mardi 28 Déc 2010, 0h06m
These are some of the albums that rocked my world in twenty-ten. Of course, I didn't have the time or money to listen to every album that was released this year, so if there's any gooders you think I've missed, I'd really appreciate it if you'd write them into the little shout box down there. Thnx, JS.
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01. The Black Keys - Brothers
Can you say "home run"? Can you say "upper deck"? The Black Keys build on their already fairly awesome two piece blues rock thing by drawing further inspiration from other aspects of the Chess Records catalogue. Sultry soul, funkiness, keyboards and falsetto vocal deliveries bring plenty of interesting new wrinkles and richness to this album. (And yes, bluesy odes to Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf as well.) Easily my favourite album of the year.
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02. The Sadies - Darker Circles
"More of the same. Only better." Quothe the Sadies' Travis Good describing this album. 'Nuff said. In a year with several highly anticipated, kinda disappointing releases, leave it to Canada's hardest working band to beat expectations and deliver one of the best albums of the year. Lyrically darker, but sonically similar, to 2007's "New Seasons" (also produced by former Jayhawk Gary Louris) the Sadies further explore the possibilities of the studio environment to build upon their already stellar rep as a live act. Groovy folk, western, garage and psychedelic vibes ensue….
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03. Justin Townes Earle - Harlem River Blues
I'll confess upfront and admit "The Good Life" is still my favourite JTE album. For undoubtedly completely subjective reasons. This one comes pretty dang close though. Definitely a bit of a comeback for me, or a return to form, after the somewhat (IMHO) spotty and eclectic 2009 album "Midnight at the Movies." The songwriting here is more consistently good and the sound and themes more generally old-timey (although more subtly so.) Perhaps what I love most about this album (aside from the stand up base) is the ease and confidence with which Earle performs these songs.
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04. Frazey Ford - Obadiah
Frazey Ford is probably best known as the singer of the late great Vancouver acoustic roots trio, The Be Good Tanyas. While you can still hear a banjo being plucked mournfully in the background of a few of these songs, Ford has largely abandoned the Americana style for her first solo release, instead bringing a more soulful, laid-back contemporary sound to the table, featuring some keyboards and horns here and there. What is most striking about this album though is how these simple arrangements bring Ford's unique vocal style to the forefront. While I've always been a fan of her singing, on this album she just sounds simply jaw-dropping amazing.
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05. The Old 97's - The Grand Theatre, Volume 1
I haven't been listening to the Old 97's for all that long, so I can't say with any confidence that this is their best album… but as far as I know, it is. They bring a tonne of energy, confidence and honesty to a really stellar batch of songs. I like the spirited country punk rockers the best ("Dance Class" "Every Night Is Friday Night (Without You)") but even some of the slower to mid tempo ones are great ("Let the Whiskey Take the Reins" and "You Smoke Too Much"). Looking forward to Volume 2.
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06. The New Pornographers - Together
This Canadian "super-group" is up to a bulging eight-piece now and it kind of shows. Like many alt-pop bands that have been around for a while, they have gone from an earlier post-punky guitar-based sound to a much more polished, lush orchestral sound. To my mind not (generally speaking) a positive thing. (Although the cellos here are very muscular!) On the plus side, this album has a very strong songwriting consistency to it. A really nice batch. All things considered, probably their strongest effort since 2005's stellar "Twin Cinema."
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07. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
A new side project twinning the Shins vocalist/songwriter James Mercer, with producer/musician Brian Burton (AKA "Danger Mouse"). It's a bit of a startling album to hear at first at it is miles away from sounding anything remotely like the Shins. I was already a fan of Danger Mouse, due mostly to his excellent work on Beck's very good "Modern Guilt" album, so I managed to keep an open mind. The sound here is much more modern, electronic and experimental compared to the Shins guitar based alt-pop. Mercer broadens the palette with his singing styles as well and the lyrical themes seem a bit darker. His gift for melody is not lost however, and once you get over hearing his voice in these odd surroundings, the songs start to become downright catchy and burrow their way into your brain.
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08. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
I've always kind of liked Broken Social Scene but never totally got into them either. They are sort of akin to the New Pornographers in that they are a "collective" of ever shifting Canadian indie musicians. But they have always been the more difficult, deconstructive, experimental cousin to the Pornographers' shimmering, complex power pop. Well, maybe its just me, but this is easily their most accessible collection of songs to date. Consistently tuneful, melodic, and interesting. The sort of album that will have me going back and taking a second look at some of their earlier stuff…
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09. Spoon - Transference
After a run of stellar albums you had to figure Spoon was due for a bit of a let down. "Transference" is surprisingly ragged and jagged for a band that had been building a rep for producing disciplined minimalist Britishy post punk power pop gems. Still there's more than a few gooders here. "Got Nuffin" and "Trouble Comes Running" are stellar, and "Written In Reverse" contains probably the awesomest post modern guitar solo of twenty-ten.
