War on Radio

Hullo again. We’re closing in on the end of both the year and the list, and starting to get into the territory that was really difficult to sort out. The records in the top 20 have shifted places a lot in the making of this thing, but this is what I came up with.

THE LIST SO FAR:
50. Fall Out Boy - Folie a Deux
49. Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul
48. Owl City - Maybe I’m Dreaming
47. Of Montreal - Skeletal Lamping
46. Counting Crows - Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings
45. Sigur Rós - Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust
44. The Raconteurs - Consolers of the Lonely
43. Juliana Hatfield - How to Walk Away
42. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
41. The Kills - Midnight Boom
40. Man Man - Rabbit Habits
39. Shugo Tokumaru - Exit
38. Lambchop - OH (Ohio)
37. Bonnie “Prince” Billy - Lie Down in the Light
36. Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation’s Dark
35. Panic at the Disco - Pretty. Odd.
34. TV on the Radio - Dear Science
33. The Mighty Underdogs - Droppin’ Science Fiction
32. The Gutter Twins - Saturnalia
31. Titus Andronicus - The Airing of Grievances
30. REM - Accelerate
29. School of Seven Bells - Alpinisms
28. Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
27. Benoit Pioulard - Temper
26. The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age of Understatement
25. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
24. The Tallest Man on Earth - Shallow Grave
23. Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill
22. Augie March - Watch Me Disappear
21. Deerhunter - Microcastle

And the next chapter:

20. Rodney Crowell - Sex & Gasoline
This album was a difficult one to consider. On the one hand, it’s not Crowell’s best work, and there’s nothing here we haven’t heard before–the whole album apes Bob Dylan’s country side, almost to a fault. On the other hand though, it does so very well–the guitars shine and the rhythms lope along with ragged confidence. What sold me on it, though is the odd philosophy in the lyrics. The key line on the record comes in “The Rise & Fall of Intelligent Design,” where Crowell states flatly “If I could have one wish, maybe for an hour / I’d want to be a woman and feel that phantom power.” Throughout the album, he examines the complex idea of femininity from an outside perspective, sometimes limited by that, other times in a very perceptive manner. Supported by the accomplished–if straightforward–music, the words give the record an interesting edge that makes it a strong listen.

19. Aimee Mann - @#%&*! Smilers
Aimee Mann’s tightest set of songs since 2000’s masterful Bachelor No. 2, this album is intelligent, sly, somewhat sarcastic, mature pop music. The arrangements are comfortable and inviting, layered with smooth guitars, pianos, organs and strings. At the center, though, is Mann’s stellar voice–rich and soulful as always–winding through easygoing melodies that mask the world-weary lyrics. Sometimes she’s achingly straightforward (see: “31 Today”), where other songs are draped in metaphor (see: “Little Tornado”), but the record is loaded with the smart observations (”They’ll sell you all the speed you want if you can take the blackmail,” eg) that characterize her work. It’s the measured work of an artist who’s mastered her craft and has nothing to prove, but rather than falling into a rut, the album has a laid-back, hook-laden shine.

18. Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
Both in and after Pavement, Steve Malkmus has ridden the fine line between intriguing and frustrating. As a writer, his lyrics are often obscure and impenetrable, yet there’s an intelligence and emotion to them when they come through clear. Musically, his songs (particularly in his career with The Jicks) often wander along, dodging around a hook or basic melody, but they explore some interesting space in doing so. This album presents the best blend of those characteristic traits since the Pavement era. It’s full of weird little character details like “I like the way you dot your J’s with giant circles of naivete,” sung in his usual disaffected tone. The music requires patience, drifting into long, jammy passages, but there’s an engaging character to it that keeps it from getting dull, even on the epic title track. The album is a fascinating and entertaining picture of a truly idiosyncratic songwriter, backed up by an all-star indie rock band.

17. Hot Chip - Made in the Dark
2006’s The Warning brought Hot Chip’s sound together as a blend of Beta Band-ish experimental pop and LCD Soundsystem-style dance rock. But if that album blazed that territory for the group, this album settles into it quite nicely, honing and perfecting the sound. Throughout the album, the two sounds are played against each other–”Shake Like a Fist” flirts with hard electronica, but it rolls right over into “Ready for the Floor” that starts with a throbbing pulse but melts into wonderful a wonderful sugary pop ballad. There are a lot of ideas flying around on the album, from slower romantic ballads like “In the Privacy of Our Love” to the weird musical/lyrical stream of consciousness in “One Pure Throught,” but it retains a cohesiveness and energy, even through the slower moments. And that’s the key to the record’s success–it’s fun as hell.

16. Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
The second record by this Scottish group, this album takes Glaswegian indie pop and builds it up to near anthemic grandness, coming off like a shaggier, rowdier, more endearing take on Snow Patrol. Scott Hutchinson unabashedly wears his heart on his sleeve–he wails out lines like “Well, I crippled your heart a hundred times and I still can’t work out why” (from the bombastic and spectacular opener “The Modern Leper”) like he’s feeling each word fresh as he sings it. Even on less propulsive moments, like “My Backwards Walk,” guitars play off each other and organs float up through the open space for a big, bright sound that sweeps you up. The album is a stunning development of the ideas layed out on the band’s debut (Sing the Greys) and posits them to be the next big thing in the rich pop/rock tradition of their homeland.

15. Juana Molina - Un Día
Juana Molina’s music has always existed in its own world, incorporating elements of the familiar but turning them on their head. This, her fifth album, continues that spirit but it also gives her previously more hesitant sound a dose of caffeine. The record seamlessly blends together (a wide variety of) acoustic instrumentation with electronic effects, coming off like a warmer, more naturalistic take on Bjork. The eight moderately lengthy pieces whirl along driving, shifting rhythms as layered voices and other etherial sounds float over twisting guitar lines. My Spanish isn’t good enough to know what any of the songs are about, but there’s an almost mystical flavor to her whispered intonations, especially amidst the odd surrounding sounds. The whole thing comes together in an inimitably fascinating way and makes for the latest in a string of albums that mark this Argentinean as one of the most unique and engaging talents around.

14. Larkin Grimm - Parplar
I have no real idea where this came from–I found it through Michael Gira’s involvement (he co-produces and it’s on his Young God label), but it startled me how much I got wrapped up in it. The music is weirdly ghostly, dark, even heavy in a subtle way–they drip with menace and tension, an undercurrent present even in the record’s lighter moments. Vocal harmonies are supported by acoustic picking, wailing horns and violins, xylophones, whistles, occasional stomping pianos and rhythm sections, etc. Grimm tosses off lines like “Callin’ me a cannibal, come on, let me cook up a stew” and “ride it while I boil your blood” in singsong melodies without blinking and there’s a surprising variety of sound in the largely short pieces (only two of the fifteen songs top 4 minutes, several are under 2). The album is hypnotic, enigmatic, occasionally scary and constantly enjoyable–one of the best new discoveries I made this year.

13. Nada Surf - Lucky
The third straight fantastic album by the NY power-pop band, Lucky is slightly less of a rainy-day album than its immediate predecessors, but it keeps the mellow feel and emotionally rich presence the band does so well. If you know Nada Surf, you know the feel of this album–the acoustic skeletons and electric muscles supporting gentle, subtly complex melodies, but there’s a lightness in a lot of these songs, whether it’s the tinkling and stomp in “Here Goes Something” or the summery bounce of “I Like What You Say.” Matthew Caws sounds wise and graceful, singing lines like “I hate to see you go, but the sunlight follows you right down the road” (on “The Film Did Not Go Round”), making the best of heartache (see: the cautionary tale “See These Bones”) and the complexities of romance. And the music is romantic, intimate and mature–may they keep making records this good for a long time yet.

12. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
The companion piece/second half of the epic, masterful The Stage Names (my favorite record of last year) doesn’t quite live up to the high standard of that album, but it’s a grower, standing on its own merits, revealing more of its charm with each listen. The music builds on the template of charging indie rock of the band’s last couple records, but throws in a few curveballs–eg the country twang of “Singer/Songwriter” or the orchestral interludes of the three-part title track. Will Sheff’s lyrics remain fiercely well-written; it mirrors The Stage Names, looking up at the celebrity that characterized that album from the everyday level, both in searing indictments (”Pop Lie”) and tender moments (”Calling and Not Calling My Ex”). If the record seems less sure of itself, it’s because the characters within it do, not because the band does–as the record unfolds itself, it stands as a strong, powerful work by a great group.

11. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
Boys & Girls in America was arguably The Hold Steady at their easiest–it was richly literate, but also loose, ragged and more thematic than narrative. On the other hand, Stay Positive is maybe the band’s most difficult release–the youthful energy of the last record crashing and crumbling against some harsh realities. Musically, the songs are what one expects from the band–balls-out, heartland riffage–but with some twists and turns, like the gothic flourish of the harpsichord on “One for the Cutters,” the keyboard flavoring in “Navy Sheets” or the quiet tension of “Both Crosses.” As ever, though, the real focus is Craig Finn’s novel-like lyrics which deliberately call back to characters on the last record and incorporate themes of religion, guilt and disintegration into an album-length narrative about murder and the loss of innocence. Although far less immediate than B&GiA, this darker twin is equally sophisticated and more on par with the complex masterwork Separation Sunday in terms of intricate storytelling.

Well then. Tomorrow we round out the top ten and close the list along with the year itself. Um. Stay tuned.

Part of the reason I haven’t been writing lately is because I’ve been prepping for an epic 2008 year-in-review kinda post, sorting through the roughly 300 albums I’ve nicked this year and making top album and song lists, among other things.

But before 2008, there was 2007: a year full of great releases. So I thought I’d wander through the dense forest of my iTunes and pick out my favorite songs–not from this year, but from the last one, in order to see what’s held up and what’s faded by the wayside.

The result is a 32 song trip down memory lane. Some of these tracks I’ve talked about before in the Mixtaper column or in other posts, but some, I hope will be a bit fresh. Because of the rather large number, I’ll strive for brevity in my comments on each. Ready? Okay then.

1. American Hearts by A.A. Bondy, from American Hearts
There’s something achingly gorgeous in this relatively simple folk track. Listen to his voice break ever so slightly when he sings the “don’t tread on me” lyric in the chorus. It gives me chills.

2. Coffee by Aesop Rock (ft John Darnielle), from None Shall Pass
The concluding track (excluding the hidden song) on an amazing and intelligent album features two of the best lyricists working today combining their powers. After Aes’s frenetic rapping, John’s ending verse sounds like an old soul sample recovered from a dirty basement. Plus, there’s the zombies.

3.  Fiery Crash by Andrew Bird, from Armchair Apocrypha
This track goes down smooth, driven by a pulsing beat and lilting melody. Even as it starts to build up as it moves along, it retains a very relaxed, urbane charm that characterizes Mr. Bird’s best work.

4. Keep the Car Running by Arcade Fire, from Neon Bible
One of the lighter tracks from Canada’s most melodramatic indie rock orchestra. This song rockets along over light, lush backing track as Win Butler shout-sings with his usual emotive intensity. The result is teeming with life, organic and refreshing.

5. The Ballad of Love and Hate by The Avett Brothers, from Emotionalism
Easily the strongest track from the alt-country band, a spare and haunting effort anchored by its strong and emotionally loaded lyric. The beautiful melody, sung with just the right restraint, coupled with the spareness of the arrangement makes the words that much more effective.

6. Wild Mountain Nation by Blitzen Trapper, from Wild Mountain Nation
This song is basically southern rock on acid. It’s got a stomping beat, twanging slide guitar and an appropriately dirty lead guitar, but the whole things sounds messy and fractured in a spectacular and interesting way. I dare you not to tap your foot to this.

7. Flume by Bon Iver, from For Emma, Forever Ago
The album as a whole is characterized by a haunting, wintry feel, and this song captures the best of that atmosphere. The moody acoustic strumming is buried under droning sounds and layered falsetto vocals that give the song a ghostly presence. I can’t find it, but if you can track down his 9/8/08 performance of this song on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, it blew me away.

8. On the Bubble by The Broken West, from I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On
This song practically slaps you in the face with its bright indie-poppiness, right out of the gate. That towering, sugar-sweet riff is only the tip of the iceberg–the handclap beat and bounding guitars support an eager vocal, harmonized in just the right places. It’s like sunshine condensed into two minutes and 40 seconds.

