CvaldaVessalis's Last.fm Journal

The Vessalis Music Awards 2009 Including My #1 Album Of The Year

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:34:09 +0000

I'll try to keep a gush to a minimum when discussing my favorite album of 2009 for a multitude of reasons:

1) This talented lady has had more plaudits thrown at her than nearly any other musician/act to release an album this year;

2) Hers was one of the first albums I listened to this year, and despite her position fluctuating, she has always remained in my Top 3 for nearly twelve months;

3) I've seen her live twice, the first being her premier UK appearance opening for Röyksopp and the second being her last ever performance under her solo moniker (for the foreseeable future, anyway...)

4) Her album is a joyously eerie piece of work, at once humble and epic, creepy and soothing, impossibly grand and filled with nervy nuance. It is, quite simply, the most evocative presentation of another world beyond our own that has been created this year.

So, Cvalda/Dibder's Album Of The Year award for 2009 belongs to...

Fever Ray by Fever Ray

But y'all already knew that!!!

Please find below the breakdown of the rest of my awards...

Best Group Album Of The Year
Riceboy Sleeps by Jónsi & Alex

Best Female Solo Album Of The Year
Lovetune for Vacuum by Soap&Skin

Best Male Solo Album Of The Year
Yesterday and Today by The Field

Best Debut Album Of The Year
Seek Magic by Memory Tapes

Best Single/Video Of The Year
Help I'm Alive by Metric

Best Alternative Album Of The Year
Riceboy Sleeps by Jónsi & Alex

Best Country/Folk Album Of The Year
Dear John by Loney, Dear

Best Dance Album Of The Year
Moderat by Moderat

Best Electronic Album Of The Year
Begone Dull Care by Junior Boys

Best Hip Hop/Rap Album Of The Year
Man On The Moon: The End of The Day by Kid Cudi

Best Pop Album Of The Year
Complete Me by Frankmusik

Best R&B/Soul Album Of The Year
BLACKsummers'night by Maxwell

Best Rock Album Of The Year
Fantasies by Metric

Special Award For The Album With The Most Glamorous 'Featured Guest' Roster
The Spirit Of Apollo by N.A.S.A. which featured:
David Byrne, Gift Of Gab, Chuck D, Method Man, RZA, John Frusciante, Fatlip, Karen O, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Tom Waits, Kanye West, Santigold, Lykke Li, Amanda Blank, Lovefoxxx, Spank Rock, M.I.A., Nick Zinner, Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Ghostface Killah, DJ AM, Nina Persson and many more...

So, Karin took the biggest prize, with Metric and Jónsi & Alex taking two awards apiece also... and that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I thought of what 2009 had to offer with regards to music! Please let me know of any omissions or inclusions that rubbed you the wrong way and leave all comments below!

Until next time... xxx

Cvalda/Dibder's Top 100 Albums Of 2009 (20-2)

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:30:26 +0000

And now we're at the final stretch, so expect plenty of nominees and a few out-of-leftfield surprises... Aww, who am I fooling??! If y'all know me, you'll know exactly what's coming, so let's just cut to the chase...

20. xx by The xx
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Debut Album Of The Year
Best Alternative Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Xx is nervy and self-contained, the product of a new band thinking a lot harder about topics-- sex, composition, volume-- than we are accustomed to new bands thinking. It is so fully formed and thoughtful that it feels like three or four lesser, noisier records should have preceded it." Link
Guardian: "The Xx's debut seems to have arrived out of nowhere ... the album will win many friends for its beautifully haunting, understated charms." Link
What I Said: "The kind of dream-pop/indie rock debut that merits repeat listens even after those post-night out sessions with close friends, it's the first album I've come across that has done well to stay homegrown rather than spun into something recognizably hip for fad-listeners."

19. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Rock Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "While the album's 10 songs are arranged and executed with virtuoso pop-rock precision, they chronicle nothing but angst, confusion, disappointment, and despair. It's truly universal-- everybody live, love, and die." Link
NME: "It’s often said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Conversely, Phoenix are what architects should dance to ... Emotionally neutral but texturally rich – they’re the sound of Richard Rogers’ Utopian future." Link
What I Said: "More tolerable in its perky pop riffs than Passion Pit, whilst certainly being more adept at harnessing the electronic signatures that permeate throughout, Phoenix guilessly straddle the line between sophisticated indie and dancey rock to offer up a swoonsomely sonic treat."

18. jj n° 2 by jj
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Debut Album Of The Year
Best Alternative Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "They're as naive as they are cynical-- or is it the other stupid way around?-- and they manage to be pretty, touching, funny, and motivating, in different ways, in all the right places, for nine songs lasting 28 minutes." Link
PopMatters: "At low volumes, and heard all the way through, jj n° 2 is like putting a seashell to your ear and hearing the waves crash off in the distance. Pick up that same seashell ten years later, and the water will still be there." Link
What I Said: "Little is known, except their releasing this debut album from the Sincerely Yours label; mind you, with harmonies and buoyant melodies this lovely perhaps a visual identity isn't necessarily needed."

17. Complete Me by Frankmusik
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Male Solo Album Of The Year
Best Pop Album Of The Year

Guardian: "In thrall to the cheesiest end of 1980s electropop, Complete Me matches gleaming textures to catchy choruses and grandiose, bleeding-heart ballads to svelte disco stompers." Link
NME: "From its opening few bars, Frankmusik's debut is annoying. Like, 'how can I turn this off, smash the stereo and contact a hitman simultaneously?' annoying. It's just nothing." Link
What I Said: "Vincent Frank adds further fuel to the fire surrounding his hype with a really quite fabulous power-pop record that, unlike many of his presently more popular contemporaries, is blessed with both an unlikely emotional investment in the music as well as a resourceful intelligence."

16. Lovetune for Vacuum by Soap&Skin
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Female Solo Album Of The Year
Best Debut Album Of The Year
Best Alternative Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Plaschg recorded Lovetune For Vacuum, her debut album, while still a teenager, and the record is in many ways a document of what an ugly, awkward, erratic-- and, occasionally, glorious and transcendent-- process growing up can be." Link
NME: "She avoids the trap of presenting us with an exercise in self-loathing; this is a brutal dissection of love and innocence crushed. From among Teutonic swine, a dark and clouded pearl emerges." Link
What I Said: "'Prodigious' is a word often tossed around when writing about breakthrough artists, but the assured hand with which she composes and produces these works promises an interesting future ahead of her."

15. Man Of Aran by British Sea Power

BBC: "n a world where most indie shufflers are so desperate to cling to success that they would never risk surprising their audience, British Sea Power are to be cherished for their originality and daring. The strange and beautiful Man Of Aran demonstrates why." Link
PopMatters: "At the end of the day, the likes of Mogwai and Sigur Rós all do this kind of music better ... Nevertheless, props are due for the effort as I shudder to think where they could have gone with it. At least they tried." Link
What I Said: "The result is at once classical and rock-oriented, admirably almost-entirely instrumental and further proof that some UK acts aren’t all redundant swagger and facile chants."

14. Miike Snow by Miike Snow
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Dance Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Pop's biggest producer-to-artist success stories, such as Kanye West, have become exceptions thanks in part to their outsize personalities. That's where Miike Snow start to fall short ... Miike Snow aren't half as potentially infuriating as a Kanye or a Timbaland, but they aren't half as lovable, either." Link
NME: "Most ‘proper’ bands would hack off their own genitals to get a sniff of the hooks Miike Snow piss away. Then again, for all the deft artistry on display here, it’s a bit bloodless." Link
What I Said: "Awash with plaintive, elegant and sophisticated pop that seems to be running throughout most Scandinavian musicians’ blood these days ... Snow’s eponymous first release only shocks in how wonderfully wrought some of these pop masterpieces are."

13. The Resistance by Muse
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Rock Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Judged on its own terms-- out of control scale, genre-smashing ambition, musical and vocal virtuosity-- The Resistance is a success ... It's an album you can embrace or get the fuck out of its way. There's really no in between." Link
Guardian: "The wholeheartedness with which this album hurls itself into the abyss of cod-symphonic astral pretension is to be commended." Link
What I Said: "The album confounds still with some of the most bonkers grandstanding that rock music has to offer this year ... such an excessive, relentless explosion of an album."

12. Entertainment by Fischerspooner
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Dance Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "So Entertainment might be music for their performances, it might be for others' dance performances, but it's not for the dance floor. Those halves that don't quite fit? They're begging to be pulled apart and put back together by heavier hands." Link
Allmusic: "A mixed bag, then, but with enough classicist synth pop pleasures to satisfy the committed and the curious. It's far from revolutionary and it's certainly not deep, but as often as not, Entertainment at least manages to live up to its title." Link
What I Said: "Messrs Fischer and Spooner have fine-tuned their music into the now-popular electro-pop movement just enough to sound radio friendly for a new listenership, but still retain some awesome electro-squelches and darker-than-most lyrics to keep their dance-head followers pleased."

11. Moon by Clint Mansell
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Male Solo Album Of The Year

NME: "we’ll review anything with even the most tenuous link to David Bowie so here goes: this is a truly beautiful ambient work, achingly sad and really quite eerie." Link
Drowned In Sound: "In searching for a soundtrack composer, Duncan Jones couldn’t have found a more perfect choice than the schizoid, career-hopping Mansell, who appears to have completely rewired his musical DNA ... the music insidiously becomes a deeply rooted part of the overall experience, rather than a piece of art that simply supplements the action." Link
What I Said: "With subtle electronic effects, a quietly devastating string motif and moving piano pieces, Mansell has crafted his finest score yet ... rich with tenderness, melancholy, fear and sheer beauty."

10. Dear John by Loney, Dear
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Male Solo Album Of The Year
Best Country/Folk Album Of The Year

BBC: "Dear John is Loney Dear's moment. It's the sound of an artist starting to fly. It's also an invitation to you to discover what came before, and a chance to envelope yourself and investigate a whole new world of a new favourite artist." Link
PopMatters: "It’s not easy to pinpoint what it is about Dear John that has such a powerful, lasting effect. Its tools are exceedingly familiar, but the results aren’t—don’t think Loney, Dear’s latest direction has been cribbed from anywhere. Let it sink in, and Loney, Dear soon whispers/sings/shouts out." Link
What I Said: "It’s always something to admire when an album’s more uptempo licks seamlessly ebb alongside its more languid moments of introspection and heartbreak without summoning too much attention to itself. In a year already bursting at the seams with wannabe promoters of Jeff Buckley’s legacy, Emil Svanängen’s latest effort is an early standout."

9. Junior by Röyksopp
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Dance Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "While it might be oversimplifying matters to suggest that it splits the difference between the cute, poppy Röyksopp and the darker, techno-friendly Röyksopp, the most satisfying thing about Junior is how convincingly they've bridged that divide." Link
Guardian: "There's a gorgeously indulgent quality to Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland's third album. As if determined to shake off their simplistic yet lingering reputation as purveyors of pleasant musical wallpaper for clothes shops and TV soundbeds, the Norwegian duo have gone for broke this time around." Link
What I Said: "[It] will surely be spun many times leading up to and during the summer months, a flirtily electric affair positing some of the finest joy-pop moments of their career ... Don’t you love it when bands spoil their fans like this?"

8. Fantasies by Metric
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Group Album Of The Year
Best Single/Video Of The Year
Best Rock Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "In the end , Fantasies' other crowd-pleasers are, unsurprisingly, songs with big hooks, bursting choruses, and slick synths ... and despite the fanbase-building qualities of their new-wave past, the more the group embraces an inky, ambient future, the better it could get." Link
Guardian: "The stridency is turned down for Fantasies, and the losses - the punky urgency - are outweighed by the gains. Haines still has much to say about the state of the world, but the slinky, sexy tones are the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down." Link
What I Said: "It would appear that the band are more eager to grab the brass ring of international breakthrough status than ever before, Fantasies being chock full of rock pop ditties that do well to sate appetites of both respectable genrehounds and the more passing listener."

7. Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Group Album Of The Year
Best Alternative Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Music obsessives talk a lot about originality-- whether it's important, or why having a new sound should or shouldn't matter ... This album feels like the crucial next step in that conversation. What they've constructed here is a new kind of electronic pop-- one which is machine-generated and revels in technology but is also deeply human, never drawing too much attention to its digital nature." Link
NME: "Listen hard. Focus on each sound, analyse it, pin it down, pull it apart. It’ll just shift under your gaze and run off laughing. Or you could just run with it." Link
What I Said: "Harnessing the thrillingly misshapen chaos that characterised their earlier works with a heavier bent towards electronic music, AC have served up their most commercially appealing album yet, but that doesn't mean that there is a dearth of avant-garde surprises to be had."

6. Seek Magic by Memory Tapes
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Male Solo Album Of The Year
Best Debut Album Of The Year
Best Electronic Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "A record of achingly gorgeous dance-pop that captures both the joy of nostalgia and the melancholic sense that we're grasping for good times increasingly out of reach." Link
Drowned In Sound: "I waited for Seek Magic's release tingling like a tuning fork and hoping he wouldn't pull a The Big Pink on me. He didn't. Seek Magic is probably my favourite album of the year. A slightly overdue thank you, Mr. Hawke." Link
What I Said: "It’s a lovely, ruminative, serene and spiky record that always manage to offer up something new every time that you listen to it and an immensely accomplished debut from a singer/songwriter/producer who defies the blogpop generalising afforded by so many solo-producer albums with assured talent and credibility."

5. Yesterday and Today by The Field
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Male Solo Album Of The Year
Best Dance Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Yesterday And Today calculatingly comprises three songs that extend the known rush of [debut album] From Here We Go Sublime ... and three very different potential future directions for the Field discography." Link
Onion: "Though it’s on par with its predecessor in terms of repetition, Yesterday And Today is also on that level in terms of quality—which should mean no disappointments." Link
What I Said: "Nothing on his sophomore effort quite betters the minimalist sophistication on his debut, but it certainly demonstrates that Willner isn’t afraid to incorporate more live percussive elements in his work ... Expect this to be played at A LOT of chill-out sessions this summer."

4. Begone Dull Care by Junior Boys
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Group Album Of The Year
Best Electronic Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "It is hard not to marvel at how assured the Boys have grown as producers ... when I call Begone Dull Care a "mature" album, know it skirts both the positive and negative connotations of one of the most divisive adjectives in pop's lexicon." Link
Allmusic: "At first, these songs seem to lack distinction from one another, but the duo's painstaking attention to detail and nuance gradually glints through." Link
What I Said: "One of the most beguilingly curious facets to emerge from electro-pop over the past decade is the fact that most of the funkier, sexier sounds to emerge from this genre happen to be coming from the most unlikely of progenitors ... the Boys have single-handedly concocted one of the most charmingly flirty records of recent years... The fact that they look like stand-ins for The Big Bang Theory only makes them evermore charming!"

3. Moderat by Moderat
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Group Album Of The Year
Best Dance Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "The good news is that (for the most part) they pulled it off. Long stretches of Moderat find the three producers locked into a healthy creative symbiosis that accentuates the best parts of their individual styles." Link
ResidentAdvisor: "The music that pops out the other end of the BPitch Control sausage factory is messy, at times grating, but for the most part, a tour de flavor worthy of the English mustard." Link
What I Said: "At once unremittingly grimy and urban, urgent and primal with some unquantifiably fabulous dance-rock thrown in, it’s the most consistently brilliant work of the year so far..."

