Albums of the Year 2010: 15-6

Tweet

The Soft Pack: Instantly likeable and eminently listenable

Part two of the best albums of 2010, as chosen by the Popscener...

15. Vampire Weekend - Contra (XL)
Still in thrall to Paul Simon and his adventures in Afrobeat, the unashamedly preppy New York quartet nonetheless put their Columbia book-smarts to more considered effect than on the carefree frolic of their debut. The result: a series of laments on the uncomfortable post-college disquiet in realising that youth is transitory, all held together by Ezra Koenig’s bittersweet lilt.



14. Happy Birthday - Happy Birthday (Sub Pop)
Initially coming across like a Sub Pop surf-craze cash-in, breeding Wavves’ devil-may-care insouciance and Magic Kids’ ‘60s pastiche, repeated exposure revealed Happy Birthday to be a far more formidable beast. The melodies were too thrillingly warped and the musical palette – switching from 90s alternative rock (‘Pink Strawberry Shake’) to synth-psyche ballads (‘Subliminal Message’) – too varied to be rooted in artifice. Their next could be very special.

13. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today (4AD)
Resident oddball Ariel Pink had, until this year, spent his time barely-coordinating a stream of lo-fi oddities (such as 2008’s Oddities Sodomies Vol.1, no less). Before Today fine-tuned Pink’s musical schizophrenia and streamlined his half-formed ideas, creating something no less weirdly eclectic, but more compact and coherent. The rewards were deliciously decadent, frequently inspired – and manifold.

12. Les Savy Fav - Root For Ruin (French Kiss)
Following up 2007’s Let’s Stay Friends – a career zenith unlikely to be matched – was always going to be a thankless task, so the under-appreciated New Yorkers could be forgiven for talking several years to carefully devise their next move. They chose a sidestep rather than a great leap-forward, retaining Let’s Stay Friends’ masterful manipulation of rhythmic fluctuation, but filling more of the dry open spaces with visceral guitar shapes. And the post-hardcore pop song (‘Dear Crutches’) was a delight.

11. Laura Veirs - July Flame (Bella Union)
Seven albums and eleven years into a still-burgeoning career, July Flame found the alt-folk singer at her shrewdest ebb yet. She played to strengths, negating the thin reediness of her voice by double-tracking her vocal and embellishing her choruses with the kind of ornate harmonies (often beefed up by My Morning Jacket’s Jim James) which did justice to her sumptuous grasp of melodic resonance. The words were pensive, even forlorn, but never maudlin.

10. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - The Brutalist Bricks (Matador)
After the disappointment of 2007’s sprawling misfire Living With The Living, sprightly 30-something social-idealist punk Ted Leo went back to basics on his Matador debut, firing out a succession of curt, bristling punk-rock tirades which soldered instantly claimable hooks to intricate guitar stabs. As usual, the political moments (‘The Stick’, ‘Ativan Eyes’) brimmed with passion and conscience; as usual, the personal as political cuts (‘Bottled Up In Cork’, ‘Even Heroes Have To Die’) jumpstarted head and heart with cracked-macho displays of vulnerability.

9. The Wave Pictures - Susan Rode the Cyclone (Self-released)
The midlands trio further cemented their cult status with this limited edition LP, which appeared only to be released in infuriatingly small numbers on the continent. A missed opportunity perhaps, as David Tattersall’s blend of off-kilter indie-pop, psyche-folk and unique inside-out tremolo-arm soloing emphasised enough ingénue and songcraft to prompt a broader following. The hooks were reined in by the usual heady lyrical mix of misanthropy, romance and tongue-in cheek violent imagery. Always peculiar; often brilliant.

8. Medications - Completely Removed (Dischord)
Vying with Outrageous Cherry [see below] for the most underrated record of 2010, Completely Removed was bafflingly overlooked outside of a brief flurry of interest stateside. A first record in 5 years from the instrument swapping DC duo of Devin Ocampo and Chad Molter saw them move beyond the exhilarating post-hardcore of 2005’s Your Favourite People All In One Place, exploring styles as diverse as bossa-nova (‘Brazil 2007’) and prog-rock (‘Country Air’) with enviable chops and airtight synchronicity.

