Favorite EP’s of 2010

My final list of 2010 is my favorite EP’s.  I’m not sure if “A Summer in 3/4 Time” is officially classified as an EP, but at 28+ minutes of non-album music, I’m counting it. 

If you’ve read my other lists, you may notice that Sufjan Stevens has made a clean sweep.  He recorded my favorite album (“The Age of Adz”), my favorite song [“All Delighted People (Original Version)”], and now, my favorite EP (“All Delighted People”).  I had no idea this would be the year of Sufjan for me, but it became just that pretty quickly once he decided to release more than two hours of music in a matter of a couple months.  Kristian Mattson (The Tallest Man on Earth) follows pretty close behind Sufjan, also releasing a brilliant LP and EP within the year. 

Enjoy the lists, and more importantly, enjoy the music.  I believe that the artists I’ve affirmed on these lists are paying attention to the important things of the human condition, and we do well to pay attention to their artistic achievements.  As Jonsi said so well, “everything’s full of life.”  I hope you find life in this music, as I have.

Now, my favorite EP’s of 2010:

5. Jens Lekman “A Summer in ¾ Time”

4. Sleeping at Last “October”

3. Commodore Cosmos “Diplododisc”

2. The Tallest Man on Earth “Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird”

1. Sufjan Stevens “All Delighted People”

Favorite Songs of 2010

My ground rules for these selections:

• One track per LP or EP
• Tracks must be among my favorites

Pretty simple, eh?  As with the albums, I’ve linked the titles for easy preview and purchase at Amazon.  Enjoy!

25. Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band “Wedding Day in Funeralville”

From the John Prine tribute “Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows,” this track is interpreted aptly by Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes fame).  Prine’s lyrics are compelling, the tune catchy and efficient.

24. Vampire Weekend “Giving Up the Gun”

I like the “beating swords into plowshares” lyrical theme of this track, and like most Vampire Weekend songs, it’s bouncy and danceable.

23. She & Him “In the Sun”

This was the most requested song by my daughter in 2010.  It’s a charming ditty that I gladly play over and over for my beautiful little girl.

22. Buke and Gass “Revel In Contempt”

I love the energy, I love the homemade (home invented?) instruments, and I think as time goes on, I’ll love this band more and more.

21. Broken Social Scene “World Sick”

Do they really have five guitarists?  Intense.  And who can’t relate to the chorus, “I get world sick every time I take a stand”? 

20. Commodore Cosmos “Impending Doom”

Lansing’s own Commodore Cosmos bring out the big guns on this track.  The track sounds like the title suggests, ranging from tense anticipation to all out doom.  It uses quiet-loud dynamics to great effect, and it’s a great song.  I love you, Commodore Cosmos!

19. Johnny Cash “Ain’t No Grave”

It’s Johnny Cash, with Scott Avett on banjo.  Not much could go wrong here.  And it doesn’t.

18. Sleeping at Last “Watermark”

Sleeping at Last have inspired me since I first saw them in ‘98, and this gorgeous track continues the trend, “Dive in with your eyes closed / For the life you were born to claim / And the water will be paralyzed / By the courage you contain.”

17. Belle & Sebastian “I Didn’t See it Coming”

What a fantastic album opener.  It’s sweet, it’s beautiful, the vocals are perfect, and it’s a builder.  “Make me dance, I want to surrender.”

16. Mavis Staples “Wrote a Song for Everyone”

Of all the songs on “You Are Not Alone,” this is the one I find myself singing while washing the dishes.  A sign of a great song in my book.  Also, fantastic guitar tone.

15. The New Pornographers “The Crash Years”

The chorus is electric, and this gem is buried in one of the verses, “Light a candle's end / You are a light turned low / And like the rest of us / You got those old eternity blues.”  Good tune.

14. Janelle Monae “Cold War”

Pop songs everywhere, take notes.  This is how you deliver an opening line, and this is how you sing a hook.  If that weren’t enough, the song is reflective, making you ask yourself “do you know what you’re fighting for?”

13. Titus Andronicus “A More Perfect Union”

This epic rock n’ roll track references The Civil War, Springsteen, and it flat out rocks.  The energy of this track makes me believe these guys are an amazing live band.  Just a hunch.

12. Arcade Fire “City With No Children”

“You never trust a millionaire quoting the Sermon on the Mount.”  Lines like this are why Arcade Fire is one of my favorite bands.  And what a bassline!

11. Josh Ritter “The Curse”

Archaeologist falls in love with mummy, mummy enjoys life more than archaeologist, archaeologist becomes mummy, mummy lives on.  At least I think that’s how it goes.  It’s a beautiful, wonderfully inventive love song.

10. The Avett Brothers “Spanish Pipedream”

From the excellent “Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows” John Prine tribute album comes this gem.  I haven’t heard John Prine’s original, but this song is perfect for the Avett Brothers.

9. The Walkmen “Stranded”

It’s a song of regret and sadness, but it doesn’t make me sad to listen to it.  The horns are the lifeblood of the song, and the vocals are spot on.

