Yes! DP39: #5-1
Whew!
5. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema (Matador)
How is it that our world is inundated with tired, uninspired, recycled music coming at us from all corners, with consequent upheaval and moaning sighs about said garbage invading our space, yet, The New Pornographers whose newest album Twin Cinema is really not radically different from their previous albums, avoids the proverbial guillotine (for the most part, see Vice)? And How do I get away with run-on sentences like that one? The old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" is an understatement for the Vancouver supergroup, really no one should ever question the pop-blessed hand of Carl Newman and his disciples (in a non-condescending way). Twin Cinema has everything you want out of a New Pornos record: Wilson meets Davies melodic gold, the knee-weakening drawl of Neko Case, the quirky genius of Dan Bejar and the steady and workman-like craft of Dahle, Thurier, Fancey and Collins. If the band follows the same format that brought them praise in three successive albums, there's no reason to see them becoming one of rock and roll's greats, because after all, like the saying goes "Don't shit where you eat."
4. The Clientele - Strange Geometry (Merge)
Heartbreak and elegance. One you try to avoid, the other you strive to achieve. Yet, after The Clientele's Strange Geometry, they seem so extricably connected. The London trio glorifies melodrama and makes it cool, poetically painting a picture of introspection. It doesn't get more romantic than stumbling down foggy cobbled streets, coat collar up, wondering where it all went wrong. The string arrangements of the great Louis Phillipe only makes Alasdair MacLean's twee melodies more astonishing, creating a gentle juxtapostion between the jangly finger picking, the pyschedelic fuzz outs and sweeping strings. Immersed in all of the sadness, the most poignant feature of Strange Geometry is the control of MacLean. Through the opaque sheen of fogginess, MacLean lets bits of light in, sunny-pop, bits of optimism. The control of this makes for a tremendous display in subtlety and as we all know, control, subtlety are all parts of elegance. Strange Geometry is a dream steeped in reality or perhaps real life perceived as a dream. Either way, it is lovely, graceful and you never want it to end.
3. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
Committing to an idea like Sufjan Stevens' 50 states project is practically marriage, and one that is doomed to fail. With a goal ambitious as that, victory seems like a remote possibility at best, and he is either doomed to fall short of completing the quota, or worse, release a string of mediocre, half-baked albums. Fortunately, we can only hear what we have in front of us and Illinois, the second in the series, builds on the solid foundation of Michigan. Stevens takes the intimate and extremely personal Michigan and glitzes it up; Illinois is larger than life, full of child-like wonder. The tunes play like musical theatre: choral harmonies, orchestral arrangements, historicall literate lyrics and Stevens is able to step back from the intense relationship between his homestate (MI, duh) and himself and let loose. The result is a vibrant and thoughtful depiction of the Prarie state and a celebration of America that doesn't involve the name Toby or Keith. Yes, Stevens might eventually fail in his noble quest, but shit, I made it to #3 on my top 39, and considering my notorious penchant for slacking off and his up and at 'em enthusiasm, Sufjan might just make it.
2. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary (Sub Pop)
Every year there's one seemingly subversive album that everyone universally loves. It usually straddles the line between pop genius and quirky faux-dissonance. Apologies to the Queen Mary is that album for 2005. Everyone from the pop culture columnist of USA Today to the small-bill capped, moustachioed fixed gear enthusiast who hates everything has sung Wolf Parade's praises with good reason. With Isaac Brock at the helm and massive tours with The Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse, not many are crying foul about the silver spoon firmly in Wolf Parade's mouth, mainly because their art rock is so engaging, subtly unique, driving and packed with power. Co-vocalists Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug trade off each of their unconventionally quirky howls, so much so that they compliment each other in some sort of gonzo harmony. They meld into one voice and every single track of Apologies to the Queen Mary contain so much fluidity and accessibility, that it's kinda like in the future when Wyld Stallyns inspires world peace. It's that mind blowingly good.
Drum Roll Please...