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10. Stars - The Five Ghosts
The first self-recorded, self-produced, self-released full album for the Montreal based Stars (they got their feet wet with last year's "Sad Robots" EP). How's that for independent?? Well good for them. Unfortunately, while this album is quite good, and has a number of highlights, it's starting to look to me like this band may have reached it's creative peak with 2005's sensational "Set Yourself on Fire" and that "The Five Ghosts" continues on a (very gradual) decline…
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11. Drive-By Truckers - The Big to Do
A solid follow-up to 2008's excellent "Brighter Than Creation's Dark." The DBT's continue to push their artistic envelope without losing their edge. The usual culprits are here; alcoholics, murderers, strippers, people with odd sexual fetishes that the townsfolk don't understand… All drawn with humour, irony and varying degrees of sympathy/antipathy.
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12. Tokyo Police Club - Champ
A bit of a return to form for TPC. After releasing a couple of stellar, fairly silly, high energy punky power pop EP's, the somewhat pedantic debut long play was a bit of a disappointment and had me reaching for my dictionary. "Champ" is much less serious, much more raucous and packed with house-party anthems that will have the kids pogoing all over the furniture. "Favourite Colour" (dig that Canadian spelling!) is a highlight, a sort of sympathetic, sweet ode to awkward small talk.
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13. Peter Wolf Crier - Inter-Be
Another two piece guitar and drums band that I was really kind of digging this year. Nothing too flashy - or particularly unique - but nice melodies with great low key instrumental flourishes here and there. And a lovely, resolutely analogue sounding record. Sounds vintage somehow without being retro or particularly low fi… just a kinda groovy sun-faded vibe.
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14. Little Miss Higgins - Across the Plains
Little Miss Higgins was born in Alberta, raised in Kansas, and now lives in lovely Nokomis, Saskatchewan. Amazingly, I'd never heard of her until one night this summer, sitting around the fire listening to Saturday Night Blues on CBC, they played a few songs from her live album which was recorded at Amigos Cantina right here in Saskatoon. Also got to see her play a bit at the Regina Folk Festival this summer. Quite a discovery! She plays an extremely old-timey style of country blues that kind of hearkens back to the Great Depression and the Golden Age of Radio. A few songs even feature Dixieland-ish clarinets and horns. All is done fabulously well with charismatic charm and humour.
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15. Superchunk - Majesty Shredding
Chapel Hill North Carolina's premiere post punk purveyors return with their first studio album in nine years and seem to have lost none of their trademark superchunkiness! A ferocious stripped down sound reminiscent of some of their early albums. "My Gap Feels Weird" is as good as anything they've ever recorded and one of my favourite songs of the year.
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16. Various Artists - Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine
I got to see John Prine perform for the second time this summer at the Regina Folk Festival. As usual, he was an extremely charming and engaging performer. I think Prine's voice has aged extremely well over the years, despite having throat surgery for cancer. So well in fact, that when I hear the original recordings of some of his older songs (like from the 70's) I'm kind of disappointed with his singing! So it's great to hear some of those old songs brought to new life by some of todays biggest alt-country stars. Old Crow Medicine Show, The Drive-By Truckers, Justin Townes Earle, the Avett Brothers and Josh Ritter (just to name a few) all bring great updated performances of these lyrically wonderful, legendary songs.
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17. The National - High Violet
Another band that was on a seemingly unsustainable run of brilliant albums, each better than the last. While stylistically not seeming like a major departure from the previous albums, for me some intrinsic element seems missing. I read in a NY Times article that many of these songs went through dozens of rewrites and reworkings. The results at times can seem complicated, unspontaneous and self-conscious. While far from being a bad album - there's lots to like here - they've just somehow seem to have lost some of their humour and raggedness and seem to be kind of labouring a bit.
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18. Trampled By Turtles - Palomino
I've been starting to get into quite bit of bluegrass over the last few years. There's a kind of indie/punk/DIY aesthetic to many of these new bearded, plaid-shirted young bands purveying this style of music these days. Trampled By Turtles are one of the best of this new breed. The sound on "Palomino" is maybe less punky, less slamdance-y, than some of their earlier releases, but there's still something very pure and honest about their music.
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19. Jason Collett - Rat a Tat Tat / To Wit To Woo
A less twangier, more heavier, classic rock'n'rollier sound from the sometime Broken Social Scene guitarist (?) on this solo effort. Kind of a Stonesy, loose, happy-go-lucky, cruising down the highway with the 8-track cranked and the windows rolled down sort of vibe. Pretty cool, but maybe doesn't hit the songwriting highs of earlier albums like "Motor Motel Love Songs" and "Idols of Exile."
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20. Futurebirds - Hampton's Lullaby
Picking these last few are always tricky. Who to leave off of the list…? There were pretty solid albums out this year from the likes of Belle & Sebastian, Elvis Costello, Chatham County Line and Phosphorescent, just to name a few… the Futurebirds' debut album, compared to some of these, seems like a sprawling eclectic mess of styles and influences, many good, some bad. Maybe what I like about this album is it's ambition(?) They don't hit the mark that often, but when they do, it's really something unique and special. I hope an album or two down the road these guys are going to put it all together and make an album that gets into my top five. They are definitely on my radar and maybe they should be on yours too.