8. The Tallest Man on Earth “Burden of Tomorrow”

Few can sing a line like “once I held a glacier to an open flame” and make it sound completely uncontrived.  I love this man’s songs.

7. Joe Pug “Bury Me Far (From My Uniform)”

Poetic-Theo-political commentary set to a charming melody.  If you are unmoved by lines like “Do not find me justice / Just find me a grave / And then bury me far from my uniform / So God might remember my face,” check your pulse.

6. The National “Runaway”

This is a beautiful depiction of facing near insurmountable fears and difficulties, and one of the most singable melodies in The National’s catalog.

5. Mumford & Sons “Sigh No More”

It’s a great song from the opening line, but from 1:50 on, it crescendos, repeating these beautiful lines, “Love it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free / Be more like the man you were made to be / There is a design, an alignment, a cry
Of my heart to see the beauty of love as it was made to be.”  Beautiful.

4. Jonsi “Animal Arithmetic”

This frenetic song feels like it could spin out of control at any point, but it holds together until it releases into its joyous refrain. 

3. Sufjan Stevens “Impossible Soul”

The 25:35 culmination of my favorite album of the year.  It cross-references lines from nearly every other song on the album, it covers five distinct musical and emotional dynamics.  It might be unfair to call it a “song,” since it’s pretty much it’s own EP, but it’s quite an achievement.  An impossible achievement?  Couldn’t resist.

2. The Tallest Man on Earth “The Dreamer”

The electric guitar is a little muddy, the imagery is beautiful as usual, and the chorus is impossibly perfect: “sometimes the blues is just a passing bird, and why can’t that always be?  Tossing aside from your birch’s crown with just enough dark to see how you’re the light over me.”  I put on this song, and just let it wash over me.

1. Sufjan Stevens “All Delighted People (Original Version)”

This song embodies everything that I love about Sufjan Stevens.  It might be the most epic thing I’ve ever heard, packed with wall to wall crescendo’s, and at the center, this beautiful, joyous line, “all delighted people raise their hands.”  If that weren’t enough, it borrows lyrics from one of my all-time favorite songs, Simon & Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence.”  Clocking in at nearly 12 minutes, I only wish it were longer.  You may disagree, but this is my idea of a perfect song.  My hands are still raised.

Favorite Albums of 2010

I love music. I loved a lot of music in 2010. I decided to rank the music and write about it. If you take the time to read this, congratulations! You must be a music nerd like me! Without further ado, my favorite albums of 2010:

(click on album titles for links to preview and download albums from Amazon)

15. Damien Jurado “Saint Bartlett”

Damien Jurado is a remarkably consistent songwriter, which led me to take this one for granted a bit. I didn’t dig deep enough into these songs to rank it confidently, but, as always, it’s a beautiful collection of songs. Love the vocal echoes on opener “Cloudy Shoes.”

14. Joe Pug “Messenger”

After 2008’s outstanding “Nation of Heat EP,” I had very high hopes for this debut LP. Pug’s songwriting is just as strong as on “Heat,” especially on heart-wrenching tracks like “Bury Me (Close to My Uniform),” but there’s something about the full band sound on this album that’s a bit too polished for my taste. Pug’s songs just feel like they need a bit more edge. I’m excited to hear whatever he comes up with next.

13. She & Him “Volume 2”

The orchestration is lush. The songs are gorgeous. I love this album. “Volume 1” was a minimalist pop masterpiece, and this is an apt follow-up. M. Ward’s jack-of-all-trades musicianship and Zooey Deschanel’s crystal clear voice and impeccable ear for melody make for a wonderful, albeit grammatically incorrect, musical pair.

12. Mavis Staples “You Are Not Alone”

I own Loretta Lynn’s “Van Lear Rose” because it was produced by Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather). I own Mavis Staples’ “You Are Not Alone” because it was produced by Jeff Tweedy (Wilco). In both cases, it’s a good match. There are some great gospel tracks, a couple Tweedy originals (including the excellent title track). My favorite is the the anthemic track, “Wrote a Song for Everyone.”

11. Johnny Cash “American VI: Ain’t No Grave”

Johnny Cash’s late-career producer, collaborator and career-reviver Rick Rubin can’t let Johnny Cash go, which means we keep getting to hear more of the wonderful recordings the legendary man left behind. When Johnny Cash sings “there ain’t no grave can hold my body down,” I believe him. Some of these songs could bring someone to tears. But not me, of course. I was just chopping onions.

10. The Walkmen “Lisbon”

The Walkmen have been around for a while now (this is their 6th LP), but this is the first of theirs that I’ve really listened to. I heard “Stranded” on NPR’s All Songs Considered, and fell in love. “Stranded” remains the standout track on the album (I’m a sucker for a good horn section), but this is a solid album, beginning to end. The vocals are impassioned, the percussion inventive, the guitar work pristine. Walk on, Walkmen. Yeah, I just said that, and it was hilarious.

