Busy times and the premature death of my P2P new-music lifeline thinned the herd for me a bit this year, but good music is good music and here are my favorites...
1. Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago Okay, so there may be some controversy over including this at all, let alone picking it for #1, since it actually came out in 2007. But Jagjaguwar didn't begin distribution until '08 so unless you got an industry promo, snagged an early copy of the self-released LP at a show or are yourself Justin Vernon you probably think, like the rest of us, that Emma... came from the here and now rather than the just-last-year. I admit to cringing a little at the awkwardness of the situation, knowingly ignoring an actual release date in favor of a popularly misconstrued one in order to make the list, but it's just too good. This was my go-to album all year and it never once let me down. I can't wait to hear what's next.
2. Fleet Foxes s/t Rich vocal harmonies and folksy acoustic arrangements transcend your local Renaissance Faire with obvious influences from Simon & Garfunkle, The Beach Boys, CSN&Y and indie contemporaries Band of Horses and My Morning Jacket. Well deserved praise abounds...
3. TV on the Radio Dear Science Fast becoming the biggest and best rock band going, TVotR turn a corner, keeping agit-pop, revival rhythms and dense feedback loops at the core of a great, often (gasp) danceable album.
4. Blitzen Trapper Furr Their third LP finds them in a consistent, confident groove showcasing a deep love for the British invasion. Outstanding for its songwriting and ability to sound well-aged, not old.
5. No Age Nouns LA's hottest indie rock guitar fuzz peddlers make a strong case for being everywhere's hottest indie rock guitar fuzz peddlers.
6. The Dodos Visitor Deceptively musical, simple but rewarding, laid back with crisp-edges - solid indie emo done just right. This many rim-shots never sounded so good.
7. Vampire Weekend s/t It might be easier for music-philes to dismiss these guys as over privileged genre raping dilettantes than it is to admit that the songs are actually very good. Most tracks beg to be heard over and over like any good pop song should. Score one for the Omega house.
8. Deerhunter Microcastle They heard me! Dramatically more straightforward than its predecessors, the atmosphere remains but takes tangible if shifting forms.
9. My Morning Jacket Evil Urges MMJ's soulful turn grows and grows, turning out to be a smart artistic gamble in my book.
10. Bodies of Water Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink Like the Danielson family band (or cult or whatever) BoW prove that, if sung in unison by an ecstatic chorus of weirdos while accompanied by horns and percussion, even the most surreal of nihilist poetry can sound like a sunny day at the beach. I've got eyes on my belly! Yay!
11. Okkervil River The Stand Ins Will Sheff uses lots and lots of words to narrate songs about life on the road with a band. Still as cinematic as The Stage Names and as lovingly indebted to Bruce Springsteen, Brian Wilson and Gram Parsons as ever.
12. The Hold Steady Stay Positive Minnesota's biggest bar room bards spend their much deserved hype making... a decent rock record. The album, like the band, largely eschews their bread and butter tales of substance abuse and twenty-something wanderlust in favor of middle-aged reckoning. What happened to Holly and Charlemagne?
13. Man Man Rabbit Habits Jesus they're weird. Fun, interesting and a little bit scary but mostly weird. Philly freak rock polka with a unique and tangible odor. And mustaches!
14. Cut / Copy In Ghost Colours See also Icicle Works c. 1982 (thanks Amy). Dance like you'll never hear of New Order, dance!
15. School of Seven Bells Alpinisms Vocals and arrangements as airy and serious as the title implies but with solid rhythmic foundations. Lovely.
16. Mt. Eerie Lost Wisdom Haunting gets tossed around a lot when describing Phil Elvrum's brand of minimalist bedroom folk, but this is real "I see dead people" spooky (shiver).
17. Kaki King Dreaming of Revenge Expertly soft spoken, Dreaming beguiles and flirts, seeming to doze when it is actually lying in wait with quick eyes and sharp lines.
18. She & Him Volume One Zoey Deschanel + M. Ward = The Ronettes? Sure, with a darker sense of feminist irony, but fun retro girl pop - albeit in indie folk rags - just the same.
19. Girl Talk Feed the Animals A few truly inspired mash-up moments drive a second and slightly more sedate LP length mix of nearly 400 decade / genre hopping samples proving that sometimes more is more. Still, the wow factor ebbs.
