#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.

____________________________________________________________________________________

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.)

____________________________________________________________________________________

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.

____________________________________________________________________________________

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.

____________________________________________________________________________________

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.

____________________________________________________________________________________

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.

____________________________________________________________________________________

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".

___________________________________________________________________________________

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)

#27: Perfect Symmetry

Perfect Symmetry

Keane

2008

Island Records (UK)

Cherrytree Records (US)

Peak position on the charts:

#1 - UK Albums Chart

#7 - US Billboard 200

Back in 1997, in the early years of the band known at the time as The Lotus Eaters, Keane pianist/keyboardist Tim Rice-Oxley was approached by a then-unknown Chris Martin after a gig in Virginia Water, Surrey. Impressed by his piano playing, Martin wanted Rice-Oxley to join the newly formed band Coldplay as their keyboardist. Rice-Oxley declined, citing allegiance to The Lotus Eaters, a band he and schoolmate Dominic Scott co-founded two years earlier. Initially, the decision must have haunted Rice-Oxley to no end; in the next fiver years, Coldplay produced two #1 hits on the UK Albums Chart (both of which have gone SEPTUPLE platinum to date), while Keane had yet to compile a single album.

But Keane would eventually hit it big in 2004 with their debut album Hopes and Fears, an album that ranks higher on this list and will be discussed further then.

Perfect Symmetry is Keane's third studio album, as well as their third #1 on the UK Albums Chart. Their gradual transformation from piano rock at its purest to an all-out electronic attack complete, Keane's employment of electric guitars for the first time fulfilled that one missing element from Under the Iron Sea: an added energy. Rice-Oxley acknowledged the fact himself:

"One of the things I loved about Perfect Symmetry was songs like

'Spiralling' that had a massive amount of energy."

Indeed, with a backdrop inspired by '80s synth rock, Perfect Symmetry offers a much punchier Keane than their prior two outings while maintaing the same structure and lyrical style that established their fanbase. Tom Chaplin's powerful vocals have never wavered and remain as meaningful (and not to mention as catchy) as ever, but with a new backing, they are given a new role. As opposed to Chaplin's vocals taking centre stage, as was so signature of Hopes and Fears and was still present with Under the Iron Sea, Perfect Symmetry epitomises Keane's full transition into a band. (They recruited a fourth man for the band, Jesse Quin, in 2008 to play rhythm and bass, somewhat metaphorically.) The vocals and music trade the spotlight throughout the album, and both share the forefront during refrains, creating the intensity and energy that was seemingly absent beforehand.

Keane's popularity will never be in question; if every album they ever created had the same sound as Hopes and Fears, they would still remain one of Britain's most famous modern bands. But Perfect Symmetry really established the band's position as the greats of the past ten or so years and fully defined the style that Keane had come to master: wonderfully catchy keyboard riffs and substancial, grandiose vocals.

Below is an embedded link to "The Lovers Are Losing", as well as a list of recommended songs.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Recommended Tracks:

Spiralling (4.19)

The Lovers Are Losing (5.04)

Perfect Symmetry (5.12)

Black Burning Heart (5.23)

#28: For Emma, Forever Ago

For Emma, Forever Ago

Bon Iver

2008

JagJaguwar (US) (Indie Label)

Peak position on charts:

#42 - UK Albums Chart

#64 - US Billboard 200

"'Cause blinded, I was blindsided." laments Justin Vernon on For Emma, Forever Ago ("Blindsided"). He never saw any of it coming, and he needed an escape.

Bon Iver began simply as Justin Vernon's isolation project in 2007. His band, DeYarmond Edison, had just broken up, he had lost his girl, and he caught mononucleosis. In a mission to seek relief, he left his home in Raleigh, North Carolina for his father's old cabin in northern Wisconsin. He had no intention of writing or recording anything during that time, but as the winter set in (Bon Iver is a play off the French expression "bon hiver", meaning "good winter"), the music began to flow out of him, and pieces of an album started coming together. That winter, Vernon himself recorded every instrument on what became a nine song album.