9. Belle & Sebastian “Write About Love”

Speaking of bands who have been around for awhile, Belle & Sebastian have been making “wistful pop” since the days when I was exclusively listening to Christian punk rock and ska music (i.e. the mid-late 90’s). I’ve grown to appreciate B&S over the past five years or so, but I am by no means a devout fan, though I may well be on my way to becoming one. With their 8th LP, B&S make it sound easy, something that’s far from easy to do. Great sing-along tunes.

8. Janelle Monae “The ArchAndroid”

Concept album. Check. Ambitious album. Check. I don’t normally love R&B/Hip-hop, but I really love this album. A stark contrast to many of her contemporaries in the pop world, Janelle Monae evokes the classic vibe of James Brown and Marvin Gaye. Her lyrics are science fiction, inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent film “Metropolis.” Monae takes on the character of Cindi Mayweather, something of an android messiah, to explore issues of class prejudice and “other-ness.” I may well like this more and more as I continue to listen to it. Also, the tracks “Cold War” and “Tightrope” are SO the jams.

7. The National “High Violet”

Nearly every male vocalist I listen to is a tenor, but not Matt Berninger. This is the first thing that strikes you when you listen to the National. The deep voice up front contributes to their dark, brooding aesthetic. The percussion on this album is exceptional (e.g. “Terrible Love,” and “Bloodbuzz Ohio”). The line “I was afraid I’d eat your brains” (from “Conversation 16”) makes me laugh audibly every time. I’m not sure if I should be laughing, and that’s precisely why this music is so good. These guys are masters of tension, and I gladly live in it with them.

6. Josh Ritter “So Runs the World Away”

I can’t think of anybody who can top Josh Ritter as a lyricist right now. For example, in the nautically-themed epic “Another New World,” the wordplay “'Til at last all around us was fastness, one vast glassy desert of arsenic white.” Is he just showing off? Even if he is, I embrace it wholeheartedly. If I were the arguing type, I might argue that Josh Ritter is our generation’s Paul Simon. I only hope Ritter’s career continues as long as Simon’s. Another highlight: “The Curse” is about an archaeologist who falls in love with a revived mummy and then trades places with him. You gotta hear it.

5. The Tallest Man on Earth “The Wild Hunt”

Kristian Matsson is a bit of an enigma. I know that he’s from Sweden, he’s not tall, his voice projects as though he’s swallowed an amplifier, and he continues to write and record brilliant songs. I fell in love with his debut LP “Shallow Grave” in 2008, and this new collection is, for the most part, cut from the same cloth. Aside from the more spacious piano-based closer “Kids on the Run,” these are densely crafted folk masterpieces, meticulously picked on guitar and banjo, leaving much to be unpacked even after numerous listens. These songs keep on giving, and I thank The Tallest Man on Earth for each one of them.

4. Mumford & Sons “Sigh No More”

People kept telling me to get this album, that I’d love it. I kept putting it off. I got the album. They were right. I thanked them. From the opening line of the album “Serve God, love me and mend” (from Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”) to the closing line “Get over your hill and see what you find there, with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair,” it is clear that themes of God, grace and forgiveness are at the heart of this album. They sing and play with intense passion, and they use dynamic shifts to great effect. They’re the only band I’ve heard play a banjo as violently as Scott Avett, and they put together an incredible debut album full of life and catharsis.

3. Jonsi “Go”

Icelandic band Sigur Ros has built up a ravenously devoted fan base, and the debut (English language!) solo album from singer Jón Þór Birgisson was (and is) exciting. The best way to describe this album is with one of Jonsi’s lines, from the track “Animal Arithmetic,” “every time, everyone, everything’s full of life!” This album is brimming with life. The percussion is at times so energetic and Jonsi’s voice so pure that I feel like I need to jump out of my body to enjoy it properly. Jonsi has a knack for transcendent music. His voice is a treasure, and his songs a gift.

2. Arcade Fire “The Suburbs”

I was really excited about this album’s release. I preordered the vinyl as soon as humanly possible, and took notes (notes I say!) during my first listen through. Arcade Fire has released three albums, and I don’t think they could be any better. “Funeral” was bombastic, refreshingly honest, full of relatable human suffering and vivid imagery. “Neon Bible” was full of critique of church, politics and pop culture, drenched in pipe organ and lyrics that speak directly to my heart. “The Suburbs” is just a fantastic rock n’ roll album. It reminds me of Springsteen (“Modern Man”), The Mamas and the Papas (“City With No Children”), and, y’know, disco (“Sprawl II”).

Lyrically, Butler is spot on as usual, with suburban gems like “Pray to God I don’t live to see the death of everything that’s wild” (from “Half Light II”). Arcade Fire’s music works, I think, because the band cares deeply about what they sing about. They do not write off the suburbs as a faceless mass of people who have forsaken the open spaces and urban centers of our nation, but look at suburban life autobiographically, noting the good and the bad therein. It’s oddly compelling subject matter, executed masterfully by a great band.

