Alex’s Best of 2009, Day Three- Music

I should start by saying I have an eccentric taste in music. I grew up on classical, jazz and the Beatles, and love music from pretty much every genre, although my country really only goes as far as Johnny Cash or the occasional Willie Nelson song. I even enjoy a good pop song, but I have to admit that despite what the critics and pretty much everyone else in America thinks, this was possibly the worst year for mainstream music on record. The airwaves were littered with shit like Lady Gaga and the incredibly overrated “Empire State of Mind,” and even the indie music scene felt weak with the most talked about band being the lackluster Phoenix (is it me, or do all their songs sound exactly the same?). I utterly despise Lady Gaga. I do not understand her appeal and find her attempts at intellectualism (i.e., Kermit outfit) laughable. Her songs are catchy but in that annoying, grating away, not because they’re good. Her lyrics are almost more idiotic than LFO’s “Summer Girls,” and in many ways I feel she represents everything that is wrong with American culture and the music industry. I could go on and on about my hatred, but that is a topic for another blog. Just know that there won’t be any fucking “Paparazzi” on this list.

1. Mastodon- “The Czar- I. Usurper II. Escape III. Martyr IV. Spiral”

From the album Crack the Skye

Yeah, that’s right. I put Animal Collective at number two. So what? They may be the best thing to happen to Brooklyn since they cleaned up the Gowanus canal, but even the glory that is “My Girls” could not match the epic awesomeness of “The Czar.” As a lover of metal I simply had to put this over-the-top 10 minute rock opera at the top, because it proves that the genre is still alive and kicking. Instead of following the general metal mantra of “more intensity is better,” Mastodon decided to recall a simpler, more melodic time in the genre’s history, specifically the early 70s, when giants like Black Sabbath, Mötorhead and Diamond Head roamed the land. “The Czar” feels cool because it so clearly tells a story, albeit a completely incomprehensible one, but it’s the operatic nature and the imagery that makes it feel classic. As the title implies, it’s broken up into four very distinguishable sections- “Usurper” is a slow build-up to the two middle sections, both of which feature badass guitar work and solos. This is bookended with a slow come-down in “Spiral,” which leads right into the next song on the album.

When a song has lyrics like, “By the light of the moon/You must escape into the deep back of the night/Fight the devil inside/Enemies poison deep within my second sight/Wasting valuable time” how can you not love it?

2. Animal Collective- “My Girls”

From the album Merriweather Post Pavilion

I’ve been a fan of Animal Collective since high school, but they were never really one of my favorite groups until they went electric with 2007′s Strawberry Jam. “My Girls” takes what was great about Jam’s best songs, like album-opener “Peacebone,” and takes it to the next level. Animal Collective have always been great, and have always succeeded at achieving intellectualism while avoiding the pretentiousness that often comes with being an indie darling from Brooklyn, but before their music often felt like a grab-bag of different styles all vying for the spotlight. Merriweather and “My Girls” take what’s best about Animal Collective- their love of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys and their nü-folk roots- and transforms it into a catchy, dancy hit. What I love most about this song is how utterly simple the lyrics are. Dude just wants some adobe slabs for his girls, yo.

3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- “Zero”

From the album It’s Blitz!

Often when a band decides to completely change their style the gutsy move completely backfires and they end up looking like a bunch of shallow fools. KISS taking their makeup off comes to mind, as does Bon Jovi going country, although both those bands sucked before they did that anyway, so… Fortunately, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ switch to dancy synth-pop was a welcome change, and didn’t entirely eliminate their original punky sound. It’s Blitz! is without a doubt their strongest and tightest album, with nearly every song a standout track, especially “Heads Will Roll” and “Dragon Queen,” but none are quite as excellent as the album’s first single and opening track, “Zero.” When it came out last February I must have listened to it five times a day every day on my iPod. That’s how catchy it is. And not “shorty fire burning on the dance floor” catchy- really catchy, good catchy. It has so much re-playability because there’s so much going on in it. At first it sounds like a pretty standard indie dance track, but then after the bridge there’s that synthetic howl, and suddenly there’s ten times more electro, bass, beat, and to top it all off, an accompanying guitar riff. It feels like a warm summer day transformed into four and half minutes of aural bliss.

4. Bat For Lashes- “Daniel”

From the album Two Suns

Bat For Lashes caught my eye when Paul Fitzgerald, my music video professor in Dublin, showed our class the music video for the band’s breakout hit single, “What’s a Girl to Do.” The video and song were so good that I downloaded the whole album, but unfortunately it didn’t exactly meet my expectations. There’s really only one song I can even remember besides “What’s a Girl to Do,” and while that song is good, it isn’t particularly original (its opening drum beats sound exactly like the opening to “Just Like Honey” by The Jesus & Mary Chain). Two Suns on the other hand, completely exceeds all expectations. It’s an expertly crafted and structured album, and reminds me of why I love LPs and CDs so much- when an artist actually puts effort into them they’re almost like musical novels, a story told through song. “Daniel,” another single, is the standout track , and is awesome because it’s the saddest dance song you’ll ever hear. Natasha Khan’s vocals are at their most haunting here, and even though her sad tale of lost love makes you want to cry your eyes out, you can’t help but bob your head while you do it.

