Last Seen Blogs
pieceofourworld
Piece Of Our World
touch-of-venus
Heavenly Touches
holyterrortomboy
(i am not without desire.)
femmgirl11e
Lu
Text
Bix Picks 2023
10. H. Hawkline - Milk For Flowers (Heavenly)
Track: Milk For Flowers
Charmingly askew
Singer-songwriter with a
70's pop bent
9. James Ellis Ford - The Hum (Warp)
Track: I Never Wanted Anything
Heavy Eno vibes
On producers' producer's
Debut solo set
8. André 3000 - New Blue Sun (Epic)
Track: I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a "Rap Album" But This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time
If you loved Outkast
And miss hearing André rap
This is not for you
7. A. Savage - Several Songs About Fire (Rough Trade)
Track: Thanksgiving Prayer
Chiller than Parquet
And at times even better
Easy vibe to ride
6. Kofi Flexxx - Flowers in the Dark (Native Rebel)
Track: It Was a All a Dream
Mystery man (but
Clearly Shabaka Hutchings)
Jazzy, rappy, soul
5. The Clientele - I Am Not That There Anymore (Merge)
Track: Fables of the Silverlink
Sonic departure
From their signature sound yet
Still retains their charm
4. Arooj Aftab / Vijay Iyer / Shahzad Ismaily - Love in Exile (Verve)
Track: To Remain/To Return
A healing ear balm
Hypnotic voice entwines with
Jazzy ambience
3. Jaimie Branch - Fly or Die Fly or Die Fly or Die ((world war)) (International Anthem )
Track: Borealis Dancing
Bright, bursting with life
And wildly inventive
R.I.P. Jaimie
2. Billy Woods x Kenny Segal - Maps (Backwoodz Studioz)
Track: FaceTime
Clearly in the midst
Of his imperial phase
This might be his best
1. Blur - The Ballad of Darren (Parlophone)
Track: The Narcissist
A somber affair
Yet brimming with love and hope
Midlife is rubbish
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
-Animal Collective - Isn’t It Now? (Domino)
-BCMC - Foreign Smokes (Drag City)
-Cornelius - Dream in Dream (Warner Music Japan)
-Blake Mills - Jelly Road (New Deal/Verve)
-Natural Information Society - Since Time is Gravity (Eremite)
-The Necks - Travel (Northern Spy)
-Slowdive - everything is alive (Dead Oceans)
-Sufjan Stevens - Javelin (Asthmatic Kitty)
-Wilco - Cousins (dBpm)
-Yo La Tengo - This Stupid World (Matador)
Bix Picks 2023 Spotify Playlist
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2022
20. Tim Bernardes - Mil Coisas Invisiveís (Psychic Hotline)
Sweet and disarming
Gentle Brazilian psych pop
From a bygone time
19. Sam Gendel - blueblue (Leaving)
More than kind of blue
Jazz guitar workouts for late
Night meditations
18. Ka - Languish Arts / Woeful Studies (Iron Works)
Monotone tales of
Hardscrabble street life backed by
Lush strings and no beats
17. Shintaro Sakamoto - Like a Fable (Zelone)
For those who’ve wondered...
What if Mac Demarco was
Japanese instead?
16. Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful (Fat Possum)
Another gorgeous
And painstakingly arranged
Sonic masterpiece
15. R.A.P. Ferreira - 5 to the Eye with Stars (Ruby Yacht)
Prolific AF
But consistent AF too
This might be his best
14. Cate Le Bon - Pompeii (Mexican Summer)
Off-kilter art-pop
Whose distant, blank detachment
Just pulls you closer
13. Earl Sweatshirt - Sick! (Tan Cressida/Warner)
The mental fog lifts
To find Earl at his peak and
Showing signs of hope
12. Sam Prekop & John McEntire - Sons Of (Thrill Jockey)
Modular synth leads
Backed by lo-fi drum machines
Makes bedroom techno
11. Kikagaku Moyo - Kumoyo Island (Guruguru Brain)
Final album from
Japanese psych rock warriors
Going out on top
10. Alex Izenberg - I’m Not Here (Domino)
Meddle-like vocals
Tasteful, Baroque arrangements
Pastoral delight
9. Bill Callahan - YTILAER (Drag City)
Extolling virtues
Of the sacred and mundane
As only Bill can
8. Rich Ruth - I Survived, It’s Over (Third Man)
Indescribable
But "new age ambient space
Jazz" is a good start
7. Pusha T - It’s Almost Dry (G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam)
Kanye and Pharrell
Co-produce this diamond from
Cocaine’s Dr. Seuss
6. The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention (XL)
A Radiohead
Side project that may as well
Be Radiohead
5. Danger Mouse / Black Thought - Cheat Codes (BMG)
Inspired throwback
To an old school, classic sound
More "boom bap" than "rap"
4. Jeff Parker - Mondays at the Enfield Tennis Academy (Eremite)
Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy by Jeff Parker ETA IVtet
Long-form and soulful
Improvisatory jams
From ace jazz quartet
3. Makaya McCraven - In These Times (International Anthem)
Meticulously
Crafted jazz, gestating for
6 years. Worth the wait!
2. Billy Woods x Preservation - Aethiopes (Backwoodz Studioz)
Artful production
And inspired cameos
But all Billy's show
1. Oren Ambarchi / Johan Berthling / Andreas Werliin - Ghosted (Drag City)
Meditative yet
Surprisingly propulsive
Wordless alchemy
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Horace Andy - Midnight Rockers (On-U-Sound)
Oren Ambarchi - Shebang (Drag City)
Animal Collective - Time Skiffs (Domino)
Arctic Monkeys - The Car (Domino)
Björk - Fossora (One Little Indian)
Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There (Ninja Tune)
Alabaster dePlume - Gold: Go Forward in the Courage of Your Love (International Anthem)
Destroyer - Labyrinthitis (Merge)
Dry Cleaning - Stumpwork (4AD)
Fontaines DC - Skinty Fia (Partisan)
Duke Garwood - Rogues Gospel (God Unknown)
Gwenno - Tresor (Heavenly)
Michael Head & the Red Elastic Band - Dear Scott (Modern Sky)
Tony Molina - In the Fade (Run for Cover)
Osees - A Foul Form (Castle Face)
Panda Bear & Sonic Boom - Reset (Domino)
Daniel Rossen - You Belong There (Warp)
Seafoam Walls - XVI (Daydream Library Series)
Warpaint - Radiate Like This (Heirlooms/Virgin)
Billy Woods x Messiah Muzik - Church (Backwoodz Studioz)
.haiku { font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-top: 6px !important; } .hm { font-size: 20px; } .hm.text { font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; }
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2021 (in alphabetical order + 100% less haikus!!)
Aeon Station - Observatory (Sub Pop)
Arooj Aftab - Vulture Prince (New Amsterdam)
Armand Hammer & the Alchemist - Haram (Backwoodz Studioz)
Black Country, New Road - For the First Time (Ninja Tune)
Black Midi - Cavalcade (Rough Trade)
Boldy James & The Alchemist - Bo Jackson (ALC)
Dry Cleaning - New Long Leg (4AD)
Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders/London Symphony Orchestra - Promises (Luaka Bop)
Steve Gunn - Other You (Matador)
Ka - A Martyr's Reward (Iron Works)
Liars - The Apple Drop (Mute)
Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victim (Matador)
Lael Neale - Acquainted With Night (Sub Pop)
Pino Palladino & Blake Mills - Notes With Attachments (Verve)
Jeff Parker - Forfolks (International Anthem)
Parquet Courts - Sympathy For Life (Rough Trade)
R.A.P. Ferreira - The Light Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures (Ruby Yacht)
Gruff Rhys - Seeking New Gods (Rough Trade)
Squid - Bright Green Field (Warp)
Vince Staples - Vince Staples (UMG)
Witch Egg (John Dwyer) - Witch Egg (Castle Face)
BIX PICKS 2021 PLAYLIST (sequenced for maximum enjoyment)
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2020
20. Thurston Moore - By the Fire (Daydream Library Series)
A distillation
Of what Thurston does best, turned
Up to eleven
19. Stephen Malkmus - Traditional Techniques (Matador)
Eastern strings add a
Spiritual quality
And eclectic touch
18. R.A.P. Ferreira - Purple Moonlight Pages (Ruby Yacht)
Formerly Milo
Mentally smoothed out hip-hop
Served to enlighten
17. Bill Callahan - Gold Record (Drag City)
Doesn’t even rank
In his own top 8 albums
That’s how good he is
16. Bent Arcana - Bent Arcana (Castle Face)
Oh Sees’ John Dwyer
Trades guitar freakouts for laid-
Back, free-form jazz grooves
15. Wire - Mind Hive (Pink Flag)
Best in 40 years
And their last 40 years were
Pretty fucking great
14. Shabazz Palaces - The Don of Diamond Dreams (Sub Pop)
Retro futurist
Cult rappers dazzle on 5th
And best long player
13. Jon McKiel - Bobby Joe Hope (You’ve Changed)
Vintage production
Lends a sense of timelessness
To these psych pop gems
12. Rose City Band - Summerlong (Thrill Jockey)
A more melodic,
Less jammy Dead with truckloads
Of cosmic choogle
11. Blake Mills - Mutable Set (New Deal/Verve)
Ruminative spells
Underscored by hypnotic
Shapes, tones and textures
10. Jarvis Cocker (as JARV...IS) - Beyond the Pale (Rough Trade)
The cool uncle who
Smokes weed, buys your friends beer and
Turns you on to Can
9. King Krule - Man Alive! (Matador)
Queasy trawl through the
Psychic ooze of a mind rife
With ambient dread
8. Neil Young - Homegrown (Reprise)
A true lost classic
From his ‘Imperial Phase’
Finally sees light
7. Psychic Temple - Houses of the Holy (Joyful Noise)
One visionary
Backed by four different bands births
Double album bliss
6. James Elkington - Ever-Roving Eye (Paradise of Bachelors)
Brit folk vibes abound
As session man embraces
His inner Bert Jansch
5. Fontaines DC - A Hero’s Death (Partisan)
Dour sophomore disc
No less charged or incisive
Just bleak because...life
4. Run the Jewels - RTJ4 (Jewel Runners/BMG)
Somehow manages
To be their most aggressive
And yet their most fun
3. Jeff Parker - Suite for Max Brown (Nonesuch)
Tortoise guitarist
Finds common ground between jazz
Post rock and hip-hop
2. Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways (Columbia)
Inscrutable, but
Endlessly fascinating
Like all of his best
1. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters (Epic)
The opposite of
Zero fucks given. She gives
All the fucks she has
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Aesop Rock - Spirit World Field Guide (Rhymesayers)
Armand Hammer - Shrines (Backwoodz Studioz)
Daniel Blumberg - On&On (Mute)
Cornershop - England is a Garden (Ample Play)
Brigid Dawson & the Mother’s Network - Ballet of Apes (Castle Face)
Destroyer - Have We Met (Merge)
Green Child - Shimmering Basset (Upset the Rhythm)
Hey Colossus - Dances/Curses (Wrong Speed)
Horizons Inc. - Ways of Seeing (self-released)
Hum - Inlet (Earth Analog)
Ka - Descendants of Cain (Iron Works)
Adrianne Lenker - songs (4AD)
Osees (aka Thee Oh Sees) - Protean Threat (Castle Face)
Kelly Lee Owens - Inner Song (Smalltown Supersound)
Rustin Man - Clockdust (Domino)
SAULT - UNTITLED (Black Is) + UNTITLED (Rise) (Forever Living Originals)
Shabaka and the Ancestors - We Are Sent Here By History (Impulse!)
The Soft Pink Truth - Shall We Go On Sinning... (Thrill Jockey)
Sonic Boom - All Things Being Equal (Carpark)
Billy Woods x Moor Mother - BRASS (Backwoodz Studioz)
.haiku { font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-top: 6px !important; } .hm { font-size: 20px; } .hm.text { font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; }
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2019
20. Omni - Networker (Sub Pop)
Stripped down post-punk-pop
Like Television demos
Or Wire unplugged
19. Earl Sweatshirt - Feet of Clay (Warner/Tan Cressida)
In confident mode
Earl’s crushing anxiety
Sounds light and carefree
18. FKA twigs - MAGDALENE (Young Turks)
Hints of Björk. But
Just the music, not her voice,
So you might like it
17. Alasdair Roberts - The Fiery Margin (Drag City)
The fair bonny lad
Sings for thee new songs that sound
A hundred years olde
16. Rustin Man - Drift Code (Domino)
Pastoral delight
From former Talk Talk bassist
A warm, rural treat
15. Fontaines D.C. - Dogrel (Partisan)
Feral, Dublin punks
Match smart, heartfelt lyrics to
Urgent blasts of fun
14. Hemlock Ernst & Kenny Segal - Back at the House (Ruby Yacht)
Dream matchup dazzles
With notes from the underground.
Beats and rhymes and life
13. Thom Yorke - ANIMA (XL)
Paranoid android
Tries to make digital sense
Of analog woes
12. Thee Oh Sees - Face Stabber (Castle Face)
Look at that cover!
We need more of this and less
Of everything else
11. Bon Iver - i,i (Jagjaguwar)
Fractured and searching
Claustrophobic and glitchy
Yet rife with feeling
10. Tool - Fear Inoculum (RCA)
First ask yourself this...
Have you changed in thirteen years??
Exactly. Enjoy.
9. Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA (Interscope)
Proclamatory
Statement of artist and self
Proud, strong and sublime
8. Angel Olsen - All Mirrors (Jagjaguwar)
Among synths and strings
Angel soars, finds her groove and
Fiercely stakes her claim
7. Cate LeBon - Reward (Mexican Summer)
Quirky, cryptic koans
That leave their mark. Artful, with
A strange insouciance
6. Bill Callahan - Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest (Drag City)
Married and content,
Domestic bliss has dulled none
Of Bill’s mordant wit
5. Billy Woods & Kenny Segal - Hiding Places (Backwoodz Studioz)
Grim transmissions from
Deep within the rubble of
Black America
4. Black Midi - Schlagenheim (Rough Trade)
>
Nihilistic yet
Palatable. A tetchy,
Confident debut
3. Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains (Drag City)
Profound, poetic
Funny and gutting, Berman
Saved his best for last
2. Big Thief - U.F.O.F. + Two Hands (4AD)
Haunting, anodyne
And beguiling in quiet
But transcendent ways
1. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Ghosteen (Ghosteen Ltd)
Threnodies weighing
Love and loss. Cuz that’s how you
Cap a trilogy!
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
75 Dollar Bill - I Was Real (Thin Wrist)
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - I Made a Place (Drag City)
Danny Brown - uknowhatimsayin¿ (Warp)
The Comet is Coming - Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery (UMG)
Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared? (4AD)
Floating Points - Crush (Ninja Tune)
Froth - Duress (Wichita)
Steve Gunn - The Unseen In Between (Matador)
Cass McCombs - Tip of the Sphere (Anti-)
MIKE - Tears of Joy (10K)
Modern Nature - How To Live (Bella Union)
Sean O'Hagen - Radum Calls, Radum Calls (Drag City)
Panda Bear - Buoys (Domino)
Tim Presley's White Fence - I Have to Feed Larry's Hawk (Drag City)
Gruff Rhys - Pang! (Domino)
Ty Segall - First Taste (Drag City)
SUNN O))) - Life Metal (Southern Lord)
Swans - Leaving Meaning (Young God/Mute)
Josephine Wiggs - We Fall (The Sound of Sinners)
Wilco - Ode to Joy (dBpm)
.haiku { font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-top: 6px !important; } .hm { font-size: 20px; } .hm.text { font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; }
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2018
20. Melody's Echo Chamber - Bon Voyage (Fat Possum)
French psych-rock/dream-pop
Sung mostly in English, backed
By Swedish players
19. Stuart A. Staples - Arrhythmia (City Slang)
Hypnotic mood piece
Understated to a fault
A quiet disco
18. Thee Oh Sees - Smote Reverser (Castle Face)
Two drums, axe, bass, keys
Amps turned up to eleven
Prog rockin' POWER!
17. The Green Child - The Green Child (Upset the Rhythm)
Dystopian pop
That could soundtrack a scene in
Tron: The High School Years
16. Armand Hammer - Paraffin (Backwoodz Studioz)
Gritty beats and tight,
Street-level rhymes invoke the
Classic Def Jux sound
15. Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Hope Downs (Sub Pop)
Efficient jam band?
Or meandering pop rock?
Kinda works both ways 🤔
14. Vince Staples - FM! (Def Jam)
Back to his old tricks
Less electro than Big Fish...
And better for it
13. Parquet Courts - Wide Awake! (Rough Trade)
A funky winner
From anxious New York rockers
And fuck Tom Brady!
12. Beak> - >>> (Temporary Residence)
Clean tones subverted
By an off-kilter wooze and
Vocals from a well
11. Gruff Rhys - Babelsberg (Rough Trade)
Widescreen arrangements
On par with pop's golden age
And songcraft to match
10. Gwenno - Le Kov (Heavenly)
Lush, sonic dreamscapes
Sung in her native Cornish...
Not that you'll notice
9. The Good, the Bad & the Queen - Merrie Land (Studio 13)
A haunted fairground
Of England's past, present...and
Possible future?
8. Gaz Coombes - World's Strongest Man (Caroline)
Ex-Supergrass head's
Wry take on midlife concerns
And functional angst
7. Jeff Tweedy - WARM (dBpm)
A raw, unflinching
Look within, without and at
A life lost and found
6. DRINKS - Hippo Lite (Drag City)
Post-punk kooks wield a
Strange idioglossia
To wondrous results
5. Colter Wall - Songs of the Plains (Young Mary's)
The new old Country
Just not the country you'd think
"Country" would come from
4. Pusha T - Daytona (G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam)
With Ye back choppin'
King Push spits his fiercest rhymes
In a decade. YECHHHH!!!!
3. Spiritualized - And Nothing Hurt (Fat Possum)
In which the Spaceman
Bequeaths upon us once more
A space rock opus
2. Ty Segall - Freedom's Goblin (Drag City)
A sprawling double
Top notch quality control
And horns never hurt
1. Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs (Tan Cressida/Columbia)
Earl works through some shit
Maybe not for everyone
Maybe that's the point
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Arctic Monkeys - Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (Domino)
Daniel Blumberg - Minus (Mute)
Jonathan Bree - Sleepwalking (Lil' Chief)
Foxwarren - Foxwarren (Anti-)
Hermit & the Recluse - Orpheus vs. the Sirens (Obol For Charon)
Scott Hirsch - Lost Time Behind the Sun (Scissor Tail)
Mark Lanegan/Duke Garwood - With Animals (Heavenly)
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Sparkle Hard (Matador)
MGMT - Little Dark Age (Columbia)
milo - budding ornithologists are weary of tired analogies (Ruby Yacht)
milo/Elucid - Nostrum Grocers (Ruby Yacht)
Palberta - Roach Goin' Down (Wharf Cat)
Alasdair Roberts, Amble Skuse & David McGuinness - What News? (Drag City)
Shopping - The Official Body (Fat Cat)
Richard Swift - The Hex (Secretly Canadian)
Szun Waves - New Hymns to Freedom (The Leaf Label)
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Sex & Food (Jagjaguwar)
Kurt Vile - Bottle It In (Matador)
Yo La Tengo - There's a Riot Going On (Matador)
Thom Yorke - Suspiria: Music For the Luca Guadagnino Film (XL)
.haiku { font-size: 16px; line-height: 21px; margin-top: 6px !important; } .hm { font-size: 20px; } .hm.text { font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; }
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2017
20. The Clientele - Music For the Age of Miracles (Merge)
The sound of Autumn
Or a fading memory
That you never had
19. Cornelius - Mellow Waves (Rostrum)
Elegant songcraft
And prob great lyrics too, if
You speak Japanese
18. Jarvis Cocker & Chilly Gonzalez - Room 29 (Deutsche Grammofon)
Wry meditations
Delivered with a subdued
Melancholia
17. Father John Misty - Pure Comedy (Sub Pop)
Tragi-comic take
On modern life. And wayyy more
“Tragi” than “comic”
16. MIKE - May God Bless Your Hustle (self-released)
Brainy bedroom rap
A truly dusted affair
With nods to DOOM, Earl
15. Mac DeMarco - This Old Dog (Captured Tracks)
Woozy, wobbly synths
Late-summer yacht-rock guitars
Chilled out hazy bliss
14. Rolling Blackout Coastal Fever - The French Press EP (Sub Pop)
Aussie jangle pop,
In debt to Flying Nun, and
Smooth as a VB
13. Kevin Morby - City Music (Dead Oceans)
Fine batch of dusky,
Dimly lit confessionals
Plus a few rockers
12. Kamasi Washington - Harmony of Difference EP (Young Turks)
Spiritual jazz
Ruminations on difference
And equality
11. A. Savage - Thawing Dawn (Dull Tools)
Rustic version of
His main gig. Laid back, low stakes.
More Texas than Queens
10. Mount Kimbie - Love What Survives (Warp)
Like ‘79
Or when Punk boned Electro
And Post-Punk was born
9. Charlotte Gainsbourg - Rest (Because)
Cool, wistful chansons
Inscrutably moody but
Rich with atmosphere
8. Vince Staples - Big Fish Theory (Def Jam/Blacksmith)
Cerebral dance-rap
Marks an abrupt left turn for
Long Beach trailblazer
7. Slowdive - Slowdive (Dead Oceans)
Sonic pillows formed
By celestial swaths of
Delay and reverb
6. Ariel Pink - Dedicated to Bobby Jameson (Mexican Summer)
Legit freak show and
Possibly insane, like all
Musical genii
5. The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding (Atlantic)
Still lost in the dream
Where “I’m on Fire” is played
On an endless loop
4. Moses Sumney - Aromanticism (Jagjaguwar)
Soulful, inspired
Blend of the corporeal
And ethereal
3. LCD Soundsystem - American Dream (Columbia)
Fusing words with sounds
To expertly capture the
Dick-punch that is life
2. King Krule - The OOZ (True Panther/XL)
Alien soundscapes
Back a slew of inchoate
Half-garbled free thoughts
1. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN. (Interscope/Top Dawg)
I’m an Atheist
But if there is no God, try
Explaining Kendrick
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Björk - Utopia (One Little Indian)
Destroyer - ken (Merge)
Grizzly Bear - Painted Ruins (RCA)
Hand Habits - Wildly Idle (Humble Before the Void) (Woodsist)
Hiss Golden Messenger - Hallelujah Anyhow (Merge)
JAY-Z - 4:44 (Roc Nation/UMG)
Daniele Luppi / Parquet Courts - MILANO (30th Century/Columbia)
John Maus - Screen Memories (Ribbon Music)
Milo - Who Told You to Think??!!?!?!?! (Ruby Yacht)
Thurston Moore - Rock n Roll Consciousness (Caroline)
Omni - Multi-task (Trouble In Mind)
Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens (Smalltown Supersound)
Shintaro Sakamoto - Love If Possible (Zelone)
(Sandy) Alex G - Rocket (Domino)
Ty Segall - Ty Segall (Drag City)
RF Shannon - Jaguar Palace (Cosmic Dreamer)
Kane Strang - Two Hearts and No Brain (Dead Oceans)
St. Vincent - Masseduction (Loma Vista)
Terekke - Plant Age (L.I.E.S.)
Colter Wall - Colter Wall (Young Mary’s)
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2016
20. Aphex Twin - Cheetah (Warp)
Lower key glitch fest
Still bubbly and melodic
Just less BPMs
19. Huerco S. - For Those of You Who Have Never (And Also Those Who Have) (Proibito)
Lessons in decay
Or satellite transmissions
From a recent now
18. Vince Staples - Prima Donna (Def Jam)
Seven tracks, no duds
Percentage-wise, that’s better
Than most full length discs
17. Trashcan Sinatras - Wild Pendulum (Red River)
Scottish purveyors
Of sophisticated pop
Teach new dogs old tricks
16. Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered. (Top Dawg)
Even his demos
Show an unparalleled voice
And clear-eyed vision
15. Preoccupations - Preoccupations (Jagjaguwar)
Dark, taut and wiry
Air-tight grooves keep out the light
Plus all sense of hope
14. James Blake - The Colour in Anything (Universal)
Inimitable
Too long by 5 songs yet still
His best work to date
13. Anderson .Paak - Malibu (Empire)
Wonder-ful soul rap
Veers close to Kendrick at times
But finds his own voice
12. Angel Olsen - My Woman (Jagjaguwar)
Fierce declarations
Of freedom, womanhood and,
Most crucially, self
11. Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate (Polydor)
Powerful statement
Realized through soul, jazz, folk
Gospel, pain, pluck, pride
10. Cass McCombs - Mangy Love (Anti-)
Crepuscular fugues
A restless spirit drifts through
Weary wanderlust
9. Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition (Warp)
Tales of street living
From one who’s been there and back
Not Old-er, better
8. Kevin Morby - Singing Saw (Dead Oceans)
Heartfelt wistfulness
A balm for these trying times
Sounds best at twilight
7. Kanye West - The Life of Pablo (Def Jam)
Total fucking mess
But remove nine of the tracks?
