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Monday, December 19, 2011
Top 25 Tracks of 2011: Part 4
10. St. Vincent - "Surgeon"
"Surgeon" is a woozy highlight of the tremendous Strange Mercy. With Annie Clark's axiomatic vocals and the plain surprising synthesizer jam-out outro, "Surgeon" is a new outlook into Clark's future with the St. Vincent sound and it's exciting to see what she'll do next.
9. Battles - "Ice Cream (Ft. Matias Aguayo)"
"Ice Cream" is an excellent cross point between Battles' pop-oriented math rock, humorous musicianship, and off-the-wall instrumentation. The inclusion of Aguayo's quirky vocals makes "Ice Cream" the best Battles tune and an excellent direction for Battles to take in the future rather than delving into more crafty math rock.
8. Fleet Foxes - "Helplessness Blues"
Exploding onto the scene in 2008, Helplessness Blues was easily the most anticipated release in 2011 and the leading single "Helplessness Blues" was an easy gateway into what Helplessness Blues might be about. With the soaring vocals and cheerful instrumentation. The moment they break out into the "If I had an orchard I'd work until I was sore!" points towards another addicting Fleet Foxes tunes.
7. Wilco - "I Might"
The first thing about "I Might" from Wilco is that is goes back to Wilco's roots of quirky musicianship and excellent qualities that Wilco has, or had... "I Might" is that bright output Wilco put out on The Whole Love, but unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't have that "kick."
6. Tyler the Creator - "Sandwitches (Ft. Hodgy Beats)"
With Odd Future being the most quotable bunch of 2011, you can find about ten of those quotes on "Sandwitches" that are just to obscene to be said on here. "Sandwitches" exemplifies Tyler's ability to create off-the-wall beats and awesome samples over simply hilarious rapping, it's some of the best hip-hop of 2011.
"Surgeon" is a woozy highlight of the tremendous Strange Mercy. With Annie Clark's axiomatic vocals and the plain surprising synthesizer jam-out outro, "Surgeon" is a new outlook into Clark's future with the St. Vincent sound and it's exciting to see what she'll do next.
9. Battles - "Ice Cream (Ft. Matias Aguayo)"
"Ice Cream" is an excellent cross point between Battles' pop-oriented math rock, humorous musicianship, and off-the-wall instrumentation. The inclusion of Aguayo's quirky vocals makes "Ice Cream" the best Battles tune and an excellent direction for Battles to take in the future rather than delving into more crafty math rock.
8. Fleet Foxes - "Helplessness Blues"
Exploding onto the scene in 2008, Helplessness Blues was easily the most anticipated release in 2011 and the leading single "Helplessness Blues" was an easy gateway into what Helplessness Blues might be about. With the soaring vocals and cheerful instrumentation. The moment they break out into the "If I had an orchard I'd work until I was sore!" points towards another addicting Fleet Foxes tunes.
7. Wilco - "I Might"
The first thing about "I Might" from Wilco is that is goes back to Wilco's roots of quirky musicianship and excellent qualities that Wilco has, or had... "I Might" is that bright output Wilco put out on The Whole Love, but unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't have that "kick."
6. Tyler the Creator - "Sandwitches (Ft. Hodgy Beats)"
With Odd Future being the most quotable bunch of 2011, you can find about ten of those quotes on "Sandwitches" that are just to obscene to be said on here. "Sandwitches" exemplifies Tyler's ability to create off-the-wall beats and awesome samples over simply hilarious rapping, it's some of the best hip-hop of 2011.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Top 25 Tracks of 2011: Part 3
15. Destroyer - "Kaputt"
As cheesy as Destroyer lead man Daniel Bejar is; he's got sangfroid. "Kaputt" has this uncanny ability to sound dancey, sophisticated, jazzy, and on top of all that sensual. This is sophisti-pop at its best with eerie trumpet outbursts, a disco-esque beat, and the silky smooth vocals of Bejar.
14. WU LYF - "We Bros"
As abrasive as WU LYF's lead singer Elley Roberts voice is, he has some tenacity to just straight out yell into the mic on "We Bros." The rest of WU LYF fill the space with bombastic drums, post-rock-like guitars, and a very heavy organ. "We Bros" is the defining track for WU LYF on Go Tell Fire To the Mountain and a future directive for WU LYF to see itself in the future.