2. Riceboy Sleeps by Jónsi & Alex
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Group Album Of The Year
Best Alternative Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Really, as long as you don't give it your undivided attention, Riceboy Sleeps can keep you company in your cubicle or gridlock traffic, though I realize that's not exactly as riveting as "if there's one ambient album you own this year...!" Link
NME: "Sigur Rós once set a gold standard in pomposity by writing songs in an invented language. In releasing this, Birgisson outdoes himself." Link
What I Said: "For those who prefer their alternative music curios funky and headturning, this will do little to abate the Rós backlash inevitably mounting after their last album; but for those who enjoy beautiful music, it is essential!"

And so, that just leaves for my Album Of The Year and all of the other awards to be announced tomorrow... for those bothered enough to follow my dirge through 2009 over the past week, I applaud you... let's hope 2010 is that much better!

Keep listening and see you tomorrow! xxx

Cvalda/Dibder's Top 100 Albums Of 2009 (40-21)

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:57:01 +0000

So, now I'm on the other end of Christmas weekend and a full four-stone heavier (three Christmas dinners in as many days...!), I can carry on with my Top 100 countdown of 2009; hopefully one can expect a few more surprises before New Year's Eve when I'll be divulging my Favorite Album of 2009? If not, oh well, it's no bother... For posterity purposes, please find the next 20 long players to populate my list.

40. Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street by Jon Hassell

Pitchfork: "Melting geometrical structures with blur and bent pitches, turning breath to wind and cheating gravity with every updraft ... Wrapping your mind around this music is about as easy as grabbing a fistful of river, but that's precisely what makes it so rewarding." Link
BBC: "Last Night The Moon... offers up an impeccable soundworld which gradually reveals a sense of deeply meditative interaction from a group of individuals listening intently to one another. The music repays similar attention from the listener." Link
What I Said: "His fifteenth release plays like a troubled score for a lost film concerning a lonely figure wallowing in an alien world ... A beautifully tortured piece from an auteur long overdue for some breakthrough recognition."

39. LP by Discovery
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best R&B/Soul Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "This could be your favorite or most-hated record of the year, and there aren't many records one could say that about ... The indie world can't live on fingerpicking and textural guitars alone, and a variety of sounds and multiculturalism in indie rock isn't the enemy here; shitty Jackson 5 covers are." Link
NME: "Where every indie band keen to separate themselves from their mono-race fanbase have been banging on about their second Missy Elliott-inspired record only to churn out one that sounds like the first, at least Rostam Batmanglij has actually gone through with it. And he’s done well to hold the eccentric mélange together." Link
What I Said: "Nestling themselves inside warm bass synths and Kleerup-style keyboard flourishes, it’s the kind of lo-fi delight that takes pleasure in its own humble nature and could likely spread like wildfire ... As a backhanded celebration to the autonomous joy of the current spate of electro R&B, it’s a subversive delight."

38. Temporary Pleasure by Simian Mobile Disco
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Special Prize For Most Glamorous 'Featured Guest' Roster

Pitchfork: "It becomes clear that for a distressingly large chunk of Temporary Pleasures, the duo has forgotten to do much of interest with the backing tracks in favor of roping in a rolodex's worth of singers and rappers and hoping the songs write themselves." Link
Drowned In Sound: "Okay, so Temporary Pleasure is unlikely to win any awards for longevity, but then the clue was in the title. Sometimes all that’s needed is a massive saccharine sugar hit – it’s all good for now, and the inevitable crash can wait." Link
What I Said: "The main misgiving here though is that the guest spots are that much better than the duo working solo, but as long as they're inspired, they're in fine fetter."

37. Manners by Passion Pit

Pitchfork: "It's extroverted, brash, and unconcerned with nuance, each synthesizer used for maximum melodic impact instead of texture ... it's the sort of heart-to-heart populist record that's every bit as sincere as it is infectious." Link
NME: "You can’t begrudge them for being happy little shits, and for now it looks like they’ve saved us from a summer airbrushed over by Empire Of The Sun. Just no more handclaps, please." Link
What I Said: "At once chock full of modern dance signatures and chopped up beats, whilst at the same time retaining enough funky melody lines and frankly adorable quirks to win over pretty much anyone within earshot ... the sheer amount of good feeling bursting through each of these songs is impossible to ignore."

36. Album by Girls

Pitchfork: "There's a pillowy quality to many of the sounds on Album, but this isn't lo-fi or glo-fi or whatever. Rather, every little production flourish is so much a part of the whole that you don't notice it until the 10th or 15th listen ... [it adds] up to something elusive and fascinating-- maybe even heartbreaking." Link
Onion: "It’s better to approach Album not as what its title offers, but a collection of singles. These are the new rock ’n’ roll 45s, variations of the same sad pop song shone through the prism of a guy who’s survived his own unique heartache." Link
What I Said: "As the quartet have gone and produced an almost-delicate alt-pop record awash in gorgeous feedback and timeless walls-of-noise. Described by the band themselves as a break-up record, it takes in serene psychedelic tropes as often as it does earthy ska punk."

35. Hands by Little Boots
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Female Solo Album Of The Year
Best Pop Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "So Little Boots, with her unabashed love of pop and her honest-to-goodness instrumental ability-- check the piano-driven hidden track-- has the right package for the current moment, and if Lady GaGa and La Roux can click with the public, maybe she will, too. Then again, calling yourself pop isn't guaranteed to bring you popularity." Link
Guardian: "The result is a surprisingly modern-sounding record from an artist who has been depicted as in thrall to a kitsch vision of 80s pop ... For the most part, Little Boots sounds impressively poised, built to withstand - indeed, even deserve - the hype." Link
What I Said: "Taken in perspective though, Hands is actually quite the fabulous pop gem of an album, one of if not the best of the year; if Girls Aloud released it, it would be hailed as their best album yet."

34. BLACKsummers'night by Maxwell
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Single/Video Of The Year
Best R&B/Soul Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Music this effective is difficult, and only someone as passionate about music as they are the human heart could so successfully produce work that reflects well on both." Link
EW.com: "The Brooklyn-born crooner has changed surprisingly little in the near-decade interim ... But his sentiments rarely transcend the boudoir — and listeners lulled by the album's unvaryingly sleek, high-gloss beats may just drift off to dreamland before they get there." Link
What I Said: "The first of a duo-disc concept release, Maxwell ingratiates himself back into the upper echelons of nu-soul R&B with nary a bead of hot sweat broken."

33. The Crying Light by Antony and the Johnsons

Pitchfork: "Hegarty's use of orchestration for accent and emphasis creates undeniable power, the kind that increased sonic density likely would have lacked ... If Hegarty can craft an album this stunning about the path to paradise, just imagine how great the next one could sound, once he's actually there." Link
Guardian: "The album's big problem is not a lack of quality; it's the feeling that you've been here before, or you've been somewhere so like here as to make little difference. The Crying Light really works when it steps out of its predecessor's shadow, in every sense of the phrase." Link
What I Said: "This album has a touch more of an exultant soul than the others, and even contemplates reaching for something hopeful, which for an A&TJ album is nothing less than a surprise."

32. 11:11 by Rodrigo y Gabriela

Guardian: "There are more changes of mood and pace than in the past, with new textures provided by the addition of oud, sitar, piano, and even electric guitar." Link
Allmusic: "The very first moments of Rodrigo y Gabriela's sophomore effort, 11:11, hit the listener cold in the face, and not just because of the amazing guitar playing. Sure, it's there, but it's what anyone who heard the duo's astonishing debut would expect. No, it's the sound of the record: immediate, forceful, crystalline; it's in-your-face compelling and impossible to ignore." Link
What I Said: "Exclusively made up of the duo’s remarkable guitar playing, it transcends the commonly placed world music label to deliver something more passionate and alive than most music with hundreds more effects and sequences happening at once."

31. Yeah So by Slow Club
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Country/Folk Album Of The Year

NME: "Dishing up a mish-mash of folk, country, skiffle and oh-so-cute indie-pop sounds ... in fact, there’s a certain type of person who’ll hate it. These people – for argument’s sake we’ll call them ‘idiots’." Link
Drowned In Sound:Overall, Yeah So is a more than competent if hardly unsurprising collection that while not quite matching the energy and enthusiasm of a Slow Club live show, offers a more than palatable insight into their continuing development as potent songwriters of some regard." Link
What I Said: "Surely it says a lot not only about the musical intelligence but also the warm chemistry between the duo when the slower, intimate moments on their sharply realised debut are just as swoonsome and listenable as their louder ones with all of the bells and whistles."

30. A Brief History of Love by The Big Pink

Pitchfork: "But while sometimes you fall for the art of seduction, there's the part of us that want to be overwhelmed-- A Brief History of Love is a study in the enormity of sound doing just that, each reverbed kick drum, phasers-on-stun guitar, and wastrel vocal refuting the idea that you need to talk about the passion to express it." Link
NME: "Beneath the dissonance, the artful posturing and the pop hooks is something far more enduring: these guys have got a soul and they’re not afraid to bare it." Link
What I Said: "Positively drenched in reverb and as anthemic and rousing as it can be mournful and disturbed, it’s the kind of album that has the music press practically salivating all over it but for once it’s almost entirely justified."

29. Hospice by The Antlers

Pitchfork: "It's as vast and empathetic as loneliness itself, a generous framework through which Peter Silberman can show us almost everything: The tiny figure on the horizon and his huge shadow on the mountain, the extreme weathers roiling about him at once symbolic and real." Link
BBC: "If Hospice is ultimately an exploration of sorrow and of guilt, it’s also a testament to the human spirit, and its lasting impression is one of cathartic, hard-won transcendence." Link
What I Said: "Boasting a production history so hideously melodramatic it inspires a certain kind of awe ... [creates] a sound that is mournful, angry, delicate, forgiving and ultimately very moving."

28. See the Light by The Hours
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Rock Album Of The Year

Guardian: "Back for another crack (on Damien Hirst's label - hence the lovely sleeve), the exuberant but bitter anthems have been replaced by a bruised but definite optimism." Link
BBC: "There's something epic about it all, but it's never less than pointed and personal as surfaces splinter and edges fray under Slattery's tsunami-like piano lines and Glen's perfect storm vocals. In all: heartfelt, honest and heady." Link
What I Said: "See The Light still brims with enough songwriting dexterity, intelligence and downright gorgeousness to move the hardest of hearts."

27. The Revolution Presents: Revolution by The Revolution

Guardian: "The 50th anniversary of Castro's revolution finds Cuba's music scene isolated and stagnant. Importing seven hot-shot producers to work with local talent has produced this uneven but intriguing album." Link
What I Said: "The album can be qualified as nothing less than a success, adhering to each respective genre (tortured trip hop, sassy bossa nova, boisterous Latin hip hop) these producers throw at them with graceful ease.

26. Scars by Basement Jaxx
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Special Prize For Most Glamorous 'Featured Guest' Roster

Pitchfork: "Basement Jaxx may not have a strong brand identity, but their eagerness to toy with their formula and broaden the emotional range of their material is truly inspiring, and sometimes that matters much more than being popular and influential." Link
The Times: "Thirteen tracks, nine of them absolute corkers, the remainder edging towards the formulaic or flirting with Zero 7 levels of aural catatonia." Link
What I Said: "As a Jaxx album, it's their most emotionally downbeat yet, attested not just from the ruminative title track, but also how comparitively stripped down the arrangements are to albums past. It could even be their best..."

25. Two by Miss Kittin & The Hacker

Pitchfork: "As the next step in Kittin's conflicted evolution, Two is not that much different from (or more enjoyable than) what's preceded it. As a supposed remembrance of the heyday of electroclash, it's a nostalgia trip that's best left untaken." Link
Guardian: "[The Hacker's] skeletal beats have barely progressed since their debut, seven years ago; they certainly haven't inspired Miss Kittin to move out of autopilot." Link
What I Said: "It would appear that electroclash is aching for a return to the airwaves nearly a decade after its prominence on the UK club scene ... Sure, the beats sound that much more polished than they did eight years ago, but the slithering debauchery is still there, offset by some gorgeous electro ballads."

24. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Rock Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Like plenty of other bands in the internet era, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart seem poised to attract an audience that will far outstrip that of their easily identifiable precedents ... [they have] made a slyly confident debut that mixes sparkling melodies with an undercurrent of sad bastard mopery, and you're just being a dick if you think the past has some kind of patent on that." Link
Onion: "It becomes clear they mean what they sing, and vice-versa: They’re sensitive and sublime." Link
What I Said: "What sets Pains apart from their peers (aside from their beautiful/cumbersome moniker), is that they have managed to strike the perfect balance between nonchalant guitar-led pop and buoyant hook-laden melodies."

23. Tarot Sport by Fuck Buttons
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Electronic Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "A record that is a hell of a lot easier to like than even fans of Street Horrrsing would have expected. That was a great record, but Tarot Sport is a cut above. Perhaps surprisingly, it's also a welcoming album-- and one of the best of this already fruitful year." Link
Slant: "Tarot Sport makes its mark: easy and challenging at the same time, a mix of harsh and smooth sounds that mirrors the prickly juxtaposition of classic jazz." Link
What I Said: "Please bear in mind that for those who don’t like their jams at once trance-like in their ambience and positively ear-ringing in their drones, Tarot Sport will be a little too hard to swallow... For the more adventurous listener though, it’s a sonic highlight of the year!"

22. Man On The Moon: The End of The Day by Kid Cudi
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Debut Album Of The Year
Best Hip Hop/Rap Album Of The Year

EW.com: "The album surrounds his smash single Day 'N' Nite with an arcane story line, but you won't have to follow it to be impressed by Kid Cudi's introspective persona, ear for melody, and eclectic taste in beats." Link
PopMatters: "Kid Cudi’s take on hip-hop hedonism has as its purpose the escape from one’s own fears and neuroses. He escapes the creatures that haunt him at night by turning himself into a larger-than-life entity." Link
What I Said: "CuDi himself doesn’t disappoint, his rhymes and cadence a welcome breath of fresh air from the boisterous motor-mouthing prevalent in the less-inspired hip hop world."

21. Don't Stop by Annie
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Female Solo Album Of The Year
Best Pop Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Not every song on Don't Stop is a classic, but Annie's good taste has yielded another fine crop of pop tunes." Link
NME: "Oh boy, was it worth the wait. Though production is split three ways between Xenomania, Paul Epworth and Timo Kaukolampi, the record is all Annie’s own." Link
What I Said: "This Norwegian popstrel’s sophomore effort arrives a little late to the party after the successes of Little Boots, La Roux and Pixie Lott. Which in the end, is more than a shame, because Annie’s album is arguably the better out of the four."

And that just leaves the Top 20 to come!!! Will get back to you on those in the next couple of days, followed by the awards thereafter...

