Angles by Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
This album deserves mentioning if only for the frightening effect it had on me at the time. It's the first album I remember that completely obliterated my interest in all other music for a period of around two weeks. I've never been a snob when it comes to rap... actually that's a lie, in the past two years I've not been a snob when it comes to rap, but if I was then this would have totally smashed it. It's difficult to choose favourites from this album because, barring two, they're all brilliant tracks.Scroobius Pip manages to communicate his messages without seeming preach-y. Then again, that might be because... I wouldn't say I always agree with him, but I do always see his... angle. Hah. The final track stands out for its lyrical and narrative brilliance though, and has to be one of my favourites. I recently finally understood the title of the song 'Thou Shalt Always Kill'. I knew the meaning of kill in that context, but it only clicked with me the other week. Very clever.
Sleep Well by Electric President
I was very excited when this was finally released, after what seemed like an eternity of we're-still-working-on-it. This is an explanation (preface?) of the album. It's basically about nightmares the songwriter has had, as noted down in his 'nightmare journal'. It's a great album musically as well, and he's got a way of making albums I'm really into. Ben Cooper is wonderful :). He's doing this project where you send in something in exchange for a CD of random tracks he's made. I'm going to get on my ideas for that...Feed The Animals by Girl Talk
AKA 'pop-music car-wreck', AKA Greg Gillis, AKA best pop musician of all time purely by merit of being awesome. If you didn't know, he makes music composed entirely of samples from all manner of popular music. This is one of the albums I liked so much I didn't just buy it in CD form, I ordered it direct from the label. It came along with the fabled bit of paper that lists all the samples used in the record. Brilliance.Arm's Way by Islands
When this album initially came out it got a mediocre reception from me. That's the difficult thing about really liking an artist. You expect their next album to be more'o'thesame, and aren't quite pleased when it's not. I came back to it about three months later and absolutely adored it. The final track on the album, Vertigo (If It's A Crime), is a masterpiece, and is an absolute joy to listen to, over and over and over again.Alopecia by WHY?
This was another album I was very excited about. It took some listening, but I finally broke it. It's currently racked a combined 214 track listens, which is no small feat. Yoni hasn't gotten any less odd, the samples aren't any less awesome, and the music isn't any less inventive (what's that in the first track? Chains? Cheery-a cheery-e cheery-i cheery-o cheery-youuueouuu! Wonderful :D)In Ear Park by Department of Eagles
This new release excited me no end. This was one of the first bands I ever got into! Everyone's onto them now 'cause'f the popularity of Grizzly Bear, but I liked them way back before it was cool, you bastards! Anyway, it took me a while to get into it, and I had to stop examining it for a bit, but it's got a sure thumbs up in my book now. Different sound to their first album, but very very nice.And that's all for this year! There are a few others, take Portishead's latest release, and some I've yet to examine fully (check Cats In Paris, they're going some good direktonz), but those listed are the main ones I got all hyped about.
Here's to next year!
I'll probably end up posting a review of the year for me in general, but that'll be in those final five days of the year after Christmas/BoxingDay that are reserved for reminiscing and whatnot.
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