My Favorite Albums of 2012

I can't call them the "best albums of 2012" because as high an opinion as I hold of my own opinions, "best" is obviously pretty subjective.  So instead, I present to you, dear listener, a playlist of songs from  some of my favorite albums released in 2012.

Enjoy!

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Playlist: Some of My Favorite Songs from 2010

Another year has passed, another year has come.  2010 is dead!  Long live 2011!  Etc.  But before we dive whole-heartedly into what will no doubt be an amazing new year filled with jetpacks, moon colonies, robot butlers, and ESP, I thought I'd take a moment to look back on the year that passed, and share with you some of my favorite songs released that year.  Not all of these are from albums that I would wholeheartedly recommend (if you're looking for "best albums of 2010" lists, there are plenty of them out there), and not all of them are even the best songs on their respective albums, but they all had something special that made them memorable for me (and I even resisted the urge to include any of my own songs, but I can't promise to do that next year).  Enjoy!

1. Menomena - "Oh Pretty Boy, You're Such A Big Boy"
   From the album Mines, which is one of my favorites of 2010.  Turns out it'll be their last album featuring keyboard player (and singer, and various other instrument-player) Brent Knopf, who left the band last week to focus on his other band Ramona Falls.  This is a great song about love and loss, but mostly loss - I really dig the stark vibe on this one.  See also:  the dark, brooding "Five Little Rooms."
   
2. Arcade Fire - "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)"
   From the album The Suburbs, which I thought was OK and had some real standouts, but could have used a good editor.  I usually don't like Régine's songs as much as Win's, but this is such a great song that I can look past her voice (besides, the production does a great job covering up her vocal...inconsistenties, for lack of a nicer term).  Any musician who's ever written the obligatory song about songwriting will no doubt be excited to see a huge band still writing those kinds of songs (sample line:  "They heard me singing and they told me to stop/Quit those pretentious things and just punch the clock").  This is one of the only songs I've ever seen performed on SNL that I thought actually sounded good - usually their sound setup can turn even the best bands into shitty lounge acts.
   
3. Deerhunter - "He Would Have Laughed"
   I had a really hard time picking a track off of Halcyon Digest to feature, so I went with a 7-and-a-half minute psych-folk-ish ballad, naturally.  I really like the lush ballad "Helicopter," and the vintage pop rock vibe of "Don't Cry," as well as the fantastic "Basement Scene," which features a tease of the Everly Brothers' "All I Have To Do Is Dream."  But instead I went with this one, because I think it's really beautiful in its simplicity.  And it features the great line "I lived on a farm, yeah/I never lived on a farm."
   
4. Sufjan Stevens - "I Walked"
   I also had a hard time picking a track off of Sufjan's latest album The Age of Adz.  This album showed that Stevens is just as adept a composer in the electronic realm as he is in the world of analog instruments.  Impressive...very impressive.
   
5. Kanye West - "Runaway"
   This is definitely not my favorite song on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.  "Gorgeous" has better rhymes, "Monster" has (among other amazing things) that amazing verse by Nicki Minaj, "Lost In The World" made Bon Iver palatable.  But I think "Runaway" does the best job of representing West himself - it borrows from other sources but is uniquely personal.  It goes on way after its point is made, but somehow you don't really mind because it's so damn entertaining.  It's over-the-top boastful and self-deprecating at the same time, often in the same breath.  And it features the awesome line "I sent this bitch a picture of my dick," which puts it high in the running for song of the year.
   
6. Liars - "No Barrier Fun"
   The Liars' Sisterworld is a challenging album, but it offers many rewards to the patient listener.  I featured this song because I already featured the excellent song "Scarecrows on a Killer Slant" on a previous playlist.
   
7. MGMT - "Someone's Missing"
   Previously featured here, this song off of Congratulations takes its time getting where it's going, then spends a little time there doing not much of anything at all.  And I think that's awesome.  A short, sweet little build-up from drug haze to dance pop, I consider this song a nice palette cleanser.  See also: album opener "It's Working" - there's been a lot of psychedelic surf rock released this year, but this is one of my favorite takes on the genre.
   
8. Plants And Animals - "American Idol"
   I wasn't too taken with their album La La Land, but this song really stuck out for me as an example of how good this band can be.  Those horns are so good!  So good, in fact, that I featured this song on a previous playlist.
   
9. Pop Winds - "Fools"
   Not surprisingly (to me), my brother first introduced me to this Canadian psych-pop group, by means of their latest album The Turquoise.  These guys are definitely under the radar at the moment, but I wouldn't expect that to last too long.  I should note that although I absolutely love this song, that weird water noise is kind of distracting and definitely annoying.  But if you can get past that, there's a lot to like here - I think my favorite thing might be the lyrics, which consist solely of the line "I am overwhelmed and I am on a ship of fools/Why do I feel so good?"  I often feel exactly that way.
   
10. The Dead Weather - "The Difference Between Us"
    I've featured this one before, too, because it's so damn good.  The synths add a lot to this track off of Sea of Cowards.  I also love the way the music for the chorus kicks in each time just behind the vocals, like the instruments are following the lead of the words.
    