Toodles!! XXX

Cvalda/Dibder's Top 100 Albums Of 2009 (60-41)

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:54:39 +0000

So, having consumed my first of three Christmas dinners this weekend (without being a little too disgusting, the quotient of stuffing being consumed will probably be ending up tearing a new aperture in my posterior if I'm not careful!), I thought I'd better carry on with my 2009 chart sooner rather than later... So here are positions 60-41 (Doi!)...

60. Inside Your Guitar by It Hugs Back

Pitchfork: "Cuddling is out of the question, as the record's overwhelmingly melancholy tone suggests consolation rather than romantic bliss ... Even when It Hugs Back seem to hold us close, the intimacy in their music seems hollow, impersonal, and anonymous." Link
TinyMixTapes: "The further you get into this album, the more you realize that this 11-song LP actually only has three songs ... In a world where the business side of music has permeated all its other aspects, if not eradicated them entirely, this album will destroy a solid fraction of whatever idealism you may have left." Link
What I Said: "Buzzes from the speakers with all the grace of a lumbering, giant fuzzy monster waddling patiently towards you for a warm embrace ... Dynamism and cockiness are nowhere to be found here, just slightly discontented malaise delicately whipped into a gossamer-light broth."

59. Wild Young Hearts by Noisettes

Pitchfork: "If Noisettes' goal for the album was to be better and more adventurous than the debut while retaining the awesomeness of their meal ticket frontwoman, they nailed it ... No one's perfect, I guess, especially when they're trying to go from one-note to every note in the space of a single record." Link
TheTimes: "The album fizzes with energy, huge and undislodgeable pop hooks and choruses that fall over themselves ... Shoniwa and her band mates, Dan Smith and Jamie Morrison, have dusted themselves down, remembered what they love about music, and written a brilliant pop-soul album." Link
What I Said: "Straddles the line comfortably between indie, pop and soul ... with a voice both youthfully fresh and rustically soulful when it wants to be, and most of the tunes found on the CD better the single in terms of being elegantly funky slices of indie pop."

58. The Spirit of Apollo by N.A.S.A.
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Single/Video Of The Year
Best Hip Hop/Rap Album Of The Year
Special Prize For Most Glamorous 'Featured Guest' Roster

Pitchfork: "It would be nice if The Spirit of Apollo had a compelling reason to exist beyond just showing off these guys' Buddy Lists ... But when your idea of creating community is to mush artists of different genres together into a character-free paste, all you're really doing is making a good argument for genre xenophobia." Link
PopMatters: "They say too many chefs spoil the broth, but this is a little ridiculous ... The obvious complaint will be that some of the artists involved are either underused or overused." Link
What I Said: "Whilst the guest list is undeniably impressive, and the results even more so ... the whole thing coheres more like a compilation than an album. No doubt this was exactly the intention of Clean and Zegon, but it does present a slightly disjointed listen."

57. Turning The Mind by Maps

NME: "What is it at the moment with all this half-arsed, evangelical Christian hymn-aping synth music masquerading as dream-pop or screen-gaze? If I wanted to go to church I would do." Link
BBC: "The only thing more tedious than people on drugs is people who used to be on drugs talking about how they’re not on drugs anymore ... it’s a shame, because he’s still bashing out some fearsome pop songs." Link
What I Said: "Embraces elements of rock, house, trance and pop to create a nebulous whitewash of at-times inspired electro symphonies ... For those who are a little dismayed by how perky and bright most of the electropop this year has been, this one is most certainly for you."

56. Yours Truly, The Commuter by Jason Lytle
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Country/Folk Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Sounds an awful lot like a Grandaddy album-- not just another Grandaddy album, though, but a really good one ... Such care and attention show through in these songs, which generally sound a little spacier and synthier than the band's records." Link
TheIndependent: "It's hard to understand why he split up the band, so closely do these tracks follow the Grandaddy formula of folksy guitar-rock glazed with electronic washes and fronted by Lytle's fragile, reedy vocals." Link
What I Said: "Those expecting a change of meter from Lytle on this disc though will be quite disappointed, as Commuter very much plays like vintage Grandaddy, all subtle electronica mixed indelibly with slow acoustic alt-rock and Lytle’s breathy vocals awash with detached melancholy that are hard not to fall for as ever.."

55. Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Country/Folk Album Of The Year

Allmusic: "Michaelson is no longer a part-time waitress with a songwriting habit; she's a seasoned road veteran, acutely aware of what it takes to invest her audience ... Rarely does an independent album sound so assured, so polished, and so agreeable." Link
ConsequenceOfSound: "Throughout the album’s 12 tracks, strings, layered guitar, and acoustic rhythm piano dance with double-tracked harmonies, expanding the singer’s sonic palette ... confident and assured in both her singing and songwriting, expanding her sound, but maintaining her indie spirit." Link
What I Said: "Now, with this fourth album charting respectably in the Top 20 in the US, it would appear Michaelson’s finally ready to breakthrough properly; she’s certainly not hampered by a lack of bustlingly enjoyable ditties ... it’s hard to not be taken in by her charms."

54. Lungs by Florence + The Machine

Pitchfork: "Instead of giving this gothically pale 22-year-old with megaphone vox some classy pop-soul to work with à la Duffy or Adele, Lungs takes the smorgasbord approach. Welch bursts mouth wide wide over garage rock, epic soul, pint-tipping Britbeat, and-- best of all-- a mystic brand of pop that's part Annie Lennox, Grace Slick, and Joanna Newsom." Link
NME: "[The hype] all sets up the most hyped and derided singer of the year’s debut album to be the biggest love-or-loathe opinion-divider since Jigga bought his wellies for Worthy Farm. Which makes it so surprising
that Lungs is so distinctly… OK." Link
What I Said: "Welch’s hype is somewhat justified on her major label debut disc, convincingly veering between indie anthems of earthy rock bohemia, evocatively simple moments of tender admission and dreamy cosmic balladry ... Even if it doesn’t quite supersede the comparisons to Kate Bush or the relentless PR 'machine' charting her meteoric rise."

53. Thunderheist by Thunderheist
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Hip Hop/Rap Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "On their first full-length, the duo still can't hone a shtick of their own, relying instead on a bland mix of homage and innocuous one-liners ... you'd have to get pretty smashed to ignore the album's missing spirit and just dance, which, sadly, may be the point here." Link
NME: "Isis’ talk of jerking it off, jailbait, bending over and tapping the booty just aren’t clever, surreal, skewed or, disgraceful enough to provoke the same kind of amused grimace that Ghostface Killah, the ex-imprisoned one from Yo Majesty or Thunderheist’s ace labelmates New Flesh might." Link
What I Said: "Chock full of Diplo-style cuts brought to the next level of danceability with some inspired performances from Isis. Taking in hip pop criticism and borderline creepy horniness, there’s no reason why this duo can’t break it big this year."

52. Sounds Of The Universe by Depeche Mode

Pitchfork: "If the album as usual seems to have little or no bearing on anything outside the group's own, um, universe, the wheels and gears are definitely still turning and churning in the Depeche Mode machine ... Sounds Of The Universe concludes anticlimactically, an echo of its promising start." Link
DailyTelegraph: "The sonic vista of rock remained static throughout the Nineties, even regressing slightly with Britpop. Depeche Mode's electro arrangements, every sound altered and treated to create a unique sonic palette, shows up the imaginative constraints of most guitar-based rock." Link
What I Said: "The one grind against this album that can be said is that it is typical Depeche; miserable, angular, sublime and such a lovely downer that it makes arriving back to hell from a glowing paradise seem almost like a glorious homecoming."

51. Grammatics by Grammatics

NME: "A bold, ambitious and diverse collection of songs ... it seemed like Grammatics had too many ideas, they couldn’t quite decide who they wanted to be. In the end, they just decided to be themselves, and the result frequently approaches bona fide genius." Link
AbsolutePunk: "Grammatics is one of the few albums released in the last couple of years that I can actually deem "unique" ... They seem like they're ready for the spotlight and ready to go on to become something great." Link
What I Said: "Some may be affronted by the self-importance adopted by lead man Owen Brinley (trilling effeminately in an affected manner) and his less-than-merry band, yet there is still something to be said about their ability to traverse heartfelt indie balladeering and ethically ambiguous rabble rousing so confidently and sincerely."

50. Warm Heart of Africa by The Very Best

Pitchfork: "Their enthusiasm is contagious ... In drawing lines between older African genres, like highlife, and newer ones, like kwaito, and then linking those to international pop styles of various eras, Warm Heart of Africa pictures a glittering web of connectivity where national and cultural boundaries dissolve." Link
Guardian: "The problem with hearing so much music is it gets harder to be surprised. But this album defies all preconceptions and never settles into a genre that you could name and locate on the shelves or download menus." Link
What I Said: "It knocks several shades and teeth out of most pop music around today, infusing the warm harmonies and buoyant instrumentation and arrangements found in Mwamwaya’s traditional Malawi roots with beauteous pop hooks and effects to make a truly refreshing combo."

49. Introducing Dionne Bromfield by Dionne Bromfield
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Female Solo Album Of The Year
Best R&B/Soul Album Of The Year

Loft965:
Motown for children.
Introduce little Winehouse,
Feels good and sounds good.
What I Said: "Bromfield and her team have done well to transport her straight into the old-soul aesthetic with some carefully chosen classics, primarily because her voice, for a 13 year-old girl especially, is truly something to behold."

48. Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse: Present Dark Night Of The Soul by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Special Prize For Most Glamorous 'Featured Guest' Roster

Pitchfork: "Dark Night Of The Soul has been pitched as a marquee collaboration without precedent, which makes the mundane EMI copyright baloney that scrapped the project all the more depressing ... an album on which a group of musical actors present his [Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous'] work while he stands off to the side in the shadows." Link
PopMatters: "Few contemporary pop albums have spoken to the human condition so eloquently, and given the listener so much pleasure in the process ... It’s no exaggeration to say Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse have crafted a near-masterpiece." Link
What I Said: "The album confounds, enthrals, offends and entertains in equal measure, taking in moments of rough-hewn alt-rock, distortedly ravaged beauty and discordant sound design, alongside the more melodiously tuneful compositions; in short, it makes a thoroughly convincing first stab for Curio Of 2009."

47. Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future by The Bird and the Bee
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Pop Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Like a Mojave Desert mirage shimmering tantalizingly before disappearing, Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future is ultimately left little more than a string of sweet nothings, there for your fleeting pleasure. It's a pop tease." Link
PopMatters: "As the songs tumble over jazz changes and through curtains of digital sparkles and effects, George is confident and on point. Kurstin fills each construction with the just the right amount of layers, balancing space-age (i.e. a ‘60s definition of “space-age”) bleeps and blurps with subtler swaths of organ to support George’s lines." Link
What I Said: "Their latest work features all kinds of delightful electro-jazz numbers, with George's aloof yet chirpily sweet vocals effortlessly gliding along the duos melodies ... it is also a credible evolution from the quaint loveliness of their first effort."

46. Songs About Dancing And Drugs by Circlesquare

Pitchfork: "Ultimately, the album is about the value of participating in culture through the communal aspects of art and music, which is sort of ironic given that this is a record best suited to being heard alone, with a good set of headphones." Link
ResidentAdvisor: "Circlesquare's third LP is a tremendous comedown record, but not in the therapeutic sense, because it sounds actually too much like a comedown to help you forget your own ... the dancing and drugs are gone, having taken all the pleasures of the night with them." Link
What I Said: "This isn’t a happy, summery dance record, as its sonicspace traverses minimal electro and spaced out eeriness to summon up the darker side of dance culture, i.e. the dreaded comedowns, the aimless conversations and aching worthlessness. And you certainly cannot fault Shaw and company for following through on their singular trajectory based on artistic merit."

45. Octahedron by The Mars Volta

Pitchfork: "The Mars Volta's specific brand of bombast may remain an untranslatable language for those rooted in a DIY-scaled world, or committed to the shiny three-minutes-and-change tidiness of the charts. But if you're fiending for the musical equivalent of an epic, partially incoherent battle between good and evil in IMAX 3D, you could do a lot worse." Link
DrownedInSound: "If they’d only crack a smile in the studio once in a while, like they do when recalling scenes from their favourite (wickedly dark) comedies, who knows what The Mars Volta could achieve, as there are flashes of true brilliance on this LP that, with just a little more cultivating, could combine to comprise the band’s greatest album yet." Link
What I Said: "It stops just short of being one of the better rock albums to be released this year, laden with enough languid psychedelia, hard rock-chord chaos and blistering vocals from Bixler-Zavala."

44. Why There are Mountains by Cymbals Eat Guitars

Pitchfork: "What's most admirable about this sophisticated self-released debut is Cymbals Eat Guitars' willingness to think big with gestures that shouldn't fly in the hands of a young band, instrumentally or thematically ... here, the journey is the end not the means; fortunately, that gives Why There Are Mountains astounding replay value." Link
SputnikMusic: "If this isn’t the debut album of the year, it’s going to take a pretty bold effort to top what Cymbals Eat Guitars have created ... Open up that damaged part of your heart that you closed up when Modest Mouse started to suck. Indie rock got good again." Link
What I Said: "One band that they incidentally mirror also released their debut early this year, them being Grammatics, who happen to compose songs that explore different depths of feeling within the same piece and not just being content with your typical slow burn release of other bands. Their UK counterparts though inhabit a more refined and artier soundscape then these rough-and-ready rabblers, which happens to make their effort that much more powerful."

43. Beast Rest Forth Mouth by Bear in Heaven

Pitchfork: "Mostly made up of textural, spacious three- to four-minute pop anthems with towering choruses, BRFM is a welcome reminder that an album doesn't have to be bombastic to feel huge and important. Take out the earbuds and let it fill a space: This is music that's bigger than your iPod-- music you'll want to feel all around you." Link
Allmusic: "An idea that this is as far as the band can either get, or is willing to get -- an extension of past sounds instead of fully engaging with the musical lingua franca of now. Not too surprising given rock's endless possibilities for self-regard, but even so, a little frustrating somehow." Link
What I Said: "One could accuse it of never really announcing its presence and going for the rockier jugular compared to other electro-flavoured indie releases this year, but that shouldn’t detract from what is at times the most thoughtfully calibrated pop release of the year, making up for a lack in passion, perhaps, with plenty of intelligence."

42. Immolate Yourself by Telefon Tel Aviv
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Electronic Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "one of the pleasures and frustrations of Immolate is how subtly it similarly exploits the nearly invisible barrier separating song from simple synth sketch ... For all the pleasant stops along the way, the album hasn't come full-circle so much as spun its wheels in place." Link
Guardian: "If you're seeking an album to keep out the winter chill, you could do worse than to wrap yourself up in Telefon Tel Aviv's sumptuous head music ... It may be more frosting than cake, but there is an addictive comfort to its richness." Link
What I Said: "Their third LP is really quite a sublime surprise; a tormented mix of hip-hop beats, ambient electronica and house-dance mechanics, with ominous vocals coasting throughout the violent soundscapes as if at they’ve reached the end of an epic search for humanity that has finally yielded fruitless results."