Upon completion of the album, he intended to send demos of the songs out to different recording companies with the idea of getting them re-mastered and well-produced, but he was encouraged by his friends and family to release it as it was. He listened, and self-released it in July of 2007. It garnered so much positive reception from critical media that the album was eventually picked up by JagJaguwar in the winter and re-released with the label in February of 2008.

For Emma, Forever Ago, on first listen, is an extremely simple album: an acoustic guitar with a melodic vocal line, and occasional snare drums sneaking into select songs. And in truth, that simplicity is the basis of the album. Vernon merely records a guitar line, sings his lyrics, throws on a few extras, and just like that, an album is made. But that wasn't quite enough for him; it lacked depth. So, he countered his solitude by over-dubbing with backup vocals, and over-dubbing with more backup vocals, and overdubbing, and so on. What resulted was an extremely complex set of harmonies, with anywhere from "80 to 500" separate voices, he once said in an interview.

And yet, even with a number of tracks this vast, he manages to maintain the simple beauty that his original minimalist methods evoked.

Each and every song is extremely delicate, as if the removal of any one of the tracks would destroy it entirely.

Symbolic.

Lyrically, Vernon sings of looking in the rear view mirror and not fully understanding what occurred, but having the strength to move on anyways. He sings tenderly, but his voice his distinctly full of sorrow still. And yet, his time of solitude seems to have given him exactly what he was searching for: not closure, necessarily, but the strength to push through.

Looking on the past is still sad, but Justin Vernon realised he could leave the sorrow behind and look ahead.

"What might've been lost

don't bother me."

-- "The Wolves (Act I and II)"

The song "Flume" is embedded in a link below.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Recommended Tracks:

Flume (3.39)

Skinny Love (3.58)

The Wolves (Act I and II) (5.22)

For Emma (3.41)

#29: Tourist History

Tourist History

Two Door Cinema Club

2010

Kitsuné Records (Europe, based in France)

Glassnote Records (US)

Peak position on the charts:

#33 - UK Albums Chart

N/A - US Billboard 200

Ironically, and I swear I didn't know this at the time, I've started this countdown with two debut albums by artists from the British Isles who signed with Glassnote Records in the United States. At that point, though, the similarities between Two Door Cinema Club and Mumford and Sons end.

Two Door Cinema Club formed in Northern Ireland in 2007 and gained their roots by posting their music on MySpace. Followers of the group grew to the point that the band decided to drop out of the university they attended (where the members met) and pursue a career in music. Three years later, Tourist History was created.

A mix of the riffing guitars of Les Savvy Fav, the sounds of Vampire Weekend, and a hint of vocals that can be compared to those of Ben Gibbard, Two Door Cinema Club have developed a unique conglomeration of styles already produced by established bands. What results is an upbeat, thick-but-clean set of songs that are very easy to listen to.

Tourist History as a whole is extremely consistent; never will you find me skipping a song in anticipation of the next one. Each song is comparable in strength to the one before it.

That very consistency, though, is somewhat of its downfall.

I kept expecting, as the album wound down, to find at least some resemblance of a slow song, a song with a relaxed beat and softer guitars and lyrics (as almost all albums seem to), but it was not to come. (The first fifteen or so seconds of "Eat This Up, It's Good For You" offer what seems to be the start of soft tune, but the fast-paced electro-beats immediately set you straight.) This, of course, is not an automatic knock off its overall rating, but the ten songs that make up Tourist History are all nearly identical in structure, sound, and style, leading to what appears to be a lack of depth and creativity.

That being said, though, there's a reason I placed this album above Mumford and Son's Sigh No More. Mumford and Son's may offer a bit more complexity, and definitely more variety, with their offerings, and several of the songs on Sigh No More are better than anything Tourism History has to offer, but outside of Mumford's great songs are a few that seem to miss the mark. As I go through the tracks on Sigh No More, it just seems to fall off somewhere after the end of "Little Lion Man". Tourist History keeps pumpin' til the very last second. Literally.

And while I said Two Door Cinema Club never really changed their structure and sound throughout Tourist History, the fact remains that the structure and sound they did use was remarkable. Each song is catchy, masterful, and just plain fun to listen to.