11. The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio"
    I've been a National fan for a long time, and I don't think any of their albums are as good as Alligator, but this track off of High Violet comes pretty damn close.  Great lyrics, great music, great delivery.  See also, the slow, beautiful "Runaway."
    
12. The Walkmen - "Stranded"
    I'm usually a little iffy about The Walkmen, but I enjoyed Lisbon more than I expected to, especially this gorgeous little number which not only lifts parts of the melody from "Silent Night" but is also in 3/4, which you really don't get that much of these days.
    
13. Titus Androniucs - "Richard II"
    Another song I've featured previously on this blog [Editor's note: at least I'm consistent!], this is one of my favorites off of their truly excellent Civil War-themed album The Monitor.  Features the fantastic line "But there's only one dream that I keep close/And it's the one of my hand at your throat."
    
14. Vampire Weekend - "White Sky"
    Previously featured almost 1 year ago on this blog, this song off of Contra is so ridiculously fun and cheery that I can't help but smile every time I hear it.  It's even better with headphones, the synthy hi-hat sounds from the intro bounce from ear to ear during the intro, which is very cool.  I also adore the drum syncopation in the chorus.  And I hope you will, too.
    
15. Wolf Parade - "Pobody's Nerfect"
    I was really expecting a lot from their latest album Expo '86, and I didn't get it.  I guess Spencer Krug kind of blew his wad on Sunset Rubdown's excellent 2009 album Dragonslayer.  Still, this song has a nice straight-ahead hard-rocking feel to it that's not often present in his work (at least in the intro, the intensity drops after that), and the chorus is catchy as hell.
    
16. Yeasayer - "O.N.E."
    I really wanted to include "Ambling Alp" on this playlist, possibly the best song ever written about Joe Louis.  But for one thing, I've featured it before, and for another thing, they actually released it ahead of the album in 2009. So instead I'll feature another one of my favorite songs off of Odd Blood, which features the awesome line "Here right as I am, it's hard having fun/It's much easier said than it's done."  Which is very true.
    
17. Girl Talk - "Oh No"
    I wanted to put All Day on this playlist in its entirety, but that seemed excessive.  I like almost everything about this album - the fact that the samples have much more room to breathe than on any of his previous albums, the fact that he released it for free (in FLAC, even!), the fact that he samples Spacehog, and the fact that the songs are all really great.  This song features the word "bitch" more than it needs to, but I suppose you can blame that on the source material.
    
18. The Thermals - "I Don't Believe You"
    I wasn't quite as enamored of Personal Life as I have been of previous Thermals albums, but there are still a lot of nice moments on this album, even if they've slowed down a bit this time around.  I just love the "ah-oh-ah-oh" descending runs in this song, they're really catchy.  Plus, the title pretty much sums up my view of politicians for the last 12 years or so.

Honorable Mention:  Hot Chip - "I Feel Better"
While I enjoyed much of One Life Stand, it didn't really stick with me at all.  This song gets an honorable mention only because of it's absolutely incredibly ridiculous video.

What were your favorite songs of 2010?  Please tell me in the comments.

Friday Playlist: The Best Albums Of The Aughts You've Never Heard*

*Unless of course, you have.

Happy New Year, everybody. In this, the first week of the teens, I figured I'd do like everybody else is doing and make a best-of list. But this isn't your typical year- or decade-end best-of list. This one is a tribute to those albums that you may have overlooked over the past 10 years. These albums were not by Spoon, or Arcade Fire, or Radiohead, or Outkast. They're not even by The Strokes or Animal Collective! This doesn't mean they're so obscure or indie that you've never heard (or heard of) them, it just means that these albums didn't really garner all the press and adoration that their more famous chronological neighbors did. And I'm here to correct that. For today's playlist, I've picked one track from each album, but I'm giving you a "hear also" tip for each one in the writeup in case you want to do some research on your own.

So, in no particular order, here we go (more goodies below the playlist!)...

• Miike Snow - Miike Snow [2009]
  The Swedish production team Bloodshy & Avant (who have produced and written songs for Britney Spears, J-Lo, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, et. al.) teamed up with singer/songwriter Andrew Wyatt to create an album of nearly perfectly crafted pop songs with killer beats and bizarre lyrics. Hear also: "Sans Soleil"
  
  
• Mother Mother - O My Heart [2008]
  Canadian band Mother Mother dropped one of 2008's catchiest albums with this Pixies-influenced, high-harmonied, fast-drummed, oft-syncopated album. The songs here are worlds better than on their debut Touch Up. If you get a chance to see these guys live, don't miss it, they're a lot of fun, and they can actually reproduce those ridiculous harmonies in a live setting! Hear also: "Burning Pile"
  
  
• Twinemen - Twinemen [2002]
  Q: What do you get when you take 2/3 of Morphine and add them to singer Laurie Sargent? A: The Twinemen, one of the most underrated bands of the Aughts. Combining smoky saxophone licks, droning bass lines, and hypnotic vocals, this album managed to completely transcend my expectations of a "post-Morphine side band." And their other 2 albums are pretty great, too. Hear also: "Who's Gonna Sing"
  
