10. Tame Impala - Lonerism
For as bizarre as their band name is (it's basically one guy), these guys actually sound like my conception of a tame impala. They've been compared to the Beatles, which is way too grandiose, but they're all soothing melodies and simple lyrics. They're helped by the fact that I can't get "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" out of my head.
9. Grimes - Visions
This chick is f***ing bonkers. But then the album is this hazy, sometimes scary, sometimes sweet electronic landscape. In a lot of ways, very reminiscent of M83 which made my list last year. Most of the vocals are indistinct at best layered over a beat and a synth. Love it. Genesis gets all the press, but lots of great tracks on this album.
8. Asaf Avidan - Different Pulses
Technically the debut album from this Oakland rapper. I've loved this kid since his first few tracks hit 2 years back. This is actually nowhere near as good as his EP ("Section.80 Mixtape"), but he's got a style, a speed, a flow, a combination of rhymes that has been lacking in the hip hop world for a number of years. He tries a little too hard to be like that other Oak-town rapper (the D-R-E) at times. He's best when he puts the braggadocio away and raps about the problems with growing up in a mad city. Swimming Pools is the choice here.
6. Team Me - To the Treetops!
A bit of an upset this year with no Swedes on the list (though First Aid Kit came very close). We do, however, have Team Me from Norway on the list who, of course, remind me very much of Swedish act The Shout Out Louds (who showed up on this list a few years back). It's pop music the way it's supposed to be. Just because it's pop doesn't mean it can't be a little complicated so long as the essence of pop: melody, melody, melody is there. You want melody, take a listen to Show Me.
5. Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal
Again, no Swedes, but here we have a group of Icelanders. Very good album here, but these guys are fantastic live. Only first discovered them at the Outside Lands festival where they were one of the top acts (still nowhere close to Metallica as the top act there). Somehow or another, they really remind me of Edward Sharpe. I think it's the collective "hey!" that they're so fond of. They use their size well (there seems to be like 15 people in the band), filling songs with instrumentation and multiple voices. Great driving music. Everyone knows Little Talks, but it's solid front to back.
4. The Man with the Iron Fists - Soundtrack
A really pretty bad movie, but a great soundtrack. RZA's fondness for martial arts works better in music than it does in film. That being said, this does have RZA embracing everything that made the Wu-Tang so good. Kung fu imagery and attitude and his gruff delivery. Lots of help on the soundtrack from the likes of the Black Keys and a stunning song by Corinne Bailey Rae.
3. The Walkmen - Heaven
Another year, another Walkmen album on my end of year list. It is probably their strongest effort since You & Me (one of the best albums ever, by the way) but feels a little bit high here. But, look, I love the Walkmen's sound so much that they're almost always going to be on this list. There's less screaming from Hamilton Leithauser, which might make this album a little bit more accessible than some of their other stuff. But they've still got all the jangly guitars, heavy drums, and rock organ. Hamilton's still skeptical about love, though, penning a song titled "Love is Luck" with the line "After the fun, after all the bubblegum, there is no sweetness left on my tongue". Yeah. Some favorites include Heartbreaker and Love is Luck.
2. Gin Wigmore - Gravel & Wine
Discovered on an Air New Zealand flight of all things, I absolutely love everything about this Kiwi. Her voice is far from perfect, but she's got the attitude and chops to pull it off. I do have that great feeling that I might have discovered an act before she actually takes off. As it is, she showed up in a Heineken pre-Skyfall commercial in theatres here singing "A Man Like That". So there might be a jump to the US market in the works here. I'm hoping I'll catch her still playing some tiny club. There are so many good songs on this album leading off with Black Sheep ("Paint me in a corner and my color comes back") to Devil in Me (a roots rock putdown of an ex) to A Man Like That (a punk meets Billie Holliday putdown of an ex).