9. Pale Horse by Canon Blue, from Colonies
The song opens with moody backwards riff that’s soon augmented by a hypnotic guitar, etherial piano chording and eventually an electro-backbeat, which kicks up just as the vocal launches into a reverb-soaked chorus. This is music for traveling on trains or walking around in winter–it’s open and chilly, but also inviting.

10. Melody Day by Caribou, from Andorra
There’s something retro about this song, like it’s been brought here from 1967 via time warp, but it’s been dressed in modern clothes. There’s a bedroom-electronic flavour layered under the psychedelic melody, twittering flutes, understated guitar and crashing cymbals. The result is something that’s both alien and familiar in a really peculiar and cool way.

11. Serpentine by Chris Bathgate, from A Cork Tale Wake
The richness of the voice, coupled with the singsong melody is what strikes me the most here. The song appears simple at first listen, but reveals a subtle complexity on each repeat–cellos intone under the gentle piano, just as a violin (or viola maybe) soars above it; it’s easy to not even notice the drums as they come in; the build is really beautifully executed.

12. Saint John by Cold War Kids, from Robbers & Cowards
If one could distill badass into a song, it might sound like this. A jailhouse murder ballad driven by a wicked bass and thundering drums, over which comes a snarling vocal, clearly from the wrong side of the tracks. By the time the honky tonk piano sweeps in, it’s become almost a gospel song in a perverse but awesome way.

13. Going Nowhere by Elliott Smith, from New Moon
Technically this song is at least 10 years old, but it saw its first official release last year and stands as one of the strongest tracks from the articulate, dark world of Elliott’s music. His raw vocal whispers its way through a melancholy melody and over his beautiful guitar, as though he were in the room playing for you, maybe after some drunken party, while your friends are passed out around on the floor.

14. My Moon My Man by Feist, from The Reminder
This was a tough call–the innocent sweetness of “One, Two, Three, Four” or the femme fatale stomp of this track? And it is a stomp; the song is rhythm driven but covered in velvet, especially Leslie’s vocal, wandering through the arrangement like a silk ribbon. It’s dangerous and kinda sexy.

15. Song Among the Pine by Gravenhurst, from The Western Lands
Something about this track has the air of some ancient, pagan hymn. Nick Talbot creates, out of guitar, voice and gentle hums and drones, a snow-covered forest on a crisp sunny day, where mystical things lurk just on the periphery. It’s positively haunting.

16. Your Rocky Spine by Great Lake Swimmers, from Ongiara
Although the album isn’t as strong as their prior two, this banjo-driven love song is one of the band’s better songs. Tony Dekker’s voice is ridiculously beautiful, as usual, and the melody and lyrics embrace you as the song moves forward along its open path with a certain moody sweetness.
 
17. Small Talk by Immaculate Machine, from Fables
Indie pop, yes, but with a tense flavour to it, created by a tight melody and the interplay between lead violins and guitars over an unrelenting bass. The lyrics reflect this tension, talking of secrets worming their way into a conversation that suddenly turns heavy.

18. Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car by Iron & Wine, from The Shepherd’s Dog
The thing about Sam Beam is that he progresses with each release, becoming slowly more complex and adventurous, while retaining the intimate southern charm that made him famous in the first place. This album, like its opening track, features more playful touches–piano runs, gentle beats, distorted sounds–while still sounding like some old uncle telling you a story at a family reunion picnic. The lightness does the music good, it doesn’t get mired in melodrama, although the lyrics retain an emotive character.

19. Teardrop by Jose Gonzalez, from In Our Nature
As with his cover of The Knife’s “Heartbeats,” Mr. Gonzalez manages to strip this Massive Attack song down to its naked spine, retaining the character of the original while also making it very much his own. The song itself lends itself perfectly to his quiet, echo-laden world–its powerful yet still spare.

20. Pink Light by Laura Veirs, from Saltbreakers
There’s something about that guitar riff that’s just irresistible and something literate and intelligent in the singer/songwriter/occasional Decemberist’s voice. Like a lot of the tracks on this list, this one seems to come from its own kind of mythical world where sails are tattered and winter wracks the bones of memory, all under ringing chimes and over skittering beats.

21. Hatchet by Low, from Drums & Guns
“Groovy” is not a word I would usually use to describe the slowcore Minnesotans of Low, but this track definitely qualifies as that. With their usual awesome male/female harmonies, Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker intone a wry lyric over a groovy beat and skeletal guitar riff, making this short song one of the most interesting in their catalogue.

