#20: Odelay

Odelay

Beck

1996

Geffen Records

Produced by The Dust Brothers

Peak position on the charts:

#17 - UK Albums Chart

#16 - US Billboard 200

After the release of his first major studio album, Mellow Gold in 1994, and the breakthrough single "Loser" that got played on every college radio in America, many critics were quick to assume that Beck would be just another of the "one hit wonders" that the 90s had become so famous for producing. 1996's Odelay, though, instantly reversed their opinions.

Odelay gave Beck his first two Grammy Awards in 1997 ("Best Alternative Music Performance" for the album and "Best Rock Vocal Performance - Male" for the song "Where It's At") and is now featured on The Rolling Stone magazine's Top 500 Albums of All Time list.

In a time where typical alternative music stole most of the genre's thunder (vocals, bass, guitar, drums and nothing more), Beck went somewhat off-the-wall with the release of a synth-ridden, multi-instrumental jumble of mixes and sounds that most of the general public was unaccustomed to hearing. Music now, of course, has shifted out of the minimalist rock phase and has gotten a decent amount more complicated. When listening to Odelay, it doesn't seem like it was an album first released fifteen years ago; it was revolutionary for its time.

Being one of the leading figures of the "antifolk" and lo-fi underground movements of the mid 90s, Beck had defined his style by using out of tune guitars, rugged, unmastered vocals, and very low quality recordings. That style isn't lost on Odelay. The album as a whole has an underlying track of a cracking, slightly used record that somehow seems to authenticate it, and Beck's scratchy vocals through several songs sound as if they were recorded on a casette tape (which is actually pretty likely) and distorted juuuust that little bit. All in all, despite the fact that Odelay is one of Beck's most well-produced albums (The Dust Brothers do amazing work), we get a real sense for the talent that goes into each and every element going into the album. (As opposed to a modern day Katy Perry: all the world knows how much splicing and cutting, and not to mention auto-tuning, that goes in to making her sound as good as she sounds. Watch her live. It's atrocious.)

Everything that Beck is so well known for today originated from this album. The simple, catchy guitar-and-bass lines over smooth-yet-edgy beats on "Devils Haircut". The low-key, constantly changing musical brilliance of "Lord Only Knows". The 'let's see how many different approaches I can bring to this one simple idea' complexity that made "Where It's At". And the bare-essentials beauty of a soother in "Ramshackle". It's all there. Every Beckism you'll ever find.

And then, there's "High 5 (Rock the Catskills)". In the last review, I separated out MGMT's "Siberian Breaks" because it was a notch above the rest in quality. That doesn't apply here. To be honest, "High 5 (Rock the Catskills)" is the reason this album is so low on my list. If it doesn't appear, Odelay is easily Top 10 album worthy. Easily. I'm not really sure what about it bothers me so much; there aren't too many songs he's written that I don't like. But this one is flat out hard to listen to. Maybe he was pushing the limits of his experimentation with the sound combination, but the synths and guitar somehow manage to clash perfectly to produce the most annoying four minutes I think Beck has ever laid down. Coming from me, you know that's saying something.

Immediately following that earsore, though, is enchantingly delicate "Ramshackle", and all is instantly forgiven. Beck's playful combinations of styles and weird, nonsensical lyrics are what got "Loser" on the board in the first place. Why wouldn't he expand on the odd stylings even more? Experimental or not, they worked. He got it right.

Below I'll link to "Lord Only Knows", one of the lesser knowns, but my favourite, of the album. And don't be intimidated by the first five seconds. That's twenty times as hardcare as it ever gets.

