Relentless nostalgia, formula-breaking dance music, introverted virtuosos, and a lot of contrived genres ending in “wave”. Brasky opines.
Reader:: I thought this was a Florida music blog. BRASKY:It is. But we wouldn’t be very good at evaluating the local music scenes if we didn’t know what was going on elsewhere.
Reader:: Well if I wanted a broader summary of best albums, why wouldn’t I just go to Pitchfork, Amazon, NME, etc? BRASKY:Go for it. This isn’t so much a proclamation of what was the best this year as much as it is a calibration of the criteria we use to review local music and diagnose local culture. We hope that this brings us closer to our audience.
Reader:: OK. So a couple of you got together and reviewed your iTunes play counts from 2010. BRASKY:There are about 20 people who collaborated on this. We listened to more albums than we could bear and we all hate listening to music now. The discussion has been going on all year and the following list encapsulates the mean sentiment of people whose judgment we trust. To honor the democratic spirit of the process, the list is not ordered.
Immediately upon settling the needle down on the imaginary vinyl of Eyelid Movies, the rookie album from the New York duo that record as Phantogram, the sound emerges in much the same manner… it seems to diffuse out from the speakers, a highly textured mixture of viscous sexuality and fearless mystery-pop that requires no special glasses to tickle your amygdala. - Aaron Rogge
Astro Coast is the album that Weezer fans have been living 15 years without. Unabashed power-pop hooks meet sunny self-aware rhetoric in an album that knows just where to hang tambourines, hold pauses an extra beat, or take a scrumptious riff around the block for another spin. In a year that saw numerous ‘beach’-themed albums slam 1960s Detroit blues-pop into Beach Boyish reverb-soaked lullabies for maximum indie cred, this album comes across as the most honest, hard-working, and promising of 2010′s rock crop. And with Brasky being a Florida-based music/scene/art blog, it just feels right to include these South Florida youngsters in our top 10. - Aaron Rogge
For much of the year this album defied measure for the Brasky reviewers, first described as yet another chin-stroking Caribou album when we reviewed it in April. Swim, Dan Snaith’s 5th full-length album and 3rd under the Caribou moniker, was unmistakably inventive and beautiful, though the prevailing criticism was that some of the songs were simply too challenging. 2007′s Andorra (“a mellow, psychedelic grab bag of masterfully conceived “bedroom music”.”) marked the beginning of a psychedelic shift in his sound, a trend inherited and heavily accentuated by Swim. Snaith tests, new funky vocal styles alongside electro synths metered by house rhythms, sprinkled as usual with studio-sampled drum work. Our original review noted that the underlying music was, in some ways, a throwback to the more electronic sounds of Manitoba:
“Swim takes a turn to more experimental and earthy sounds, more closely resembling the sounds of Snaith’s earlier work as Manitoba, with tracks building and decaying steadily and with more repetition, in general. But Swim is by no means a digression, as Snaith tests a variety of sounds and styles, including regular doses of scale-wandering vocals that call to mind fellow Canadians the Junior Boys.”
