way that was endearing, while still maintaining a solid too cool for school vibe throughout. It was infectious. Even a curmudgeon like me, who long ago wrote Ariel off, ended up falling under his spell despite my better judgment.
"There Is A Light" is a fifteen minute epic waltz that illustrates why Silver Mt. Zion is one of the most powerful bands on earth when they are firing on all cylinders. Combining folk, southern gospel and, of course, crushing agit-rock, the song soars to unbearable heights before smashing itself into bits. Lead singer and guitarist Efrim Menuck has the rare ability to sing rousing laments to idealism that easily rip your heart right out and bring tears to the eyes. This guy would absolutely kill at an Irish wake. "There Is A Light," is a perfect example of Efrim's gift, as he sings about attempting to craft a better world, facing defeat and striving to still believe in hope, even if there may be no reason to. It is gut-wrenching stuff that reaches beyond platitudes and into the most bare human experience of anyone who has ever looked at the injustice and horror of the world and said 'we can do better,' only to watch best intentions go up in flames. It is a sentiment that probably a lot of Americans can relate to these days. What further elevates the song, other than the music, is Efrim's, and by extension our own, complicated relationship with hope. At times he appears ready to abandon it, but then turns around and searches in earnest for its light.
"Little Golden Age" is a rock anthem writ large. It's the kind of shit that made Springsteen the Boss, and it's more than worthy of the comparison. With lyrics centered around small town life, nostalgia and escape, as well as some of the most bombastic instrumentation featured on Wolf Parade's "Expo 86" the track has all the makings of a classic rock standard, and I mean that in a good way. Wolf Parade announced they were going on a hiatus recently, which is a major bummer because sometimes indie rock needs bands like Wolf Parade to remember what the word rock truly means. A song like "Little Golden Age" is a reminder of that.
"Glitter" is ambient pop blown out into the universe by dazzling guitar effects and hooks that pile up with each and every line. This shit is life affirming and life altering. It is the kind of song that you want to hear live with all of your friends at a big festival where you can lose yourselves in the beauty of the moment and the music. If you've ever had that experience, you will know what I'm talking about. This is transcendent rock at its very finest.
To be honest I haven't been much into Animal Collective or anything related for the past couple of years. I thought the much lauded "Merriweather Post Pavilion" was the most overrated record of 2009 and had generally grown sick of their ubiquity and even more sick of bands attempting to sound like them. So I was a bit surprised that member Panda Bear's singles from this year enchanted me so, but they did. "Slow Motion" rooted itself inside of my brain to be played repeatedly throughout the latter half of the year as part of my internal soundtrack. There is a sort of M.C. Escher quality to the track which is built on ascending and descending reverbed effects that slowly but surely hypnotizes the listener. Panda Bear's vocals float dreamily over the music giving the track an otherworldly quality, even as the music threatens to pull you down toward darkness. "Slow Motion," as well as the other Panda Bear tracks released this year, give cause for even an AC cynic like me to anticipate both the new Panda Bear full length as well as the next Animal Collective release.
I tried very hard to pick a single track from Das Racist's most awesome "Sit Down, Man" and ended up totally flustered. The fact is there are too many choice cuts on that record to choose just one, so let's just call it a tie between "All Tan Everything" "Puerto Rican Cousins" "hahahaha jk" "Rapping 2 U" and "Rooftop." The genius of Das Racist is that they are able to drop mindbombs coded as stupid-smart humor like napalm throughout their songs, leaving listeners in awe of their word play, and amused at their ability to crack a smile throughout. Racially conscious social and political commentary has never been this damn fun. Take a listen to any of these tracks and you'll see what I mean.