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Recommended Tracks:

Devils Haircut (3.14)

Lord Only Knows (4.14)

The New Pollution (3.39)

Jack-Ass (4.11)

Where It's At (5.30)

Sissyneck (3.52)

#21: Congratulations

Congratulations

MGMT

2010

Columbia Records

Peak position on the charts:

#4 - UK Albums Chart

#2 - US Billboard 200

Congratulations is the second studio album produced by psychedelic rock group MGMT. The band, started off by duo Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden while attending Wesleyan University in Connecticut, hit it off big with their first record, Oracular Spectacular, which had three songs chart on the Billboard and got them nominated for a pair of Grammys. Having achieved mainstream status with Oracular Spectacular, MGMT knew they could be a bit more abstract with their second album and it would still sell. So, that's exactly what they did.

Detracting from the norm, the band decided to have no heavy-hitting songs on Congratulations, with the intent of forcing the listener to appreciate the album as a whole as opposed to individual songs on that album. Goldwasser explained: "We'd rather people hear the whole album as an album and see what tracks jump out rather than the ones that get played on the radio – if anything gets played on the radio! There definitely isn't a 'Time to Pretend' or a 'Kids' on the album. We've been talking about ways to make sure people hear the album as an album in order and not just figure out what are the best three tracks, download those and not listen to the rest of it."

What ultimately resulted was a mix of oddly themed songs and complex structures that were musically intriguing, but never caught the public's eye; only one song from the album, "Flash Delirium", ever charted, and only peaked at #81. In that way, they achieved exactly what they were hoping to, rendering Congratulations as an experimental success.

Track-wise, the album is decently diverse. Including comical odes to English musicians Dan Treacy and Brian Eno (creatively titled"Song for Dan Treacy" and "Brian Eno") and a brief instrumental epic entitled "Lady Dada's Nightmare" (which has to be a play on Lady Gaga, especially as big as she was in 2009), Congratulations presents a new angle of modern psychedelia. The album opens with "It's Working", a fast-paced pumper that is about as mainstream as the record gets, and is practically as normal as the group gets. Three slower, more relaxed songs are present in "Someone's Missing", "I Found a Whistle", and the title track "Congratulations" (which describes the band's transition from average college kids to instant stardom and having associates doing everything for them) and are interspersed nicely throughout the record, changing its speed and direction constantly. "Flash Delirium" seems like the one they had the most fun with, as it goes through transition after transition from a simple electo-beat and soft vocals to loud synthesiser backings to ultimately a fast, screaming, noisy, all around awesome last 10 seconds. I probably won't link it here, but go check it out on your own. It's easily their smartest piece of work to date. (EDIT: I actually lied. I'm listening to "Flash Delirium" now. It's magnificent. I have to link to it.)

And then there's "Siberian Breaks". Clocking in at just over 12 minutes, "Siberian Breaks" is the most ambitious track MGMT have produced. Like "Flash Delirium", it goes through several transitions as the song moves along, some sudden and unexpected, but always well orchestrated. VanWyngarden said it was "kind of like eight different songs strung together into one, and the general theme is about surfing in the Arctic Circle by Russia", but I think he was being a bit modest and underestimated. Each portion of the song is long enough to enjoy the feel they were going for, but not too long as if to overstay its welcome. Honestly, it sounds like a demo for the album as a whole; it has elements from almost every other song Congratulations has to offer jammed into a 12 minute masterpiece (it even ends with a minute-and-a-half instrumental that sounds like the inspiration for "Lady Dada's Nightmare" a couple tracks later).

Hey, that's as close to a track-by-track breakdown that I've come to writing.

Several critics regarded Congratulations as a self-indulging, "we're famous now so we can do whatever we feel like", uninspired sophomore slump, but does every artist really have to write music that would be radio-worthy? I, for one, respect the kids for creating an album they enjoyed making (hey, they recorded in Malibu) and seemed to be quite proud of. And frankly, it's good!

They supposedly have a self-titled album in the works for later this year. I'm interested in seeing what new definition of psych-rock they bring this time around.

