Top 10 Albums of the Year: #3

Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position (Low Altitude / Polydor)

Turning quite the corner after the beautifully stark Wind in the Wires (2005), The Magic Position is largely as gleeful and bright an affair as the cover art might suggest. The cover might also suggest that the music is unabashedly theatrical, melodramatic, and a bit of a guilty pleasure (which it is). It is also a stunning collection of pop songs, essentially another notch in Wolf's already well-notched (and now glitter-coated) belt.
"Overture" kicks things off at a solid gallop and a majestic violin melody. It gets the blood pumping and sets the pace for the rest of the album. Combined with the title track and "Accident and Emergency," the opening trio of songs dazzle with their energy and sheen. Wolf exudes plenty of charisma and personality throughout the album, so song lines about being placed in the "major key" and living through the clouds so you can see the sun come off as surprisingly endearing instead of stomach-turning (which they should be).
All of this flamboyant vivaciousness is countered well by a handful of tracks with a more somber tone ("Bluebells," the mournful "Magpie"). "Augustine" stands out as a sort of classically styled yet updated pop ballad, and it's a great example of how Wolf's vocal style are becoming both continually refined and distinct. Interlude "Secret Garden" makes for a bone-rattling palette-cleanser with its ominous rave-sirens and distorted drums. It is also intriguing because it might point to the sound that Wolf will be advancing to in the future, as he has said he will be working with Alec Empire and tooling a massive, aggressive concept album about war and stuff (I think).
Since this is Wolf's first major-label album, it makes sense that things would go bigger, bolder, bigger, bolder, bigaarrrrrrrrr! And in such a situation an artists' sound might collapse under its own weight, but it seems like Wolf is a big enough personality that he manages his shined-up pop sound very nicely. He continues to follow his muse with each release, and one can only hope that this habit will result in continued diverse efforts.
And yet another personal note, the song "Enchanted" was used for the first dance at my wedding this summer. So there's that.

Top 10 Albums of the Year: #4

No Age - Weirdo Rippers (Fat Cat)

This album couldn't have a more appropriate title. Is there a list of "most appropriate album titles of the year"? Because this might top such a list. A dirty, well-worn punk rock aesthetic combines with a willingness to experiment and play with effects. Weirdo? Maybe. Rippers? Oftentimes, definitely. With this collection of songs from a series of 7"s and 12"s, Dean Spunt and Randy Randall have grabbed lots of attention from all corners of the music scene, and deservedly so.
The concise length of Weirdo Rippers (a bit over 30 minutes) is to its advantage. The pair blow through rousing stompers with gusto ("Boy Void," "Everybody's Down"), but they also spend time developing more atmospheric, guitar-pedal-effect driven pieces ("Loosen This Job," "I Wanna Sleep"). These tracks don't wander on into extended jams. The more freeform elements of No Age's music, and really just everything about No Age's music, is about exploring a particular sound or idea long enough to have it fully conveyed, and then move on before anything outlasts its welcome. Get in, do your thing, and get out. The album never really drags because even after a static-cloud of song, up comes something with a bit more teeth.
I first fell for No Age when I heard the track "Neck Escaper" back in early spring, and it remains a high point on the record. A clicking drum rim and pleasant guitar melody lead the song in, making you think the song might be one thing, but then the drums get a-crashin' and the guitar puffs out its chest and it becomes something else, neo-punk blues with an electrical cord plugged into its back. Brief yet powerful.
And altogether that's what's surprising and captivating about No Age: their capability to explore a formidable amount of sonic territory and manage to mesh everything together so effectively into this sort of amped up heap of fuzzed-out anti/un-punk, making it all catchy and listenable and enjoyable. Also appealing is the entire d.i.y. aesthetic that Dean and Randy so fervently support. The fact that they got their initial vinyl records out on either the label they run or the labels run by friends, the fact that they're so deeply involved with Los Angeles all-ages venue The Smell (it's right there on the cover), the whole youthful energy about it is infectious and encouraging. From interviews I've seen and read, Dean and Randy would probably tell you that Weirdo Rippers and No Age are as much an expression of themselves as it is an expression of the scene that fostered them that they feel so close to. It's rare to come across a record so concise that makes such an encompassing statement about a particular time, place, and particular individuals. It's about putting on and going to shows and dancing and sweating and rocking out and then also making the space to push yourself and push your peers, to create something always, always, always.
And get jazzed for more No Age in the future: another full length is due on Sub Pop sometime in 2008, and a big tour with Liars begins in January. Yesssssssss.