  
• Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World [2001]
  Wikipedia describes this Welsh band's fifth album as "an eclectic record incorporating pop, prog, punk, jungle, electronica, techno and death metal." I would have to agree. This was an eye-opening album for me; I had rarely (if ever before) heard one album successfully encompass so many styles without sounding kitschy or turning into a joke. But these guys pulled it off, and then began their long slow descent into mediocrity (only this year have they started to turn things around). Hear also: "(Drawing) Rings Around The World"
  
  
• Six By Seven - The Way I Feel Today [2002]
  These hard-rocking Brits manage to mix real emotions with hard-driving droney guitar rock without turning the whole thing into some sort of emo-metal crapfest. This song is a bit on their quieter side, but that doesn't make it rock any less. They released something like 6 albums in the Aughts, but this one is by far my favorite. Hear also: "American Beer"
  
  
• Beulah - The Coast Is Never Clear [2001]
  Members of the infamous Elephant Six Collective, Beulah came gently roaring out of the late 90's on a wave of lo-fi pop songs. They did some of their best work in the early aughts before disbanding in 2004. But before they went, they left us with some real pop masterpieces, including nearly every track on this horn-laden album. Hear also: "Popular Mechanics For Lovers"
  
  
• Spiritualized - Let It Come Down [2001]
  While never quite recapturing the psychedelic glory of 1997's Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space, Spiritualized still put out some quality work in the Aughts, and I think this album was the most quality of all. It's got a cleaner, more streamlined sound than a lot of their stuff, and the vocals are more prevalent, which means that (despite his sometimes shaky singing voice) singer Jason Pierce's emotional range really shines through, to great effect. Hear also: "Lord Can You Hear Me"
  
  
• Badly Drawn Boy - Have You Fed The Fish? [2002]
  You've no doubt heard his work on the About A Boy soundtrack, but if that's been your only exposure to Badly Drawn Boy, do yourself a favor and check out this brilliant album. According to Wikipedia, this album featured "an increasingly mainstream pop sound which was not welcomed by all critics." Well, those critics should get their heads out of the sand, because this album is incredibly rewarding. It's a playful somewhat-concept album with resurfacing themes and lyrical leitmotifs that will keep your brain occupied while the rest of you is contentedly humming along. Hear also: "You Were Right"
  
  
• Gomez - In Our Gun [2002]
  Most Gomez fans will tell you that this is the album that doesn't sound anything like Gomez. It's also the last one before their slow but steady decline to the shell of a band they are today. This album is much more produced than their previous efforts, featuring multi-layered keyboard tracks, a harder-edged sound, and some of the catchiest riffs they ever wrote. If you're just getting into Gomez, start at the beginning and stop here. Hear also: "Ballad Of Nice & Easy"
  
  
• Say Hi To Your Mom - Impeccable Blahs [2006]
  Although the band (well, really one guy) has since changed its name to the more grown-up sounding "Say Hi," they still put out great lo-fi emo songs about stuff that nerds care about. On the subject of this album, Wikipedia says: "Their fourth release, Impeccable Blahs, was written almost entirely about vampires, though Star Trek is also mentioned." 'Nuff said. Hear also: "These Fangs"
  
  
• The Fiery Furnaces - Gallowsbird's Bark [2003]
  Before they went crazy and started recording albums with their grandmother, those wacky Friedberger siblings used to put out really-bizarre-but-still-listenable-and-actually-pretty-great albums. While not as weird as their second album, this one still has plenty of weird to go around, but also plenty of folk-influenced songsmithing. I dare you not to sing along to this track. Hear also: "Asthma Attack"
  
  
• The Sleepy Jackson - Lovers [2003]
  The All Music Guide describes this album as "a jukebox loaded with 35 years worth of trippy pop moments," and since those guys are pros, I'll just steal their words and say that I agree. There's something on here for fans of just about anything, from George Harrison to the Flaming Lips to (very) early Wilco. Each song is more or less from a different genre, so it was hard to pick one that was in any way emblematic of the album. So I just picked one I liked. Hear also: "Vampire Racecourse"
  
  
• The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine [2006]
  A pop-punk concept album about religion? With heavily political overtones? That doesn't suck? Yes, yes, and yes said the Thermals, on this, their best album. This collection of 3- and 4-minute ditties about losing, finding, and dealing with your faith is one of the catchiest albums of the Aughts, even if Hutch Harris's voice is something of an acquired taste. There is no song on this album that I skip on a regular basis. Hear also: "A Pillar Of Salt"
  
  
• Liars - Drum's Not Dead [2006]
  I will not pretend to understand what this album is about. This album is beautiful, noisy, a little frightening, dark, ethereal, and really just kind of amazing. Don't pick it up expecting songs you can latch on to easily, or expecting a lot of words to guide you through, or really expecting anything. Just turn off the lights, throw this on, and enjoy the ride. Hear also: "Visit From Drum"
  
  
• The Coup - Pick A Bigger Weapon [2006]
  This album has it all. Great beats, smooth flows, hyper-intelligent lyrics that go by so fast you don't even realize you've just gotten a people's history of [various subject matters] until it's all over because you were too busy bopping along to the funk samples in the background. Sample lyric: "When I'm running from the police/I don't have to rush/I'm so dope I just jump/In the toilet and flush." Sounds silly until you realize it's brilliant. Hear also: "I Love Boosters!"
  