The music world can only hope for a Cage-The-Elephant-esque explosion of experimentation and creativity in their next album. It should be fantastic.

Below I have embedded a link for "I Can Talk", as well as a full track listing for the album (since I couldn't really recommend a set four or five).

____________________________________________________________________________________

Track Listing:

1. Cigarettes in the Theatre (3.33)
2. Come Back Home (3.23)
3. Undercover Martyn (2.47)
4. Do You Want It All? (3.28)
5. This Is the Life (3.30)
6. Something Good Can Work (2.43)
7. I Can Talk (2.56)
8. What You Know (3.10)
9. Eat That Up, It's Good For You (3.44)
10. You're Not Stubborn (3.11)

#30: Sigh No More

Sigh No More

Mumford and Sons

2009

Island Records (UK)

Glassnote Records (US)

Peak position on the charts:

#2 - UK Albums Chart

#2 - US Billboard 200

Let me start off by noting that this album received a 2.1 out of 10 rating over at Pitchfork, showing that review sites don't always get it right.

Rising out of what British media called the "West London folk scene" (a label Marcus Mumford himself found preposterous), Mumford and Sons toured throughout Europe with nothing but loaned instruments and a four song EP entitled Love Your Ground. They quickly gathered an underground-type following, and rose to grandeur when British producer Markus Darvs, famous for his contributions on such albums as Coldplay's Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends and Arcade Fire's recent Grammy winning The Suburbs. Signing with Island Records in the UK, and briefly after with Glassnote Records in the US, Sigh No More came into full fruition and was released in October of 2009. The lead single off the album, "Little Lion Man", was well-received, reaching #1 on the US Alternative Songs chart and making them a main-stage band for the first time in their brief careers. At the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011, Mumford and Sons was nominated for two awards, Best New Artists and Best Rock Song for "Little Lion Man", but won neither.

Each member of the West London quartet is quite musically inclined; each member is a multi-instrumentalist. Rarely, in concert, will any member play the same instrument for consecutive songs. In part, their mix-and-match ability helps to energise their performances. Really, the only measure of pure consistency within the band itself is Marcus Mumford's vocals.

Frankly, though, his vocals are what propels Sigh No More above anything else that has come out of the West London folk scene.

The tenderness of his voice often leads into a breakpoint of harshness and what sounds like built-up anger. (This is particularly evident in the lesser-known songs, such as "White Blank Page" and "I Gave You All".) The lyrics are of a heart-broken man who is still trying to figure out where he went wrong:

"So tell me now, where was my fault

in loving you with my whole heart?"

-- "White Blank Page"

until the point that he figures it out:

"But it was not your fault but mine.

And it was your heart on the line.

I really fucked it up this time

didn't I my dear?"

-- "Little Lion Man"

and:

"Align my body, my heart, my mind

to face what I've done and do my time."

-- "Dustbowl Dance"

The band is not purely bent of vocal beauty, though. For every transition to soft and sorrowful to brash and upset is an equal wonderful instrumental buildup, from a soft, simple guitar line to a thick, fast-paced banjo paired with a mandolin, full drum set and occasional dirty electric guitar riffs (if they can be called that). The overall musicality that Mumford and Sons brings to Sigh No More -- their debut album, no less -- is expertly done, and the complexity of what they put together, while easy to overlook, is certain evident.

Well done, Mumford and Sons. You have put together a truly beautiful album.

A link to a youtube video of "Winter Winds" is embedded in the Recommended Tracks section below.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Recommended Tracks:

The Cave (3.38)

Winter Winds (3.40)

I Gave You All (4.20)

Little Lion Man (4.07)

Top 30 Albums

For the next month or so, I'm going to try to consistently count down my top 30 albums from 30-1, once a day.

Each entry will include the album artwork, artist, and production company, along with any description of the album necessary to understand its place on the list. Also, I will most likely tag in a paragraph of personal ranting that expresses what it is that attracts me to the album.

If I wind up doing this on Tumblr, too, I may consider posting a song from the album... but I'm not entirely sure how legal that is. So I may not. We'll see. :P

Next up: # 30!