5. Them Crooked Vultures- “Gunman”

From their self-titled debut

I was pretty dubious about this alleged supergroup when it was first announced. For starters, supergroups are usually lame- even ones that should be good like Damon Albarn’s The Good, the Bad and the Queen. And upon listening to the thirty second iTunes samples, I couldn’t help but feel like Them Crooked Vultures were nothing more than a slightly tweaked version of Queens of the Stone Age. There’s obvious similarities, most notably the fact that they share the same singer and guitarist- Josh Homme. But “Gunman” exemplifies the major differences between TCV and QOFTSA, and that’s probably why I like it so much. The song would be nothing without its catchy central guitar riff, which rarely changes but is so badass that I feel like I could listen to it looped for a full hour and not get bored. This is combined with an unusually dancey beat from Dave Grohl, one that you wouldn’t find in any QOFTSA album, even the one Grohl drummed on, Songs for the Deaf. Obviously you won’t like Them Crooked Vultures if you don’t like QOFTSA or at least Eagles of Death Metal, but if you do, rest assured, this isn’t just QOFTSA plus one dude from Led Zeppelin.

6. Passion Pit- “Little Secrets”

From the album Manners

At a glance, Passion Pit seems nothing more than a post-MGMT electro indie darling. And while there’s a lot about them that I’m not crazy about- the lead singer’s doing that indie rock thing where you have to sing in high pitched girl-like falsettos, and the album itself isn’t really all that great. Like MGMT, Passion Pit is currently nothing more than a singles band, but at least they’re producing good singles, namely “Little Secrets” and “Sleepyhead.” I like “Little Secrets” because it’s really catchy and because while it does sound a lot like MGMT, it also has its own thing going on, namely the child choir. I’m a big fan of choruses sung by child choirs, and the “higher and higher” refrain always gets me singing along.

7. Mew- “Cartoons and Macramé Wounds

From the album No More Stories / Are Told Today / I’m Sorry / They Washed Away / No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I’m Tired / Let’s Wash Away

Unlike most bands these days, Mew seems wholly uninterested in the single and near-obsessive in their desire to craft a storybook album. Their breakout album “And the Glass Handed Kites” caught my attention back in 2006, and I loved the way the band made every song lead into the next, so that it almost felt as if there weren’t any songs at all, just one, long, continuous piece of music. Granted, they also sing in the girlish indie rock fashion, and as a fan of heavy metal I can’t help but shake my head when a man sings like that. But sometimes it works, and in Mew’s best songs I can’t imagine any other kind of vocal inflection being used. Those high-pitched wailings make me feel like I’m listening to a band of Danish pixies.

No More Stories… is definitely a huge step forward for the group. It’s got much more re-playability, and has some darker sounds and themes than the previous album. I have no idea what the lyrics of this song are about, but what I do know is that it’s frakkin’ epic. The first half isn’t all that interesting, but when the electronic bass comes in at the end and the song starts to build and build, you can’t help but get lost in it.

8. Vitalic- “See the Sea (Blue)”

From the album Flashmob

Vitalic is the least famous French electronica group I listen to, but may just be the best. They don’t have the poppy accessibility of Daft Punk or the awesome slap bass samples of Justice, but they do have a certain weirdness that neither of those groups do. When you’re listening to Vitalic you naturally want to bob your head and/or get up and dance, but you also feel a little unsettled, like there’s just something off about your dance music. Vitalic is the Dexter of dance music.

“Sea the Sea (Red)” opens the album, but its sister, the “Blue” version, is much more epic and inventive. In a lot of ways it sounds much more like Daft Punk than Vitalic usually does, but it’s still got that characteristic weirdness. It’s a great dance song , with lots of elements being layered and layered upon each other as it progresses, but it all sounds like it’s playing in a giant hollow space, like an abandoned cathedral or something. Vitalic’s sophomore album did not receive the critical success of OK Cowboy, but it’s well worth a listen and shows the group still knows what they’re doing (and by group I mean the one French guy who makes all of this on his MacBook Pro).

9. Dinosaur Jr.- “Said the People”

From the album Farm

Sadly I must admit that this is the only Dinosaur Jr. album I have ever listened to in its entirety. The rest of my collection consists solely of the greatest hits comp Ear-Bleeding Country, and for that I am ashamed. But I suppose it shows the extent to which J. Mascis’ music has touched me, that I felt compelled to pick up his highly acclaimed new work without extensively studying the rest of his discography first. If the rest of Dinosaur Jr.’s albums are anything like this one, then they are truly masters of post-punk, shoegaze and alternative rock. That’s what’s great about Dinosaur Jr.- they don’t represent any one particular style, and seven-minute epics like “Said the People” defy classification. All I can say is that it’s rock n’ roll. And it’s awesome. It’s sad and melancholy, especially the lyrics (“save me” is repeated over and over), but the guitar work is engaging and the solos feel like they were transported from a classic Aerosmith song. It’s nice to see that some musicians never sell out, and stay true to their roots while trying new things.

10. A Place to Bury Strangers- “Dead Beat”

From the album Exploding Head

A Place to Bury Strangers claim to be “the loudest band in NYC,” which is kind of a stupid thing to be proud of. I for one, will probably never go to one of their shows for fear of my ears bleeding. I got into the band when I was doing my shoegaze radio show for WNYU, but to be honest they’re only mildly shoegaze. They’re like My Bloody Valentine, if MBV decided to play their songs really fast and really loud. APTBS create the same kind of walls of sound synonymous with shoegaze groups, but in a much more hard rock kind of style. Exploding Head, their sophomore album, is definitely a step above their self titled debut, and there is nary a bad song on it. Dead Beat stands out because it sounds like some kind of twisted rockabilly song. The opening riff is straight rockabilly, like The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” on acid, and somehow the surfer style, shoegaze influence and hard rock roots all seem to coalesce into something really catchy.

Next up is my Top 10 Films of 2009, which I’ll try to coincide with the Oscars. I apologize for these belated entries, but I’ve been sort of busy looking for a job/being depressed.

~ by TheHil on January 30, 2010.