22. 99% of Us is Failure by Matthew Good, from Hospital Music
When an album has a name like that, you’ve got to know you’re in for something like this, but this song is still a sucker-punch to the gut. There are a lot of songs about watching a loved one die, but the devil is in the details here; Good’s voice is expressive without being over the top, the lyrics are smart enough to have some pathos and the melody doesn’t hurt the picture, soaring over the ’90s alt-rock callback instrumentation.

23. Fake Empire by The National, from Boxer
There’s a grace to this song. Part of it comes from Matt Berninger’s low voice singing the almost detached melody. Part of it is the unobtrusive beat, driving under the pianos that grow stronger as the song builds. By the time the horn sounds come in, the track has become something else completely–a slice of smooth, modern pop/rock.

24. Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe by Okkervil River, from The Stage Names
This was a tough one–five of the nine songs on the album were under consideration for this list, but in the end, I had to pick this. The metaphor-dripping lyrics, the hurling vocal of Will Sheff, the anthemic nature of the instruments that support him–it’s all there. There’s a reason Okkervil River are one of my favorite bands and this is a great example of it.

25. Overture by Patrick Wolf, from The Magic Position
Now THAT is a violin riff. There’s something suitably epic about this affair; Mr. Wolf’s voice is laden with bravado, the beat pulses and thunders, the strings sweep in grand movements, etc. The contrast of electronic and acoustic instruments creates a cool effect also. Like Sam Beam, Patrick gets better with each successive release, and if this is this good, his next album better be damn well amazing.

26. Romantic Type by Pigeon Detectives, from Wait for Me
There is something appealing about straight-ahead, no frills rock ‘n’ roll and this song delivers on that front. It sounds in kind with the whole Franz Ferdinand-ish, “let’s draw from the late ’70s” thing, chugging forward there 2.5 minutes of crunchy guitars and a frenetic rhythm section, complete with the slowdown on the post-chorus. But it does it all really well, and that’s the key here.

27. House of Cards by Radiohead, from In Rainbows
Amidst all the tales of isolation, geopolitical statements and dystopian ruminations, Radiohead rarely get to write a straight love song, but here they’ve done it. Sort of–there is a certain doom-laden mood here, but it wouldn’t be Radiohead if there wasn’t. Everybody on the planet gushes about Radiohead, so I don’t have to explain why this song is awesome, really.

28. Rehab by Rihanna, from Good Girl Gone Bad
Say what you will, this chick can sing. Although not quite as cool as “Disturbia” (which is ineligible as it came out on the 2008 special edition of the album), there is something really appealing about this. Her voice isn’t being showy here, even though she’s capable of it, and the backing track feature a sweet, whirling piano. Proof that there is hope in the mainstream pop/R&B arena.

29. Overpowered by Roisin Murphy, from Overpowered
Formerly half of the dance pop band Moloko, Ms. Murphy creates the sound of robot sex on this track. It’s danceable, driven by a skittering low pad and plucking stabs over the top of a cybernetic vocal. Yet when she launches into the chorus, it’s with a “come hither” intonation that’s made more startling by the style of the verses. Great stuff.

30. Your Last Chariot by Scout Niblett, from This Fool Can Die Now
One of the shorter songs on Ms. Niblett’s best album since her 2001 debut, its a great showcase for her wailing vocal (see also: “Peoria Lunchbox Blues” by Songs:Ohia). The guitar, like the rest of the song around it, has a dirty, rural feel to it, not unlike ’90s Cat Power (an overused but apt comparison). There’s something dangerous about the affair as she repeats “comin’ to get ya…”

31. Sometimes by Siobhan Donaghy, from Ghosts
A standout track on one of the best pop albums of this century, the former Sugababe flexes her creative muscles, moving down a track that marries her teenybopper roots with Kate Bush-ish eccentricity. Listen to that high, spiraling vocal or the weird noises that dance in and out of the mix. The effect is to turn a simple bubblegum track into something weirdly spectacular.

