That's My Dad.

Top 50 Songs of 2012: #6, Spiritualized - Hey Jane

Show them what you can do. 

Spiritualized’s “Sweet Heart Sweet Light” opens with a rousing, long-form rock song “Hey Jane”, nearly spanning nine minutes. The track starts off with embellishments of ’90s classic rock taking off on an innocent, engaging story about a girl named Jane. It’s soon that we discover this innocence is about to be abused and mutilated. The instrumentals and performances collapse upon themselves and the song is left to a tempered bass line, where the band begin to struggle on their way to the finish. A cinematic tension builds with a fire of an underdog with nothing to lose. Jane’s story escalates to unseen territory and explodes beautifully into an exciting conclusion built on precise musicianship and calculations. And to follow up the immaculate single is one of the best visual accompaniments to an alt-rock opus seen in recent years; without question, the year’s best music video.

Top 50 Songs of 2012: #46, Fun. - Some Nights (Intro.)

Have you listened to me lately? I’ve been fucking crazy!

I make absolutely no apologies for hating Fun’s latest album, “Some Nights”. As a major fan of Fun’s debut indie pop masterpiece “Aim and Ignite” along with their past projects such as The Format and Steel Train, any misstep from the group’s roomy comfort zone would have been wholly unnecessary; after all, it’s not like Queen got up and attempted a psychedelic rock or metal record in the ’70s. As forecasted, Fun’s take on hip-hop and radio-friendly pop gutted the band’s high-strung theatrics and staggeringly heartbreaking lyrics into something entirely watered down. On first listen, however, the opening track “Some Nights (Intro.)” plays as a stunning and gleefully eccentric continuation of Fun’s past work; even if it was the best red herring of the year. 

Arcade Fire - Funeral

You better look out for love.

Loss of innocence, isolation and everything else that’d fuel the sorrows of a 20th century writer are the ingredients of Arcade Fire’s 2004 debut indie rock masterpiece, “Funeral”: a tour-de-force emotional sonic trip across suburbia, post-modern psyches, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne’s heads and the tragedy of growing up but, most importantly, an album that captured the spirit of Maurice Sendak like nothing else ever did. (9/10)

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Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

“Clap Your Hands Say Yeah” is one of those rare multi-dimensional sonic gems that speaks deeply of ’00s underground music culture while standing the test of time as of the greatest indie rock releases of all time; worth shelving next Interpol, Arcade Fire, Neutral Milk Hotel and Modest Mouse. (9/10)

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Lower Dens - Nootropics

You don’t have to wait for the groove to settle in, Lower Dens will bring it to you on their triumphant and equally dreamy indie art-rock sophomore LP, “Lower Dens”: one of the most brooding and explorative albums of this year; well worth inviting into your abode to get to know better. (8/10)

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The Joy Formidable - The Big Roar

Aside from a close listen and a speck of enthusiasm, there’s nothing that sets U.K. band The Joy Formidable apart from any Britpop or college rock outfit floating about our airwaves lately. But look closer, there’s more than just sophisticated vocabulary in lyrics and arena-sized choruses. Much like an Arcade Fire or an early Oasis, there’s patience required for their album: The Big Roar. With their elements of post-punk and the undeniably rocking female vocals of Ritzy Bryan, The Joy Formidable are one of those aged wine concepts in music. And once you hit the day, they’ll be the only thing you’ll listen to. (7/10)

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The Shins - Port of Morrow

Five years after their previous release, The Shins finally return to satisfy the famished indie rockers travelling on the Shins-less desert. Their latest album, “Port of Morrow,” heads to higher horizons with bolder directions, previously unseen in the band’s repertoire.