1. The Fiery Furnaces - Rehearsing My Choir (Rough Trade)
The Fiery Furnaces - EP (Rough Trade)
Wait, is there some sort of mistake? Is it possible that the Pitchfork-panned, Rosenberg-disapproved bomb is at the top of this hot shot's list? In the immortal words of Daniel P. Duggan, "Dude, it's me." If anyone has spent more than 5 minutes with me, they know that I swoon for the Friedbergers but I assure you, this crummy accolades list is not rigged. I genuinely believe Rehearsing My Choir is a unique and amazingly concocted success. Grandma Sarantos' Bea Arthur-esque spoken word is a slight hurdle for the unfaithful, and though Matthew's arrangement is as frenetic as it's ever been, there hasn't been a record this imaginative and out of left field as far as I can remember. No wait, there was Blueberry Boat. Rehearsing My Choir takes the Blueberry Boat model to a new level of inventiveness, musical historic nostalgic storyelling and song structure. Admittedly, its predecessor is slightly more accessible and well executed, but if Blueberry Boat shot for the moon and landed, Rehearsing My Choir shoots for Pluto and lands in some other alternate dimension through some hidden wormhole. It's dynamite.
Oddly enough, mere months ago the Furnaces collected their B-sides and rejects to put together the wildly poppy and accesible EP. Dancy, melodic and comparably straight-forward against its surrounding discography, EP is the exact opposite of Rehearsing My Choir and yet it still holds its own. What it lacks in cohesive storytelling and experimental arrangement, it makes up for those shortcomings with solid hooks and pop sensibilities. Okay, now I'm just gushing. Stop me before I turn into a blubbering idiot. Too late.
Isn't it absolutely wonderful that after making staunch rules for the game, I go and completely break them in the end (read the "Pre-Show" blog)? Well, you don't need me to tell you that rules are made to be broken. Fuck all y'alls, that's how I roll.
The New Pornographers: http://www.thenewpornographers.com/
The Clientele: http://www.theclientele.co.uk/
Sufjan Stevens: http://www.sufjan.com/
Wolf Parade: http://wolfparade.cjb.net/
The Fiery Furnaces: http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com/
5. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema (Matador)How is it that our world is inundated with tired, uninspired, recycled music coming at us from all corners, with consequent upheaval and moaning sighs about said garbage invading our space, yet, The New Pornographers whose newest album Twin Cinema is really not radically different from their previous albums, avoids the proverbial guillotine (for the most part, see Vice)? And How do I get away with run-on sentences like that one? The old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" is an understatement for the Vancouver supergroup, really no one should ever question the pop-blessed hand of Carl Newman and his disciples (in a non-condescending way). Twin Cinema has everything you want out of a New Pornos record: Wilson meets Davies melodic gold, the knee-weakening drawl of Neko Case, the quirky genius of Dan Bejar and the steady and workman-like craft of Dahle, Thurier, Fancey and Collins. If the band follows the same format that brought them praise in three successive albums, there's no reason to see them becoming one of rock and roll's greats, because after all, like the saying goes "Don't shit where you eat."
4. The Clientele - Strange Geometry (Merge)Heartbreak and elegance. One you try to avoid, the other you strive to achieve. Yet, after The Clientele's Strange Geometry, they seem so extricably connected. The London trio glorifies melodrama and makes it cool, poetically painting a picture of introspection. It doesn't get more romantic than stumbling down foggy cobbled streets, coat collar up, wondering where it all went wrong. The string arrangements of the great Louis Phillipe only makes Alasdair MacLean's twee melodies more astonishing, creating a gentle juxtapostion between the jangly finger picking, the pyschedelic fuzz outs and sweeping strings. Immersed in all of the sadness, the most poignant feature of Strange Geometry is the control of MacLean. Through the opaque sheen of fogginess, MacLean lets bits of light in, sunny-pop, bits of optimism. The control of this makes for a tremendous display in subtlety and as we all know, control, subtlety are all parts of elegance. Strange Geometry is a dream steeped in reality or perhaps real life perceived as a dream. Either way, it is lovely, graceful and you never want it to end.
3. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)Committing to an idea like Sufjan Stevens' 50 states project is practically marriage, and one that is doomed to fail. With a goal ambitious as that, victory seems like a remote possibility at best, and he is either doomed to fall short of completing the quota, or worse, release a string of mediocre, half-baked albums. Fortunately, we can only hear what we have in front of us and Illinois, the second in the series, builds on the solid foundation of Michigan. Stevens takes the intimate and extremely personal Michigan and glitzes it up; Illinois is larger than life, full of child-like wonder. The tunes play like musical theatre: choral harmonies, orchestral arrangements, historicall literate lyrics and Stevens is able to step back from the intense relationship between his homestate (MI, duh) and himself and let loose. The result is a vibrant and thoughtful depiction of the Prarie state and a celebration of America that doesn't involve the name Toby or Keith. Yes, Stevens might eventually fail in his noble quest, but shit, I made it to #3 on my top 39, and considering my notorious penchant for slacking off and his up and at 'em enthusiasm, Sufjan might just make it.
2. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary (Sub Pop)Every year there's one seemingly subversive album that everyone universally loves. It usually straddles the line between pop genius and quirky faux-dissonance. Apologies to the Queen Mary is that album for 2005. Everyone from the pop culture columnist of USA Today to the small-bill capped, moustachioed fixed gear enthusiast who hates everything has sung Wolf Parade's praises with good reason. With Isaac Brock at the helm and massive tours with The Arcade Fire and Modest Mouse, not many are crying foul about the silver spoon firmly in Wolf Parade's mouth, mainly because their art rock is so engaging, subtly unique, driving and packed with power. Co-vocalists Dan Boeckner and Spencer Krug trade off each of their unconventionally quirky howls, so much so that they compliment each other in some sort of gonzo harmony. They meld into one voice and every single track of Apologies to the Queen Mary contain so much fluidity and accessibility, that it's kinda like in the future when Wyld Stallyns inspires world peace. It's that mind blowingly good.
Drum Roll Please...
1. The Fiery Furnaces - Rehearsing My Choir (Rough Trade)
The Fiery Furnaces - EP (Rough Trade)
Wait, is there some sort of mistake? Is it possible that the Pitchfork-panned, Rosenberg-disapproved bomb is at the top of this hot shot's list? In the immortal words of Daniel P. Duggan, "Dude, it's me." If anyone has spent more than 5 minutes with me, they know that I swoon for the Friedbergers but I assure you, this crummy accolades list is not rigged. I genuinely believe Rehearsing My Choir is a unique and amazingly concocted success. Grandma Sarantos' Bea Arthur-esque spoken word is a slight hurdle for the unfaithful, and though Matthew's arrangement is as frenetic as it's ever been, there hasn't been a record this imaginative and out of left field as far as I can remember. No wait, there was Blueberry Boat. Rehearsing My Choir takes the Blueberry Boat model to a new level of inventiveness, musical historic nostalgic storyelling and song structure. Admittedly, its predecessor is slightly more accessible and well executed, but if Blueberry Boat shot for the moon and landed, Rehearsing My Choir shoots for Pluto and lands in some other alternate dimension through some hidden wormhole. It's dynamite.
Oddly enough, mere months ago the Furnaces collected their B-sides and rejects to put together the wildly poppy and accesible EP. Dancy, melodic and comparably straight-forward against its surrounding discography, EP is the exact opposite of Rehearsing My Choir and yet it still holds its own. What it lacks in cohesive storytelling and experimental arrangement, it makes up for those shortcomings with solid hooks and pop sensibilities. Okay, now I'm just gushing. Stop me before I turn into a blubbering idiot. Too late.
Isn't it absolutely wonderful that after making staunch rules for the game, I go and completely break them in the end (read the "Pre-Show" blog)? Well, you don't need me to tell you that rules are made to be broken. Fuck all y'alls, that's how I roll.
The New Pornographers: http://www.thenewpornographers.com/
The Clientele: http://www.theclientele.co.uk/
Sufjan Stevens: http://www.sufjan.com/
Wolf Parade: http://wolfparade.cjb.net/
The Fiery Furnaces: http://www.thefieryfurnaces.com/
2 Comments:
Thanks for mentioning me by name in the mighty DP39 Wu, but why did you have to shorten my famous quote? I believe that the full version was, "Dude, it's me, of course she was supermodel hot." Oh no wait.
rosenberg does not approve.
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