This year found Ted Leo & The Pharmacist returning to form with "The Brutalist Bricks" a rousing collection of pop-punk. One of the album's many standouts was "Bottled In Cork." The track begins with Leo singing furiously about a "peace keeping" debate on the floor of the U.N. that roots the song in agitprop before quickly turning from the political into a personal travelogue. As the piece continues it bears the melodicism of a world traveller imparting insight. One gets the sense that Leo loves the world he lives in, loves to explore it and loves the people he meets along the way, but that the misdeeds of Washington and Wall Street, which threatens those places and people, are never far from his mind. One line stands out in particular; "a little goodwill goes a mighty long way." If there is any expression to sum up Leo's approach to music and politics that would be it. Leo has always come in goodwill, even when he is singing about the atrocious realities of our time.
Last year's "Post-Nothing" by Japandroids was one of 2009's best. The band's punk take on Thin Lizzy was as potent as it was timeless and re-injected some much needed unabashed rock and roll into the indie landscape. This year found the band releasing an excellent series of 45s, including this one. It was difficult to pick out a best of from the lot, but "Younger Us," could sit side by side with any track from "Post-Nothing" and come out equal or better. Like the brilliant "Young Hearts Spark Fire," the track is characterized by nostalgia for a carefree youth in the face of aging. Yet, while the band may sound old lyrically, they play with all the energy and power of an 18-year-old, blazing a barn burner across the record's grooves. Anyone that rocks with this much vim and vigor really has no business mourning their youth, because their best days are clearly here and now.
In the midst of Joanna Newsom's unwieldy and overly-somber three record release "Have One On Me," is this gem. Newsom draws upon early American composition to craft a rousing ragtime motif for the song's backbone, making for a peppy composition that works partly because in between all the smiles and sunshine is a complex Newsom arrangement with an extended meditative middle section that elevates the track beyond a simple pop affair. It's one of Newsom's best pieces to date, and signals a new direction in sound for her. One that unfortunately she didn't take the time to explore on the rest of the record.
So comes that time of the year that every critic secretly loves and dreads in equal measure - the year end list. We love it because to be a critic means that lying deep within our hearts is a desire to categorize and catalog everything and then rank it all on a list from best to worst. Year end lists naturally allow us to satiate this perversion. We hate it because of the fear that we have somehow forgotten something, missed something or are generally going to fuck it all up by listing some crap recording that no one, including ourselves, will remember a year from now. That is why the process of year-end lists should be taken soberly with the utmost thoughtfulness. One should write every possible ranking artist, album and song down and then ponder and evaluate every selection. One should not make rash decisions, and one should never ever reward a band as a result of trends or personal favor.
A serious critic begins the nomination process on January 1 of each year and keeps his or her ears open toward every release until December 31 to ensure that something is not going to be released late in the game that could upset the list that each must amass well before that final day of each year. I assure you, gentle reader that I have done the utmost to maintain the integrity of this list, including singles and albums from across the spectrum that I have mulled over throughout 2010. I am sure that there will be much disagreement with what appears here, but do note that I have been a musical obsessive going on 26 years now, and there is nothing I take more serious than the task at hand. I would also like to add a disclaimer that this list is mine, as in Jason Bunch, and mine alone. It does not represent the opinions of the rest of the Luna crew, so any invective should be directed at me only.
Locrian's "The Crystal World" starts out deep inside of the earth in an endless cave that seems like an abyss. Stalagmites twinkle just enough to create a partial circle of light, but beyond the radius of visibility, things slither and crawl on the walls and floor. Then you hear it. Somewhere deeper down in the cave is a monster, something that speaks, screams and wails in desperation and anger, something that you know will kill you if it finds you. It sounds closer and closer as the earth around you hums with increasing intensity. It's as if death is coming to meet you instead of waiting for you to stumble upon it. This is what it is to enter Locrian's "The Crystal World."
The Chicago trio of André Foisy, Terence Hannum and Steven Hess craft their nightmarish sound world out of remnants of krautrock, drone, post-rock and black metal creating their own unique brand of experimental terror. The album was inspired by J.G. Ballard's novel "The Crystal World," wherein the earth's vegetation succumbs to an apocalyptic crystallization. The world that Ballard creates sparkles even as it devastates, and Locrian have captured perfectly that quality of glimmering beauty amidst inevitable destruction.
