Best Of 2010: 5-1

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Honorable Mentions : 25-21 : 20-16 : 15-11 : 10-6

#5  Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo

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

#4  The National - High Violet

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

#3  Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner

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.

#2  The Morning Benders - Big Echo

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

#1  Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

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

Bradford Cox Gives Away Not One, Not Two, But Three Albums...For Free!

The frontman for Deerhunter has definitely been bitten by the Santa bug. Often releasing music under his solo pseudonym Atlas Sound, Bradford Cox has given away three full length albums in the past three days via the Deerhunter blog. Named Bedroom Databank Vol. 1, Vol. 2 and Vol. 3, there is no indication if there is more to come or if this the early signs of a series. Of course, the sheer magnitude of the output is awe inspiring. According to the given information, most of the tracks have been recorded in past several days at Chez de Cox.  What makes the project even more impressive is the quality of most of what could be perceived as "inspired noodling". A lot of the tracks could be demos or instrumental versions of songs for a full length release and feel like outtakes from sessions for his two previous Atlas Sound albums. There does not seem to be a common thread or a differing style between the three LP's. Volume 1 features covers of Kurt Vile and Bob Dylan's (and TV's Absolutely Fabulous theme) "This Wheel's On Fire". Volume 2 finishes out with an 11-minute jam "Here Comes The Train". Volume 3, by comparison, has a bit of a clearinghouse feel. Nevertheless the whole mess is free, so grab it while the links are still available and start cherrypicking.

Grab Bedroom Databank Volume 1 here, Volume 2 here and Volume 3 here.

Atlas Sound - Here Come the Trains (from Bedroom Databank Volume 2)

Album Review: Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

Listening to Deerhunter's discography in chronological order is like watching the growth of a child with each album representing a milestone in maturing and development. The intuitive listener can enjoy a warm wave of nostalgia not unlike that photo album reminder of special moments that come rushing back from distant memories. The earlier Deerhunter albums are easy to identify on this faux timeline. Turn It Up Faggot is a bloody, raging birth that has no other directive than demanding to be heard. Cryptograms is that softer yet raw toddler that in it's best moments can amaze with each word it properly articulates and each confident step it takes toward getting someplace meaningful. Microcastle/Weird Era Cont. is a strong willed child beginning to form it's own ideas, thoughts and emotions and gains knowledge and poise with each small achievement and vote of encouragement. In 2010, occurring just like clockwork around two years after their previous album and following an EP release of unofficial studio exercises (as well as one from Bradford Cox's solo project Atlas Sound), Deerhunter offers the public Halcyon Digest. Will it be a restless, temperamental juvenile full of exploratory "experimentation"? A lovelorn, pubescent teenager unleashing aching, penciled poetry from a spiral notebook? Those may have been possible results if this now emboldened band had been impatient to "grow up" and attempted something that they were not "mature enough" to accomplish. As far as where it resides on this developmental thematic construct, that is to be debated. In brief, Halycon Digest is simply their most assured album to date and a testament to Deerhunter's dogged pursuit of exploration, details, clarity and perfection in their music.

This newly calculated approach on Halcyon Digest begins with the opening track. "Earthquake" sounds like anything but a Earth-shaking event; rather it is a removed observation of a planet-splitting event taking place in distant outer space. The track is intense and emotion-filled, building to a meaningful studio-modified crescendo while decidedly restrained, opting for beauty over dissonance. This commitment to loveliness is strung throughout the album connected by the best examples in the two early releases. From the mandolin plucks on "Revival" to the harpsichord plinks on "Helicopter", the painstaking attention to the instrumentation delivers these melodies in just the right manner that ties the whole album together. It is on "Helicopter" where Cox delivers his strongest vocal performance to date, a longing opining on drugs and their eventual diminishment. His voice is moving, hitting each tender note as the warmth rolls through, giving an emotive lift to the listener while each band member's pride is reflected in the song's performance.

Another noteworthy difference in Halcyon Digest is the interspersed quiet moments spread throughout the album. A song about loneliness, "Sailing" drifts along on sparse production featuring not much more than guitar and vocals over a subtle rhythm. However, the machine-like trickle of ambiance underneath is what makes the moment transcendent. Toward the end, when Cox bays for no one to hear, it is that sound of nothing that makes the track so powerful. "Basement Scene" is creepily inviting for a song about being stuck between the frivolity of youth and the perils of aging. Sounding like the darkest of Everly Brothers classics, the track creaks along on a hazy hum and a ticking clock via drumstick tap. Deerhunter influences are more obvious than ever on Halcyon as they reach into previously unexplored arenas. This is most notable on the Lockett Pundt-fronted tracks where the annals of alternative rock are on full display. One might have to check their Jesus and Mary Chain collection to make sure that "Fountain Stairs" is not a cover song. The lyrics even feature the word "Head". (If you don't know what I am talking about, don't worry. JAMC fans do.) "Desire Lines" has the insistent energy of a shoegazer classic that stretches out for over six minutes and finishes like the Pixies song "No. 13 Baby" where the interlocked riff and rhythm are so good that there is no other choice but to keep it going as long as possible. Finishing of the album is "He Would Have Laughed" with Cox back on vocals. The quirky beat and synth back and forth feel like a sunny Caribou track. It begins hopeful and resonant until the acoustic guitar and lyrics move to the front and the whole thing becomes oft-kilter up until the eerily abrupt ending.

Going back to the album as developmental signpost theory, Halcyon Digest seems to have skipped over its awkward teenage years, revealing a mature, full-fledged graduate with honors. Often when a band takes such a bold step forward into a more mature sound there is a eventual backlash and longing for more songs "like the old stuff". For me, there is no regret, only the joy of watching a band crawl, walk, run and hit the air soaring. Overall, there is barely a minor flaw to be found here, reminding me of a quote from Stephen Colbert I can paraphrase. Halcyon Digest: Great 2010 album or greatest 2010 album?

Download "Revival" for free here.  Purchase Halcyon Digest here.

Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

Download New DeerHunter Track, Listen To Entire Album

Bradford Cox has been a jarring force on the indie scene for the better half of the past decade. Alternating between his group Deerhunter and his solo work under the name Atlas Sound, Cox has made his mark with his take on psych-pop that leans heavy on the stormy feedback and kitchen-sink studio experiments. With each successive product, his voice and musical focus has transgressed from loose to laser-centered on finding that proper blend of noise and melody. For the past weeks, the machine has been drooling over the impending release of Halycon Digest, hitching a wagon to the album screaming "The Moon Or Bust". After giving it a full listen via NPR's First Listen, I think Deerhunter may have achieved that stratosphere-shattering moment that defines a band's career. An extended review on this surely to come soon...

The first thing that struck me about the offered track "Revival" is how coherent it was. Rather than opting for the drugged out waves of fuzz that attacked the listener, Cox now has the confidence to cradle us in a warm embrace. The production finds the balance between a delicate mandolin and a just enough electric hum to add tension to this short trip. Halycon Digest will be out September 28 on 4AD.

Give it a listen on NPR's website. Pre-order Halcyon Digest here.

Give "Revival" a listen below. Download it for free here.

Deerhunter - Revival