1. The xx - Coexist
Bit of a jump going from Gin Wigmore (or anyone really) to the XX. There's really no one that sounds like them. They remind me of Mazzy Star in a lot of ways, but they're so much more sparse. It's amazing to me how great their music is with so few notes, so little apparent complexity. This album is just beautiful from start to finish. Maybe I'm just getting more sentimental but the mix of playing a handful of notes on the guitar with a hint of a snare drum and Romy Croft's breathy delivery of "Like breathing was easy, if someone believed me they would be as in love with you as I am". Ah, man, I melt. Take a listen to Try as well.
For as bizarre as their band name is (it's basically one guy), these guys actually sound like my conception of a tame impala. They've been compared to the Beatles, which is way too grandiose, but they're all soothing melodies and simple lyrics. They're helped by the fact that I can't get "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" out of my head.
9. Grimes - Visions
This chick is f***ing bonkers. But then the album is this hazy, sometimes scary, sometimes sweet electronic landscape. In a lot of ways, very reminiscent of M83 which made my list last year. Most of the vocals are indistinct at best layered over a beat and a synth. Love it. Genesis gets all the press, but lots of great tracks on this album.
8. Asaf Avidan - Different Pulses
Starting off the international part of my list, I discovered this guy a couple years back on my first trip to Israel. Going back this year, I came across his new album. Not quite as good as his debut (The Reckoning), but all the elements are still there. Which, more than anything, is his voice. He's often compared to Janis Joplin actually and his voice displays that same impossible combination of fragility and strength. "Different Pulses" might be my favorite song of the year.
7. Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid: M.A.A.D. City
6. Team Me - To the Treetops!
A bit of an upset this year with no Swedes on the list (though First Aid Kit came very close). We do, however, have Team Me from Norway on the list who, of course, remind me very much of Swedish act The Shout Out Louds (who showed up on this list a few years back). It's pop music the way it's supposed to be. Just because it's pop doesn't mean it can't be a little complicated so long as the essence of pop: melody, melody, melody is there. You want melody, take a listen to Show Me.
5. Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal
Again, no Swedes, but here we have a group of Icelanders. Very good album here, but these guys are fantastic live. Only first discovered them at the Outside Lands festival where they were one of the top acts (still nowhere close to Metallica as the top act there). Somehow or another, they really remind me of Edward Sharpe. I think it's the collective "hey!" that they're so fond of. They use their size well (there seems to be like 15 people in the band), filling songs with instrumentation and multiple voices. Great driving music. Everyone knows Little Talks, but it's solid front to back.
4. The Man with the Iron Fists - Soundtrack
A really pretty bad movie, but a great soundtrack. RZA's fondness for martial arts works better in music than it does in film. That being said, this does have RZA embracing everything that made the Wu-Tang so good. Kung fu imagery and attitude and his gruff delivery. Lots of help on the soundtrack from the likes of the Black Keys and a stunning song by Corinne Bailey Rae.
3. The Walkmen - Heaven
Another year, another Walkmen album on my end of year list. It is probably their strongest effort since You & Me (one of the best albums ever, by the way) but feels a little bit high here. But, look, I love the Walkmen's sound so much that they're almost always going to be on this list. There's less screaming from Hamilton Leithauser, which might make this album a little bit more accessible than some of their other stuff. But they've still got all the jangly guitars, heavy drums, and rock organ. Hamilton's still skeptical about love, though, penning a song titled "Love is Luck" with the line "After the fun, after all the bubblegum, there is no sweetness left on my tongue". Yeah. Some favorites include Heartbreaker and Love is Luck.
2. Gin Wigmore - Gravel & Wine
Discovered on an Air New Zealand flight of all things, I absolutely love everything about this Kiwi. Her voice is far from perfect, but she's got the attitude and chops to pull it off. I do have that great feeling that I might have discovered an act before she actually takes off. As it is, she showed up in a Heineken pre-Skyfall commercial in theatres here singing "A Man Like That". So there might be a jump to the US market in the works here. I'm hoping I'll catch her still playing some tiny club. There are so many good songs on this album leading off with Black Sheep ("Paint me in a corner and my color comes back") to Devil in Me (a roots rock putdown of an ex) to A Man Like That (a punk meets Billie Holliday putdown of an ex).
1. The xx - Coexist
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