Let’s talk about nostalgia. It’s something we all do, usually alone and behind closed doors. Catholics are likely guilty about it. It can make you go blind. Nostalgia is not a singular thing, and I have recently noticed that most of my favourite bands often dwell on some form of nostalgia or another. While I don’t think this is an inherently negative thing, it’s fascinating (for me, at least) to contemplate the different kinds – and different takes – of nostalgia that crop up in the average rock song.

The National are probably my favourite band, and they continue their winning streak with their recently-released album High Violet. As with all previous National albums (save maybe Boxer, which hit me right away) it took me a while to get into it. I started out thinking it was okay, but by this stage I think it’s another stone-cold classic. While they were never exactly Guns ‘n’ Roses when it came to histrionic rock-outs, the National have become even more austere in recent years, and High Violet contains little that breaks a sweat beyond mid-tempo. This might turn some people off, but I think it’s pretty remarkable the variety these boys can pull off given their limited sonic palette. In interviews for the album, the Dessner brothers proclaimed their love for minimalism, and it shows through. Some might find minimalism boring, but what I find fascinating about it (and this album) is how they can make something so complex sound so simple. On High Violet, little guitar flourishes and drum fills flit in and out of the mix, often barely registering, except maybe after the twentieth listen. These are dense tracks that sound like very straightforward songs and I still hear new things when I listen, even in songs that sound quite simple. Matt Berninger’s lyrics remain brilliant, striking a tough balance between ambiguity and evocation with imagery both poignant and humourous (a vital part of the National that is often neglected when people talk about them, I find). ‘Terrible Love’, ‘Little Faith’, ‘Afraid of Everyone’, ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ and ‘England’ all capture many of the feelings of love, anxiety and brief rushes of contentment that confront many in their thirties. In my eyes, the absolute masterpiece of the album is ‘Sorrow’, which perfectly encapsulates the allure and comfort of fleeting nostalgia, even when it springs from a place that’s not entirely happy. ‘Sorrow found me when I was young/Sorrow waited and sorrow won…cover me in rag and bones, cause I don’t want to get over you.’ Memories – even bad ones – are a complex thing, and the music and lyrics of the National perfectly encapsulate that woozy feeling one gets when contemplating something painful, but something they can’t leave behind.

The Hold Steady released their new album, Heaven is Whenever, on 4 May 2010. The band specialises in reminiscing about the debauchery of youth in a way that is both cautionary and yearning. They misspent their youths, but that doesn’t exactly mean they don’t want to return to them. It is a testament to Craig Finn’s excellent lyrics, insightful in both their snark and sentiment, that they’ve managed to sustain this relatively limited narrative over five studio albums now. However, I felt the first cracks beginning to appear on 2008’s Stay Positive, which was a good record but beginning to feel a slight bit same-y. In my mind, the departure of live-wire keyboardist Franz Nicolai earlier this year could have forced the band to go one of two ways – either recalibration and a reinterpretation of what made them great in the first place, or a simple retreat to the familiar. Unfortunately, the results lean more towards the latter. There are a few new flourishes, such as a clarinet(!) solo on ‘Barely Breathing’ and some arena rock guitar work by Tad Kubler, but there is no doubt that this is (just) another Hold Steady record. Kubler even replaces Nicolai on keyboards in a limited capacity on some songs. Again, like Stay Positive this is a decent record, but it just doesn’t take my breath away as 2006’s Boys and Girls in America did. Their whole modus operandi is starting to feel a bit familiar (for an excellent blog post on the subject, see Steven Hyden’s entry on the AV Club http://www.avclub.com/milwaukee/articles/how-the-hold-steady-can-make-a-better-album-than-h,42718/). Musically, this is fine, as the Hold Steady were never exactly Radiohead in the experimental department, but lyrically it’s a bit disappointing. Finn still has the propensity for witty insight (‘The theme of this party’s the industrial age, and you came in dressed like a train wreck’) but they’re still aimed firmly at the debauchery of his early twenties instead of an honest reflection of where he likely is now as he enters his late thirties. It must be said, though, that this album presents a bit more wistfulness and self-aware reflection that one’s best days are behind you – and that they may not have been that great in the first place. ‘The Weekenders’, by far the best track on the album (even if it smells faintly of past classics like ‘You Can Make Him Like You’ and ‘Chips Ahoy’) practically begs for a temporary return to the places that, rightly or wrongly, the narrator misses and that have come to define his existence. I’ll never get tired of the Hold Steady. They’re an important band to me and every album is still better than most stuff that passes my way. Still, I don’t want Craig Finn to turn into that old guy you might find at the end of the bar at 4 in the afternoon, the one who’s always telling you the same story about how crazy he was when he was your age and how those times were somehow purer than that which we experience now.

While the Gaslight Anthem are another one of my favourite bands, I think that the type of nostalgia they have traded in in the past is as dangerous as the Hold Steady’s in its own way. Their last album, The ’59 Sound, was all about viewing times you’d never been part of through rose-coloured glasses. It was imagining that your grandfather and his times were noble and true, rather than slightly misogynistic and depressed, and thinking that blue collar is an honourable choice rather than something that, quite frankly, most people are trying to escape. Nostalgia is one thing when it’s for a time you’ve left behind, but it seems much more problematic when it’s trying to reach for some sort of collective and historic truth that likely was never there in the first place.

On first listen, their new CD, to be honest, sounds like more of the same. I liked it alright, but only with time have I started to contemplate it more and think that it’s quite a step forward for them. Throughout the album, they’re still living in the grips of the false ice-cream-and-apple-pie America of their parents, but it’s quickly dawning on them that this is a dangerous road to travel down. Some of it’s still aimed at the noble blue collar, but in a way that has a bit more of a bitterly truthful undercurrent to it. I’ve noticed in record reviews that Brian Fallon can get some criticism for his sometimes clichéd, or seemingly trite exposition, but I think that’s a bit harsh. He definitely paints with a broader (and, admittedly, sometimes obvious) brush than Craig Finn, but his words are still evocative and – what’s important for me – he can wring the emotion out of any event. To be honest, for music to work on me it HAS to be a bit vague and plain. If you get too specific or too poetic, it doesn’t speak to me. If a band gets overly literate with their lyrics it becomes a bit like reading a well-written story – satisfying, but it doesn’t get you in the gut. The Gaslight Anthem, in contrast, aims nowhere BUT the gut, and are better for it. Like Finn, Fallon weaves old characters through the music, with less deftness but still a nice feeling of inter-connectedness. Unlike Finn these days though, Fallon’s characters feel like they’re growing up a bit with their nostalgia, more self aware of the pitfalls that can occur by looking back on the past a little too fondly. Songs like ‘Old Haunts’ offer a bitter riposte to Craig Finn’s (often fallacious) belief that things were actually better when we were young and dumb. ‘Memories are sinking ships, that never would be saved. Don’t sing me your songs about the good times, those days are gone and you should just let them go/And god help the man who says “If you’d have known me when”…Old haunts are for forgotten ghosts.”’ It’s the sound of a man all too aware of the problems of both living in the past and forgetting everything that got you to this point. On this point, doubt creeps in in the end, through a subtle shift in lyrics: ‘God help this man who says “My baby, if you’d have known me when”…Old haunts are all we’ve ever known.’ On closer ‘We Did It When We Were Young’, Fallon sounds almost like he’s ready to strangle on these memories, and not sure whether that’s a good or bad thing. Musically, this album is their most diverse. The Gaslight Anthem get a lot of comparisons to Springsteen, and it’s earned, but people seem to often overlook the intricate and un-Springsteen-like guitar-playing of Alex Rosamilia. More indebted to the Cure than the Boss, he weaves chiming little runs around Fallon’s punk growl, which makes for a more satisfying listen than the simple bar-punk label these boys sometimes get stuck with. The guitars are up in the mix a bit on this record, which is more than welcome, and really brings out the more diverse approach of this album.

