Obligatory Music Post for 2010
Everyone's already done their lists, but here's my albums that came out in 2010 that if you haven't listened to, you should. It's kind of deeply indie-tastic. If two years ago was the list of new folk, and last year was the list of pop punk, this is definitely the year of indie rock.
41st and Home: Left In Places. This is the album that I really hoped that High Violet would be. It's lush, dark, and beautiful. It has big guitars and big strings, and songs about lost love and worlds that should have been.
Shearwater: The Golden Archipelago. Yeah. It's a pretentious prog rock concept album about Bikini Atoll. But Jonathan Meiburg could sing the phone book with that kind of instrumental structure, and I'd listen to it. I saw them play live at Sala Rossa in Montreal earlier this year, and it was just spellbinding.
The Gaslight Anthem: American Slang. I'd liked The 59 Sound, but this is the album where I fell in love with Gaslight Anthem. Cat had picked it up, and had it in random shuffle on her ipod. The three of us were working in the kitchen upstairs when When We Were Young came on, and thirty seconds in to the track we all just stopped and listened, blown away. Then we started it again.
Arcade Fire: The Suburbs. This is probably the most coherent album that Arcade Fire has done. I didn't love Neon Bible at all, and was sort of ready to categorize Arcade Fire as a band that had one amazing track (Rebellion) and a great live show. And then they released The Suburbs, which wasn't just one track but a whole album that fit together and kept it going.
Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks. This is my album of the year, hands down. It's not necessarily a cheery album - it's about the seductive nature of despair and nihilism - but somewhere deep down there's just this kernel of hope for redemption that makes it brilliant.
Outstanding concerts for the year were Jack's Mannequin, Shearwater, Arcade Fire, Great Big Sea, Josh Ritter, and Steel Train.
What else should I be listening to?
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comments there.
41st and Home: Left In Places. This is the album that I really hoped that High Violet would be. It's lush, dark, and beautiful. It has big guitars and big strings, and songs about lost love and worlds that should have been.
Shearwater: The Golden Archipelago. Yeah. It's a pretentious prog rock concept album about Bikini Atoll. But Jonathan Meiburg could sing the phone book with that kind of instrumental structure, and I'd listen to it. I saw them play live at Sala Rossa in Montreal earlier this year, and it was just spellbinding.
The Gaslight Anthem: American Slang. I'd liked The 59 Sound, but this is the album where I fell in love with Gaslight Anthem. Cat had picked it up, and had it in random shuffle on her ipod. The three of us were working in the kitchen upstairs when When We Were Young came on, and thirty seconds in to the track we all just stopped and listened, blown away. Then we started it again.
Arcade Fire: The Suburbs. This is probably the most coherent album that Arcade Fire has done. I didn't love Neon Bible at all, and was sort of ready to categorize Arcade Fire as a band that had one amazing track (Rebellion) and a great live show. And then they released The Suburbs, which wasn't just one track but a whole album that fit together and kept it going.
Frightened Rabbit - The Winter of Mixed Drinks. This is my album of the year, hands down. It's not necessarily a cheery album - it's about the seductive nature of despair and nihilism - but somewhere deep down there's just this kernel of hope for redemption that makes it brilliant.
Outstanding concerts for the year were Jack's Mannequin, Shearwater, Arcade Fire, Great Big Sea, Josh Ritter, and Steel Train.
What else should I be listening to?
This entry also posted at http://random.dreamwidth.org/133310.html. Read the
comments there.