  
• Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8 [2007]
  In addition to being the most ecologically friendly indie rock band ever, Cloud Cult writes beautiful little pop songs that are, for the most part, surprisingly sad behind all the silver linings. Before they found fame with that esurance video, the majority of this band's output was a response to the untimely death of band founder Craig Minowa's infant son in 2002. This album is no exception, and while it has some of their most serious songs, it also has some of their most beautiful. Hear also: "Chain Reaction"
  
  
• Menomena - Friend and Foe [2007]
  Building on the "this music was made by sentient robots" vibe of their first album, but going deeper and darker, Menomena laid down some of their catchiest and most challenging songs on this album, and the result is an album that thoroughly rewards repeated listens and an ear for details. I haven't been this impressed by a trio of musicians since Morphine. Hear also: "Evil Bee"
  
  
• Johnson & Jonson - Johnson & Jonson [2008]
  Another intelligent hip-hop album from 2 guys that seriously know how to rock a sample. The beats are a great mix of funk, soul, rock, and good old-fashioned psychedelci hip-hop. This would be a great party album if the lyrics didn't warrant so much attention and close listening. Hear also: "Hold On John"
  
  
• El Guincho - Alegranza [2008]
  This album got a lot of comparisons to Panda Bear's Person Pitch, but there's one really important difference: this one's 100x more fun. It's got the same trippy reverbed-out vibe in some places, but it's also got weird chants, crazy Spanish instrumental bits, what sounds like tribal beats, and a bunch more stuff thrown in for good measure. This album is kind of like the auditory version of a night at a carnival. Hear also: "Fata Morgana"
  
  
• The Earlies - The Enemy Chorus [2007]
  This album kind of reminds me of Menomena's Friend and Foe (see above) in that it was a bit of a departure from what I thought this band was all about based on their first album, but it was also a really great album that built on some of their best traits and went deeper (and darker). There's a lot of multi-layered sonic weirdness going on here, but they (usually) all add up to some really cool aural landscapes (and some great songwriting to boot). Hear also: "When The Wind Blows"

What's the best album of the Aughts that didn't get any attention (or at least not the attention it deserved)? Tell me in the comments, and happy new year!

Lists!

It's list time! What with the end of the year looming, not to mention the end of the decade (well, not really - technically this decade ends next year, but whatever, it's the end of the Aughts), list season is upon us. I haven't made my own yet (working on it), but in the meantime, here are some tasty lists to tide you over:

• Paste Magazine lists the 50 best albums of the decade.
• NPR considers the decade's 50 most important recordings.
• NPR listeners pick their favorite music of 2009.
• NME names the top 100 albums of the decade.
• Stereogum rounds up all the other lists that are out there.
• Largehearted Boy rounds up what is apparently every list, ever (frequently updated!).

That's all for now! I hope this keeps you busy until I can get my own list up. Stay tuned...

Friday Playlist: My Top 20 Tracks From Pitchfork's Top 20 Albums

A few week ago, Pitchfork posted their list of the top 20 albums of the aughts. Pitchfork hasn't generated this much excitement since they famously gave "Music" a 6.8 back in 2007. I read through the list several times, and finally decided that my readers shouldn't have to take the time to listen to all 20 of these albums 5 times in a row like I did. As a service to you, dear readers (both of you), I did all the heavy lifting so you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy one track from each of their top 20.

I agonized for some time over which track to choose from each album - should I pick my personal favorite, or a track that best represents the album as a whole, or the one that might be considered the "best" track from each album? The good-looking genius over at Creative DC advised me to pick the song that, if the listener were to die tomorrow, they would be happiest having heard today [Editor's note: I'm paraphrasing, the original was more clever]. So that's what I tried to do.

Enjoy!

1. Interpol - NYC
   This was an easy choice for me. I'm not really too enamored of most of this album (or most Interpol songs for that matter) but this song always manages to worm its my into my brain and stay there for days every time I hear it. I know the lyrics aren't all that fancy (are Interpol's lyrics ever all that fancy?), but there's a certain poetical quality to this song that gets me. And of course it's simple and repetive, and I can't get too much of that.
   
   
2. Spoon - Don't Let It Get You Down
   Lots of great options on this album, but I think this is perhaps the most tuneful of them all. This song also has a special place in my heart because a couple years back I wrote a song that was pretty much exactly this song - took me a couple weeks to figure out where I'd unintentionally stolen the melody from. There's nice stereo separation in this one too (the vocals are on one side for the most part, the drums on the other, etc.) so that's an added listening bonus. I also dig the interplay between the piano, guitar and bass during the breaks. It's a good little number.
   
   
3. Kanye West - Gold Digger (featuring Jamie Foxx)
   I almost went with "Mama" from this album (I really love that track) but this is definitely the song you will be sorry for having not heard if you'd never heard it. Solid song all around - clever humorous lyrics, good beat, great fake Ray Charles sample (cleverly altered to reflect the lyrical content of this song) and a super-catchy chorus that you can't go around singing in public. Nice work.
   
   
4. LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
   This album was on my top 10 of 2008, and it remains great to this day. Like many of the albums on this list, it was hard to pick just one track from this one, but this song wins because of the brilliant mix of the warm emotions of the lyrics with the cold electronic feel of the music. (And of course it's simple and repetitive.)
   