James Mercer. James Mercer. James Mercer. He is the frontman of The Shins and frankly, receives an abundance of attention in comparison to the band itself. Even between the five years from the last album, “Wincing the Night Away,” Mercer kept a busy and ubiquitous presence without falling to shreds. With successful projects like Broken Bells between then and now, Mercer bringing back The Shins brought more attention than what their next album would actually sound like. With all this behind “Port of Morrow,” the album’s almost utilized as a solo album for Mercer, given the attention he receives on the record, and that’s not a bad thing. The Shins haven’t lost a drop of their honey as “Port of Morrow” may very well be their most earnest, nostalgic and ambitious release to date.

Opening with tracks “The Rifle’s Spiral” and “Simple Song”, there is an undeniable artistic pride coming from these guys letting us know loud and clear: they’re back. Both songs take their beloved pop elements from “Wincing the Night Away” and amplify it on an Arcade Fire anthemic scale, all while delivering a resonating youthfulness. “Port of Morrow” then lets the remaining eight tracks switch gears back and forth between emotionally and sonically reminiscencing of a yesteryear. A yesteryear filled with bittersweet tragedies which fuel the heart with a sadness too intimate to detach from. A yesteryear featuring ‘80s rock and pop tunes constantly playing on FM radio, based on classical melodies floating about the air from cruising California convertibles on a baby blue evening sky. These elements build the unique style and atmosphere Port of Morrow shows with pride. “No Way Down” and “Fall of ‘82” are so drenched in ‘80s rock nostalgia, it’s unprecedented. “For a Fool” and “September” hold an uncanny resemblance with Wilco’s experimental acoustic pieces, circa 1998. Sprinkle some simpler takes of experimental rock elements from past albums (“Oh, Inverted World”) on all these ideas and somewhere along the line, you’ll land on the gold mine Mercer builds his work on: a cavern of pleasantries and nirvana.

What The Shins feel, they release, and they do so with intricate emotional delivery and boastful confidence. It’s this notion that makes “Morrow” so successful: how effortlessly genuine and unpretentious everything feels. Let yourself fall down the rabbit hole, Port of Morrow is one of the year’s best joyful, cathartic trips.

This album was my dad. (8/10)

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The Maccabees’ Given to the Wild -

It’s disappointing to see a seasoned band like The Maccabees still unable to sound groundbreaking, resonating or particularly memorable. Nevertheless, their 3rd album, Given to the Wild, proves to be their most realized and fleshed out release to date. There is no doubt Given to the Wild is their masterpiece and has the chops to become what The Suburbs were for Arcade Fire. Gorgeously detailed with shimmering guitars that’d please Explosions in the Sky, arena-sized jams better than Coldplay’s X&Y, mature vocals not unlike Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and lush sounds drenched with atmosphere that, as mentioned, par up to Arcade Fire. I can bet you this release will go seriously under the radar, but Given to the Wild is a highly recommendable straight-up indie rock LP, no holds barred. (9/10)

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Post-Punk meets Arcade Fire. Who are The Horrors? Correct for 400. 

There are lots of obsessive bands who go out their way to maximize their sound through artificial effect, a delicate factor that isn’t always treated with care as it should be.

The Horrors are renowned group known to go at it with their sound like it’s nobody’s business; constantly delivering bizarre packages and experiences through each release that feel like they peak their aim. They remind me a great deal of Arcade Fire, a group who approach each album similarly with a new sound and a refined perspective. There’s a serious amount of evolution found through each album with both artists. Respectively, The Horrors’ Skying feels like what The Suburbs meant to Arcade Fire; a dense, atmospheric work of maturity. 

Given from their previous album Primary Colours, The Horrors have made their mark as highly talented artists. To segway from their previous approaches to their sound, these guys are now aiming for bigger results and more space to allow their music to live in. There’s a very controlled yet intense atmosphere present that simulates the intensity of taking off in a rocket. The overall effect from this sound comes off as thick and slightly psychedelic; a real change for The Horrors. Plenty of songs feel dizzy with the after-effects of the rush from a roller coaster and are delivered likewise. Skying is a very enjoyable piece of music that gives its genre a sincere effort worth applauding. 

Why am I not feeling anything though? I’ve explored the sound and appreciated the efforts greatly. What’s wrong?