Below is a full track listing (since it's only nine songs anyways) and a link to "Siberian Breaks". Listening to that one song should give you a feel for the album as a whole. (EDIT: a link to "Flash Delirium" is now there too... I couldn't resist. Also, the video's a bit strange... you can close the window if you'd like and just listen to song.)

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Track Listing

1. It's Working (4.07)
2. Song for Dan Treacy (4.09)
3. Someone's Missing (2.30)
4. Flash Delirium (4.16)
5. I Found a Whistle (3.40)
6. Siberian Breaks (12.10)
7. Brian Eno (4.32)
8. Lady Dada's Nightmare (4.31)
9. Congratulations (3.57)

#22: Embryonic

Embryonic

The Flaming Lips

2009

Warner Bros. Records

Peak position on the charts:

N/A - UK Albums Chart

#8 - US Billboard 200

Weird. I ask anyone I've ever had listen to The Flaming Lips' Embryonic and they all respond with that one simple word: weird. I mean, the song "I Can Be a Frog" features Yeah Yeah Yeahs' frontwoman Karen O making animal noises over a phone conversation. Yeah, it's strange. And clocking in at 70 minutes and 17 seconds, this bizarre, zodiac-inspired album is the longest to appear on this list.

Shipping out in two separate 9-track CDs, Embryonic is easily the most experimental of their albums (and that's saying something for the Flaming Lips). Because of that, much of the album is intentionally and totally disorganised and extremely raw. Clashing sounds are paired together and played almost synchronically, but off by enough that you're forced to notice.

I won't lie. It's a thick album. And I mean, a thick album. There are points that it gets difficult to listen to, and an hour of brash and distorted, buzzing and overdriven, harsh and clanging sounds can easily be too much if you aren't prepared for it. But if you're ready and willing, the musical innovation behind nearly every track is remarkable. Truly. There's a sort of organised chaos within the record that shows that these guys aren't just plucking random strings and hitting drumheads whenever they feel inclined.

With a mix of instrumental tracks, poundingly energetic songs, relatively simple ballads, and a few contiguous tracks, Embryonic is definitely a hodgepodge of whatever creeped into frontman Wayne Coyne's brain, and we've seen since 1987 the strange things that he can create (during live shows, he would crowd surf through a full-sized, man-consuming plastic bubble).

Honestly, it seems like the band from Oklahoma City were just fooling around throughout production of this album, ad-libbing and drawing inspiration from the silliest of ideas.

But frankly, if this is what their pick-up, just-for-fun jam sessions sound like, I hope they stop producing formal records. Embryonic is a fantastic album as it is.

They announced in January of 2011 that they were planning to release a new song once a month for the entirety of the year, their latest in a life-long stretch of odd projects. (One of their album releases, Zaireeka, was released as four separate CDs, each with different portions of the album meant to played simultaneously in four separate CD players for full effect.)

Along those lines, the first song of their 2011 song-a-month project, entitled "Two Blobs Fucking", was released as 12 separate pieces on Youtube that should played simultaneously to be heard as they intended.

Then, in March, they announced their next three songs would be released "on a USB drive buried inside a seven-and-a-half pound gummybear skull".

Yeah. These guys are weird.

But they produce pretty darn good music, if you ask me.

I have embedded a link to "Watching the Planets" below, the final song on the album and my personal favourite.

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Recommended Tracks:

Convinced of the Hex (3.57)

Evil (5.38)

Sagittarius Silver Announcement (2.59)

Worm Mountain (5.22)

Watching the Planets (5.17)

#23: Cease to Begin

Cease to Begin

Band of Horses

2007

Sub Pop Records

Peak position on the charts:

#149 - UK Albums Chart

#35 - US Billboard 200

Band of Horses, originally known simply as Horses in their early days, are Seattle-based band formed in 2004 by Ben Bridwell after the break-up of his previous band, Carissa's Wierd. The group initially received attention while opening for Iron & Wine, who at the time was signed to the Seattle-based label Sub Pop; the record label recognised the value Band of Horses held, and just like that, they were in. Their debut album, Everything All the Time, was recorded the following year, and released in 2006.