41. Tale to Tell by The Mummers

BoomKat: "Few debuting bands pull off the feat of inhabiting their own unique musical idiom so comprehensively and convincingly as The Mummers ... It's hard to know where The Mummers are likely go next after such a singularly grandstanding, archly portentous debut, but it'd be worth sticking around to find out." Link
Guardian: "It's opulent stuff ... this music, all strings and brass and careful detail, feels like being locked in a dark parlour draped with thick velvet, incense turning the air heady." Link
What I Said: "Raissa along with her newfound friends may finally be able to strike it big with this rather lovely foray into baroque-lite pop, managing to convey wistful fancy and detached worldliness; a highly promising start for the trio then, not to mention a fine showcase for Raissa’s heavenly voice."

So, now we're over the hump, and quite a few nominees have been revealed... what will positions 40-21 bring? Find out next week...

Take care... xxx

Cvalda/Dibder's Top 100 Albums Of 2009 (80-61)

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:36:26 +0000

And so, filled with Christmas piss and vinegar, I verily unveil my next twenty albums on my Top 100 of 2009...

80. The Fame Monster by Lady GaGa

NME: "She uses pop, its producers and masks and all its artifice, as her tool of self-expression ... this becomes essential for anyone who even remotely likes pop." Link
Slant: "Something real, maybe even poignant, lurks beneath all that gothic makeup and those elaborate headdresses, and if given enough time, she might even reveal it to us." Link
What I Said: "A triumphant riposte to those who doubted her pop authority or as a gracious kiss to those who’ve helped her achieve global pop infamy."

79. Yes! by k-os
Vessalis Award Nominee = Best Hip Hop/Rap Album Of The Year

NOW: "Comfortably walking the line between backpack and commercial rap, he delivers thought-provoking rhymes that never sound strained or self-conscious." Link
RapReviews: "The strength of the album stems from k-os's unique ability to write terrific pop-rap while maintaining his unmitigated originality." Link
What I Said: "Brereton’s world is one more contemplative and uncertain than those of his peers who appear more adept peddling thug-boy fantasies and misogynist raps about bitches, and is doubtless more rich and enthralling for it."

78. The Invisible by The Invisible

BBC: "This debut is a rich, dense, complicated work that becomes more appreciable with each return visit ... It's refreshing to hear a consistently intriguing first effort made within the M25 that shimmies between experimental and pop so fluidly." Link
Clash: "In terms of producing an introduction of intriguing depth and no shortage of surprises, this trio have succeeded spectacularly." Link
What I Said: "This motley crew have made an album chock full of different genre hooks and quirks that have been whipped into a singularly unidentifiable concoction that no doubt presents them as the new Thinking Man’s Rock Band."

77. Two Fingers by Two Fingers
Vessalis Award Nominee = Best Hip Hop/Rap Album Of The Year

BBC: "For brave lovers of electronic music and rap unconcerned with genre boundaries or obvious pop melody, it’s a must." Link
Contact: "The music is outstanding. There's no bad track on this album. All have a unique flavour and hip mystique that can't help but make you feel your listening to quality." Link
What I Said: "The album is fraught with the kind of paranoid fluorishes and production gambits to make fans of Burial and Martyn happy, inhabiting a soundscape that ducks and dives with regards to genre classification and one that remains intelligently urban and sophisticated."

76. She Wolf by Shakira
Vessalis Award Nominee = Best Single/Video Of The Year (She Wolf)

NME: "We’re pleased to report that her third English-sung studio effort is as nutty as ever; combining Neptunes-esque beats with flamenco, post-punk riffs, synths, Arabian strings, gongs and disco." Link
Slant: "So it was to my surprise when it was reported that Shakira would once again be largely abandoning her Latin roots on the title track and lead single from her new album, this time exploring electro-pop. It was an even bigger surprise to find that she takes quite well to the sound." Link
What I Said: "It’s the difference between a good pop star and a great one that can adapt to a new sound without letting it crush them into submission and still sound fresh and interesting."

75. The Way I See It by Raphael Saadiq

Pitchfork: "Works under the simple belief that those styles created in Philadelphia, Detroit, and Memphis during the 1960s speak as loudly now as they did then ... few artists live so vitally in the past as Saadiq." Link
PopMatters: "Raphael Saadiq’s The Way I See It falls somewhere between the two poles that delineate superior examples of homage and examples that are no more than carbon-copies of the real thing." Link
What I Said: "arrives in the wake of countless pretenders as a genuinely thoughtful piece of work, not just in Saadiq’s utilizing various riffs, signatures and arrangements, but also by demonstrating the fine line of plagiarizing and honoring the past."

74. Rated R by Rihanna
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best R&B/Soul Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "Based on Rated R, Rihanna's artistic aspirations are currently loftier than her abilities. Then again, her tenacity in the face of the unimaginable public humiliation this year is beyond brave." Link
Guardian: "An album that arrives packed with songs in which relationships are linked with violence and criminality ... Rated R is revealed as the kind of disparate album people tend to make in the wake of a single like Umbrella." Link
What I Said: "It’s more daring, emotional and crystal clear in its motives and darkness than any hip pop princess album has any right to be."

73. Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors

Pitchfrok: "It's breezy without a hint of slightness, tuneful but with its fair share of tumult, concise and inventive and replayable and plain old fun ... as solid and variegated a display of songwriting acumen and instrumental virtuosity as any you'll hear this year." Link
NME: "They almost sound like a brilliant pop band, thanks to their silvery hi-life guitars, gorgeous strings and tense, wiry rhythms, only to put curious bystanders to the ultimate test." Link
What I Said: "All acoustic rabble and sophisticated harmonies (the kind that would sound completely random and freeform if it didn’t all fit together quite so elegantly)."

72. The BQE by Sufjan Stevens

Pitchfork: "The BQE is a bubbly, fun, fast-paced, and deftly written piece, full of compositional fireworks, jazzy interludes, and stylistic detours ... best classified as an unusually successful vanity project, as well as evidence of Stevens' restless creativity." Link
BBC: "At 40 minutes and comprised of seven movements, three interludes and pre- and post-ludes, this is a proper composition – no vocals, full orchestra, so get your ears primed and brain concentrating." Link
What I Said: "Members of the classical community may turn their noses up at yet another pop artist making an ill-fated stab at contemporary classical arrangements, but even all of that won’t detract from one of the more beauteous curios 2009 will have yet heard."

71. Them Crooked Vultures by Them Crooked Vultures

Onion: "Them Crooked Vultures doesn’t equal the considerable awesomeness of its ancestors; it sounds like a second-tier Queens Of The Stone Age record ... The biggest pleasure of Them Crooked Vultures is hearing three supremely gifted players fall together quickly and easily on songs built on simple riffs that sound like they were made up on a lark five minutes earlier." Link
DrownedInSound: "It's not particularly memorable and entirely lacks the type of yee-haw exuberance that might have made it a sloppy treat." Link
What I Said: "Unquantifiably epic, heartfelt, nonsensical and featuring some of the most exemplary rock instrumental moments of the year."

70. Hold Time by M. Ward
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Country/Folk Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "With increasingly expansive production and broader lyrical themes, Ward's sixth studio album polishes away a little bit more of the individual character that makes his best recordings so human and rewarding." Link
DrownedInSound: "The dusty, Americana vibe that so strongly informed his debut resonates equally some ten years down the line (though finding itself in admittedly lusher surroundings), while his cracked, soulful voice remains as emphatically warm and languid as ever.." Link
What I Said: "It’s awash with the same alt-folk acoustics that drew so much praise to She & Him last year, but there is a more refined technique deployed here that at once make this album appear more laidback and more sophisticated."

69. The Element Of Freedom by Alicia Keys
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best R&B/Soul Album Of The Year

Slant: "It's not a stodgily reverential retro fest, nor is it a formulaic synthesis of smooth vocals and trendy hip-hop beats ... having the right approach to songwriting is only a preliminary step on the way to a great song, and the offerings on Freedom make that clear, suggesting a surfeit of competence undone by a serious lack of inspiration." Link
Independent: "eys is that most frustrating of things: a stunning talent who’s too happy to give the world more of which it already has a surfeit. Maybe next time she’ll push herself further." Link
What I Said: "Keys’ LP still stands as a finely made, elegant and sexy piece of work in its own right, the title being particularly apt in that Keys hasn’t sounded so confident and serene."

68. Dance Mother by Telepathe

BBC: "All their debut album proves is that there definitely is such a thing as 'too cool' ... this album simply isn't worthy of the hysterical plaudits being thrown at it." Link
Slant: "This isn't pop as we know it, rather it's an avant-garde distillation, twisted and transformed into something genuinely exciting and pleasantly challenging but which thankfully never veers into the impenetrable." Link
What I Said: "The result is pure gothic-punk electro enhanced with tablas and drum sequences, the duo coming across as a better-behaved older sibling to Crystal Castles."

67. To Lose My Life... by White Lies

Pitchfork: "White Lies could even get away with a little heavy-handed somberness if anything of their own (other than unintentional humor) shone through their reconstituted gloom-rock. A little less death, a little more love-- of creativity, of life in all its urgent particulars rather than just the hand-me-down cliches that stand in for them-- would go a long way." Link
NME: "They’re OMD, Echo And The Bunnymen, The Psychedelic Furs, Depeche Mode, Magazine. At times, when the drum echo booms and the visions of being strapped to a massive wheel and dunked head-first in a fire-swathed pond kick in, they’re even Duran Duran’s ‘Wild Boys’." Link
What I Said: "They manage to break through with enough authentic stadium rock power to solidify their standing as one of the UK's more exciting breakout acts to come out this year."

66. Walking On A Dream by Empire of the Sun
Vessalis Music Award Nominee = Best Pop Album Of The Year

Pitchfork: "If a metaphor could describe such an utterly puzzling sense of scale, it would surely fall somewhere in between throwing pasta at the wall and hunting the White Whale ... while some material is about as sublime and immediate as anything either Steele and Littlemore have done, just as much crashes and burns." Link
PopMatters: "This is an album that undeniably embodies the music of these two musicians’ childhoods. I just can’t understand why." Link
What I Said: "A reliance on warm falsetto-enhanced melodies and an undeniably more laidback motivation for most of the songs on offer."

65. See Mystery Lights by YACHT

Pitchfork: "Regardless of influence or intent, however, See Mystery Lights is a triumph. It's a feel-good album for an era that could use a little happiness, a sweaty collection of heady, hedonistic tunes just in time for the hottest days of the year." Link
BBC: "Lacking none of the individuality and ingenuity of Jona Bechtolt's previous work, it's a record that's engaging, inspiring and, most of all, an awful lot of fun." Link
What I Said: "This is as fine a major-indie label dubet from an alternative-electro-pop-performance artist that you're likely to come across."

64. Duke Pandemonium by Marmaduke Duke

NME: "Duke Pandemonium is meant to be a laugh, a light-hearted muck-about that provides more fun in its five best songs than most albums can muster in a dozen or so." Link
RockSound: "Fuelled by clashing sonic styles and awkward time signatures ... this album is a truly mind-blowing experience." Link
What I Said: "A more conventional, tighter set is the result (a trim 35 minutes actually), but rest assured, their is still a thick air of inscrutably arty chaos ... It could easily attain the title of being the most annoying album of the year, precisely because it’s hard to tell whether songs are being played straight or for Flight of the Conchords-style laughs."

63. It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Pitchfork: "With these unremarkable tools, however, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs still create great, compelling pop-rock, largely because of the way the songs themselves are organized, with conventional verse-chorus structures repeatedly eschewed in favor of detours, miniature grooves, and lengthy asides that produce the sensation of a band and a singer impulsively following their own emotional whims." Link
NME: "So sure, it’s no revolution, but ‘It’s Blitz!’’s heartfelt love letter to the transcendent possibilities of the dancefloor is an unexpectedly emphatic reassertion of why Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of the most exciting bands of this decade." Link
What I Said: "Electro-tinged pop power, forlorn balladry and, literally, everything in between, all held in place by one of the most charismatic frontwomen of the current indie scene."

62. Kingdom of Welcome Addiction by IAMX

AbsolutePunk: "There is enough progression and new approaches on this album, however, to show that IAMX are definitely not a one trick pony and are definitely here to stay." Link
PlugInMusic: "Kingdom of Welcome Addiction is far more effective packing a punch in a strong tone that is unfailing. The album will have you dancing but also thinking and perhaps even shedding a tear." Link
What I Said: "The influences of Depeche Mode are inescapable (as with pretty much any electro-rock album released these days), but give Chris Corner his due in being able to sweep you into his industrial miserabilism so effectively anyway."

61. Foma by Lukid

ResidentAdvisor: "Luke Blair manages to seamlessly combine the impetuous wooziness of his fuzzed-up psychotropics with an impeccable heap of punchy post-Dilla drum programming." Link
BoomKat: "Deep, heavy, righteous wares = Essential Purchase." Link
What I Said: "The result doesn't have as urban an edge as Burial in its marriage of urban nightscapes and electronica ... but it still has a mercurial charm all of its own."

Well, that took forever... Will give you the lowdown on positions 60-41 in a few days... in the meantime, Merry Christmas everyone!

xxx

Cvalda/Dibder's Top 100 Albums Of 2009 (100-81)

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:44:10 +0000

Hello, everyone! Well, now that the dust is beginning to settle on 2009, the web is starting to publish more Top 100 charts than E4 and BBC3 combined. Music wise, it's not been nearly as fine as the previous year, I think a few would agree; there's been plenty of solid work, but hardly anything outright wonderful and amazing... According to my chart, there are no healthy four-star works until the mid-30s, with as little as 3% in overall album ratings separating the bottom from the middle.

With regards to my personal awards list written last weekend (for those who haven't read that who fancy a mildly boring five minute read, click here), I will be checking off nominees and award winners as I traipse through my listening of the last twelve months, as well as linking to other music sites' reviews on said pieces. Hopefully, this won't prove too troublesome and it'll all look relatively easy to navigate...

However, I will hand-on-heart make sure that I won't be so submerged in this sheer amount of listening ever again... turns out too much of my life has been falling to ruin for me to blog quite so regularly, so I'll wish you all a Happy 2010 and bid "adieu" for the time being.

And now, on with the show...

100. East Of Eden by Taken by Trees

Pitchfork: "Thankfully, East Of Eden suits Taken by Trees the way a shift from folk-pop to terrifying avant-classical suited oft-mentioned German antecedent Nico ... Production from Studio's Dan Lissvik gives the nine-song, half-hour set an ascetic grace, sort of like secular devotional music." Link
Drowned In Sound: "Working with local Sufi musicians to create a slight and graceful collection of twee Scandi-folk tunes set to South Asian instrumentation, she achieves a steadiness of fusion that holds the two musical cultures in productive tension without ever feeling forced or self-conscious." Link
What I Said: "The result is never less than lovely, not just with regards to Bergsman’s sweet vocals (particularly in fine fetter on her Animal Collective cover, My Boys) but also in her utilisation of the Sufi arrangements, famed for their trance-like qualities and put to beguiling effect here."

