Overlooked Albums of 2009

It’s July… why are we posting Best Of lists? Well, last year being my first year tasting life as a music critic, I wasn’t all that great at keeping up with new releases and as 2010 began my list of “overlooked” albums began to accumulate. Now, over halfway through the year, I feel like I need to give some recognition to several remarkable albums that I missed last year. Many of these would probably replace other albums I put on my Favourite Albums of 2009 list, but that won’t be modified. It goes with Top 10 Songs of 2009, also posted recently.

So this list is basically what I’ve been sparingly working on since late May; something lengthy for not having posted much recently. But it’s also a goodbye for another month as I’m leaving for a camping trip to Yosemite this coming Thursday and upon my return will head off to journalism camp in central Washington. So… this will likely be the last entry for a period of time.

1. Ashes Grammar – A Sunny Day in Glasgow

Ashes Grammar created a whole new sounds for “dream pop” that artists like Cocteau Twins never managed to introduce when the genre first emerged. It’s about as close as you’ll get to dreaming with your eyes open. While that doesn’t exactly set it up as an album to fall asleep to (careful for “Canalfish”), broken up into pieces, it works as the perfect soundtrack for a quiet moment during the day when you just want to, well… daydream…

2. S/T – Fever Ray

I don’t know much about electronic music. I know that the term “electronic music” is very broad. I know to avoid anything that musically-un-oriented people call “techno”. I know that Deadmau5 sucks ass. But beyond that, the musical ocean encompassing all things electronic is dark and murky to me. I can’t even begin to name any of its currents. I can, however, tell you that the cold Scandinavian waters which Fever Ray originates from, though indefinable, are definitely worth exploring.

[When I Grow Up]

3. Hymn to the Immortal Wind – Mono

I don’t understand any negativity surrounding this album. You Are There is just a tiny breeze compared to the Immortal Wind! No, but all stupid jokes aside, this is my favourite post-rock release of last year and favourite Mono release period. With Immortal Wind, the band took a more orchestral-oriented approach in their sound and it worked beautifully. We still hear the same loud guitars, but the dramatic soundscapes they create also have a delicate air enclosing them. The album continuously tests the boundaries of that thin surface, often enough breaking through the shell to give us a taste of that reckless post-rock chaos… Mono style, of course.

[Follow The Map]

…but please do listen to the entire album

4. jj n° 2– jj

For some reason I associate jj with The xx quite often. It could be the fact that I saw the two bands play together live. Or maybe it’s the similarity in their minimalistic album covers. It could even be their collective membership to the Duo-Letter-Double-Syllable club. Most importantly, I think there’s a musical connection. In my mind, I see both groups as making very sweet, spacious music. It’s the first thing that comes to mind when trying to describe jj n° 2. It’s buoyant and lighthearted almost to the point of being childish. The not-quite-30-minute album is comprised of gentle, ambient soundscapes laden with flickering island sounds and jumpy percussion. It’s hard to take seriously, but it’s also hard to not give in. Whether its friendly nature has anything to do with the album cover is up for you to decide.

5. Service Bell EP – Years of Rice and Salt

When looking at the more underground side of the post-rock scene, Years of Rice and Salt is one name which immediately comes to mind. Their debut Service Bell EP, 4 songs about a ship wreck, is a near-flawless release. It’s a very promising beginning for an emerging band as I know few others that could put together something so varied into a 30-minute EP and let it sound this effortless. There’s no trick of complexity, just the typical post-rock elements and some obvious ability.

[download entire album]

6. You Will Never Know Why – Sweet Trip

Sometimes it’s necessary to view an artist’s works independently from each other as they are too varied to make reasonable comparisons. In the case of Sweet Trip, this statement stands accurate. The band’s well acclaimed sophomore release, Velocity : Design : Comfort, a dizzying mix of glitch and spacey dream pop could at best be a distant cousin of follow-up album, You Will Never Know Why, the only noticeable similarity being the vocals. In 6 years time since V : D : C’s release, the band shot out some of their innovation in exchange for a catchier, poppier sound. But with horn and synth embellished pop songs lasting into 5 and 6 minutes, You Will Never Know Why is anything but a conventional pop album; rather a stylistic twist on mixed influences.

7. What It Takes To Move Forward – Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate)

While it may come as a surprise, I do like emo a lot. Unfortunately, I don’t happen to know much about the genre so I haven’t dove into it too much yet. Empire! Empire! is therefore not a band I happened to randomly stumble upon, but rather one I heard about a lot. Their music is layered with those nice twinkly guitars, but they also have a unique vocalist. His soft voice, which always reminds of Anthony Green’s (minus Green's occasional whininess) fits in very naturally amongst the mixed guitar melodies. (I know the comparison seems like a stretch to many, but I guarantee you that there is a likeness). The album has a pleasant simplicity to it and is very easy to listen to.

8. Hospice – The Antlers

There is some music meant to be listened to only in the early hours of the morning, during a silent and undisturbed night. Often, this is grounds for ambient and post-rock music that needs that space and silence to be fully felt and heard. While Hospice isn’t an entirely quiet album, it deserves that careful attention to be sincerely appreciated. The album’s secret lies in its dramatic atmosphere and delicacy. Its softer sections lie in wait to be contrasted with their outspoken counterparts. This intimate balance gives the music a chilly, but cozy feeling. The icy lyrics contrastingly shed all sense of innocence, forcing the listener into a naked corner completely lacking of any comfort.

[Two]

9. Fuck Your Emotional Bullshit – Snowing

“WHYYYY CAN’T... SEE THE SUNSPOTS IN YOUR EYESSS?” …Yes, more unexpected emo. This is just a 13-minute demo, but it’s a very nice listen. I imagine that the vocals, nowhere as subtle as that of Empire! Empire!, are very hit-or-miss. I found that they appeal to me very much (and I like falsettos ;). But if “Important Things (Specter Magic)” just isn’t doing it for you, I guess you could just stare at the album artwork, which is almost as nice.

[download entire album]

10. Post-Nothing – Japandroids

It’s difficult to find something to say about Post-Nothing as it basically speaks for itself. It is raw emotion picked up from a dirty street and sung against a thick wall of noise. It holds back nothing, waits for nothing, and regrets nothing. It understands before you even ask it to. It’s the most simple and honest rock album to exist and I want it to soak up all my feelings and memories so I play them back one summer evening in a rush of nostalgia.

[Young Hearts Spark Fire]
[Wet Hair]

11. Hush – Asobi Seksu

Hush is in no way a flawless follow-up to 2006’s Citrus. The band’s sophomore effort was a cheery shoegazing triumph perhaps too curious to even be labeled. In many ways, it strode out further than Hush even dared. Hush is therefore set to perform within fairly tight confinements, but it finds a comfortable balance floating by on dream pop clouds instead of testing the limits of shoegaze. With whirling keyboard sounds, droopy guitar lines, and Yuki’s light soothing vocals, these are in no way not storm clouds, but identical white whisps scattered evenly over a pale sky.

[Transparence]
[Me & Mary]

12. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – Phoenix

While Phoenix cannot avoid being of Montreal clones on Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, they are pretty damn good at it. What makes up Wolfgang is an assortment of quirky pop songs that could only be meant to be summertime jams. The highly energetic “Lisztomania” and “1901” are the obvious hits of the record and while it’s tempting to listen to them exclusively, the remainder of the album is short enough and inviting enough to allow an easy escape into more glorious pop.

[1901]

- - -

[currently listening to: Iamundernodisguise - School of Seven Bells]

Posted by Anna at July 13, 2010 11:57 PM