Boom! Instant classic
6. Bon Iver - 22, A Million (Jagjaguwar)
Experimental,
Fractured and filled with self-doubt
Just like life itself
5. Andy Shauf - The Party (Anti-)
AM soft rock jamz
Color the details of the
Worst party ever
4. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service (Epic)
Ultra-generous
Surprise return to form for
Golden Age legends
3. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool (XL)
Older, wiser band
Who have nothing left to prove
Prove it anyway
2. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree (Bad Seeds Ltd)
The loss of a son
Prompts raw meditations of
Unspeakable grief
1. David Bowie - Blackstar (ISO)
Final masterpiece
Fashioned as he stared down death
Yet brimming with life
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
The Avalanches - Wildflower (XL/EMI/Astralwerks/Modular)
Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial (Matador)
Cat’s Eyes - Treasure House (RAF)
Cavern of Anti-Matter - Void Beats/Invocation Trex (Duophonic)
Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book (self-released)
Chris Cohen - As If Apart (Captured Tracks)
Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker (Columbia)
Dinosaur Jr - Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not (Jagjaguwar)
Steve Gunn - Eyes on the Lines (Matador)
Heron Oblivion - Heron Oblivion (Sub Pop)
Scott Hirsch - Blue Rider Songs (Scissor Tail)
Hiss Golden Messenger - Heart Like a Levee (Merge)
Ka - Honor Killed the Samurai (Iron Works)
Hamilton Leithauser & Rostam - I Had a Dream That You Were Mine (Glassnote)
Nap Eyes - Thought Rock Fish Scale (Paradise of Bachelors)
Parquet Courts - Human Performance (Rough Trade)
Sturgill Simpson - A Sailor’s Guide to Earth (Atlantic)
Various Artists - Day of the Dead (4AD)
Whitney - Light Upon the Lake (Secretly Canadian)
Wilco - Schmilco (dBpm)
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2015
20. Hooton Tennis Club - Highest Point in Cliff Town (Heavenly)
Upbeat, jangly blasts
90s indie to its core
Pavement would be proud
19. Björk - Vulnicura (One Little Indian)
Haunting, heartbreaking
Depiction of a crumbling
Marriage, Björk-style
18. Gwenno - Y Dydd Olaf (Heavenly)
Warped, Broadcast-y treats
Sung entirely in Welsh
Not that it matters
17. Bill Ryder-Jones - West Kirby County Primary (Domino)
Honest, intimate,
Brutal and devastating
Bill’s pain is our gain
16. Viet Cong - Viet Cong (Jagjaguwar)
The perfect soundtrack
To being buried alive
...And enjoying it
15. Sleater-Kinney - No Cities To Love (Sub Pop)
90s Riot Grrrls
Back in peak form after a
Ten year hiatus
14. Natalie Prass - Natalie Prass (Spacebomb)
Sweet, Southern soul yarns,
Like Dusty In Memphis, weave
Complex adult themes
13. Earl Sweatshirt - I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside (Tan Cressida)
Bleak, claustrophobic
Don’t want to live in Earl’s world
But love to visit
12. Tobias Jesso Jr. - Goon (True Panther)
Piano ballads
Think McCartney, Emitt Rhodes
Or the theme to Cheers
11. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness (Domino)
Art-pop siren crafts
Inventive compositions
But still ear-friendly
10. Panda Bear - Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (Domino)
Contrasting sounds mix
With angelic harmonies
To make pure pop bliss
9. Kamasi Washington - The Epic (Brainfeeder)
Sax’phone colossus
Puts jazz world on notice with
Sprawling masterpiece
8. Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear (Sub Pop)
Literate torch songs
Paint tongue-in-cheek pics of the
Hedonistic life
7. Vince Staples - Summertime ‘06 (Def Jam)
Dystopian beats
Set the tone for Staples’ dark
Unsettling rhymes
6. Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell (Asthmatic Kitty)
Impossibly sad
Fingerpicked reflections on
Memory and loss
5. Joanna Newsom - Divers (Drag City)
Ornate arrangements,
Oblique lyrics, golden harp
And of course that voice
4. Jamie xx - In Colour (Young Turks)
Simply put, this is
Dance music for people who
Don’t like dance music
3. Kurt Vile - b’lieve i’m goin down... (Matador)
Warm, hypnotic vibes
Blanket stoney jams about
Life’s strange cosmic truths
2. Tame Impala - Currents (Interscope)
Psych rock to synth pop
Modern-day Brian Wilson
Tops himself again
1. Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly (Interscope/Aftermath/Top Dawg)
Next-level genius
Fuck Kanye, Jay-Z and Dre
Kendrick wears the crown
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Alex G - Beach Music (Domino)
Beach House - Depression Cherry and Thank Your Lucky Starts (Sub Pop)
Blur - The Magic Whip (Parlophone)
Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Style (Matador)
Gaz Coombes - Matador (Hot Fruit)
Deerhunter - Fading Frontier (4AD)
Destroyer - Poison Season (Merge)
DRINKS - Hermits on Holiday (Heavenly/Birth)
Dr. Yen Lo - Days With Dr. Yen Lo (Pavlov Institute)
Duke Garwood - Heavy Love (PIAS)
Richard Hawley - Hollow Meadows (Parlophone)
Majical Cloudz - Are You Alone? (Matador)
Archy Marshall - A New Place 2 Drown (XL/True Panther)
No Joy - More Faithful (Mexican Summer)
Jim O’Rourke - Simple Songs (Drag City)
Pusha T - Darkest Before Dawn (Def Jam/G.O.O.D. Music)
Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Multi-Love (Jagjaguwar)
Various Artists - Parallelogram (Three Lobed)
Ryley Walker - Primrose Green (Dead Oceans)
Wilco - Star Wars (dBpm)
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2014
20. Posse – Soft Opening (Beating a Dead Horse)
Not Yo La Tengo
Or Galaxie 500
But not too far off
19. FKA twigs – LP1 (Young Turks)
Hypnotic, breathy
Soulful neo-R&B
For your next bone sesh
18. Gruff Rhys – American Interior (Turnstile)
Quirky triptych from
Super Furry Animal
Smart, personal pop
17. Damon Albarn – Everyday Robots (Parlophone)
Melancholy mind
Questions technology and
Our place in its world
16. Total Control – Typical System (Iron Lung)
Bleak, synthy post-punk
Joy Division, Fad Gadget,
Wire fans rejoice!
15. Blank Realm – Grassed Inn (Fire)
Fuzzy college rock
Think 80's Flying Nun or
90's Drag City
14. Flying Lotus – You’re Dead! (Warp)
Jazzy, franticly
Skewed take on psychedelia
Through a hip-hop lens
13. Parquet Courts – Sunbathing Animal (What’s Your Rupture?)
Melodies breathe as
Songs find some leg room...The sound
Of punks growing up
12. Aphex Twin – Syro (Warp)
Electro glitch-fest
Thirteen years in the making
Worth (bleep!) the (bloop!) wait
11. The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger – Midnight Sun (Chimera Music)
Sean Lennon takes drugs
Gets weird, makes psych rock album
That would make dad proud
10. Scott Walker and Sunn O))) – Soused (4AD)
Please do not listen
You won't get it, you'll hate me
It's just not worth it
9. Ryley Walker – All Kinds of You (Tompkins Sqaure)
Folk...like Jansch, Martyn
Old soul...but he's 24
And from Chicago
8. Steve Gunn – Way Out Weather (Paradise of Bachelors)
Six-string slinger with
Full band recalls the Dead in
Mellow country mode
7. Alex G – DSU (Orchid Tapes)
Lo-fi bedroom pop
That sounds like Elliott Smith
Fronting Modest Mouse
6. Swans – To Be Kind (Mute/Young God)
Rage. Pain. Doom. Black. Death.
Not for the faint of heart...or
Hemophiliacs
5. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire For No Witness (Jagjaguwar)
If Leonard Cohen
And Patsy Cline had a girl
Who played indie rock
4. Real Estate – Atlas (Domino)
Guitars intertwine
Lyrics drip with nostalgia
Thoughts float on like clouds
3. Ariel Pink – Pom Pom (4AD)
Warped, sun-kissed spaz pop
From bonafide eccentric
Like Zappa...on meth
2. Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 2 (Mass Appeal)
El-P, Killer Mike
Putting "fuckboys" on notice
Two vets claim their crown
1. War On Drugs – Lost In the Dream (Secretly Canadian)
Heartland reveries
Where dream pop Dylan or Straits
Meets shoegaze Springsteen
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Absolutely Free – Absolutely Free (Lefse)
Caribou – Our Love (Merge/City Slang)
Morgan Delt – Morgan Delt (Trouble In Mind)
Brian Eno / Karl Hyde - High Life (Warp)
Hiss Golden Messenger – Lateness of Dancers (Merge)
Hookworms – The Hum (Domino/Weird World)|
Mica Levi – Under the Skin OST (Milan)
Marissa Nadler – July (Sacred Bones)
Ought – More Than Any Other Day (Constellation)
Purling Hiss – Weirdon (Drag City)
Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron (Interscope/Top Dawg)
Ty Segall – Manipulator (Drag City)
Sturgill Simpson - Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (High Top Mtn)
Sinoia Caves – Beyond the Black Rainbow OST (Jagjaguwar/Death Waltz)
Vince Staples – Hell Can Wait EP (Def Jam)
Strand of Oaks – HEAL (Dead Oceans)
St. Vincent – St. Vincent (Loma Vista)
Sun Kil Moon – Benji (Caldo Verde)
Sharon Van Etten – Are We There (Jagjaguwar)
Warpaint – Warpaint (Rough Trade)
1 note
·
View note
Text
Bix Picks 2013
20. Mikal Cronin - MCII (Merge)
19. Majical Cloudz - Impersonator (Matador)
18. Burial - River Dealer EP (Hyperdub)
17. Mutual Benefit - Love's Crushing Diamond (Other Music)
16. Hiss Golden Messenger - Haw (Paradise of Bachelors)
15. Disclosure - Settle (PMR)
14. Julia Holter - Loud City Song (Domino)
13. Arcade Fire - Reflektor (Merge)
12. Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold (What's Your Rupture?)
11. Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic (Jagjaguwar)
10. Earl Sweatshirt - Doris (Columbia/Tan Cressida)
9. Darkside - Psychic (Matador/Other People)
8. These New Puritans - Field of Reeds (Infectious)
7. James Blake - Overgrown (Republic)
6. My Bloody Valentine - m b v (self-released)
5. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories (Columbia)
4. Danny Brown - Old (Fool's Gold)
3. Bill Callahan - Dream River (Drag City)
2. Kanye West - Yeezus (Def Jam)
1. Kurt Vile - Wakin On a Pretty Daze (Matador)
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
A$AP Rocky – LongLiveA$AP (Polo Grounds/RCA)
Blood Orange – Cupid Deluxe (Domino)
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy (self-released)
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Push the Sky Away (Bad Seed Ltd.)
Chance the Rapper – Acid Rap (self-released)
Deerhunter – Monomania (4AD)
Factory Floor – Factory Floor (DFA)
Forest Swords – Engravings (Tri Angle)
Steve Gunn – Time Off (Paradise of Bachelors)
Jon Hopkins – Immunity (Domino)
MGMT – MGMT (Columbia)
John Murry – The Graceless Age (Evangeline Records)
No Joy – Wait to Pleasure (Mexican Summer)
Pusha T – My Name Is My Name (Def Jam/GOOD)
Rhye – Woman (Republic/Innovative Leisure/Loma Vista)
Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels (Fool’s Gold)
William Tyler – Impossible Truth (Merge)
Unknown Mortal Orchestra – II (Jagjaguwar)
Dean Wareham – Dean Wareham (Double Feature)
Youth Lagoon – Wondrous Bughouse (Fat Possum)
1 note
·
View note
Text
Bix Picks 2012
20. Mike Wexler – Dispossession (Mexican Summer)
Mike Wexler’s brand of Eastern-tinged, lysergic folk rock sits comfortably on the shelf alongside a bevy of like-minded psychedelic travelers, from stalwarts such as Incredible String Band and Comus to more recent torchbearers like Voice of the Seven Woods and the underrated Philly collective Espers. Clean, nimbly fingerpicked fretwork and placid, androgynous vocals provide a slight respite from the ominous undertones bubbling under the surface of each minor key dirge, like Pearls Before Swine on bad acid. A shoe-in to provide the score if Warner Bros ever decides to do a remake of The Wicker Man that doesn’t suck.
19. Beak> - >> (Invada)
It takes only a few seconds into the opening track on Beak>’s second album in as many years for the asthmatic, out-of-tune synthesizers to breathlessly wheeze themselves back to life. It takes even less time for the rhythm section to lock horns and settle into an insistent, syncopated groove on the second track. It’s at this point that the listener comes to the realization that, while there is not a single sound heard on >> that hasn’t been employed by far more innovative bands of their ilk at least 40 years prior, there is something to be said for the sheer listenability of Beak’s retro-futurist clatter that makes every metronomic beat, warped bass throb and analog squiggle hard to discount, a description that couldn’t always be applied to their Krautrock forebears. Though they proudly wear their inspirations on their sleeve (Can’s playfulness, Neu’s Motorik pulse, Cluster’s heavily processed synths), Geoff Barrow’s non-Portishead band once again manage to take something familiar and make it entirely their own.
18. Black Moth Super Rainbow – Cobra Juicy (Rad Cult)
More sweetly demonic semi-electropop morsels from Pittsburgh’s mysteriously masked bizarro cult. Still not sure how something so twisted and left-of-center can be so addictively catchy. Sounds like how Mellow Gold might have turned out had Beck forsaken Budweiser for angel dust. Easily their strongest, most approachably skewed effort yet.
17. Ty Segall – Twins (Drag City)
Punk. Glam. Psych. Garage. Those are just a handful of ways in which one can bring the rock, and bring the rock is precisely what Ty Segall does on not one but three long players this year. So proficient he makes Robert Pollard look downright lazy, Segall has a firm stranglehold on his particular brand of scuzzed up, fuzzed out rockers, literally tossing out his songs like the (ear) candy they are. While he doesn’t necessarily reinvent the wheel (shades of T. Rex’s sexy swagger, the Stooges’ sludgy ferocity, the Ramones' rambunctious economy and the manic bluster of myriad Nuggets-era garage bands are sprinkled liberally throughout all three albums) he has one asset those artists no longer have: youth! Lucky for him, the passion and enthusiasm that comes along with that is enough to push these high-voltage pop songs over the edge from good to great. Definitely an artist to watch, it will be interesting to see how his sound evolves on his next album (which probably just came out while you were reading this).
16. ScHoolboy Q – Habits & Contradictions (Top Dawg)
If Kendrick Lamar is the prodigal son of Top Dawg Entertainment’s LA-based “Black Hippy” collective, ScHoolboy Q is its dark horse, content to lurk in the shadows while systematically stealing the show every time he steps up to the mic. On his second full-length, Q’s seriously blunted flow emerges from beneath a narcotic haze of NyQuil-slurping beats. Not the first time that trick has been employed, but this is far from your typical hip-hop album. Typical hip-hop albums don’t contain lyrics that oscillate wildly between insightful, boastful, defeated, self-assured, self-reflective, misogynistic and tongue-in-cheek while still remaining above all a party record. Typical hip-hop albums don’t sample Menomena and Portishead. And let’s be honest, typical hip-hop albums just aren’t this fucking good!
