Honorable Mentions : 25-21 : 20-16 : 15-11 : 10-6
Purchase Avi Buffalo here.
Read my original review here.
This album is another big surprise in its staying power for me.There is nothing that truly stands out upon first listen to this debut LP from a band of (mostly) teenagers. When it first came out, many dismissive critics connected the dots to sound-alike The Shins. The dirty little secret is that this is so much better. Getting past the sweet pop glaze of their indelible hooks, you get to the meat of the songs that center around the awkwardness of young love and sex and crackle with their puerile energy. The vocals snap with squeaking falsetto and are delivered with a slathering of dirty innuendo, but that only adds to the fun imagery. The secret weapon on Avi Buffalo is the soaring 70's anthemic guitar solos that are the quadruple bows on the these well-wrapped gifts. Oh, and did I mention that the entire band was under 21 when they made this album?
Avi Buffalo - Remember Last Time
Purchase High Violet here.
Read the original review here.
I have been a flag carrier for this band since their critical breakthrough Alligator back in 2005. Yet, each new album keeps giving this deserving band even more fans and accolades. I have always felt The National were that band that has all of the tools to be huge in a mainstream sort of way. Of course, the thick baritone vocals that croon through sculpted ballads and bellows through upbeat rockers with unabated intensity must be given proper reverence. Couple this with a collection of talented and varied musicians led by one of the most underrated drummers in rock and you have, in my opinion, the best and most accomplished band in America at their creative peak. High Violet is their most thematic album to date. Where most albums chronicle the actions leading to heartbreak, The National are covering the fragile moments afterward. Memories causing fear, anger, pain and finally acceptance and the abdication of the past all take place over the tracks like chapters in a book. The best part of the story of The National is that there is no foreseeable end to their consistently awesome output in sight.
The National - England
Purchase Lucky Shiner here.
Read the original review here.
I make no apologies for being an indie rock guy. Being a fan means that you get to be part of a culture of music that is interesting, smart, creative and constantly in a state of flux. Over the past 30 years or more of music that I consider, there has been a never-ending cycle of peaks of genres, bands, movements and sounds that you have to recognize for its greatness and ineradicable influence. The proliferation of electronic music has had its own storied lineage. Recently their has been a rise in musicians that explore the organic nature of electronica and take samples of acoustic instruments and the natural ambiance of the world around them and construct a new, singular and beautiful piece of art. Gold Panda has had many eras and ascendants that paved the way to making his debut Lucky Shiner. Like other great moments in art, this takes nothing away come the near perfection this album is. Who knows, Derwin Panda may make greater albums than this one or never make a full length again. Whatever the case, when music historians look back on music, specifically the genre of "indie", 2010 will cite this as a important moment because of Lucky Shiner. Go ahead, give the whole thing a listen below. And in 20 years or so, I will be saying "I told you so" to absolutely no one.
Purchase Big Echo here.
I have to admit that I totally missed the boat on this one. Don't demonize me yet because I have a good reason. I started blogging in the middle of February and began utilizing Twitter later in the game. Big Echo was released somewhere in the middle of that, but I had too quickly written if off based on the hype of other, less worthy albums that had come out around that time. The sugary pop sensibility of the first two tracks in "Excuses" and "Promises" are inarguable. Heck, one was even use to sell Snickers candy bars. However, a couple of catchy numbers do not make it to #2 on my list. It is the strength of the rest of Big Echo that makes this album indisputably great. Check out the simple melody and firecrackers of percussion on "Wet Cement". Listen to them make a point quickly with a Latin groove on "Cold War" then get all epic with the noisy shoegazing exercise on "Stitches". Give notice to the should-have-been-the-single "All Day Day Light" that shamefully gets overshadowed by the hit tracks. They can even get tender without losing credibility in their balladry on "Pleasure Sighs". I could mention all of the 10 songs on Big Echo because they are all great. Every. Single. One.
The Morning Benders - All Day Day Light
Purchase Halcyon Digest here.
Read the original review here.
Understandably, Halcyon Digest is going to gather lots of conflicting opinions and fiery debates among Deerhunter fans based on the fact that this sounds like the past efforts in only the vaguest of ways. Their is some clatter, distortion, muddled vocals and extended riffs, but this is miles away from Turn It Up, Faggot. However, we all need to mature sometime and Bradford Cox and co. have done exactly that. No longer is he merely an angry, undisclipined kid stricken with Marfan Syndrome. He is a settled, confident, full-fledged musician who has skills to burn and refuses to do any less than make the best album he and his band can. This is a moment-to-moment burning realization of this culmination of greatness from the deliberate opener "Earthquake", the quickie single "Revival" and the melancholy isolation of "Sailing" that leads into the best parts of Halcyon Digest. The drawn out, awe-inspiring finish of "Desire Lines" makes this my favorite track of the year. The fragile beauty of "Helicopter" puts it among the top songs as well. At the end of Halcyon Digest is the yin-yang of "He Would Have Laughed" that not only acts as an ode to the early passing of Jay Reatard, but brings the entire history of Deerhunter full circle with an abrupt end, laying to rest the worries, mistakes and inferred drug use of the past. The future is bright and with this album there is only looking forward, now and forever.
Deerhunter - Helicopter
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