I laugh in the face of top 10 lists!

so of my top ten albums of 2010, only three of them made it on the This is Fake DIY writers' top 50 - the Futureheads 'The Chaos' at #47, Two Door Cinema Club's 'Tourist History' at #42, and Mystery Jets 'Serotonin' at #29. pretty disappointing not to see Delphic, Hundred in the Hands, Broken Bells, or Villagers in there somewhere. I don't like Kanye, I don't like the National, and I defo don't like Sleigh Bells! bah.

what HAS been rather interesting is reading independent (personal) blogs choosing Delphic on top 10 or 20 lists. there's too many to list here but I really liked this one from Denmark (I think) called the Idioteque. here is a blurb from their #5 placing of 'Acolyte' (I've left off most of the Pitchfork slagging):

So, Delphic hasn't exactly been the critics' choice. Rock with synthesizers just isn't as hot as guys with beards playing acoustic guitars, and perhaps it never really has been the shizzle this century, at least outside of Denmark, where bands like VETO, Spleen United and Turboweekend have been among the most prominent of the country's sudden surge in independent music.

But how can you resist? When 'Clarion Call' kicks off in a massive crescendo at 1:26, how can you not be drumming your fists into thin air? How can you help nodding along to 'This Momentary''s insistent, four-on-the-floor beats and chanting, haunting vocals? How can you ignore the brilliance of the pivotal track, 'Acolyte' itself, which surges like a tsunami again and again, and clusterbombs you with swooning, rapturous synthesizers? Or when the album fades away with 'Remain', a post-crescendoic blissful nirvana?

Wearing its Haç-heritage pretty visibly on its sleeves seems to often override the fact that Acolyte really isn't exactly the floor filler it's often proclaimed to be. I see it more as a listening record, and while being sometimes slightly characterless; it cleverly manages the oft-attempted fusion of rock and electro, avoiding most of the pitfalls. So Pitchfork gave it a 5.0 grade? I bloody hell couldn't care less - this is one of the most menacingly intense and engrossing albums of 2010!

Why not swim against the tide, as the opening stanza states, we live in unconditional change anyway?

(read more here)

v. nicely said. the more I listened to 'Acolyte', the more I was convinced this was more of an intellectual record. like Jenny and Johnny's 'I'm Having Fun Now' that can be enjoyed superficially/simply as a surf pop record, 'Acolyte' can be enjoyed as a dance album. rave to it. if that's all you want from it.

but it's when you sit down with it long enough that you realise the brilliance. listen to the lyrics. they're spare but they do what they're supposed to - make you think and tug at your emotions. then consider what they do with the synths (the effects in 'Counterpoint' that sound like birds, for example) and you realise this isn't any record. the guitar riffs are awesome. they're not overbearing. they've been placed in just the right spots. just brilliant.

I have my own thoughts of what 'Acolyte' the song is supposed to represent. but I won't post it here b/c I will blush and embarrass myself, so sorry, you will have to come up with your own ideas on this one. I will say, start first by looking how the song is constructed. I got better acquainted with it, working out the bass line and figuring where the bass came in with respect to the many synths.

I often think about how the Pains of Being Pure at Heart sound is a great wave, awash of sound that you want to get swept up in, and 'Acolyte' runs similar to this, but with no lyrics. no lyrics except ethereal, heavenly sighing, as if from another world. if the music in heaven is anything like this...

why album reviews should never go up to 10

so on Monday Pitchfork posted their review of Kanye West's latest album, 'My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy'. and gave it a 10.0. I hadn't known about the posting until my PR friend S Tweeted about it, basically saying WTF?!?!? Clash Music followed suit almost, giving the album a 9/10 and the comment of "this is not just West’s best album, it’s a keen contender for the most ambitious LP in hip-hop history. West side story!" ummm...

let's go back to the Pitchfork review for a moment. IMO you can't give an album a 10. that would be assuming an album had achieved the sonic equivalent to Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10s in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics. in other words - it doesn't happen. personally, I don't think it's possible to write, record and produce a perfect album. there's always something. and what's that something? we're human.

there are several albums released this year that I absolutely love but I wouldn't be so easy giving out 10s to any of them. there's no doubt this album is going to top the charts for a long time, even without all these "accolades" (if you can even call them that) from online reviewers. but as a reviewer myself, I just have to shake my head in disbelief. you have to wonder what was going through the minds of the Pitchfork editors when they allowed a 10 for an album review to get through. I tell my writers that they're not allowed to give 10s to albums, for this one reason: perfect albums do not exist.

it wasn't until yesterday when the Guardian's Dorian Lynskey cut through all the crap and told it how it is, asking the important question, "have critics confused size, ambition and bluster for a genuinely brilliant record?" the best paragraph from the piece:

It's not even a creative breakthrough. West's already done contradiction on The College Dropout, triumphalism on Late Registration, celebrity angst (and unexpected sampling) on Graduation, and moping on 808s & Heartbreak. Now he's just doing them all at once, louder. And the creeping sense that he's had nothing new to say since 2005 becomes undeniable when, at the end of an album about West's adventures in celebrityland, he has to turn to a 1970 spoken-word piece by Gil Scott-Heron for some big-picture gravitas.

it is also obvious if you just look at the length of the Kanye piece that the author is a gusher. if you look at their review for Everything Everything's 'Man Alive', an album universally critically acclaimed in the UK yet Pitchfork gave them a 3.8 (highway robbery if there was ever a case), the Kanye piece is over twice its length. music reviewing will always be subjective. but please, keep the gushing to yourself.

quarterly best-of releases, 2010, Q2

I'm writing this in advance, because come 30 June, I will be steadying myself for day 1 on the grounds of Roskilde!

best albums released

• the Futureheads- 'the Chaos' - I wasn't completely sold on this until I saw them live at the Black Cat. WOW.
  
