Best albums of 2008

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Shearwater: Rook

Shearwater is one of my very favorite bands, and one of the few bands that I can confidently say will be remembered a long time from now, so it seems odd that it's taken me nearly a month to write anything about it. The reason for this is two-fold; the first reason is that this is the type of album that takes time to digest, to understand in whole. The second reason is that I wanted to wait until I could acquire the album on vinyl and listen to it that way, before I wrote my final thoughts on the album. My thoughts are this: this is one of the best albums of the year and the best full-length album the band has released (the Thieves EP is in a different category all together). It may not have the dynamic, standouts that Palo Santo had, or the contrasting in singers and songwriters that Winged Life has, but it is the band's most consistent, mature, elegant, and best constructed album. The Talk Talk influence that lay beneath the surface of previous albums is brought to a head here, with almost every track save "Century Eyes" having the stamp of Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock on it. That's not to say that this is a Talk Talk tribute album, indeed not. Besides the band's own considerable original input, there are traces of Nico, John Cale, and even Van Morrison in here. And besides, Talk Talk is a band that is incredibly under referenced by non-instrumental groups. However, all the staples of a Shearwater album are here, Jonathan Meiburg's stunning, otherworldly, choirboy vocals, and the blend of piano, banjo, electric guitar, bass, and drums that forms the foundation of so many of the band's songs. Each song is also accented with multitudes of strings, horns, harps, woodwinds, and even the world percussion instrument or two, in such a way that balances perfectly the dark, organic base of the songs with grand, sweepingly majestic flourishes. It's a dense, albeit painfully short album, that places Shearwater firmly in the upper-echelon of mature, professional bands.
Note: the album's b-sides "North Col", "So Bad", and "The Rainbow" (a Talk Talk cover) are all worth checking out, and are available as bonus tracks on the itunes release of the album.
Listen ("Leviathan Bound")

Grails: Take Refuge in Clean Living

Last years release by Grails, Burning Off Impurities, was an amazing psychedelic through world cultures, down the silk road and on into the far east. It mixed Arabian, Indian, and Oriental influences and instruments with the style of American folk, blues, and drone that the band had developed on earlier releases. The band's latest album, Take Refuge in Clean Living is a supposedly a full-length release, but since it only has five tracks that amount to about a half an hour of music (last years album was 8 songs, fifty minutes) I'm more inclined to view this as an EP. It's this fact that makes me less disappointed in the album, that, while still an excellent collection of music, doesn't quite live up to the bar set last year by the album. The album starts strongly, "Stoned at the Taj Again" ranks among the band's best material, with it's subtle sitar accents and a sweet drone guitar, throbbing bass combination. The next songs don't fare quite as well, "PTSD" is a directionless, rambling electric guitar mess and "11th Hour", while interesting, really doesn't draw you back for more listens. "Take Refuge" improves on the last two tracks drastically, with a similar style to the opening song, but it lacks the subtle exotic instrumentation that makes the band so great. "Clean Living" closes that album on a puzzling note, with a nearly six minute long ambient drone track that is mostly strings and piano and sounds more like something from The Kilimanjaro Dark Jazz Ensemble than from Grails. Again, it's not that this is a bad album, it's just that, the opening track aside, it doesn't have the dynamic tunes that it's predecessor had. There's no creepy banjo waltzes like "Soft Temple" or aggressive romps like "Dead Vine Blues", just some unfocused, meandering songs that have potential, but fail to deliver on them. But again, I see this as an EP, not a full-length, and EPs are notorious for experimentation, so let's hope that's all this is.
Listen ("Stoned at the Taj Again")

múm: Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy

Let's talk underrated albums of '07; I was a fan of múm's fourth album, Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy when it was released, but there wasn't much separating me from the album's detractors (it has a 66 on review collector website Metacritic). But after having the album for nearly a year, it's grown on me considerably and my incredulity at all the negative reviews has increased mightly. Pitchfork's review contained this line "While this is certainly not a great record, it probably has broader appeal." which really puzzles me. What exactly, about a weird psychtronic album with lots of bizzare samples and traditional instruments is more appealing than the band's early albums, full of warm and gentle electronica and the gorgeous vocals of Kría Brekkan? (who left the band before Go Go was recorded) Nothing, what makes this album great is it's mix of joyful pop moments, and abstruse, artsy sequences. Is it múm's best album? No, but is it at all a bad album? Absolutely not, it's a charming, occasionally otherworldly sounding album that is a good listen no matter who you are.
Listen ("Dancing Behind My Eyelids")

Okkervil River: The Stand-Ins

The best band of the 21st century is back less then a year after their last album was released. The Stand-Ins is a collection of tracks left over from The Stage Names sessions (it was originally supposed to be a double-album) and much like the Black Sheep Boy Appendix, it continues on the themes of it's sister album with a similar music style. Unlike the aforementioned EP, The Stand-Ins is a full length album. That's right, 40 more minutes of folksy rock and roll awesomeness! The album has 7 new songs, 3 short interludes, and a previously released (and totally amazing) b-side "Starry Stairs". Much like The Stage Names, the songs are split between slow burning mid-tempo tracks and rollicking, upbeat jams. The former includes songs like the organ-laced "Blue Tulip", the piano/guitar led "On Tour With Zykos" and the lovely closing track "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979", these tracks really highlight Will Sheff's songwriting (which is incredible on every track anyways) and the band's ability to stay out of the way, yet still create beautiful arrangements that eventually unfold into some fantastic instrumental break. The upbeat tracks include the Sheff/Jonathon Meiburg duet "Lost Coastlines", the pounding, beat influenced "Singer-Songwriter", the synth (SYNTH!) and guitar dueling "Pop Lie", and the folky "Calling and Not Calling My Ex". These songs are Okkervil River at their loosest, and really show the band just having fun. They are a lot more detailed than the faster tracks on The Stage Names, weaving in more instruments with more complex arrangements. All in all, it'll take many listens to find where this album fits in with Okkervil River's catalog. It's certainly no Black Sheep Boy, but it's much more promising than The Stage Names, and more mature than the band's first two albums. We'll just have to see...
Listen ("Lost Coastlines [Live]")

Portishead: Third

Much is made about the fact that Portishead hasn't released an album or done any touring to speak of in ten years, and the main concern about this that was held by many was that the band would make a release a crappy album. Apparently they forgot that IT'S FREAKING PORTISHEAD, the world's greatest trip-hop group!! Their new album proves that there are some band's that are just head and shoulders better than the rest, and Portishead is one of them. Third is a logical progression from 1998's self-titled album, refining their sound by stripping it down to the bare essentials: Geoff Barrow's beats, Adrian Utley's jazz guitar, and Beth Gibbons' stunning vocals. All you really need to know about this album is as follows: it's Portishead, listen to it.
Listen ("The Rip")