(pause)

Top 10 Albums of the Year: #5

Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline (Kranky)

I have to admit that this album didn't hit me as hard as 2001's The Tired Sounds of... and as of right now it doesn't seem to stick to my music-listening ribs as much as the multi-part suites that made up a great bulk of Tired Sounds. This is not to say it's not a truly welcome return after some fully realized and fully excellent solo releases (from Adam Wiltzie's Dead Texan and Brian McBride under his own name), all the more welcome because of its double-disc length. And for me there's something, something that keeps me coming back to this album, something beyond the album's carefully incubated and plainly obvious beauty. Something gliding underneath the surface.
Talking about the songs themselves is a bit tough, since the point of Stars of the Lid albums has always seemed to be the collective effect of each composition working together. Strings swell and roll and sing, warm pads glow and recede, a trumpet or horn makes a noticeable yet elegant accent. Each song has its own distinct melody and flow (there's not much rhythm to be found here), but things tend to run into each other, especially if you're not listening close, but that's probably ok. This is music pretty clearly designed for quieter moods and / or sleep.
I'll try to speak of some of the highlights anyway. In "Articulate Silences Part 1" ambient textures and tones come in and out of focus, somewhat lulling the listener when, in the final minute, heart-wrenching string chords pull the ground from beneath you and leave you in a slow-motion deep-space free fall. After a lovely intro, "Don't Bother, They're Here" moves into a slowly repeating tone progression, like piano or chimes being played in the surprisingly warm heart of a glacier. "The Daughters of Quiet Minds" and "Tippy's Demise" both share perfectly evocative string arrangements. This adds an ideal accent to the aquatic organ of "Daughters" and along with some slight clarinet, creates one of the more visceral and truly sad arrangements Stars of the Lid have recorded in "Tippy's Demise."
And Their Refinement of the Decline is just as patient and beautiful as every other Stars of the Lid release, and further cements their status as a duo who is absolutely at the pinnacle of their craft. Personally, the songs here communicate a deep understanding of loss, death, absence, and distance. It's music that comforts the listener in its seeming understanding of the terror of the unknown, the magnitude of love, the weight of failure. But its not about despair, it's about confronting big things and dark times, not necessarily because we're brave, but because we must. (I listened to this album when the family dog was put down, not to get weepy.)
Anyway, Stars of the Lid are supposed to be touring the US this coming year, and that's a thrilling prospect. Also worth mentioning is Carte-de-Visite, which collects some rare b-sides and unreleased songs from various album recording sessions, and makes for a great addendum to Refinement.

Top 10 Albums of the Year: #6

Matthew Dear - Asa Breed (Ghostly)

It's been nothing short of a banner year for Matthew Dear. A 12" and plenty of remixes under his Audion guise kept dance floors moving and a bleak, almost apocalyptic-sounding full-length under the name False, titled 2007, was very warmly received by the minimal techno community. The highlight of his busy year, in my mind, has been the release of Asa Breed under his very own birth name, which merges the more strictly electronic elements from earlier Matthew Dear releases with a distinctly more pop-oriented sensibility (concise song lengths! real singing!). The result is a collection that sounds simultaneously fresh and totally forward-thinking while also retaining the familiarity and accessibility of the best pop music.
Tracks like "Neighborhoods" and "Don and Sherri" have the kind of thump you would want in a great dance track but they also have great hooks and Dear's excellent vocals. The vocals throughout the album are extremely effective and it makes it seem as though Dear is investing more of himself in his music. Often the vocals are low and dark, like on the steady and reflective "Deserter," but sometimes Dear switches into a falsetto which adds a unique atmosphere to a number of tracks, like the woozy "Will Gravity Win Tonight?" Themes surrounding relationships and (it seems) development as an artist crop up time and again throughout the album. While this is not the first time Dear has sang on record, it's a definite shift from earlier releases, and fortunately nothing ever sounds or feels forced in the slightest. As things progress some songs appear that have live, almost pseudo tribal / folky percussion and, perhaps more notably, acoustic guitar. "Give Me More," "Midnight Lovers," and the remarkable dusty neo-western album conclusion, "Vine to Vine" all have these elements, and they each seem to have a more "epic" or "grand" sound to them compared to the other tracks on the album. Dear has expanded his sound here, but not to a degree that it is out of his hands and too unwieldy for him to handle. Dear has always stood out for his sense of restraint in regards to the construction of his rhythms and melodies, and where other artists might be liable to get carried away with their ideas, Dear clearly has a perfect sense of where his boundaries lie.
Asa Breed stands as Matthew Dear's most assured, immediate, deep, rewarding and, thanks to the prominent vocals, emotionally available effort yet. Now that Dear is touring with a full band, one can only imagine where how his sound will develop as his recording career continues.
And on a personal level, I got my first listens to Asa Breed while I was in Seattle for an internship, so I will always associate this music with that experience. Which is nice.