The record follows a narrative arch with one song bleeding into the next to make for an audial journey into the heart of darkness. The impending doom that informs opener "Triumph of Elimination" quietly pervades "At Night's End," which follows. The track eventually explodes with pounding percussion, epic guitar squalls and a voice that has turned from hateful to haunted. One can imagine anguished flight from the terror in the darkness as the song plays out. The band ups the ante on the phenomenal title track which mixes minimalist repeating guitar patterns against varying drones of ascending madness and doom while Hess' drums stumble around the piece like a battered and exhausted victim of unfathomable horrors.
"Pathogens" begins the record's second half with drones that resemble distant emergency sirens, rising and falling in intensity. Inevitably the horror creeps back into the immediate as squelching electronics and guitar approach closer and closer to the foreground until they eventually overtake it along with with Hess' rattling tom beats.
With "Obsidian Facades" that desperate hate-filled voice returns, screaming out from the depths. A steady dark guitar drone underlies the piece, while haunted atmospherics swirl over the surface calling to mind Paysage d'Hiver's "Kerker," Sunn 0)))'s "Black One" and Nortt to some degree. The track ends with a shimmering guitar refrain reminiscent of Labradford that offers a tiny fragment of hope. "Elevations and Depths" brings the album to a close in a manner that is powerful, beautiful and deeply moving, even as it snuffs out that tiny fragment of hope. Acoustic guitars and harmoniums mix with all of the elements the band have mined thus far to make for an intense swelling finale that is tragic in tone. The horror wins at the end of "The Crystal World," but not without a good fight, making the denouement that much more heartbreaking.
The effect of "Elevations" belies the grimness of "The Crystal World," and exposes a deeper humanity that runs throughout the record. There is warm beating heart at the center of the album that elevates it far beyond simple atmospheric dark ambient or doom, and makes for a deeply effecting musical experience. As I shape up my "best of" list for 2010, Locrian's "The Crystal World" looks to be a shoe-in for both its unique musical vision, and it's gut-wrenching emotionality. Highly recommended.
There has been much praise for Kylesa's "Spiral Shadow." Pitchfork has thrown its formidable weight behind it (I have to admit, even though P4K doesn't cover enough metal for my tastes, when they do they seem to grasp it's awesomeness appropriately enough), and Brandon Stosuy (the music writer/critic I probably envy the most in this world) has repeatedly hinted that it may top his Best of 2010 list. Honestly, in a year that has found metal far outshining any other genre in terms of masterworks, I was more than a little skeptical that Kylesa's new album was going to be the one that had people tripping over themselves with praise.
Certainly the band's mixture of hardcore and sludge metal on last year's "Static Tensions" was a grand slab of metal nirvana that was generally loved by most, but it did not necessarily point toward the hybrid/crossover/breakthrough that is "Spiral Shadow." While I am still not ready to declare this the metal album of the year, I can certainly understand why some would. The Savanah, Georgia quintet maintain strains of their sludge/hardcore past with "Spiral," but inject large amounts of progressive elements and melody into the mix, creating something not quite metal, but far too heavy to be anything else. Imagine a more heavy crushing At The Drive In and you might have an idea of what "Spiral" sounds like.
The album kicks off with "Tired Climb," which begins with a bass progression that sounds a bit like King Crimson or Tool over tribal sounding percussion from the band's two drummers before exploding into crunching guitar riffs that are punctuated by slightly psychedelic guitar washes. It's all actually rather catchy, even though it is still heavy as hell and more complex than most of the band's contemporaries. Somehow Kylesa is able to incorporate all of these disparate characteristics into a unified and amazingly accessible whole. They are melodic without being pop, proggy without being wankish and heavy without being oppressive.