• Two Door Cinema Club - 'Tourist History' - pop tour de force. I'm seeing them at least once this spring, if not twice. 'nuff said.
• Broken Bells - 'Broken Bells' - Dangermouse (Brian Burton) and James Mercer of the Shins have put together a psychedelic, trippy pop record that I absolutely adore.
• Villagers - 'Becoming a Jackal' - Conor J. O'Brien's folk project
  

worst / most disappointing albums released

• Keane - 'Nighttrain EP' - I had such high hopes when their collaboration with K'Naan, 'Stop for a Minute', arrived on the scene. what a disappoint to hear a bunch of mismatched tracks through haphazardly together.
  
• Hot Chip - 'One Life Stand' - the album is good in parts but what the heck is going on in the middle, guys?!?!?

best singles released

• 'Heartbeat Song' - Futureheads - wonderful, just wonderful. pop love song of the summer.
• 'Dreaming of Another World' - Mystery Jets - technically this isn't released until July. but it's already on radio and it's breathtaking.
  

worst / most disappointing single released

• 'Flashover' - Klaxons - I'm sorry, but WTH is this?!? not impressed. (for more on this, read Roundtable 20/05 entry)
  

best gig

• Futureheads at Black Cat, 4 June. wow, what a powerhouse live. Jaff Craig deserves mad props for giving the poor blogger (me) a setlist IN THE MIDDLE of a set. and Barry Hyde DMed me with 'we're gonna knock your socks off. B x' indeed, they did. probably the most fun I've had at a gig since Nottingham 24 May seeing Patrick Wolf, Ladyhawke, and Friendly Fires.
  

worst / most disappointing gig

• Hot Chip at the 9:30 Club - I just wasn't feeling it. I also did not appreciate getting bumped on purpose by this tall Indian dude next to me b/c I was there covering it and having to take notes, and he didn't like it. was I bothering him? NO. I thought I had written about it on here but basically there came a point where I was near tears - I was, as usual, by myself - and I thought I might get crushed and die in the body melee that was 'Over and Over'. I got out of the club, gasping for air. that was the first time I ever have been to a gig and actually feared for my life. I never want to be in a situation like that ever again.

other recommendations

• if you like Fleet Foxes, try Goldheart Assembly.
• if you like MGMT, try Broken Bells.
• if you like Editors, try the National. (I don't really dig either.)
  

quarterly best-of releases - 2010, Q1

so I've decided to post a quarterly review of the best and the worst releases and gigs so I remember what rocked my world at the time and uh, what didn't.

best albums released

• Delphic - 'Acolyte' - pure electronic poetry. dying to see them live so I can faint whilst James Cook sings to me.
  
• Two Door Cinema Club - 'Tourist History' - pop tour de force. I'm seeing them at least once this spring, if not twice. 'nuff said.
• Broken Bells - 'Broken Bells' - Dangermouse (Brian Burton) and James Mercer of the Shins have put together a psychedelic, trippy pop record that I absolutely adore.
  

worst / most disappointing albums released

• Vampire Weekend - 'Contra' - when I first heard 'Horchata' in October, I was v. ambivalent. then 'Cousins' premiered in December and I was like, YES, bring it on! I think I got myself worked up far too much and when I finally got the new album thought to myself, ok, got some good choones on there but...disappointing. I'm seeing them for the first time on Saturday, maybe they'll change my mind.
  
• Hot Chip - 'One Life Stand' - the album is good in parts but what the heck is going on in the middle, guys?!?!?

best single released

• 'Hold On'/'On Board' - Friendly Fires / Holy Ghost! - it's weird / embarrassing as a fan to admit that a cover Friendly Fires did of someone else's song is better than their last single (last summer's 'Kiss of Life'). but no matter, this and the Holy Ghost! cover are wicked.
  

worst / most disappointing single released

• 'Telephone' - Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce - I've tried my best to stomach Gaga for the sake of my many friends who like her. but she's just not my kind of thing and I'm not really sure why everyone says "she's a great musician". uh, she is? maybe I've got different requirements? I'm not even bothering to look up WHEN the single is being released b/c everyone's talking about the video but assume it's already released or soon will be. now, maybe I'm a prude but the video itself makes me sick. the jail scenes basically set the womens' liberation movement back 40 years. for once I agree with Donny Osmond. and why oh why did Beyonce sign up for this, she doesn't need the exposure!
  