They swayed relatively little of the public eye, as Everything All the Time was unsuccessful on the charts (#199 on the UK Albums Chart, while not charting in the US).

Over the course of the next year, the band began recording their second album, touring extensively throughout the US and Europe to promote it, and relocated to South Carolina (Bridwell's home state). Their second studio album, Cease to Begin, was released in October of 2009 by Sub Pop, and was much more successful than its predecessor.

Cease to Begin features a very down-to-earth, alternative blues sort of vibe. With reverb-heavy guitars and vocals, the album gives you a feeling of loss and longing, of slowly drifting to nowhere. Occasional slide guitars, mellow synth lines, and a banjo or two, the music effectively evokes what Bridwell's soft, reminiscing voice is singing. His vocals also have a tinge of twang in them, country-style, which frankly just sounds so right over the bluesy backdrop. Song titles such as "Is There A Ghost", "No One's Gonna Love You", "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands", "Window Blues"... well they certainly give you a taste of what mood he was in when writing the songs, doesn't it?

With a sound blend comparable to a mix of The Shins, Iron & Wine, and Bright Eyes, Cease to Begin's sorrowful sound contributes nicely to the "Seattle Sound" that Sup Pop has created over the years: a passive, doldrumic, quasi-folk-rock-ish sound that you'd come to expect from a Starbuck's Coffee eatery. Yeah, that sound.

It's a sound I've become quite accustomed to. And not because of the sentimental value of sitting at a Starbuck's or anything, sipping down a Vanilla Frappuccino in a cozy armchair doing the crossword puzzle of the local newspaper. I don't know what that's like at all...

But seriously, give these guys a listen. Even if you aren't an alterna-blues kind of person, we all have those days where you just feel... apart from everything. And Band of Horses lets you know that you're not the only one.

Below is a link to "Window Blues", the folk/country-est of the songs, but my personal favourite. It's the slowest of the songs (besides maybe "Marry Song", but I'd say not), so don't condemn the record as a whole based off this song. Look up "Is There a Ghost" or "No One's Gonna Love You" as well... or I can just link to one of those too, save you the trouble. I'll do that.

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Recommended Tracks:

Is There a Ghost (3.00)

No One's Gonna Love You (3.37)

Detlef Schrempf (4.29)

Window Blues (4.01)

*kind of a corny video for Window Blues, but that's the best I could find.

#24: The King of Limbs

The King of Limbs

Radiohead

2011

Released independently

Peak position on charts:

#7 - UK Albums Chart

#3 - US Billboard 200

When you go back and listen to "Creep", Radiohead's first single and the song that got them on the board, and compare it to anything released on The King of Limbs, the only element that sounds even remotely similar is Thom Yorke's vocals. His far-ranging, entrancingly vibratic voice has pretty much been the one source of consistency throughout the years of transformation that came to define the band. In the Pablo Honey (Radiohead's first studio album) days, the music was pretty simple; Yorke's lyrics overtop a guitar, bass, and drum kit. They were, dare I say, a typical, clean-cut 90s band. Their maturation over their twenty-year span is apparent.

The King of Limbs presents a wonderful blend of simplicity and chaotic complexness. Only eight tracks in length, the album is Radiohead's shortest to date (which was somewhat of a disappointment coming out of a four year layoff). Featuring similar sound qualities to its chronological predecessor, In Rainbows, each song is beautifully orchestrated, and Yorke's lyrical work is as transfixing, if not more so, than ever. More importantly (to this album), every song is entirely its own; the contrast from song to song is impressive, especially considering how similar the instrumentation is for the first five tracks. That contrast is epitomised by pairing the most energetic song on the record, "Lotus Flower" (track 5) with the most delicate, "Codex" (track 6).

