This is a two year piece of work, and my favourite album of 2010, their third and possibly not yet confirmed last LP. With a highly noted influence by the 1980's New Wave movement, specifically Talking Heads and some Robert Smith vocalization, James Murphy takes this production very seriously, with new recording strategies, sound ideals and a synthetic comprehension. The whole tracklist is just amazing, you won't be able to decide which one is better, and be aware that they'll get stuck in your head.
“Dance Yrself Clean” opens the record with a mellow, thuddish synth that teeters between a basic key line and Murphy’s creamy vocals before exploding into a boisterous electronic break. Murphy later jumps in with his familiar howl that blares intermittently until the nine minute track fades into the record’s aforementioned teaser, “Drunk Girls.” “One Touch” follows with a series of erratic industrial squeals which twist into a spiraling electronic bubble before developing a fluttering loop that looms below Murphy’s weighty vocals. The first significant shift in the record comes with “All I Want.” The near-seven minute song finds its stride early on with Murphy quietly crooning over a bass, guitar, and drums.But just as the ear begins to blend each unique component into one churning sound, “I Can Change” chimes in and once again illuminates with Murphy’s voice, something that translates as oddly refreshing given the development of the record. This Is Happening continues with the unapologetic track “You Wanted A Hit.” At over nine minutes the song is clearly far from radio-friendly in its delivery, but Murphy repeatedly confirms the concept throughout, “You wanted a hit, but we don’t do hits”. The bongo-fied “Pow Pow” follows, tailed by the oddity “Somebody’s Calling Me” which blares uncomfortably harsh synth along with Murphy’s soft vocals and an unusually basic piano line.
If This Is Happening does end up being the final LCD Soundsystem release, Murphy certainly picked the right way to end it. “Home” hints at lyrical retrospection while adopting a musical collage that sums up the album, if not LCD’s three full-length releases, fittingly. Give it a listen to this incredible track that might be my favourite from the album "Home" here.
#2nd..Broken Social Scene - "Forgiveness Rock Record"
The Canadian supergroup has returned under the production of Tortoise mastermind John McEntire and emerged with the leanest, most straight-ahead rock record of their career. With Forgiveness Rock Record the listener is finally able to pin down the influences of bandleaders Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning. On the Canning-fronted numbers “Water in Hell” and “Highway Slipper Jam,” classic rock elders (or near-contemporaries) hold commanding sway. Drew, half dirty-talking-ladies-man, half world-weary-scholar, writes songs that go straight for the gut. Penning slow-building rockers like the excellent first single “World Sick” and the super-tight “Forced to Love,” Drew is in full command as a band leader, his voice acting as a voracious instrument itself, emotionally transparent and incredibly expressive. Give it a listen to the beautiful voice of Lisa Lobsinger on "All to All" here.
#3rd..Tame Impala - "Innerspeaker"
Imagine this: John Lennon has been reincarnated. His new birth name is Kevin Parker, a co-founding member of Australian trio Tame Impala. This band is the closest thing to how The Beatles would sound if they had been cryogenically frozen for the past thirty years and had decided to modernize their chops upon thawing out. And yes, that’s a compliment. It is fresh and stunningly original considering the obviousness of their influences, which is a welcome rarity given the infinite number of bands claiming identical inspirations. Starting with one of the most infectious bass-lines in recent memory, the band immediately grabs your attention with “It Is Not Meant to Be”, give it a listen here.
#4th..MGMT - "Congratulations"
Cosmic vibrations through serious minded harmonies, with an early Pink Floyd (Syd Barret era) touch, this colourful and adventurous album that the guys are releasing is totally a new proposal for old listeners because it's certainly not a second part of Oracular Spectacular. They have entered a whole new world of music making, voice echoes, sounds alterations, neon lights, retro-vibes, synth-innovations, madness and cure, the album is for entire appreciation. Give it a listen to the incredible opener "It's Working" here.