Finally, in our little pass down memory’s lane, we come to another of my favourite bands (only 55% of the way through, and 2010 is shaping up to be a VERY good year in music). Perhaps the healthiest approach to nostalgia is that taken by Cloud Cult on their new CD. Craig Minowa, a man who has known more than his share of sorrow after the death of his infant son in 2002, does not shy away from dealing with the past but neither does he wallow in times that are long gone. Instead, he uses his memories and experiences as the building blocks and jumping off point for where he plans to go NOW. It might seem trite to brush the past off as a learning experience, and it is. We all bring baggage wherever we go, and learning from the past is both a simplistic answer and easier said than done. That being said, Cloud Cult’s music makes it seem like an easier proposition, and it’s music like theirs – songs that make you feel like the world is, despite all claims otherwise, an okay place – that still inspires passion in me. To be truthful, I find the new Cloud Cult album (Light Chasers by the way, available now digitally at http://www.cloudcult.com, and available elsewhere in September) a little less memorable than their (brilliant) two previous albums – 2007’s The Meaning of Eight and 2008’s Feel Good Ghosts (Tea Partying Through Tornadoes) – but it’s still more than worth the purchase and growing on me with each listen. As with all Cloud Cult albums, it should be taken as a whole, as the songs take you on a journey from an unsettled beginning, through catharsis towards some sort of resolution and contentment at the end. Minowa said they spent more effort on this album than on any other in the past, and it sounds like it. The instrumentation is lush (and that’s saying something for a band that’s famous for going over the top (in a good way) and throwing everything they have at every single track) and the songs are complex. It works great as a whole, probably more so than their past two albums, but lacks any real standout tracks, like TMOE’s Take Your Medicine or FGG’s Everybody Here is a Cloud, but I still feel very satisfied when I come to the end of its near hour-long runtime. Minowa and his wife Connie sound like they’re in a better place now, after recently giving birth to another child, and I wish them the best. The thing is, I don’t think they need my wishes, as they sound like they’ve come to a complex but satisfying contentment that both moves on and derives from their past sorrows. As they say, over numerous songs:

‘Let come what may come and let go of what goes…

All the things you’ll love,

All the things that may hurt you,

All the things you shouldn’t do,

And all the things you want to…

They’re calling your name…travel safely…

‘If for just a moment, you had to be responsible

For all the things you’ve said and done.

Would you sit back and relax or fasten all your safety belts?

On the journey to the center,

I asked what I was looking for.

They said, “It’s far too easy too explain:

It is what it is. You are what you are. Just try to enjoy your day”’

This turned out to be an over-serious return to the written music world, and for that I apologise. Next week I promise to return to my usual crass and ill-humoured self. See you next week!

The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio

The Hold Steady - Rock Problems

The Gaslight Anthem - American Slang

Cloud Cult - Running with the Wolves

I have been inundated with millions of e-mails, letters and phone calls from irate fans angry at me for ignoring the Grammys (well, the other side of my split personality figured it deserved a mention). Yes, I forgot to mention the Grammys in my last post, mostly because I don’t care. I really don’t want to sound snobby about it (and I’m only parroting what everybody else already says) and this is painfully bleeding obvious, but the Grammys aren’t exactly about the music (duh!). I’m fine with that, but at least be honest with people. You’re honouring sales figures and mass popularity, and I’m not even claiming those aren’t worthwhile things to honour (I don’t think they are, but it’s only my opinion). So, that’s fine, but don’t pretend that it has anything to do with the quality of the music, with quality being, frustratingly and gloriously, an entirely subjective matter. Listen to what you want, dear readers! And preferably it’s stuff that I mercilessly whore out on this website.