99. Vacilando Territory Blues by J. Tillman

Pitchfork: "it ultimately proves a strong, quiet complement to Fleet Foxes and, more crucially, the band's rougher, looser sound ... These songs whisper loudly to slow the world down, to preserve a moment and all its emotions, whether they're pleasant or-- more likely-- painful." Link
PopMatters: "The best of this material (Vessels, e.g.) is arresting in its stark simplicity—a voice, one or two chords arpeggiated on guitar, little else ... A serious, small album from a singer-songwriter we should probably be paying more attention to." Link
What I Said: "Enhanced with enough swoonsome guitars and plaintive vocals to make the borderline wrist-slitting melodies of heartbreak sublimely enjoyable rather than irritatingly spare."

98. Declaration Of Dependence by Kings of Convenience

Pitchfork: "Along with sharper songwriting focus, this go-for-broke softness makes for the most durable, rewarding Kings of Convenience album yet ... it's also probably the best new full-length of its style you'll hear this year." Link
Drowned In Sound: "Kings of Convenience could have stretched their legs over into new territory, or torn down their comfort zone as many bands have done to rousing success over the past decade ... Some of the disappointment with the latter half is the fault of such an enjoyable start to the album." Link
What I Said: "For those who like their folk-pop light as air and sad-eyed as a defenseless puppy that’s been kicked in the gut ... At times, the emotionally rich vocals and elegant melodies almost suggest a jazz like quality, further adding to the elegiac effect of the songs on offer here."

97. Swoon by Silversun Pickups

Pitchfork: "Though Swoon never becomes unpleasant, Aubert's lyrics and melodies are so wishy-washy that you'd think they were going out of their way to be ignored ... Swoon ultimately delivers the exact same results as its predecessor mostly because it's written in nearly the exact same way." Link
NME: "Vast, dark, a little mysterious, sad, dignified and palpably in pain ... would ‘suicide anthems for whales’ be too gushing a compliment?" Link
What I Said: "This is what The Emo With Taste would wrap their ears around, and transporting anyone too old to really be emo exactly back to what it was like to be a tormented teenager, as opposed to a tormented adult wishing they were still a tormented teenager."

96. Listening Tree by Tim Exile

Pitchfork: "Listening Tree's songs are so motion-oriented, in fact, that Tim Shaw's Scott-Walker-fronting-the-Human-League vocals often serve as the calming influence ... note that Listening Tree is just an exhausting, demanding listen." Link
PopMatters: "I’m not mad. I’m just disappointed with the third long-player from Tim Exile ... At the very least, I urge you to give him the respect he deserves and judge this record in the context of his body of work." Link
What I Said: "For anyone who thought the idea of the thinking man’s pop star was becoming less and less likely by the day, along comes Tim Exile ... most of the work found on this third LP of his actually exhibits a humorously intelligent pop sensibility, especially on his reliance of his comically robotic baritone and elusively barmy lyrics."

95. Radio Wars by Howling Bells

Pitchfork: "As for everything else, well... again, it's an agreeable sound the Bells have hit upon, and that makes for an agreeable listen throughout ... when you're cruising along in a pleasure craft as nice and reliable as this one, it's all right to tread a little water" Link
BBC: "Much of the material here is so directionless it's simply bland ... It seems the quartet's decision to produce this album 'democratically' - each member writing their contribution separately - has resulted in an ill-fitting and impotent collection." Link
What I Said: "All in all, there are enough buoyant riffs, subtle electronic signatures and crystalline vocals from lead singer Juanita Stein on this album to give these Aussie rabble-rousers another eligible shot for success at the festivals this year."

94. The Bachelor by Patrick Wolf

Pitchfork: "Most of The Bachelor's strengths sound borne out of arrangements rather than visceral or melodic thrills ... for all of the talk of Wolf being a chameleonic drama queen, oddball, or genius, The Bachelor most damningly lacks the charm attendant with any of those character descriptions." Link
NME: "The Bachelor is a thoughtful record whose greatest flaw is only that it’s overthought ... For some it’ll be an album that rushes over you like a waterfall, demanding awe not deconstruction. For others it’ll be cry for attention with all the charm of a man with a bell on his head shouting equations." Link
What I Said: "You’d be forgiven for finding Wolf’s talents more than a little precociously annoying. It must be said though, that Wolf simply has whatever it is ... whether you like him or not, convincing Tilda Swinton to feature on his tracks is nothing less than impressive."

93. Central Market by Tyondai Braxton

Pitchfork: "Central Market proves bigger in the sense that it's clearly been delivered as a statement record-- a summation of lots of ideas accrued over the years and lots of restless thinking about how best to engage those ideas in ways far from expected." Link
BBC: "Though it pursues futurism, Central Market actually gazes backwards in time through its maker’s personal musical lineage ... Tyondai Braxton’s achievements here are true to their inheritance, and this album deserves to sell." Link
What I Said: "Central Market does well to marry both the classical and avant-rock genres to give a unique bent on Braxton’s loop-heavy symphonies ... it’ll certainly sate the appetite before the Battles’ return next year.

92. No More Stories Are Told Today I'm Sorry They Washed Away No More Stories The World... by Mew

Pitchfork: "Over the course of a long career (they formed in 1994), Mew has succeeded in developing a good sound from some of the least hip ingredients imaginable, and No More Stories... feels like a consolidation of every stride they've made to date." Link
PopMatters: "Despite a few drawbacks, NAITNTIL is a triumph. It signals a more mature Mew, with more to say and more ways to say it." Link
What I Said: "This dreamy adventure of an album inhabits a heady atmosphere ... A rewarding listen for those who dare and an impressive feat for an outfit that’s still going after fifteen years."

91. Embryonic by The Flaming Lips

Pitchfork: "The double album Embryonic is the band's most audacious undertaking since 1997's Zaireeka ... portends yet another new phase for the Flaming Lips-- one that's equally as improbable and rewarding as the ones that have preceded it." Link
NME: "At points on this glorious act of galloping lunacy it feels as if you’re being sensuously lobotomised by a higher power ... Ten years after their last masterpiece, The Flaming Lips have finally produced another one." Link
What I Said: "The result is a disjointed, dark journey through some impenetrably forboding psych-rock that either contains the Lips’ finest work or their most infuriatingly puzzling ... one cannot deny the sheer gravitas of what is certainly one of the only genuine event records to see release this year."

90. Kingdom Of Rust by Doves

Pitchfork: "Doves' fourth album is another sterling example of why the Doves should be household names and why they probably won't ever be: their unwavering flair for producing mountainous, Wembley-worthy pop anthems that are nonetheless invested with a palpable degree of grace and humility." Link
The Guardian: "But a certain confidence is all over Kingdom of Rust. Not the brash, cocksure swagger of a debut album, but the quiet conviction that comes with experience." Link
What I Said: "It would be easy to assume listening to their fourth album that these Cheshire-based indie stars drew upon various works from their peers last year to make this their at once most varied and most accessible album yet ... and that any comparison between this and the fabulous work from last year by those other bands is justified solely on sheer beauty and merit."

89. Bromst by Dan Deacon

Pitchfork: "The music becomes something like a natural process: one clean, simple sweep, but built from an insane complexity of detail." Link
The Onion: "With Bromst, Deacon not only shucks the “wacky” thing, he replaces it (and those gadgets) with virtuosity of composition and an array of instruments ... but it’s surprisingly easy to “get” Bromst as an album." Link
What I Said: "Deacon’s soundscapes feature some quite relentlessly dancey “everything-but-the-kitchen-sink” moments alongside the more introspective pieces that could happily snuggle alongside the likes of Holy Fuck and Battles on a playlist for the wilfully leftfield."

88. Two Suns by Bat for Lashes

Pitchfork: "Khan's aesthetic is such a perfectly struck balancing act between earth mother hippie mystic and post-modern Gen Y art student ... A significant step forward from her debut, Two Suns is home to some of the year's most thrilling music so far." Link
NME: "Two Suns is epic in scope and ambition and requires a similarly epic patience to unravel its charms. If this year’s Mercury panel know their arse from their Elbows, this could be her time." Link
What I Said: "Confessing in interviews that she felt that her follow-up album was going to be a bit cheesier. And whilst Khan hasn't quite given Same Difference a run for their money with Two Suns, she's definitely embraced a poppier aesthetic this time around."

87. Take My Breath Away by Gui Boratto

Pitchfork: "For better or for worse, Take My Breath Away feels comfortable and content ... in acknowledging where his inspirations came from and figuring out where his compositions will go, he's misplaced the present tense and the once-present tension." Link
PopMatters: "You’ll know exactly what to do when you hear it, and that is nod like a bastard ‘til your neck can’t take it any more ... Suffice to say, Gui’s time has arrived." Link
What I Said: "To be found here are ambient club jams that are the very epitome of slow-burn beauties, particularly the title track, which pulsates away so agreeably and smoothly you’d be hard-pressed to stop yourself smiling for the full seven minutes."

86. Phrazes For The Young by Julian Casablancas

Pitchfork: "This album is overstuffed with production do-dads, yet disappointingly devoid of anything coming close to the sort of tossed-off brilliance this guy used to come up with during an afternoon nap." Link
The Guardian: "Only the length of the songs suggests a man grasping for grandiosity at odds with the album's sound, and instead inadvertently sapping the songs' power ... When he concentrates on making pop music, however, Phrazes For The Young is a blast." Link
What I Said: "Being content to concoct a diverting pop record with various wide-reaching influences that would belie his rockier credentials if he hadn’t spent the past couple of years collaborating with seemingly out-of-leftfield cohorts (Santigold and Pharrell, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse)."

85. Only Revolutions by Biffy Clyro

The Guardian: "At their heart, Biffy remain hard rockers. But they corral their heavier, visceral tendencies within irresistible tunes ... Whether Only Revolutions will propel Biffy Clyro into the stratosphere is another matter." Link
NME: "Can you hear it? It’s here! Biffy finally make that sprint-burst into the rock stratosphere and trample over the competition like badly tattooed elephants smashing through dead branches." Link
What I Said: "A slightly off-kilter rock album full of warm vibes and joyous rabble, played by a band brimming with confidence and more than up for a good time."

84. Heavy Ghost by DM Stith

Pitchfork: "It's an impressively dense and mature work, and without a doubt sometimes tough listening, too, but somehow not hard to listen to, let alone hard to like." Link
The Independent: "Stith's music, made with cellos and pianos but also the creaking of wooden doors, has the uncomfortable intimacy of Antony and the Johnsons (to whom he is often compared), but also the baroque strangeness of David Bowie in his Brechtian Baal phase." Link
What I Said: "A thoroughly disarming mix of glitchy electronica and alt-folk hues, at times summoning favourable comparisons to Robert Wyatt with regards to the surreal melancholy permeating throughout."

83. Yes by Pet Shop Boys

The Guardian: "Yes neither benefits nor suffers from Xenomania's attentions - only the opening Love Etc takes a co-writing credit - and it pootles along just as one would expect a moderate-to-strong Pet Shop Boys album to do." Link
NME: "For the first time in years, Pet Shop Boys sound thrillingly modern ... It’s a quite startling return to form and, if you had your interest in Pet Shop Boys piqued by the Brits performance, also a fine re-entry point." Link
What I Said: "Isn’t the concentratedly euphoric blast of pop mastery that months of hype on the Internet has whipped PSB fans into hoping it would be ... what remains is an undoubtedly classy affair, awash with pure pop sophistication."

82. Music For Men by The Gossip

Pitchfork: "The result is a good Gossip album, one that could soundtrack sweaty summer dance parties, but it also isn't drastically different from their last one." Link
The Independent: "Rick Rubin's skill lies in the way he's managed to sit Ditto's vocals comfortably among the limber arrangements without sounding as if she's in conflict with the music, which was occasionally the case on previous recordings. He's framed her voice to its best advantage, and in doing so he's put paid to the canard that finds Ditto frequently compared to Janis Joplin." Link
What I Said: "Whilst it’s certainly true that Ditto’s presence in the present day fashion-curio glitterati has generated more press and interest than that of her band’s actual work, it should be noted that she really is quite the fabulous singer and they offer up some of the finest anti-authoritarian pop rock on any side of the Atlantic."

81. Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear

Pitchfork: "Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the truly remarkable Veckatimest, however, is how very exciting much of it is; no small feat for a painstaking chamber-pop record that never once veers above the middle tempo." Link
NME: "Veckatimest requires the listener to make a studied and careful exploration. But for those patient enough to wait for this record to relinquish its quiet delights, the treasures waiting to be discovered it are rich indeed." Link
What I Said: "A timeless marriage of guitar-led indie rock subtly synthesised into a head-turning mix that takes in chamber music, rabble rousing and uncategorically weird soundscapes, it at once celebrates and promises an interesting future for rock in general."

Check back tomorrow for Part 2, featuring albums 80-61 on my 2009 chart... There may be trouble ahead!!

xxx

The Vessalis Music Award Nominations 2009

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:19:26 +0000

So, having thrown myself into an unenviable cesspool of music for the last twelve months, I feel some special notices should be handed out to some of the more enjoyable noises to have been made by the premier artists of the year. Especially seeing as the Grammys have seen fit to snub some of the better work to have been released this year (yes, I know the cut-off point was the end of August so most nominees here weren't eligible, but I'm just saying!)... Fuck knows how the BRIT Awards will end up, is all I can say! The Best Album Of The Year and the rest of the award winners I will be announced on New Year's Eve, as a final emotional "Hurrah!" to those responsible for the best music of 2009. Well, in my humble opinion, anywho... :^/

Canadian rock-pop outfit Metric, rising alternative star Soap&Skin, electro noisenik Memory Tapes and hip hop DJ duo N.A.S.A. each scored three nominations this year, with the former and the latter going head to head for Best Single/Video Of The Year and the middle two up for Best Debut Album Of The Year. Acts to score double nominations include alternative cult royalty Animal Collective, Norwegian pop star Annie, the prodigiously-voiced Dionne Bromfield, The Knife's very own Fever Ray, cocksure pop star Frankmusik, secretive alt-world collective jj, Icelandic lovebirds Jónsi & Alex, sensual electro-meisters Junior Boys, Kanye West's protege Kid Cudi, BBC Sound Of 2009 poll winner Little Boots, cult-folk-pop instrumentalist Loney, Dear, nu-soul swooner Maxwell, dance-dub triumvirate Moderat, sample-dance genius The Field and red-hot indie darlings The xx.

For a more detailed breakdown, see the list below:

Best Album Of The Year
Yet to be announced...