   
5. Sufjan Stevens - CHICAGO
   You know the refrain by now - it was really hard to pick one song from this album. But this one wins for the arrangement (the way the strings rise and fall is just brilliant, the glockenspiel is inspired) and the beautiful simplicity of the lyrics. I'm not 100% sure I chose the right track from this one, but at some point I just had to stop and pick one. So this is it.
   
   
6. The Knife - We Share Our Mother's Health
   I used to be a bigger Knife fan than I am now. I really didn't like the Fever Ray album, and upon repeated listens this Knife album lost much of its lustre for me as well. But the crazy electronic dance-hall-of-mirrors noises that comprise much of the instrumentation of this song combined with the aliens-who-just-want-to-party-but-kind-of-in-a-dangerous-way vocals make this song a real high point for the album.
   
   
7. Animal Collective - My Girls
   While this song can't hold a candle to Peacebone off of Strawberry Jam, it's still pretty damn good. They manage to pull such a catchy chorus out of pretty thin scaffolding, and that's a good feat, even if it doesn't come until after 3 minutes into the song. Catchy, light-hearted, weird, and confusing, if this song represents the new direction for Animal Collective (picture one of their tunes in a Gap ad in 2 years), I would be OK with that.
   
   
8. OutKast - So Fresh, So Clean
   So many wonderful songs on this album - but none are so boastful and playful at the same time while still holding down such a thick juicy beat. This song is Big Boi-heavy, and definitely reflects his retro style, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all.
   
   
9. The White Stripes - We're Going To Be Friends
   Of course I had to pick the song that sounds nothing like the rest of this album. Well, so be it. I defy you not to have a good time listening to this song. Go on, try. See? Told you.
   
   
10. Ghostface Killah - Apollo Kids ft. Raekwon
    Maybe this makes me a loser who's into over-produced hip-hop albums, but I actually prefer Fishscale to this album. Still, Supreme Clientele is a classic, and I think this song represents one of its peaks. Ghostface tears it up in his verses and Raekwon doesn't slouch on his, either. There are tracks with better beats on this album, but I don't think Ghostface sounds as alive anywhere else on that whole disc. And of course he compares rapping to "ziti" and never explains it. Who else could do that?
    
    
11. The Avalanches - Since I Left You
    I actually had never heard this album before I saw it on Pitchfork's playlist, and I wish I had - it's pretty good. This was my favorite track from this album, and I dig the sonic landscape it paints. I have to imagine The Go! Team listened to this album. A lot.
    
    
12. Panda Bear - Bros
    Yes, this song has been overplayed by hipsters from coast to coast, and no, he's not doing anything the Beach Boys didn't do decades ago, but it's still a great song and shows how far you can go with a good hook and a lot of reverb. Somehow it manages not to get (too) boring even at 12:00 minutes. That's impressive.
    
    
13. Sigur Rós - Olsen Olsen
    More hard choices here - but the bass line on this track makes me feel so good it had to win. Then there's the theme introduced by the bass at 4:12, then picked up by the piano and strings at 4:40, then built upon by horns, voices, etc. for the rest of the song - it's so uplifting and wonderful, it lifts up the whole song around it. Beautiful stuff.
    
    
14. The Strokes - Last Nite
    I'm not sure how The Strokes made it into the top 20 albums of the decade, but as long as they're here, we might as well enjoy their catchiest little ditty of all. Commence enjoyment.
    
    
15. Modest Mouse - 3rd Planet
    Great album, full of great, weird songs. This one wins because it's so evocative - even as the narrator talks about his "only art" being that of "fucking people over," and making fun of people for believing in the "eye in the sky," you can hear the self-doubt creeping in and infecting everything. Great existentialist angst without being emo.
    
    
16. Jay-Z - Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
    Q: How can you understand Jigga without hearing this song? A: You cannot. So don't even try. Classic Jay-Z, from the strings to the lyrics to the ridiculous boasting to the crazy good flow. Way to get pretty much half the country singing along to what is essentially nonsense letters strung together.
    
    
17. Wilco - Kamera
    I changed my choice from this album about 6 times, but Kamera finally won because, somewhat ironically, I don't love it. At least, I don't love it when it starts. Every time I hear this song, my immediate instinct is to skip over it in favor of something more tuneful or with a better arrangement or more interesting lyrics...yet every time I actually hang in there and listen to it for the duration, I am reminded that it's really a very well-written song with surprising layers. The vocals are understated (none of that trademark Tweedy scratchy yowl here), there's no impressive guitar solo, and yet by the end I'm always singing along and telling myself I need to give this song more credit. The production actually reminds me of Spoon a bit here - pretty sparse with some good chunky acoustic guitar backing. Anyway, despite all this, I am still questioning my choice, because there are simply too many great songs on this album. Maybe I got it wrong.
    
    
18. Daft Punk - One More Time
    This was another album I didn't know very well until recently. Most of the album has grown on me, but this track caught my attention and held it right off the bat. Auto-tune never sounded so good.
    
    
19. Arcade Fire - Wake Up
    Another album full of great songs! While I'm way more partial to Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), I have to admit that this is simply a better song, and if you've never heard it, your ears are poorer for it. So do them a favor and listen closely to all the instruments and voices at play here - it's a veritable feast for the ears. And the lyrics are good, too.
    