On that note, the past two weeks saw the release of a couple of albums that have been weighing rather heavily on my playlist, and both of them are bands that took their sweet time to sink their hooks into (what’s left of) my consciousness. First up is the new release from Beach House, Teen Dream. When I first heard Beach House, I found them a little boring and flat. To a certain extent, I still feel they can fade into the background a little too easily at times, but Victoria LeGrand’s detached but still warm vocals and the lazy instrumentation underpinning it has grown on me when I’m in the mood for something not too demanding. The new album carries on what their first two did, with a few tweaks here and there to keep things (mildly) interesting. LeGrand stretches herself a bit more vocally, bringing some lilt to her delivery. LeGrand is a classically-trained singer, so it’s nice to see her use her range a bit more. The music underlying her vocals is surprisingly upbeat at times, making this the happiest Beach House record to date. All in all, it’s a nice update to the Beach House sound, evolving without losing what made them special. Still, while I find them to be a pleasant listen, I wish it would MOVE me a little more regularly.

The second release, which has me much more excited, is the new record by Midlake – The Courage of Others. Midlake was another band I found boring at first, but after many, many listens the depth and scope of their music reveals itself more and more. What seems to at first be a relatively simple folk song slowly unfolds to reveal Fleetwood Mac-ish proggy influences, mildly quirky and varied instrumentation and oddly but charmingly out-of-step lyrics that belong at a renaissance fair. These songs get under your skin in the best possible way (unlike, say, parasitic bacteria) and even when they’re not hummable, they’re like old friends when you listen to them (the songs, not the old friends [but listen to them too]). Fuck, the other thing is that Jethro Tull kind of ruined the flute in folk and rock music, and to be completely honest, that damn instrument deserved to be ruined for both rock and folk music. Flying V electric guitar? Yeah that belongs. Hell, I’ll even swing for a cowbell once in a while, but a flute fits into modern music about as well as, um, the sounds of a horse giving birth (which I think once featured on a Tom Waits record). Anyway, there’s flute on the new Midlake record, and I think the songs work despite, not because of, that fact. Seriously guys, we get that you’re magical, forest-dwelling medieval knights, but that’s no excuse to go all Wicker Man and start playing the flute right before you ritually sacrifice some interloper (legal note: I am by no means implying that Midlake, as a band or as individuals, partake in ritualistic sacrifice of anything but the sensitive hearts of bearded indie hipsters everywhere). Anyway, buy the new Midlake, as it’s really very good. You’ll especially enjoy it if you live in the New Forest or the 16^th century, and I don’t mean that as a slight. In a stellar music year that, at only one month in, has already seen releases by perennial favourites like Spoon, Eels and Hawksley Workman, Midlake’s album stands above those strong releases and makes its early claims to best album of 2010. Buy it!

New Music News

Well, much to my excitement, the National have confirmed that their new album will be released in May. They’ll hit the road before then, playing some of their biggest and most illustrious venues to date, including a stop at London’s Royal Albert Hall. There’s an excellent and lengthy interview with lead singer Matt Berninger at Pitchfork.

The Drive-By Truckers will also be releasing their new album, The Big To-Do, on 16 March. They’ve posted a few songs off it on their website, ‘This Fucking Job’ (I concur) and ‘Birthday Boy’. These two tasters are not as catchy as some of their stuff, but they show a return to their rockier, more shit disturbing days. I still have high hopes for the album.

Finally, Tom Waits is collaborating on another musical project, with the guy he worked with on projects like The Black Rider and Woyzeck. See you next week!

Beach House - Used to Be

Midlake - Core of Nature

The National - Driver Surprise Me

Drive-By Truckers - This Fucking Job

Tom Waits - Nirvana

I’ve been meaning to do a post on great song titles for a while now, and a more comprehensive post on the subject will come at a future date. At the moment, I am listening to a great death cowpunk (or something like that) band called Murder by Death, which in itself is a pretty great, if nonsensical name (they’re named after the 1976 movie of the same name, a spoof whodunit written by Neil Simon). They have a real knack with album and song titles, so I decided to do an all Murder by Death version of a great song titles post. Even better, their music is as good as the names, providing a great mix of hard edge, outlaw punk and folk rock. Enjoy! Also, I don’t usually post this many songs by one band. This gives a decent indication of what they sound like, so if you like what you hear, please buy one or all of their albums. I would recommend starting with 2006’s In Bocca al Lupo.

