#10 
Veckatimest
Grizzly Bear
I’d resisted Grizzly Bear’s homespun, warmly fuzzy music for a long time, but Veckatimest finally knocked down my last defenses. At a time when everyone and their mom seems to be starting up indie pop bands, Veckatimest doesn’t represent a radical new way of doing things, but it shows how powerful indie pop can be when done well. Soaring melodies combined with rich vocal harmonies is nothing new, but Grizzly Bear just sell their songs to you so well. There’s still a bit of that rural twang hanging onto their music, but with their subtle keyboards and layers of choir-like voices, the songs on Veckatimest sound strong and assured. Plus, the album features the gorgeous “Two Weeks”, which single-handedly sets the bar absurdly high for every other indie band trying to find that one perfect crossover single.
[original review]
#9
Face Control
Handsome Furs
Wolf Parade are rapidly starting to look like one of those “one-and-done” bands, who release a single great album and then essentially vanish off the face of the earth. Thankfully, one half of Wolf Parade’s core songwriting tandem, Dan Boeckner, seems to be really hitting his stride with Handsome Furs, his other band, formed with his wife, Alexei Perry. Going back to the singer-and-keyboardist synth duo model of the 1980s, Handsome Furs play stripped down music, but don’t think for a second that Face Control sounds weak. Boeckner’s barbed guitar and Springsteen-strident vocals provide the force, while Perry’s brittle electronic beats and stabs of keyboard give the music an edgy, stark quality. Songs like “I’m Confused”, “Evangeline” and the devastating closer, “Radio Kaliningrad” stand as some of the most cathartic and thrilling music released this year. Handsome Furs may still be treated as “that band with the other guy from Wolf Parade”, but with albums this strong, that could change in the very near future.
[original review]
#8
Préliminaires
Iggy Pop
Of all the albums featured on the list, Préliminaires is possibly the hardest to really dig into and appreciate. It comes with a reading list (Michel Houellebecq’s The Possibility of an Island) and requires the listener to be aware of Iggy’s storied past. Clearly, this is a tall order for many music fans, especially as the world seems to be forgetting about Iggy at a frighteningly fast pace. However, as faux-New-Orleans jazz albums inspired by French science-fiction go, Préliminaires is an extraordinary accomplishment. Iggy does an admirable job of setting the themes of the book to music, but he also makes these songs deeply personal. Houellebecq’s story of an entertainer struggling to maintain his relevance and virility as he ages is something that must resonate deeply with James Osterberg, the sixty-two year old man behind the Iggy persona. After a demented career, full of ups, downs and too many self-inflicted injures to count, Iggy has finally let his mature, intelligent Osterberg side have free reign on his music.
[original review]
#7
Embryonic
The Flaming Lips
Yeah, no one saw this coming. Don’t even pretend like you did. The Flaming Lips spent the past decade getting increasingly mellower and mellower, recording some good music but getting frighteningly toothless in the process. All that changed on Embryonic, as the Lips unleashed a seething mass of static-drenched mind-fuckery upon the world. With its pounding bass lines, disembodied vocal samples and general formlessness, Embryonic is not for fans who were lured into orbit by the whimsical silliness of “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots”. Most of the songs have dark overtones, questioning the moral nature of humanity, with Wayne Coyne’s desperate, strained vocal performances leading the charge on many songs. The whole teetering mess reaches its inevitable climax with “Watching The Planets”, the cacophonous track that closes the album. Sure, the album may run a bit long, clocking in at seventy thunderous minutes, but the Flaming Lips have brought power and darkness back into their music. In my book, that’s a very, very good thing.
[original review]
#6
Fever Ray
Fever Ray
While it may not be the equal of the Knife’s Silent Shout, the 2006 masterwork by Karin Andersson’s more famous band, Fever Ray is still a stunning piece of music. While it shares Silent Shout’s icy, looming dread and disorienting vocal pitch manipulation, Fever Ray is ultimately a gentler, more personal record. This approach has strengths of its own, however, resulting in gloriously strange tracks like “Seven”, as well as desperately lonely pieces, such as the peerless “Keep The Streets Empty For Me”. Andersson has become a master of atmosphere, perfectly balancing industrial percussion, grinding electronics and twinkling keyboard riffs to create a sound that’s intensely oppressive, but also startlingly beautiful and haunting. While it may not be the most welcoming album ever created, Fever Ray is one solid, cohesive work from start to finish, from the bleak “If I Had Heart” all the way to the anthemic “Coconut”. The world might still be waiting for the next Knife album, but Fever Ray more than deserves the title of Silent Shout 2.