Throughout the album, Radiohead plays with looping of recorded overdubs, usually of Yorke's harmonic vocals, often by repeating a segment of audial data according to how much time it takes up, not by consistency through the measures of the song. In other words, the looped layovers are purely in free time, and are desynchronised from the rest of the music in the song. An instant feeling of richness and of thick complexity is produced. It's pretty smartly done.

Despite my praises of it, The King of Limbs was the first of Radiohead's records since 1997 to never hit number 1 on the UK Albums Chart, snapping a streak of five straight #1 albums. In part, I'm sure, the lack of publicity leading up to the album's release led to its decline in sales; the band told absolutely no-one that they had produced a new album until a week before they planned to release it (intentionally, of course). Even then, they exclusively sold it through their website for a month and a half before online vendors such as iTunes or Amazon were able to sell it. But Radiohead had already established in 2007 their low priority for profit following album releases... (more on that MUCH later...).

All in all, though, The King of Limbs is a wonderfully crafted album that is deeply intricate when it needs to be and hauntingly caressing where appropriate. I wish it were longer.

As a footnote sort of thing, this is the only album released in 2011 to appear on this list. I have nothing but pure kudos for it, and with time, I'm sure the 24th spot on this list will be downright insulting. Give it time, it'll be playing with the big dogs soon enough.

I'll link two (count 'em, TWO) songs below, to show you the gulf in style between some of the songs on the album, as well as a full track listing, since it's only eight songs' worth anyways.

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Track Listing:

1. Bloom (5.15)
2. Morning Mr Magpie (4.41)
3. Little By Little (4.27)
4. Feral (3.13)
5. Lotus Flower (5.00)
6. Codex (4.47)
7. Give Up the Ghost (4.50)
8. Separator (5.20)

#25: Fantasies

Fantasies

Metric

2009

Last Gang Records (Canada)

Released independently in the US and Europe

Peak position on the charts:

#164 - UK Albums Chart

#76 - US Billboard 200

#6 - Canadian Albums Chart

Originally formed in Toronto in 2001, neither founding member of the band are native Canadians; Emily Haines (lead vocals, synth) was born in India, while Jimmy Shaw (guitar) is a native of the United Kingdom. The two met in Toronto and began dating and recording music together shortly afterwards.

As a quick note, both are members of the band Broken Social Scene as well, a band that will be featured later on this list.

Also, the two shared apartment suites in the Williamsburg region of Brooklyn with future members of the bands Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, and Liars.

Fantasies is Metric's fourth studio album, and has a darker sound (in my opinion) than any of their previous works. The album is pretty minimalistic, with Haines' low-for-a-girl vocals humming over a simple synthesiser, easy rhythm guitar lines, and drum beats. Idealogically, the structure of the songs on the album are modelled after 60s pop bands: a basic, easy-to-listen-to backdrop with steady beats and catchy lyrics. In fact, references to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are directly made in the song "Gimme Sympathy" (title ring a bell?):

"I can feel it in my bones.

Give me sympathy

after all of this is gone.

Who'd you rather be,

the Beatles or the Rolling Stones?"

Hmm. Tough choice.

But hey, if you're looking for a musical style to draw ideas from, who better to mimc than two of the most prolific pop bands of all time? Only make it darker. And electronicker. Awesome.

Seriously, though, what Metric have put together on Fantasies is a set of consistently strong songs that as catchy as they are musically interesting. Despite their use of just a synthesiser and a guitar/bass combo (oh, how cliché...), the album manages to sound genuinely innovative, as if they were the first band ever to use such an instrument set. Maybe it's just Haines' mesmerising vocals that keep me listening. But I doubt it, though I can't understate how attracted I am to her voice. I don't really know why. Her voice just seems to fit over top a rhythmic synth line.

But no, the way each component of the band comes together is seamless, and each song is very well put together, composition-wise. A well-produced album that is fun to listen to.

Ironic that in one of my few representatives from Canada, neither member is a native canuck (and I mean that in the respectful sense).