Top 150 songs

The last time I sat down to make a top songs list, I was eating macaroni and cheese at Panera the weekend of Halloween. It was a Top 25 list.
I decided it was time to blow that list out of the water.

Thus, I present my very first Top 150 songs list.

This list is very easily subject to change and is no way set in stone (as music charts rarely are anyway). The top ten, for example, contain a Dr. Dog song, who I may still be a little high on after the Richmond concert, and a Keane song, fresh off what Curtis labelled "a Keane kind of day" yesterday.

So is this list completely objective?

...

OF COURSE NOT.

Is that even possible?

The list is organised based off two primary categories:

1. Musical quality. A complex song is given more consideration than a flat one. (But yes, "simple" songs can also be complex, if that is their aim.)

2. Personal attraction to the song. Bluntly, songs I like more are obviously going to have a higher ranking than songs I'm not too crazy about.

That being said, a song that might be a personal favourite of mine could easily be much lower ranked than expected, due to its lack of musicality. For example, Profanity Prayers is among my favourite songs by Beck, and is in fact my favourite off the album Modern Guilt, but there really isn't much to it, frankly, and so lands at # 102, and is the fourth of the songs off the album to appear.

The list:

#		Artist	Song	Album	Year
1	//	Beck	Cellphone's Dead	The Information	2006
2	//	The Black Keys	Psychotic Girl	Attack & Release	2008
3	//	Cold War Kids	Hospital Beds	Robbers & Cowards	2007
4	//	Keane	Sunshine	Hopes and Fears	2004
5	//	Radiohead	Reckoner	In Rainbows	2007
6	//	MGMT	Of Moons, Birds & Monsters	Oracular Spectacular	2007
7	//	Dr. Dog	The Girl	We All Belong	2007
8	//	Beck	Lord Only Knows	Odelay	1996
9	//	Radiohead	Lotus Flower	The King of Limbs	2011
10	//	Coldplay	Fix You	X&Y	2005
11	//	The Shins	Sea Legs	Wincing the Night Away	2007
12	//	Beck	Broken Drum	Guero	2005
13	//	Cake	Easy to Crash	Showroom of Compassion	2011
14	//	Islands	Rough Gem	Return to the Sea	2006
15	//	Cold War Kids	Saint John	Robbers & Cowards	2007
16	//	Broken Social Scene	Romance to the Grave	Forgiveness Rock Record	2011
17	//	Beck	Farewell Ride	Guero	2005
18	//	Radiohead	Climbing Up the Walls	OK Computer	1997
19	//	MGMT	Siberian Breaks	Congratulations	2009
20	//	Sun Airway	Your Moon	Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier	2010
21	//	Beck	Volcano	Modern Guilt	2008
22	//	Mumford & Sons	The Cave	Sigh No More	2009
23	//	Cold War Kids	We Used to Vacation	Robbers & Cowards	2007
24	//	Local Natives	Wide Eyes	Gorilla Manor	2009
25	//	Two Door Cinema Club	I Can Talk	Tourist History	2010
26	//	Cold War Kids	Relief	Loyalty to Loyalty	2008
27	//	Dr. Dog	Army of Ancients	Fate	2008
28	//	Small Black	Hydra	New Chain	2010
29	//	Grizzly Bear	Cheerleader	Veckatimest	2009
30	//	Ra Ra Riot	Ghost Under Rocks	The Rhumb Line	2008
31	//	Keane	She Has No Time	Hopes and Fears	2004
32	//	MGMT	4th Dimensional Transition	Oracular Spectacular	2007
33	//	Broken Social Scene	World Sick	Forgiveness Rock Record	2010
34	//	Fleet Foxes	Mykonos	Mykonos - Single	2009
35	//	Beck	Chemtrails	Modern Guilt	2008
36	//	The Flaming Lips	Watching the Planets	Embryonic	2009
37	//	Radiohead	Jigsaw Falling Into Place	In Rainbows	2007