7. Outrageous Cherry - Seemingly Solid Reality (Alive Records)
Amidst a plethora of contemporary upstarts peddling hazy, stumbling '60s pop with surf-textures and '80s baritone vocals, Outrageous Cherry’s 9th full-length record since their 1992 inception should have provided closure for their long-suffering commitment to the cause. However, despite a deftness to their arrangements and open-hearted gutter-romanticism placing them streets ahead of the competition, Seemingly Solid Reality was not so much overlooked as completely ignored. Lucky they know just how to articulate life not being fair.

6. The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack (Heavenly)
In a year where many pre-eminent acts took their lead the lush, overloaded arrangements of Pet Sounds or the claustrophobic saturation of 80s wall-of-sound guitars, The Soft Pack's dryer, rhythm-heavy sound counterbalanced their snaking surf-guitar licks with the heart-racing recklessness of The Replacements and The Barracudas’ sense of fun. The result was instantly likeable and eminently listenable; lighter perhaps than contemporaries, but never flimsy – singer Matt Lamkin’s thinly-veiled reverence for Jonathan Richmann’s lyrical clout made sure of that.

Try the Spotify playlist for some of the best tracks from Albums of the Year 2010: 15-6

Don't forget to check out the Albums of the Year 2010: 25-16 and the Albums of the Year 2010: Honourable Mentions.

Take a look at the Songs of the Year 2010

Short Cuts! April New Releases Round-up

Tweet

April's album releases, including The Futureheads, Laura Marling, MGMT, Black Francis and loads more...

5/4

Laura Marling – I Speak Because I Can
Indisputably the most vital and most talented amongst her ‘nu-folk’ (yeesh) contemporaries, Marling’s tender years continue not to be a hindrance, either with her husk-augmented register or her intricate grasp of how to weave commercial and credible into hit after hit. That said, the age does betray her sometimes unfathomable life lessons, not to mention neutering their authenticity. Meanwhile, though she’s better at Joni Mitchell (‘Made by Maid’) than she is at Stevie Nicks (Devil’s Spoke), she’s most accomplished at being Laura Marling (‘Darkness Descends’). A triumph.
Choice Cuts: ‘Made By Maid’, ‘Darkness Descends’, ‘Goodbye England’
9/10

Black Francis – NonStopErotik
Get past the recurring mental image of the portly Francis manoeuvring himself around the 24-hour vice den which apparently constitutes his life in NonStopErotik, and you’re left with a startling return to Pixies-esque ingénue. In short: seamless key changes, twisted chords and backhanded melodies, all drenched in a knowing sense of noir – Noir Francis, that is.
Choice Cuts: 'Cinema Star', 'Corinna'
8/10

Ted Leo – Brutalist Bricks
After the outright disappointment of 2007’s sprawling misfire Living With The Living, sprightly 30-something social-idealist punk Ted Leo goes back to basics on his Matador debut. Save for hip-shaking soul-rocker ‘One Polaroid a Day’, the tracks here are short, sharp and direct, bustling past in a head-rush of instantly claimable hooks and intricate guitar stabs. As usual, the political moments (‘The Stick’, ‘ Ativan Eyes’), whilst brimming with passion and conscience, are only ever a fist-pump away from a toe-curling lyric; as usual, the personal as political cuts (‘Bottled Up Inwith  Cork’, ‘Even Heroes Have to Die’) jumpstart head and heart with cracked-macho displays of vulnerability.
Choice Cuts: ‘Bottled Up In Cork’, ‘Gimme The Wire’, ‘Even Heroes Have to Die’
8/10

Dr Dog – Shame, Shame
Presumably as bored as we were with the agricultural approach to psyche-outs championed hitherto, Fido and chums return with their tails wagging and a pop-sheened charm offensive. Just a pity it’s taken until now to get them house-trained.
Choice Cuts – 'Shadow People'
7/10

Harper Simon – Harper Simon
Daddy, daddy cool – and at 37 Harper finally realises it. The only thing that’s missing is Art.
Choice Cuts: 'Wishes and Stars', 'Ha Ha'
6.5/10

12/4

MGMT – Congratulations
There’s a lot of Love in this room – Arthur Lee looms largest over this startling re-imagination. For synths, read: guitars; for ecstacy, read: LSD. For electro-pop throwaway, read: surf-psychedelia tour de force.
Choice Cuts: ‘Song for Dan Treacy’, ‘Flash Delirium’, ‘It’s Working’.
9/10