13. PJ Harvey - "The Glorious Land"
PJ Harvey made a tremendous comeback in 2011. Let England Shake is full of post-war anthems and "The Glorious Land" is a catchy one; as Harvey wails, "what is the glorious fruit of our land?" ominous bugles call out and excellent harpsichord work is done by Harvey.
12. Girls - "Honey Bunny"
"Momma, she really loved me," croons Christopher Owens, Girls lead man, on the fast paced and bitter surfy-punk rocker "Honey Bunny." The genre-skipping Owens does is tremendous and "Honey Bunny" is a mixture of punk, surf-rock, and '50s-esque jangle pop, it's all fun.
11. Radiohead - "Lotus Flower"
When Radiohead released one of their arguably best music videos for "Lotus Flower", Thom Yorke was the face of all new internet memes, critic evaluations, Youtube remixes, etc. One thing is undisputed about "Lotus Flower" it's unique. It's that one song you fall in love with on a Radiohead LP, it's that "Paranoid Android" or "Nude", it's quintessentially monumental, unfortunately The King of Limbs couldn't have been as era-defining.
As cheesy as Destroyer lead man Daniel Bejar is; he's got sangfroid. "Kaputt" has this uncanny ability to sound dancey, sophisticated, jazzy, and on top of all that sensual. This is sophisti-pop at its best with eerie trumpet outbursts, a disco-esque beat, and the silky smooth vocals of Bejar.
14. WU LYF - "We Bros"
As abrasive as WU LYF's lead singer Elley Roberts voice is, he has some tenacity to just straight out yell into the mic on "We Bros." The rest of WU LYF fill the space with bombastic drums, post-rock-like guitars, and a very heavy organ. "We Bros" is the defining track for WU LYF on Go Tell Fire To the Mountain and a future directive for WU LYF to see itself in the future.
13. PJ Harvey - "The Glorious Land"
PJ Harvey made a tremendous comeback in 2011. Let England Shake is full of post-war anthems and "The Glorious Land" is a catchy one; as Harvey wails, "what is the glorious fruit of our land?" ominous bugles call out and excellent harpsichord work is done by Harvey.
12. Girls - "Honey Bunny"
"Momma, she really loved me," croons Christopher Owens, Girls lead man, on the fast paced and bitter surfy-punk rocker "Honey Bunny." The genre-skipping Owens does is tremendous and "Honey Bunny" is a mixture of punk, surf-rock, and '50s-esque jangle pop, it's all fun.
11. Radiohead - "Lotus Flower"
When Radiohead released one of their arguably best music videos for "Lotus Flower", Thom Yorke was the face of all new internet memes, critic evaluations, Youtube remixes, etc. One thing is undisputed about "Lotus Flower" it's unique. It's that one song you fall in love with on a Radiohead LP, it's that "Paranoid Android" or "Nude", it's quintessentially monumental, unfortunately The King of Limbs couldn't have been as era-defining.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Top 25 Tracks of 2011: Part 2
20. Real Estate - "It's Real"
Hooks make music attract to the human ear and Real Estate's "It's Real" is jam-packed full of them. From the easy singalong chorus of "Ohhh! It's real!" to the steady guitar strums underneath layers of indie pop brilliance. It's simple, it's effective, it's real.
19. The Strokes - "Under Cover of Darkness"
"Under Cover of Darkness" is like a mixture of The Strokes from Is This It to First Impressions of Earth. It has both simplicity and progression that spawns from all of The Strokes' discography. Unfortunately, the rest of Angles couldn't have been as satisfying.
18. The Antlers - "I Don't Want Love"
"You wanna climb up the stairs/I wanna push you back down," croons The Antlers' lead singer Peter Silberman on the opening lines of the bitter sweet slowcore ballad "I Don't Want Love." As an opener to Burst Apart, it works tremendously as a glimpse into The Antlers' new approach into deeply emotional, yet pop-oriented music.
17. Smith Westerns - "Weekend"
The aesthetic of Smith Westerns' "Weekend" is full of glam rock guitar, power pop choruses, and some very make shift vocals. As it is appropriately titled "Weekend", it is a perfect entry song into endeavors that are explored on weekends around the world.
16. M83 - "Midnight City"
2011 was a comeback year for M83, and "Midnight City" was that single that reminded the world of M83's presence. Set up as a synth pop ballad "Midnight City" exemplifies the high points of chillwave-esque tunes dominating the music scene in 2011.