Best Group Album Of The Year
Begone Dull Care by Junior Boys
Fantasies by Metric
Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective
Moderat by Moderat
Riceboy Sleeps by Jónsi & Alex

Best Female Solo Album Of The Year
Don't Stop by Annie
Fever Ray by Fever Ray
Hands by Little Boots
Introducing Dionne Bromfield by Dionne Bromfield
Lovetune for Vacuum by Soap&Skin

Best Male Solo Album Of The Year
Complete Me by Frankmusik
Dear John by Loney, Dear
Moon by Clint Mansell
Seek Magic by Memory Tapes
Yesterday and Today by The Field

Best Debut Album Of The Year
jj n° 2 by JJ
Lovetune For Vacuum by Soap&Skin
Man On The Moon: The End of The Day by Kid Cudi
Seek Magic by Memory Tapes
xx by The XX

Best Single/Video Of The Year
(Sorry for the links, but I was refused permission on these HQ videos, the bastards!)
Don't Stop Believin' by Cory Monteith, Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Amber Riley and Jenna Ushkowitz
Watch Video Here
Gifted (Feat. Kanye West, Santigold & Lykke Li) by N.A.S.A.
Watch Video Here
Help I'm Alive by Metric
Watch Video Here
Pretty Wings by Maxwell
Watch Video Here
She Wolf by Shakira
Watch Video Here

Best Alternative Album Of The Year
JJ N° 2 by JJ
Lovetune For Vacuum by Soap&Skin
Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective
Riceboy Sleeps by Jónsi & Alex
XX by The XX

Best Country/Folk Album Of The Year
Dear John by Loney, Dear
Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson
Hold Time by M. Ward
Yeah So by Slow Club
Yours Truly, The Commuter by Jason Lytle

Best Dance Album Of The Year
Entertainment by Fischerspooner
Junior by Röyksopp
Miike Snow by Mikke Snow
Moderat by Moderat
Yesterday And Today by The Field

Best Electronic Album Of The Year
Begone Dull Care by Junior Boys
Fever Ray by Fever Ray
Immolate Yourself by Telefon Tel Aviv
Seek Magic by Memory Tapes
Tarot Sport by Fuck Buttons

Best Hip Hop/Rap Album Of The Year
Man On The Moon: The End Of The Day by Kid Cudi
The Spirit of Apollo by N.A.S.A.
Thunderheist by Thunderheist
Two Fingers by Two Fingers
Yes! by k-os

Best Pop Album Of The Year
Complete Me by Frankmusik
Don't Stop by Annie
Hands by Little Boots
Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future by The Bird and the Bee
Walking On A Dream by Empire of the Sun

Best R&B/Soul Album Of The Year
BLACKsummers'night by Maxwell
Introducing Dionne Bromfield by Dionne Bromfield
LP by Discovery
Rated R by Rihanna
The Element Of Freedom by Alicia Keys

Best Rock Album Of The Year
Fantasies by Metric
See the Light by The Hours
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Resistance by Muse
Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix

Special Award For The Album With The Most Glamorous 'Featured Guest' Roster
Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night Of The Soul by Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse
Kaleidoscope by Tiësto
Scars by Basement Jaxx
Temporary Pleasure by Simian Mobile Disco
The Spirit Of Apollo by N.A.S.A.

And there we have it, the nominees for my own special awards for 2009; any omissions or inclusions that you happen to disagree with, please let me know... that's what this site is all about, after all!

Take care and keep listening! xxx

Dibder's Music Picks Of 2009 / CD 4

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 13:47:08 +0000

I do spoil you, don't I? As 2009 fast approaches its God-forsaken end (sweet relief!!), so does my Best of 2009 CD compilation; those who had the misfortune to read earlier journal entries of mine (thanks, you sorry mad cave of bats!) will notice every three months I've published a CD-sized track list featuring the best music of the mentioned period! Below are the songs of choice for October-December... If anyone wants a copy of any of these CDs, be sure to give me a buzz and I'll see what I can do... ;^) Be sure to check back tomorrow though, as nominations will be announced alongside my Top 100-51 albums of the year thus far... It's gonna be a looooonnng day...

Dibder's New Music Of 2009: CD 4/4
01. Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down by Alicia Keys
Taken from the album The Element Of Freedom
02. Men in This Town by Shakira
Taken from the album She Wolf
03. Fire Bomb by Rihanna
Taken from the album Rated R
04. Marie Cherie by Annie
Taken from the album Don't Stop
05. A Little Bit More by Tim Exile
Taken from the album Warp20 (Recreated)
06. An I For An I by IAMX
Taken from the album Kingdom Of Welcome Addiction
07. I Dream Of Crystal by Maps
Taken from the album Turning The Mind
08. Turbine Womb by Soap&Skin
Taken from the album Lovetune for Vacuum
09. Phantom Limb by Fuck Buttons
Taken from the album Tarot Sport
10. Movement IV: Traffic Shock by Sufjan Stevens
Taken from the album The BQE
11. Plain Material by Memory Tapes
Taken from the album Seek Magic
12. Ultimate Satisfaction by Bear in Heaven
Taken from the album Beast Rest Forth Mouth
13. Hellhole Ratrace by Girls
Taken from the album Album
14. Booooom, Blast & Ruin by Biffy Clyro
Taken from the album Only Revolutions
15. Interlude With Ludes by Them Crooked Vultures
Taken from the album Them Crooked Vultures
16. Bear by The Antlers
Taken from the album Hospice
17. The Chain by Ingrid Michaelson
Taken from the album Everybody
18. He's So Fine by Dionne Bromfield
Taken from the album Introducing Dionne Bromfield
19. Mfumu by The Very Best
Taken from the album Warm Heart of Africa

As ever, take care, keep listening to goodness and I'll see you soon... xxx

Dibder's New Music Series: Entry 12

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:19:22 +0000

So here we are, as Bloc Party would sing... The end of the year... The end of the decade... The end of an era... The fucking end of it all!!!! Seriously, this year has been the most horrid one so far for me personally; this journal has kind of been one of the only things keeping me sane and with-it, so for those patient enough to read through it, thank you! And for those who've commented, thanks for your feedback! This will be one of a handful of entries for me this month, it being The End and everything, so keep 'em peeled for some more chart/award-based malarkey. But I digress, without further ado, let's crack on with December...

I Dreamed A Dream by Susan Boyle
Like quite a few UK TV viewers and YouTube subscribers, I got caught up in the whole Susan Boyle farrago in the early months of this year; the first time I saw her audition on Britain’s Got Talent, I too was quietly overwhelmed at the emotional turnaround that a humble, lonely woman achieved in the face of a viewership of millions, who were ready to scold her only to end up on their feet cheering for her still-stirring rendition of I Dreamed A Dream. A good part of a year later, Boyle and her team have finally dropped her debut album in time for Christmas, to the tune of record-breaking first-week sales, seemingly taking the time to prepare it with carefully chosen favourites for Boyle to sing. And whilst at least a couple of choices offer some moving moments (found on her polarising cover of Wild Horses and her rather lovely version of You'll See), the majority of the album’s songs bear the hallmarks of various Reality TV competition winner debuts masterminded by Simon Cowell, with most songs feeling cynically-engineered as to manipulate more suggestive listeners inescapably taken in by gospel choirs and syrupy crescendos. For some it will most likely do a disservice to Boyle’s enigmatic presence, her ardently religious nature in particular exploited rather ruthlessly on How Great Thou Art and Silent Night.

Graffiti by Chris Brown
Sure, given that his past efforts have never really struggled past the most general standards of mediocre R&B pop aside from his duet with Jordin Sparks, Brown’s third album was probably never going to break through to a new audience, but it still held a certain semblance of morbid curiosity following his arrest and resultant probation and community service for beating up his then-girlfriend, global R&B starlet Rihanna. Would it reveal something a little deeper about the man who once implored us to ponder whether we can breathe without oxygen, why his good-kid next door image was suddenly soiled by a moment of violent rage or if he could deliver on his promise of a genre-blending record reminiscent of his heroes, Prince and Michael Jackson among them? In a word: No. Though his songs feature some wonderful production by illustrious deck hands such as Swizz Beatz and Brian Kennedy (the latter sampling Eric Prydz’s Call On Me for some serious guilty pleasure on Pass Out featuring Eva Simons), Brown himself is distinctly devoid of charisma as a vocalist, and it doesn’t help that the songs are either pungently sex-obsessed (check out the passion-killer groaning on Take My Time) or find the poor star moaning about being famous (key offender being Lucky Me). It’s everything his ex’s new record isn’t...

For Your Entertainment by Adam Lambert
Adam Lambert at once represents everything that should be right and wrong with gay politics in celebrity culture. Unashamed, defiant and in possession of an undeniably powerful voice, there’s no doubt that the man fans like to call Glambert did well to avoid catcalls from the blogosphere and tabloid print media regarding his sexuality with a classy “go figure” attitude whilst performing on American Idol, where he finished as runner-up and capped off the contest performing a duet with KISS, of all music outfits. Unfortunately, his performance on this year’s American Music Awards revealed Lambert to be just yet another so-called music artist relying on controversy surrounding an over-sexed, über-decadent persona and the tired old adage of violent sexual dry-humping to get his point across, even if the fallout surrounding it provided plenty of food for thought regarding conservatism in media coverage around the world. It’s a shame because, when he isn’t shrieking about how horny he is with such flagrant petulance (as on the title track), Lambert is still a phenomenal vocalist, proven on this debut disc with next single Whataya Want From Me and the rueful A Loaded Smile, though he is prone to overegging the key-vaulting on certain tracks (such as 2012 ballad Time For Miracles).

Out Of Ashes by Dead by Sunrise
A sort-of solo project for Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington alongside Orgy members Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck, Dead By Sunrise plays a lot like Linkin Park with the hip hop/dance influence completely removed and replaced with a more traditional hard rock perspective, with Bennington’s enormous vocals more than taking up the whole of centre stage. There’s enough raucous screaming guitars and grandiose walls of noise to fill several stadiums, and Bennington’s vocals are never less than passionate, particularly on opener Fire; but it all amounts to little more than what Linkin Park have ever already done before now. It’s interesting as the same problems befall Derakh and Shuck’s Julien-K album, though both are working within different sub-genres of rock music; the formula starts off pleasurable enough, but grates too much in the long going and provides little in the way of imagination and versatility to keep the listener interested. In spite of Bennington’s still-impressive caterwauling, all the while you’re waiting for a breakbeat, distorted sample or Mike Shinoda himself to pop up and lay down some rhymes. You can find out how Derakh and Shuck’s own such project fared futher down the journal...

Kaleidoscope by Tiësto
This year has positively bristled with songwriter/producers keen to seemingly out-glamour their peers with the amount of star wattage permeating throughout their own personal releases, be it within the hip hop dancehalls (see N.A.S.A.’s The Spirit of Apollo), the urban-glitter dance clubs (hear Simian Mobile Disco’s Temporary Pleasure) or even out-of-leftfield alternative electronica (the quite brilliant effort from Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse that will never see official release). What surprises on Tiësto’s latest release though is not so much the amount of guests on his effort, but the seemingly-loftier profiles of some of them; what could Jónsi of Sigur Rós, Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke and Emily Haines of Metric possibly be doing on a cheesy Eurodance album? Still, it’s a good thing that the Dutch DJ/producer has managed to coral these disparate names into the mix, otherwise there would be nothing of keen interest to recommend on his fourth LP, which is prone to lapsing into the kind of grating cheesiness that has given dance music a more questionable profile from some music fans (though truth be told it never plumbs depths further than the likes of Scooter). Highlights here include Priscilla Ahn’s appearance on I am strong and Kele’s duet It's Not The Things You Say (as ever though, avoid the Calvin Harris track).

Death To Analog by Julien-K
Beginning life in 2003 when Orgy members Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck developed a side-project concentrating more on electronic rock music than their previous ventures, Julien-K’s debut album release arrives not just after several well-received DJ sets and assignments for computer-game scores, but also amidst a 2009 resurgence in electro-clash that has seen similarly themed releases from the likes of Fischerspooner, Peaches, Jeffree Star and many others this year. Though it leans a lot more heavily on hard-rock noise than the aforementioned artists' releases, Death still tries to straddle the line between Marilyn Manson-esque hard rock metal and ‘80s dance-pop signatures with a liberally swathed influence of Depeche Mode (frontman Shuck giving his best Dave Gahan impression on the enjoyably sleazy Systeme de Sexe in particular). It’s not nearly as revolutionary and kick-ass as the official website proclaims it as though, proving more of a guilty pleasure of bleak keyboards and guitars as opposed to the kind of grand opus the revolutionary-themed promotional prose would want you to believe, and by halfway through even that feeling starts to wear off as Derakh and Shuck insist on punching the same production buttons relentlessly, offering little respite or changes of scenery amidst the sullen goth-electro rock.

Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age by Broadcast and The Focus Group
What with the Birmingham-based duo having enchanted ardent fans with their brand of psychedelic indie pop for the good part of fifteen years and graphic designer/composer Julian House’s sycophancy for archived sounds and ditties from ‘70s British TV and radio bordering on Father Dougal-style delirium, Broadcast and The Focus Group couldn't appear to be better matched in aesthetics and moods when it comes to their music. And this collective tumble through at-times gorgeous, sweetly-disturbed psychedelic bucolia doesn’t offer anything less than beguiling results, the trio working together quite so well that it is hard to discern where Broadcast end and House begins. Essentially it finds them performing their way through a horror story with ominous supernatural trimmings, evidenced already by the titles but also drenched in the kind of distorted, reverb heavy miasma made eerily alarming by muffled voices and jolt-inducing sound effects (not to give anything away, but there are at least several in the divinely sinister a seancing song). The main niggle though is that these pieces for the most part are incredibly short, the trio seemingly eager to move into the next room of the haunted house ride they’ve created; still, it’s a ride any horror movie/alternative music fan should get themselves on at least once.

Til The Casket Drops by Clipse
Finally released from their contract at Jive Records after causing friction amidst claims of being overlooked in favour of more pop-friendly acts, Virginia Beach’s hip hop duo’s fourth album (their third to actually see release) arrives via their own Re-Up label working in conjunction with Chad Hugo and Pharrell’s Star Trak Entertainment. The Neptunes’ presence on the album isn’t as galvanising as the duo’s previous work though, with Malice and Pusha T actually working with a couple of different collaborators this time around, the most welcoming being the ruminative, almost downbeat sounds laid by Sean "P Diddy" Combs and LV on opener Freedom and Never Will It Stop. That’s not to mention some great guest spots from the likes of Kanye West, Keri Hilson, Kobe and Kenna (how’s that for hip hop/R&B artist allitteration!), and Pharrell can’t do well to keep away either, featuring on four out of eight of the cuts produced by himself and Hugo. Whilst not as rapturously received as their last LP Hell Hath No Fury, Clipse still do enough to cement their status as one of the more high profile acts in hip hop working in the world today, be they rhyming with Cam'ron about the haters on Popular Deman (Popeyes), flirting with disaster on Counseling or looking to the future on Footsteps.

Jukebox by Priscilla Renea
The second track on YouTube star Priscilla Renea’s debut album, Lovesick, opens with a pop platitude of the most risible order (“If loving you is wrong/I don’t want to be right...”); yet Renea manages to turn this into something cute by following it up with a wink and a nudge as she admits “I bet y’all knew I was gonna say that... But it’s true!” It’s this self-effacing charm that permeates throughout Jukebox, featuring production wares from established hitmakers such as Soulshock & Karlin and Power Entertainment, and also what helps her transcend her hip pop sound into something tangibly her own rather than blandly anonymous. On first listen, Dollhouse and Pretty Girl sound like little more than knock-offs of Katy Perry and Jordin Sparks, but Renea sells them with a unique enough charm for the listener to appreciate them as pop hits in their own right. It may be a little too winsome and cute for some (particularly on the absurdly cute Mr. Workabee and it’s dog-whistle pitched intro), but it is nice to hear someone trying to make a pure pop record that is light, lithe and not especially up on being salacious and raunchy, whilst still summoning up enough likeability so as not to sound overly preening to the kiddie crowd.

