1. The Meadowlands, The Wrens, Absolutely Kosher
New Jersey based indie rockers return from seven years of silence with a masterpiece proving that the guitar is alive and kicking. Complex melodies ranging from quiet, intricate beauty to sublime hurricanes of overdriven six-string glory flow together into a single, cohesive opus of the slow decay of suburban nine to five life. This album carries a passion and intensity unequaled by any other this year, resulting in the kind of record that restores even the most jaded listener’s faith in music.
2. You Forgot it in People, Broken Social Scene, Arts and Crafts
Broken Social Scene’s brilliant sophomore effort, You Forgot it in People, is a testament to the vision and musical dexterity of the post-rock movement when aimed at the realm of pop music. The ten-member Toronto collective has created some of the most complex, compelling, and original music around. Terrific production lends a deep sense of atmosphere to the heavily layered, perfectly executed 13 songs on the album, especially the four instrumentals.
3. Chutes Too Narrow, The Shins, Subpop
Indie pop quartet strips down their endearing atmospheric pop and lets their strong songwriting stand on its own. Full of inescapable guitar hooks and lyrical melodies that demand singing along, this band’s sophomore release veers away from the great expectations their debut created and reworks their sound in a new, more traditional direction. The secret is that the melodic core hasn’t changed; it’s become more exposed, bringing every subtle intricacy of James Mercer’s genius songwriting into focus..
4. Hail to the Thief, Radiohead, Capitol
Hail to the Thief is Radiohead’s triumphant solution to a problem that has persisted since the Kid A and Amnesiac sessions—namely, how to reconcile Thom Yorke’s impulses for artistic legitimacy with many of his bandmates’ and fans’ desire to rock out. While laced with intricate and challenging elctronic flourishes, Hail to the Thief remains at heart a gorgeous rock album.
5. Transatlanticism, Death Cab for Cutie, Barsuk Records
Washingtion State’s most beloved indie pop group has dropped an album that quietly surpasses their previous work with the same subdued, beautifully melodic songwriting that has won them a devoted fan base. There’s swirling guitars, simple but meaningful lyrics, thoughtful piano touches, and some pleasing electronic knob-twiddling weaving a background for it all. The band’s work still revolves around frontman Ben Gibbard’s intimate, thoughtful melodies, and they have settled gently into their trademark sound while remaining fresh and original.
6. Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, OutKast, Arista
Hip-hop pioneers Big Boi and Andre 3000 of OutKast set musical precedent this year by going solo and staying together simultaneously; each released an individual album, Speakerboxxx and The Love Below, respectively, and sold them together as a collective double album. OutKast’s music has always been a unique blend of Big Boi’s high-minded gangsta lean and Andre’s outer space neo-soul-punk funk. The album also produced two of the year’s best singles, Big Boi’s horn-blasting “The Way You Move” and Andre’s boundary shattering, rap-meets-’60s power pop “Hey Ya.” To divide and conquer was risky, but reasonable, and it worked.
7. Rounds, Four Tet, Domino
For an artist destined to be labeled “electronic,” Kieran Hebden (the one and only component of Four Tet) makes lushly organic music. His music sounds like a kaleidoscope looks. Beats, chirps, and strings build slowly, dancing tentatively with each other before they suddenly coalesce into something completely different. But unlike his colleagues who are content just to shower their listeners with weird noises, Hebden knows a great hook. Rounds will lodge itself in your cerebral cortex with alarming speed.
8. Hearts of Oak, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Lookout!
It’s rambunctious and rousing; no, it’s not an Irish drinking song, it’s Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. Though Hearts of Oak brims with obscure historical and literary references, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists escape being pretentious, creating something enduring instead. The Pharmacist’s infectious chords and hooks bolster Leo’s lyrical stylings, culminating in something polished. In an interview with Epitonic, Leo said, “I consider myself a perpetual English major, but I also get into bar fights.” This sentiment is reflected in “The Ballad of Sin Eater,” which follows an American around the world, from Leeds to Novi Sad, dealing with the perils and guilt of being American today, without being overtly political.
9. Who Will Cut Our Hair When We’re Gone?, The Unicorns, Alien8
Canadian duo (now trio) The Unicorns glued their tongues to their cheeks, threw pop formulas in the blender, and created one of the most creative albums of the year. Without employing verse/ chorus/ verse structure, the Unicorns manage to make great music about death, parasites, ghosts, and cancerous abcesses. Hooks abound-there are enough one-liners to keep you listening over and over again, and the music is unbelievably catchy. Check them out at the Black Cat on Feb 1.
10. Beneath the Medicine Tree, Copeland, Militia
Finally, something exported from Florida has re-established a general sense of faith in the state that cheated the nation of a Democratic president in 2000. Who would have thought it would have been the best new emo band on the music scene. The little quintet that could, a foursome that looks like your fourth-grade neighbors, crank out soaring vocals from Aaron Marsh overlaid on a soundscape of strident chords resolving to beautiful harmony. With lyrics such as “I need you … like the orphan needs someone to care” on the track “Priceless,” Copeland stands ready to assume their role as new emo kings, even if they have to do it on little known Militia Group Records.
11. Pig Lib, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Matador
Ex-Pavement chief Stephen Malkmus releases his second solo CD with new back-up band The Jicks. “Vanessa From Queens” is a profession of love to a NYC prostitute and “Us” is an up-tempo ballad about settling down, both of which are the perfected indie-pop The Shins wish they could muster. But the highlight is the 9-minute opus “1% of One,” where the slow-verse harmonies give way to a ripping guitar solo that moves into improvisatory exploration not all that far from the Grateful Dead.