That was after a week’s contemplation in April. What we came to discover as the year went by was that the more we dissected any one aspect of the music, the more merit the songs gained. Most importantly, we realized the album grew in plain listenability throughout the year. While it’s important to note that there is still some internal debate on this album, the prevailing zealousness of its endorsers earns it a spot in this year’s top 10. - Derek Clark
LCD Soundsystem have knocked it out of the ballpark. Whatever the creative process is for James Murphy, it works. As people expected a dance record, they were instead given a masterpeice of melodies and rhythm. - Emanuel Moshouris
Before there was Haunted Graffiti, there was just Ariel. Since the early 2000′s he has been secretly amassing a vast catalog of lo-fi, nostalgic pop music. Before Today hit at the perfect moment for a fast-growing undercurrent of listeners ready to embrace new(er) wave sounds and 80s nostalgia. The album seems effortlessly timeless, wandering carefully through stretches of psychedelic rock and new wave ennui. Accusations of mimicry should instead be described as support for Ariel’s nimble translation of an emerging cultural yearning to rediscover the artistic honesty of 70′s/80′s pop music. - Derek Clark
After an epic meltdown on his European tour, the troubled genius behind Wavves brings that trademark sense of sarcasm and aggression to another noise punk hit-list. Drawing heavily from the Pixies, Nirvana, and every jaded pill-popper that’s ever thrashed on a Fender Jaguar, Wavves pushes the pace yet still finds time to groove. - Aaron Rogge
Age of Adz feels like Sufjan Stevens had submitted to himself. It seems as if there had been this thing catalyzing inside of him, growing with each album released, larger and more substantial until he could bear it no more. In reality, months before development had started on Age of Adz, Sufjan had been victim of a bizarre nervous system infection, nearly rendering him immobile and in excruciating pain.
I won’t pretend to know of the creative process, because I don’t. I can however, imagine how frustrating it must feel to be unable to create when there is something inside of you needing to be let out. Evidenced by the dark and bellowing melodies with electronic undertones, by no mean is this a typical Sufjan album. - Emanuel Moshouris
Lyrically this album seems more personal and more mature than his others. He has the same angelic chorus for his backup vocals. On this album he got his hands on a drum machine and experimented with textures. - Cathy Hughes
Teen Dream lands somewhere between French X-rated movie soundtrack and midnight college radio long-play material. That being said, the restless winding of this album is a haunting and gratifying trip through afternoon memories and summer endlessness. - Aaron Rogge
Last year Gold Panda arrived on the scene with the infectious sounds of “Quitter’s Raga” – A 2-minute collage of diced-up Eastern sentiment. From this teaser we approached Gold panda’s debut full-length release, Lucky Shiner, with optimism. The album immediately delivers with “You”, a track that borrows from the formula that made “Quitter’s Raga” so appealing – finely diced vocal samples laid over syncopating hip hop pattering. From here the album takes an intriguing shift toward minimalism, remaining rich with detail but steady and enchanting in rhythm. “Same Dream China” and “Snow & Taxis” are great examples of the patient accumulation of sounds and moods that come to shape the emotional experience of the music. As the song titles seem to support, Lucky Shiner oozes a vibe of reflection on past memories, places and relationships. Seems fitting enough coming from a reclusive Englishmen who’s spent time in Japan and attended the School of Oriental and Asian Studies at the University of London.
“Sleigh Bells managed to first fuse together two massive, adrenaline pumping styles–hardcore and crunk hip hop–but then took it a step further by sprinkling it with soft, feminine synth pop vocals. Occasionally the sonic shitstorm stalls long enough to hear Alexis chirp something about “your boyfriend”, immediately cut off when overdriven, heavily stacked chunks of “melody” resume the assault on your eardrums. The compression and overdriven distortion are usually so heavy that they nearly mute out the vocal tracks when the two coincide – this usually would constitute a production error, but this seems consistent with the spirit of Treats: Unrelenting, unpolished, provocative machine “pop”.
- Derek Clark
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Honorable Mentions
These albums were in the discussion for the top 10 and should be g’sharked, pandora’d, or otherwise passed through the body.
Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
Bonobo – Black Sands
Baths – Cerulean
Avi Buffalo – Avi Buffalo
Big Boi – Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty
Daedelus – Righteous Fists of Harmony
Vampire Weekend – Contra
Best Coast – Crazy For You
Zach Hill – Face Tat
Matthew Dear – Black City
Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
Flying Lotus – Cosmogramma
Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
Sparklehorse – Dark Night of the Soul
Kanye West – My Dark Twisted Fantasy (10.0 Pitchfork? C’mon.)
Staff Top 10s
These album nods are attached to names and rankings (which will be useful for readers formulating vitriolic objections in the comment box.)