Ladytron: Velocifero

It’s been a bit of time since Ladytron released their last album in 2005, and as all good electro bands should, they’ve advanced with times but also plumbed the depths of the past to refine the sound they truly established as their own with Witching Hour, the album that took them from a good band to a great band way back in ‘05. That album’s follow-up, Velocifero, is a non-stop electroclash barrage with a thicker, fuller sound then its predecessor. The formula is same for Ladytron however, programmed drumming, throbbing Joy Division-esque bass, atmospheric synths, and swirling, effects laden guitars. But, whereas Witching Hour is an electroclash album with strong shoegaze influences, Velocifero is the opposite. If you could possible imagine what a Rio-era Duran Duran and My Bloody Valentine collaboration would sound like, you’d be at least in the right mindset to get this. The atmosphere is laid on heavily, and the layers of sound wash over one another like a Cocteau Twins song, but is driven with propulsive rhythms and jagged electronics. The other big change to Ladytron’s sound is actually a change back to the duel vocalist set-up used on their first two albums (604 and Light & Magic), so fans of Bulgarian vocalist Mira Aroyo will be pleased to know she shares the spotlight with Helen Marnie almost equally.
Listen ("Black Cat")

Islands: Arm's Way

Composed former of members of short-lived, much-loved indie pop The Unicorns, one might expect Islands to follow at least slightly in their footsteps, but a radical shift came with Islands first album, Return to the Sea and this change has been cemented completely on their second album. Arm’s Way takes the tradition of Canadian orchestral rock and blows it up to ridicules proportions; from the over-dramatic lyrics, punning titles, verbose sounds, and even the insane and disturbing cover art. In truth it has more in common with symphonic prog bands such as Electric Light Orchestra than with, say, Arcade Fire. Bombastic guitars screech and rumble in ascending lines while crystal clear strings do more than accent, they carry the songs in many cases. Another large factor in the album is the quite obvious glam influence to be found at the core of many of the songs; the outlandish eccentricities of David Bowie, the experimental string work of Brian Eno, the wicked pop of Roxy Music, the swagger and grit of T. Rex can all be found within Arm’s Way. It’s this mixture of glam era styles and bombastic prog leanings with modern indie rock sensibilities that makes the album so intriguing, and it’s a surprising sound album, whose only arguable fault is the length; 12 tracks at 68 minutes can tend to be somewhat of an overload.
Listen ("The Arm")

thirty albums from 2008's first third

Once April ends, we'll be a third done with 2008 (already!) and so far it's been a pretty good year in music. I've narrowed down the best releases to thirty essentials, I now present them to you in no particular order:

Boris: Smile
Never a wanting to do remotely the same thing twice, Japanese trio Boris has once again shifted their style, abandoning for the most part the hard-hitting guitar rock of Pink and, with the help of former collaborators Michio Kurihara and Stephen O'Malley, embracing a more abstract, beat centered psych-metal.
Listen ("Message")

Hercules and Love Affair
They're being called this years Justice, and if any dance album is going to be a crossover hit, this will likely be it. The duo mix progressive dance techniques and classic disco with ease, while guests, most notably Antony Hegarty, whose is featured on several tracks, provide the vocals.
Listen (Myspace)

Brethren of the Free Spirit: All Things Are From Him, Through Him and in Him
A collaboration between 12-string guitarist James Blackshaw and lute player Jozef van Wissem, Brethren of the Free Spirit sounds a lot like Blackshaw's other work, but with a little more medeval sound, courtesy of van Wissem.
Listen ("Garden")

Flight of the Conchords
Though the words "comedy music" may fill you with thoughts of horror and Weird Al, Flight of the Conchords are actually funny, as well as skilled musicians who, except for "Innercity Pressure", don't simply steal music from other and re-write it, unfunnily. It's probably because they're not American, unfunny and unoriginal are American trademarks.
Listen (Myspace)

Kelley Polar: I Need You to Hold On While the Sky is Falling
Though they're vastly different, Kelley Polar and Patrick Wolf both share a love for electronics and classical music. And while Wolf's love manifests itself as folktronica, Polar's comes off as a sort of electro-disco with string touches used to bring a groove to the songs, though he does get a little more ambitious with his arrangements as the album goes on.
Listen ("Entropy Reigns in the Celestial City")

The Tallest Man On Earth: Shallow Graves
First full-length from a very Dylanesque folk singer from Sweden. His lyrics are full of imagery and he's a pretty proficient finger-picker on guitar and banjo. His voice might not be for everyone, as it's a sort of cross between Dylan and Tom Verlaine, but if his voice doesn't bother you, there's plenty for folk lovers to enjoy here.
Listen ("Pistol Dreams")

Leandra: Metamorphine
A truly chilling combination of electro and gothic classical, that, even when the arrangements fall fall flat, is carried by Leandra's powerful and compelling vocals. She can blow you away with strong strains, or seduce you with soft whispers. Sometimes the music borders on cheesy, but if you're feeling melodramatic, you won't really notice.
Listen(Myspace)

The Mountain Goats: Heretic Pride
This album really should be titled, Heretic Pride or How Darnielle Got His Groove Back because this album marks John Darnielle's breakthrough from albums that were startlingly average. His lyrics have never been stronger (and for those of you who have listened to older Mountain Goats' albums, you know that's no mean feat) and the arrangements surrounding them find a comfortable place between the band's early lo-fi and later hyper-produced sound.
Listen ("San Bernardino")

Retribution Gospel Choir
Fan of the guitar who know enough about the instrument to know exactly how great of a guitarist Alan Sparhawk is, have been waiting for years to hear him break out and play some good old fashioned rock music. Retribution Gospel Choir is your chance and, with Mark Kozelek, a master of the guitar jam himself, producing, you know the results will be amazing.
Listen ("Breaker")

Sun Kil Moon: April
Back with his first new material since 2005, Mark Kozelek's third full-length under the Sun Kil Moon moniker (and ninth overall) takes things back more to his Red House Painters days, slowing down and extending songs and focusing more than ever on his songwriting, which was already some of the best ever. Not as immediately appealing as past Sun Kil Moon albums, April is someone of a grower, yet still a masterpiece.
Listen (Myspace)

She & Him: Volume One
Most people by now should know that She & Him is a collaboration between actress/singer Zooey Deschanel and folk artist M. Ward. Deschanel provides the vocals (and does she have a set of pipes) and a little piano while Ward does the music. Together they create an album with a timeless sound that's sure to please music fans of all ages. Hopefully Deschanel won't be the only successful actress/singer crossover this year... (Scarlet Johansson here we come!)
Listen (Myspace)

Black Mountain: In the Future
Black Mountain's self-titled debut was a fun album, but it lacked depth and didn't entertain you for very long, but with their sophomore release they've fixed all that. In the Future is still as retro psych-rock as their debut, but it's now infused with higher level of energy, passion, and creativity. As well as some seriously epic jams, those always help.
Listen (Myspace)