32. Bouncing Off Clouds by Tori Amos, from American Doll Posse
Proving herself still vital, nearly 20 years after her first album and through a career marked by indulgent quirkiness, Tori put out one of the catchiest songs I can think of in this one. The melody is strong, the backing track isn’t showy but frames the vocal wonderfully, the lyrics… well, they’re Tori, but they’re not over the top. This manages to be both adult contemporary and appealing/interesting, a combination not easily achieved.

So that’s that list. 2007 was definitely a good year. I’m now off, ready to dive back into this year’s offerings–an even more diverse and intriguing set.

Yeah, I totally forgot to do this last week, what with being distracted by… I dunno, life. So today, y’all are getting a two-fer. Ten, count ‘em, ten songs that have been tickling my eardrums.

1. Red by Okkervil River, from Don’t Fall in Love With Everyone You See [Jagjaguwar, 2002] // A short film set to the song
One of my favorite working bands, back before they had some of the flourish and polish they have now. This is ultimately a simple song, done in a simple way–Sheff’s voice wavers slightly, as though he’s unsure of himself, over a humming, lilting guitar figure. But what makes it shine so wonderfully is the gorgeous, drifting melody–even if it’s slightly past Will’s vocal abilities at this point, he gets points for ambition. The lyrical strength of the song backs that ambition up, too–the third verse about the dancer is one of the most gorgeous series of lines I can think of.

2. Your Woman by White Town, from Women in Technology [Capitol, 1997] // Promo Video
This is one of those songs that I just kind of randomly stumbled across and it ended up on repeat for a jillion years. Jyoti Mishra mixes a nice blend of indie pop sensibility with ’90s dance beats and electronic flourishes to create something sugary and peppy without being saccharine. The lyrics work on some interesting, gender-bending levels, too as Mishra explains here better than I could.

3. Strange Condition by Pete Yorn, from Musicforthemorningafter [Columbia, 2001] // Promo Video
Remember this guy? “Life on a Chain” showed up on an old ’90s mix CD I’d made and it made me dig out and listen to the whole album, with this song jumping out as my favorite. It’s kind of MOR, early-millenium style, complete with wannabe-Vedder vocals, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. Sometimes you just want mac and cheese for dinner and this is some damn fine mac and cheese.

4. Old Old Song by Ani DiFranco, from Revelling / Reckoning [Righteous Babe, 2001] // (Can’t find a link, atm)
Ms DiFranco is one of those artists I can only take so much of at once, but I have to say, this is an extremely fine moment in her rather large and at least interesting catalogue. There are plenty of songs out there about family psychodrama, but this one distills the idea rather well. Musically it stumbles along over an almost broken-sounding guitar riff and a gentle, echo-laden piano. The lyrics compliment the dreamy, haunting nature of the music–creating a vivid picture with poetic detachment in a rather effective manner.

5. Lay Lady Lay by Magnet, from On Your Side [Import, 2004] // Youtube Audio
A cover of one of Bob Dylan’s finest moments by a Norwegian electro-pop act, featuring a guest spot by an Irish singer/songwriter. Even Johansen and Gemma Hayes breathe new life into the classic by infusing it with trip-hop rhythms, sweeping horn/string arrangements and dual-perspective vocals. It does exactly what a good cover should–keeps the strength and spirit of the original song while sounding nothing like it. Note that there are promo videos of this, but they’re not the full cut of the song.

6. Screenwriter’s Blues by Soul Coughing, from Ruby Vroom [Warner, 1994] // Promo Video
A somewhat geeky yet still searing indictment of the City of Angels that reeks of the mid ’90s like an old flannel shirt. The ever fascinating Mike Doughty spouts his post-beat poetry with a sly, deadpan delivery over a jazzy, rhythmic backdrop. The whole thing is suitably trippy while maintaining the sense that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is the key to its success. Also, check out his hand movements in the video. Hehe.

7. Family Affair by Sly & The Family Stone, from There’s a Riot Goin’ On [Epic, 1971] // Youtube Audio
As unfortunate as it may be, there’s something ultimately compelling about the sound of a musical genius dissolving at the seams, which is part of what makes There’s a Riot Goin’ On one of the iconic albums of funk music. This–a single that led off the album–is one of more straightforward on it, only hinting at the psychedelic explorations and cocaine paranoia that laces the record as a whole. Yet it is immediately darker, more menacing and arguably more accomplished than anything Sly had done previously and it stands as a milestone in urban music.