Sometimes the Line Walks You (In Bocca al Lupo)

Spring Break 1899 (Red of Tooth and Claw)

Flamenco’s Fucking Easy (Like the Exorcist, But More Like Breakdancing)

I’m Afraid of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Like the Exorcist, But More Like Breakdancing)

Holy Lord, The Shawshank Redemption is Such a Good Movie (Like the Exorcist, But More Like Breakdancing)

Honourable Mention

Intergalactic Menopause (Like the Exorcist, But More Like Breakdancing)

A Master’s in Reverse Psychology (Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them)

This Song is Brought to You by the Letter C and the Number 6 (From their days as Little Joe Gould. I don’t understand the reference but I still like it).

In tribute to Mr. Salinger, I present you an extra-special, Holden Caulfield-inspired list of music. To be honest, this mostly boils down to songs about being a teenager (as I am now, apparently, grown up, it has been many a year since I actually read Catcher in the Rye), but a few of the tracks have other connections. Can you, dear make-believe reader, think of any other good Salinger-related songs? Also in tribute to Mr. Salinger, I present you with what is shaping up to be the most mind-blowingly awesome (in every sense of the word, from the literal to the hair metal) album cover of 2010 (courtesy of the AV Club). I’m pretty sure it would have been ol’ JD’s favourite release of the year, may he rest in peace.

…And You Will Know Us by the Train of Dead - A Perfect Teenhood

Alice Cooper - I’m Eighteen

Archive - Fuck U

‘That’s the whole trouble. You can’t ever find a place that’s nice and peaceful, because there isn’t any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you’re not looking, somebody’ll sneak up and write “Fuck you” right under your nose. I think, eve, if I ever die, and they stick me in a cemetery, and I have a tombstone and all, it’ll say “Holden Caulfield” on it, and then what year I was born and what year I died, and then right under that it’ll say “Fuck you”. I’m positive.’ (Catcher in the Rye)

Crooked Fingers - Phony Revolutions

‘He said he talked to Jesus all the time. Even when he was driving in his car. That killed me. I can just see the big phony bastard shifting into first gear and asking Jesus to send him a few more stiffs.’

‘It’s full of phonies…’ (Catcher in the Rye)

Deftones - Teenager (Idiot Version)

My Chemical Romance - Teenagers

Neko Case - That Teenage Feeling

Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit (Live)

The Hold Steady - Teenage Liberation

The Ramones - Teenage Lobotomy

Tom Waits - I Don’t Wanna Grow Up

Emotion isn’t always seen as a positive thing in music. These days, accomplished but detached music is de rigueur, with bands like Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective (but surely an Animal Collective should include a Grizzly Bear?), Vampire Weekend and Dirty Projectors ruling the roost. I’ve never got the music of these bands. It’s well played and often tuneful, but there is a sterility to their joy. If bands DO dare to show real emotion, it better be a vague feeling of contentment or sadness, but personal statements don’t tend to be accepted as readily in music as they are in something like literature. Memoirs are popular, and the more warts that exist the better. Sure, you get classic ‘break up’ albums, like Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks but even these tend to tease the issue rather than tackle it straight on. Maybe this is an attempt to universalise experiences and make it about the general emotions rather than the personal experience. That’s fine (and to carry on the comparison to literature, is done quite regularly in fiction), but it tends to unnecessarily limit the spectrum of musical expression.

