Best of 2010: 10-6

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Honorable Mentions : 25-21 : 20-16 : 15-11 : 5-1

#10  Lower Dens - Twin Hand Movement

Purchase Twin-Hand Movement here.

Read the original review here.

This album was truly the unexpected treasure of the year for me. When I first gave it a listen, I was struck by the reserved nature of the band and the power that was accrued from that ideal. Most recently as I started making my "Best Of" list, this album kept creeping up the ranks after each reshuffle. The entirety of Twin Hand Movement is like when someone speaks softly to you with conviction, so you have to lean in close to absorb every single word. The minor chords from the guitars chime like the echo of an alley as frontwoman Jana Hunter breathes life into her bereft lyrics. The stark nature of "Tea Lights", the sultry sway in "I Get Nervous" and the near pop shimmer on "Hospice Gates" are all glittering gems in this bountiful, newly discovered trove of riches.

Lower Dens - 2 tracks from Twin Hand Movement

#9  Twin Shadow - Forget

Purchase Forget here.

Read my original review here.

After all the talk of the comeback of 80's glam in 2010, with LCD Soundsystem's Bowie album to new LP's former Roxy Music members Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno, the era was best captured on a debut full length from a New Yorker born in the Dominican Republic. George Lewis Jr. took on the pseudonym Twin Shadow and provides in Forget a rollercoaster love story where he shoulders all of the blame for its inevitable finish. Couple that with being taken under the wing on the production end by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor and you have a pulsing, swirling album of pure romance for the 21st century. From the bloodletting confessional of opener "Tyrant Destroyed" to the new wave steppers "I Can't Wait" and "At My Heels" to the darker feel of seducers of "Tether Beat" and "Castles In The Snow", this debut set the bar high not only for Twin Shadow but for the entire nouveau new wave genre. (Hi, chillwave!)

#8  The Besnard Lakes - Are The Roaring Night

Purchase Are the Roaring Night here.

Read my original review here.

The big prog rock clatter of The Besnard Lakes started with 2007's Are The Dark Horse. In 2010, the band decided to go bigger than they had previously before, constructing epic tracks that are laid out like stormy oceans and fiery landscapes with each power chord strum. On my shortlist for best song of 2010 is the first song (split into two tracks, because it is so damn BIG) "Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent" which slowly builds from broken transmissions to raging fury. Other massive numbers on Are The Roaring Night include the 70's anthem (and other two-parter) "Land Of Living Skies", the anti-pop single "Albatross" and the futuristic Western "And This Is What We Call Progress". If you like you rock music to move mountains, this may do the trick.

The Besnard Lakes - 2 tracks from Are The Roaring Night

#7  Beach House - Teen Dream

Purchase Teen Dream here

Read my original review here.

This album came out early in the year and because of that Teen Dream was my first "Best Album" of 2010. Beach House took their shimmering, hazy sound from earlier efforts and gave the whole production some muscle and clarity. The result is an intense and nuanced album where the shimmers become blinding flashes and the haze is now an engulfing cloud. The newly epic nature of Beach House was necessary because Victoria LeGrand's voice and lyrics never commanded so much attention and been delivered with so much power. At the front end of Teen Dream is an amazing trio of grabbers in the airy "Zebra", the haunting slide guitar of "Silver Soul" and the breathy beauty of "Norway". The album finishes with raw emotion in the plaintive "Real Love" and the moving "Take Care", completely unfurling the amazing band that Beach House has become.

Beach House - Norway

#6  !!! - Strange Weather, Isn't It?

Purchase Strange Weather, Isn't It here.

Read my original review here

I understand that this is not the prototypical best album for this year as many don't have it on their lists at all. On Strange Weather, !!! chose not to follow their previous dub formula, shortening their songs and opting for a disco blowout. However, I have three strong reasons for placing this album in the rarefied air of my Top 10. For starters, the live show this year was, as usual, a shoulder-shimmying freakout. I mean, you can't help but dance at a !!! show. Next, if this album came out five years ago during the dance rock peak or was released by some unknown band who burst on the scene with these fresh, funky grooves, you would have to beat off the love the album would get with a big stick. It is tough to compartmentalize an album and avoid comparing it to the entire catalog. Strange Weather, Isn't It? is simply a different album from the rest by !!! and stands up well on its own. The third reason is simple. Despite all the other new stuff that kept coming out throughout the year, I kept on listening to this album. A lot. You can't argue with that.