    
20. Radiohead - The National Anthem
    Yes, yes, another hard choice from this overly analyzed album. There are practically no lyrics in this song, but that's OK because the vocals are basically just another instrument, and they're used to great effect. This is probably the best song on this whole playlist, so make sure you listen hard.
    

So, what are your favorites from these albums? Tell me in the comments...

Best Albums of 2008

Since I already blogged about my favorite songs/artists that I heard for the first time in 2008, it seemed only right that I A) add some more that got left off the list, and B) give some credit (in blog form) to the best albums that came out in 2008, regardless of when I first heard of the artists. Once again, this list is incomplete, very subjective, and has changed the last 4 or 5 times I tried to narrow it down to 10 albums. So I guess this is more like "today's best albums of 2008 list" since I know I'll change my mind tomorrow.

First, here's a playlist of a track from each album.

And now, some reading material:

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster...

This album had a hold on me from the first time I heard it. Their blend of punky high-energy pop, ridiculously clever and complicated lyrics, and immensely catchy hooks just grabbed me and hasn't let go yet. Last time I said I was torn between "Death to Los Campesinos!" and "My Year in Lists," but it turns out the song I really wanted to showcase is "This is How You Spell 'Haha ha, We Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of A Generation of Faux-Romantics'," which earns points both for being a great song, and for having one of the longest song titles I've ever seen.

Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
I already gave my friend Kate a shout-out in my other "best of 2008" post for introducing me to this band, but she deserves another one. This album showcases some of the best of what this band is capable of, namely intelligent lyrics, wonderful percussion, great multi-tracked vocals, and a wonderful instrumentation that manages to be both spare and lush at the same time. This song, "The Loneliness Of A Tower Crane Driver," has almost the exact same tune in the background of the verses as Leonard Cohen's "Dress Rehearsal Rag." Coincidence? You decide.

Mother Mother - O My Heart
How could I have left this band off of my other list? It's a toss-up between this album and Los Campesinos! for "album Jordan listened to over and over again way too many times in 2008." This album has it all: pop hooks, syncopation, clever-but-somewhat-dadaist lyrics, bright shiny production, and incredibly catchy songs with nicely layered vocals. Like Los Campesionos!, Mother Mother makes great use of male & female vocalists for a fantastic sound reminiscent of the Pixies (some would replace "reminiscent" with "derivative," but whatever). I had a hard time choosing a favorite song off this album so I went with the one I found most often repeating itself in my head, "Ghosting." This one doesn't sound a lot like the rest of the album, actually, so it's kind of a terrible choice in terms of representing the whole thing, but it's still a great song, especially the lyrics. Musically it really gets going around 2 minutes in. EDIT: I couldn't pick just one song from this album, so please enjoy "Burning Pile" as well.

Girl Talk - Feed The Animals

Girl Talk won my heart back in 2006 with Night Ripper. I was disappointed by almost everything else I heard from him after that (i.e. his earlier records), but Feed The Animals picks up where Night Ripper left off, and continues his brilliant streak of mixing hip-hop, 70s hits, 80s pop, and a host of other stuff together with mathematical precision and an ear for hooks. "Play Your Part" is the album opener, and I think it's the best track on here, but the whole thing is worth a listen. No need to make a fancy playlist for your next house party, just throw this album on and let Girl Talk do the work of finding something for everyone. Check out the samples used in this track alone.

Plants and Animals - Parc Avenue

This album can sound at turns rambling, expansive, jam-bandy, and occasionally focused, but it's always listenable and usually fantastic. I find a lot to like here, which is easy because they play with several genres at once in any given song. This track, "New Kind Of Love," sounds to me like what Fleet Foxes would be if they lived up to their hype. [Editor's note: they don't.] They have a knack for a catchy chorus that sounds more or less accidental, like they kind of fell into it during a jam session. But that's deceptive; there's obviously a plan at work here, which is why this album works so well.

School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms
I didn't know what to expect when I heard that Secret Machines guitarist Benjamin Curtis had formed a new band. I guess I expected Secret Machines-lite, which is kind of what I got from the last couple of Secret Machines albums. Instead I got this riveting electro-dance-pop album [Editor's note: there's probably some real sub-genre that the hipsters are using for this sort of thing, but I don't know the name of it.] that really rewards repeated listenings. This track, "Connjur," is one of the lighter numbers on the album, but nicely showcases the vocal abilities of twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza as well as the general dancing-in-a-weird-80s-dream vibe of the whole album.

TV On The Radio - Dear Science
I didn't like this album the first several times I heard it. I wanted more horns, more bizarre vocal stunts, more a cappella, more of everything I loved about their first album. And then one day it just suddenly clicked for me, and I realized that this is a fine album by a band that's growing and trying different things. It's just that in TV On The Radio's case, they started out weirder and are getting (slightly) more normal, so progression for them is not what I'm used to hearing in terms of bands branching out and experimenting. But now I know they can make good, accessible songs and still showcase their unique talents, and I'm OK with that. I guess I'm growing, too. "Crying" could have been a Top 40 dance track in another era with a different singer.