#5th..Sufjan Stevens - "The Age of Adz"
Sufjan Stevens is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Petoskey, Michigan. He is known for his lyrically focused and instrumentally rich songs that often relate to faith and family. On "The Age of Adz" the genesis on the songs are based in sound exploration, experimentation with different kind of gear and devices. It's like Sufjan Stevens gave his soul into white noise. Melodic sensibilities and an unconditional love to the world with refferences to science fiction, astrology, religion, sinfonic madness, volcal games, and the decay of the human race and the eternal living. Listen to one of the several celestial songs from the record "I Want to be Well" here.
#6th..Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffitti - "Before Today"
Ariel Pink is a Los Angeles based experimental/pop musician. Ariel Pink blends Lite FM and warped lo-fi pop into something by turns beautiful and confusing. Some may find his personal yet detached approach highly addictive, while others may be instantly turned off by the obvious lo-fi production and the vocal drumtracks. Pink’s tours have generally been met with much negativity, primarily because his music was never intended to be performed live for commercial audiences. Ariel Pink grew up absorbing throwaway pop from the 70s and 80s, finding a way to make it all fit into his cracked worldview. But the brilliant thing about Before Today is that no prior knowledge of his catalog is required. Newcomers can dig into this record and absorb all of these weird and wonderful songs now, and save the backstory for another day.And then there's "Round and Round", one of indiedom's most unifying and memorable songs in 2010. Give it a Listen here.
#7th..Gorillaz - "Plastic Beach"
Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett certainly did it again with their virtual british band "Gorillaz". So welcome to the world of the plastic beach. This record has everything; from orchrestras, hip hop anthems, awesome melodies, samples, incredible synths and percussion, an incredible production, and a lot, lot more. Has everyone; from Snoop Dog to Lou Reed, Little Dragon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon. I wish I could, but I really find the right words to describe this awesome record so you'll have to find them for yourself. Give it a listen to one of my favourite songs from Plastic Beach "Empire Ants (ft. Little Dragon)" here.
#8th..Twin Shadow - "Forget"
George Lewis Jr. was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Florida, before eventually relocating to Brooklyn and adopting the Twin Shadow moniker. "Forget" it's an album to never forget (cheesy line, I know). Produced by Chris Taylor (from Grizzly Bear). The sound of this record is steeped in 1980's new wave, building from streaks of haunting synth textures with hazing melodies upon each one of the songs. Listen to "At my Heels" (this song won't get out of your head) here.
#9th..Best Coast - "Crazy for You"
What do you get if you put together music, weed, cats, beach, summer, broken hearts, colours and McDonalds? This band is the answer.
Bethany Cosentino might be the female artist of the year with her so beloved cat "Snacks" and her boyfriend Nathan Williams (Wavves), some kind of the indie couple of the year, right? However this talented artist brings us all these garage surf rock songs intended for a perfect summer. In my opinion Best Coast is one of the most original bands from this year and everyone should be "crazy for (it)". Listen and enjoy by yourself to the track "When I'm With You" here.
#10th..Arcade Fire - "The Suburbs"
This canadian orchestral indie rock band never aim for anything less than grand statements. That quality has played a huge role in making them very, very popular; it's also their greatest weakness..then they released "The Suburbs" --proof that Arcade Fire can still make grand statements without sounding like they're carrying the weight of the world. Win Butler describes the overall sound of The Suburbs as "a mix of Depeche Mode and Neil Young", stating that he wanted the album to sound like "the bands that I heard when I was very young, and wondered what those crazy noises were". It focuses on this quiet desperation borne of compounding the pain of wasting your time as an adult by romanticizing the wasted time of your youth. As bleak as the lyrics are, though, they're buoyed by the band's leanest, loosest songwriting yet. The Suburbs is a record that seeks to build, and it reaches a monumental peak at its closure. Give a listen to one of the most powerful songs from the album "Empty Room" here.