1. Sufjan Stevens “The Age of Adz”

I was giddy with excitement on the day that (surprise!) Sufjan released a 58 minute EP (“All Delighted People”) with no forewarning whatsoever. It was just there, new Sufjan music. Sneak attack. And it was awesome. Not long after, there came news of a forthcoming LP. It came with a fair amount of explanation, summed up by: different/electronic/concept/outsider artist Royal Robertson/different. Also, different. Many were worried how it could live up to “Illinois,” his 2005 masterpiece. I was more worried that it could compare to the amazing EP he had just released! I preordered Adz on vinyl, and was giddy to listen to it. “Futile Devices” came over the speakers, and I was confused. This wasn’t very different. But then came the opening “brown noise” of “Too Much.” A bit dancy, a repeating chorus, minimal lyrics. I’m starting to get into the groove, and when the chilling horns of “The Age of Adz” enter at track 3, I’m hooked. I can’t say I “got it” immediately, but I knew I liked this.

Then I went with my good friend Jon Mickelson to see Sufjan in concert. This was the moment it all came together. Sufjan was having fun. He was dancing. His choreography was cheesy, but authentic. It was like he was experiencing the sort of joy I experience when I dance with my little kids in the living room after a long day at work. This is not to say that these songs are simplistic. They are as intricate as can be. I saw a 10 piece band (with 2 drummers, facing one another from opposite sides of the stage, playing mostly in unison throughout the show) bring these songs to life. And in the middle was Sufjan, perhaps my favorite artist, being brought to life again, after a five year semi-hiatus.

And I came back to the album. If you’ve listened to it less than ten times, you haven’t listened enough. It keeps giving, coming to life more and more with each listen. The profane moment on “I Want to Be Well” becomes a prayer, a cry, a plea to God, to doctors, to anyone who can help, to bring relief to an aching body/soul/mind, and now! You realize what an achievement “Impossible Soul” really is. Seriously, it’s over 25 minutes long, and you come to realize, as Sufjan said , introducing the piece at the concert, “everything that has happened so far has been leading up to this moment.” It’s a remarkably self-aware idea, that one is an “Impossible Soul,” and it requires 5 episodes to explore that idea fully.

After years of frustration with the idea of songwriting, Sufjan found inspiration amid great suffering and in an affinity with outsider artist Royal Robertson. I probably like Sufjan Stevens a bit too much, but what can I say? I think I’ve said it already.

Coming soon: My favorite EP’s and Songs from 2010

Favorite Music of the Aughts, Overall Top 10

I listed my top five albums from each year of the decade affectionately known as the aughts, but it's another animal to come up with my overall top 10 of the decade. This has been an arduous, yet enlightening endeavor. And now...on to the sonic sustenance.

10. Bill Mallonee and Vigilantes of Love, Audible Sigh (2000)

As the decade began, I was listening to ska and punk rock almost exclusively. I would never have guessed that by 2002 I would be drawn in by this album. But Marcie and I saw Bill Mallonee play a solo show with Derek Webb and the Normals, and I absolutely fell in love with these songs. It is a nearly perfect country/folk/americana gem. This album taught me the meaning of the word 'resplendent.' Twice.


9. U2, All That You Can't Leave Behind (2000)
I am one of the few stubborn people who think that Pop and Zooropa were actually pretty good albums, but this is the album that put U2 back on top, and made them my favorite band for the first half of the decade. Sure, I've heard "Beautiful Day" a few too many times over the past ten years, but I won't hold that against them. This is both a collection of great singles, and a great album. It also gets points for being one of the albums that my wife also loved this decade. Leave it behind...

8. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife (2006)

Curious fact about The Crane Wife: it was not my favorite album based on a Japanese Folk Tale released in 2006. More on that later. As much as I wanted to, I was unable to give the Decemberists the top spot in any given year. If one would, this would be it. It embodies everything I love about the Decemberists: old-time colloquialisms, an epic three-part suite, great melodies and cautionary tales, all capped off by a beautiful folk sing-along that could be (and is) appreciated even by the legendary Pete Seeger. Hear all the bombs fade away...

7. Johnny Cash, American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002)
"The Man Comes Around" might be the best song Johnny Cash wrote in his illustrious career. What Rick Rubin did for the legendary Cash's career was and continues to be a gift to the world, and this was the best of the bunch. Cash breathed new life into songs like "Hurt" (also the best music video of the decade), "Personal Jesus," and "Desperado." The man Johnny Cash is larger than life, and on American IV the music is stripped down to its barest elements, leaving the singularly authoritative yet comforting voice of Johnny Cash to shine. We'll meet again...

6. The White Stripes, Elephant (2003)
If you are able to somehow resist "Seven Nation Army," check your pulse. The blues/rock duo explosion that is The White Stripes hit full stride (they were always 'in stride') on this album. This album is chock full of great songs, from the whimsical to the profound, with guitar riffs that just won't quit. It's hard to describe what makes The White Stripes so exceptional as a band. Maybe that's precisely why they're so exceptional. I got a fever, and the only prescription is Jack and Meg. Oh girl, you have no faith in medicine...

5. Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
It is a testament to the significance of albums 1-4 that this one is not higher than 5. As I think of YHF, my mind is flooded with some of my favorite lines, lyrics and melodies of all time. I'm the man who loves you. I am trying to break your heart. You gotta learn how to die if you wanna wanna be alive. The combination of layered noise and ridiculously catchy hooks makes for pure sonic bliss. This was my first Wilco album, and it has led to the purchase of all the others. I've got reservations about so many things, but not about you...

4. Radiohead, Kid A (2000)
My decade was forever changed by Kid A. In some sense, it ruined me. I was unable to enjoy some of the music I once loved after Kid A. I began expecting more from the music I listened to. When I first started dating Marcie, I would drive from Chicago to West Michigan fairly frequently, and I would listen to this album and question existence as I knew it, Thom Yorke's voice singing "I'm not here. This isn't happening." Was he serious? Have I been in the car too long? I am still unpacking the riches of this album. And I steal its opening lyric for my sermons with regularity. Everything in its right place...

3. Anathallo, Floating World (2006)
This is my favorite album released in 2006 based on a Japanese folktale (see #8). If I hadn't bought Kid A in 2000, I probably would have no interest in Anathallo. Too complex, too difficult too follow, not immediately catchy enough. But sometimes I sense that this is the album I had been searching for ever since hearing Kid A. The beauty that flows from this album is almost too much, beginning with the intricately designed arwork. I'm a decent drummer, but even after 3-4 years, I am still baffled by many of this album's syncopations. I want to skip like a stone from a stronger arm...

2. Sufjan Stevens, Come On Feel the Illinoise! (2005)
The singular genius of Sufjan Stevens is stunning to me. Fans like me suffer from a fear that he will never record another proper studio album, but even if he doesn't, this one will stand the test of time. I never knew the state I grew up in could inspire such songs of beauty and bewilderment. Sufjan weaves personal, geographical and spiritual stories into this album which has become itself a new mythology. It is at once frail and triumphant, simple and endlessly complex, stripped down and layered, distant and personal. I fell in love again. All things go...

1. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible (2007)
Right up until about two weeks ago, I thought Illinois would be #1. But then I realized something. For me, listening to Neon Bible is an event that consumes me. Unlike Illinois, I cannot use this as background music. It demands my full attention at each listen, and with each listen, such attention is rewarded. Almost everyone considers Funeral to be the superior Arcade Fire album, and "everyone" might be right, but Neon Bible connects deep to my spirit in a way that no other album does. "Intervention" has left me in tears on more than one occasion. "The Well and the Lighthouse" gives me chills. I can't avoid using the term prophetic to describe this album drenched in skepticism, truth, life and hope. The lions and the lambs ain't sleeping yet...

Favorite Music of the Aughts, Year By Year

This has been a great decade for music. The way I listen has been turned upside down. My tastes have shifted significantly over the years. As I look back on the decade, I find that my life has been enriched by these albums, and they have provided the soundtrack for some of the greatest moments in my life. The journey of discovering new music is in many ways a spiritual journey. These great artists put word and melody to the questions, aches, celebrations and absurdities of being human.

My relationship with these songs and albums and artists is always shifting, so this is only a snapshot. All of my year end lists from previous years have changed, and a year from now, they will likely change again. This ebb and flow is to me a beautiful thing.

These are the five albums from each year of this great decade (affectionately known as "the aughts") that resonate with me most (for now):

2000

1. Radiohead, Kid A
2. U2, All That You Can't Leave Behind
3. Bill Mallonee, Audible Sigh
4. Pedro the Lion, Winners Never Quit
5. Coldplay, Parachutes

2001

1. Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American
2. Radiohead, Amnesiac
3. Bob Dylan, Love and Theft
4. The White Stripes, White Blood Cells
5. Explosions in the Sky, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever

2002

1. Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
2. Johnny Cash, American IV: The Man Comes Around
3. Sigur Ros, ()
4. The Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
5. Blindside, Silence

2003

1. The White Stripes, Elephant
2. Death Cab for Cutie, Transatlanticism
3. Sufjan Stevens, Greetings from Michigan
4. Radiohead, Hail to the Thief
5. Over the Rhine, Ohio

2004

1. Arcade Fire, Funeral
2. Wilco, A Ghost is Born
3. mewithoutYou, Catch For Us the Foxes
4. Sufjan Stevens, Seven Swans
5. Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose

2005

1. Sufjan Stevens, Come On, Feel the Illinoise!
2. The White Stripes, Get Behind Me, Satan
3. Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
4. David Crowder Band, A Collision (or 3 + 4 = 7)
5. Iron & Wine, Our Endless Numbered Days

2006

1. Anathallo, Floating World
2. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife
3. Sleeping at Last, Keep No Score
4. Josh Ritter, The Animal Years
5. Over the Rhine, Snow Angel

2007

1. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
2. Wilco, Sky Blue Sky
3. Radiohead, In Rainbows
4. Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha
5. The National, Boxer

2008

1. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
2. She & Him, Volume 1
3. Anathallo, Canopy Glow
4. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
5. The Tallest Man on Earth, Shallow Grave