Top 10 Albums of the Year: #7

Colleen - Les Ondes Silencieuses (Leaf)

Cécile Schott's third release as Colleen finds her stripping the elements of her music to their barest essentials. Absent are any of the more obviously electronic or processed effects that crept into her previous work and the recording quality is distinctly more sharp at the edges, deep as a well. This is all so the individual instruments (and the individual notes and chords they produce) can command the listener's attention. These instruments include clarinet, crystal bells, spinet (similar to a harpsichord), classical guitar and viola da gamba, which is somewhere between a cello and viola with more strings. Now I actually didn't like this turn to spare instrumentation at first. I thought things sounded really bare compared to Colleen's earlier work. The more I listened though, the more each composition sort of bloomed in my head into this full sounding thing.
"This Place in Time" invites the listener in with its slow, patiently bowed chords. "Sea of Tranquility" and "Sun Against My Eyes" each pair classical guitar with clarinet. When light guitar strumming enters halfway through "Sea," it's surprising that such a relatively gentle touch can cause such a palpable sense of tension, a small but real thrill, while "Sun" floats along like the saddest first day of spring. "Echoes and Coral" stands out on the album if for no other reason than the fact that it's the only track that features (solely) crystal bells being played. Schott gives ample time for their delicate tones to ring out and fade, bringing to mind a clear, near-motionless tide pool. "Le Bateau" brings the album proper to its close (the Japanese edition has some wonderful, clear live takes of songs not recorded in the studio). Plucked guitar leads into a quietly menacing viola da gamba midsection, implying the rocking of the boat suggested in the song's title, the imminence of capsizing. But the song is led gracefully back into the guitar melody we started with, and the boat goes bobbing along. The album as a whole is shot through with a definite thread of melancholy, and if you're in a great mood Les Ondes Silencieuses might not be a bit of a downer. But the songs, to me, don't imply an artist wracked with depressing thoughts or a depressing life. Instead the songs speak of a serene personality, aware of and in tune with the transient nature her experiences. Not to get all philosophical or anything.
I've read in at least one, perhaps more than one place that the music of Colleen is slow to the extent that it requires too much devoted attention, or otherwise it fades to the background. This is kind of a bullshit pan on music that's really exceptionally crafted. These songs are meant to stop the listener in their tracks. They don't beg for attention, but the really deserve it. Is it such a bad thing to actually listen closely to a song? To take in the richness of a tone wholly? And it seems like the fact that silence exists on this album might freak people out (I mean, it's in the title). But I shouldn't have to defend non-existent attacks on Colleen's music, because it speaks for itself and is perfect as it is. Those who enjoy some of the more popular indie-neo-classical-whatever composers around (Max Richter, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Sylvain Chauveau) need to listen to this. A pure, unpretentiously beautiful (and heinously overlooked) album.

Top 10 Albums of the Year: #8

Various Artists - DJ Kicks (Hot Chip) (!K7)

If you were so inclined, you could throw this album on at a club and it really should keep people moving for the duration of the album. People would call you lazy and you wouldn't be much of a DJ or really have much integrity, but I'm just saying, it could be done. That said, the content here is straight party from top to bottom. Brilliantly sequenced, this has everything a great mix should. Awesome throwback tracks you didn't even remember you loved which instantly pull your mouth into a smile? Check: Positive K's fantastic "I Got a Man" (which my good friend Joel would recite the refrain of at random intervals in ye olden days) and New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" are particularly great examples. Symphonic electro-pop? Check: "Short Road" by Wax Stag is a wonderful jetstream of thick keyboards and tinny drum machines. Classically styled techno (or what sounds like it to me)? Check: a live take of Gabriel Ananda's "Doppelwhipper" fills this order nicely. Self-conciously peculiar techno? Check: Nôze's "Love Affair" twitches along with a vocal part about personal grooming.
And so on. Dominik Eulberg's "Der Buchdrucker" slows things down at the start then ramps up into a skyward-arching melodic line. Al and Felix from Hot Chip apparently make up the duo Lanark, who contribute the somber but infectious "The Stone That the Builder Rejected." And yes, Hot Chip contribute an exclusive track to the mix, "My Piano," which stands easily, in my mind, among any of their other great singles. It's not the deepest listening experience by any means, but if you're looking for a good time, straight up, you'll find one here.