Lead vocalist and guitarist Philip Cope's incredibly crisp production differentiates the band's sound from fellow travellers Mastodon, Baroness, Black Tusk, Torche and High on Fire. Kylesa's riffs sound like quick and sudden shark attacks, rather than the bestial pummeling so often associated with sludge metal. Cope's production perfectly complements the songs here which run the gambit from knotty complexly structured pieces to pop punk. Such variance is to be expected for a band that sites Sabbath, Neurosis, Black Flag, Pink Floyd and the Pixies as a few of their influences. What isn't to be expected is that the band can turn in a song that is equally heavy as it is upbeat on "Don't Look Back," and then turn right around and deliver the pensive doom-ridden crush of "Distance Closing In," and make it all sound like it fits perfectly together. This isn't an album that you fast forward to your favorite song, it is an album that you listen to all the way through without omission even as the band explores radically different moods and approaches.
The one constant that runs throughout is the lyrical theme of motion. Nearly every song features lyrics that touch upon moving backwards, forwards, or side to side. Cope and lead guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasents have both explained that the album is more introspective than before and came about after taking stock of the near decade the band has been making music, and the distance they have travelled since their formation in 2001. It may be that personal inventory sparked something in a band that was already on an ascending arc, or it may be that Kylesa had just grown confidant enough to break down whatever barriers remained in their music, either way the band sounds more creative and vital than ever and have crafted an album that deserves recognition and praise across the board, and not just from metal fans.
Wheeler, who has been quiet for the most part over the past few months when it comes to cutting down great music, chimed in with this gem: "Is this the "Keep 'Em Separated" guys?"
"Tired Climb"
"Don't Look Back" live
"Foresaken/Only One" live at a freakin' house party. Awesome clip.
When the country turned against Kanye West last year for interrupting Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards, it was kind of hard not to laugh. Here was Kanye, a singular talent whose four records to date had shown him to be nothing less than a visionary artist and vanguard, spoiling a ridiculous awards show meant to honor music videos on a music video channel that doesn't even play music videos. The whole charade, and subsequent outrage, was absurd on numerous levels. To begin with the only real crime was that Kanye legitimized MTV with his presence, not that he upended the current vanilla flavor of the month. Yet, in the days and months that followed Kanye was deemed by many to be more or less the worst human being alive. The amount of venom directed Kanye's way was kind of mind boggling. I mean Christ, John Lennon was an asshole from time to time, so were all of the Rolling Stones aside from maybe Charlie Watts, so why was Kanye the devil? I think partly it was because of a vacuous 24 hour media machine that would rather report meaningless celebrity antics and fan the flames of controversy than run substantive news, and partly, I would argue, because of race, but I don't want to get into that debate here. Mainly, though, I think it has something to do with the overly sanitized pop culture that pervades the country. It used to be that rock stars acted like rock stars, accountable only to themselves, not perfect princesses like, well Taylor Swift. Certainly some of it was Kanye's fault, he isn't exactly the most humble human being on earth, but he is more than self-aware of his flaws and is not afraid to blow them up widescreen on his records. In the end, it is talent and not his personality that carries the day. The fact is that Kanye West is one of the most gifted artists of our time, and despite his boorish behavior, if you forgo Kanye because he acted like an ass on a few occasions, then you do so at your own detriment, just as if you quit listening to the Beatles because John Lennon said they were bigger than Jesus. The one thing that I was 100% certain of was that despite all of the crap hurled at Kanye over the last year whatever he was going to do next was going to be victorious and great. I didn't quite realize how great that great was going to be though. "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" is 2010's masterpiece.
Kanye sums it up best on "Power" when he says "lost in translation with the whole fucking nation, they say I was the abomination of Obama's nation, well that's a pretty bad way to start a conversation. At the end of the day goddammit I'm killing this shit, I know damn well you all feeling this shit." And he is right, he is absolutely killing this shit, and you would have to be an asshole yourself to not be feeling this shit. But least anyone think Kanye is simply shrugging off all of the controversies he leaves in his wake consider that immediately following this verse he indulges in a suicide fantasy. It's certainly no coincidence that West samples King Crimson's "21st Century Schizo Man" throughout the track.