Hooks make music attract to the human ear and Real Estate's "It's Real" is jam-packed full of them. From the easy singalong chorus of "Ohhh! It's real!" to the steady guitar strums underneath layers of indie pop brilliance. It's simple, it's effective, it's real.
19. The Strokes - "Under Cover of Darkness"
"Under Cover of Darkness" is like a mixture of The Strokes from Is This It to First Impressions of Earth. It has both simplicity and progression that spawns from all of The Strokes' discography. Unfortunately, the rest of Angles couldn't have been as satisfying.
18. The Antlers - "I Don't Want Love"
"You wanna climb up the stairs/I wanna push you back down," croons The Antlers' lead singer Peter Silberman on the opening lines of the bitter sweet slowcore ballad "I Don't Want Love." As an opener to Burst Apart, it works tremendously as a glimpse into The Antlers' new approach into deeply emotional, yet pop-oriented music.
17. Smith Westerns - "Weekend"
The aesthetic of Smith Westerns' "Weekend" is full of glam rock guitar, power pop choruses, and some very make shift vocals. As it is appropriately titled "Weekend", it is a perfect entry song into endeavors that are explored on weekends around the world.
16. M83 - "Midnight City"
2011 was a comeback year for M83, and "Midnight City" was that single that reminded the world of M83's presence. Set up as a synth pop ballad "Midnight City" exemplifies the high points of chillwave-esque tunes dominating the music scene in 2011.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Top 25 Tracks of 2011: Part 1
25. Wild Beasts - "Albatross"
"Drown in me," a morbid line for Wild Beasts' leading single off Smother. "Albatross" works off itself through subtly and emotionally moving releases with an untouchable piano interlude that sets the entire stage for Smother to work.
24. Cults - "Do You Know What I Mean"
Cults' heavily melodic indie pop is perfectly showcased on the short and sweet "Do You Know I Mean", lead singer Madeline Follin's voice climaxes intricately with a bouncy waltz beat.
23. Washed Out - "Eyes Be Closed"
If you ever wanted to listen to a soundtrack of a plane taking off into a sunset - here it is. "Eyes Be Closed" is a definite chillwave classic, and with a year full of chillwave, "Eyes Be Closed" takes the prize as being one of the most well thought out tracks of 2011.
22. tUnE-yArDs - "Bizness"
Merrill Garbus's jumpy jam "Bizness" moves around in all directions, but stays consistently brilliant throughout. Garbus's instrumentation is pure fun with saxes, guitars, horns, and even using her own voice as an instrument.
21. Cut Copy - "Need You Now"
Australian synth pop masters know how to make a dancey tune that has replay value and longevity. Though the entire theme of "Need You Now" is so cheesy and cliche, it plays off that intention and creates an all out fun-filled dancey journey.
"Drown in me," a morbid line for Wild Beasts' leading single off Smother. "Albatross" works off itself through subtly and emotionally moving releases with an untouchable piano interlude that sets the entire stage for Smother to work.
24. Cults - "Do You Know What I Mean"
Cults' heavily melodic indie pop is perfectly showcased on the short and sweet "Do You Know I Mean", lead singer Madeline Follin's voice climaxes intricately with a bouncy waltz beat.
23. Washed Out - "Eyes Be Closed"
If you ever wanted to listen to a soundtrack of a plane taking off into a sunset - here it is. "Eyes Be Closed" is a definite chillwave classic, and with a year full of chillwave, "Eyes Be Closed" takes the prize as being one of the most well thought out tracks of 2011.
22. tUnE-yArDs - "Bizness"
Merrill Garbus's jumpy jam "Bizness" moves around in all directions, but stays consistently brilliant throughout. Garbus's instrumentation is pure fun with saxes, guitars, horns, and even using her own voice as an instrument.
21. Cut Copy - "Need You Now"
Australian synth pop masters know how to make a dancey tune that has replay value and longevity. Though the entire theme of "Need You Now" is so cheesy and cliche, it plays off that intention and creates an all out fun-filled dancey journey.
Friday, December 9, 2011
The Black Keys - El Camino [Nonesuch]
7.7
Amidst the avant-garde jazz (Matana Roberts), artistic future garage (James Blake), and a soundtrack to the nostalgia-filled 2011 (Girls), there lies The Black Keys. No band brings back the hard-hitting bluesy garage rock like The Black Keys. Last year’s Brothers really showed The Black Keys can create borderline-raw yet definite and hook-filled rock that really just sounds great. The group’s seventh studio work El Camino is no different. The Black Keys’ multi-instrumentalist Dan Auerbach stated he wanted to follow the lines of Brothers with El Camino, smart move as El Camino is easily one of the most fun, easy-listening albums of 2011.