Through all of The Horrors’ changes on this album, in particular, much of their inventive nature as artists isn’t present. I’m listening to these songs, I truly appreciate the sonic quality, but I can’t feel or emote much. The worst thing is that their efforts are searching for something to please within you, but can’t seem to find anything and is left in a daze. Plenty of songs lack a dense purpose or value, yet the sound on a whole eludes to a greater meaning.  

All style and no substance? Feels more like dense style and confused substance. 

The changes The Horrors made feel like they should work on their own; yet the care required for bigger ambitions was neglected and the effect ceased to exist. 

This album was my grandpa. 

(Album courtesy of XL Recordings)

I’m eating candy.

I’m eating pure sugar.

I’m eating ice cream. 

I’m listening to Gloss Drop. 

Battles is an experimental rock band part of a heavily emerging sub-genre called “math rock”, known for playing around with the basic traditions of music theory and compositions to the point where everything sounds crazier and slicker than anything conventional rock could even touch. Battles changes everything from time signatures to song structures that function as intricately as an unsolvable neon Rubik’s cube. Combined with rhythm placements between instruments that layer each other like an overly large ice cream sundae where each different flavor tastes strikingly bold yet, the compound of things going on could be meshed together for a collective new flavor of absolute resonance. These guys really know the insides and outs of music, they’ve felt up what the human senses are sensitive to, placed dynamite on it and let the explosion ring on this album. 

Gloss Drop is a wholesome and everlasting serving of pure bliss. There is no room to spare with these songs, its just constant and pure energy; like holding your breath throughout the album’s duration and running through Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Listening to this entire album just makes me feel like I should be eating what’s on the cover.

Now, with plenty of avant-garde artists making their own definitive mark and continually evolving music in the current independent industry, what’s so different about Battles? 

At the heart of Gloss Drop, there is an element of deviousness at work. Most experimental artists tweak and add a new gloss or perception or effect to the conventions of primary music theory. So Battles goes to the heart of things and puts basic music theory on an ultimate sugar rush. Once that Energizer bunny’s hopping, all they can do is take the magic it emits and blast it on full. The instruments are hyper, but not in the sense of shorter and faster notes or artificially coated effects; Battles feels organic and beyond our developed taste palettes. 

If math rock is abstract art, Battles is Picasso.

This album is my dad.

If you were in an empty room with a camera, could you take a masterful picture? If you were in an empty room with a saxophone, a set of microphones and a single take, could you make a masterful album?

The genre of jazz is a kind man. A man that offers you stories that keeps your body inside the atmosphere of a smoky club and your soul outside to see the stars; he offers to show you the beauties of the world and often, he isn’t even talking.

Colin Stetson is not that man. He is the jazz that seeps inside your veins and kills you. His single instrument will tie up your senses into knots inside yourself and leave you to implode. There is an intrigue to be taken from his album New History Warfare, Vol. 2; an atmosphere created too disturbing to understand.

As a multi-reedist, Stetson recorded this entire album live in single takes without usage of modern sound editing to produce effects, instead using over 20 microphones in a single room to produce gigantic sounds that could swallow you whole. The tracks feel incredibly spiritually-driven and contribute many new concepts for the avant-garde. New History Warfare, Vol. 2 is a limit-breaking work that pulls more daunting stunts than many could try for.

In its magnitude of technical achievements, this album sets an example for its own genre. The album functions on a continuous stride that occasionally is interjected by spoken word artist Laurie Anderson, its an effect that fleshes out this album as a whole more than just individual parts. Doing so strengthens Stetson’s work and dramatizes the highs and lows of the life his instruments carry. The highest point on the album is when My Brightest Diamond’s singer Shara Worden comes in on the song Lord I Just Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes; a song so powerful that it gives the emotional impact of a phantom looting your happiness away in your sleep. If jazz were being murdered by its biggest fan, this is what it would sound like. 

This album is my dad.