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Ah, Vampire Weekend. For the longest time I told myself you were just a flash in the pan, a band of limited talents who stood on the shoulders of giants and put in just enough songcraft to get the job done and pull the wool over the eyes of today's youth. Then I realized that I had inadvertantly memorized every track on this album because they are all so damn catchy. Why fight it? This is a wonderful pop album with some great influences. I like "The Kids Don't Stand A Chance" both because it sounds different than most of the other songs on the album, and because I love the title's modern update of the Who's "The Kids Are Alright" - whether it was intended to be that, I couldn't say, so let's assume it was.

Why? - Alopecia
2005's Elephant Eyelash was such a great album, I had very high hopes for this follow-up. The sound is a lot fuller and richer, with more instrumentation and fleshed-out choruses, but that overarching sense of dread and loss remains, which makes for a great album from a band (well, a solo act, more or less) to watch. "Good Friday" doesn't feature the higher-pitched nasal sound that is Why's trademark, but it does contain a reference to Houdini's death by an unexpected punch and the line "sucking dick for drink tickets/at the free bar at my cousin's bat mitzvah," so it made the list.

Hot Chip - Made In The Dark

I used to think "One Pure Thought" was the only great song on this album, but that's not doing justice to the glitchy ballads that make up this album. Whether they're going overboard with the synthesizers on "Touch Too Much" or overboard with the drum machine on "Bendable Posable," Hot Chip does their best impression of really sad robots on this album, and while the results are mixed, they are usually great. "Wrestlers" is a robot's attempt at a Justin Timberlake song (seriously, I could hear Justin and [hot rap artist du jour] making a Top 40 hit out of this song) and it's deliciously weird. Word to the wise: skip the last track on the album, the robots checked out and the humans really weren't up to the task on that one.

Honorable Mention: M.I.A. - Kala
This album isn't consistent enough to make it into my official Top 10, but c'mon...Paper Planes! The Clash never sounded so good (with apologies to The Clash). Just to mix things up, I've included the "Scottie B. Remix" from Paper Planes: Homeland Security Remixes. For more on my love affair with this song, click here.

Well, that's my list. I've already changed my mind about it, but now it's written so I'm stuck with it. What were your favorite albums released in 2008? What are you looking forward to that's coming out in 2009? Tell me in the comments.

My Best of 2008

My friend Alex recently sent around his "best music of 2008" email, and it had a fascinating twist which I've decided to rip off:  instead of listing his favorite songs/albums/whatever that were released in 2008, he listed his favorite songs/albums/whatever that he first heard in 2008.  I like that approach - some of my favorite stuff I listened to this year came out long ago, but in my mind I'll always associate these songs with this year, regardless of their official release date.  And so I present to you:  some of my favorite songs that I heard for the first time in 2008.

I need to say that this list is extremely incomplete, and is of course distorted by memory...meaning that many songs were left off through no fault of their own, and some songs made it on due to repeated listenings trumping song quality.  But whatever, it's a list.  Enjoy!  (It's kind of long; I had a hard time editing this one down.)

Here's some reading notes to keep you busy:

• Birthday - The Very Best (Esau Mwamwaya & Radioclit) [from 'The Very Best' Mixtape]  This is everything a cover song should be: incredibly inventive and original, yet incorporating and accentuating the best elements of the original song.  The vocals and music on this one are provided in part by The Ruby Suns, an excellent band out of New Zealand to which you should be listening.  The whole mixtape this song is from is incredible, you can check it out (for free!) here.
  
  
• The Kramer - Wale [from The Mixtape About Nothing]  Washington DC's own Wale confronts racism and rap's use of the N-word head-on in this incredible track that starts off with a very disturbing clip of Michael Richards's infamous night at the comedy club.  This track warrants several listens to really catch all the lyrics.  I'm optimistic for Wale's future - he's got an incredible way with words.  Check out the rest of the amazing Mixtape About Nothing.
  
  
• Million Dollar Boots - Lord T & Eloise [from Aristocrunk]  I don't know a lot about these 2 white dudes who crafted ridiculous alter-egos and invented the word aristocrunk, but I first heard them on a mix of all the 2007 SXSW Music artists.  I love that they are basically a rap version of Billionaires for Bush.
  
  
• Jakolando - Extra Golden from Hera Ma Nono  Extra Golden hails from both Kenya and Washington DC, and they make beautiful music that makes me smile.  I hope you like it, too.
  
  
• Prefix Free - Parts & Labor [from Receivers]  I heard about these guys from my brother (of course), and I like their sound.  They remind me of a mix between Wire and Six. By. Seven.  This song is a little more chill than the rest of the album, but it's a great album.
  
  
• You're Gonna Miss Me - The 13th Floor Elevators [from The Psychedelic Sounds Of The 13th Floor Elevators]  OK, so this song is 42 years old and I just heard it this year.  So what?  It's still awesome.  For me, this is everything that Gloria should have been.
  
  
• Death to Los Campesinos! - Los Campesinos! [from Hold On Now, Youngster]  I had a hard time deciding between this song and My Year In Lists off the same album, but this one won out because of the chorus effect on the word "sugar."  Dig it!  I also like the Pixies reference in the title.  I wasn't as enamored of their newest album, but it's still pretty damn good.
  