38	//	Bon Iver	Flume	For Emma, Forever Ago	2008
39	//	The Black Keys	Strange Times	Attack & Release	2008
40	//	The Shins	Split Needles	Wincing the Night Away	2007
41	//	The Avett Brothers	I And Love And You	I And Love And You	2009
42	//	Charlotte Gainsbourg	IRM	IRM	2009
43	//	Band of Horses	Is There a Ghost	Cease to Begin	2007
44	//	Beck	Paper Tiger	Sea Change	2002
45	//	A Band of Bees	These Are The Ghosts	Free The Bees	2004
46	//	Metric	Satellite Mind	Fantasies	2009
47	//	Beck	Strange Apparition	The Information	2006
48	//	Cake	Dime	Pressure Chief	2004
49	//	Beck	Blackhole	Mellow Gold	1994
50	//	Broken Bells	The High Road	Broken Bells	2010
51	//	Radiohead	Idioteque	Kid A	2000
52	//	Oasis	Wonderwall	(What's the Story) Morning Glory	1995
53	//	Arcade Fire	Rebellion (Lies)	Funeral	2004
54	//	Dr. Dog	Worst Trip	We All Belong	2007
55	//	Vampire Weekend	Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa	Vampire Weekend	2010
56	//	MGMT	Flash Delirium	Congratulations	2009
57	//	Louis XIV	God Killed the Queen	The Best Little Secrets Are Kept	2005
58	//	Keane	Somewhere Only We Know	Hopes and Fears	2004
59	//	Beck	Tropicalia	Mutations	1996
60	//	Twin Shadow	Shooting Holes	Forget	2010
61	//	Islands	On Foreigner	Vapours	2009
62	//	Aqueduct	Hardcore Days & Softcore Nights	I Sold Gold	2005
63	//	Radiohead	Give Up the Ghost	The King of Limbs	2011
64	//	Radiohead	Karma Police	OK Computer	1997
65	//	Peter Bjorn and John	Up Against the Wall	Writer's Block	2007
66	//	Fences	Girl With Accents	Fences	2010
67	//	Death Cab for Cutie	Cath…	Narrow Stairs	2008
68	//	Beck	Go It Alone	Guero	2005
69	//	The Flaming Lips	The W.A.N.D.	At War with the Mystics	2006
70	//	Keane	Is It Any Wonder?	Under the Iron Sea	2006
71	//	Yeah Yeah Yeahs	Gold Lion	Show Your Bones	2006
72	//	Foster the People	Pumped Up Kicks	Foster the People - EP	2011
73	//	The Rosebuds	Life Like	Life Like	2008
74	//	Vampire Weekend	White Sky	Contra	2010
75	//	Muse	Starlight	Black Holes & Revelations	2006
76	//	Rooney	When Did Your Heart Go Missing?	Calling the World	2007
77	//	Spoon	Black Like Me	Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga	2007
78	//	The Strokes	Machu Picchu	Angles	2011
79	//	The Dodos	Winter	Visiter	2008
80	//	The Postal Service	This Place Is a Prison	Give Up	2003
81	//	Radiohead	Last Flowers to the Hospital	In Rainbows (Special Edition)	2007
82	//	The Black Keys	Tighten Up	Brothers	2010
83	//	Dr. Dog	Shadow People	Shame, Shame	2010
84	//	Beck	Vampire Voltage No. 6	Chemtrails - Single	2008
85	//	Beck	Jack-Ass	Odelay	1996
86	//	The Shins	New Slang	Oh, Inverted World	2001
87	//	Charlotte Gainsbourg	Greenwich Mean Time	IRM	2009
88	//	Wilco	Solitaire	Wilco (The Album)	2009
89	//	MGMT	We Don't Care	Climbing to New Lows	2005
90	//	Radiohead	Paranoid Andriod	OK Computer	1997
91	//	Red Hot Chili Peppers	Dani California	Stadium Arcadium	2006
92	//	Phoenix	Lisztomania	Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix	2009
93	//	Beck	Lost Cause	Sea Change	2002
94	//	Radiohead	15 Step	In Rainbows	2007
95	//	The xx	Islands	xx	2009
96	//	A Band of Bees	(This Is For The) Better Days	Octopus	2007
97	//	Passion Pit	Make Light	Manners	2009
98	//	Sliversun Pickups	Lazy Eye	Carnavas	2006
99	//	Rumspringa	Shake 'Em Loose Tonight	Rumspringa - EP	2008