15. Menomena – Moms (Barsuk)
Menomena always came across as a band that wrote intricately produced, lighthearted pop songs, but not one particularly concerned with words and the meanings behind them. Yet judging by a smattering of lyrics from their 5th LP, Moms, things have drastically changed: “Heavy are the branches hanging from my fucked up family tree” (from “Heavy Is As Heavy Does”); “Now I’m a failure/Cursed with male genitalia/A parasitic fuck/With no clue as to what men do/Impossible to love” (from “Pique”). So yeah, lyrics matter to Menomena in 2012. I suppose that is to be expected when one of your founding members acrimoniously quits the band and the remaining two each go through their own emotionally taxing divorces. So while “light-hearted” no longer applies, they still write intricately produced pop songs, only now with meaning. Not that you’d ever know how bleak things have become by the bouncy, upbeat music surrounding the words. But as everyone from the Beach Boys to LCD Soundsystem has proven, sometimes spiking the sugar with strychnine isn’t such a bad thing.
14. Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again (Interscope)
Have you ever traveled to a place you’ve never been before only to feel like you totally have? As if it were an old friend just sitting around, patiently waiting for you to arrive? Not exactly déjà vu so much as the inner peace one achieves when they feel an immediate connection to something they never even knew existed and suddenly everything falls into place. The debut album by Michael Kiwanuka is the audio equivalent of that feeling, an evocative album of original material that strongly calls to mind a plethora of soulful ‘70s singer-songwriters from Bill Withers to Terry Callier to Van Morrison while still retaining Kiwanuka’s own incomparably emotive voice. It sounds like all of them but doesn’t sound like any of them. Solid songwriting and ace production by The Bees’ Paul Butler provide this quiet storm with a warmth and familiarity that only the best jazzy folk albums from that era could afford…even if it was recorded this year.
13. Killer Mike – R.A.P. Music (Williams Street)
You are now about to witness the strength of street knowledge! Sounding uncannily like "a young O'Shea", Killer Mike channels the youthful Ice Cube's vitriol and take-no-prisoners verbal assault in ways Cube hasn't since Death Certificate. Nowhere is this more evident than in the album's penultimate track, "Reagan", a vituperative bipartisan indictment of our nation’s corrupt politicians. Spitting venom over increasingly propulsive beats courtesy of El-P (whose hyperkinetic production deserves half the credit for R.A.P Music's overall success), it is clear Killer Mike is not afraid to speak out and name names in order to uncover the hypocrisies that we have all become far too accepting of. Urban social commentary at its finest.
12. Chris Cohen – Overgrown Path (Captured Tracks)
The last few years have seen a noticeable rise in the number of current artists favoring analog production values from a bygone era. Singer-songwriters as disparate as Cass McCombs, Matthew E. White and Michael Kiwanuka have all opted for the warmth and intimacy afforded by "live in the room" recording techniques. This year sees the debut release of McCombs' affiliate Chris Cohen, a session man and troubadour in the classic sense of the word (the album was recorded in countless locales between Vermont and California), whose laidback voice and timeless way with a tune will have you feeling like you’re along for the ride on that cross-country trek. You may have no particular destination in mind but that’s of minor concern when Chris is sitting shotgun, keeping you company and helping you idly pass the time. These vaguely psychedelic songs are in no rush to get under your skin, yet that's exactly where you'll find them. As Overgrown Path makes abundantly clear, "too much of a good thing" just isn’t possible.
11. Daughn Gibson – All Hell (White Denim)
On 1999s Play, Moby sold millions by placing modern vocals over dusty, old-timey samples. Former trucker Daughn Gibson flips that conceit on its head by creating modern samples over which he lays his fire and brimstone lyrics and commanding boom of a voice which sounds about as old as, well, all hell. The characters that inhabit Gibson’s dime store soap operas of sin and salvation are a range of down on their luck, God-fearing protagonists that have seen it all, including better days. Weighty subject matter such as this could smack of disingenuousness were it not for Gibson’s commitment to authenticity, sounding at times like a dancier Johnny Cash, a countrified Arthur Russell or a more rhythmic, working-class version of Leonard Cohen. As opposed to someone like Tom Waits, you get the feeling he isn’t playing a part so much as simply sharing a few tales of woe about people he actually knows over shots of cheap whiskey in the back corner of a dark, smoke-filled dive bar.
10. Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel… (Epic)
Too bad Fiona Apple doesn't get her heart broken more often. When it yields results this astonishing, seven years is just too long for fans to wait. A true craftswoman, she puts as much thought and care into her songs and lyrics as she does the producers she chooses to collaborate with. The Idler Wheel... is more minimal than previous efforts, its spare arrangements providing the emotional backbone as Ms. Apple takes you along on her journey through love, insecurity, confusion, loss, heartbreak, recrimination and, ultimately, salvation. While her relentlessly autobiographical lyrics have always proven equal parts vulnerable and caustic, there is a wounded rawness in her voice this time around that is hard to deny. As Adam Yauch once opined, "If you can feel what I'm feeling then it's a musical masterpiece", and by the end of "Hot Knife" you feel as though you've just endured the last seven years inside this peerless artist's heart and mind. A masterpiece indeed. As usual, MCA knows that of which he speaks (rest in peace, Adam!).
9. Liars – WIXIW (Mute)
Another left turn from a band whose entire career is littered with them. Eerie and unsettling as always, Liars 6th LP finds them eschewing guitars and drums for sequencers, homemade samples and off-kilter loops as lead singer Angus Andrew’s sinister falsetto reaches new levels of paranoia and portent. Yet even at their most extreme and discordant, their abstract, avant-rock tendencies never manage to fully betray their innate pop sensibilities, making these songs as appealingly accessible as they are intricately stitched together. As a result, WIXIW just might be their most digestible work to date.
8. Jack White – Blunderbuss (Columbia/Third Man Records)
Blunderbuss is the album Jack White has been threatening to make ever since Get Behind Me Satan. An undeniable talent in a league of his own, it seemed he was punching below his weight on the White Stripes swan song (2007’s Icky Thump) as well as with the Raconteurs and Dead Weather. Or maybe that was all part of his master plan, biding his time while he developed a backlog of tunes and got Third Man up and running so he could record them free of the shackles of studio time and record company expectations. Bouncing freely between vaudeville parlor music ("Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy"), old school blues (the Little Willie John cover "I'm Shakin'"), balls-to-the-wall Stripes-y rave-ups ("Sixteen Saltines") and ponderous ballads ("Love Interruption"), the ever versatile Mr. White finally delivers the virtuosic tour de force we always knew he had in him. Not surprising he should release it under his own name. When you're this good why share the credit?
7. Scott Walker – Bish Bosch (4AD)
Nothing about Scott Walker is to be taken lightly. As willfully enigmatic a personality as his music is adventurously defiant, he has been intentionally out of step with popular culture ever since unleashing his first solo album on an unsuspecting public in 1967 and the ensuing 45 years have not made him any more inclined to conform. But being out of step with the times is very different than being behind them, and this bold, insubordinate legend has always marched to his own drum, heroically challenging, redefining and surpassing expectations with every subsequent release. Bish Bosch is no exception. Solitary as ever, the only remotely comparable benchmarks would be Walker’s own recent studio efforts, combining the metallic, industrial extremes of 1995’s Tilt with the atonal abstractions of 2006’s The Drift into something slightly more palatable. Slightly. And then there’s that voice. Oh, that voice! Sounding as though it hasn’t aged a day, only that voice can convincingly deliver lines like “If shit were music you’d be a brass band/If brains were rain you’d surely be a desert” as gloriously as if it were crooning “Moon River”. A claustrophobic, uncompromising listen, and admittedly not for everyone, but when you are single-handedly responsible for influencing such influential artists as David Bowie, Morrissey and Nick Cave you pretty much have carte blanche to do whatever the fuck you want.
6. Animal Collective – Centipede Hz (Domino)
While the general reception surrounding Animal Collective’s highly anticipated new album – their first in three and a half long years - has been lukewarm at best, the main point of contention seems to be how crowded the production is. Words like “over-stimulated” and “hyper-caffeinated” have popped up in more than one review, but what did you expect?! This is an Animal Collective record after all. Songs literally bursting at the seams with sounds and ideas is nothing new for these guys and has basically been their MO since Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished first put them on the map over a decade ago. Another sticking point has been the songs themselves and the lack of unquestionably classic tunes, which I could not agree with less. It may not scale the creative peaks of 2009’s commercial breakthrough, Merriweather Post Pavillion, but Centipede Hz still contains a treasure trove of memorable hooks…you may just have to dig a little deeper to find them (which again is something long-time AC fans should expect by now). And while I find this album to be at least on par with 2007’s Strawberry Jam, the biggest revelation is the breakthrough of Avey Tare (né Dave Portner) as a truly singular voice, clawing his way out from under bandmate Panda Bear’s shadow and announcing his arrival in grand fashion. This is his album, as evidenced by him singing lead on 8 of the 11 songs and sounding revitalized and energized in ways he rarely has before. After repeated listens I still have no idea how they make those sounds or where they are coming from and even seeing them perform live doesn’t help to uncover any of the mystery. So even if it isn’t a huge leap forward, there is still much to recommend about this album, the most important being that it still sounds like no one other than Animal Collective. And after waiting three and a half long years, I’ll take that any day of the week.
5. Grizzly Bear - Shields (Warp)
The San Antonio Spurs are one of the most dominant teams in the NBA. They are also one of the most unexciting teams in the NBA. Centered around league veteran Tim Duncan, the Spurs are a group of hard-working professionals, well-schooled in the fundamentals of basketball and determined to give 100% night after night. They are solid, well-rounded players who understand their respective roles, knowing when to take center stage and when to support their teammates. No drama, no bullshit. But what they lack in tension they more than make up for in chemistry. The core members have been playing together long enough to have developed an almost telepathic way of communicating with one another on the court. They also appear to be modest, humble guys who just want to put their heads down and get the job done, which they do with grace and elegance. They are not showy or flashy in any way, nor do they command the same kind of fanatic devotion as Kobe’s Lakers or Lebron’s Heat. Yet they are still a force to be reckoned with come playoff time and in their own inimitable way have managed to win four World Championships since 1999. They may not look intimidating but they excel at what they do, making them a tough act to follow. As a result, you can’t help but respect what they do and how effortless they make it look. So that’s the San Antonio Spurs in a nutshell; easy to admire, hard to love but impossible to ignore.
4. Melody’s Echo Chamber – Melody’s Echo Chamber (Fat Possum)
Sonically of a piece with the new Tame Impala record, the debut from Melody's Echo Chamber (aka Melody Prochet) occupies the same nostalgic, psych-tinged dream space so expertly mined by Deerhunter with a smidge of Gallic sophistication reminiscent of Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier. But any review would be completely remiss without mentioning the uncanny similarities to Broadcast and their late (and sorely missed) singer, Trish Keenan, even down to the sample utilized on the album’s final track. Employing reverb, fuzz and echo (natch) to create a backsplash for vocals that literally drip with wistful longing, this is quintessential pop smudged up and refracted through a hazy prism of inventive production techniques (courtesy of Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker) and avant flourishes that bubble just underneath the surface, always threatening to overtake the Melody but never quite succeeding. Tracks are built on a foundation of inspired basslines and deceptively simple drum patterns that fall somewhere between hip-hop and jazz. Enter a thick fog of heavily treated psychotropic guitars and the template is set for Prochet’s honeyed vocals to engulf you like warm milk. This is a trick Broadcast virtually perfected over the course of four albums and one that Melody’s Echo Chamber has managed to master over the course of one, leaving countless imitators who have tried (and failed) to achieve the same feat in their dust. The large gaping hole that has existed ever since Keenan’s untimely death has finally been filled, the baton having officially been passed.
3. Julia Holter – Ekstasis (RVNG Intl.)
Inhabited by ghostly, disembodied vocals evoking the ethereal siren’s call of David Lynch muse Julee Cruise or '70s underground folk icon Linda Perhacs (whom Holter has collaborated with), Ekstasis is a deeply personal record that defies easy categorization. Vocoderized electropop segues effortlessly between haunted, multilayered vocal calisthenics, droning, ambient mood pieces, softly cooed chanteuse come-ons and even the occasional straightforward pop song…although ‘straightforward’ may be a poor choice of words since that’s the one thing this album isn’t. Describing Holter as simply a singer or musician misses the mark entirely. A more apt description would be that of a watercolorist who paints with sound to craft an aural canvas. Textured, complex and sometimes otherworldly but never less than wholly original and supremely engrossing, Ekstasis marks the arrival of a truly remarkable voice.
2. Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d. city (Interscope/Top Dawg)
A surprisingly touching statement from Top Dawg’s top dog. Jazzy meditations intertwine themselves around minimal, atmospheric beats that call to mind early Neptunes productions, providing the bedrock for Lamar to drop some monumentally impressive wordplay inspired by his autobiographical accounts of growing up in (and getting out of) the city of Compton, CA. His laconic delivery is matter-of-fact, never wavering even as he nimbly switches up cadences between standard and double-time at the drop of a hi-hat. And while thematically this is everything we’ve come to expect from a young, inner city hip-hop artist (smoking weed, underage drinking, persistent threat of gang violence, girls=sex, dysfunctional families, peer pressure, etc.) the narrative is weaved together by spoken word interstitials and poignant, conscientious lyrics that somehow manage to be both hilarious and terrifying, innocent and wise beyond their years, often within the same song. The overall effect is not unlike Aquemini-era OutKast, but rather than glorify his upbringing Kendrick’s words ultimately serve as a cautionary tale. It’s no wonder none other than fellow Compton alum Dr. Dre went on record declaring his desire to collaborate with this rising young star, and while it’s too soon to say, this could very well prove to be the best West Coast rap album since The Chronic. A solid, cohesive, and above all, startlingly moving effort from beginning to end.
1. Tame Impala – Lonerism (Modular)
Instagram has fast become one of the most popular social networks on the planet. The idea behind the application couldn’t be simpler, yet there is something about using modern technology to alter the look and feel of a common photograph that people find irresistible. That said, the process of adding a filter to a piece of art as a way to distort the everyday has been around for centuries, and has been one of the driving forces in popular music production since the ‘50s. From early sound pioneers like Joe Meek, Phil Spector and Lee Hazlewood, to the Beatles’ revolutionary use of the studio as instrument, to Eno’s painterly atmospherics and beyond, producers are constantly looking for innovative ways to manipulate sounds both old and ordinary into something new and extraordinary. Lonerism, Tame Impala’s 2nd LP, marks the arrival of yet another sonic alchemist in Kevin Parker, the band’s founder, songwriter, producer and visionary.
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then John Lennon must be one of the most sincerely flattered artists in music history, and it’s worth mentioning that Kevin Parker sounds a lot like John Lennon right down to his nasal, double-tracked vocals. But imitation is meaningless without talent and that is something Parker seems to have in spades. This is evident not just in his compositions but in his recording techniques as well. Like the Beatles, he too shares a proclivity for studio experimentation, making the most out of a limited production palette, creatively pushing the boundaries of what is possible and arriving at many of the same psychedelic touchstones. But nothing about this album is derivative, and despite those obvious signposts I wouldn’t describe the actual music that Tame Impala make as being Beatles-esque any more than I’d describe Jack White’s modern take on classic blues as being Stones-y. There are other influences at work here as well (aspects of prog, jazz fusion and space rock all appear in barely recognizable form) but they simply serve as starting points from which Parker is able to create his own impressive worldview through a sound that is fast becoming distinctly his own (see Melody’s Echo Chamber above): imaginative basslines that veer between insanely melodic and blissfully fuzzy, drums that almost play a lead role without being showy (or even containing so much as a solo), ferociously phased guitars, instruments dropping out of the mix altogether and then slowly bubbling back up as if desperately trying to avoid the bends and monstrously epic synths that should have King Crimson cowering under their Mellotrons.
Mantra-like opener “Be Above It” serves as something of a mission statement for the album as a whole, not just thematically but compositionally, with Parker repeatedly whispering the title over and over until it eventually becomes the song’s main rhythm. From there we are taken on a kaleidoscopic journey through the widescreen panoramas of “Endors Toi” and “Apocalypse Dreams”, the dreamy “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards”, the Zeppelin stomp of “Elephant”, the Zombies-aping “But She Just Won’t Believe Me” and the wonderfully far away “Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control”, to name just a few highlights. Like most records, Lonerism does not exist in a vacuum and it's tempting to play spot the influence. For example, the yearning vocals and overall themes of alienation and loneliness are pervasive throughout and once again could be described as decidedly Lennon-esque. But that’s where Parker’s enormous talent plays such a critical role because he doesn't copy the past wholesale so much as recontextualize its components, providing it with his own unique stamp and turning something familiar into something new. Much like Instagram.
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Bat For Lashes – The Haunted Man (Capitol/Parlophone)
Beach House – Bloom (Sub Pop)
Beachwood Sparks – The Tarnished Gold (Sub Pop)
Burial - Kindred EP / Truant/Rough Sleeper EP (Hyperdub)
Chromatics – Kill For Love (Italians Do It Better)
Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet On Sky (Jagjaguwar)
Divine Fits - A Thing Called Divine Fits (Merge)
El-P - Cancer For Cure (Fat Possum)
Bill Fay – Life Is People (Dead Oceans)
Lambchop – Mr. M (Merge)
Lotus Plaza - Spooky Action at a Distance (Kranky)
Metz – Metz (Sub Pop)
A.C. Newman – Shut Down the Streets (Matador)
Frank Ocean – channelORANGE (Def Jam)
Angel Olsen – Half Way Home (Bathetic)
The Shins – Port of Morrow (Aural Apothecary/Columbia)
Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light (Fat Possum)
Sun Araw & M. Geddes Gengras Meet the Congos – Icon Give Thank (RVNG Intl.)
The Walkmen – Heaven (Fat Possum)
Matthew E. White – Big Inner (Hometapes)
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2011
13. Dirty Beaches – Badlands (Zoo)
With songs chock full of grimy, repetitive samples, basslines nicked from low budget ‘60s spy movies, and Alex Zhang Hungtai’s neurotic hiccup of a vocal, Badlands sounds like Gene Vincent backed by Suicide serving as the house band at a post-apocalyptic underground sex club. That’s a good thing. The record is both seductive and claustrophobic, like being trapped in an elevator with the mysterious girl from 3 cubes down whom you’ve had your eye on for months but could never find the courage to talk to. Great road trip music…if you’re heading to Thunderdome.
12. Shabazz Palaces – Black Up (Sub Pop)
It’s almost unfair to categorize Black Up as standard hip-hop seeing as how there is hardly anything on this album that remotely resembles standard hip-hop. Then again, there is hardly anything on this album that remotely resembles standard anything. The debut LP from former Digable Planets MC Ishmael “Butterfly” Reed is light years on from his former crew’s D.A.I.S.Y.-era classic ”Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)”. Songs are built on bedrocks of warped synths, thoughtfully considered samples and nearly impenetrable beats (reminiscent of Antipop Consortium or early El-P) over which Reed drops his brilliantly enigmatic rhymes. I have no idea what he is saying, but that hasn’t prevented me from playing the shit out of this record.
11. Yuck – Yuck (Fat Possum)
Nostalgia kicks in a lot faster these days. It wasn't too long ago that we were inundated with countless bands shamelessly in debt to Joy Division's brand of brooding, late 70s post punk, while the last few years announced the arrival of a full-blown ‘80s synth-pop revival. Whereas most current bands are still stuck in a neon haze of dated drum machines and ill-advised haircuts, Yuck takes its cue from vintage ‘90s indie rock, successfully channeling the irrepressible Sturm und Drang of that genre's holy trifecta: Dinosaur Jr., Pavement and My Bloody Valentine. So convincing is their approximation of that era's glory days that you'd swear you were listening to a lost classic Matador never got around to releasing during Clinton’s first administration. All the familiar touchstones are here: DIY buzz saw guitars, deliriously melodic basslines, syrupy sweet boy/girl harmonies, the obligatory mid-tempo ballad and enough effects pedals to make your Sony Discman explode. Nothing new, and yet Yuck still find a way to make it wholly their own. Who says you can't go home?
10. Panda Bear – Tomboy (Paw Tracks)
As a follow-up to 2007’s Person Pitch, I had high hopes for this album. Either Panda Bear (Noah Lennox to his mom) is way ahead of the curve or I am way behind because it took months for this record to live up to the hype I had created in my head, but it was well worth the wait. Lennox’s uncanny ability to take seemingly incongruent textures and mutate and manipulate them into cohesive rhythms and backing tracks continues to amaze. Random unrelated noises somehow manage to form the backbone to actual songs that burrow themselves subcutaneously and emerge uninvited when you least expect them. The sci-fi lasers, cavernous echoes of reverb and otherworldly special effects arbitrarily zipping, swooshing and ping-ponging around his own multi-tracked Beach Boys-esque harmonies will leave you woozy and deliriously disoriented. Headphones required.
9. (Tie)
Thurston Moore – Demolished Thoughts (Matador)
J Mascis – Several Shades of Why (Sub Pop)
Aging fucking sucks. I highly suggest avoiding it. And while aging gracefully is hard enough for mere mortals like you and I, aging gracefully as a musician is a Herculanean task that only a select few can convincingly pull off. For every one Neil Young there are ten Mick Jaggers. Thurston Moore and J Mascis found fame and (relative) fortune as frontmen for venerable indie rock stalwarts Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr, respectively. Best known for speaker-shredding guitars played at ear-bleeding volume, both bands made their names as noise rock trailblazers in the ‘80s before signing major label deals in the ‘90s, ultimately riding the coattails of the bands they helped influence (it was Moore who convinced David Geffen to sign Nirvana). While Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr have been consistently releasing a steady stream of albums since forming 30 years ago, Demolished Thoughts is only Moore's 3rd solo album, while Several Shades of Why is miraculously Mascis' first. The 2 albums are of a piece with each other and sound cut from the same cloth both sonically and thematically. Each find their authors in contemplative mode, trading the raw power of their electric guitars for the soothing calm of gently strummed acoustics and intricately finger-picked countermelodies, with violin and cello adding an additional layer of poignancy to the proceedings. Lyrically, both albums center around themes of love, loss, hope, despair, salvation and mortality thus adding a depth and gravity to these acoustic folk songs often lacking in the pummeling onslaught they routinely deliver at their day jobs. In their nimble hands, quiet is the new loud. And 50 is the new 20!
8. Real Estate – Days (Domino)
Aided by improved production quality, Days somehow manages to retain the laid back charm of Real Estate’s 2009 self-titled debut album while simultaneously building upon it. But if Real Estate evoked an endless summer that never was, Days represents the autumnal afterglow, providing the perfect soundtrack for long drives down country roads lit by dusk’s hazy, amber radiance. With hints of early R.E.M.’s shimmering jangle (“Wonder Years”), the Smiths’ melancholic, minor key lead guitar lines (“Green Aisles”) and spacey reverb airlifted from the Shins’ first album (“Out of Tune”), Real Estate do not attempt to reinvent the wheel – but they do make the ride that much smoother. Plus, they hail from the mean streets of Ridgewood, NJ, which is all the reason you need to make them your new favorite band!
7. Bill Callahan – Apocalypse (Drag City)
There are very few absolutes in life, but there some things we know we can always depend on: the world will turn, the Cubs will never win a World Series and every 2 years Bill Callahan will unleash his latest masterpiece. A true original, an unparalleled lyricist and, quite honestly, an American treasure, Callahan’s gently crooning baritone and inimitable way with a phrase, much like Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave and 1992 Pinot Noir, only seems to improve with age. His songs often appear spare and repetitive at first glance but their subtle melodies and quietly complex arrangements add depth and intricacy to otherwise deceptively simple songs (see “Riding For the Feeling” as a prime example). And while these 7 songs may occupy a different world than our own, at the same time they are very much of it. As usual with Callahan, no one album is better or worse than any other, making each of them essential in some way, and Apocalypse is a welcome addition to his increasingly imposing catalog. It doesn’t stray far from the firmly established Callahan/Smog sound, but why would you want it to?
6. Cass McCombs – WIT’S END (Domino)
This album is akin to the unsettling/comforting feeling you get when you serendipitously meet a complete stranger who not only immediately gets you but whom you suspect may already know everything about you. From the first hypnotic notes of opener “County Line” (the song I listened to more than any other this year) this album invites itself in, fixes you both a drink and makes itself right at home as if it were an old friend you’d been expecting for years. It doesn’t beat its chest or demand to be heard yet you can’t help but listen, transfixed by its intimacy. It may only contain 8 songs but it is an incredibly generous album; the more you ask of it the more it seems to give. Best enjoyed on rainy days, in reflective moods or late at night.
5. Radiohead – The King of Limbs (TBD)
By no means does The King of Limbs come anywhere close to unseating Radiohead’s past masterpieces but it is still leaps and bounds ahead of almost everything else being released these days. To give you an idea of just how many leaps and bounds we’re talking, The King of Limbs doesn’t even rank amongst the band’s own Top 3 Best Albums yet it’s still #5 on this year’s list! Never ones to shy away from studio experimentation or unorthodox compositions, TKOL finds them tinkering with, twisting and redefining melody and rhythm into shapes heretofore unexplored in modern pop. It can make for a heady, challenging listen at first but repeat spins are rewarded tenfold. And for all the glitchy, electronic bells and whistles, this is still a fully functioning band operating at the top of their game, though that may not be entirely evident until you see them play these songs live. Whereas a band like Yuck might inspire you to dust off your guitar thinking “hey, I can totally do that”, after listening to the first 60 seconds of album opener “Bloom” you will be sliding it right back under your bed where it belongs because let’s be honest…you totally can’t!!
4. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues (Sub Pop)
Blessed with a preternaturally resonant tenor, Robin Pecknold, the Fleet Foxes’ golden-throated frontman, seems to pull multipart harmonies out of his pocket the way we pull lint, and there are enough of them on this album to make Crosby, Stills or Nash green with envy. I wanted to not like this record for much the same reason I want to not like Arcade Fire (too serious, too overreaching) and yet I find myself hooked for the exact same reason as Arcade Fire (too good!). Lyrically, the themes this time around range from deep introspection and self-doubt over failed relationships to politically-charged outrage over deceptive governments to wide-eyed innocence, leaving the author humbled at the incomprehensible greatness of the world around him and questioning where exactly he fits in to the equation. Also, dude likes his apples (apples and/or orchards inexplicably make an appearance at least 4 different times on this album). While these songs are hardly rudimentary, they are performed with an effortless grace that makes it all seem so easy, much like how Michael Jordan had you believing that anyone could dunk a basketball by jumping from the foul line.