!!! - 3 tracks from Strange Weather Isn't It?

My Top Albums Of 2010 (So Far)

After a groundbreaking decade for music in sound, production, distribution, listening devices and expanding community, such as the 2000's were, the 2010's have a hard act to follow. The stage is set for endless possibility, with new avenues to be explored, old roads to be rediscovered and endless combinations to be unlocked. Also, many questions are posed; what will be the new direction of Indie? Of Pop? Of Hip Hop? Of Electronica? How will these genres diverge and intertwine? Will the dinosaurs of music's past (major labels, open air radio stations, physical distribution of music) finally become extinct or reinvent into a more adept species? Will the savvy younger generation embrace the future of music or get suckered by new marketing techniques pushing the same old rubbish?

For the first six months of this year and decade, I feel the indie influence has regressed rather than progressed.That statement sounds wholly negative, but it is meant to express the sound of now as influenced by the past, with all of its steps forward and back. One example of what is getting pushed in indie circles is a garage revival, a stripped down antithesis to the qualities of the digital age. Although four track recordings of distorted, tin can vocals and unfiltered guitar riffs has its definite charms, the most important and universally agreed aspect is the quality of the songs. Bands like Male Bonding, Dum Dum Girls and The Smith Westerns have bright spots and some solid tracks, yet don't make me forget (or even reflect upon) the great heights of such bands as Sebadoh, Guided By Voices and early Dinosaur Jr.. Lately, there is lots of love for the sounds of the past. Beach Boys chamber-pop, neo-80's synthesized pop and the heavy percussive influence of world music has cross-pollinated with the indie aesthetic to make new subgenres. These upstarts still have not stamped their movements with the head-turning album that defines it all in one front-to-back listen. There are torch bearers that stand out (Japandroids comes to mind) but this new decade needs more groundbreakers.

So, my top albums of 2010 includes (save Avi Buffalo) artists established in the last decade (and two beginning in the 1990's) building on their well rooted foundation and branching into new directions. Some of my personal favorites (The National, Spoon, LCD Soundsystem, Broken Social Scene) were consistent or even emboldened, while artists Beach House, Tokyo Police Club and The Besnard Lakes released efforts that show the beginning of an intriguing future. Even though my heart lies in rock, three of my favorites albums so far this year are electronica, hopefully representing my unwillingness to be turned by the influences of indie tastemaking as well as the quality of their efforts. Hey, it is one guy's opinion. Enjoy it for what it's worth and debate away.

The list in alphabetical order is given below. I tried to eliminate make it a list-friendly ten albums, but could not break the ties. Again, my blog, my rules. All artists are available below for listening and download. Hopefully I will find the time to write more about these deserved albums.

Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo
Beach House - Teen Dream
The Besnard Lakes - Are The Roaring Night
Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
Caribou - Swim
Chemical Brothers - Further
Four Tet - There Is Love In You
LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
The National - High Violet
Sleigh Bells - Treats
Spoon - Transference
Teenage Fanclub - Shadows
Tokyo Police Club - Champ

Avi Buffalo - What's It in For


Beach House - Norway


The Besnard Lakes - Albatross


Broken Social Scene - World Sick


Caribou - Sun


Chemical Brothers - Full Album


Four Tet - Love Cry


LCD Soundsystem - I Can Change


The National - Sorrow


Sleigh Bells - Rill Rill


Spoon -Written In Reverse


Teenage Fanclub - Sometimes I Don't Need To Believe In Anything


Tokyo Police Club - Wait Up (Boots Of Danger)

Free Summertime Indie Concerts On Mondays In Millennium Park

The Pritzker Pavillion in Millennium Park is truly a beautiful space with unparalleled sound for an outdoor arena. Now, don't get me started on how much the entire park cost the future of Chicago or that it was ultimately a prestige project leveraged by our Mayor-for-life King Daley in a unprecedented half-assed bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Now that I got that off my chest...

