20. Alt-J - An Awesome Wave
With their name taken from the function used to create a triangle symbol on a Mac computer, four-piece Cambridge quartet Alt-J obviously have no intention to color between the lines. Drawing comparisons from everyone from Radiohead to The xx, to Foals, and snarkily categorizing their sound as "folk-step," Alt-J are restlessly inventive, combining stark guitar-led numbers with subtle electronics and samples, all anchored by singer Joe Newman's gravelly croon. Upon reading the almost endlessly glowing reviews from the UK press about their debut album An Awesome Wave, I was a bit concerned that the hype was more than the music could bear. In this case, the hype is, for the most part, warranted. An Awesome Wave is a solid, and at times brilliant debut that always seems to be one step ahead of one's expectations.
19. The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence
Capping off a whirlwind year of almost unbearable hype, two mix tapes, mysterious videos, collaborations with Drake, and a hundred different remixes, Canadian collective The Weeknd finish up their mix tape trilogy with Echoes of Silence. Where House of Balloons reveled in its luxurious tales of debauchery, and Thursday almost collapsed under its industrial cacophony, Echoes of Silence is akin to the long walk home from a night of excess. More muted and, dare I say it, more accessible than the previous installments, Echoes of Silence is perhaps the easiest entry point to The Weeknd, but is still uniquely The Weeknd. The focus this time is less on sonic exploration and more on Abel Tesfaye's gorgeous falsetto.
18. Swans - The Seer
Swans' reputation after 30 years of recording and performing is nearly unimpeachable. From their no wave beginnings, brutal punishing live shows, up to their embracing softer, more ambient textures, they have always pushed the boundaries of what their music is and can be. Leader Michael Gira disbanded the group in the late 90s to form a new band The Angels of Light which focused more on songwriting and embracing a more traditional, alt-country feel. In the late 2000s, Gira announced that he had more to say with Swans and toured along with releasing a new record,My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky, which, while not a stunning return to form, was a solid return for the band. As described by Gira, Swans' latest record The Seer "took 30 years to make. It’s the culmination of every previous Swans album, as well as any other music I’ve ever made…" Indeed, The Seer touches on almost everything, drone, no wave skronk, industrial, blues, ambient, black metal, and country, and basically bludgeons the listener over an incredible 2 hour run time, with the title track alone going well over 30 minutes. The Seer is a challenging listen, one that both encapsulates Swans' full body of work while also taking it the next level. This is not made for passive listening; it practically begs you to try and ignore it.
17. Grizzly Bear - Shields
Grizzly Bear's last record Veckatimest wasn't so much their breakthrough album as it was a light-year leap ahead sonically and creatively. It was a dense, challenging listen that still held up as one of the great pop albums of this century. I will admit that when I got the follow up Shields in my inbox I was hesitant to even load it on my iPod for fear it would end up being horribly disappointing or at worst, merely ok. Thankfully, the two teaser tracks "Sleeping Ute" and "Yet Again" were classic Grizzly Bear and made me less apprehensive about diving into their first new music in years. In comparison with Veckatimest, Shields is a more streamlined record, less complex and more direct; not to say that Grizzly Bear have become The xx or anything, there is just more economy at play. As with the new record from The xx, the retreat to a more minimal palate seems and feels right here, as if the band knew that taking things in the opposite direction would have been a step backward. Ultimately, Shields stands on its own in the Grizzly Bear canon as its own beast. It definitely sounds like and is a Grizzly Bear album, but indicates that the band knows what they want to do with and in what direction they want to take their sound. From the folky warmth of Yellow House to the insane cacophonous brilliance of Veckatimest, to now the measured chaos and control of Shields, Grizzly Bear reasserts their claim to being one of the most exciting and creative rock bands in the world.
16. Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory
I will admit that the debut album from Cloud Nothings was unmemorable to me. I actually had to go back and listen to it again in order to try and remember what their sound was like. Cloud Nothings was 11 blasts of short pop-punk that held no personality or interest for me, and was quickly forgotten amid much stronger releases in 2011. Almost a year to the day, they return with their second full length, Attack On Memory, and whether it is owing to a new found maturity or the production work from the legendary Steve Albini, this album is tighter and full of memorable hooks, and is balls out one of the best sounding rock records of the year. Albini gives the tracks more room to breathe, which is a mere 8 tracks, feel more substantial and not as slap dash as their debut. Previously, Cloud Nothings' sound perched precariously on the edge of twee. Muscular, and more strident, these tracks are full of coiled menace, ready to attack at a moment's notice.