British Sea Power: Do You Like Rock Music?
If you answered yes to the question above, then you very well may enjoy British Sea Power's third album. It's not quite as good as their first two (both of which were certified classics) and the band has dropped some of post-punk Joy Division in their sound and gone with more straight-forward, well, rock music. Even then, a band like British Sea Power can only be so straight-forward...
Listen ("No Lucifer")

Clinic: Do It!
Clinic has never been able to top their debut Internal Wrangler but they come close on their fifth full-length album. The band's signature vintage keyboard obsessed sound and their rotating male and female vocal duties are still the foundation of the band, but a new heavier use of guitars, both guitar and acoustic, are enough to breathe life into the band and give them the second best album of their career.
Listen (Myspace)

Destroyer: Trouble in Dreams
Dan Bejar's eagerly anticipated follow-up to Destroyer's Rubies fails to disappoint in any way except that it fails to disappoint in any way. Bejar seems to have found a formula he likes and decided to stick with it. There's no major changes, no real risks, just Bejar's bizarrely awesome lyrics and the same indie blues sound that he used on Rubies perhaps it's a stupid quibble, but coming from a guy who followed up a distortion soaked album with one that wasn't much more than acoustic guitar and MIDI strings, it's kinda disappointing.
Listen ("Dark Leaves Form a Thread")

El Guincho: Alegranza
El Guincho has become known as the "Spanish Panda Bear" and while this comparison is valid because of both artists extensive use of samples and vocal samples, El Guincho has a lot more character than Panda Bear. I like Person Pitch, but I found it to be kind of bland and repetitive and times while El Guincho has a lot more personality and zest in his music, it's full of ethnic flavor and booty shaking rhythms; while Person Pitch is a sit and listen record, Alegranza is a get up and live album.
Listen ("Antillas")

Los Campesinos!: Hold On Now, Youngster...
The perfect combination of witty, sarcastic lyrics and catchy indie pop, Los Campesinos! first full-length album is a thing of beauty. Vastly orchestrated symphonic guitar-pop and lyrics that pick apart every little bit of ridicules indie culture and mock it. Not since If You're Feeling Sinister has indie pop been this intelligent and this fun.
Listen (Myspace)

The Magnetic Fields: Distortion
Stephin Merrit once again proves himself the songwriting genius that first showed itself on the classic 69 Love Songs and i, but here instead of the symphonic indie pop of before, The Magnetic Fields have adopted a distortion heavy lo-fi surfer rock album (hence the title) that brings about thoughts of the Beach Boys meets My Bloody Valentine.
Listen ("California Girls")

Subtle: ExitingARM
Subtle's albums always sound different, and ExitingArm is no different, instead of the upbeat and in-your-face electro hip-hop of For Hero: For Fool this time around the band has gone with a much mellower, spacey sound, that make a large use of effects and multi-tracked vocals. Doseone's bizarre lyrics and delivery have never been better, and the band has never been more creative with their arrangements.
Listen ("The Crow")

Supergrass: Diamond Hoo Ha
Supergrass is one of the most underrated bands in the last the history of music, while fellow 90s Brit bands like Radiohead, Oasis, and Blur have all gone on to have huge success, Supergrass barely makes a scratch in America, regardless of all the critical praise their delightful albums get. Diamond Hoo Ha forgos the intimate classic folk rock sound of Road to Ruin and returns to the bombastic riff-centric glam rock of their early albums.
Listen ("Bad Blood")

Plants and Animals: Parc Avenue
A very promising new band who have progressed dramatically from their early EPs which we're really not much more than instrumental folk, into a band the reminds me of an American folk version of Beirut. Both make complex indie rock with lots of instruments and plenty of string work and Warren Spicer shares a similar vocal style as Zach Condon, but with less melodrama.
Listen ("Good Friend")

The Ruby Suns: Sea Lion
If Akron/Family were a New Zealand indie pop band, they might sound something like this, but that's not being fair to The Ruby Suns, who are a incredible band in their own right. This is a really special little album, all the little rhythms and mass vocals singing in some other language come out beautifully. Every little detail on this album is perfect, it could not be improved on in any way.
Listen ("Tane Mahuta")

Silver Jews: Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
I'll routinely hear people refer to Silver Jews as a "Pavement side-project" which is complete bullcrap, and it's time that Silver Jews were given their own place in music. David Berman is the genius behind Silver Jews and he's one of the most underrated lyricists in music, he's also been living in the shadow of American Water for a long time, but with Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea I think he's at least come close to equaling that album, and anyone who's heard it knows that's a big, big deal.
Listen (Myspace)

Haale: No Ceiling
The debut album by Persian singer-songwriter Haale is an intriguing affair, a sort of dark rock album with tons of regional influences, think Patti Smith of Arabia. Swirling walls of guitar and tinkling percussion surround Haale's voice which is strong, but sounds disappointingly American.
Listen ("Middle of Fire")

Spritualized: Songs in A&E
It's Spiritualized and it rivals Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. What more is there to say?
Listen ("Soul On Fire")

Genghis Tron: Board Up the House
Genghis Tron, all grown up. Well, not quite, but their sound certainly has grown. While the bands base is still grindcore mixed with electro, the band has a new prog element to their sound that really livens things up, it's not quite the crazy force that Dead Mountain Mouth is, but it's a more interesting listen for sure.
Listen ("Board Up the House")

Goldfrapp: Seventh Tree
Goldfrapp is one of only a handful or pop musicians who are true artists. They aren't satisfied with the norm and they don't rest on their laurels, they push each album in a new direction, and in the case of Seventh Tree they've taken their sound somewhere very new and different: folk. Well, folk influenced ambient pop anyways. Alison Goldfrapp's heavenly vocals are as strong as ever and the music swell and flows serenely with acoustic guitars and swaying over light-as-air beats.
Listen ("A&E")

Lykke Li: Youth Novels
Lykke Li is another one of the years most promising new artists, her brand of mellow indie pop with a just the minutest touch of African music and jazz is a breath of fresh air to the indie pop scene. Her breathy vocals at first don't seem to match the poly-rhythms, but after a bit it falls into place.
Listen ("Dance. Dance. Dance.")