Since I, my children and their children's children are paying for it, I may as well enjoy it. In the past, the Pritzker Pavillion has featured critic darlings such as The Dirty Projectors and The Decemberists. After looking at this year's list, I think the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs may have set a new benchmark in cool and launched what may become a Chicago summertime tradition.

They are calling it New Music Monday. Covering sounds from punk, pop, alt-country, gospel, electronica, neo-tropical, space-rock, Afrobeat and hip-hop, this is a unparalleled collection of quality and variety this side of your $150 summer festival set. I think my Monday nights from late May to July are pretty much set.

Check out the Millennium Park website for details.

May 24 6:30pm The Besnard Lakes with The Ponys

May 31 6:30pm Hum with Volcano!

June 7 6:30pm She & Him with The Hollows

June 14 6:30pm Tony Allen with Great Lake Swimmers

June 21 7:30pm The Books with Via Tania

June 28 7:30pm Huntsville with On Fillmore featuring Nels Cline

July 5 6:30pm The Thermals with Disappears

July 12 6:30pm Caribou with The Budos Band

July 19 6:30pm Kid Sister with Konono N°1

July 26 6:30pm Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens with Bomba Estéreo

Album Review: The Besnard Lakes - Are The Roaring Night, Free Track Included!

I tried to find a new album for my first review that: a) I really, really liked and b) was from a band that was not Canadian. I had to sacrifice the latter for the former in this case, but trust me, I do listen to music produced outside the Great White North. Nevertheless, Canada has become fertile ground for great indie product. Not unlike past musical eras that centered around places like Seattle, Minneapolis, Washington DC, Chapel Hill, Manchester (UK), our friends to the north must have put something in the water supply that causes every band to be spot-on, creating a never-ending stream of music and influence.

Montreal-based The Besnard Lakes are a collective led by married couple Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas. Their songs are often epic in length and sound; they are slow builds into bombastic exuberance tempered with emotion-tinged vocals. The opening two tracks of the new album "Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent" send a the clear message that their great 2007 album Are The Dark Horse was not the exception. There is a dramatic duality here. Atmospheric keyboard hum is the laid terrain while drums like slamming doors and rock (metal?) guitar riffs trod over the top laying waste to all in its path. Lacek employs a cracking falsetto that borders on weeping when the music splashes and spills over. When Lasek and Goreas sing together "You're like the ocean...You're like the innocent...What's in your empty eyes...Take the noose around my neck, take it off...", they convey that relationship dynamic of simultaneous love and fear. The nearly nine minutes ends like a extension cord yank, and the listener only gets a moment to breathe before the next track.

The rest of the album follows the initial path with the songs mining deep into a space-rock foundation. Each new track is a pillar holding up the sky-wide canvas of the album, swirling feedback and pedal changes work the frenzied aesthetic. The best example is "Glass Printer", grinding and bursting in a firework of sound. Goreas' lead vocals on the track "Albatross" bring The Besnard Lakes to their most mainstream, cooing like Kim Deal and in the end becoming like a Dave Fridmann-produced wall of feedback and fuzz. Other standouts include "And This Is What We Call Progress" using guitar twang like a lonely trip across the desert at night. The Besnard Lakes have a soft side too, fittingly end the album with buoyant beauty "The Lonely Moan". If there is a weakness in Are The Roaring Night, songs like "Light Up The Night" can get overwrought and long winded while falling short on the intended impact.

Flipping through other review sources, there are a lot of cross-references to soundalikes or influences. Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Sigur Ros, ELO, British Shoegazer, The Beach Boys, Spiritualized and, of course, fellow Montreal bands The Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene are all name checked. I can see the elements but really feel The Besnard Lakes are not derivative of any one band or style. As any good collective, they throw the ingredients into a blender and flip it on the noisiest setting. The results are greater than the parts used with no quick and satisfying single to be found. When listening to music with an epic style such as The Besnard Lakes, the payoff is worth the wait.

Track List

1. Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent Pt. 1: The Ocean
2. Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent Pt. 2: The Innocent
3. Chicago Train
4. Albatross
5. Glass Printer
6. Land Of Living Skies Pt.1: The Land
7. Land Of Living Skies Pt. 2: The Living Skies
8. And This Is What We Call Progress
9. Light Up The Night
10. The Lonely Moan
    

Download the song "Albatross" for free here.

Purchase the album here.