A link to the song "Twilight Galaxy" is below, and this was actually the hardest time I had picking a single song to link to. There were three separate tracks I wanted to share, but I won't. Just look them up yourself.

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Recommended Tracks:

Help I'm Alive (4.46)

Sick Muse (4.17)

Satellite Mind (3.43)

Twilight Galaxy (4.54)

Gold Guns Girls (4.05)

#26: Brightblack Morning Light

Brightblack Morning Light

Brightblack Morning Light

2006

Matador Records

Never appeared on the charts.

Brightblack Morning Light is probably the mellowest of the albums on this list, rivaled only by Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago, and with good reason: Brightblack Morning Light was a simple formation; Nathan Shineywater and Rachael Hughes are the only official members of the band. The two are native Alabamians who re-located to Northern California to begin recording for the band. However, the each of them only has one instrument to their name: Shineywater's electric slide guitar and Hughes' vintage electric piano. Both contribute vocals, but any other instrument heard on the album is played by a guest musician, ranging from bass to percussion to clarinet to trombone. The selections of instrumentation on the album is quite eclectic, a fact in itself that likely heightens my love for it.

Brightblack Morning Light is put together extremely well; as I mentioned, it is littered with several different instruments here and there, many of which are unconventional for the modern band (flute, trombone, gourd, tabla, etc.). The blend, though, is flawless. The album is smooth and natural, and is one of the most calming records I've ever heard. To explain it in corny, metaphorical terms: I feel as though I'm drifting on a quiet river, laying down, arms behind my head in a long, hollowed-out canoe. And even that may not do it justice. The album is gorgeous.

Lyrics do not hold a high priority on Brightblack Morning Light (a turn off for several of you reading, I know) and are often muddled to the point of near incomprehension, but that is not to say the songs are without meaning. In fact, the varied instrumentation is used for that very reason, to give you a slightly different feel in each song. (Let's face it, we have a different picture in our heads when listening to a triumphant trumpet solo as opposed to a soothing, bluesy clarinet. We've been bred that way.)

Now, I ranted a few reviews ago about an album that was too consistent; Tourist History had almost exactly the same structure in each of their songs, and I gave them a few negative marks for it.

Brightblack Morning Light is about thirty thousand times more consistent than anything Two Door Cinema Club will ever produce, but garners praise for it this time around.

No, I'm not just a hypocrite, hear me out:

Brightblack Morning Light is intentionally consistent. The style of music they are trying to evoke is a very laid back, soothingly melodic style, and a change of pace or sound would be too abrupt for anything the album would support. Again, that's where the diverse range of instruments come in: they satisfy your thirst for something new without actually changing anything else.

Also, to further the consistency of the album, the record is nearly gapless. The first five songs are played without a break (as if one long song on side A of a vinyl, which was most likely the point), followed by a standalone song as the sixth track, and two couplets, if you will, of gapless songs to finish the album. So if you consider a track to have a beginning and an end, the album would really only have four tracks:

1-5

6

7-8

9-10

I like visuals.

There will never be a hit on the Billboard 200 coming from these tree-huggers (they record in 100 per cent solar-powered studios and live in tents, cabins, and converted chicken-coops), but it will certainly be awhile until anyone matches the beauty and tranquility of Brightblack Morning Light.

I can't just pick favourites on this album, so a full track listing is below, as well as a link to "Black Feather Wishes Rise".

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Track Listing:

1. Everybody Daylight (6.01)
2. Friend of Time (6.31)
3. Fry Bread (1.46)
4. Star Blanket River Child (10.29)
5. All We Have Broken Shines (5.06)
6. A River Could Be Loved (4.04)
7. Amber Canyon Magik (4.54)
8. Black Feather Wishes Rise (5.06)
9. Come Another Rain Down (3.16)
10. We Share Our Blanket With the Owl (5.40)