No Ceilings by Lil' Wayne
The big winner at the year’s Grammy awards (four including a mention for his featured spot on Swagga Like Us), you can forgive Lil’ Wayne for being in more than a good mood on this fourth mixtape collection, rapping over tracks first brought to life by Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Black Eyed Peas and Kid Cudi, smoking blunts continually throughout and prone to exclaiming that his state of mind and profile in the rap world as of now knows no limits, even if it’s obvious that this compilation (his first such work without the aid of DJ Drama) was signed, sealed and delivered before he pled guilty to attempted criminal possession of a firearm in October, which may see him do time before his rock album ReBIRTH drops next year. Offering witty retreads of D.O.A. (Death of Autotune) and I Gotta Feeling as well as making way for some new MC’s to ply their wares (star among them Shanell, featured here on That's All I Have and Wayne On Me), it’s not hard to hear why even Barack Obama himself has been prattling on about his skills as an MC; sure, his songs concern themselves with typical hip hop macho tropes of guns, bitches and self-aggrandising, but Wayne doesn’t just shoot them through with enough wit and cadence to make them listenable, but also to make listeners sit up, take notice and enjoy the show.

Gorilla Manor by Local Natives
For fledgling artists and bands, the pop world can be a dangerously anonymous place, the latest would-be casualties being this charming five piece from Los Angeles, already pegged as this year’s Fleet Foxes, just because they sing alt-pop-folk songs with a particular penchant for lovely harmonies. Now, not only does this statement give the inkling that Fleet Foxes are either a) a venerable enough institution in the world of rock to be compared in cornerstone terms to a new band or b) are already after a year so past it that the latest model has come to usurp their Next Big Thing crown (which are both, in fact, very wrong) it also robs these lovely fellows of any defence against being written off as cynically introducing themselves as soundalike noiseniks with nothing new to add... That may very well be true, but at least they have more than a few good tunes with which to back the yeasayers up, certainly being a couple of notches above the morbid gorgeousness of Foxes’ debut in terms of elation, stand outs being the rabble of Camera Talk and the warmly inviting harmonies of World News; or rather, an introduction to a band who need a fair bit more credit than lazy plaudits will strictly allow.

Real Estate by Real Estate
Some soothing, spaced-out surf rock now courtesy of these New Jersey natives, another indie act to capture a Next Big Thing plaudit courtesy of the ever-elusive Best New Music tag from buzz-tracking critics site, Pitchfork. Thankfully, there are enough whimsical melodies drifting throughout this debut disc to provide a justifiable inkling as to what should surely turn into something of a minor hit over the next few months; nothing strictly new or revolutionary going on here, but effortlessly keyed in to the kind of timeless indie rock that boozy nights in with recreational substances seem to be made for. A lot keener than most bands of their ilk to let the instrumentation do most of the talking before lead singer Martin Courtney’s vocals soothingly moan away in a woozy haze (the best example being the six minute Suburban Beverage), their eponymous premier work is one where all of the elements flow accordingly thanks to the emotional synchronicity of each of the members, bereft of the isolating grandstanding that normally occurs when lesser bands wish to draw attention to themselves. A worthy first effort from a band to most certainly catch live before the future reveals the promises made by that ever-increasing buzz...

Glee: Season One - The Music, Volume 2 by Various Artists
The second soundtrack compilation for this breakout comedy/musical TV hit to see release in as many months, the second volume of Glee’s first season’s music should feel a little thin on the ground with regards to the amount of quality arrangements, given that it covers half of the amount of episodes that the first collection did. Fortunately, that’s not the case, not only because the last four shows were seemingly crammed-to-bursting with so many performances from its robustly talented cast anyway, but also due to the shrewd choices made by the music supervisors with regards to the pieces chosen. Even the obvious selections (John Lennon’s Imagine and Dreamgirls anthem And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going among them) are simply performed with too much pep and good feeling to instantly dismiss. This disc features a few more welcome lead vocals from the supporting cast (from Kevin McHale and Jenna Ushkowitz in particular), but much like last month’s release, this show belongs to Lea Michele, who powerhouses as if her life depended on it on Barbara Streisand-standard Don't Rain On My Parade only to follow up with as much prodigious likeability on Rolling Stones classic You Can’t Always Get What You Want. And anyone who doesn’t even smile at the kids’ version of Van Halen’s Jump is officially dead inside, is all I’ll say!

Central Market by Tyondai Braxton
Having been propelled into indie-rock stardom with his bandmates from Battles after their rapturously received debut Mirrored was unleashed in 2007, Braxton has been said to have had more than a few reservations with regards to how well his sophomore solo effort would be received, given his background in avant-garde classical/jazz music was characterised by sounds and pieces quite different from the muscular avant-rock of the supergroup’s work. However, Central Market does well to marry both the classical and avant-rock genres to give a unique bent on Braxton’s loop-heavy symphonies, marrying orchestral scores with bewildering samples and effects that often sound like Looney Tunes scores at their most darned weird (specifically that episode where Porky Pig flew across the world to find the last Dodo!), whilst also suggesting just how overt an influence his work was on the math-rock collective; key pieces here that suggest Braxton’s influence on Battles was certainly more than a factor include the tumultuous Platinum Rows and the wild peaks and valleys ravaged through on closer Dead Strings. It may be a little too idiosyncratic for some Battles fans, (The Duck and The Butcher is just yearning for a Tom & Jerry style music video though), but it’ll certainly sate the appetite before the band’s return next year.

The Fame Monster by Lady GaGa
It says a lot about a pop star’s ascendancy in the international consciousness when, after less than a year, you honestly couldn’t tell what the rest of the months past would have been like without them. 23 year-old Stefani Germanotta (,’:^/) can pretty much claim 2009 as her year, starting out with a golden bullet of a debut single and supporting New Kids on the Block for their reunion tour and finishing up a world tour of her very own, five Grammy nominations, unit-shifts in their millions and a knowing sass that has defiled the umbrage from even the most snooty music fan (even if her attempting to out-glam Beyoncé in their new video together falls down epically flat!) Either as a triumphant riposte to those who doubted her pop authority or as a gracious kiss to those who’ve helped her achieve global pop infamy, GaGa has bestowed her own gift for Christmas in this mini-album, which would normally reek of cynical cashing-in if the songs weren’t actually better than anything on The Fame (yes, even Just Dance or Paparazzi!) Monster and Dance In The Dark are the kind of fool-proof disco hits that would get anyone spinning on the tiptoes and, with Speechless, Germanotta gives us her most tantalising taster for the future; a semblance of empathetic soul... A very dramatic turnaround from January, certainly!

Rated R by Rihanna
Her first album out of the gate following the intense publicity surrounding former beau Chris Brown’s attack on her, 21 year-old Robyn Fenty was faced with what would surely be the most critically-scrutinised work of her already-prolific career, most keen to find out the of the album’s overall mood and emotional pull as well as whether or not it contained hits to rival Good Girl Gone Bad’s Umbrella and the underrated Take A Bow. A sigh of relief must be felt then because Rihanna belies her years with an album so consistent, assured and even impressive in its intensity and emotional shades that it will mark a turning point in her development as an artist as opposed to just a singer. Gamely breathing in her darker hues from the likes of The-Dream, Ne-Yo and English producers Chase & Status, with critic-baiting allusions to violence, gore and gun culture, it’s an album steeped in regret, anger and wounded pride, grandly giving those interested in her private life food for thought and then plenty more (even the upliftingly arranged Fire Bomb is strewn with more than its fair share destructive imagery and Russian Roulette is one of the most legitimately distressing singles to see release this year); in short, it’s more daring, emotional and crystal clear in its motives and darkness than any hip pop princess album has any right to be.

The Element Of Freedom by Alicia Keys
Not that we needed any more proof as to how awesome she indeed is, but with the assistance of the Jiggaman himself Jay-Z, Alicia Keys arguably gave 2009 its finest single with Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys); what a fabulous, stirring surprise then that her own solo version Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down that closes her fourth album trumps even that, Keys sounding more alive and in rapturous love with her city and its inspirations than she probably ever has done. And up until that beautiful moment arrives, the rest of Keys’ LP still stands as a finely made, elegant and sexy piece of work in its own right, the title being particularly apt in that Keys hasn’t sounded so confident and serene, especially captivating moments being found on the lovely Doesn't Mean Anything and her collaboration with Drake, Un-thinkable (I'm Ready). As ever, she’s best when behind the piano tinkling away as the production hitmakers mix their state-of-the-art beats underneath as she softly sings above it all, key collaborators this time around including Jeff Bhasker (fresh from his work with Jay-Z and KiD CuDi) and the seemingly ubiquitous Swizz Beatz, who whips Keys and a certain global superstar of the moment into a sultry pout-fest on Put It in a Love Song (feat. Beyoncé).

Warm Heart of Africa by The Very Best
One of the most enjoyable mixtapes to be released last year was from this exultant trio, comprised of brother dance DJ outfit Radioclit and singer/songwriter Esau Mwamwaya, one which saw them tackling on hits of Vampire Weekend, M.I.A., Akon and Michael Jackson with a truly lovely bent on Afrobeat mixed with the finest studio effects today’s pop music can offer (their version of Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa in particular is something of joyous wonder). Now on their own with original material, The Very Best have one heck of a namesake to prove to their listenership, and its a minor shame that Warm Heart Of Africa doesn’t quite reach the heights of their earlier doodling; truth be told though, it still knocks several shades and teeth out of most pop music around today, infusing the warm harmonies and buoyant instrumentation and arrangements found in Mwamwaya’s traditional Malawi roots with beauteous pop hooks and effects to make a truly refreshing combo. Highlights on here include the sun-drenched Mfumu, the gorgeous opener Yalira and the childrens choir backing of Nsokoto; not to mention a couple of high profile alt-pop celebrity guests from the Western world to help stir things up. You’ll be hard pressed to find a more uplifting record this year, that’s for sure...

Number Ones/The Best by Janet Jackson
Though her later career has been relatively quiet compared with the success enjoyed in the late ‘80s and all of the way through the ‘90s, one need only to glance over the track list of this latest compendium of her hits to be reminded of just how impressive her work has consistently been for over twenty years; granted, most would have been thinking about her dearly departed brother in one way or another this year certainly, but it’s not taking anything away from Michael’s star when merely suggesting that Janet is an icon in her own right also. Numbers Ones, or The Best as those residing outside of North America would know it to be (especially in the UK, where she has never actually had a number one at all), not only gives an overview of an accomplished body of work, but perhaps most impressively, sees Janet portray a degree of versatility, sexiness and strength no matter what genre she decides to tackle, be it the friendly R&B pop of The Best Things In Life Are Free, the dirty rave-up of Go Deep or the slow-burn swoon of That's The Way Love Goes. Granted, the most recent work doesn’t register quite as strong (particularly the duet with Nelly), but as proven with new song Make Me, Janet may yet have a few more surprises up her sleeve in the next few years.

Seek Magic by Memory Tapes
And it’s back over to New Jersey for another debut album, this time from electro musician Dayve Hawk, who has also been enjoying a steady head of hype over the past year thanks to his well-received remix assignments and independently released singles. Like the better debut releases to see light this year, Seek Magic is one that is at once completely cohesive in its vision and signature sound, but doesn’t do well to sit still in just one designated genre, taking in light guitar-led indie pop, ambient electronic sequences and moments of gossamer-light pop mastery, often within the same song, the best example being the disturbed disco-based slow-build of Stop Talking, which deals with a particularly acrimonious break-up. It’s a lovely, ruminative, serene and spiky record that always manage to offer up something new every time that you listen to it and an immensely accomplished debut from a singer/songwriter/producer who defies the blogpop generalising afforded by so many solo-producer albums with assured talent and credibility.

And that is why Seek Magic is my Album Of The Month For December...

So, 2009 is approaching a close; for those who've bothered to read all of the way through this and are interested enough to maybe read a little bit more (you masochists, you!), I will be putting up my Top 100 albums of 2009 very shortly over the next couple of days, as well as the final part of my Best Of 2009 CD set and a few other knick-knacks... Don't say I don't spoil you!!!

Until then, Merry Christmas (FFS!!!!) and Happy New Year... I can actually safely say that without fear of how horrible next year would be because, seriously, IT CAN'T GET ANY WORSE!

On that note... Keep listening! xxx

Dibder's New Music Series: Entry 11

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:34:26 +0000

Just one more month to go after this, then my ludicrous monthly assignments can finally calm down... I don't mind listening to all of this music, but writing, linking and tagging all of this stuff can be very tiresome. Still, November's been a good month thus far, but before I get started... X Factor, despite not having any really good contestants this year (Stacey is adorable but not strictly an international star, same going for Olly and Joe, Lloyd shouldn't have been in the finals in the first place really and Danyl is quite clearly so unlikeably loathsome with his big voice as to make me try to scratch my eyeballs out), is still as galvanisingly awesome as ever, what with everyone FINALLY coming around to appreciating how lovely and astute Dannii Minogue is compared to the others; Christmas is nearly here, which means I'll have to unearth both versions of Black Christmas for yuletide merriment (and on top of that both versions of the remake, featuring two different death scenes for Michelle 'I Nearly Ruined Buffy' Trachtenberg); and my talent show performance is nearly here!!! Will post a P.S. comment below to let anyone who cares know how it all went, rest assured I don't have a chance in Hell, but should still be fun... Wish me luck!

And with that, on with the show...

JLS by JLS
Given her amazing success after last year’s shenanigans, we can all be in agreement that Cheryl Cole was the winner of The X Factor last year, eclipsing Alexandra Burke's debut both in terms of unit shifts and the quality of the tracks themselves (it still bemuses me, to be honest). And to be honest, given the continued media frenzy surrounding the supposed runners-up of last year's competition, it seems that poor Alexandra has been relegated to third place, which is a shame (still ahead of Eggnog Prick and Die In Her Knickers though... it's not much but still!). Song-wise, JLS have the weaker album; it’s positively awash with the same amount of cynical button-pushing as Burke's and it offers up a handful of decent guilty pleasures (One Shot will probably be their next single for sure); but there is not enough of a distinct personality present to warrant this band’s following and exposure compared to Burke, who at least tries to make the songs given her own. Admittedly, they’re still very cute though!

Echo by Leona Lewis
And the Reality TV juggernaut continues, this time with the UK's first such worldwide crossover star (as lovely as Will Young may be, he’s still yet to attain worldwide platinum sales and Grammy nominations, isn’t he?) delivering an album which, by its title alone, dispiritingly suggests more of the same kind of material found on her major debut. And whilst the familiar formulas of power ballads with major key changes and trendy beats is still present and correct throughout (lead single Happy, though more warbly, is but a lesser sequel to her smash Bleeding Love, and Oasis cover Stop Crying Your Heart Out isn’t remotely as genius as her version of Snow Patrol's Run), Miss Lewis sells it with enough vocal authority to out-caterwaul every other R&B-pop diva to emerge in the charts right now, breathing life into songs that register as less-than-fluff from girls bestowed with lesser pipes (particularly the uplifting I Got You and Brave).