20. Department of Eagles In Ear Park Tinkly echo-pop remembers then softens the roar of T Rex to a near whisper while indulging The Beatles darker musings.
21. Times New Viking Rip It Off Loud, staticky and distorted to within inches of total ruin, the disc's slash-n-bash textures artfully render an otherwise everyday DIY garage rocker somehow more, well, artful. Can you tell I'm shouting.
2. Fleet Foxes s/t Rich vocal harmonies and folksy acoustic arrangements transcend your local Renaissance Faire with obvious influences from Simon & Garfunkle, The Beach Boys, CSN&Y and indie contemporaries Band of Horses and My Morning Jacket. Well deserved praise abounds...
3. TV on the Radio Dear Science Fast becoming the biggest and best rock band going, TVotR turn a corner, keeping agit-pop, revival rhythms and dense feedback loops at the core of a great, often (gasp) danceable album.
4. Blitzen Trapper Furr Their third LP finds them in a consistent, confident groove showcasing a deep love for the British invasion. Outstanding for its songwriting and ability to sound well-aged, not old.
5. No Age Nouns LA's hottest indie rock guitar fuzz peddlers make a strong case for being everywhere's hottest indie rock guitar fuzz peddlers.
6. The Dodos Visitor Deceptively musical, simple but rewarding, laid back with crisp-edges - solid indie emo done just right. This many rim-shots never sounded so good.
7. Vampire Weekend s/t It might be easier for music-philes to dismiss these guys as over privileged genre raping dilettantes than it is to admit that the songs are actually very good. Most tracks beg to be heard over and over like any good pop song should. Score one for the Omega house.
8. Deerhunter Microcastle They heard me! Dramatically more straightforward than its predecessors, the atmosphere remains but takes tangible if shifting forms.
9. My Morning Jacket Evil Urges MMJ's soulful turn grows and grows, turning out to be a smart artistic gamble in my book.
10. Bodies of Water Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink Like the Danielson family band (or cult or whatever) BoW prove that, if sung in unison by an ecstatic chorus of weirdos while accompanied by horns and percussion, even the most surreal of nihilist poetry can sound like a sunny day at the beach. I've got eyes on my belly! Yay!
11. Okkervil River The Stand Ins Will Sheff uses lots and lots of words to narrate songs about life on the road with a band. Still as cinematic as The Stage Names and as lovingly indebted to Bruce Springsteen, Brian Wilson and Gram Parsons as ever.
12. The Hold Steady Stay Positive Minnesota's biggest bar room bards spend their much deserved hype making... a decent rock record. The album, like the band, largely eschews their bread and butter tales of substance abuse and twenty-something wanderlust in favor of middle-aged reckoning. What happened to Holly and Charlemagne?
13. Man Man Rabbit Habits Jesus they're weird. Fun, interesting and a little bit scary but mostly weird. Philly freak rock polka with a unique and tangible odor. And mustaches!
14. Cut / Copy In Ghost Colours See also Icicle Works c. 1982 (thanks Amy). Dance like you'll never hear of New Order, dance!
15. School of Seven Bells Alpinisms Vocals and arrangements as airy and serious as the title implies but with solid rhythmic foundations. Lovely.
16. Mt. Eerie Lost Wisdom Haunting gets tossed around a lot when describing Phil Elvrum's brand of minimalist bedroom folk, but this is real "I see dead people" spooky (shiver).
17. Kaki King Dreaming of Revenge Expertly soft spoken, Dreaming beguiles and flirts, seeming to doze when it is actually lying in wait with quick eyes and sharp lines.
18. She & Him Volume One Zoey Deschanel + M. Ward = The Ronettes? Sure, with a darker sense of feminist irony, but fun retro girl pop - albeit in indie folk rags - just the same.
19. Girl Talk Feed the Animals A few truly inspired mash-up moments drive a second and slightly more sedate LP length mix of nearly 400 decade / genre hopping samples proving that sometimes more is more. Still, the wow factor ebbs.
20. Department of Eagles In Ear Park Tinkly echo-pop remembers then softens the roar of T Rex to a near whisper while indulging The Beatles darker musings.
21. Times New Viking Rip It Off Loud, staticky and distorted to within inches of total ruin, the disc's slash-n-bash textures artfully render an otherwise everyday DIY garage rocker somehow more, well, artful. Can you tell I'm shouting.
