day late and a dollar short
Happy 2011!
Let’s count down my favorite 10 albums of 2010.
10–6:
10.
Sharon Van Ettten — Epic
A 100% chance discovery. I was listening to Pandora at work when “Save Yourself” started playing on the Arcade Fire-obsessed “college indie” station. I had no idea what the song was or who was singing it, but her voice instantly commanded attention. Wow. iTunes classifies this album as country, but fear not, country-phobics; this is the lush, soulful, dark, achingly beautiful type of country. You know, the good kind. It’s also kinda trendyindie, too. Did I mention I love her voice?
9.
Neil Young — Le Noise
Neil Young! Sir! Awesome One! You’re back! In my personal list of favorites in the classic greats category, he is second only to Bob Dylan, but while I’ll always worship old-school Neil Young, some of the recent albums have been… tough to love. This one, though, has that instantly identifiable vintage sound, plus all kinds of variations and nuances in moods and sounds. Instead of, say, Living With War’s continuous barrage of “I am angry! Simple angry guitar! Simple angry lyrics! Same tunes!” This review has a lot exclamation points already, but I think I have room to love this album more with further listens. It’d probably be higher on the list if I’d bought it earlier in the year and had gotten more time to really let it soak in.
8.
Tame Impala — Innerspeaker
Whee, psychedelic rock. Listening to this is like being on drugs, in a good way. (Contrast with Candy Claws’ Hidden Lands, another 2010 release, which I can’t even get through because it’s like being on drugs in a very bad way.) Technically, I’m not a drug expert, but I did listen to the Beatles a lot as a teenager and went through a 13th Floor Elevators/Jimi Hendrix/Zombies phase as well. This is quite similar to late-era Beatles, down to the vocal inflections. (Also in a good way.) Opening track “It Is Not Meant To Be” is a particular standout. I also dig the cover art, man!
7.
The New Pornographers — Together
Spoiler alert: Congrats, Neko Case! You are the only one to make two appearances in my 2010 list. Anyway, Together. This albums has an odd air of familiarity about it, and there several riffs and melodies I’m positive I’ve heard elsewhere (e.g., that part that kicks in at 0:12 into “Moves” sounds just like Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks,” no? Is it just me?). For some reason — and hey, maybe this is all explained in the liner notes, which I sadly don’t have in an era of eMusic — all the déjà-vu enhances the album. Plus, everyone knows I’m a sucker for strings, and the urgently soaring strings on this thing reach Ra Ra Riot-esque territory on several tracks.
6.
The Morning Benders — Big Echo
Wikipedia says this is “baroque indie pop.” Everyone else has been saying, “They sound like The Shins!” Given that those are both taken, I’ll say it’s really catchy, really lovely pop-rockin’ music. “Excuses” is just begging to be used in a movie, preferably during the next-to-last scene when the two protagonists who were supposed to get together during the entire film but kept encountering obstacles and/or not liking each other meet up outside in the rain and have their Moment. Has this been done yet?
Nos. 5 through 1 tomorrow (optimistically).