Derek’s Top 10
Nikki’s Top 10
10
Harlem – Hippies
9
Wild Nothing – Gemini
8
Sleigh Bells – Treats
7
Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
6
Tennis – Baltimore
5
Noisia – Split the Atom
4
Wavves – King of the Beach
3
Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner
2
Baths – Cerulean
1
Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
10
Heyoka – Cosmic Boogie
9
Beats Antique – Blind Threshold
8
The Great Mundane – This is so You
7
Venetian Snares – My So-Called Life
6
Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz
5
LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening
4
Sleigh Bells – Treats
3
Gold Panda – Lucky Shiner
2
Beach House – Teen Dream
1
Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
Emanuel’s Top 10
Aaron’s Top 10
10
Hans Zimmer – Inception Soundtrack
9
Crystal Castles – Crystal Castles II
8
Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
7
Venetian Snares – My So Called Life
6
LCD Soundsystem – London Sessions
5
Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz
4
Autechre – Oversteps
3
Sleigh Bells – Treats
2
Jimmy Edgar – XXX
1
LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
10
Beach House – Teen Dream
9
Four Tet – There is Love in You
8
Wavves – King of the Beach
7
Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
6
Phantogram – Eyelid Movies
5
LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
4
Bonobo – Black Sands
3
Red Sparowes – The Fear is Excruciating…
2
Best Coast – Crazy for You
1
Surfer Blood – Astro Coast
Stay tuned for a completely accurate list of the top songs of 2010!
Floridian Derek E. Miller and Alexis Krauss, a.k.a. Sleigh Bells may have just formed world’s first… hardcore girl pop band? Their story begins in late 2008 when Derek E. Miller–former guitar player for post-hardcore notables Poison the Well (FL!)–waited on Alexis and her mother (guess life is less hardcore after PtW). Derek was looking for a female vocalist for a new music project, and, as the story goes, Alexis’ mother volunteered her in what surely was an excruciatingly embarrassing moment. In her teen days, Alexis sang in a girl pop group of indeterminate quality… we doubt Derek was too picky, in that regard. Before long, Derek and Alexis were making music, and not too long after that, word of their live shows and first few singles were gaining viral momentum around the web. By the end of 2009, Sleigh Bells buzz was leaking to mainstream media outlets. With only a couple tracks recorded, Sleigh Bells managed to land at #57 in Pitchfork’s top 100 list of 2009 with “Crown on the Ground”
With all this hype before even releasing an EP, let alone an album, could Sleigh Bells meet expectations in 2010? With the release of Treats last month, we think that they have. In fact, Treats is currently boasting a remarkable 87 average review on Metacritic.com, very unusual for an album this edgy. The reviews seem a little inflated, perhaps for the hype, but we won’t deny the quixotic appeal.
Dutchman are weird, but occasionally they are ace producers.
April has been an exciting month for new music. Our attention going into the month was on some big followup albums from MGMT, 65daysofstatic, and Caribou (if you don’t know who these bands are, please go home.) The two highest scoring albums, however, came from some relative upstarts. Noisia, a house/DnB hybrid electronic group blew us away with a 19-track arsenal of skillfully produced Holland hardcore that *truly* straddles genres. Close behind was west coast post-rock outfit Red Sparowes, outshining 65daysofstatic with a formidable collection of expertly played songs that excel in most every aspect of what makes instrumental rock awesome.
Sample As You Read
If our fancy college words and unfancy internet obscenities leave any mystery to the content of these albums (unlikely!), we have once again included album samples.
BTW Section
We’re scoring albums out of 100 now, because:
We copy everyone and nothing on this site is unique or of value
We are each capable of discerning 100 discrete levels of satisfaction, each accompanied by at least one precise adjective.