15. Arca - Stretch 1 & 2
Venezuelan born, New York based producer Arca released his first EP Stretch 1 back in April on the fledgling UNO NYC label. It mainly got attention based on the creepy video for the single "Ass Swung Low," featuring the strange computer animated images of kids and babies spitting out some of the most hilariously vile words ever. But more distinctive was the production itself, vocals low and manipulated within an each of their life, as if Tricky was brought back as a cyber-demon. The beats slowed down to an almost coma-like pulse, a dense foreboding atmosphere of drugged out paranoia. The rest of Stretch 1 does what any good debut EP should do, provide a nice overview of what the artist can do, and indicate what direction they are heading in. Where Stretch 1 is a perfect intro into Arca's off-kilter world, it almost does nothing to prepare you for the all-out sonic brilliance of Stretch 2. Stretch 2 never seems to follow any set pattern, and the first few listens can be frustrating as it becomes difficult to settle into any sort of groove. The blunted feel of the album takes flight in the middle with tracks like the punishing "Strung" and the aptly named "2 Blunted" whose vocals are so manipulated and twisted into a druggy haze you almost can smell the smoke.
14. Man Without Country - Foe
Welsh duo Man Without Country (with a third man for live performances) are in a community of synth-pop/shoegaze acts that focus less on synth hooks and more on a broad cinematic sweep of lush synth washes. Bands like M83, Hooray For Earth, Bear In Heaven, and Delphic come to mind. In interviews the band describe their band name as referring to a feeling of not being connected. In keeping with this description, Man Without Country's debut album Foe is a hunting and gloomy batch of tracks that hold a fairly despairing view of humanity, relationships, and life in modern times. Although a reading of the lyric sheet can get a little depressing, thankfully the music is for the most part lush, with pulsating dance beats meant to bring you on the dance floor and not isolated in a headphones cocoon.
13. Crystal Castles - (III)
After their abrasive debut album, I really pondered where Crystal Castles could go with their sound as they seemed to have boxed themselves into a corner. With their second album, not much really changed, however, there seemed to be a better flow and mix to the their tracks when generally follow a "pretty" and "harsh" pattern. With (III), again, there is not a change up in sound so much as a change in focus, leaning more towards "pretty" and almost completely forsaking "harsh." For some, this lack of a push and pull over the course of the record might seem to be heresy, but for me, this clarity, if you will, adds a much needed element that has always seemed to be lacking. Here, the tracks flow into and out of one another seamlessly, without the crazy juxtapositions of earlier releases. Where the music is more streamlined and trance-like, the unsettling vision of the lyrical themes is where the contrasts are now focused. And with Ethan Kath holding production duties, he almost renders Alice Glass' vocals inhuman, twisted and manipulating them beyond recognition for the most part, only letting slight glimpses throughout the fog of electronics.
12. Brandy - Two Eleven
The title of Brandy's sixth studio album Two Eleven refers both to her birthday and also the day that one of Brandy's idol's Whitney Houston passed away, and finds the singer in a more reflective mood. Coming off the relative failure of her last record Human, Brandy veers away from the more edgy material she did with Timbaland, and moves back to more traditionally grounded R&B. Working with a army of producers, including Sean Garrett, Bangladesh, and Rico Love, Brandy mostly eschews fancy production except on a few tracks, preferring to focus more on her voice, which is in fine form here. While there are plenty of different songwriters working with Brandy on these tracks, there is a consistency here that keeps it from feeling like a jumble of different tracks. The songs deal primarily with relationships in various stages, and provide a prism into the mind of a woman figuring out how to deal with those issues. It is both joyous and painful, but a necessary path to take in becoming who she is.
11. Errors - Have Some Faith In Magic
Post-electro instrumental quartet Errors, from Glasgow, Scotland, have been amassing critical acclaim and bigger audiences over the years since forming in 2004. Their first two albums, It's Not Something But It Is Like Whatever and Come Down With Me, were full of spiky, hypnotic synth driven post rock that definitely earned them the title, the electronic Mogwai (in fact, the comparison is even more apt considering the band is on Mogwai's Rock Action label). Before Have Some Faith In Magic was released, there were rumors that this would be the Error's "vocal" album. While indeed the band have incorporated "vocals" into the mix, this is not like a Depeche Mode album, instead, the vocals, which are all but unintelligible, merely add another layer of texture and sound. It creates a more nuanced sound for the band and gives an indication of where the band is headed. Perhaps with more confidence, they will actually put together true lyrics and vocals for future albums. For now, however, we are left with this incarnation, and quite rightly, it is a good place for the band to be. Have Some Faith In Magic is perhaps their most cohesive and well-thought out record so far, and while there may not be the same sense of danger and wonder that their earlier albums provided, this new found focus definitely makes up for it.
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