Some Great Albums You May Have Missed

I've been away for a while, battling egotists and slaying incompetence so I haven't been able to write about music or movies. But there have been some really wonderful albums this year and I'd like to catch you up to date on some you may have missed.

THE TWILIGHT SAD - FOURTEEN AUTUMNS AND FIFTEEN WINTERS

Reigning from Glasgow, this Scottish band's debut is one of my favorite albums this year. They soar above shoegazer white noise with profundity in their lyrics and stunning beauty in their compositions. But don't let the "shoegazer" description scare you. They're entirely accessible and sound a bit like My Bloody Valentine got knocked up by 80s U2, who bailed as soon as he discovered MBV was pregnant, because U2's a deadbeat and went on a serious drug binge in the 90s. Meanwhile MBV raised The Twilight Sad into the sweet, sad, anthemic men they are. And while they enjoy the lushness of atmospheric soundscapes, the main concern for these boys is melody and heartbreak. "That Summer, at Home I Became the Invisible Boy" is the finest track on the album. Over the shimmering guitars and pounding drums, James Graham's fantastically thick accent curls its way around a portrait of a 14 year old boy and even manages to make a line like, "The kids are on fire in the bedroom," quite tender. To put it simply, they rock. They rock really really hard.

If you're in New York, they're playing in Williamsburg on Sept. 30th. If you're in Ann Arbor, they'll be playing The Blind Pig on Oct. 3rd. I highly recommend you check them out.




LCD SOUNDSYSTEM - SOUND OF SILVER
This is where dance meets indie rock. I mean, this is the apex. With sonic allusions to Brian Eno, David Bowie, Talking Heads, Joy Division, The Velvet Underground, new wave, IDM, punk, and pop, James Murphy (who is LCD Soundsystem) doesn't just talk about his immense encyclopedic knowledge of music - like he did on his wonderful "I'm Losing my Edge" - on this album he meshes all of his loves and inspirations into one spectacular album that's just as fun to listen to as it is to dance to.

"North American Scum" music video



FEIST - THE REMINDER
I don't know how you could have missed it but just in case, let this be a reminder: This album is beautiful. Really, sincerely. I've posted videos for "1,2,3,4" and "My Moon, My Man," so I don't feel it necessary to post more for her. That would just be superfluous and people might start to talk. "Senator Murphy's in love with Feist." "I saw them together at that one cool spot down town. You know, the one where all the cool people go." "But Senator Murphy's not cool." "Yeah, but he's a senator." "That's an honorary term. He's not really a senator. That's like a philosophy professor making people call him 'doctor.' He's not a real doctor. He was just too lazy to quit school and get a real job." "Oh."

And if I may, David Letterman is an Indie rock Pimp. You heard that right. David Letterman of Late Night with David Letterman is the stone cold pimp of indie rock. Every big name in the indie scene plays on Letterman. It's basically Conan O'Brien and/or David Letterman. But with a bigger set and (slightly) more money, cool things like this can happen:

Within that amazing chorus behind her, you will find Grizzly Bear, members from The National, both Mates of State, AC Newman from the New Pornographers, members of Broken Social Scene AND MORE! Cheers, Mr. Letterman. You are a rocker among rockers. (That actually sounded rather geriatric.)