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band: 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
If you've never heard A Silver Mt. Zion or Godspeed You! Black Emperor, then they're probably not for you. If you've disliked either of those bands in the past, this album isn't going to convert you. I love it though.
Listen ("blindblindblind")

Valet: Naked Acid
I don't know if this album's title is a suggestion of how best to enjoy this album, but I certainly seems like some kind of illicit narcotic were freely used in the creation of this album. This is one of the most trippy albums I've heard in a long time, it's one part slowcore, one part ambient, and all parts psychedelic.
Listen ("Kehaar")

Best Albums of the 00's: 10-1

10. The Mountain Goats: The Coroner's GambitI don't think I could put The Mountain Goats' discography into any ranking, there's just too many gray areas and similarities to get any kind of hierarchical order. The only thing I know for sure is that The Coroner's Gambit would far and away be number one. It's just that much better of an album compared to the Goats' 18 other albums, all of which are no slouches in the quality department themselves. This album is the best lyrically and the best musically, songs like "Jaipur" and "Family Happiness" are perfect examples of John Darnielle's skill as a songwriter and his ability to mix the trippily fantastic and the disturbingly real. Musically "Island Garden Song" shows of his ability to write memorable and surprisingly complex acoustic guitar parts, while tracks like "Baboon" show the first signs of Darnielle's expanding palet, with it's accordion and drums, but for the most part he lets the lyrics own the show and keeps the accompaniment simple and lo-fi on his acoustic, just the way we want it.

9. James Yorkston: Moving Up Country
While most of the folk world is embracing "freak folk" and "New Weird American" and distancing themselves more and more from the listener and the lyrics, James Yorkston struck back into the traditions of artists like Nick Drake and other big figures in the British folk movement with lush arrangements and deep lyrics. Guitars and pianos provide the base, while fiddle and accordion swell and light percussion give things a little rhythm and other touches such as harmonica, pedal steel and various other folk instruments help Yorkston avoid the great folk pitfall, that such acts as Iron and Wine have fallen into, that is laziness which leads to boring arrangements. Lyrically Yorkston also does a great job of keeping things interesting, whether the subject be love ("I Know My Love"), loss ("St. Patrick"), or faith ("Sweet Jesus") or all three ("Moving Up Country, Roaring the Gospel") Yorkston balance cleverness and realness perfectly, always seeming like the every-man going through hard times, albeit and every-man who can turn a phrase with the best of them.

8. Jens Lekman: Oh You're So Silent Jens
Jens Lekman, much like Paul Simon (an acknowledged influence), has a nact for clever lyrical twists and pop music with lots of surprising instrumentation and arrangement. Lekman balances piano ballads and chamber-laden twee-pop perfectly, wearing his heart on his sleeve and infusing loads of witticisms, throwing you of balance with lines like "I can't say that you are pretty, that would make me a liar but you turn my my legs to spaghetti and set my heart on fire" that you can't tell if he's being insulting or sweet. His view of love is so simple "Now there's nothing left but love enough to feed a family, but I just want to feed Emily, with lukewarm English beer and vegan pancakes" but it stresses home a point that love isn't grand or magical, it really is simple and plain, but that makes it even more special. Much like the way Stephin Merritt can break your heart with just his voice, Lekman can make you melt in you shoes, and it doesn't help when he's singing stuff like "I killed the party again, I ruined for my friends". No Jen, you didn't kill the party, you are the party.

7. Belle & Sebastian: Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
Push Barman to Open Old Wounds spans 4 years in Belle & Sebastian's career, but you can't tell. That's because the band's sound is timeless. If I could compare them to anyone it would be Love, they both make complex yet catchy pop masterpieces, but Belle & Sebastian get the slight edge lyrically, since in Stuart Murdoch they have one of the most clever and skilled crafters of memorable melodies and intimate lyrics. The first five tracks of the album make up one of the best five song runs in music history, and ending it all is the best song the band's ever recorded; "Lazy Line Painter Jane" is a retro sounding track with it's handclap rhythm, humming guitar, throbbing bass, and shimmering organ, while other songs like the seven minute "This is Just a Modern Rock Song" display all three of Belle & Sebastian's singers in their full glory. The whole album is almost two hours in length, a tall order for a pop album, but the band's shifting focus and downright skill make it completely enrapturing the entire time.

6. Islaja: Palaa aurinkoon
Psychedelic music played itself out pretty fast in the 60s, and though it lives on in some artists like The Flaming Lips, for the most part it's gone except for as an influence added to other styles. And even then, most of what's being made isn't really very psychedilic, but listen to just one Islaja song and you'll never call The Mars Volta trippy again. The opening track on the Finnish singer's album is made up of clanking bells and gentle horns, and that's about it, except for Islaja's voice, which is a treasure all it own. Her voice is hypnotic and otherworldly, (think Björk meets Vashti Bunyan on acid) and when it's combined with the downright weird arrangements (panpipes and clarinet?) it makes for a downright otherworld experience. Islaja is really an artist you must hear to understand, there's not any real reference points to her music, except a lose tie to Finnish folk music, but even then that's just surface. The title track is has something that sounds like poorly recorded stomp music with recorder and off-kilter piano accompanying. Like I said, you really just have to hear it.

5. David Thomas Broughton: The Complete Guide to Insufficiency
David Thomas Broughton's debut album follows a pretty simple formula: single acoustic guitar, voice, loop pedal of vocals and guitar being played over and over while more guitar and vocals are being added. He does it on all of the album's five songs, each of which average around eight minutes, and it works perfectly every time. The small amount of songs allows Broughton to create five memorable guitar melodies that are easily recognizable from each other, but it's not the guitar you're focused on for the most part, it's Broughton's vocals and what he's singing that fascinate so much. His voice is as melodramatic (nearly operatic) as they come, but it doesn't sound at all put on, it sounds completely natural and the lyrics, well they're something very special. Perhaps the greatest love song ever written "Execution" consists of only a few lines: "I wouldn't take her to an execution. I wouldn't take her to a live sex show. I would piss or shit on her, would I? Because I love her so." while one of the saddest songs I've ever heard, "Unmarked Grave" will tear your heart. The album was recorded live in a church in Leeds, and during the climax of the aforementioned song, you can hear the church bells ringing; though incidental it sounds perfect, as does the whole album.

4. Broken Social Scene: Broken Social Scene
To me, this album is the pinnacle of indie rock in the 21st century, and Broken Social Scene the Pavement of this generation. They already defined the scope of the decades slant with You Forgot it in People, but instead of resting on their considerable laurels, they pressed forward into new experimental territory, lining up colossal trip-hop beats, multiple fuzzed-out guitar layerings, throbbing bass, and horn section freak-outs all around the vocal work of the likes of Feist, Amy Millan and Torquil Campbell of Stars, Emily Haines of Metric, Andrew Whiteman of Apostle of Hustle, Jason Collett, as well as Broken Social Scene's two core members Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, and that's not even counting guests like K-OS and Murray Lightburn of The Dears. The size and loose make up of Broken Social Scene allows the band to use as many instruments or as few as they want in the songs, for example "7/4 Shoreline" has five guitars in it, while "Bandwitch" is little more than guitar and percussion. "It's All Gonna Break" closes out the album as a reminder of why the album is so great, it's ten minutes of crunchy guitars, pounding rhythm section, a multi-part vocal track, and a final triumphant horn crescendoing coda, blaring like the herald of the new indie rock.

3. Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the Great Highway
The human voice is a powerful thing. Think about how a simple three-letter word like "yes" can have radically different meanings depending on the tone of the voice saying it; such is the power of the voice. God must have given Mark Kozelek's voice a little extra or something because his is a voice that can sell any song. The term "selling" however, does not apply here, since these are songs straight from Kozelek's heart and the ring as true as true can be. When he sings about being lonely, empty, heartbroken, and tired he sounds like he is those things, and you in turn feel lonely, empty, heartbroken, and tired. Kozelek also has a particular talent for fusing vocals, lyrics, and music such that he makes the music match what and how he is singing, so when he's sad the music swells with mournful guitars and strings behind him, furthering the affect of the already incredibly affecting song. Kozelek can even make five minute guitar solos sound sad, now that's talent.

2. Patrick Wolf: Wind in the Wires
Considering my love of electronic, classical, and folk music, it should come as a huge surprise that one of my most treasured albums is a perfect mix of the three. Take just the music of Wind in the Wires, violins and violas play not as an accessory to the music, but as a solo or lead instrument, the electronic beats are fuses of normal electronics and organic sounds such as birds, twisted together, pianos tinker while ukuleles, mandolins, and dulcimers are plucked or strummed. The whole album is unlike anything ever made, it's mixture of things modern and antiquated is unprecedented and honestly, there's nothing that sounds much like it. And the just the music, Patrick Wolf himself is an eccentric figure, a sort if character from the past who brings with him tales of folk tales of old and recites them with a dark melodrama. His delivery of lines like "Today I woke and my spirit was gone; still on the shore where he truly belongs" might sound stupid coming from anyone else, but from Wolf they sound frighteningly real. He fills many of his songs with such a longing that you really begin to believe that he, to quote Brian Wilson "just wasn't made for these times".

1. Okkervil River: Black Sheep Boy
What really, is there to write about this album? What can be said about it that won't sound stupid when compared with music? How does one describe such brilliant and inspired songwriting? What words are there to give an idea of how perfect each instrument, each note, each word, each syllable, is? Is it possible to say how perfect "A King and a Queen" is? When the strings start to swell just a little, the trumpet comes in, and Will Sheff starts to launch into his final declaration of love, will anything I say really matter? No, my words can't do one iota of justice to this music, so instead of doing it a disservice, I'll simple stop and tell you to go listen to it.


fin.

Best Albums of the 00's: 20-11

20. Scott Walker: The DriftThe Drift is a nearly indomitable album. It took me many listens and hours of contemplation to get my head around it. It sounds nothing at all like Walker's first four masterpieces, all spectacular pop albums, but has more in common with the abstract experimentation of Tilt and Climate of the Hunter than the orchestra-laden folk-pop of his early work. Dark and haunting melodies coupled with Walker's deep, drawling voice that can sound drunk or operatic at a moments notice while the music can be ambient and serene then burst into a "solo" from some jungle horn or a wall of synthesized noise. Lyrically lines like "I'll punch a donkey in the street, then run away" hardly lend themselves to easy interpretation, and most of the album follow in that abstract route. There are not breaks from the drudgery of this album, like a black-hole it sucks in everything and leaves you with a barren wasteland of bizarre music. Thankfully, once you're sucked in, you won't want to leave.

19. Deerhoof: Apple O'
Apple O' is, I consider, Deerhoof's peak of their noise/math rock style, after this album the band started to experiment more with broader arrangements and more instruments. The beginning signs of this change is found on the album with things like the horns in "Sealed With a Kiss" or the acoustics of "Adam+Eve Connection" but for the most part the band stays true to their dueling tech-crazy guitar and wispy female vocals. The most incredible thing about this album is how the band can go from quiet, ethereal tracks like "Apple Bomb" and "Blue Cash" and then on the very next track explode into riotous guitar jams. This is amazing because on paper, the bands noisy, oddly structured arrangements combined with Satomi Matsuzaki's high vocal delivery shouldn't even work one way, let alone two. But it does.

18. Yo La Tengo: And Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Of all the many things Yo La Tengo are lauded for, lyrics are usually absent from the list, which is a shame, though in some ways slightly understandable since you can't always understand what's being said over the washes of distortion and feedback, but whatever the reason, it's a shame since the band has considerable skill at laying down interesting lyrics. Take the hushed male/female harmonized "Last Days of Disco" for example, the lyrics capture perfectly that time of your life when everything influences you, when you're young and heartbroken and a song can either make you happy thinking about your girlfriend, or sad thinking about your ex. It's all in your head how you want to interpret it. Musically, with a few exceptions such as the ultimate Tengo rocker "Cherry Chapstick", the album is a lot quieter, with more emphisis on ballads than on distortion, but that just gives the bands lyrics a chance to shine.

17. mewithoutYou: Catch For Us the Foxes
Before the first song of this album is a quarter over, you know that you're experiencing an album unlike any other. Sure you've heard indie rock before, and you've heard post-hardcore before, and you may have even heard them both coming from the same band, but the type of music found on this album is truly one of a kind. The waves of droney guitars mixed with pounding riffs, throbbing bass, propellant drums switch from atmospheric ambiance to aggressive punk at the drop of a hat, and lead singer Aaron Weiss sings, screams, shouts, yells, and talks to recite his writing, which are more poetry in the classical sense than lyrics in the modern, but even then he has a strong sense of melody and flow within these poetic ramblings, which range from death and murder to God and love and are full of obscure Christian, Jewish, and Muslim ideas as well as influence from people like Rumi, Oscar Wilde, Kierkegaard, and Jack Kerouac, which Weiss recites without reference whatsoever, but simply ties them all together and then yells them while the rest of the band noodles and jams.

16. Circulatory System: Circulatory System
Circulatory System is Olivia Tremor Control minus Bill Doss, but not minus any of the awesomeness. That might seem a knock on Doss, but it's not. Instead of trying to make another Olivia Tremor Control album Will Cullen Hart decided to try something a little different. His patented layered sound is still there, and his penchant for noise collages is still there, but there's significantly less of the 60s pop that was his former band's trademark. Instead he's created a bizarre and introspective lo-fi psychedelic album chock full of abstract sounds and buried melodies. It's trippy fairyland that owes a lot to Indian music, such as the raga banjo track "Time or Dateline" as well as more modern psych artists. Just like the Olivia albums, this one flows perfectly, so perfectly that it all seems like different movements in a grand symphony, with each track flowing into the next seamlessly with Cullen Hart's patented interludes paving the way to as cohesive and wild an album as you'll ever hear.

