An Awesome Wave, which won the Mercury Prize, may well be our favorite album of the year. This spot could have just as easily been held by "Breezeblocks", "Something Good" or "Matilda", with "Dissolve Me" and "Intro" not far behind. We'll give the nod to "Fitzpleasure" because it was the first track we heard, but we implore you not to research the lyrics, which are Last Exit to Brooklyn-inspired and seriously messed up.
"And then you don't even have that memory"
The new Pinback album, their first since 2007, is like welcoming back an old friend, one that hasn't changed at all in the intervening years. Which makes for an easy reminder how you became friends in the first place.
"Everyone must be wondering why we try / why do we try?"
Pretty standard stuff on paper, elevated by a perfect execution of production, melody and vocals.
"Oh but I know love / as a fading thing / just as fickle as a feather in a stream"
The only song in the top 20 added after mid-October, this is the pre-release single off of Phosphorescent's upcoming album and is unlike anything we have heard from him before. With a hat tip to Johnny Cash.
"I know that is always something / I'm just working with what I've been given / It's not my fault I'm happy"
Two albums in, Passion Pit has now made the list twice despite not really being a personal favorite. This track, however, is fantastic and plays like a mix between Jonsi and MGMT.
"Underneath this hood you kiss / I tick like a bomb"
Also two albums in, it is now pretty obvious that Mike Hadreas needs a hug. But don't give it to him! It's hard to know what direction his moody, piano-driven music would take if he wasn't so troubled.
"It doesn't come natural"
Another candidate for top album of 2012 as well on the short list for favorite current artist/band. Other excellent tracks include "Achimedes Plutonium", "Helium", "Proof" and "Fingerhold", the last of which has a Primer-esque video that was both our favorite video of the year and the only one we watched. While Menomena misses Brent Knopf, the rest of us benefit from more of his time spent both recording as Ramona Falls and producing bands like Lost Lander (see below).
"Hurry up / put me out"
"Cold Feet", the advance single to Drrt snuck in at #79 last year. The full album, which has producer Brent Knopf's fingerprints all over the damned thing, delivered on that promise and then some.
"Foretell worse things than such frightful nights as these"
Perhaps the poppiest, most immediate track Darnielle has ever recorded, the titular brothers are a reference the heads of the Colombian cartel in Scarface (that never appear on screen). Unfortunately, if we were to update our ranking of Mountain Goats albums for Transcendental Youth, it would be somewhere in the middle of the back half.
"And I have faith in your darling / even when I question our chances"
Wins this year's Vetiver award for the perfect lazy summer day barbecue song.
"but I know you disagree / because you know that you're pretty when you lie"
Spencer Krug hooks up with some Finns (take that otherwise musically dominant Swedes) for his newest album under the Moonface moniker. This makes 10 top ten appearance for Krug in 8 years (as a member of Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown, Swan Lake and Moonface).
"We threw it in the fire / it's better than it not be made"
Math Rock meets Surf Rock and it works.
"The music you played so hard ain't on your radio"
Great song that builds and builds, but we want to the talk about the album art. What the hell is going on here? And is that the point? Get out our head Spiritualized! This intereview about it sure didn't help, as his quotes read like they were translated through 5 languages before returning to English.
"And I'm ashamed that I don't have a heart you can break"
Yeah ... so... we didn't really think through the visual component of this ranking. Nothing bolsters credibility like Young Adult film adaptations.
"The wine tasted like sunshine in the basement"
A seven minute song where the final four minutes, while lovely, are completely unnecessary. And yet, those first three minutes...
"What if I don't get my chance to hug the flame / or even know the spark"
"Victorinian" is the second of a pair of piano-driven tracks that bookend Major and represent a departure from their usual musical aesthetic of "everyone is high fiving everyone" (best exemplified on Major by "Sisterly"). While we were fascinated by this song from day one, it took a while to determine if it was one of the best songs of the year or one of the more ambitious failures. You have your answer.
"And when I'm finally old enough / to learn to play the game / oh, the dinosaurs will roam the earth / and resume their bloody reign"
The highlight from a highly underrated album of simple but winning folk tunes.
"All the way back home / to my town"
There is no single highlight in this song as it tumbles from one great element to the next: from the salsa piano loop, to Chan Marshall's seductive voice, to the rapid fire global name-checking, to "bitching ... complaining", to the funky and goofy guitar over the chorus. And then an encore of it all.
"She turns to you to say / always"
Completely at odds musically with the rest of the pensive and low key album, "Hallways" shuffles right out of gate and hits it doo-wop fueled-climax just past the two minute mark. Music at its most joyous.
"He's wasting time / you gotta take it slow / may never get a chance like this / and she knows he's wasting time / and she loves the way he tries / even though she knows the lines / She's taking time / you gotta let things grow / may never get a chance like this / and he knows she takes her time / and he keeps along her side / all hopes to keep along her side"
And after crushing it with 97 of the first 99 songs, Grooveshark craps the bed at the end. Instead stream via YouTube below:
