in 2008, and the follow-up effort, The Orchard
dropped in late August. "We both had doubts, / We're both in doubt," croons lead singer Wes Miles on the opening track. Welp, that makes three of us. My first few listens sensed a sonic sophomore slump, but after spinning the album a dozen times, I became convinced that it wasn't a slump so much as failure to match or eclipse the debut.
, then try displacing the rock under which you've been living. This album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, which, to my recollection, may be the first time an indie album has debuted (or even reached) number one on the charts. There have certainly been plenty of deserving records that never reached that mark, but this album has earned its success.
.
. Niiice.
. I'm not particularly a fan of the bearded, bandaned, pot-smoking Texan, so Phosphoresent's 2010 effort, Here's to Taking It Easy
, wasn't one of the albums I marked on my calendar before its release in May (possibly the year's best month, musically speaking, with one - two - three - four - five - six -- and now seven -- good albums)... but it should have been.
in the U.S. in early 2010. Local Natives, from Los Angeles, benefited from the British buzz and hit the ground running in February.
, so I was amped for Destroyer of the Void
, released back at the start of June. At first listen, I was disappointed with Void, but I continued to spin the record and it grew on me.
and -- a bit to my chagrin -- the head-bangable tunes of Furr.
when they were teenagers. For some reason, their debut LP, Elephant Shell
, seemed to fall relatively flat. Undeterred, the Canucks left Saddle Creek Records
(free sampler) for the greener pastures of Mom + Pop, and released Champ
back in May.
fest in 2009 and were signed by M.I.A. The duo in Sleigh Bells, Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller, has one of the most disparate sonic backgrounds of any band out there. Krauss was in Rubyblue, all-girl pop group, and Miller was in a hardcore band called Poison the Well. While waiting her table in 2008, Miller told Krauss he played guitar and was looking for a singer. Krauss' mother, also at the table, offered her daughter's vocal services, and Sleigh Bells formed.
(brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department).
, TBK only let Danger Mouse produce one track ("Tighten Up"). It's a great track -- and you can hear Danger Mouse's influences after the bridge -- but TBK retreated a bit to their roots (compared to A&R), rather appropriately so considering they recorded some of the songs at legendary Muscle Shoals studio, while also keeping some of the keyboard influences. What emerges is a fantastic album -- not only their most critically acclaimed album, but also their highest selling album. After a bit of a lull (2006's Magic Potion was the weakest link in their discography), the boys are back in town.
a fair shake... I didn't want it to get lost in the shuffle. Sadly, the album couldn't stand up to any of the aforementioned (except The New Pornos), and it eventually got pushed to the back of the listening stack.
as the album of the year. I gave the album a listen and was immediately repulsed by Matt Berringer's vocals. I thought, "This is the album of the year?" I kept listening, hoping that I would "get it." Long story short: I got it. Once I embraced Berringer's baritone, I was sold on the National's combination of good music and great lyrics.
(only $6.99!), I was a little disappointed; I can't really explain it, but I felt like something was missing. I think, however, that I expected to be immediately bowled over, but that's not how the National works. For each of their albums (I got my mitts on Alligator
in '08), there was a period of 4-5 listens where I had to feel things out. Once I got through those initial listens, I was, indeed, bowled over.
(FRR) on the same day as The New Pornographers put out Toghether (perhaps a bizzaro-Canadian version of the 50 Cent vs. Kanye battle?). I'm not sure about the sales figures of the respective albums (my money would be on TNP), but as far as brilliance, the nod goes -- rather easily -- to Broken Social Scene (BSS).
, but I could only get into about half the tracks (skipping the other half; the same holds true for You Forgot It In People
). FRR, however, doesn't have a throwaway track; pretty much every other song is a favorite and there is no skipping involved (and that's without much involvement from Leslie Feist). Of the album's thirteen tracks, I rated seven of them as four- or five-star tracks.
(top 20, at least), so I was pretty pumped about their latest release back in early May. However, I ended up being a little underwhelmed.
starts off with much promise, and the first three songs have that classic TNP feel. Pretty upbeat (read: poppy) compared to the first third of Challengers. "Moves," "The Crash Years," and "Your Hands (Together)" are all fantastic. The rest of the album, for the most part, doesn't seem to match the pace or the quality of the songs at the album's outset (with the exception of "Up in the Dark"). As with previous albums, I'm not a fan of the songs on which Dan Bejar (of Destroyer) sings ("Silver Jenny Dollar," "If You Can't See My Mirrors"). His voice just kills me.
, was absolutely fantastic, so I had high hopes for La La Land
. Like some other bands' 2010 efforts (Joe Pug, Vampire Weekend, Band of Horses, New Pornographers), I was a little disappointed.
just as much as House with No Home
(my favorite album of '08).
, but their follow-up, Big Echo
, caught my eye with its good reviews and its fantastic album cover (which reminded me of one of my all-time favorite paintings)., I suggest you pick up this album.