  
• Mexican Standoff - Elbow [from Leaders Of The Free World]  My friend Kate introduced me to this band in 2008, and I've since gotten a bunch of their albums and really like them all.  They remind me a lot of Radiohead, sometimes of Leonard Cohen, sometimes Super Furry Animals, sometimes Badly Drawn Boy, but yet they always end up sounding original despite the heavy influences.  This song is one of my favorites off their award-winning album.
  
  
• Colors - Portugal.  The Man [from Censored Colors]  Despite their weird name, this band is really good and you should listen to them.  This song is not really indicative of their sound, which is cool because they tend to have a lot of different sounds, even on one album.  I promise they will not bore you, even when you're listening to their 23-minute long album opener off this other album.  This song really reminds me of The Sleepy Jackson, which is a good thing.
  
  
• Circus of Horror - Quiet Village [from Silent Movie]  One reviewer of this album, which is built out of all sorts of retro samples and riffs, as "the soundtrack to a dream," and I agree.  Sometimes the dream is dull, but mostly the dream is beautiful.  And in the case of this track, the dream is funky. 
  
  
• Bye Bye Bye - Plants and Animals [from Parc Avenue]  This song is catchy, melodic, nicely orchestrated (a piano! a chorus!), and overall high quality.  That's as specific as I can get right now, I have a headache.  Just listen to it and enjoy.
  
  
• The Art Of Driving - Black Box Recorder [from The Facts Of Life]  If you like the sound of this song (repetitive background, spoken lyrics, a sung chorus thrown in occasionally, barely hidden themes of sex and unrequited love), then you're in luck.  Every song on the album sounds exactly like this one.
  
  
• Geno - Dexy's Midnight Runners [from Let's Make This Precious (The Best Of)]  Before this year, I thought of Dexy's Midnight Runners as the people behind Come On Eileen.  And that was all I thought of them.  But my brother showed me that they could be more.  Much more.  They're actually pretty damn good.  I likes me some horns.
  
  
• Lackthereof - Fake Empire [from Your Anchor]  This album showed Lackthereof to be much more than just a Menomena side project.  It's a great album, full of emotion and beautifully understated songs.  My favorite track is their cover of The National's Fake Empire.  I actually prefer it to the original.
  
  
• One Pure Thought - Hot Chip [from Made In The Dark]  You can read how much I fucking love this song here.  I'm still somewhat obsessed with it.
  
  
• In The Rushes  - Islands [from Arm's Way]  I wrote about this song previously here.  It still blows me away when they change gears and go into A Quick One..., but now I appreciate the rest of the song, too.  It's good.
  
  
• Campus  - Vampire Weekend [from Vampire Weekend]  I tried hard to resist Vampire Weekend, but I failed.  They're just too damn catchy.  I'm glad the younger generation now has their own version of Graceland.  [Editor's note:  I'm not equating those two albums in terms of quality, but rather pointing out that one of them really ripped off the other one.  You decide which one.]
  
  
• Joset Of Nazareth's Blues - Titus Andronicus [from The Airing Of Grievances]  This band reminds me of the Clash, but a little angrier.  This song is a little more mellow than the rest of the album, but it's a fantastic album.
  
  
• Tonz 'o' Gunz - Gang Starr [from Hard To Earn]  This is turning into a long-ass list, and I'm getting tired.  So I'll just say that I'd never really listened to Gang Starr before this year, and I wish I had.  This album is great. 
  
  
• Pwnd - The Mae Shi [from HLLLYH]  Don't let the first few seconds fool you, they're going to start yelling!  This is another great album about religion (see also:  The Thermals).  The words are great, the music is loud, and the beer is cold.
  
  
• Flesh Failures - Lightspeed Champion [from Covers EP]  After seeing Lightspeed Champion at SXSW last year, I listened to his album over and over again and became something of a fan.  His cover of one of my favorite songs from Hair makes my spine tingle.
  
  
• Palmitos Park - El Guincho [from Alegranza]  When I heard this in January, my brother told me it was destined to become one of his (and my) favorite albums of 2008.  He was right.  This album is like a party in your ears.
  
  
• What Up Man - The Cool Kids [from The Bake Sale]  I love the use of a human being saying "clap" and "bass" in the background of this song as percussion as opposed to using the actual sounds.  Brilliant.  Also they can rap pretty well.
  
  
• The Twist - Frightened Rabbit [from The Midnight Organ Fight]  This song almost makes me cry.  It's that sad.  But it's also totally awesome.  The lyrics are just so sad, e.g. "Twist, and whisper the wrong name/I don't care, and nor do my ears/Twist yourself around me/I need company, I need human heat."  Sigh.
  
  
• Don't Run Our Hearts Around - Black Mountain [from Black Mountain]  This song reminds me of Black Sabbath on their day off.  Or something.
  
  
• So It Goes - Nick Lowe [from Jesus Of Cool]  I can't believe I went this long without listening to Nick Lowe.  Thanks to my anonymous friend for turning me on to him.  I don't care if this is a thinly veiled ripoff of Reeling In The Years, it's way more fun because it doesn't take itself half as seriously.

Well, that was exhausting.  What did you love that you first heard this year?  Tell me in the comments, and happy (almost) new year!