15. Deftones: Saturday Night Wrist
Coming from a music scene that glamorizes the image and deemphasizes content and experimentation, Deftones are a true anomaly. Instead of being satisfied with simple alternative metal and rock tunes, which certainly would have brought the band more success, Chino Moreno and company bring in a wide variety of influences, ranging from trip-hop and electronica to dreamy shoegaze and even turntablism. Opening track "Hole in the Earth" is a pounding rock tune, while the next song "Rapture" is a distorted screamo track, but the really interesting songs are the ones where Moreno does trippy experimental songs like "Beware" and the divine "Cherry Waves". These songs are loaded with washes of effects-laden guitar, light beats and ambient electronic blips, and Moreno's own surreal and trippy vocals cutting through the swirling noise. Saturday Night Wrist is a dense album, full of unexpected twists and left-field twists, that make Deftones much more of a experimental band than and alternative one.

14. The Samuel Jackson Five: Easily Misunderstood

There's been a movement afoot in post-rock in the last couple years, though some might just say it's just the genre expanding and becoming more popular, but I'd call it "dilution" or "lameness". There are countless instrumental acts out there these days that are just plain boring, they follow in the dull and repetitive path of Explosions in the Sky by creating "epic" songs that are really just simple melodies repeated over and over that grow slowly in volume. This can be done interestingly and well, however, but artists that can do it are rare. Into this landscape of uninspired tedium come The Samuel Jackson Five, a group of guys with serious chops that make music that is just plain fun to listen to, as well as extremely well made. They have free-jazz guitar jams like "Charlie Foxtrot Queen" and "If You Show Off the Milk, Who's Gonna Buy the Cow?" piano and string duets such as "Michael Collins Autograph" and the title track, as well as progy experimental tracks like "No Name". The band can slow things down if they want and do the "atmospheric" thing if they want to, but the don't slow down for long and before you know it there's more psycho riffs coming your way. One thing that is clear throughout the album is that these guys are really having fun with their music, and not crying in the bathroom or trying to be a classical composer with no where near the skill, they are just making the music they love, and also happen to be geniuses at creating.

13. The Knife: Silent Shout
If you hadn't already figured it out by my constant use of "ominus" "gloomy" and other such words, when describing a lot of the albums on this list, I love dark music. Whether it be dark in lyrics, tone, atmosphere, everything. The more the better. I also love electronic music, and The Knife's third album happens to have a lot of darkness and be electronica, so the fact that it's so high on the list shouldn't come as much of a surprise. The opening and title track mixes minimal beats and arpeggiating synth lines with vocals that sound like vocalist Karin Andersson is singing a duet with Lucifer. Other tracks provide complex dance structures, while still others have pounding beats and tinkering metallic samples. All the songs find Andersson's vocals being given dramatic changes with effects and pitch-shifting, to the point that she sometimes sounds like a beefy man, but all this just adds to the twistedness of the album's entire sound. Like demons from the forests of Sweden, Andersson and her brother Olof, the DJ in the duo, create archaic electro music, best described by another reviewer as "haunted house".

12. Joanna Newsom: Ys
The Milk-Eyed Mender proved that Joanna Newsom could create intimate and complex freak-folk on a small scale, Ys shows us that she can do so on a grand scale, with even better results. With an average song length of around ten minutes, one might expect that Newsom's harp and voice style might grow a little tired, but that's so far from the case it's scary. Newsom's otherworldly, fairytale lyrics are make listening to the album worth it even if you hate the music, but there's not much to hate in the music either. Newsom's untraditional and detailed harp playing is a pleasure to listen to, and the addition of huge string and arrangements by baroque master Van Dyke Parks as well as little touches such as little bits of bass, jazz guitar, mandolin, and banjo. The truth is, the opening track is 12 minutes long and you don't want it to end by the time it's done; the rest of the album runs along those lines as well.

11. The National: Alligator
If someone were to ask me to recommend one album and one album only, Alligator would be my choice every time. The albums great appeal comes from just how well constructed it is. Matt Berninger's baritone occasionally sounds soothing while it can also emulate a drunken drawl, which suits Berninger's hopeless, depraved, barroom lyrics perfectly. Musically, the band keeps things simple, but tight with dueling electric guitar riffs and occasional piano, with everything being tied together with Bryan Devendorf's propulsive drumming, something that really anchors the album. Each song here is meticulously crafted, yet sounds so spontaneous and breezy in performance. Alligator really put The National on the map, and put them in contention to knock of The Hold Steady as "most literate bar band ever".

Best Albums of the 00's: 30-21

30. James Yorkston: The Year of the LeopardJames Yorkston's third album is really about perfection. On it, Yorkston has perfected his songcraft, his lyrics, and his arrangements. Everything here is just right, every note fits perfectly in place and each word is meticulously thought through to give it just the right sound, flow, and inflection. But does that give it a cold, mechanical sound? Not at all, this is the lushest album he's released, it's chock full of all guitar, banjo, strings, and piano but also with other, odder instruments like bells or clarinet. "5 AM" is probably the triumph of Yorkston's career, music-wise, while spoken-word track "Woozy With Cider" is probably, from a purely lyrical standpoint, is the best song he's ever written. It makes you feel like you struggling with life in the city, just like the character. That's the genius of Yorkston's songs, he presents stories that you can relate to and character that are losers, with clear faults and struggles.

29. The Fiery Furnaces: Gallowsbird's Bark
The Fiery Furnaces' catalog is a product of evolution, with each successive album they have add more complexity and layers, but their first and most stripped down album is their best. Though synths and electronics occasionally appear in the album, it's mostly just gritty electric guitars, drums, and piano. Unlike the ten minute epics on latter albums, there's no songs over four and a half minutes, in fact most of them in the two minute range. The songs hit hard though, packing tons of Mathew Friedberger's blues riffs while his sister Eleanor's strong vocals keep you on your toes as she twists through odd phrasings and pronunciations. It's odd that, besides the amazing "Asthma Attack" and "Tropical Ice-Land" there aren't very many standout tracks, the album as a whole flows perfect to the point that you sort of forget that you're listening to a bunch of songs instead of a whole piece of music.

28. Okkervil River: Black Sheep Boy Appendix
Though an EP of "leftover" tracks may seem like it would be hit-or-miss, this is Okkervil River we're talking about, and for them nothing is impossible. This isn't an album so much of castoffs but one of songs that wouldn't fit on the Black Sheep Boy, the full-length that preceded it. There are no weak tracks on here, in fact all the songs are amazing, but take any of them and try to stick them on Black Sheep Boy and it wouldn't work at all. The pacing and flow of that album is perfect, and anything else in there would mess it up completely, so the Appendix was born. This one finds the band sounding more like the six-piece they are, with every musician playing on every track; the overall sound is a lot fuller and weightier as well as in some cases darker. "Another Radio Song" rest squarely in the middle of the EP, anchoring it as one of the very best songs the band has made while rockier songs like "No Key, No Plan" and "Last Love Song For Now" turn up the energy while "Black Sheep Boy #4" and "Missing Children" slow it down some. But either way the band decides to go, it always works.

