It's been close to a month since I've posted. What was the reason for my break from blogging? Well, since there are a multitude of factors, I'll just say it was summer. There are thousands of songs about the sweetest season. Here are fifteen of my favourites.
It wasn't hard to choose my favourite ten albums of 2010. For most, the past year in music may be remembered as the year some endured sweating through Beiber fever or the year of the feel good "Fuck You" anthem. However I'll remember the audio antics of 2010 another way. Here's the list of my favourite ten albums of the year; in no particular order.
Mark Ronson & the Business Intl. - Record Collection
Record Collection manages to sound unique and familiar all at once. Most likely because Ronson first entered the music industry as a turntablist who was known for mixing and producing (he won a Grammy as Producer of the Year for his work with Amy Winehouse; then had it out with her via twitter.) Ronson, the son of Foreigner guitarist Mick Ronson, is heavily influenced by hip-hop and the affect that genre had on him is evident on Record Collection. The album features pop anthems (Bang Bang Bang,) songs about love gone sour (You Gave Me Nothing, Somebody to Love Me) and instrumental snippets (Selector, Circuit Breaker, The Colour of Crumar.) Record Collection also boats an impressive guest list featuring MNDR, Q-Tip, Simon LeBon, Ghostface Killah and Rose Elinor Dougall of the Pipettes.
The Bike Song featuring Kyle Falconer & Spank Rock
TOKiMONSTA - Midnight Menu
Much like her techno contemporary Flying Lotus, L.A.'s Jennifer Lee melds electronic and orchestral sources to create something completely fresh. Midnight Menu has moments of chill out coolness (Sweet Day,) fuzzy journeys (Questing,) disco throwbacks (Death By Disco) and old school drum and bass (Cheese Smoothie.) Electronic music fans everywhere are clamouring to hear what TOKiMONSTA will serve up next.
Sweet Day
Sa Mo Jung
The National - High Violet
The National's album High Violet certainly soared high on the charts; reaching #2 in Canada and #3 in the US. It's not hard to see,or hear, why this NYC-based band's fifth studio album has been so successful. Matt Berninger's beat down baritone vocals spin subdued stories matched by late '90s-inspired guitar driven music. Which is fitting as The National was born out of the post punk scene. Tracks like Blood Buzz Ohio and Afraid of Everyone manage to make High Violet depressive yet somehow delightful.
Lemonworld
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
Musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett are three times lucky with Gorillaz's third outing. With a diverse guest list including Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, Little Dragon, Lou Reed and Mos Def, this album will make you forget that its title is inspired by a huge environmental catastrophe. Plastic Beach includes moments of orchestral grandeur (Orchestral Intro, Pirate's Progress,) greatly done grime (White Flag,) and slippery, clubby grooves (Empire Ants.) Plastic Beach once again shows that these animated, anthropomorphised apes are able to appeal to all by constantly changing their creative chatter.
Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach featuring Snoop Dog
Empire Ants featuring Little Dragon (live)
Surfer Blood - Astro Coast
Surfer Blood's sound is more snowy than sunny. However the band hails from West Palm Beach, Florida and their debut album, Astro Coast, has given countless critics the chills. Lead singer John Paul Pitts may have a kind of a d-bag voice but that hasn't stopped the music buying masses from falling in love with this album; especially the tracks Swim and Catholic Pagans.
Anchorage
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Back with another concept album, Montreal natives Arcade Fire have gone from an obscure indie rock band to world wide acclaim in seven short years. Deliciously distopian, The Suburbs has been nominated for the Album of the Year Grammy Award; further proof Win Butler and company are setting the world ablaze with their counterculture consciousness.
Modern Man
Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II/2010)
Occasionally caustic (Doe Deer, I Am Made of Chalk) and sometimes clear and cloudless (Suffocation, Vietnam,) Toronto duo Crystal Castles have built a fortress of in your face techno pop. The album was recorded at odd locations such as an abandoned church in Iceland and a cabin in Northern Ontario. Music maker Ethan Kath recorded the album's instrumentation and then handed off CD-Rs of the music to vocalist Alice Glass who would then pen lyrics. An innovative method for making music has made for an unprecedented record. Crystal Castles was long listed for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize and Pitchfork bestowed the album with the label "Best New Music."
Not In Love
Year of Silence
Land of Talk - Cloak & Cipher
In an interview I conducted with Land of Talk lead singer Liz Powell for SoundProof, Powell said she hoped her next album would find her getting back to the sound that made her want to play music in the first place. If the sound she was after was well thought out pop rock, then Powell has achieved her goal. On the Montreal band's second full length album, Powell effortlessly shifts from hard rock (Swift Coin) to billowy pop (Quarry Hymns) making for a fully realized and mature album.
