What? Long orchestral songs with a voice like DM Stith or Department of Eagles
Sounds Like? DM Stith, Department of Eagles, Chris Garneau
I adore all the projects of Casey Mercer (Frog Eyes, Blackout Beach), but before you start running away because you can’t stand his dead grandma-voice: this is not a Casey Mercer project! No, it’s a project of Ryan Beattie who plays the guitar in Frog Eyes and is the lead man in a band called Chet. (Which i don’t know, but will check out in the near future, as in now, while I’m typing this.)
Anyway, Himalayan Bear is sort of this solo project of Ryan Beattie, together with someone from Godspeed!You Black emperor (yes, some guys have just everything). They make really nice, orchestral songs that mostly are longer than 5 minutes . Beattie’s voice reminds me a bit of new hype DM Stith, with this sort of swoon in the timbre (that’s just a hollow phrase of me not knowing how to describe a voice).
So, listen to the songs, then go to Self Righteous Records and buy the album. It’s really late night greatness.
So, I’ve made two friends fight (see comments of my big contest-post), I’ve made people go berserk from the waiting, but now we’re there. The following ten albums are the best of this year, in my humble, but very advising opinion. If you haven’t heard any of them, you should keep on listening Britney Spears.
Sounds like: someone at a concert told me Neil Young, and suddenly i realized Chad Vangaalen is the Electric Neil Young for the Unwashed Yuppie generation.
Vangaalen has been on my radar for the last couple of years, and now he’s on many. Understandable, cause with his falsetto voice and his scrummy lo-fi guitar noise singer-songwriter pop whatever, he’s made one of the best albums of this year. And the third winner in a row. It’s just waiting until he gets in his gospel period before he really stinks.
Sounds Like: Hit it with your rhythm stick, hit it! hit it!
The most important thing about The Dodos’ music? The percussion. It’s this tsjakka tsjakka tsjakka sound, combined with folky folky songs, that are catchy as hell. But still complex. It’s like the best tasting yoghurt ever, but you first seem to get the grasp of this brand new lid system. And they’ve got the refreshing taste of An Animal Collective that’s not too heavy on the acid.
Sounds like: Testosterone melancholic rock, magnolia el. co
I’m not fond of heavy electric guitar engineering. No Black Sabbath, AC/DC or other rock bands for me. But Ladyhawk seems to pull it of. They seem to go, in a songs ohia kind of way, manage to use the electric power for their benefit, instead of making dull rock songs. And because of that i greatly honour them with the number 8 spot.
IF there’s one band in this top 10 that you may not really dig, it’s Okay. His voice sounds like that of a dying moth, and his songs are repetitive till nuissance. But oh my god, if you just keep on listening, you’ll probably hear through this facade. And you’ll find out that this is amazingly sweet, romantic, fantastic, bloody wow.
Sounds like: everyone says bob dylan, so i’ll say Bob Dylan too.
It’s true. The Tallest man on Earth sounds a bit like old Bawb, but he still has his own distinctive voice. And then again, when did Bob release anything worthwile for the last time? (woohoo, let the pro-old-bob front prepare to bash me!). TMOE is a bit more lo-fi, there is a bit of noise on the back, but apart from that, the songs are amazingly good. This is roadsong music. Something you listen while you drive home from a good evening with persons you love, or a bad evening in which you just had a fight. As long as it’s night and you’re behind your steering wheel basically.
Sounds like: a combination of Sunset Rubdown, Handsome Furs and other great canadian indie. Heck, it is a combination!
Okay, maybe this record in the overal greatness of great albums isn’t really worth the number 5 spot, but i’m a sucker for this sort of indie music. Every Spencer Krug project let’s say. So, eerie voices, heavy indie rock and baloney music. Damn, this is good.
Sounds Like: my favourite female singer-songwriter from Sweden makes another heart-breaking record.
I’m really fond of Ane Brun. And as long as public radio doesn’t play her, i’ll keep on loving her (just joking, i don’t care about radio, cause i don’t listen to it). So, the best voice around, or one of the best and a really good talent of writing songs that hti you like a rock during national rock throwing day. You want to be hit, cause that’s the whole point. No mp3 (big label, scary!) , but a youtube link.
sounds like: Old irish folk in a brand new 21st Century jacket.
I think this album is the one i’ve played most during the entire year, just because there doesn’t seem to be a mood not fit to listen to this. Flynn just uses an old formula, but succeeds in surprising me with it. It’s strange: i’m known as a singer-songwriter fanatic, and i’ve heard quite the lot of them, but it keeps on mesmerizing me how people can come up with new snogs that bedazzle me. that’s a lot of difficult words in one piece. Just listen will you? (By the way, also listen to his girlfriend Laura Marling. the UK Folk scene is alive and kicking)
Sounds like: The Shins, the Beatles, the pop, the sixties, the summer, the amazingly amazement singalong.
So, you want an album that you can listen to while barbecuing your veggie burgers? You need something that can serve as a soundtrack for that great summer where you will write a novel about in the future? The Morning Benders debut album is the one you need. They ended high in my promising artists list last year, and they amazingly met the expectations. This is heartwarming summer breeze pop for when you love the shins, but hate their popularity.
I don’t think most people realize how amazingly good this album is. On the level of lyrics, there is nothing better released… it’s funny, witty, street poetry. But also musically it’s soo well organised that it even beats Chinese Government drills. There isn’t a sound out of place,. Those two stuff combined, together with the overal quality of the songs, makes this the album of the year for me.
Thanks for your attention. Maybe there is more stuff coming up tomorrow, otherwise i’ll be gone until at least 3d of January. And then i’ll try to be a regular blogger again.