Plan B – The Defamation of Strickland Banks
Invoking the spirit of the Winehouse Summer (2007), Plan B heads East not North, hooks up with a Charles and Eddie cover band instead of Mark Ronson, and produces a pleasingly complete soul-pop smash – notwithstanding the reliably superfluous ‘concept’. Note to all the ‘sell-out’ catcallers: alternating between Jamie T and Dizzy Rascal rapping never counted as ‘grit’ in the first place.
Choice Cuts: ‘Love Goes Down’, ‘Stay Too Long’
7.5/10

Darwin Deez – Darwin Deez
Inwhich the moustachioed New Yorker demonstrates he’s fairly good at tackling the Strokes with added noise (‘Lights On’), the Strokes with a serious pop kick (‘Radar Detector’) and the Strokes minus the Ramones (all the others). What he doesn’t establish is if he’s likely to widen his record collection before the next one drops. Still, those sold on a hook certainly won’t begrudge the price of admission.
Choice Cuts: ‘Lights On’, ‘DNA’
7/10

19/4

Caribou – Swim
Plastic-electronic hermit Dan Snaith might be more comfortable at a house party than filling dancefloors, but here he proves he’s just one killer pop loop away from a Billboard breakthrough. Whilst he searches for the right note, the rest of us can enjoy the fact Snaith’s abundance of grey matter hasn’t yet obscured the life (and love) in the wires.
Choice Cuts: ‘Kaili’, ‘Odessa’
7.5/10

Ash – A-Z Volume 1
MOR of the same from the eternally youthful Downpatrick tykes... who are actually old enough to know better these days. Still, as one might expect from what is essentially a singles compilation (comprising the first half of their admirable but inconsequential a-z singles experiment), most of the tracks herein pull you in hook, line and sinker, more than making up for the occasional stinker. Bravo.
Choice Cuts: ‘Joy Kicks Darkness’, ‘Command’, ‘Song of Your Desire’
7.5/10

Kate Nash – My Best Friend is You
Lily Allen sings Billy Bragg – this time with more guitars, and less show-tunes. Lacks ‘Foundations’ but the first and second floors have had significant renovation. That said, entertain the full spoken word rant of ‘Mansion House’ at your own peril, and cringe at the gratuitous swearing and “cocaine” plugs.
Choice Cuts: ‘Do Wah Do’, ‘Paris’
6/10

26/4

The Futureheads – The Chaos
I’ve always had a sneaky suspicion that The Futureheads were a power-pop band – the chunky palm-mutes, the quad-tracked harmonies – hiding under a post-punk veneer, and their fourth long player proves it. Here, they tone down the sparser guitar exchanges and 90 degree angles and instead puff their chests out as they strut through their best choruses (‘Heartbeat Song’, ‘I Can Do That’) since ‘Skip to the End’. As usual, they’re sincere enough to carry it off, even if the tricks are cheap.
Choice Cuts: ‘I Can Do That’, ‘The Chaos’, ‘Dart At The Map’
8/10

Harlem – Hippies
Sticks closely to the garage-rock mantra – “it plays therefore it is” – then adds chorus after chorus, and lyrics about ghosts and people on fire.
Choice Cuts: ‘Number One’, ‘Tila and I’, ‘Poolside’
7/10

Gogol Bordello – Trans-Continental
With some 7 nationalities amongst their 9 full time members, Eugene Hutz’ gypsy-punk jivesters are unlikely to be booked to play a BNP function in the near future – nor, on this evidence, are they likely to disuade Nick Griffin that gypsies should be neither seen or heard. Whilst slow-burning twisted folkies like ‘When Universes Collide’ are pretty enough, the band (and Hutz’ vocal) works best when the eclectic musicianship is twinned with the jolting stop/starts and “hoi hoi hois”, a match-up only infrequently realised here. Time to move to pastures new?
Choice Cuts: ‘Immigraniada’, ‘Sun Is On My Side’
5/10

Listen Up! No.2: Ted Leo + the Pharmacists - Bottled in Cork

Tweet

The key cut from his robust, breathless new record, The Brutalist Bricks, here Ted proves irrevocably he's best when channeling heart over head. And then repeating the killer hook for the 15th time.