In Florida, the first weekend in March is usually a Northerner’s fantasy… highs in the 70s, fat old sun shining away, birds bigger than they ought to be lazily picking critters out of serene swamps… but something significant is missing this year. It’s not the snowboards slowly playing shuffleboard in West Palm Beach, and it’s not shark attacks (although their number is down significantly). There is a very quiet ghost roaming South Florida, one whose glorious life was short but beautiful, and meaningful to many people around the world. March 6 2010 is the two-year anniversary of the death of a very good friend… In 2009, Langerado, Florida’s premier music festival, was canceled indefinitely, with little chance of ever occurring again. +Continue Reading
January releases in cinematic terms mean one thing: we are embarrassed, we know these movies suck, but here they are anyway. A studio has to make money, even when Oscar season is stepping up. Who releases a musical album in January, then? The answer is Geniuses. I’m not sure if it is a psychological attempt to be ‘firstsies’ on the new decade so far as releases go, but January was packed with big name offerings. Highly anticipated releases from Vampire Weekend, Beach House, and Jaga Jazzist are exciting early contenders for album of the year. Without further ado, we have reviewed seven albums complete with ratings out of ten. Enjoy (read: Raucously disagree).
This upstart foursome from New York may still be reeling from the success of their first offering, 2007′s self-titled album. Widely regarded as one of the best indie albums of that year, the buzz in anticipation of their sophomore studio album must have seemed daunting. In today’s fast-moving, Internet-spurned music industry, it seems few bands have succeeded in keeping favor with the hip for more than one album. We’re here to say that we think they survived (Just avoid “Horchata“)
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There is no mistaking that this album is by the same band that we all fell in love with in the summer of ’07. Ezra Koenig’s vocals slide all over the scale, as chirping keyboards and peppy guitars weave around each other in that distinct Vampire way. We think this is no truer than on Holiday, this album’s A-Punk. But despite the familiarity, this album seems to experiment a bit more, perhaps influenced by producer Rostam Batmanglij’s explorative journey as part of the duo Discovery. We have all been running through this album and I think we agree that the tracks almost all seem to grow on you–except that damned vocal hook in “Horchata“. Perhaps we have a band that is here to stay.
Teen Dream is both beautiful and atmospheric; the subtle, almost unnoticeable accompaniment of the piano in most songs is a testament to the band’s instrumental harmonization. Upon first listen, though, this characteristic causes the songs to seem indistinguishable, requiring several listens before I was able to truly appreciate their finespun appeal.
I especially love Used To Be. Its introduction is more powerful than that of the other songs, but it slowly tapers, which is suggestive of a progressively emotional ending – a good formula for this group.
For those among us who have followed Four Tet, we know that a Kieran Hebden track is a layered and linear cerebral event. There is Love in You is a collection of tracks carries on his legacy of sample-heavy, drummy, beat-loyal chillout music. This album leans toward the minimalist house ingredient in the Four Tet arsenal, making this album less-than-ideal for a focused listening session. Some of the tracks feel a little lackluster, but it’s hard to dismiss the work of an artist whose stirred the emotions of so many with passionately engineered sonic offerings…. but I think we should suggest listeners skip this one unless they know exactly what they’re bargaining for.
Ok Go have historically bucked the trend of being easily ‘classifiable’. Are they a radio rock mainstay, as hits like ‘Get Over It’ suggest? Are they niche-pop superstars, measured roughly by the arcing success of singles like ‘A Million Ways’? Are they
the first true internet band? One would not have to have ever paid a visit to Youtube to have seen their treadmill jumping antics (the original video is nearing 50 million views). But even after all that exposure, has Ok Go successfully cemented themselves as a perennially popular band?
