15-11

11. Califone-Roots and Crowns

I really ought to be angry at Califone. It isn’t fair. They could shit out an album (which they have, with their improvisational noisescape-y Deceleration series) and I would love it. They have the perfect formula for a Michael Roberts late-summer album: heavily affected acoustic guitar, lilting alt-country melodies, heavy distortion that somehow sounds organic and acoustic, and Tim Rutti‘s enchanting, muttered vocals. Quicksand/Cradlesnakes was a monster of an album, and the Heron King Blues EP still finds its way into my car CD player all the time (it’s there now, in fact). But Roots and Crowns is by no means the group taking a break; in fact, it sounds like Califone’s most concentrated, dedicated effort yet. The songs are much more tight, and the album flow sounds more like a thought-out progression than in previous (possibly more organic) releases. This album hops Americana-genres like previous releases, but to a greater extent: just listen to the bongos of the country funk in “Pink and Sour” or the chugging guitars in “A Chinese Actor.” Today I was in Bloomington for lunch after picking up the new issues of a MWR, and found myself in TD’s record store; I saw a vinyl copy of Roots and Crowns and had to buy it. Califone is one of those bands you want on vinyl for summer nights drinking whiskey, and this is maybe their best album yet. Listen to “The Orchids”

12. Espers-II

I won’t say too much about Espers, because Jordan is much more knowledgeable and passionate than I am, and he will talk about this later. Anyway, I didn’t get into this album, nay this band, until this fall. I immediately fell in love with the whole catalog, though, particularly this album. Just listen to “Widow’s Weed” at night and try not to feel a rush of emotion that you can’t identify. This album is filled with haunting-spine tingling psychedelic anthems that are much darker than the melancholy of Sparklehorse. That’s all I have to say; listen for yourselves.

13. Sparklehorse-Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain

I was in love with Sparklehorse late in high school, but I didn’t really understand just what I was in love with. I didn’t pick up on the subtle psychedelia , or at least I didn’t put the group in the same basket as the Flaming Lips or Mercury Rev. Now I can see that they are, and after such a long break (6 years!), they return as full, sad, and beautifully psychedelic as ever. I already wrote a review for the paper trying to get everyone to buy it, so I don’t feel like trying again; I am just worried that because of the band’s “older” status that they won’t get enough attention as they should. Just listen to opener “Don’t Take My Sunshine Away.” It sounds like I wish The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize” should have; the bittersweet love/death is much more subtle, moving, and profound in this one. This album was just what I needed, a soothing and melancholy assortment of psychedelic gems to take me through the fall.

14. Mogwai-Mr. Beast

So Mogwai is one of my favorite contemporary bands. I love them; they put the energy of rock and roll into one of my favorite sub-genres, post-rock. And when I heard that this album was going to come out, and that it was getting good reviews, I almost wet myself. The I heard that all of the songs were pretty short, not expansive like on previous outings. That got me worried; that was part of what I loved about Mogwai. After hearing the album, though, my fears were assuaged; the songs are not epic, but they are beautiful and compact, forming the most accessible Mogwai album yet, while not giving up artistic vision. Some hardcore fans might call this a bit of a sell-out record, but I am a hardcore fan, and I do not. I saw Mogwai in Berlin in April, and it was the best concert I have ever seen in my life. If anyone knows me, they know how hyper-sensitive I am about my use of the superlative; the concert was amazing. By far the loudest show I have ever seen, the group had a strobe light show behind them, and the beautiful noise combined with the lights induced some kind of transcendent euphoria/trance/mania that I would pay lots of money to experience again. And through all of the ruckus that probably aged my ears years, I could still hear the delicate xylophone melody that drove a song, showing the true colors of the group: monstrosity + beauty = Mogwai. Listen to Folk Death 95

15. Mylo-Destroy Rock and Roll

So last year had that epic disappointment of an album, Daft Punk’s all-too-aptly-titled Human After All; fortunately, Vitalic released a more contemporary, more aggressive version of French House to replace it. This year, British genius-remixer Mylo has gone in the opposite direction for my album-long House fix. These songs are distilled melody and catchiness, taking the most accessible moments of Homework and running with them. In fact, parts of Destroy Rock and Roll sound so much like late-1990s accessible techno (think Fatboy Slim’s Better Living through Chemistry too), that I had to develop a theory for it. Everyone knows the party line of Homework; it shows a modern techno nostalgia for late 70s synth garage and dance music (early early techno, not disco, mind you). Well, I think that Destroy Rock and Roll does the same, but one step removed; Mylo shows nostalgia for Daft Punk’s nostalgia. How else could songs like “Drop the Pressure” sound, nay feel so much like contemporary versions of “Da Funk”? In general, though, what a fun album. It might be too catchy to stick with people to the year-end lists, and it certainly isn’t as progressive as Vitalic’s album last year, but as you can tell, I’m a sucker for pop and fun.