27. Björk: Vespertine
Where, honestly, does one begin with a Björk? She's accomplished so much in her career, and changed the face of music; essential revolutionizing electronic music and paving the way for albums as diverse as Kid A and It's a Feedelity Affair. Her two defining albums are Post and Homogenic, which both preceded the release of Vespertine. How does one live up to the hype? How does one recreate the magic of two one-of-a-kind albums? The answer is you don't if you have talent. If you have true talent you push forward to conquer the next challenge, and for Björk that challenge was to make a more personal album. And that's exactly what Vespertine is. Each song is it's own microcosm of minimalist beats and maximum emotions. Everything in the album seems closer to you, the music is much more subdued and Björk's lyrics allow you a hazy window into her life, which is about the best you're going to get with her.

26. Belle & Sebastian: The Life Pursuit
After 6 albums and loads of EPs, Belle & Sebastian's twee-pop days were starting to run out. Though the band has never released a bad album, of late the quality was slowly declining in the music department, so what does a band that wrote the book on modern indie pop do? Why, they dig back through their record collection for other pioneers of pop for influence. And that's just what Belle & Sebastian did on The Life Pursuit, you can find pop from every era in the last four decades on this album, everything from beat to Motown to folk-pop to glam (especially glam), to synth-pop is stuffed into the album and sealed together with some classic Belle & Sebastian twee-pop to hold it all together. This the loudest Belle & Sebastian album you'll hear and the actually could be called a "rock" band for come of the songs, but the you come across tunes like "Dress Up in You" and you remember that the band will always be a chamber-pop band at heart, and I'm not complaining about that.

25. Shearwater: Thieves
Thieves is a tiny little album, but inside these 5 songs are the best work Shearwater has ever released. The three Jonathon Meiburg led songs are dark and chilling. He uses his exquisite vocals perfectly with the music; as guitars and drums drone ominously, his choir-boy vocals slice through is with a resounding clearness. Will Sheff's two tracks, on the other hand, are take a more traditional folk route, while giving his unmatched lyrical ability a chance to shine in their full glory. Honestly though, even if "Mountain Laurel", Meiburg's smoky banjo and fiddle stomp, and "Near a Garden", Sheff's witty take on the fleetingness of life, were the only tracks on the album, it would still be the best in the band's catalog. Though, tracks like the slow-burners "You're the Coliseum" and "There's a Mark Where You Were Breathing" or the cold and gitty "I Can't Wait" don't hurt the case at all.

24. Low: Things We Lost in the Fire
There's only a certain type of people that can listen to Low for more than just a few minutes. If you lack patience or comprehension of talent, then you probably aren't one of those people. For most, bands like Low or Red House Painters are boring, they can appreciate the beauty of the music and lyrics, but they couldn't take a whole album of it. It's true that Low's albums aren't always the most exciting affairs, but the band's understanding of song structure, their affinity for beautiful male/female harmonies, their stark sonic landscapes, and their morbid with a hint of sunlight lyrics more than make up for it. Low isn't for everyone, but for those people that do enjoy them, they truly strike a deep chord. Certainly deeper than most bands.

23. Wilco: Kicking Television
Kicking Television is essentially a greatest hits album of most of Wilco's best songs being performed by the band in their best incarnation. This lineup features Wilco's only constant members singer-songwriter/guitarist Jeff Tweedy and bassist John Stirratt along with drummer Glenn Kotche, keyboardist Mikael Jorgerson, multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone and most importantly guitar guitar Nels Cline. Together, the band rips through some of their classic songs while simultaneously breathing new life into them. Key to all this is Cline, a certified master a guitar, his solos and riffs are outstanding, and he brings clearity to some of the murkier songs from A Ghost is Born, turning an abstract overlong song like "Spiders (Kidsmoke)" into undulating guitar jams with twin, feedback drenched solos and pounding chord stomps. The only thing that could make this album better would be most Summerteeth tracks. Much more.

22. !!!: Myth Takes
This is an album that really grew on me, but not in the traditional sense. I loved it when I first heard it, but I didn't appreciate it's depth and genius until over a year after I first heard it. On the surface it's booty-shakin' dance-punk, but underneath all that lies a dark beast, full of demonic urges, and mythic sound. Much like the album's cover art, the album is immediately pleasing yet incalculably complex. The album's only weak track is "Sweet Life" and Though it's not really because the song is actually bad but because it's not as good as the rest of the album. That's just how good this album is, it literally makes good songs sounds awful in comparison. There's a lot of Talking Heads in here, from the poly-rhythms to the funk infused art-punk, !!! takes Remain in Light and puts it through a meat-grinder with odd voodoo accents and jungle boogie.

21. Girl Talk: Night Ripper
Night Ripper is the complete opposite of cohesive albums like Since I Left You and Endtroducing... albums that don't flaunt the fact that they are made completely of samples, and instead sound like they could be original recordings. Night Ripper is so obviously a collage of samples that you know it within seconds of the first song, but what you don't know at that point is just how many different "songs" you're going to hear. There's over 200 used in the albums forty-odd minutes, and they come fast and furious, to the point that sometimes it just sounds like you're flipping through the radio stations. Though hip-hop and pop make up most of what you'll hear, there's samples from the likes of Elton John, The Pixies, James Taylor, Sonic Youth, the list goes on... And even though it lacks the cohesiveness of the aforementioned albums, it flows perfect and each transition if flawless, just like the album. Flawless and the best party album of all time.

Best Albums of the 00's: 40-31

40. Wolf Parade: Apologies to the Queen Mary
"indie rock" is such a ridiculously broad term. It's essentially pointless except give something hipster appeal. Wolf Parade is labeled "indie rock" but does that mean that they sound anything like Yo La Tengo or The Pixies? Nope. Wolf Parade do, however share some similarities with Modest Mouse, yet run through a more imaginative filter infused with the merest hints of punk enthusiasm. Songwriting and vocals are split between guitarist Dan Boeckner (of Handsome Furs) and keyboardist Spencer Krug (or Sunset Rubdown and Swan Lake); both bring their own individuality to each song, Boeckner's tunes have a strong sense of melody and construction, while Krug's are more urgent seem poised on the edge of completely falling apart. Together, their interplay and the variations between the two leaders styles make the album a eclectic listen, but the band keeps it all together with a unified musical sound.

39. James Yorkston: Just Beyond the River
Just Beyond the River has a stark and empty feeling to it compared with the lush arrangements of Moving Up Country, but regardless of this step down in volume, James Yorkston's second album is a complex and abrasive journey through the heart, with backing music that echoes the sentiments perfectly. Yorkston, as always, is an outstanding lyricist and he's never sounded as heartfelt as he does on songs like "Heron" and "Time Tomorrow". His quiet, but in no ways weak vocals are assertive, such as on "Shipwreckers" which proves he can do more than the standard quiet folk vocals. The greatest thing about this album is Yorkston's new direction in arrangements, the album has a much more traditional sound, with banjo and fiddle playing much more prominent roles, and in some cases driving the songs. Though this is the worst of Yorkston's three albums, it's still one of the best folk albums ever.