Mark ‘E’ Everett and his musical outlet Eels make deeply personal music that does not shy away from specificities. If he sings it, you know it happened to him, and he is uncompromising and squirmingly self-reflective on his songs, painfully aware of his shortcomings as well as those of the world. He does not hide behind metaphor and his lyrics read like straightforward diary entries. This can feel voyeuristic at times and, I fear, does turn some people off his music. For some reason, our society has decided that in most cases repression of this naked emotion is for the best and brush off lyrics and emotions such as Everett’s as too self-conscious, too solipsistic and too teen-angsty – something you should outgrow rather than acknowledge. Maybe this is the case, and I’m sure there are a fair share of well-adjusted people out there. But people like Everett (and me, for that matter) exist too, and writing off these bare (and base) emotions as immature does not change the fact that they still exist. I’m not going to say ‘we all feel like this sometimes’ because I have no way of knowing that. My theory, however, is that people shrug off something so painfully OPEN as the new Eels album End Times because it cuts too close to the bone and reminds people of just how painful, irrational and childish (in good ways and bad) life can sometimes be.

End Times comes as a sort of depressing companion piece to last year’s Hombre Lobo. Where that album tracked the feelings of desire that accompany falling in love (in both requited and unrequited ways), this album traces the death of that love, or at least the death of the relationship built around that love. The results, as that description no doubt attests, are as sad and tuneful as any Eels album, making this another solid entry into the band’s catalogue. The lyrics, which I’ve already discussed in vague terms, seem very personal and earnest and awkwardly open, but that has some positives too. These songs are voyeuristic, to be sure, but they are never sensationalistic, and Everett remains highly skilled at saying things simply and meaningfully. Musically, it’s a stripped-back affair – apparently recorded on a four-track – and is barely ever more than a voice and a guitar. It’s a stark contrast to Hombre Lobo’s brash swagger, but it has a nice immediacy to it, feeling like Everett’s just a friend strumming his thoughts to you on the back porch.

The album opens with the most lyrically positive song, ‘The Beginning’, whose lyrics outline the happy start to a relationship, but it has a guitar structure so plaintive the first 3 seconds of the song could bring a tear to your eye. Gone Man is surprisingly jaunty given its lyrical bites like ‘the epitaph scratched upon my stone: here lies a man who just wanted to be alone’. ‘A Line in the Dirt’ is pretty and recalls Electro-Shock Blues ‘P.S. You Rock My World’, but with harshly confessional lyrics: ‘She locked herself in the bathroom again, so I am pissing in the yard. I have to laugh when I think how far it’s gone, but things aren’t funny any more.’ ‘Little Bird’ probably expresses the mood of the CD the best, musically and lyrically. ‘Little bird, I guess you’re right. I can’t let it take me out without a fight, but right now I can’t see making sense of this world. I just can’t take how very much, goddamn I miss that girl.’

The one downside I should mention, which also held true for Hombre Lobo, is that Eels’ last few releases have become more satisfying lyrically than musically. As with Hombre Lobo, I actually had a chance to peruse the lyrics before I heard the music, and I was blown away by the beautiful simplicity of some of Everett’s lines. Hearing the musical accompaniment for the first time was pleasant, but the songs lack a sort of staying power and distinctiveness that was present in some of the kitchen-sink toyshop symphonies of earlier Eels’ work. Too often he falls back on the ‘man with a guitar’ mould, and while he still knows the way around a nice melody, it can get a bit samey.

All in all, it produces another solid Eels album – nothing more and nothing less. It lacks the ambition of Blinking Lights and Other Revelations and the songs of Daisies for the Galaxy, but it’s still enjoyable, if that’s the right word for such a sad record. I mentioned last week that Everett does have a knack for finding the light in the dark but even that’s a bit tempered on this album. The album ends on a somewhat positive note, with Everett’s final couplet stating ‘one sweet day I’ll be back on my feet/And I’ll be alright’, but the last words put a question mark on that, with him crooning ‘I just gotta get back on my feet’. If this album is as autobiographical as it feels, I sincerely wish Everett all the best, from one human to another.