3. tUnE-yArDs – w h o k i l l (4AD)
Guitar. Bass. Drums. Vocals. Roughly a billion bands have employed this lineup to make music of one kind or another. And another. And another. But very few have ever used vocals to such dizzyingly creative effect as Merril Garbus does in her tUnE-yArDs project. Sampling her own vocals, cutting them up, panning and layering them in myriad ways, she runs the risk of coming across like an indie version of Bobby McFerrin. But blessed with a remarkably powerful set of pipes, she inventively uses various guises of her voice to create not just the centerpiece of her songs but the backing track as well, using it to simulate police sirens (“Gangsta”), multi-tracking it to create a virtual chorus of Garbus’ (“Doorstep”), pushing it to near Prince-like falsetto (“Powa”) or simply utilizing it to memorable effect in a haunting lullaby (“Wolly Wolly Gong”). Essential!
2. Bon Iver – Bon Iver (Jagjaguwar)
The near mythical backstory behind the making of Justin Vernon's universally acclaimed debut album as Bon Iver, 2008's For Emma, Forever Ago, almost did him a disservice as it threatened to overshadow the one thing that so many people related to in the first place: the music. While that album was essentially a love letter to a former flame, his eponymous sophomore album finds a more mature Vernon declaring allegiance to his home state of Wisconsin. The acoustic ballads are replaced by a fully fleshed out band, providing the songs with richer, nuanced textures, and while Vernon's lyrics are no less obtuse this time around, their meaning is driven home by his tender falsetto, an impressive instrument in its own right. He has become a much more confident songwriter as well, whose craft lends these tunes a warm, lived-in vibe that makes you feel as though they've been sitting there right beside you all along. It also makes it easier to stomach the occasional misguided diversion into ‘80s Adult Contemporary slow jamz (see Bruce Hornsby-inspired album closer “Beth/Rest”)…but even that he somehow manages to pull off convincingly! In the span of only 2 albums, Vernon has carved out an extraordinary niche for himself within which he remains peerless. Simply put, no one else is making music like this today. And as long as Bon Iver are putting out albums this compelling, no one else need bother.
1. Girls – Father, Son, Holy Ghost (True Panther)
When a band’s sound is described as “retro” it is usually used in the pejorative, implying a lack of imagination or originality on the artist’s part. To be fair, Girls’ sound could definitely be described as “retro”, but then that would be missing the point entirely. Indeed, there are plenty of elements in Girls’ music that you’ve no doubt heard before, and certain songs might even run the risk of becoming mere genre exercises (if not outright parody) in less capable hands, but despite the familiarity there is no denying Girls’ unique and inventive approach to not just embracing but reimagining sounds of the past and marrying them with universally heartfelt sentiments. In the process, they have created a staggering work of complex, emotional beauty.
The record’s success rests largely on the shoulders of head Girl Christopher Owens, whose aching, yearning vocals (think halfway between Elvis Costello and Elliott Smith) lend these songs an immediacy and intensity that is hard to ignore. Lyrically, the guy just wants to be loved, but somehow things are never that easy. It is almost impossible to separate the song’s narrator from Owens’ own harrowing backstory (raised in the controversial Children of God cult, his brother died because the cult didn't believe in medicine, his father abandoned him, his mom turned to prostitution, he turned to drugs, became homeless as a teenager, etc..). Seemingly innocent lines like “Oh god I’m tired/And my heart is broken” or “You’ll have to forgive me, brother/And you’ll have to forgive me, sister/And I’ll have to forgive you if we’re ever gonna move on” take on added weight and reveal a rare level of vulnerability that will leave you absolutely floored.
Then there are the songs. Genre-hopping from lysergic surf rock (“Honey Bunny”) to indie stomper (“Alex”) to Sabbath-meets-King Crimson barn burner (“Die”) to heartfelt soul (“My Ma”) to minor-key elegy (“Vomit”) to gentle acoustic ruminations (“Just a Song”) to straight up pop (“Magic”) to rip-your-heart-out confessional (“Forgiveness”), these songs cover a wide range of emotions and styles. It is a huge testament to Owens’ vision and talent that in spite of the stylistic schizophrenia on display the songs remarkably gel into one cohesive whole. Losing any one track or rearranging the sequence would result in a completely different (and probably far less successful) album.
Another thing setting these songs apart from the ordinary is their structure. Most are filled with hairpins turns and unexpected detours, transforming what would otherwise be straightforward tunes into epic mini suites. What’s also interesting about an album so steeped in traditional rock tropes is how much soul it has! Gospel singers, well-placed Fender Rhodes piano, the glorious wheeze of a Hammond B3 organ and epic, expressive guitar leads reminiscent of David Gilmour at Pink Floyd’s peak help to bring over half of these songs to life. But it’s that gentle, raw, emotive voice that will have you coming back again and again.
Gorgeous. Riveting. Powerful. Bittersweet. Father, Son, Holy Ghost is a stunning heartbreaker of an album. A modern day masterpiece!
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order)
Atlas Sound – Parallax (4AD)
Beastie Boys – Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 (Capitol)
The Black Keys – El Camino (Nonesuch)
James Blake - James Blake (A&M/ATLAS)
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Wolfroy Goes to Town (Drag City)
Curren$y – Weekend at Burnie’s (Warner Bros)
Danger Mouse & Daniele Luppi – Rome (Capitol)
Destroyer – Kaputt (Merge)
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins - Diamond Mine (Domino/Double Six)
Julian Lynch - Terra (Underwater Peoples)
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming (Mute)
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks – Mirror Traffic (Matador)
Moon Duo – Mazes (Sacred Bone)
The Soft Moon – The Soft Moon (Captured Tracks)
TV On the Radio – Nine Types of Light (Interscope)
Wilco – The Whole Love (dBPM)
Wild Flag – Wild Flag (Merge)
Jonathan Wilson - Gentle Spirit (Bella Union)
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2010
12. Tyler, the Creator – BASTARD (self-released)
This is some deep, dark, psychologically twisted, next-level hip-hop made all the more disturbing/fascinating by the fact that Tyler, the Creator is only 18 years old. The de facto leader of LA’s sub-underground Odd Future collective (comprised of 10 members, age 16-19), Tyler’s is a truly unique voice in a played-out genre who’s bizarre lyrics (about such sunny topics as raping the Virgin Mary, sodomy, kidnapping, torture, murder, deadbeat dads and a lil’ something called “ass milk”) and haunting, lo-fi beats (inventive, warped and sampling everything from MF Doom to obscure soul) are unlike anything else in the game today. As cataclysmic as Wu-Tang Clan were when they bum-rushed the scene back in ’93, Odd Future look poised to take over the mantle for a new generation of forward-thinking hip-hop…which is why their name couldn’t possibly be any more prescient.
11. Grinderman – Grinderman 2 (Anti)
Feral, ferocious and dripping with so much repressed sexual energy my speakers started sweating midway through the first song, Nick Cave’s 2nd album with his Grinderman side project builds upon – and subsequently trumps – the bloozy, untamed “dirty old man” persona of the first. With Cave on guitar (rather than the piano he favors at his day job with the Bad Seeds) the band plays with a renewed purpose, thrashing their way through these 9 tracks like rabid rats trapped in a burlap sack. A fresh blast of youthfulness from an artist who seems to only get better with age.
10. Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest (4AD)
Caught in an alternate universe somewhere between Phil Spector’s early ‘60s “Wall of Sound” and the swirly ambience of their 4AD forebears, it’s no wonder that Halcyon Digest doesn’t sound like anything else being produced in 2010. It’s also no surprise that Deerhunter takes its cue from sounds of the past as this record literally oozes (musically and lyrically) with nostalgia and the elusiveness of memory. Not quite as epic or fully realized as Microcastle, it’s still the work of a band whose 4 members are equally essential to the mix and the resulting album stands head and shoulders above almost every other one released this year.
9. Liars – Sisterworld (Mute)
Even though Sisterworld was inspired by modern-day Los Angeles, to me it works as the ideal soundtrack for the pre-Giuliani New York City of the ‘80s I grew up with: a weird, phantasmagorical playland that was simultaneously wonderful and sinister, with both excitement and sudden bursts of violence lurking around every corner. In other words, a great place to visit (and visit often) but you wouldn’t want to live there. The eerie netherworld that the album inhabits is perfectly encapsulated within the first 2 minutes of the opening track, “Scissor”, which starts off with a minor key choir of Beach Boys-esque harmonizing counterbalanced by the creepy opening line “I found her with my scissor/This heart fell to the ground”. This is followed by a tinkling children’s piano and more angelic harmonizing behind lead singer Angus Andrew’s increasingly unsettling falsetto until THWACK!!! you are literally punched in the ear by a sudden blast from a snare drum heralding a musical onslaught that would have less adventurous listeners racing to hit the STOP button. It’s exhilarating, intense, melodic, propulsive, exciting and disturbing all at the same time, which pretty much sums up the album as a whole. Sisterworld is a great place to visit (and visit often), but you wouldn’t want to live there.
8. Gonjasufi – A Sufi and a Killer (Warp)
With dusty, half-baked vocals that sound like they are being transmitted from a distant star in some faraway galaxy that burned out eons ago, Gonjasufi’s 1,000 year-old croak is the perfect foil for Gaslamp Killer’s blunted, disorientingly psychedelic beats. Listening to this album is like uncovering an old, cobweb-covered vinyl LP in a musty corner of your attic only to discover that it was recorded a hundred years from now! The chemistry between these two talents is so inimitable that even the accompanying remix album (which either tweaked Gaslamp’s production or replaced it altogether with other artist’s backing tracks) completely failed to hit upon what makes this record so innovative and special in the first place. Truly one of a kind!
7. Tame Impala – Innerspeaker (Modular)
If you ever wondered what John Lennon’s first solo album would have sounded like had he continued to explore the psychedelic soundscapes of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s even further then wonder no more! Instantly familiar yet totally original, this is definitely one of the few new bands worth keeping an eye on.
6. Menomena – Mines (Barsuk)
Expertly crafted, cleverly produced and flawlessly executed, this latest batch of quirky, offbeat tunes from the Portland 3-piece are, at heart, some of the smartest and most endearing pop songs being made today. Easily ranks as their best to date.
5. The Walkmen – Lisbon (Fat Possum)
It may sound like a copout but I really don’t know what to say here as I have always had a very difficult time pinpointing exactly what it is about this band that resonates so deeply with me, yet that intangible, nebulous quality has been there since their very first album. To describe Lisbon, the band’s fifth, I want to use words like “yearning vocals” and “spacious instrumentation” and “atmospheric” and “shitloads of reverb” and “funereal” and “heartfelt” and “melodic” and “hungover” and “it’s a grower” and “sounds better on headphones” and “undoubtedly the best album of their career” and “seriously, just take some time to listen and judge for yourself” but I’m still not convinced I’d be doing this band or this album any justice so I’m not going to say any of that.
4. Arcade Fire – The Suburbs (Merge)
More indie-pop pocket anthems from the band who practically invented, if not perfected, the genre. I was really hesitant to like this album going into it because these guys/gals have so much collective self-righteous self-importance that they make Bono look humble, but with songs this earnest and well-written, and performed with such enthusiasm and immediacy, the music all but demands you prick up your ears and take notice. The fact that they won me over (for a 3rd time!) somehow only makes me like it even more. It’s also the only album on this year’s list that Oliver asks for by name!
3. These New Puritans – Hidden (Domino)
Over the past few years the #3 spot on Bix Picks has unintentionally been rewarded to a surprise, out-of-left-field contender and this year is no exception. Having firmly established themselves as torchbearers of the classic post-punk sound on their first album, this UK-based quartet did a complete 180 on Hidden, their second album in as many years. A true gem, the mood here is pummeling and relentless, yet shot through with moments of pure beauty in the arty vein of latter day Talk Talk. Yet what is most noticeable for a guitar-based band is the utter lack of guitar on this album. In fact, having listened to this record more than almost any other one this year I can honestly say I don’t hear any guitars at all. What I do hear are clanging chains, sharpening blades, various kitchen utensils, random gunshots, ominous woodwinds, heaps of brass and percussion so visceral you feel like you are simultaneously being smiled at longingly by a beautiful woman while being repeatedly punched in the stomach by her jealous ex-boyfriend. The real surprise is just how pleasurable and rewarding being repeatedly punched in the stomach can be!!!
2. Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me (Drag City)
Releasing a triple album in the digital age when most listeners’ attention spans barely exceed a 30-second sound clip on iTunes is not just quixotic and ambitious but borders on commercial (and possibly even career) suicide. To make matters worse, only 4 of the set’s 18 songs clock in under 6 minutes, and most lack anything even close to resembling a chorus, much less a hook to draw you in. And to top it off, Newsom has one of the most polarizing voices in music (rock, pop or otherwise). Oh, and did I mention she plays the harp??? ‘Cuz she does. A lot! So it is a MAJOR achievement that this album not only succeeds, but exceeds any and all expectations. It’s one thing to have the audacity to release a work of this complexity and magnitude on an ever-fickle music-buying/downloading public – and make no mistake, this is some pretty demanding music – but it’s another thing to actually have the musical chops, technical skill and lyrical prowess to pull it off. In terms of density, the music is over 2 hours long and makes Animal Collective’s last album sound like Weezer! Admittedly, this is not for everyone, and if I didn’t have 10 months to let it all sink in I might not have included it on this list at all, but regardless of what you think of her voice or her music there is simply no denying that this is a major triumph from a major talent.
1. LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening (Virgin/DFA)
One of the most memorable moments in cinematic history takes place roughly 20 minutes into The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy opens the front door to her displaced house only to have her entire world transform from dreary black and white to glorious, eye-popping Technicolor. It takes exactly 3 minutes and 8 seconds into “Dance Yrself Clean”, the leadoff track on This Is Happening, for the aural equivalent of the same transmogrification to occur and trust me when I say the ensuing eargasm is just as memorable as Dorothy’s first encounter with the Land of Oz. From there the album maintains its upbeat pace across the remaining 8 tracks, perfectly synthesizing rock and dance music into an entirely original whole. The Bowie-isms are still in place (from frontman James Murphy’s robotic vocal tics on “One Touch” to the wholesale repurposing of the main riff from “Heroes” that opens “All I Want”), and half of these tracks are an obvious homage to the glory days of the Paradise Garage and other ‘80s NYC club mainstays, but it’s a huge testament to Murphy’s vision that he can take these influences and reshape them into something uniquely his own. And when “Drunk Girls” is the weakest track to be found here you know you have an instant classic on your hands. Forget music’s current fascination with the endless summer; LCD Soundsystem has given us the feel good album for every season!!!
HONORABLE MENTION (in alphabetical order):
Beach House – Teen Dream
Bonnie “Prince” Billy & the Cairo Gang – The Wonder Show of the World
Curren$y – Pilot Talk
Forest Swords – Dagger Paths
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach
Male Bonding – Nothing Hurts
MGMT – Congratulations
No Age – Everything In Between
Northern Portrait – Criminal Art Lovers
Phosphorescent – Here’s To Taking It Easy
Sun Araw – On Patrol
Warpaint – The Fool
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2009
12. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Beware! (Drag City)
As his songwriting and production become increasingly more polished and refined with every subsequent release, Will Oldham is rapidly establishing himself as one of our generation’s most accomplished American songwriters, each new track a welcome addition to the Great American Songbook. His latest ranks among his best and is a far cry from the haunted, lo-fi Appalachian folk music he cut his teeth on 20 years ago.
11. The Clientele – Bonfires on the Heath (Merge)
Autumnal. Reflective. Pastoral. Moody. Sepia-toned. Whatever adjectives you want to throw at this band there is simply no getting around the fact that they write incredibly sentimental music with highly evocative lyrics, drenched in layer upon layer of reverb, that makes me deeply nostalgic for places I’ve never even been. A few of these tracks find the band rocking out more than they have in the past, but it’s still the perfect soundtrack for rainy days and Indian summers alike. Also the only album I listened to during the entire month of October (natch).
10. Bat For Lashes – Two Suns (Astralwerks)
Here’s what Bjork would sound like if you actually liked her music and voice. A huge improvement over the last album. Some dance, some trance and a lot of romance (plus a song inspired by Ralph Macchio’s character in The Karate Kid). The lead-off track is one of my favorite songs of the year!
9. Sonic Youth – The Eternal (Matador)
It must be a huge kick in the face for the latest “Flavor of the Month” to be upstaged by a band that should have been on its last legs in 1989, and yet in 2009 Sonic Youth still rock harder than most bands half their age. Haters are quick to write them off as being more style than substance while even the die-hards will say they have yet to return to the heights they scaled with their masterpiece, Daydream Nation. But almost 30 years into their career, they go ahead and make one of the best albums they’ve ever recorded. All the SY touchstones are here: atonal/angular guitars, visceral/pummeling drums, cryptic/cerebral lyrics, noise, feedback and Kim Gordon. The only difference is that this time they actually wrote songs, and good ones too! Easily their best since…well…Daydream Nation.
8. DOOM – Born Like This (Lex)
FINALLY!!! The artist who previously held the distinction of being this decade’s most prolific rapper, MF Doom has been inexplicably absent from the hip-hop landscape for the last 4 years, but he returns with his latest full-length without missing a beat (bad pun intended). Inventive production, clever rhymes and that unmistakably blunted flow of his are all accounted for, plus cameos from Ghostface, Raekwon and Slug to round things out. A welcome return!
7. Black Moth Super Rainbow – Eating Us (Graveface)
If you have an aversion to the vocoder you may want to stop reading now because there is a shit ton of vocoder all over this album!! But rather than feeling as though you’re trapped on a boat with T-Pain, these songs could just as easily form the lysergic soundtrack to every trippy Saturday morning TV show we grew up with (from H.R. Pufnstuf to the Great Space Coaster to Electric Company). If you’ve ever wondered what it would sound like to gobble mass amounts of acid and go floating down a river of orange molasses on a raft made of marshmallow and moonbeams (and who hasn’t?), listening to this album will give you a pretty good idea.
6. Richard Hawley – Truelove’s Gutter (Mute)
Best enjoyed late at night, Hawley’s latest finds his silky baritone in fine form, crooning like the forgotten lovechild Frank Sinatra and Scott Walker never had. An acquired taste for sure, but rather than slipping into cheesy caricature on his 5th album, he keeps things interesting by embellishing the songs with archaic instruments, most of which aren’t known for their appearance on a traditional “rock” record (unless the bands you’re into are known for busting out the glass harmonica, waterphone and cristal bachet). These sounds certainly help ornament the songs but at the end of the day it’s that voice that’ll keep you coming back for more….or not.
5. The XX – The XX (Young Turks)
Deceptively simple songs that often rely on little more than basic guitar, two-note bass throbs and a drum machine. And yet the spare arrangements belie a hidden depth that is only realized through the sincere vocals/lyrics of the band’s 2 co-leaders. Sure, they sing about the same shit 20-year olds have been singing about since the history of music began but it’s a testament to their talent and unique approach that it still comes off sounding fresh and new.
4. Real Estate – Real Estate (Woodsist)
Ridgewood, NJ is the most magical place on earth! Money grows on trees, streets are literally paved with gold and all the townsfolk are tan and gorgeous. In short, only good things come from Ridgewood and that includes this up-and-coming 4-piece band. They aren’t breaking new ground or reinventing the wheel, but what they do they do really well. Languid guitars, sinewy basslines, laconic vocals and lyrics about the Jersey shore are at the fore of almost every song on their debut album, but it’s the SOUND that really ropes me in. I want to crawl inside the warm, echoey, reverb-drenched production and hibernate in much the same way I did with the Shins first album (even though the 2 bands sound nothing alike). It all adds up to one of the more promising debuts I’ve heard in a long while and makes me look forward to whereever they go next, even if it means leaving Magicville, USA.
3. Bill Callahan – Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle (Drag City)
It’s amazing that this is the same artist who used to make records on a broken 4-track that sounded so underproduced you could barely distinguish the tape hiss from the music. Much like his musical counterpart, Will Oldham, people either love Bill Callahan (aka Smog) or they don’t. Admittedly his albums tend to be hit or miss, but this is easily the biggest “hit” of his career and he owes it all to one thing: strings! Sure, it helps that he wrote a great batch of songs too, but it’s the sweeping, cinematic strings that create a sense of majesty and single-handedly elevate this record to the next level. Like most of the albums on this list, I cannot get enough of it.
2. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest (Warp)
Much like Animal Collective, each new Grizzly Bear album leaves its predecessor in the dust, but for entirely different reasons. Unlike AC, every sound on this record is clear from the start and every note essential. In fact, each voice, instrument and arrangement plays such a critical part in the success of the album that it seems to constantly teeter on the brink of collapse, as if removing any one component would result in the whole project failing epically. It wasn’t until I saw footage of these guys playing live that I realized just how indispensable each note is to the song. Sounds easy, but addition by subtraction always does. The music is gorgeous, of course, and like all great albums it has that intangible “thing” that demands your attention and will have you reaching to press the ‘play’ button as soon as the last track ends. The orchestral pop record of the year!
1. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion (Domino)
This is the album AC has been building up to since their inception 10 years ago. It’s the aural equivalent of eating an onion made of candy. It’s an unbelievably dense album which takes multiple listens to truly absorb (I’ve listened to it at least 100 times and I’m still hearing things I never noticed before) as it’s filled with layer upon layer of complex polyrhythms, obtuse sounds, homemade samples, otherworldly voices and other undistinguishable goings-on. But, much like the aforementioned candy onion, as you peel away each layer of sound you start to uncover previously hidden melodies, super-catchy hooks that seemingly appear out of the ether and a chewy, sugary center at the heart of every song. In full disclosure I’ve never actually eaten an onion made of candy but if it is anything like this album I imagine it to be addictive as shit! This may not be for everyone (like I said, it really takes a while to grow on you) but if you’re up for the challenge and can find your way to the chewy center you will be generously rewarded. I can’t recommend this enough! Far and away the album of the year!
Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order):
A.C. Newman – Get Guilty (kinda the reigning king of power pop)
Alasdair Roberts – Spoils (kinda like Olde Thyme British folk music at your local Renaissance Faire)
Alela Diane – To Be Still (kinda like Joanna Newsome)
Antlers – Hospice (kinda like the early 90s)
Antony and the Johnstons – The Crying Light (kinda like Judy Garland strangling Boy George)
Beak> – Beak> (kinda like hanging out in Cologne, Germany circa 1972)
Cymbals Eat Guitars – Why There Are Mountains (kinda like Modest Mouse and Pavement)
Dinosaur Jr – Farm (KINDA FUCKING LOUD!!!)
Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca (kinda unclassifiable)
Espers – Espers III (kinda like the last two albums)
Flaming Lips – Embryonic (kinda trippy)
Girls – Album (kinda the indie “It” band of the year and for good reason)
Marissa Nadler – Little Hells (kinda haunting)
Tor Lundvall – Sleeping and Hiding (kinda like sleeping and hiding…while dreaming about dreaming)
Vetiver – Tight Knit (kinda great for a road trip)
Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs (kinda what you’ve come to expect from Hoboken’s finest)
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2005
11. Beck – Guero (Geffen)
The first time I head this album I thought it was Odelay Version 2.0. Even the riff on lead-off track “E-Pro” is reminiscent of the riff on “Devil’s Haircut” (which kicked off Odelay). But then I thought about it and remembered, wait a second, I loved Odelay! And after a few more spins, Guero’s subtleties began to sink in and I was able to appreciate these songs on their own terms. It might not be a step forward per se, but it’s nice to see him loosen up a bit, stop taking himself so seriously and get back to doing what he does best: shaking the asses of skinny white boys everywhere.
10. New Pornographers – Twin Cinema (Matador)
I’m pretty sure these guys could shit into a microphone and after listening to it twice I’d be humming along for days. Carl “A.C.” Newman is literally incapable of writing a bad hook or an uncatchy melody and is truly in a league of his own when it comes to crafting smart, inventive power pop. Of course, having Neko Case as your co-conspirator in harmony doesn’t hurt. It may not be their best, but it’s far better than 99% of what passes for “pop music” these days.
9. Sam Prekop – Who’s Your New Professor? (Thrill Jockey)
Sam Prekop’s albums, along with his band the Sea and Cake, don’t differ too much from one to the next. Normally it really bothers me when artists don’t grow or take chances, but then again, that’s not why I listen to Sam Prekop in the first place. With a voice reminiscent of diving into a pool of warm milk and arrangements ranging from bossa nova to lite jazz, his albums are the perfect soundtrack for a sunset drive or a romantic dinner at home. I can’t remember the last time I did either, but a boy can dream can’t he?
8. Serena-Maneesh – Serena-Maneesh (Honeymilk)
Velvet Underground? Check. Jesus and Mary Chain? Check. Spaceman 3? Check. Sonic Youth? Check. My Bloody Valentine? Check (twice). OK, so these Norwegians may not be the most original band in the world (some might even call them downright derivative), but what they do, they do well. In other words, if you’re gonna have the balls to steal from some of the most untouchable and classic bands in music history, you better bring the rock! And bring the rock they do, absorbing their forebears’ influences and updating/expanding upon their sound to make a debut album as engaging and cathartic as any of their predecessors’. If they can keep it up, they look to be next in line in that long lineage of torchbearers.
7. Hood – Outside Closer (Domino)
Caught somewhere between late period Talk Talk, Hex-era Bark Psychosis and the mid-90s Bristol sound, Hood sound both contemporary and timeless at the same time. Musically, there is an ambient spaciousness to their jazzy rhythms, where ride cymbals and finger-picked arpeggios give way to laptop glitches and subtle pre-programmed beats, infusing the pastoral beauty with an icy cold detachment completely at odds with Chris Adam’s contemplative vocals. Rainy day music to freeze your thoughts and warm your heart.
6. Queens of the Stone Age – Lullabies to Paralyze (Interscope)
There isn’t much to it: these guys are just fucking awesome! I can’t even think of anything clever or creative to say about them. There has always been something in their sound that reminds me of the best of the early 90s Seattle bands, but I have never been able to put my finger on exactly what that is. Maybe it’s because they write great songs, totally memorable hooks and melodies stickier than glue. They are probably the most melodic heavy rockers in the game today, but more importantly, they always seem like they’re having a blast. And in the end, isn’t that what rock and roll is all about?
5. Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise (Asthmatic Kitty)
For those who don’t remember, Stevens’ last state-themed album (2003’s Michigan) snuck in at a lofty #2 on Bix Picks year-end list, and for good reason. His songs don’t just stay with you, but can literally become a part of your being if you listen long enough. Somehow, somewhere along the line he has become the spokesperson for every Starbucks-sipping, NPR-listening, VW-driving “indie” music lover in America, but this set only proves his worth. Not only does he play almost every instrument on the album, but he can win you over with a rave-up about the Windy City as easily as he can break your heart with a ballad about serial killer John Wayne Gacy. A songwriting force to be reckoned with, I can’t wait until he gets around to putting out New Jersey.
4. Danger Doom – The Mouse and the Mask (Epitaph)
In a perfect world, everyone would know the name MF Doom (and all his myriad aliases). Although he is a respected producer, it’s his lyrics and the way he spits them that slay me time and again. With the sickest flow this side of Guru (or early Q-tip) he also possesses the most inventive wordplay I have ever witnessed in the rap game: funny, playful, intelligent, insightful, and sometimes even downright heartbreaking, often within the same couplet. On this album he teams up with producer extraordinaire Danger Mouse (Gorillaz, The Grey Album) for a song cycle dedicated to (and often featuring) the Cartoon Network’s adult swim line-up. Sounds hokey on paper, but in the hands of these 2 pros, it is anything but. In fact, it’s gotten to the point where I actually want to tune into Aqua Teen Hunger Force just to hear more of Master Shake and Meatwad.
3. Animal Collective – Feels (Fat Cat)
Every summer at day camp, each group had one “overnight” where they got to stay after all the other kids went home. We would swim and play kickball for the remainder of the afternoon, and then at night there would be a big campfire where the counselors would tell ghost stories, scaring the kids shitless before leaving us to fend for ourselves with nothing but our sleeping bags and the stars above. Had Animal Collective existed in 1985 they would have provided the perfect soundtrack to these overnights as there is something distinctly childlike and playful in their music, but with a creeping sense of dread and foreboding. With such unorthodox instrumentation and unmelodic melodies it’s a wonder these songs get stuck in your head as easily as they do. But they do. And do they! Once these Animals get their claws in you it’s hard to get them out.
2. Smog – A River Ain’t Too Much To Love (Drag City)
Bill Callahan’s albums are the textbook definition of the word “grower”. They hardly ever resonate upon first listen (and sometimes not even on the fourth), but as sure as the sun sets, every two years he drops another album of hypnotic, deeply personal songs exploring the uncertainties of life: love, loss, solitude, mortality, sin and, ultimately, redemption. You might have to be in a certain mood for this kind of music (e.g. not happy) but it’s certainly never boring, and in its own strange, intangible way can even prove to be comforting...if not downright uplifting.
1. Supergrass – Road to Rouen (EMI)
A few months ago I literally could not stop listening to this album, and after seeing them perform the songs acoustically in an “intimate” live performance in September, the fate of this album was sealed. Having been a fan since I Should Coco was released in 1995, I have always defended them against people who wrote them off as merely being “Alright”, but never in my wildest dreams would I have expected…THIS!!! There isn’t a single “single” on the entire album, which could potentially frustrate (and abandon) fans of their earlier, poppier material. What we get instead is a lush, mature and utterly absorbing (if brief) album that finds these blokes settling comfortably into their role as elder statesmen of what was once called Britpop. Over the course of these 9 songs, Supergrass show they are in no hurry to get where they’re going, yet they’re gone before they even arrive. It’s not so much that I’m surprised they were capable of creating such a masterpiece, but that it comes 10 years into their career with nothing before it to prepare us for such tremendous artistic growth is absolutely astounding. Early in the album, lead singer Gaz Coombes warns: “Don’t look back because it’s far to fall.” With all they have accomplished together, it would be easy to keep making the same album over and over (hi Coldplay!) but Road To Rouen proves that Supergass is only looking ahead…and the future never seemed so bright.
11 HONORABLE MENTION (in no particular order other than alphabetical):
Art Brut – Bang Bang Rock and Roll: Fast, simple and catchy as hell, it’s the sound of four guys having fun and not giving a shit
Broadcast – Tender Buttons: Not as immediately pleasing as their other albums, but just as rewarding and intriguing upon repeated listens
The Clientele – Strange Geometry: How I long to be British and lonely…as long as these guys are there to serenade me
Iron & Wine w/ Calexico – In the Reins: An indie dream collaboration where folk meets desert-laced mariachi music
M.I.A. – Arular: Stuttering, paranoid beats + trans-global singer = party record of the year
Alasdair Roberts – No Earthly Man: More Irish folk tunes and drinking songs; makes 2005 sound like 1905
Spoon – Gimme Fiction: Not a bad song in the bunch; nobody explores the space between notes (and the inherent tension) quite like Britt Daniel and Co.
Super Furry Animals – Love Kraft: One of the best purveyors of psych-pop in the game
Voyager One – Dissolver: The closest thing we have to My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive
White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan: Nice to see them branching out and trying something new. It may not always work but it’s a lot more commendable than sticking to the formula (plus, I’m a sucker for marimbas)
-Wilderness – Wilderness: When you consider how many bands were inspired by the Sex Pistols, it’s refreshing to hear one informed by early Public Image Ltd. (and the drummer kicks ass!!!)
0 notes
Text
Bix Picks 2003
14. Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Master and Everyone (Drag City)
Will Oldham’s 3rd album under the Bonnie “Prince” Billy moniker, is once again chock full of ruminations on such uplifting themes as death, longing, confusion, suffering, love unrequited, love lost, hopes dashed and some more death. Beautiful and haunting, although probably not a party record (unless we’re talking about the Donner Party).
13. The Decemberists – Castaways and Cutouts (Hush)
Although this album was technically released in 2002, it wasn’t widely available until this year, so get off my back. Unlike its follow-up (also released this year) this one is consistently great from start to finish. I read tons of comparisons to Neutral Milk Hotel and Belle & Sebastian, but I don’t hear it. What I do hear are sea shantys, military marches and lyrics obsessed with legionnaires, premature birth and chimney sweeps (and that’s just the first two songs). Colin Meloy has a uniquely affected voice which, if you can get past the occasionally cloying delivery, serves as a perfect compliment to the expertly arranged, vaudevillian tone of the music.
12½. TV On the Radio – Young Liars EP (Touch and Go)
This gets half a point because it’s only half a CD. Luckily, it’s the good half. Sure, the singer sounds an awful lot like Peter Gabriel, but lest we forget he was the only thing that made early Genesis tolerable. Eschewing the traditional guitar-drums-bass line-up for sequencers, drum machines, tape loops and flute(?), this record sounds like nothing else I’ve ever heard, and as a result, I listened to it compulsively for the first month after I bought it. Imagine The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway recorded on a laptop in the basement of a S&M dungeon in Williamsburg and you get the idea. Plus, they close the EP with an acapella, gospel-inflected cover of the Pixies’ “Mr. Grieves”. Let’s see Phil Collins pull that shit off.
12. Aesop Rock – Bazooka Tooth (Definitive Jux)
Once again Aesop Rock continues to stretch, break and redefine the boundaries of hip-hop. I’ve listened to this CD fifty times and I still can’t wrap my head around half of what he’s saying. His rhymes are so obtuse and his references so obscure he makes Dennis Miller look about as complicated as Blair’s cousin Jeri on “The Facts of Life.” And this guy’s real name is Ian Bavitz! You can’t get more white and Jew-y than that without changing your name to Eric Bix….well, you just can’t.
11. Alasdair Roberts – Farewell Sorrow (Drag City)
Considered to be “the Scottish Will Oldham” (mostly by lazy music critics) Ali Roberts’ records certainly share common motifs with his American counterpart (see Bonnie “Prince” Billy above). But despite some thematic similarities, his thick Scottish accent, lilting strings and spare instrumentation more often bring to mind the gray and dreary Scottish countryside. Since most of these tunes are either Scottish folk songs or Scottish drinking songs, this is a great record to drink (and folk) to, even if you’re crying into your beer by the time the record is over.
10. New Pornographers – Electric Version (Matador)
Ahhh…this is the sound of what it feels like to mainline saccharine. Easily the best thing to come out of Canada since “Strange Brew,” the Pornographers return with another triumphant collection of skewed pop nuggets played to perfection, with tunes so infectiously bouncy you’ll be too busy singing along to realize that the lyrics are making fun of you. If your toes aren’t tapping seven seconds into this album, then you obviously don’t have toes (you hoser).
9. Nicolai Dunger – Tranquil Isolation (Overcoat Recordings)
The Swede returns with a laid-back album of old-timey blues, folk and country songs (recorded live by the Bonnie “Prince” himself at his home in Kentucky). Listening to his mastery of these decidedly American genres coupled with his world-weary vocals, you’d swear he was from Tupelo and not Gotthenborg. Something about this album makes me want to drink moonshine straight from the bottle while rocking on my porch swing with my sweetheart by my side as dusk gives way to night. Then again, most albums do.
8. Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It In People (Arts & Crafts/Paper Bag)
It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what is so captivating about this band. Is it the way they meld such disparate elements (such as indie rock, post-rock, electro pop, dub, and standard ballads) into their own unique and seamless whole? Is it the consistently high quality of each and every song, assisted in no small part by the fact that there are 12 people in this collective, all of whom contribute to the writing process? Or is it the fact that we simply don’t expect much from Canadians? When an album sounds this great, who really cares? Just put it on and enjoy the magic.
7. Blur – Think Tank (Virgin)
I really didn’t know what to expect from this record before its release. After a 4-year hiatus, Damon Albarn moonlighting as a two-dimensional member of the (inferior) Gorillaz, the band’s decision to hire Fatboy Slim as producer, and the loss of founding guitarist Graham Coxon (the main reason I liked the band in the first place), I was extremely worried. But if there is one thing Blur has proven album after album, it’s that you should always expect the unexpected and they will always deliver the goods. This one is no different. Unlike any of their previous albums, and yet still undeniably Blur, this one finds the band alive and well and (who would have guessed it) at the top of their game. I only hope it doesn’t take them another 4 years for the follow–up.
6. The Rapture – Echoes (Universal/Strummer)
I thought the Cure stopped making good albums in 1989? Oh yeah, they did, but luckily these guys have picked up the slack. Without even so much as a hint of the gloom that was inherent in all the best Cure songs, the Rapture’s amalgam of post-punk, funk, disco and dance music sounds like Robert Smith & Co. playing at Studio 54 after gobbling 3 hits of ecstasy. If any of you are having trouble imagining what that’s like, here’s a hint: FUCKING AWESOME!!!
5. Smoky and Miho – The Two EPs (Os Afros Sambas)
Smoky Hormel (Beck’s former guitarist/multi-instrumentalist) and Miho Hatori (one half of Cibo Matto) teamed up to do a 5-song EP covering the music of Bossanova master Baden Powell. The collaboration was so successful they teamed up to do another 5-song EP of original material inspired by Powell’s music. As the title suggests, this album collects both EPs onto one CD. There is nothing “retro” or “trendy” about these songs. The care and devotion these two put into authentically recreating the sounds of Bossanova are undeniable, making for a flawless, rewarding listen. Had I had sex with an actual human being (other than myself) in 2003, this would have definitely been playing in the background.
4. Viktor Vaughn - Vaudeville Villain (Sound Ink)
Viktor Vaughn is MF Doom is King Geedorah is Metal FIngers is Zev Love X is Super Villain is Daniel Dumile. When it’s that difficult simply identifying the man behind the mask (literally) you can imagine how exhausting it would be to even begin describing the sound contained within this warped, twisted, sci-fi-on-steroids, soon-to-be-classic mindfuck of a hip-hop masterpiece. Essential.
3. The Wrens – The Meadowlands (Absolutely Kosher)
Suspiciously absent from the music world for the last 7 years, the best band to come out of New Jersey since Trixter is back, albeit a bit older, a bit wiser and a lot mellower. But time has only made them stronger and more focused, and the fact that they turn the volume down only makes it that much more jarring when they eventually (inevitably) turn it up. A fully realized song cycle brimming with inventiveness at every turn will hopefully put these guys on people’s radar (at least outside of Monmouth County). Of course, all of this goes to prove only one thing: never underestimate people from New Jersey.
2. Sufjan Stevens – Greetings From Michigan (Asthmatic Kitty/Sounds Familyre)
Every once in a while an album literally materializes out of the ether, with no hype, no buzz and no advance warning as to the brilliance found within. This is that album. Everything about it, from the gorgeous, off-key arrangements to the heartbreaking melodies to the wide array of instruments employed (a vast majority of which Stevens plays himself), demands the listener sit up and take notice. It is almost impossible not to listen to the whole thing in its entirety. Apparently it’s a concept album about his home state or something, but all of that was lost on me – the lyrics are universal enough that they apply to everyone (even if you’re not from Saginaw). All I know is that when I hear this CD, I am instantly transported to another world where, for that one hour, everything is how it should be.
1. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow (Sub Pop)
Thank god I’m not diabetic because this album would surely kill me. Songs this sugary sweet and contagious can only be harmful to your health. The Shins found themselves in the unenviable position of following up a stunning debut, 2001’s critically-acclaimed Oh, Inverted World (not only one of my favorite albums of 2001, but one of the best albums to be released in the last 10 years). Needless to say, expectations were ridiculously high. But out of that record’s shadow comes this stellar follow-up which, while not as instantly warm and familiar as the debut, has countless merits of its own. Repeated listens reveal layer upon layer of impossibly intricate-yet-catchy melodies (and countermelodies, and counter-countermelodies) and James Mercer’s lyrics are pure poetry (strangely reminiscent of one Steven Patrick Morrissey). Every album should be this perfect.
0 notes