PJ HARVEY - THE PEEL SESSIONS 1991-2004

First of all, if you don't know about Polly Jean Harvey, we can't be friends until you do. She was Karen O before Karen O. She was Alanis before Dave Coulier. She was Gwen Stefani before she was Just a Girl. Sleater-Kinney before lesbian experimentation. (To be fair, Kristin Hersh of Throwing Muses was PJ before PJ and we can all bow down to the golden idol of Pat Benetar.) Still, PJ Harvey has been making the most kick ass music for almost 20 years now. The stuff she did in 1991 (hell, in the 1987 demo tapes, even) will rock your fucking socks off today. She held her own with the rawest 90s alt. rockers - I'm talking Nirvana, Sebadoh, Pavement - yeah, that's right - and she's still STILL relevant. 20 years!!!! So please get on the PJ Harvey wagon. And feel free to do it with this album. John Peel was a BBC DJ who cultivated very personal relationships with some of the finest musicians of the last 30 years. He passed a few years ago and this album, a compilation of songs recorded by PJ on Peel's radio broadcasts over this 13 year period, are essentially PJ's thank you and good bye. Every song on this album (Seriously. Every song.) is a stunner. I dare say it's the best complete PJ Harvey album, which is at once understandable - she hand picked the best of the best - and frustrating. I say frustrating, only because every album (with the exception of Rid of Me - her best studio release) usually has between 4 and 7 great songs, while the rest depend on personal taste and can be a bit off putting, or even boring. But this collection is superb from beginning to end. It's raw and beautiful and oh so passionate. In the single page liner notes, PJ writes, "John's opinion mattered to me. More than I would ever care to admit, for fear of embarrassment on both sides. But I sought his approval always. It mattered. Every Peel Session I did, I did FOR HIM." And it shows.




PETER BJORN & JOHN - WRITER'S BLOCK

This actually came out last year and the song "Young Folks" was pretty much the hottest thing since burnt bread. Still, I sincerely love this album and would be remiss not to mention it. The orchestration is stunning, the production is on point, the hooks are catchy, the lyrics are adequately interesting. I actually find something new to like about this album every time I listen to it. It's the finest kind of pop/rock. Rather, it's what pop/rock should aspire to be - if you have to be poppy at all. Personally, I'm up in the air about that.

Listen to their music! It's a place for friends.


YEAH YEAH YEAHS - IS IS

This might actually be my favorite Yeah Yeah Yeahs' album. Swear to God. It rocks as hard as they've ever rocked. And it manages to be just as vulnerable as they've ever been. In fact, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs always seem to be at their best on their EPs. The full length albums just give them too much time to get lost. They lose focus over the course of 12 tracks, some songs start to blend together in your memory, some feel forced or, especially with Show Your Bones, over produced. But in five songs, they rip and tear and scream and fuck and...God! it's thrilling. "Down Boy" is my personal favorite. I posted the video a couple months ago, but you'll find the link below. In fact, I just saw them live for the first time in LA. God, what a performance. It was a week ago and I'm still flush from it. If any of you know Karen O, can you have her give me a call? I'd be happy to show her what rockers to swallow. (For those of you thinking I'm getting lewd here, "Rockers to Swallow" is the opener on the EP. Although, I was being a bit lewd, actually.) These songs were recorded between their two LPs, Fever to Tell and Show Your Bones. It may be the Yeah Yeah Yeahs most accessible album (so says Pitchfork), but I tend to agree. It's everything good about the YYYs and nothing less.

Down Boy Video


And just for good measure:

GRIZZLY BEAR - YELLOW HOUSE

This album was also released last year, but people are still talking about it. So if you want to try to hold your own with a bunch of pretentious hipsters, you better at least know this album. Now I can't give you all the tools you'll need to battle the hipster hordes, but I'm trying, god damnit. I'm trying. This album was recorded in the lead singer/songwriter, Edward Droste's mother's living room. Yes, she lives in a yellow house. The album is packed with some of the most lush, atmospheric orchestration you're likely to hear on any album, pop, rock, indie or otherwise. The harmonies are beautiful and interesting and the songs really embody the album's cover art, as though scoring a walk through an old creaky house with generations of dust dancing in beams of sunlight that fall off into dark corners and deep secrets. The songs on this album can be comforting or frightening and most of it depends on what mood your in. The song "Marla" is actually a waltz written by Droste's aunt some time in the 30's. If that doesn't seem cool to you, then you'll just have to take my word for it: it's very, very cool. Besides, what did your aunt ever do that was so great? Huh? Did she ever write a waltz? Huh? Oh, she did? Oh. Sorry...

(awkward...)

Grizzly Bear draw comparisons to Animal Collective, Sufjan Stevens, Chicago experimentalist and Wilco producer/member Jim O'Rourke, and even, occasionally The Velvet Underground. Everyone should own this album. Who knows, it may actually turn out to be one of the most influential albums of the decade. I mean, literally, everyone is talking about these guys. And now you can, too.

The Knife video