Blangee Blee
Wavves - King of the Beach
Nathan Williams of Wavves may be a bit unconventional, much like his noise pop music. In 2009, after allegedly taking a combination of ecstasy and Valium, he was forced to cancel his set at the Barcelona Primevera Sound Festival. This incident caused caused the only other member of Wavves to quit. Yet on King of the Beach he doesn't shy away from talking about addiction (Post Acid) or self loathing (Green Eyes.) The title track is a kiss off song, demonstrating that Williams may be a screw up but he also possesses confidence and resilience. King of the Beach may not be for everyone but this album is far more coherent than anything else Wavves has put out (see Weed Demon or So Bored.) Wavves doesn't think outside of the box; Wavves uses the box as an amphitheater.
Green Eyes
King of the Beach
Jenny & Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now
Girlfriend/boyfriend Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice have crafted an alternative country score that is both saccharine and bittersweet. Lewis may have an acid tongue however the lyrics she croons are as soft as rabbit fur. Sharp melodies like Scissor Runner perfectly showcase the duo's talents and their cutting narratives make for some of the best musical storytelling that's been put out in years.
Land of Talk's set at Ottawa Bluesfest '09 was a victim of circumstance. Originally set to take to the Blacksheep stage at 4:45 pm, their set was switched to 6:15 pm. Then the band's start time was abruptly changed to 4:15, which resulted in me missing their set. Dejected and disappointed I retreated to the media room. Luckily for me, and for you dear readers, with help from festival staff I landed an interview with Land of Talk front woman Elizabeth Powell. Personable and cheery, Powell’s bright disposition was the perfect contrast to the gloomy, rainy day.
Bradley: I am so sorry I missed your set, how did it go? Elizabeth Powell: There were a few technical snags, other than that I thought it was a pretty beautiful set. From our perspective looking out over the little hill and the sun was pretty low in the sky and the clouds were hanging; it looked like there was a sense of impending doom because you could see all the dark clouds approaching. The rain didn't hit until after our show but yeah it was beautiful.
B: You have been touring a lot lately. How has the road been treating you? EP: We released the album [Some Are Lakes] in October and we toured with Broken Social Scene. I was also singing with Broken Social Scene and playing guitar with them on that tour. That was until December and then I blew out my vocal cords. We had to cancel all the January, February and March shows. They thought I had to get surgery which I avoided. I completely healed on my own, it just took a lot longer. Now I have to wear those in ear monitors, which is better, I can hear myself better.
B: You played in various bands in Guelph before creating Land of Talk. Did those experiences shape the musical identity you possess today? EP: Sometimes I get frustrated that I don't as sound as much like basement rock or indie pop-rock. It was a real Guelph sound. There was Jim Guthrie and the Constantines; well some of them are from Guelph. There was a total scene there it was very authentic. It was very punk rock. Sometimes I get frustrated that I haven't kept all of that. On the next album you are going to see us trying to get closer to what made me want to play music in the first place.
B: You have said the music you played before was much quieter than Land of Talk's sound. Is that accurate? EP: It was much quieter then and that's why I started playing with other people. I thought there was probably a better way to achieve the sound I wanted, which was kind of a Blonde Redhead, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, Tortoise, Nirvana kind of sound.
B: Have you toured extensively in the States? EP: We got started in the States. We were asked to replace Hot Spring. They couldn't make it to a 'Musique Sans Frontieres' show which is a 'music without boarders' kind of thing in New York. So they recommended us and we went. We got a lot of buzz. People started blogging about us and we landed a tour with Fiery Furnaces. That was our first tour we didn't even have a label we were still burning CD-Rs and making our own little packages. We just kind of went from there and then in Canada we started playing shows here and there. But we haven’t really done a lot of extensive touring in Canada it's kind of hard as a lot of stuff is really far away. It’s like '800 hours until Winnipeg.'
B: The song Magnetic Hill from Applause Cheer Boo Hiss is one of my favourite songs. What is it about? EP: (Laughs) It’s not about Magnetic Hill. Our drummer, Bucky [Mark Wheaton] is from Moncton, he will just call out the names of the songs. Like Speak to Me Bones. A lot of our song names are just Bucky throwing out some wacky idea. It’s really just more quirkiness and being nonsensical.
B: What is coming up in the future for Land of Talk? EP: We are rehearsing to record on this week and then we are doing an EP. We are going to do a cover of one of my favourite musicians Mary Margaret O’Hara. She was born in the ‘50s; she is from my mom’s generation. My mom went to art school with her. She had an album released in ‘88 called Miss America; it's amazing I think it's very hard to get. It took me 3 months to get it. I ordered it. We are doing one of her songs because I grew up with that album on vinyl. The EP [2009's Fun and Laughter] will also have 4 new songs, we are recording at Breakglass studio in Montréal.
B: Thank you so much for your time. EP: No, thank you. You really warmed me up; I hope I didn’t ramble on too long.
Cloak and Cipher was recorded from October 2009 to January 2010 also at Breakglass studio. Produced by Jace Lasek, in addition to Powell the album features Andrew Barr on drums, Eoin Olaoghaire on bass and members of Arcade Fire and Stars.
