My favorite albums of the first half of 2009 (#10 - #8)

This is way overdue, but here goes: My favorite ten albums from the first half of 2009! (January 1st to June 30th) I originally compiled my top ten list in July, and drafted this entry for Esoteric Mumblings, but I never got the time to finish and post it. It's still 4 months until I can post my "albums of the year" top list, though, so I guess it's still not too late to finally post this? I'll start at the bottom and post three albums for now:

10. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and their entire debut album, sounds like it isn't from the turn of the first decade-change in the new millennium, but rather like something from the late 80s - early 90s decade turn. It's pleasant, sweet music that it's hard not to fall for for, and you can read more about them in tbomb's post.

9. Röyksopp - Junior
Download: Röyksopp - Miss it So Much
With Junior, Norwegian electronica duo Röyksopp continue where they left off on their last (and second) LP, The Understanding (2005): vocal-intensive, radio and dancefloor friendly electronica-pop. Anyone dreaming of a return to the modest, café friendly chill-out style of their 2002 debut album and definite masterpiece Melody A.M. will be disappointed, but everyone else will be thrilled to hear another bouquet of innovative pop songs made by these very skilled song writers and producers. While the first track, "Happy Up Here", sounds a bit too much like a radio hit label executives ordered Röyksopp to write (with the plead "make another 'Eple', please!"), the rest of the album is quite innovative and full of gems, my personal favorites being "You Don't Have a Clue" and "Miss It So Much". The latter features vocals by Swedish Lykke Li, an artist I personally think made one of 2008's very best debut albums. Lykke Li on Röyksopp's Junior for the first time voluntarily adds her vocals to electronica music, after having had her debut album remixed by about every bloghouse/electro DJ in the world last year (including the excellent Fred Falke remix, one of my definitive favorite dance tracks of 2008). Good to see she realized herself how well her voice works for dance music - I hope she'll collaborate with Röyksopp again in the future!

8. Eels - Hombre Lobo (12 songs of desire)
Download: Eels - That Look You Give That Way
After his "epic" two-disc LP Blinking Lights and Other Revelations (2005), Mark Oliver "E" Everett wrote a autobiography and was involved in making a documentary film about his late father Hugh Everett, the hugely influential quantum physicist. Now, after four years, he's finally back in the world of rock, making music! Possibly as a reaction to "heaviness" of his two-disc emotionally loaded epic and the highly esoteric world of quantum physics, Hombre Lobo is a very straightforward rock and roll album. No heart-crushing piano numbers, so spilling out of his guts or his lifestory, just small down-to-earth songs about every day life, and about feeling alone and wanting a girlfriend. And about desire. E howls like a wolf, screams for "fresh blood" and tries to "rock out" in his desire-filled werewolf alter ego, but once again the geek icon is the best when he instead shows his introverted, shy side: the beautiful "That Look You Give That Guy" is in my opinion the album's best (it's also the quietest, by far). A cute little song about watching your secret love from a distance, as she's walking happy with her boyfriend, wishing you could "be that guy instead of me".

Goblin Cock

Goblin Cock is headed by Rob Crowe, of Pinback fame. Bagged and Boarded was their debut, and it's toned down metal with an old-school feel that's reminiscent of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and the like. If the band's pun of a name doesn't grab you, hopefully the music will.

From Bagged and Boarded (2005)

Stumped

Cymbals Eat Guitars

from Why There Are Mountains (2009)
Wind Phoenix (Proper Name)
Living North

Crystal Castles

Crystal Castles - Courtship Date

Obsessive is the only word that can describe my listening habits of late. Crystal Castles is not the sort of band one can forget about after turning off their music. It lodges itself inside of your mind with an agreeable sort of tenacity.

Hailing from Toronto, Canada, this duo (Ethan Kath and Alice Glass) combines digital effects passages, dripping with synthesized drumbeats, with Glass' distorted vocals. Hot stuff.