100	//	Black Kids	Hit the Heartbrakes	Partie Traumatic	2008
101	//	Mason Proper	Lock and Key	Olly Oxen Free	2008
102	//	Beck	Profanity Prayers	Modern Guilt	2008
103	//	Coldplay	Talk	X&Y	2005
104	//	Kurt Vile	He's Alright	Childish Prodigy	2009
105	//	Mumford & Sons	I Gave You All	Sigh No More	2009
106	//	Edward Sharp & TMZ	40 Day Dream	Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros	2009
107	//	Spoon	Deep Clean	Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Bonus Track Version)	2007
108	//	Radiohead	Exit Music (For a Film)	OK Computer	1997
109	//	Florence and tM	Dog Days are Over	Lungs	2009
110	//	The Black Keys	Remember When (Side A)	Attack & Release	2008
111	//	Cake	Short Skirt / Long Jacket	Comfort Eagle	2001
112	//	Cage the Elephant	Back Against the Wall	Cage the Elephant	2008
113	//	Radiohead	All I Need	In Rainbows	2007
114	//	Keane	Unititled 1	Hopes and Fears	2004
115	//	Beck	Necessary Evil	Modern Guilt (Extended Version)	2008
116	//	Beck	Black Tambourine	Guero	2005
117	//	Mumford & Sons	Little Lion Man	Sigh No More	2009
118	//	Dr. Dog	We All Belong	We All Belong	2007
119	//	The Black Keys	Howlin' For You	Brothers	2010
120	//	MGMT	The Youth	Oracular Spectacular	2007
121	//	Broken Social Scene	Sweetest Kill	Forgiveness Rock Record	2010
122	//	Beck	Soldier Jane	The Information	2006
123	//	Edward Sharp & TMZ	Home	Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros	2009
124	//	Cold War Kids	God, Make Up Your Mind	Robbers & Cowards	2007
125	//	Beck	Deadweight	Odelay (Deluxe Edition)	1996
126	//	Broken Social Scene	Highway Slipper Jam	Forgiveness Rock Record	2010
127	//	Radiohead	Separater	The King of Limbs	2011
128	//	Cake	Sick of You	Showroom of Compassion	2011
129	//	MGMT	Congratulations	Congratulations	2009
130	//	Beck	Ramshackle	Odelay	1996
131	//	Coldplay	Viva La Vida	Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends	2008
132	//	Islands	Creeper	Arm's Way	2008
133	//	The Flaming Lips	Do You Realize??	Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots	2003
134	//	Sun Airway	American West	Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier	2010
135	//	Radiohead	Codex	The King of Limbs	2011
136	//	Peter Bjorn and John	Amsterdam	Writer's Block	2007
137	//	Bon Iver	Skinny Love	For Emma, Forever Ago	2008
138	//	The Killers	All These Things That I've Done	Hot Fuss	2004
139	//	Julian Casablancas	Out of the Blue	Phrazes for the Young	2009
140	//	Franz Ferdinand	Take Me Out	Franz Ferdinand	2004
141	//	Cake	The Distance	Fashion Nugget	1996
142	//	Death Cab for Cutie	Soul Meets Body	Plans	2005
143	//	Kaiser Chiefs	Oh My God	Employment	2005
144	//	The Strokes	Reptilia	Room on Fire	2003
145	//	Beck	Brother	Stray Blues	2000
146	//	Julian Casablancas	Ludlow St.	Phrazes for the Young	2009
147	//	Fun.	Walking the Dog	Aim and Ignite	2009
148	//	The Ting Tings	We Walk	We Started Nothing	2008
149	//	La Roux	Bulletproof	La Roux	2009
150	//	Michael Franti & S	Say Hey (I Love You)	All Rebel Rockers	2008

Honourable Mentions:

The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army, Elephant (2003)

The Streets - Fit But You Know It, A Grand Don't Come for Free (2004)

Dr. Dog - The Beach, Fate (2008)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Rolls, It's Blitz (2009)

The Von Bondies - C'mon C'mon, Pawn Shoppe Heart (2004)