They continue to raise questions with their newest album, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky. Although devoid of jaw-dropping, guitar hero worthy anthems, this album is ready for radio, dance halls, and parties across the world. It is unabashedly sexy, fun, and strange. Many of the songs on the album could be from reunited 80s bands, or even dance-punk masters like The Faint or Electric Six. The bass slams, as usual, and many tracks get under your skin enough to force you to stand up and shake them out. The sexy, ‘licked whisper’ lyrics may polarize many listeners, yet the tone is consistent enough to have manageable highs and lows of stylization. Overall, it appeals to all classes of listeners without forgetting what the band set out to do: be as cool as fuck. This is Ok Go’s ‘Icky Thump’… energetic, daring, confident, refined, and well-honed. It also possesses that quality not often seen in major label releases: it gets better with repeated listens. It is well suited as an early decade release: a step forward, and in the right direction to boot.
Many gloomy themes have passed through Eels’ world in the past twenty years. After his sister committed suicide, Mark Everett (or simply ‘E’) recorded the dark classic Electro-Shock Blues, and songs like ‘Novocaine for the Soul’ and ‘Cancer for the Cure’ have achieved some commercial success despite desperation and hopelessness at their poignant souls. End Times, Eels’ newest album, was recorded nearly exclusively on four track, and it thematically follows E’s recent divorce. His aging voice hasn’t lost the articulation to adequately voice heartbreak, confusion, and bitterness, and although the album may find itself exploring the new realm of relationships, a moribund approach is what E does best. As E says in the album’s final track, ‘On My Feet’, “I’m pretty sure that I’ve been through worse, [...] but I’m still dying inside.”
Through and through, End Times is a familiar record. Familiar tones, timbres, and topics. But what stands out beyond the foundation of the Eels repertoire is the ease with which these songs seem to flow, and the sardonic sense of humor that it takes to sit alone with a guitar and pluck out hopeful tunes about death by anonymity and suicide bombing is E’s happy place. If you mix Bob Dylan and Beetlejuice, this is the album that would likely be produced. It may not make any year-end lists or top 40 charts, but it does prove a point: that Eels is a consistently powerful band that always finds its muse, even if that muse may resemble a big stone angel hovering above a gravestone.
On his last album, The Third Hand, RJD2–a.k.a. Philadelphian RJ Krohn–experimented with more instrumentation and started singing on tracks. Krohn offers up vocals again on The Colossus, but shrewdly limits his singing to a few tracks, seeking out the vocal assistance of others instead. The Colossus features guest vocalists and performers on five tracks, varying from loungy serenades (see: Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Kenna) to a full-on hip hop (courtesy the stylings of The Catalyst, Illogical & NP on a strong track, “A Son’s Cycle”).
The album’s overall mood is mellow (psychedelic), funky, and important-seeming in a Flaming Lips meets Amon Tobin way. The production is impressive, something we come to expect from RJD2, but this album’s brew of popular funk/jazz sounds (Jamiroquai? Squarepusher funkscapes?) feels un-serious at times. Or perhaps fit for the movie soundtrack of a PG-13 movie? Or something I’d hear playing in public?
Criticism aside, the album has some good tracks. I especially enjoyed “Giant Squid“, a funky jam that seems closer to the style I had previously associated with RJ’s music. “Let There Be Horns“, the leadoff track, succeeds in entertaining by immersing its listener in Krohn’s world of funky drums, android synths, and–as you may guess-horns. I don’t think fans of RJD2 will be flat out disappointed, but I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone else (in its entirety, at least).
In their new album, One-Armed Bandit, Jaga Jazzist manages a number of feats: they take from their previous styles, while also improving on them and moving in new directions. Lush soundscapes form the background, while a blend of prog-rock, jazz fusion and electronica take the fore.
A Living Room Hush, their most acclaimed album, featured tracks that had musique concrète stylings. (As an aside, some of their songs have been remixed by Dat Politics and Matthew Herbert, groups often classified as musique concrète).One-Armed Bandit sees them moving away from this a bit, and more towards grand orchestral tracks fit for a movie score. Jaga Jazzist has been and continues to be an amazing creative machine that produces music fit for musicians, hipsters, and music geeks alike,
Songs:
Here are some of our favorites from this month from releases not mentioned above:
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