2010 looks bright and orange for music, however, its time to assess with a permanent red marker and my glasses on the tip of my nose, which albums made my top 10. So here it goes, or as dear Andy says, it goes something a little bit. Like. This…
The Antlers: Hospice:
‘Hospice’: a collection of songs about a person losing their loved one to cancer. Right…ok, not sold? Well, I dare you to listen to it. Go on. ‘Hospice’ is an incredibly beautiful, well-constructed album, with imagery-laden songs. There’s the dreamy, spacious, drifting ‘Shiva’, then there’s the charming, intricate-layering of ‘Two’. I don’t have anything bad to say about it. Peter Silberman’s sweet quivering voice alongside his poetic lyrics; possibly a little of Arcade Fire in the mix but I think that’s going to some lengths. For me, ‘Hospice’ is the best album of 2009. Now go forth and listen to it. I order you to. Here’s the music video to ‘Two’. Enjoy.
Temper Trap: Conditions:
Well you’ve probably guessed that ‘Sweet Disposition’ was 2009’s festival anthem, but the question is will Temper Trap be classed as a one-hit wonder and fade into the mists? Answer: no, I hope not, as their album reveals they have something ‘different’ which sets them apart from the bands of current trends. Does the album show off their uniqueness? I’m going to say no. With ‘Conditions’ you can clearly place the songs into two categories: ‘really good’ and ‘not very good’. What springs to mind is the pop-tastic Fader as compared to the erm repetitiveness of ‘brakes on brakes on’ (Science of Fear) – drones on a bit. Much potential, I did like the album, but I expect a lot more from Temper Trap in the foreseeable future.
Little Boots: Hands:
Little Boots ushered in a new wave of the electronic for 2009 which is likely to continue throughout 2010, inspiring many to go buy a stylophone and pretend to play it well but can only bash out Greensleeves and everyone gets pissed off with you because what you’re playing definitely does not sound like the riff from ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’… Hmmm…anyways, the album has definitely grown on me, especially with the catchy Eurovision-esque ‘Earthquake’ and ‘Ghost’, the Slyvia Plath-inspired ‘Mathematics’ and the lets all sing along to dancing is my remedy remedy oh! (‘Remedy’, in case you hadn’t guessed). Also, on another note, here is her and my Gary Numan perform together, covering ‘Venus in Furs’. A talented woman, and performer too (caught her at The Junction back in October – check out our Facebook fan page for amateur photos), 2010 shall be bright and shiny for Little Boots.
The Editors: In This Light And On The Evening:
And carrying on with this electronic theme takes me nicely to The Editors. Think Vangelis. Think dystopia. Think ‘The Running Man’. Much edgier and darker than their previous stuff, especially ‘Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool’. Catchy riffs see ‘In This Light And On The Evening’ and for big tune see ‘Papillon’. All in all, I very much like it.
Kasabian: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum:
And the best album tongue twister goes to… I quite like the album, but there wasn’t much effort displayed to break out from the things they’re previously done: nothing ground-breaking, nothing earth-shattering, just another Kasabian album. Perhaps there was a glimmer of experimentation in ‘Vlad the Impaler’ (which has been played about a zillion times on SUGAR PILL (7pm, Mondays, www.cur1350.co.uk), but don’t hold your breath. Then why is this in my top 10? Honest reason? It was just an excuse to post the music video for Vlad, starring Noel Fielding. And here you go:
The Heavy: The House That Dirt Built:
Hot hot hot. The Heavy’s second album will really kick it off in 2010. It’s practically got everything in it: funk, indie, bit of Prince going on there, elements of jazz and contemporary R&B. Fantastic. Dirty and raw in ‘No Time’, the soulful ‘Short Change Hero’, ‘Love Like That’, a relic of the ska period, and the racy and edgy ‘Oh No! Not You Again!’. Absolutely superb. Go listen to them perform live on the BBC website.
Fever Ray: Fever Ray:
Fever Ray’s self-entitled album scored high on my barometer. Chilling, atmospheric and eerie, it’s actually quite hard to pinpoint their musical style. It’s like a mixture of electronic and Peruvian Panpipes CD as seen in ‘Coconut’. The lyrics are mystifying as heard in ‘Dry and Dusty’, but my all-time favourite lyric must be ‘we talk about love / we talk about dishwasher tablets’ from ‘Seven’. Go listen to it, I dares you. And, admittedly, when I first heard of Fever Ray I was more attracted by their album artwork than the music inside. Just look at it:
Muse: The Resistance:
Reviewing this album was going to be hard for me. ‘Blackholes and Revelations’ was one of the best albums of the past decade… so! What does this new album hold in store? Let’s blast you with some key words: epic space rock, conspiracy theories, Stanley Kubrick, secret organisations, Dr Who, mutually assured destruction and ELO. I think that’s a pretty accurate way to describe the album, although ‘I Belong To You’ doesn’t seem to follow the sci-fi trend. Verdict? Well it’s definitely grown on me, I think it takes a couple of listenings to appreciate it. For example, it took quite some time to get past that ‘oh they’ve just copied Queen’ in ‘United States of Eurasia’. But I’m still very much a ‘Blackholes and Revelations’ girl. To conclude, ‘The Resistance’ would be a perfect present for Mr L. Ron Hubbard. Here’s the catchiest song from the album:
Grizzy Bear: Veckatimest:
And the best album with the hardest pronounceable title goes to…Admittedly this is the first time I’ve heard any of Grizzly Bear’s music. I have heard of the band, they’ve been knocking about since 2004 – I came – I listened – I liked. The solemn ‘Foreground’, the infectious ‘Two Weeks’ (was it hijacked by The Independent for an advert?) and the sporadic rhythms of ‘While You Wait For The Others’ are easily my best songs of the album. Lots of different styles, textures, rhythms you name it.
Passion Pit: Manners:
‘Manners’ is just so delightfully happy – makes you want to throw everything in the air and dance around in circles and shout out the lyrics…not that I’ve done that to ‘Sleepyhead’. What else can I say? It’s just an incredibly gleeful album; MGMT-esque, but as if you were on some kind of hallucinogenic happy drug. Happy, happy, happiness as conveyed in ‘Eyes as Candles’ and ‘To Kingdom Come’. Happy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPpbUy-Z6o8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPpbUy-Z6o8
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