This dichotomy is far from lost on West, instead he turns "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" into a tour de force of contradictions, high life, low life, egos, ids, devils and angels, and it's all over a cinematic soundscape that contains some of the best production and beats found on any hip hop album. Ever. Opener "Dark Fantasy" is a micro example of the record as a whole. The track begins with falsetto vocals backed by a chorus over slight ascending strings and effects to make for an energetic, but ethereal start before descending to street level with a West/RZA collaboration that combines the neo-classical grandiosity of the former with the ominous grime of the latter. Lyrically the track starts off with West broke and nameless in Chicago and ends with him kissing an heiress and waking up in Paris. This mixture of street life with refined culture, as well as the profound with the profane, and mythology with reality are all driving forces musically and lyrically throughout "Fantasy," and it's a mixture that only someone like West, himself a paragon of contradiction, could make so entertaining and powerful in equal measure. If Federico Fillini's "La Dolce Vita" were a hip-hop album it would be this.
One theme that West takes head-on here that doesn't seem to be getting as much press as his own personal narrative is that of race. "Gorgeous" through "So Appalled" looks at race from within and without, sometimes blatantly and sometimes in a more subtle fashion. "Gorgeous" is West's most direct commentary on race in both a universalized and personalized manner. "End of century anthems based off inner city tantrums based off the way we was branded, face it Jerome get more time than Brandon, and at the airport they check all through my bag and tell me that it random," West raps before he says "as long as I'm in a polo smiling they think they got me, but they would try to crack me if they ever see a black me," and that is just a taste of the lyrical firebombs he lets loose over the hazy soul/blues guitar based piece. West is right on the money with commentary that is both social and personal. America went so far past "post-racial" after Obama was elected that we somehow ended up back in an era of extreme racism that seeps out of our pores. He is more than correct that nothing has really changed for millions of young black men across America no matter who is in the White House.
It is those young black men who weren't able to crawl out of the inner city as athletes or rappers whose plight he explores from the first person perspective on "All Of The Lights," possibly the album's grandest note. No amount of effuse praise can come close to capturing the ecstatic experience of "Lights." It energizes, it brings tears, it causes goosebumps and chills, and it will make you just damn happy to be alive to hear this song. The track is based on a brass fanfare of french horns, trombones and trumpets. The beat is constructed out of a marching band tom rhythm giving the track an urgent feel that Kanye builds upon with a lyrical flow that tells the story of a man's attempt to reconstruct his life after a stint in the penitentiary only to be meet with restraining orders and unemployment. The titular "lights" change throughout the song from fast cars and shooting stars to sirens and spotlights, before the protagonist asks for all of the lights to be turned up extra bright so that everyone can witness his final fall in an act of desperation. It's such an insanely powerful and perfectly constructed song and, again, the kind of song that only Kanye West could craft and execute.
"Monster" plays with race in a more subtle manner, and in some ways it is secondary to the clash of hip-hop bravado and pathos that is at the heart of the track. Yet the song does play with stereotypes, particularly those that subconsciously may have been at the heart of the campaign to crucify West after the VMA debacle. After a wild introductory scream and growl, West lays down a beat that sounds like a gorilla bounding through a jungle, before declaring that everyone knows he's "a motherfucking monster." The track takes the image of scary black man and toys with it in the context of irony-laden bravado that strikes at the heart not of white America, but hip-hop culture itself. The track features some equally insane/brilliant verses from Jay-Z, Rick Ross and Nicki Minaj, before Bon Iver's Justin Vernon brings it all back to earth with the confessional "I crossed the line, I'll let God decide, I wouldn't last these shows, so I am headed home." Vernon's verse is the sound of guilt and exhaustion after so much untethered id, and undercuts entirely whatever boasting hasn't already been undercut with irony. That guilt and exhaustion are what feed the dark and brilliant "So Appalled." The track features West, Jay-Z, Swizz Beatz, Pusha T, Prynce Cy and RZA running through a laundry lists of rap star excesses and privileges, but rather than boasts, each sounds like a burden at best and a sin at worst, particularly in the context of record high unemployment among other African-Americans. "Niggas is going through real shit, man they out of work that's why another goddamned dance track has got to hurt," West raps over a nightmarish urban hellscapse that sounds more like a Wu-Tang production than a West one (oddly enough even though RZA appears on the track, this one was solely produced by West). The track solidifies the battle inherent in West's mind and life. He is certainly not one to turn away from the indulgences that his success affords him, at the same time there is a conscience at work inside of him that forces him to acknowledge the vulgarity of those luxuries.