With production from the up-and-coming Danger Mouse, El Camino is one of The Black Keys’ most clear-cut, indie rock-esque releases to date. Adding elements of not just the traditional garage rocks the Keys have been working through since 2001, but topping off the more upbeat Brothers with simply hard traditionally set rock and roll. Using jangly bells on “Dead and Gone”, surprising acoustic guitar ventures on the front half of “Little Black Submarines”, and even soulful gospel flavored chord progressions on “Stop Stop”; The Black Keys find a nice groove with Danger Mouse and their pure talent at simply making very accessible music.
In a lot of the ways The Black Keys are incredibly smart. Sorting through so many different genre infusions throughout their career and eventually coming to Brothers which finds a nice medium between the hard bluesy garage rock and pop-oriented flavors. Even down to the packaging, Brothers actually won a Grammy last year for it, The Black Keys know how to coordinate themselves to stand out from the rock revivalists of the ‘00s. The early ‘00s were dominated by The White Stripes and The Strokes in the whole hard rock revivalism scene, but the late ‘00s and early ‘10s belongs to The Black Keys easily.
El Camino finds itself as one of 2011’s most conventionally appealing albums. All the songs find themselves as easy sing alongs you blast in your car and really just simply jam out to. You’re not going to find the most compelling or emotionally moving music on El Camino, but when it comes to The Black Keys, who really needs that? The mixture of Danger Mouse and The Black Keys is a smart and enticing one that has really hit off well for both parties and is exciting to see what both can do in the future.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Oneohtrix Point Never - Replica [Mexican Summer/Software]
8.4
Finding a median between ambience, glitch, and even minimalism is a sheer monumental accomplishment in itself. But, I’m sure Daniel Lopatin, aka Oneohtrix Point Never, prides himself on simply sounding like nothing else. The atmospheric, awkward synthesizers that penetrate the breaks of being beautiful are simply astounding on Replica, Lopatin’s second widely distributed LP following last year’s break-out Returnal. One could simply call this music “drone”, but I think it’s deeper than that. Its permeation into the minds of listeners is astounding. How can you even describe what is going on Lopatin’s complex loop-filled music?
Replica is in fact unlike anything I’ve heard. Though my drone music knowledge is very limited; I feel as though Lopatin has crafted something unreal and so nostalgic, it’s indescribable. Scenes of black and white cottages surrounded by something sinister at dawn is conjured on “Andro” and “Power of Persuasion”; in fact, the entirety of Replica is like an impending doom threatening to swoop in. The drone-like ambience is where Lopatin really hits his stride with near perfection. ”Andro” is an epic piece of music until the drill and bass sequence thunders in towards the end.
When I mentioned the sounds of Replica are awkward, I mean it. The main beat of “Nassau” sounds like the fast inhaling and exhaling of a man and the piercing percussion on “Remember” is just cringingly abrasive. Fortunately, the more ambiences Lopatin inserts, the better Replica gets. “Nassau” really picks up at the end with indiscernible nostalgia creeping in with soaring doodling synths. “Submersible” is really a main highlight being the most ambient and eerie track on Replica, but it still has this unmistakable beauty about it; it sounds so old and aged, yet nothing like it has been created before.
The most structured of the tracks off Replica is the daunting title track. Trudging through with a slow and somber piano line accompanied by heavily reverb instrumentals darting around and around the piano line; “Replica” is a track to remember for 2011 and most likely the entire decade to come for music. The entirety of Replica will be look back as a monumental record to propel Lopatin into the realms of the great modern electronic artists such as Aphex Twin, Tim Hecker, and others, but Lopatin will be something more.
Replica is purely introspective and requires multiple listens to really appreciate its textures. From glitch, ambience, and even slowcore; Lopatin reaches limits in music unknown to man but still finds a way to brings us back to a familiar place where we can delve into something from the past. Turn off your lights, turn on a soft fan, make sure it’s a chilly late-autumn day and pop in Oneohtrix Point Never’s Replica and find yourself in an up-and-coming electronic artist’s soundscapes.
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