2009 (with microblog descriptions)

1. The Low Anthem, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin - "Charlie Darwin" is bar none the most beautiful song I heard this year. Endlessly intriguing, gorgeous songs.
2. The Avett Brothers, I and Love and You - Tempted to put this at number one. Maybe I didn't because it's too perfect. I'm a sucker for the Rick Rubin touch.
3. The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love - Epic. Beautiful. Disturbing. Tragic. Hopeful. Words true of every Decemberists album, but especially this one.
4. The Mountain Goats, The Life of the World to Come - Makes me wish I had gotten into The Mountain Goats earlier. John Darnielle is a brilliant lyricist.
5. Wilco, Wilco (the album) - Another great album from one of our nation's greatest bands. Wilco will love you, baby.
6. Sufjan Stevens, The BQE - I don't have much to compare this to, since I don't listen to many symphonies, but Sufjan's essay alone is worth the $15.
7. David Bazan, Curse Your Branches - The former Pedro the Lion frontman has committed his deepest questions to song, and it feels tragically sacred.
8. Andrew Bird, Noble Beast - Andrew, I could listen to you whistle all day...
9. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - Disappointed at first, but when I crank up the volume and dance, I realize this is great pop music.
10. U2, No Line On the Horizon - "Moment of Surrender" saves this album for me. I sense that they need to pare back their sound on the next one.
11. M. Ward, Hold Time - M. Ward is remarkably consistent as a songwriter, arranger and producer. His music seems to transcend time and space.
12. The Swell Season, Strict Joy - "Man" and "woman" from the film Once fall in love (in real life), break up (also in real life), and write songs about it.
13. Patrick Watson, Wooden Arms - Lush orchestration, inventive percussion, and a song about "Where the Wild Things Are." Need anything else?
14. Sleeping at Last, Storyboards - Another solid album from one of my favorite bands, but I haven't connected with it like past albums.
15. Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavillion - I've tried to get into AnCo, but I just can't quite get there. This is the best AnCo I've heard, though.

My Favorite Albums | 2008

Happy New Year! It's 2009, and it's a perfect time to think back on 2008. One of my favorite things to do every year is to look back at the great new music I discovered each year. '08 was an eventful year and a good one (for a lot of reasons), and these albums provided a good hunk of my soundtrack for the year that will be remembered as ought eight.

14-15 - The Best Albums that were released in 2008 but don't really count as '08 albums having been disqualified due to various and obvious violations of common law qualifications for a 2008 Album:

15. Colin Meloy - Colin Meloy Sings LIVE! - Released in '08, but recorded live in '06, before Meloy's band, the Decemberists released their masterpiece "The Crane Wife." It's too old and too 'live' to count in a list of 2008 albums, but it's wonderful; the work of a master songsmith stripped down to naught but his sweet guitar and articulate vocals.

14. Danielson - Trying Hartz - This two disc, career spanning collection of material from the Danielson Famile, Brother Danielson and DanielsonShip is a must own for silly people like me who've been meaning to "get into" Danielson for years, but didn't know where to start. There's no new material here, but there is some previously unreleased live stuff, I believe.

1-13 - The 2008 albums which qualify as legitimate 2008 albums which I listened to, liked, and ranked in order based on how much I liked them:

13. My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges - MMJ is a good rock and roll band. I really liked their 2006 release, "Z," and this was a worthy follow up.

12. The Submarines - Honeysuckle Weeks - This duo sings that song from the iPod commercial: "Every day we wake up, choose love, choose light..." The album is catchy, quirky and interesting. It's a perfect album for a sunny day.

11. The Bridges - Limits of the Sky - Everybody knows I'm a sucker for family bands: The Partridge Family (ha!), The Danielson Famile, Hanson (LOL), The Jonas Brothers (tee-hee), Chevelle, etc. The Bridges rise above 'family as gimmick' and just make good music. It's Americana/Folk/Pop done right.

10. Beck - Modern Guilt - When I heard that Beck was collaborating with DJ Danger Mouse on this release, I figured it would be absolutely 'off the chain.' I was a bit underwhelmed by the results. It's a solid album, for sure, but I expected more. Maybe it'll grow on me in 2009.

9. Conor Oberst - Conor Oberst - I was underwhelmed by this one as well. It's not as consistent as his best efforts ("Lifted..." and "I'm Wide Awake..."), but there are certainly some gems, like "Lenders in the Temple." It's hard when someone's set the bar so high for themselves.

8. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive - Straight up down and dirty rock n' roll out of Minnesota's twin cities. Somehow, the lyrical style reminds me of David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), though the music is far different. The Hold Steady are just great rock n' roll storytellers.

7. Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs - I love how Death Cab continues to stretch themselves artistically even after achieving ridiculous amounts of critical and financial success. These guys are doing something right. If it weren't for the lame mathematical metaphor of "Long Division," this album may have been a notch higher on the list.