The latter half of the album focuses on sex and relationships, and finds West bringing his self-aware mixture of profound and profane to each. "Devil In A New Dress" and "Hell of A Life" combines sex and religion, and the disconnect between them. In each West comes to the defense of fallen women. "Hell of A Life" is a full-throated defense of porn stars, that contains the cut to the chase classic line "how can you say they live their life wrong, when you never fuck with the lights on." It also features West singing the chorus to the melody of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man," so yeah, the song pretty much has it all.
The gorgeous "Runaway" and the sorrowful "Blame Game" deal with the love side of the equation in moving and gritty measure. The much heralded "Runaway" features West at his most humble and regretful as a man who is his own worst enemy, the kind of guy who "could have...a good girl, and still be addicted to the hoodrats." It's hard not the read Kanye's "toast" to the douchebags, assholes, scumbags and jerkoffs as his own personal assessment, especially when he raps that he "never was much of a romantic, I could never take the intimacy, and I know it did damage 'cuz the look in your eyes is killin' me." To add to his painful admissions, the track is built around beautiful simple repeating piano notes and strings that make the song even more moving. West returns to the string and piano combination on "Blame Game," but the tone here is darker and more tragic. Lyrically the song is a complete inversion of "Runaway" with West directing all blame for a failed relationship outward toward his ex. It's a violent and ugly track that is also as emotionally naked as "Runaway." Taken together they expose both sides of the same coin in the most painfully honest manner possible.
West brings the entire production to a close with the mind boggling "Lost In the World." Mind boggling because chances are that when you first heard Bon Iver's "Woods" you probably didn't exactly think it would be the basis for a hip-hop banger (other than the whole auto-tune thing), but apparently West did and here he turns "Woods" into an exhilarating finale for his masterpiece. All of the themes that have run throughout the record come together in a last stand sort of moment, with West finding either salvation or damnation (either way he appears to be getting laid in the afterlife...you just have to hear it to believe it), before giving way to excerpts from the legendary Gil Scott-Heron's revolutionary poem "Comment 1." In doing so Kanye brings the album back to the plight of everyone, not just himself. Kanye the kisser of heiresses may have issues, but Kanye the human being knows that those are nothing compared to the rest of us who just want "a good home and a wife and children and some food to feed them every night," and whose survival in modern day America is as perilous now as it has ever been.
This ability to straddle the absurd with the deadly serious is what makes Kanye and "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" genius. It is that genius that permeates the lyrics and music throughout "Fantasy" and one that is simply so far and above anyone else right now that it is almost inexplicable. This is easily the album of the year, perfectly reflective of all the good and bad that is Kanye West, who just happens to be one of the greatest artists of our time.
To quote Bethany Cosentino's arch-nemesis Carles, "Best Coast is a fuzzy buzzy band that sings abt dank, California, boys, and kitty cats," which for better or worse sums up the band pretty well. Of course that summation also misses out on the nuances of the band, like how they perfectly combine Patsy Cline like vocals with 90s rrriot girl guitar rock and beach pop sensibilities, or how Bethany's seemingly simplistic lyrics hit closer to home than a knotty wordsmith like Joanna Newsom, or how no other album ruled the summer of 2010 like Best Coast's "Crazy For You." I think I listened to this record at least three times a day throughout the summer, and given the chance I'll do it again next summer. Full review here.
