The beginning of a new year presents an opportune time to get back on the blogging bandwagon.
In this entry, I’m going to present the ’stickiest’ albums of this past year. So what do I mean by stickiest?
Well, even though I caved and bought an iPod towards the end of the year, for the majority of 2009 I was using a media player that only held a handful of albums. Since I’m constantly trying to listen to new albums, the average release didn’t stay on it for very long. But a few would find themselves ’stuck’ on the player for much longer than the rotating stock.
As 2009 draws to a close, I still can’t listen to these releases enough.
I’m going to recommend a variety of tracks from these releases, you can find them in this handy playlist. I’ve also linked to some videos where I could find them.
A Day to Remember - Homesick
The Homesick album is what happens when a guitarist from a pop/punk band (Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory, respectively) takes the helm to produce an album by a post-hardcore act. Three albums deep, A Day to Remember have sharpened their approach, but Gilbert helps them refine it down to a sound that is sometimes formulaic but often effective. But that’s not to discount any of the efforts made on the part of this Florida-based five-piece: they’ve always jumped between pop/punk melodies and hardcore breakdowns within a single track, but they’ve never done so with the level of finesse heard on Homesick.
This was a great record to listen to at the gym, though I found myself skipping through a few of the more ballady tunes that round out the disc. Listening to it on long roadtrips seemed to be a better bet.
“The Downfall of us All” (video) and “NJ Legion Ice Tea” were great choices for singles, and these high energy tunes would probably be the best place to get a first impression of A Day to Remember.
Bury Your Dead - It’s Nothing Personal
It’s fitting that this is coming after the recommendation for Homesick, since It’s Nothing Personal has a similar appeal. Both records come from established bands on the Victory Records roster. However, while A Day to Remember approaches the hardcore genre from a pop/punk standpoint, Bury Your Dead prefer to add a bit of metal to the mix (some call this subgenre ‘metalcore’). But regardless of how it’s labelled, both albums simply have a good balance of melody and mayhem, a well-polished take on an aggressive style of music.
It’s Nothing Personal is Bury Your Dead’s fifth record, but continues on with the more melodic sound that started when new vocalist Myke Terry joined the group in 2007. With the stylistic shift in sound, it’s likely not a coincidence that the preceding album was self-titled. While the 2008 record had a bit of singing on it, on It’s Nothing Personal Terry strikes a pretty good balance between ‘clean vocals’ and the screaming/yelling/etc. that is expected from this group.
This is a wonderful record for the gym; it actually served as my go-to release when I would run out of new music to listen to but only find myself halfway through a workout.
The album-opener “Hurting Not Helping” (video) is a fitting place to start on what is a consistently enjoyable release, and the two tracks that follow (”Without You” and “Broken Body”) are also pretty strong.
Fever Ray
This one was almost too obvious, and it received plenty of hype elsewhere, but I can’t resist mentioning Fever Ray’s self-titled debut. This solo project from the Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson is similar enough to her main gig that it shouldn’t alienate any devoted fans, but unique enough to warrant being released under a separate moniker.
This is a dark, almost haunting album; a little mellower than the Knife’s releases but at least as captivating. It’s a wonderful record to lose yourself in while on an evening walk, and for this reason it pretty much lived on my mp3 player for the majority of the year.
Singles “When I Grow Up” (video) and “Triangle Walks” (video) are both great places to start. This is one of the few times I’d recommend checking out the videos as much as the songs themselves. They’re captivating, weird and well-executed; a perfect fit for the music playing throughout.
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
In stark counterpoint to Fever Ray above, this record probably couldn’t be any brighter. But since I’ve talked about this elsewhere, I’ll spare any further explanation.
Rancid - Let the Dominoes Fall
I’ve also talked about this one previously. Along with Phoenix’s latest, these were the two records that made my summer bright despite the cool weather. I still feel the same now as I do then, so why not throw a hyperlink back to that entry?
Jay-Z - The Blueprint 3
The third volume of the a series that started 8 years previous again Mr. Carter bringing together the usual crop of top producers (Timbaland, the Neptunes, Kanye West) special guests (Rihanna, Pharell, Young Jeezy, Kanye again) and some up-and comers (Drake, Kid Cudi, J. Cole).
Most of these collaborations go well, though after hearing Timabaland’s contributions to this record I found myself quite thankful that he didn’t produce the entire album (as was initially reported). Both of Kanye’s turns on the mic entertain, making me hope that he plans on getting back to rapping instead of making this stuff. While on the topic of unfulfilled wishes, it’s unfortunate that a Chris Martin production didn’t find its way onto this album.
But enough about the collaborators; on the Blueprint 3 Jigga himself turns in his best effort since The Black Album (though neither the productions nor Jay-Z’s raps are quite up to that level). “Empire State of Mind” (video) will stand with his best work, though a song about New York with an R&B luminary is about as close to ‘tried and true’ as it gets for Jigga. “What We Talkin’ About” and “Hate” are also recommended, and although “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” (video) had a lukewarm response from critical circles I personally found it refreshing to hear No I.D.’s turn in a beat that sounds a bit left-of-centre from a production standpoint.
This album is far from perfect, but I found myself listening to it constantly this past fall.
Tegan and Sara - Sainthood
Quite frankly, I was shocked at how much I enjoyed (and still enjoy) Sainthood, but it’s probably because it doesn’t sound like any of the other records put out by this Canadian duo. There have always been things I could take away from Tegan and Sara’s records, but they normally left me wanting at the end of the experience. But want no more: on their sixth album, the Sisters Quin have hit on a formula I could really get behind.
This is their second record with Chris Walla behind the boards (likely better known as the guitarist for Death Cab for Cutie), and it sounds like they’ve finally made that transition they were hinting at with the 2007’s The Con, their last album (and the first produced by Walla). The songwriting is just as good, but they’ve stepped up their sonic approach by opting to record this material with more emphasis on a full-band sound. The result is a an indie rock/pop disc with new wave leanings.
“The Cure” could be their biggest mid-tempo rock radio hit yet, but it looks like they’re opted to make the enjoyable (but to my ears, inferior) “Alligator” the next single. The uncharacteristically upbeat lead single “Hell” another good place to start. Really, you’d be hard-pressed to pick a bad moment on the set of songs found here. The three tracks listed here (along with “On Directing”) can be found on their official myspace page.