So, in the spirit of the season, and in honour of the lists that have/will soon litter the blogosphere, here's the first segment of my favourite twenty albums of the year.
20. Real Estate – Real Estate [Woodsist]
New Jersey's Real Estate make the kind of music that is perfect for summer/spring, good timing for Australia. Unfortunately, for most of our overseas counterparts, so you'll just have to pretend that you're lying on the beach while buttoning up. It's not that hard to imagine though, as Real Estate transcends its ten songs to create a full experience for the listener. Sun-soaked melodies drip into one another, as hazy reverb coats Courtney's vocals and chiming guitar riffs ring out confidently. If there ever was a record to describe a summer spent in suburbia, this is it. Everything moves a bit slower, but you don't seem to mind it.
Innovation on '60s psych pop give Real Estate, a fresh edge that has had sufficient impact on me to be counted in the year's upper echelon. "Pool Swimmers" contains a funky, reverb bass line and phased-over guitars, while "Beach Comber" incorporates an upbeat staccato drum line that i’m sure i’ve heard trotting through a Monkees hit.
19. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix [Glassnote Ent.]
If you had somehow missed French indie band Phoenix over the past decade, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix may be the prime place to start your love affair. By the time you get through the first three songs and have spent eleven odd minutes, you will be totally sold. In these three tracks alone the band puts together a blend of stylish power pop punch that other groups strive to make their entire career.
To basically describe Phoenix in a formula would call for packing the nonchalant swagger of The Strokes, injecting the dance synths of Franz Ferdinand and stirring in catchy lyrics and a pop bounce much like Hot Chip. Phoenix is a band that seems easy to peg but certain tracks like the 5 minute instrumental "Love Like A Sunset Part I" is a quick reminder that they are not a total open book, as it builds into the 2 minute vocal "Part II". These two tracks solidify this album as another nod and ‘yep’ for this reviewer.
18. Fuck Buttons – Tarot Sport [ATP]
Aiming for the sky is one thing. A wheels-up, vertical blast towards the surface of the sun is a whole nother matter. So when Fuck Buttons leave Earth during the first two minutes of Tarot Sport, flames whipping around some metronomic, post-rave kick drum, it’s with zero negotiation.
Another artist to have shown incredible progression from an already strong debut. After being put onto these guys by a close group of mates, who were 'frothing' on Street Horrsing, i haven't been able to stray. On their sophomore album, Hung and Power have carved some holes in the abrasive, percussive wall of sound that made Street Horrrsing at once memorable, confrontational and difficult, and they’ve patched things up with atmospheric samples.
Without pause, the duo spend Tarot Sport’s hour-long run time perfecting some new kind of shimmering, multi-hued electro that shifts, retracts and evolves into a ride inexpressibly prismatic. Opening with a headphone-swirling ambiance, “Lisbon” moves with a muted gallop until, BAM!, you’ve dropped off the cliff you didn’t know existed. The next eight minutes are spent in free-fall: chimes bounce off a massive looped, processed guitars. With “Lisbon” eventually drifting way on down, “Olympians” fulfils it’s title — swooping through, double-time, bricking endless layers of synth wash until the dam breaks, revealing a heart-aching piano. Showing Tarot Sport goes far beyond it’s noise an menace and succeeds at being a deeply emotional listen. But the album as a whole, though uneasy listening, is big, powerful, mesmerising and often overwhelming. Being honest. Its assult.
17. The Mountain Goats – The Life Of The World To Come [4AD]
‘The life of the world to come’ are the last words of the Christian prayer the Nicene Creed, just before the standard obligatory ‘Amen’" let it be done. North-Carolina outfit The Mountain Goats borrowed this phrase for their latest full-length, an album that leans upon religious allusion and spiritual identity.
Through this album Darnielle uses the sacred religious text as a stronghol on which to support the heavy themes of his 17th album. The songs themselves, some with actual Bible verse, take the names of the passages they've been inspired by, which have had/will no doubt have his rabid cult, including yours truly, Googling "Hebrews 11:40" like eager Sunday school kids.
The Life of the World to Come largely features acoustic guitar and piano jams, attaching in string arrangements. An allusion to Eden, "Genesis 3:23" revisits the old "you can't go home again" adage; instead of rising and falling on each refrain, a breezy Darnielle just mentions, "I used to live here." On "Philippians 3:20-21" they get jazzy and syncopated and ardent with fiery conviction on "Psalm 40:2" - an aggressive prayer sung through the teeth.
On several tracks, Darnielle’s vocals are barely audible, while the song itself skirts resolve. It’s further evidence that his search is ongoing, which is either utterly depressing, or a sign that we’ll have a new Mountain Goats record next year.
16. Camera Obscura – My Maudlin Career [4AD]
‘I wanted to control it, oh love I couldn’t hold it’ are the words that Campbell sings to kick off the Glasgow band’s 4th, My Maudlin Career. With such romantics in place and expanding on with balance of lush pop and autumn sweeping strings, it’s hard not to start the muffled bedroom singing on the 1st track.
Camera Obscura have developed a strong niche correlation to pop and its endless connections with love and emotions that is similar to that of the likes of The Beatles (Beach Boys vocals on opening of “The Sweetest Thing” anyone?). This is pop that is gifted, tender and sweet, instead of the other pop, brainwashing people into thinking ‘lady-lumps’ and ga-ga trannies are somehow normal.
On “You Told a Lie” she sings, 'No need to convince me that you were a catch' and later shares how she heard “love conquers all.” The music is a fittingly gentle ballad that features vocals in sweet, soft-spoken style allowing Campbells expressions to be fantastically conveyed. The soaring highs of “Careless Love” reach dreamy ceilings. Throughout My Maudlin Career the robust cellos, filling violins and the brash string basses pack a powerful punch.
Openly speaking, even without the strings, horns, or aching lyrics, at the centre of Camera Obscura’s strength is its writing chops. Clever, catchy, and moody, Maudlin Career is what contemporary pop music should be.
Hope you enjoyed my first post. Pop back in soon for more.
Mitch
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