8. Fanfare by Eric Matthews, from It’s Heavy in Here [Sub Pop, 1995] // Promo Video
A too often overlooked debut album, arriving with as much ambition and refinement as, say, Jeff Buckley’s Grace, but not the recognition. This lead-off track introduces the world to Matthews’s smoky, knowing vocal and his penchant for blending elements of both jazz and harder rock into a smooth, elegant pop sound. If you haven’t checked out the album as a whole, I would heartily recommend doing so.

9. Chewing Gum by Annie, from Anniemal [679, 2004] // Promo Video
Bubblegum pop (which this is in more ways than one) is all too often easy to dismiss as… well, crap. Because a lot of it is–it’s hard to hit something appropriately silly/lighthearted while still maintaining enough credibility to be worth listening to. This album (and this song is my favorite number off it) manages to hit that perfect mark. It’s not overly ambitious–it manages to be danceable in an accomplished way without any pretensions; likewise, the lyrics aren’t exactly Shakespeare, but they’re not eye-rolling either. It comes off as fun, which the music world sometimes seems to need a lot more of.

10. The Man With the Child in His Eyes by Kate Bush, from The Kick Inside [EMI, 1978] // Promo Video
Keep in mind this song was written/recorded when Kate was… I think, roughly 16. That makes the doe-eyed feeling it has make a bit more sense, but it also makes it sound more beautiful and accomplished than it already does. One of the her finest songs, period. Listen to that arrangement, the soaring melody… man.

I’m thinking I might do a feature where I spotlight a music video I particularly like each week. Gives me something to do. *g*

So, in the interest of launching such an affair, I thought I’d direct attention to Lost Coastlines, the video for the lead single from Okkervil River’s recent The Stand-Ins.

My favorite song on the record and a rather clever little clip. Plus, Will Sheff AND Jon Meiburg. *drool* (Hey, it’s a video… image consciousness is okay.)

So the e’er prolific John Darnielle is apparently ready to follow up the excellent Heretic Pride (look for that on my top albums list this year for sure) with not one, but two EPs, for a total of ten tracks. The first, Satanic Messiah, is a straight-up four-song number, but it’s the second that’s got me all titillated as it’s a collaboration with Kaki King. It’s called Black Pear Tree and, like Satanic Messiah, I have no idea when it’s going to come out. What I DO know is that you can download the last track via Pitchfork, the awesomely titled Thank You Mario But Our Princess is in Another Castle. It’s quite a pretty little number.

In the more immediate future, there are some especially cool albums coming out this week that I intend to nab copies of (if I haven’t already). First, Okkervil River’s The Stand-Ins, follow up/companion piece to The Stage Names (which was my favorite album of last year). The ever glacially-beautiful Emiliana Torrini has a new one, Me and Armini that I’m looking forward to hearing. Trip-hop godfather Tricky is putting out what people are already calling his best album in over a decade in the form of Knowle West Boy. The bright shiny popsters The Broken West’s second effort Now or Heaven looks worth checking out. Southwest-flavored rockers Calexico’s newest, Carried to Dust is my favorite of theirs since The Black Light. Following up on the popularity of a certain film soundtrack, Kimya Dawson is putting out the strangely-titled (as if that were unusual for her) Alphabutt. The neo-folk act Horse Feathers have a new one (with a beautiful cover) called House With No Home. Post-metal band Jesu are releasing an EP called Why Are We Not Perfect? with some new (I think) material. If anyone out there still gives a shit, Metallica’s Death Magnetic drops, which could be fun in a “it’s like watching a train wreck over and over” kind of way. The excellent Superchunk side-project Portastatic are putting out a 44 song(!) collection of demos, etc called Some Small History. Singer/songwriter Josh Rouse has a best-of collection called, appropriately enough, Best of the Rykodisc Years, which might be a good introduction to him, even though I’m not usually about best-of stuff. And noisy weirdos The Sound of Animals Fighting are unleashing Ocean and the Sun, which is sure to be an experience.

Also, although it’s not strictly music, the late, great comedian Mitch Hedberg has a posthumous CD release this week called Do You Believe in Gosh? that I will definitely be checking out.