6. She & Him - Volume 1 - Thanks to Paste Magazine for picking this #1 and reminding me that M. Ward did something this year. His "Post-War" album is one of my favorite of the past few years, and this collaboration with actress/singer/songwriter Zooey Deschanel seems a perfect match. This album goes down easy, and I mean that as a compliment.

5. Sigur Ros - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust - This album actually dropped down my list as the year went on. After the first few listens, I was convinced it was one of my favorite albums of all time, let alone 2008. I was taken aback by how different it was from previous albums, and I loved it. Yet as I get used to "new" Sigur Ros, I still like it, but I remember 'old' Sigur Ros with greater affection. I have to be honest; I'll probably like anything they put out. They're simply great.

4. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago - Possibly the most hyped album of 2008 by the indie crowd, and with good reason. It's a great album. It brings together two of my favorite genres, folk and atmospheric indie rock, in a way I've never heard. It could well be the quintessential 'winter' album. I'm not sure what that means, but it feels true to me when I listen to it this winter.

3. The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave - He's from Sweden, and he's called The Tallest Man on Earth. Being a 6'9" Swedish-American, it seems that there must be some cosmic forces drawing me to listen to his music. Whatever the role of the cosmos in the process, I absolutely love this album. I'm fairly certain that I will be able to listen to it hundreds of times without tiring of it, as there will always be another metaphor to unpack or a turn of phrase to deconstruct. He's an old-school finger picker on both guitar and banjo, and he sings with conviction.

2. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes - "White Winter Hymnal" is my daughter's new favorite song...brilliant. It's odd to hear my 2 year old singing about little heads falling in the snow, but it's cool. This album is incredible. It gets better with every listen. It's as smooth as butter, obviously influenced by Brian Wilson yet utterly creative. This album somehow seems to equally embody all four seasons, as though it could have come from a California summer, autumn in Tennessee or a Siberian winter just as easily as rainy Seattle (from whence it actually did come). It's accessible, too. Case in point: my mom was riding in the car with us this week as we listened to this album. We only got through the album's first three songs (we listened to "White Winter Hymnal" about 7 times, per Addison's request), but when we arrived at a bookstore, she bought the album. My mom bought it. It's that good.

1. Anathallo - Canopy Glow - Not everyone loves Anathallo as much as I do, but for some reason, they are a band in tune with my soul. This album is great from the first note to the last. I didn't really think they could top their 2006 epic "Floating World," but I think they did. The album is focused and tight, and the melodies are gorgeous. "All The First Pages" is my favorite song of 2008, and "Italo" is my daughter's runner up to Fleet Foxes' "White Winter Hymnal." I hope Anathallo is able to continue to make music for a very long time. I will listen. Yes, I will listen again and again.
~
Thanks to all the artists who continue to make great music year in and year out. I certainly do appreciate it, and I know that somehow the world is better for it. It is good for humans, created in God's image, to create beautiful things for our brothers and sisters to enjoy. So enjoy the list, and I hope, the music.

10 Favorite Albums of '07

Yes, it's that time of year, when I get to indulge one of my greatest passions: listmaking. My top 10 albums list is always one of my favorite things to compile, and as usual, they're only my favorites (not some objective attempt to pick "the best). My favorites are also confined to those albums which I've heard, which is quite limited since I am not much of a downloader, so I rely on my own cd collection and the public library for my listening.

There are three notable albums that I really wish I had gotten to listen to before the end of the year, but haven't, but I think they're worth mentioning: Boxer by The National, Strawberry Jams by Animal Collective and the new Explosions in the Sky album. Some or all might have made it onto the list, but I haven't heard them. Maybe next time. So without further ado:

10. The Shins Wincing the Night Away - Marcie got me the album for Valentine's Day. As always the melodies are tight, but this one meanders a bit at times, and I find myself wanting to skip over a couple tracks when they come on. It's a good album from a really good band.

9. Andrew Bird Armchair Apocrypha - Andrew Bird has a great first name. He has a unique sound that is instantly recognizable, which is hard to achieve with all the artists out there. I'm not sure yet if it's as good as The Mysterious Production of Eggs but it's dang good.

8. Iron & Wine The Shepherd's Dog - Sam Beam & Company have placed much more emphasis on the & Company this time around, and it makes for a much different I & W sound. It has been hard for me to get used to, but there are some tracks that are absolutely outstanding, and the one throwback (Resurrection Fern) might be one of their best yet.

7. Interpol Our Love to Admire - Marcie got me this one for my birthday. Interpol's guitar parts are the tightest around, the vocals are distinctive, and the lyrics are always interesting. They're a band that's hard to figure out, and I like that.

6. Over the Rhine The Trumpet Child - Amazing album. OtR now has a steady bass player and drummer, and have settled on a more jazzy sound than the past, and are better off for it. The song "Trumpet Child" is absolutely breathtaking and the rest of the album is quite good as well. There is one track that just isn't very good in my estimation, and I'll let those of you who have heard the album guess which one.