[original review]
Veckatimest
Grizzly Bear
I’d resisted Grizzly Bear’s homespun, warmly fuzzy music for a long time, but Veckatimest finally knocked down my last defenses. At a time when everyone and their mom seems to be starting up indie pop bands, Veckatimest doesn’t represent a radical new way of doing things, but it shows how powerful indie pop can be when done well. Soaring melodies combined with rich vocal harmonies is nothing new, but Grizzly Bear just sell their songs to you so well. There’s still a bit of that rural twang hanging onto their music, but with their subtle keyboards and layers of choir-like voices, the songs on Veckatimest sound strong and assured. Plus, the album features the gorgeous “Two Weeks”, which single-handedly sets the bar absurdly high for every other indie band trying to find that one perfect crossover single.
[original review]
#9
Face Control
Handsome Furs
Wolf Parade are rapidly starting to look like one of those “one-and-done” bands, who release a single great album and then essentially vanish off the face of the earth. Thankfully, one half of Wolf Parade’s core songwriting tandem, Dan Boeckner, seems to be really hitting his stride with Handsome Furs, his other band, formed with his wife, Alexei Perry. Going back to the singer-and-keyboardist synth duo model of the 1980s, Handsome Furs play stripped down music, but don’t think for a second that Face Control sounds weak. Boeckner’s barbed guitar and Springsteen-strident vocals provide the force, while Perry’s brittle electronic beats and stabs of keyboard give the music an edgy, stark quality. Songs like “I’m Confused”, “Evangeline” and the devastating closer, “Radio Kaliningrad” stand as some of the most cathartic and thrilling music released this year. Handsome Furs may still be treated as “that band with the other guy from Wolf Parade”, but with albums this strong, that could change in the very near future.
[original review]
#8
Préliminaires
Iggy Pop
Of all the albums featured on the list, Préliminaires is possibly the hardest to really dig into and appreciate. It comes with a reading list (Michel Houellebecq’s The Possibility of an Island) and requires the listener to be aware of Iggy’s storied past. Clearly, this is a tall order for many music fans, especially as the world seems to be forgetting about Iggy at a frighteningly fast pace. However, as faux-New-Orleans jazz albums inspired by French science-fiction go, Préliminaires is an extraordinary accomplishment. Iggy does an admirable job of setting the themes of the book to music, but he also makes these songs deeply personal. Houellebecq’s story of an entertainer struggling to maintain his relevance and virility as he ages is something that must resonate deeply with James Osterberg, the sixty-two year old man behind the Iggy persona. After a demented career, full of ups, downs and too many self-inflicted injures to count, Iggy has finally let his mature, intelligent Osterberg side have free reign on his music.
[original review]
#7
Embryonic
The Flaming Lips
Yeah, no one saw this coming. Don’t even pretend like you did. The Flaming Lips spent the past decade getting increasingly mellower and mellower, recording some good music but getting frighteningly toothless in the process. All that changed on Embryonic, as the Lips unleashed a seething mass of static-drenched mind-fuckery upon the world. With its pounding bass lines, disembodied vocal samples and general formlessness, Embryonic is not for fans who were lured into orbit by the whimsical silliness of “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots”. Most of the songs have dark overtones, questioning the moral nature of humanity, with Wayne Coyne’s desperate, strained vocal performances leading the charge on many songs. The whole teetering mess reaches its inevitable climax with “Watching The Planets”, the cacophonous track that closes the album. Sure, the album may run a bit long, clocking in at seventy thunderous minutes, but the Flaming Lips have brought power and darkness back into their music. In my book, that’s a very, very good thing.
[original review]
#6
Fever Ray
Fever Ray
While it may not be the equal of the Knife’s Silent Shout, the 2006 masterwork by Karin Andersson’s more famous band, Fever Ray is still a stunning piece of music. While it shares Silent Shout’s icy, looming dread and disorienting vocal pitch manipulation, Fever Ray is ultimately a gentler, more personal record. This approach has strengths of its own, however, resulting in gloriously strange tracks like “Seven”, as well as desperately lonely pieces, such as the peerless “Keep The Streets Empty For Me”. Andersson has become a master of atmosphere, perfectly balancing industrial percussion, grinding electronics and twinkling keyboard riffs to create a sound that’s intensely oppressive, but also startlingly beautiful and haunting. While it may not be the most welcoming album ever created, Fever Ray is one solid, cohesive work from start to finish, from the bleak “If I Had Heart” all the way to the anthemic “Coconut”. The world might still be waiting for the next Knife album, but Fever Ray more than deserves the title of Silent Shout 2.
[original review]
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