best gig

• the xx at 6th and I Synagogue (review forthcoming on PopWreckoning) - house of worship + band set to be worshipped plus a fantastic light show. awesome. this was really hard to choose, as I've seen some great gigs already in 2010.
  

worst / most disappointing gig

• Editors at 9:30 Club - gig reviews at PopWreckoning and There Goes the Fear - I don't have a beef with the band b/c I thought the performance was fine. but I do have a beef with a fan that claims I ran into her that night. I didn't write about it here at the time b/c I was really pissed off but she claimed I shoved her. me, shoving anyone? take a look at my 5'2" frame, I'm not going to get too far shoving people bigger than myself. I had asked two girls next to me if I could get in and snap ONE photo of Ed Lay (their drummer) and could I switch spots with them for one song and she wouldn't let me. I had shown up very early so I already had a spot in the front, it wasn't like I had scooted up later, in which case I would have expected vitriol in my direction. in general, the only reason I don't like the 9:30 Club is this: for whatever reason, that venue attracts more "fans" that think they're entitled to be complete meanies to everyone else present.

other recommendations

• if you like Owl City, try Darwin Deez.
• if you like the Drums, try the Postelles.
• if you like Laura Marling, try her tourmate Alessi's Ark.
  

album advice #2, We Are Scientists

for album advice column #2, I bring you "Brain Thrust Mastery" by We Are Scientists released in March 2008.

1. "Ghouls" - I've resigned myself to the fact that whatever happens, you're gonna think it's my fault, always.

2. "Let's See It" - I say the truth, whether you choose to believe it or not.

3. "After Hours" - with you, the night is young and I don't want it to end.

4. "Lethal Enforcer" - tell me, I really need to know: are you love with me or not?

5. "Impatience" - have patience, grasshopper - good things come to those who wait. so shut your piehole. sorry, but you're really trying *my* patience.

6. "Tonight" - sit, stay, and have a drink with me...and we'll see what happens.

7. "Spoken For" - self-explanatory. but for those who still don't geddit: I like you, and I know you like me, but that's as far as it can go, because we're both "spoken for".

8. "Altered Beast" - I'm like a moth to a flame - helpless.

9. "Chick Lit" - I know your type; you're bad, bad news.

Astralwerks has disabled the embedding of the video, so you'll have to watch it over here.

10. "Dinosaurs" - I'm confused about this one - I thought maybe it was an existentialist rant...anyone?

11. "That's What Counts" - we made a mistake and now I'm smitten. how about we give it a real try?

start of a new blog feature: the album advice column (#1, Friendly Fires)

next Monday, the kiddikins of our local school district start their fall semester. and the blissful less-than-25-minute morning commute of these past 3 months will be over. I can already feel the traffic getting heavier - I'm now waving my fists in the air at the drivers who took their moron pills before leaving the house b/c they're driving stupidly, and getting confronted by a sea of cars with their brake lights illuminated doesn't help my mood in the morning.

as a result of several trying mornings trying to get to work this week, I was listening and re-listening to Friendly Fires's debut album and thinking about the lyrics of each song. like, really trying to figure out what Ed Macfarlane is trying to convey.

while Ed Mac has said in multiple interviews that the lyrics come to him as an afterthought to the band setting the tone with the beats, I beg to differ. most writers, I think, are too humble to admit when they've written something truly profound. and I hate cocky writers! "hey, look at me! I'm so great, I'm so special!"

anyway, I'm not sure if my work commutes will continue to make me stir-crazy in my little metal box on the road, but in the meantime, I'm going to re-listen to some of the albums I really love and see if I can glean anything significant.

and as such, I bring you a new feature to this blog - the album advice column. meaning I will distill in a sentence (or couple of sentences) what I think the songs means in an album significant to me.

so first up - the 10 tracks of Friendly Fires' debut album, released September 2008.

1. "Jump in the Pool" - carpe diem - seize the day - and never put off 'til tomorrow what you can do today.

2. "In the Hospital" - sometimes, loving you hurts me. a lot. but I still love you though.

3. "Paris" - we gotta get out of this place. and I have the master plan!

4. "White Diamonds" - sometimes people are just meant for each other. and they'll do anything to keep it going.

5. "Strobe" - the old proverb of "if you love her, set her free. if she comes back to you, she's yours." (alternately: if you go off with someone else and then you come back to me, I'm willing to give it another shot.)

6. "On Board" - ok, this one's got me. I think it's got something to do with "getting with the program", joining up something, but that something is dangerous ("we had to cross the line / despite the fact our feet dipped in the fire"). and the video is no help either :)



7. "Lovesick" - when a relationship clearly isn't working anymore, don't let it wither and die, cut your losses and leave before it hurts either of you any more.

8. "Skeleton Boy" - I know you think it's over, but let's just get through tonight as friends and we can talk about it in the morning.

9. "Photobooth" - right now things are nice and cozy between us. but you want to leave me, what did I do wrong? (I keep listening to this and I'm really not sure about this one.)

10. "Ex Lover" - I haven't been the same since we broke up. will you give me another chance? please? I still really love you.

overall, pretty much a plaintive cry to lost love. which is generally what dance records hope to achieve, right?


comments / suggestions / friendly jabs are welcome!