So, we are getting tired of all this new music, and starting to listen to some old stuff again. But that doesn’t stop me from guiding you through my 50 best records of this year. The sequel, starting with number 40
Sounds Like: Born too late, but okay, we can still sing along with your (anti)folk songs; Benji Cossa
Turner Cody brings really quirky folkpop songs, which sound as if they could be on a 60’s British sunday afternoon radio show. I see those British school children eat a red apple, dad tunes in the radio, a radio voice says: “and now the delicately charming Turner Cody”, and then he starts singing.
O’death is the first band in this list that also was in my list of last year. For I am a hobo in heart and soul, I thoroughly enjoy this hilbilly music, which includes fiddles, banjo’s and probably even blow bottles! now all get up and do the devil’s honky Tonky!
Sounds Like: Well, mr. Micah P. Hinson, it seems you’ve got some competition there.
Micah P. Hinson was a young guy, who used to be in jail, was addicted to some pills. Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is 24 and has been homeless. They should start a band together, or keep on releasing amazing indie-singersongwriter albums like the one by MBAR. This is a genuine amazing album, that you’ll like if you like Hinson’s work. Lots of layers, with a lot of voices, and stuff like that going on. Ah man, forget it. Listen instead of reading this. I’m not here to fool you!
Sounds Like: There is a town where all people died, and then they ressurected.
If some Kazakh freedom fighters would have kidnapped me, and made me listen to some albums without me telling who i was listening to, iI would have said that no one else but Castanets could have made this record. It’s desolate big city folk, apocalyptic in every way. Tech-folk, Country Noir… all these genre descriptions have been used to describe Castanets, but it’s just truly unique. All his albums would be in the lists of their release year.
Sounds Like: too much acid, an acoustic guitar, a fourtrack, and a lot of samples. The Muppet Show of the 21st Century, Man Man
Grampall Jookabox is genuinely weird. It’s deconstructed acid-tripping.. folk? Can you call this folk? or hilbilly Hiphop? Or something else? You take some people in a madhouse, musical ones, give them some instruments and leave them there for 3 weeks without food or water. This is what you’ll get. I like the EP a bit more than the full album, also because i’m all funked up by Bad Wis My Sploder. Best song is for later on though. You can download the entire EP for free.
Sounds like: Sixties summer pop, Neil Young’s bastard Kids
If there is one guy that let me down a bit this year, it’s Nick Thornburn from Islands. The New Islands records sucks and lacked some cool songs. Luckily he made this album, so I’m not entirely mad at him. This is a Collaboration with Jim Guthrie (From Royal City-fame). The result are some nice harmonic songs, which you can sing along during summer camp. (Thornburn also recorded a hiphop-esque album with the alias Reefer, and quite enjoyable too)
Sounds Like: 60’s lo-fi, though less lo-fi than they used to be
Dr. Dog have always been like the cool Beatles to me. The Beatles that stayed in their garage and just made noisy 60’s songs. On their new album they’ve become a bit cleaner, but that doesn’t mean they’re less good. They also released a compilation of old stuff this year, which is great. I’ll add a song of that too. While listening, i think they could be higher on the list. great Band that hasn’t let me down up until now!
33. The Whiskers – The Distorted Historian (Self-released)
Sounds Like: The Cheap version of Wolf Parade (and i mean that literally)
Free albums that are great! hooray! the Whiskers’ lead singer sounds like a moderate version of the voice at Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Handsome Furs or Frog Eyes. A sound which i can’t seem not to enjoy. So, why do I call them cheap? Because they offer their album completely for free on their website, which we greatly appreciate. Fans of everything Canadian and weird voices, try this.
James Yorkston comforts. he’s your big musical teddybear, with warm well orchestrated folk songs, and his calm voice singing over it. It’s not weird, it’s not creepy, it’s not lo-fi, but god, i like this. Findlay brown or Bowerbirds-fans, come and see this.
Sounds like: Mom, can you please turn of that vacuum cleaner, we’re trying to make some popsongs here!
Lo-fi is back! I already talked about Wavves, but there is also Times new viking and eh…other dudes. We’re back to four tracks, noise, a lot of feedback, combined with funky funny sing along teenage sjillamee sjellikers! I missed their free show last year, because i didn’t know them (and didn’t ahve a driver’s license), but if i would have a time machine, i’d so be there! lo-fi pop, for all the happy kids. Buy the cd by the way, cause the booklet looks great
What? 365 songs in a year’s time, with a great mind of honesty
Sounds Like? A mixture of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bob Dylan & other indie-fucking-greatness like Ezra Furman & the Harpoons, Frog Eyes (acoustic version), The Robot Ate Me, Peter and the wolf, ..
Paleo was a man with a plan. On the 16th April 2006 he started with his 365 days project. While touring in the US, he forced himself to record a song EACH day, with at the end of each week a song called Sunday Prayer (which according to his website, he still is recording eveyr week).
The best part? All these songs are available to download for free. You can also order them on a mp3-cd (like I did, really nice card you get with it by the way, and a sampler of some songs). I must admit that i haven’t listened to nearly a 10th of all the songs, just because it’s so much. But every time i hear some songs, i really get all psyched by the high quality.
Before this project, Paleo also released an amazing album called Misery, Missouri which is out of print. If i’d be a record lable, i’d rerelease it immediately, but unfortunately i’m not. I eventually found it on Soulseek or Torrents, and it’s really worth downloading. More produced, with amazingly good songs. The song Ninety Two is of this album. The other links are from his 365 Days project. Can’t Wait to hear another of his studio albums. By the way, he is now member of These United States, an amazing indie folk band. Check Them out! (or wait for my 2008-list? 😉 )
Who? Himalayan Bear