38. Olivia Tremor Control: Singles and Beyond
It's hard to believe that this is a collection of songs that never even made it to a major album released. Every song on this album is excellent, and some stand up with some of the greatest indie rock songs ever. Perhaps even more unbelievable is how old some of these songs are, opening track (and an all-time favorite of mine) "Love Athena" was recorded in 1992 and released on the band's very first release, yet it still stands up, regardless of it's age of the poor quality of the recording (as a young band, they couldn't afford anything better). The songs on this album follow the patented Olivia formula, mixing indie pop masterpieces with intricate, and occasionally noisy, musical collages. The interplay between these two is seamless, as 60s psychedelia flows perfectly into starkly modern ambiance so easily that you don't even notice the jump of decades of influence.

37. Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Matt Sweeney: Superwolf
Though this is the first fully realized evidence of it, Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy) and Matt Sweeney (of Chavez and Zwan fame) have been collaborating together from quite some time. Sweeney has played on several of Oldham's albums, as well as being a fixture of his live shows but for the first time, they both share the stage. Though Oldham is reponsible for most of the lead vocals and lyrics, Sweeney's lead guitar is never put to the side and always plays an vital part in every song. It can be delicate and soothing, or break into a shrieking solo at a moment's notice. Oldham's own backing guitar is solid as well, providing a foundation for Sweeney to twist and turn his intricate lines in. Both artists sing, though Oldham does the bulk of it, though that too works to the album benefit, for when Sweeney does pop up, it's gives the flow a refresh, keeping us guessing and interested in more than just he main attractions: Oldham's lyrics and Sweeney's guitar.

36. Animal Collective: Feels
In retrospect, Feels is clearly a bridging album between Sung Tongs and Strawberry Jam. It has the unhinged energy and folk backbone of the former and the beginnings of the pop experimentation of the latter. Albums like this are usually regarded as either half-baked or missing the mark, but in the case of Feels, it's the exact opposite. Instead of being an uneven mix of styles, it is the perfect mix of two things that are taken to too much of an extreme on the albums that precede and follow it. This is Animal Collective's self-professed "love album" but for the most part it's not the lyrics that will keep you interested (unless you actually read them, "Purple Bottle" ftw!) it's the unique tuning and bizarre song structures that you are immediately presented with. The album is by far the densest the Collective has ever made, and though the massive ambiance in the renderings may annoy some at first, those who allow the album to grow on them, will surely come to love it.

35. The Fiery Furnaces: Blueberry Boat
As bizarre of an album as it is, there is something so charming and lovable about Blueberry Boat. Perhaps it's the childlike, fairy-tale songs written with a broad, over-literate hand or the quirky music that takes prog-rock and indie pop and fuses them together with a healthy dose of synthesizers, but whatever it is, it's utterly irresistible to me, though not everyone shares my opinion. The album is the ultimate divider, with some calling it unlistenable tripe (most-likely for the very same reasons I love it) while others hail it as a masterpiece of experimentation and song-craft. I tend to fall into the second group, I find Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger's music as interesting, intriguing, and challenging to the conventions of what is acceptable in pop music. There's hooks and catchy lyrics, but there's also 10 minute synth songs, massive guitar wankery, and odd noise passages. The Fiery Furnace push to and beyond most listeners breaking points by the first song, but if you have it in you to like this album, then it's sure to be one of your very favorites.

34. The Knife: Deep Cuts
Let's get down to bare bones without beating around the bush at all. "Heartbeats", the opening song on The Knife's second album, is the best pop song of the 21st century, and could be the best of all time. Everything in this song is perfect, the way the synths sway back and forth to the beat, the vocal inflections and shifts, the little steeldrum touches, all of it is just divine. And though the rest of the album is a step down from "Heartbeats" it's still an incredible electro-pop album. The Knife know how to mix the pop and the electro to just the right combination of wavy synths and catchy vocals tracks. As always with The Knife Karin Dreijer provides the vocals and lyrics while her brother Olof, who clearly is more a fan of techno and house than pop creates the beats. This is still a step away from the band's defining album Silent Shout, but it's a step in that direction, as well as an incredibly enjoyable pop experience.

33. Death From Above 1979: You're a Woman, I'm a Machine
It's sort of an odd thing that an album that rocks incredibly hard and brings all the cock-out attitude of punk and classic rock and roll doesn't have a single electric guitar on it. Everything you hear on the album that sounds like a guitar is really Jesse F. Keeler's bass. Keeler does stuff on the bass you couldn't imagine in your wildest dream, he riffs like Slash and he works the frets like Eddie Van Halen, all with two less strings than those guys had. Besides bass, the only other thing on the album is vocalist Sebastien Grainger's propulsive drum as well as some subtle synth touches. With the mixing of the riffs and Grainger's half-dance, half-punk rhythms create a sweaty mess of rock and roll, dance, and punk. There's genius in many of these songs, but half the fun is finding it. At the very least, this is a impossibly fun album to listen to, and really hard not to love.

32. Patrick Wolf: The Magic Position
Coming after twisted and brooding albums like Patrick Wolf's first two albums, The Magic Position is a explosion of color and joy. There's always been some hints of pop in Wolf's music, buried beneath all the folk instruments, noise, and melodrama, but with this album he finally lets it out in all its glory. Make no mistake, this isn't any cheesy pop album, this is one the most intricate pop albums since Forever Changes. Wolf's genius for melding folk, electro, and classical is perfectly apt for crossing classical and pop to create a chamber pop album full or pianos, beats, strings, synths, horns, most of which are played by Wolf himself, who also produced the album. The kind of talent Wolf has (started at 12, and is classical trained on violin and viola) makes him stand out from the rest of the pop music world like no other, which is fitting because he creates music that is like no others.

31. The Blood Brothers: Young Machetes
I've always been of the opinion that with genres like screamo and hardcore, which can tend to be rather bland, that the more outside influences you bring in, the better. Perhaps that's why The Blood Brothers' albums just get better and better, because they just get more daring and experimental. All that climaxed with the band's last album (an album that, ironically ends with a song called "Giant Swan") Young Machetes, an album that brought the pop of Crimes and the harder edge of early albums and mixed them together with all kinds of bizarre rhythms and influences ranging from funk to 60s beat music. As always, some are gonna hate the Brothers' high-pitched vocals and weird harmonized screams, but if you don't mind that then you have gold mine of talent, creativity, and originality, something you can very rarely say about any artists in the genre.