5. The White Stripes Icky Thump - They're always amazing. I gave them number one on my '05 list with Get Behind Me, Satan, though Sufjan would take number one if I did it all over again. This time, I'm putting them at 5, even though this album is probably better than Get Behind Me. It rocks hard once again, there are bagpipes and mariachi horns, and the wordplay is sometimes downright hilarious.

4. Arcade Fire Neon Bible - This could easily be number one, as could any of the top 6. Arcade Fire has released two albums, both of which are masterpieces. "Antichrist Television Blues" might be my favorite song of '07, and this album just drives from beginning to end without relent. I might even dare to call this quite a prophetic/apocalyptic album. If you don't know what I mean by that, read David Dark.

3. Over the Rhine Snow Angels - "Snow Angel" is the saddest song of '07 and this album is flawless. Even next to Sufjan's box set, which was recorded a bit haphazardly, I think this is my favorite Christmas album ever. There are no cover songs her, besides a stanza from "O Little Town of Bethlehem," which receives a new melody. OtR outdid themselves in '07. Always beautiful vocals, jazzy arrangements, and even a tribute to Vince Guaraldi.

2. Radiohead In Rainbows - One and two have been an ongoing debate in my head. Both are worthy. Both are in my top 5 artists of all time. Both are a bit of a return to a more relaxed, less experimental sound. Both are smooth as butter from beginning to end. This album is beautiful. Even songs with obtuse titles like "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" are beautiful. And "You're All I Need"? Forget about it. My only wish is that it was longer. And if I bought the $80 box set, it could be. Maybe for Christmas? Unlikely, but maybe.

1. Wilco Sky Blue Sky - I admit that it's not really groundbreaking for Wilco. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot did that for them, and it gives them licence to just relax for an album. This is the most listenable album I own. Over and over I listen to this with Marcie and Addison, and it is soothing at moments, and literally makes us dance (see "Walken") at others. I already used the term smooth as butter, but this is seriously like sticking a stick of butter into your ear, feeling it melt all over your eardrums. Sorry, what was I saying? I'm going to go ahead and say it: Wilco is the best American band right now. Arguments to the contrary are accepted, but they cannot have anything to do with the Jonas Brothers, okay?

Thanks for reading. Happy listening, and Merry Christmas!

Top 5?

Apparently I don't blog anymore, but alas, Hofbauer has issued the challenge on Xanga via The Vis, and I cannot resist.

The challenge? Top 5 musical artists. Before I start my list, I must mention that this is a very immediate list. A year ago or five years ago, the list would have been completely different, but for now, this is it:

1. Sufjan Stevens - I love it all. I occasionally get lost in the music, and don't even realize it's playing. It's as if it becomes a part of my breathing as I listen and my heart is elevated in a way I cannot describe. The more I listen, the more layers of meaning I seem to discern in the lyrical and musical content. I know I'm overstating it, but I love Sufjan. On a side note, my love for a particular Sufjan song was redeemed even further by it's being played by the Mars Hill worship team as Marcie and I served communion to one another in community with the church.

2. Radiohead - They write impossibly great melodies, yet defy convention consistently. Never boring, and amazingly, I never sense that the music is disembodied. Thom Yorke's is an honest, sometimes prophetic voice which has been part of my musical vocabulary since I can remember really loving music. They wrote Fake Plastic Trees and Paranoid Android, both pretty much perfect songs, yet so very different.

3. Wilco - Thanks to the Vis for challenging me to engage Wilco beneath the surface of my limited exposure. Since digging deep into Being There and the Mermaid Avenue sessions in addition to their self evidently genius four prior albums, I cannot help but love them. Right now, I probably listen to them more than any other band, and I keep wanting more. I love their capacity for genre-bending and their outright dominant musicianship. When I saw them live a few months ago, I was convinced that I was witnessing one of the greatest American rock bands of all time in their prime.

4. The White Stripes - Two people, two instruments, seemingly limitless possibility. I love that Jack and Meg have pretty much deconstructed blues rock and put it back together in such a minimalist fashion. It's sometimes abrasive, occasionally tender, even hilarious, and always brilliant. I also LOVE the fact that they never have a set list for their live shows. Hopefully I will one day get to witness it.

5. The Decemberists - I believe it was Stephen Colbert who called them "hyper literate prog-rock." As Josh Overbay once said, "I feel smarter when I listen to the Decemberists." There is depth to their songwriting that keeps their songs from growing old with repeated listens. Each album is great in its own right, and The Tain is one of the best pieces of music I've ever heard. I'll never comprehend the Decemberists, and that's alright with me.

Two others who almost made my list are Bob Dylan and Anathallo, and I excluded them for the exact opposite reasons. Dylan's catalog of music is so large that I have not come even close to listening to it all, let alone digesting it. As I continue to chip away at it, he climbs up the list, but I can't quite say he's in my top 5 yet. Anathallo is not on the list because they are so very early in their career. Floating World is in my top 5 albums of all time, and their previous EP was genius as well, and as they continue to develop and record, I have no doubt that they will climb into the top five, but again, not yet.

That was fun.

Goodnight, everyone. Thanks for your hospitality, your love and your pants.