Crystal Castles on Myspace

IWRESTLEDABEARONCE

Ulrich Firelord: Breaker of Mountains

That's I Wrestled A Bear Once. The songs on their debut E.P. is absolutely unclassifiable. Indeed, one of their web banners says it all: "Fuck genres." Going from from absolute chaos grind metal, to smooth progressive jazz sections, to danceable synth-driven electronica, IWRESTLEDABEARONCE possesses one of the most schizophrenic sounds I believe I have ever heard. Their lead vocalist is a woman, which is also something unique in the metal world.

This band is not for the faint of heart. But if you have an open mind and a willingness to hear a band so unique you'll never, ever, ever hear anything like them, then they come highly recommended. Their E.P. very quickly entered into a more-than-regular rotation on my iPod and a very special place in my heart <3333.

IWRESTLEDABEARONCE on Myspace

A Triumph for Man (1997)

Being a new writer on this blog, I thought I could start out by writing about one of my all-time favorite albums.

Mew - Coffee Break

Mew - Panda

Mew - Web

Above, you can find my three favorite tracks from Danish indie rock / dream pop band Mew's 1997 debut album, A Triumph for Man. Today, Mew are arguably the most famous for the pompous and bombastic prog-rock influenced soundscape of their fourth studio album, And the Glass Handed Kites (which was also their definite international breakthrough). It is hard to imagine that this "indie stadium band" (jokingly dubbed so by guitarist Bo), who after their latest release opened for REM on their Europe tour, and Bloc Party on their US tour, started out with the mellow-sounding and introverted A Triumph For Man - a record release that saw no more than a mere 2000 CDs produced.

In this early album, the influences that shaped Mew to the band they are today, are much more easily recognizable. It is quite evident that the four Danes grew up listening to the likes of My Bloody Valentine and Swirlies. The distorted walls of guitars and the high-pitched vocals of these shoegaze bands were combined with smart pop songwriting to create the easily accessible, but still deep little masterpiece A Triumph for Man. The strutting confidence of the guitars combined with shy, eccentric frontman Jonas Bjerre's soft and modest voice and melancholic lyrics make for a true beauty of an album, by many Danish music journalists considered one of the 90s best records.

The influence from Swirlies is at times painfully obvious, but the similarity was by all means blessed from Swirlies themselves. Damon Tujian, guitarist and vocalist of the Boston shoegazer band, personally crossed the atlantic and endured many long and cold Danish winter weeks to co-produce this debut album of the four 20-year old boys. I personally prefer this classic to Mew's newest effort, and warmly recommend this best example of what Scandiavian rock music has to offer.

What happened to them? caP'n Jazz

Oh Messy Life

This band has more passion behind it than any other band I've ever listened to. This album is raw, unpolished, young, experimental, but still catchy and impacting. The band's comprised of Tim Kinsella (vocals/Joan of Arc, Owls), Samuel Burick (bass), Mike Kinsella (drums/Joan of Arc, American Football), Victor Villareal (guitar), and Davey von Bohlen (guitar, vocals/Promise Ring). They only released one full-length album, Schmap'n Schmazz (as it's often called), and the band broke up almost immediately after its release. What we're left with is ANALPHABETOLOGY, the anthology of Schmap'n Schmazz and some other live stuff along with other little tracks they released.

This band formed in the end of the first emo wave (Fugazi, Rites of Spring, Nation of Ulysses, etc) in 1989, released Schmap'n Schmazz in 1994, when Sunny Day Real Estate released Diary. What we're left with now is the legacy they left behind in the form of bands like Jimmy Eat World, The Get Up Kids, Dashboard Confessional, and boys dressing like girls and a lot of dark clothing, ugly hair and bad makeup. Even though the bands that spawned in the wake of Cap'n Jazz may be bad, their good features are undeniable. They are amazingly creative and confrontational, yelling, emoting, and gushing lyrics violently and often to where you can barely understand them. This album is loud, introspective and full of the passion and feeling we all feel when growing up.

If you like any modern alternative band you should give this song a listen and you can see the subsequent influence on modern bands. Give it a listen.