DJ Stupac Presents... Super Lupe Bros. 1st Coin & 15th Credit Edition by DJ Stupac and Lupe Fiasco
(P.S. Sorry, but cannot find a legit site anywhere, so a pic file will have to do on the link to assure its existence...!)
This mixtape certainly receives the prize for Best Artwork Of The Year so far from me, my fondness for all Super Mario adventures pretty much hardwiring that sentiment to my brain. But of course, this is just a promotional appetiser for Mr Fiasco’s upcoming Lasers album, collating a few new cuts (particularly his latest collaboration with Matthew Santos, Shining Down) with older wares and remixes, such as Pharrell's quite lovely re-do of Paris, Tokyo featuring special guests Q-Tip and Sarah Green. As mixtapes go though, DJ Stupac doesn’t really interpolate as well as some of his peers (nothing is really remixed here, rather compiled), and I’m personally a little disappointed that he didn’t carry on the Super Mario motif all of the way through, seeing as those games feature some of the most highly-regarded scores in video game history. But as a precursor to Lupe’s upcoming opus, it whets the appetite wantonly.

Sainthood by Tegan and Sara
Ten years after their full-length debut release, identical twin sister duo Tegan and Sara Quin are still plying their trade of pop-flavoured indie rock, this year seeing the release of their sixth effort despite taking time out to collaborate with other artists. Sounding a lot like how Gwen Stefani could have sounded if she was content to write good pop songs rather than collaborate with production-line hitmakers, both girls are in fine voice here as well as sharing disarming chemistry, particularly on lead single Hell and the longing surge of The Ocean. It’s light, lithe, pretty, knocks shades out of other over-produced pop-rock girl bands permeating the airwaves these days (hear The Veronicas, or not) and proof once again that these girls are far more interesting than the pigeonholes ascribed to them.

In And Out Of Control by The Raveonettes
More timeless pop-punk-rock from The Raveonettes with their fourth full length album, following through on their New Wave homages with some spiky-yet-lovely soft rock that takes as many cues from ‘60s girl group pop as they do from New Wave icons, the spirit of Debbie Harry looming especially large amidst the sweet harmonies of Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed). It happens to steer on just the right side of honorary homage to not appear overly cynical or soulless in its mimicry for most of the time, the fuzzy guitars and Sharin Fo’s hazily demure vocals summoning enough proving to disarming to resist on the likes of lead single Last Dance and especially on closer Wine. To make modern-day misery sound this lovely and gossamer light takes as much gravitas as it does panache, and this likeable duo do more than enough to keep their fans happy; it’s not going to blaze the trails of pop-rock, but its still a fine pop album in its own right.

5 : Five Years Of Hyperdub by Various Artists
In celebration of its emergence as the hip genre of choice for the end of the decade, bolstered by the likes of The Spaceape and Burial who feature prominently on this compilation, London-based label Hyperdub has seen fit to give to the world a double-disc set that collates some of the finer contributors to the world of dubstep, disc one featuring more recent work from Kode9, Martyn and Samiyam whilst disc two includes past work entrenched in the 16-bit sounds that summoned such a cult following in the first place. Comprehensive isn’t the word to describe this set, and there’s plenty to enjoy, though admittedly the first disc edges out the second for listenability, if only because the wealth of sounds being explored by these artists now seems to promise something a lot more epic and amazing than the humble-yet-enjoyable offerings found on disc two, despite some great tracks from The Bug featuring Warrior Queen and Kode9 collaborations with The Spaceape.

Strict Joy by The Swell Season
Musicians Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová's path to breakout success is one of the most heartwarming of the decade; a well-received debut album of ornate folk music followed by a small independent film that happened to break big in America and reward the songwriters with their very own Academy Awards for for their rather lovely piece, Falling Slowly. Being the first album out of the gate for the pair since that win, Strict Joy is one that feels positively alive with hushed wonder, of filling up with irrepressible happiness and feeling as if you’re about to burst, only to rein it in at the last second (which is possibly down to Hansard and Irglova’s actually becoming a couple shortly after the film Once’s release after years of knowing one another and making music together). Though Hansard is a damn fine singer (evidenced here best on Feeling The Pull), it’s the Irglová-helmed songs that strike the chords most resonantly, highlights of hers including Fantasy Man and I Have Loved You Wrong.

Glee: Season One - The Music, Volume 1 by Various Artists
Debuting during the final week of this year’s American Idol competition, Glee is the brainchild of Nip/Tuck creator Ryan Murphy, charting the ongoing trials and travails of a high school glee club (like a choir, but singing more contemporary pop songs), and plays like High School Musical for anyone over 12-years-old, but with actual pop standards rather than especially-written, sound-alike drivel. So, we have winsome, precocious high schoolers letting rip on hits by Rihanna, The Supremes, Jill Scott, Kanye West, Queen and Neil Diamond, to name a few. Some are a touch derivative and add nothing new (particularly Amber Riley's take on Jazmine Sullivan's Bust Your Windows), but it’s fabulously produced and when it hits (like on take-no-prisoners cheese-fest Don’t Stop Believin’ or the Broadway Diva-Off between Kristin Chenoweth and Lea Michele on Cabaret’s Maybe This Time), it’s the stuff of drama queen dreams. You have been warned; it will be HUGE...

Whip It - Music From The Motion Picture by Various Artists
Pinned as a possible teen hit in the vein of Juno (featuring star Ellen Page on Oscar nominated form), Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut Whip It stalled at the American box office in spite of its good-natured goof-ballsiness and boasting one of the cooler ensemble casts of the year (as well as Page and Barrymore, you had Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden, Saturday Night Live alumni Kristen Wiig, the ever-watchable Juliette Lewis, even Har Mar Superstar himself!) Charting one high school girl’s self-discovery as a jammer for her local Roller Derby team, the soundtrack released to coincide with the movie could have been a little edgier; though there’s some lovely stuff from Jens Lenkman, Dolly Parton (the classic Jolene, natch!) and Gotye in particular, slow schmoozing from the normally-raucous Superstar and The Ettes dull the mood a little too much.

Phrazes For The Young by Julian Casablancas
It takes someone of questionably high self-esteem and swaggering intent (or perhaps oblivious homage) to invite comparisons to the legendary Oscar Wilde with their debut solo effort after spending a good decade at the undeniably hip end of the international indie pop spectrum. But, with Phrazes, this is what Casablancas has done; that he’s pretty much gotten away with it won’t surprise his fans as much as the music within, however, his being content to concoct a diverting pop record with various wide-reaching influences that would belie his rockier credentials if he hadn’t spent the past couple of years collaborating with seemingly out-of-leftfield cohorts (Santigold and Pharrell, Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse). Highlights include lead single 11th Dimension, which is just shy of being a pop-rock stunner, its strident synths striking through the soundscape with unabashed joy, and finale Tourist, which enmeshes Eastern and Western influences brilliantly.

Only Revolutions by Biffy Clyro
Claiming by the band to have been informed by frontman Simon Neil’s recent marriage as well as Mark Danielewski’s novel of the same name, Only Revolutions sees the Scotch three-piece rockers as ebullient as ever, following the breakthrough success of their third album Puzzle in 2007 and Neil’s side-project with Sucioperro’s JP Reid, Marmaduke Duke. The result is a slightly off-kilter rock album full of warm vibes and joyous rabble, played by a band brimming with confidence and more than up for a good time; lead single Mountains is still as enjoyably over-the-top as it was on first listen during the summer months, whilst quieter moments such as God & Satan are proof enough that they are capable of straight-faced sincerity despite their goofball interview techniques. It may not provide as dramatic a sucker punch as efforts from The Horrors and Muse earlier this year, but Biffy’s is still a fine rock album for ‘09.

Them Crooked Vultures by Them Crooked Vultures
Rock supergroups intimidate me somewhat, especially those without a lack of artistic concept, such is the case for this latest venture featuring Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme, Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, seemingly thrown together just to see what rock and roll majesty is brought forth. And I suppose if the results were as reliably full throttle as what these three musicians have wrought on this debut; unquantifiably epic, heartfelt, nonsensical and featuring some of the most exemplary rock instrumental moments of the year. True, it crunches the pedal into the ground a little too often, though there is some versatility in the late going from the one-two of Interlude With Ludes (which grinds drunkenly away on a looped sample as Homme delivers a woozy monologue) and the slow-burn frenzy of Warsaw Or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up.

Kingdom of Welcome Addiction by IAMX
Now happily ensconced in Berlin, wherein he claims he can work outside of the music industry much better, Sneaker Pimps founder Chris Corner delivers his third full-length album, self-described as a tour through “Disney World, with lipstick, cynicism and wit”. Of course, many can level that all things Disney are pretty much cynical by design (and the amount of makeup caked upon those pre-teen princesses suggests no shortage of lipstick whatsoever!), but that shouldn’t deter from the dark delights followed through by Corner on this disc. Going it alone without cohort Sue Denim on vocal duties (though receiving welcome help from Imogen Heap on standout track My Secret Friend (Feat. Imogen Heap)), Corner heads in a more relatively commercial direction this time; the influences of Depeche Mode are inescapable (as with pretty much any electro-rock album released these days), but give Corner his due in being able to sweep you into his industrial miserabilism so effectively anyway (hear An I For An I).

Turning The Mind by Maps
Riding high off of garlands from those fickle music critics and a Mercury Prize nomination for his debut album We Can Create, Northampton native James Chapman continues on his electro-pop pledge with this fine sophomore album, which embraces elements of rock, house, trance and pop to create a nebulous whitewash of at-times inspired electro symphonies. Described by Chapman himself as being of a darker hue that his previous effort (which comes to the fore most ominously on the opening title track and Papercuts), it eventually gives way to an understanding Zen-like attitude to existence, cheerily exemplified by penultimate number Die Happy, Die Smiling. For those who are a little dismayed by how perky and bright most of the electropop this year has been, this one is most certainly for you.

Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson
If ever there was a pop singer for whom the term “under the radar” applied, none could be better suited to the phrase than modest little Ingrid, an American pop-folk songstress who’s quietly sold nearly half a million records (on her own label too), enjoys sold-out shows all over the world, takes in professional songwriting assignments (the latest being for a certain X Factor judge) and whose work has featured on nearly as many soundtracks as Moby's Play album. Now, with this fourth album charting respectably in the Top 20 in the US, it would appear Michaelson’s finally ready to breakthrough properly; she’s certainly not hampered by a lack of bustlingly enjoyable ditties, sounding more like Aimee Mann's protégé rather than Taylor Swift's moody older sibling. Be it on the childlike singalong of the title track, the multi-layered vocals on The Chain or the adorable entirety of Once Was Love, it’s hard to not be taken in by her charms.

Greatest Hits by Foo Fighters
There are normally hoots of derision from the press regarding a Greatest Hits compilation for rock acts whose fanbases provide some of the most fervent examples, but it’s always worth noting when the respective musicmakers themselves join in on calling out such a cynical moneymaking exercise. Dave Grohl and company are the latest band to make such a fuss, this single-CD playlist timed for just before the Christmas rush and without the consent from a single band member. The dispiritedness is more than valid; Grohl is quoted as saying that the band would have sooner waited for the band to retire and then release a retrospective, something more indicative and expansive of the band’s back catalogue rather than an hour-long CD with half of their singles. The only reason it’s high on my list though is the fact that all of the songs here are worth their weight in rock gold, and there’s no arguing about that!

Beast Rest Forth Mouth by Bear in Heaven
It’s not hard to hear why this four-piece rock collective from Brooklyn scored a recent Best New Music plaudit from Pitchfork for their sophomore album, for the most part straddling the line perfectly between radio-friendly indie pop and reverent electronic homage. Coming across as a slightly more downtrodden cousin to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's debut earlier this year, it keeps the sonic indulgences to a minimum and never outstays its welcome (running time is a trim forty minutes for ten songs). One could accuse it of never really announcing its presence and going for the rockier jugular compared to other electro-flavoured indie releases this year (one case in point being The Big Pink's A Brief History of Love), but that shouldn’t detract from what is at times the most thoughtfully calibrated pop release of the year, making up for a lack in passion, perhaps, with plenty of intelligence.

Hospice by The Antlers
Boasting a production history so hideously melodramatic it inspires a certain kind of awe (progenitor Peter Silberman locked himself away from family and friends in Brooklyn for two years to write a musical narrative wherein a man says goodbye to his loved one whilst she succumbs to bone cancer), it would be easy to dismiss The Antlers’ debut album as the kind of pretentious claptrap the alt-art rock world is famous for. However, Silberman’s work isn’t so easy to wipe clean from the memory, summoning up comparisons of Jason Pierce's similarly-themed Songs in A&E from last year as well as Atlas Sound's debut that create a sound that is mournful, angry, delicate, forgiving and ultimately very moving, especially when the lullaby qualities of Bear segueing into the kind of feelgood raucousness that makes the tragedy all the more horrible. An assured, startling debut, but Lord knows where they could possibly go from here!

Don't Stop by Annie
Its release postponed for over a year because of now-infamous differences with Island Records as a result of the more-shocking-than-assumed performance of would-be lead single I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me, this Norwegian popstrel’s sophomore effort arrives a little late to the party after the successes of Little Boots, La Roux and Pixie Lott. Which in the end, is more than a shame, because Annie’s album is arguably the better out of the four (yes, even Boots’ album!), benefiting from production wares from established hitmakers Xenomania (including another source of some controversy, the Girls Aloud-featuring My Love Is Better), Paul Epworth and old friend Richard X, Songs Remind Me of You in particular reminding listeners just how well these two work together. For sophisticated Europop, it’ll be hard not to find anything better this year; shiny, danceable, classy and delicious.

Lovetune for Vacuum by Soap&Skin
I’m a little late to the party with adorning 19-year-old Anja Plaschg with plaudits like “debut album of the year” and such, but hey, I’m glad I took the time to listen to her striking premier work at all, never mind seven months after its release. Influences from the likes of Xiu Xiu, Björk and Aphex Twin in particular find plenty of room on her debut, which is a mix of layered vocals (at times anguished, at times sultry, never less than swoonsome) and frankly gorgeous piano work spliced with surging electronic beats and bass synths that never ceases to impress among the thirteen tracks on offer here. “Prodigious” is a word often tossed around when writing about breakthrough artists, but the assured hand with which she composes and produces these works (standout moments being the instrumental Turbine Womb and the mounting industrial glitch of DDMMYYYY) promises an interesting future ahead of her.

And that is why Lovetune For Vacuum is my Album Of The Month For November...

Now, don't worry, the review next will be quite a bit shorter, but that is in a vain effort to make up for the usual end-of-year malarkey involving Top 100 charts and all that gubbins...

Watch this space, December should be journal-tastic!!

In the meantime, keep listening... x