Lostprophets - The Betrayed

Lostprophets also trade in emotional music, but their new release hews much closer to the true teenaged version, rather than the grown up (which is different than mature or sophisticated) approach of Eels. I appreciate Eels’ honesty and straightforward approach to storytelling, but Lostprophets version sounds a bit too calculated and a bit too put on. Their atrocious lyrics and song titles don’t help. If you’re titling your songs things like ‘It’s Not the End of the World, but I can See It from Here’, ‘For He’s a Jolly Good Felon’ and, most egregiously, ‘Next Stop, Atro City’, you’re asking for all the ridicule you may get. For the love of god, please stop.

I think the biggest problem with Lostprophets is that they aim their message at the stadiums and the cosmos, rather than maintaining the intimacy of Eels. That’s fine if it’s done well, but I just think the band lacks the talent to pull off this bombast in a way that doesn’t sound cringeworthy. They had a song on their last album that called upon people to ‘shout it from the rooftops’ and that’s exactly what they aim to do. By attempting to make something so universal and so all-encompassing, this loses its emotional heft and connection to, well, just being human. I’m all for a cause and a mission statement, but sometimes life calls for something a little smaller.

There are some decent moments on the album. ‘Dstryr/Dstryr’ almost sounds like Rage Against the Machine, and some of the songs have some pretty cool electro-noise bits. Overall though, they seem to be getting less mature with every release, which I think is just sad proof that they’re aiming for mass approval rather than solid songs. I mean, they almost sound like Coldplay with a heavy metal drummer with their cascading piano line in closer ‘The Light That Shines Twice as Bright’. There’s nothing really wrong with that (I can stand a certain dose of Coldplay), but if that’s the sound you choose, at least don’t bloody well pretend that you’re ‘The Betrayed’ then.

However, I can’t be too harsh. After all, I have the CD. I don’t know why I like Lostprophets, but I often do. I still think 2004’s Start Something was a stellar example of an emo epic, at least before emo became a bad word (and fans of bands like Sunny Day Real Estate or Death Cab for Cutie for that matter should remember that emo does not have to be all bad).

Spoon - Transference

The other release I was really looking forward to this week was Spoon’s new record, Transference. Spoon are consistent, and consistently good, and this record continues with that winning streak. It does what Spoon do best, combining catchy songwriting with great production and some slightly more experimental bits. While I like the album, it has so far failed to excite me in the same way that their last few records have. Maybe I just need some time with the new album, as Spoon do tend to grow on me, but it feels like it lacks some sort of chemistry – all the elements are there, but the whole isn’t quite as great as all the parts that go into it. Still, if you’re a fan of Spoon it’s definitely worth buying and has some strong songs on it. The persistent beat of ‘The Mystery Zone’ gets stuck in your head and uses the band’s minimalist approach to sound to great effect. The album closes with its strongest song, ‘Nobody Gets Me but You’, with the band doing a lot with very little, getting into a pocket groove-wise and allowing it to build upon itself. It’s not so much about layering more and more on, as it’s just about giving the beat room to breathe. If you’re a Spoon fan, definitely buy it. If you don’t know the band yet, I’d still start with Gimme Fiction or Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.

Hawksley Workman - Meat

Finally, Hawksley Workman’s new release, Meat, came out last week. The man often alternates between folky strumming and electro-glam rock, and this album finds Hawksley in a mood to kick out the jams and rock a bit. Opener ‘Song for Sarah Jane’ is a beautiful little piano ballad and no indication of what’s to come with crunchy bits like (We Ain’t No) Vampire Bats. My favourite track is ‘You Don’t Just Want to Break Me (You Want to Tear Me Apart)’, which is bombastic in the best sort of ways, building to a cathartic and satisfying guitar/choir/glam stomp over its eight minutes. The lyrics to the songs are often quite tender and vulnerable, with the tough-guy exterior of the songs covering up deeper feelings, like the musical equivalent of the schoolyard bully who’s crying on the inside. Workman can be frustratingly prolific at times, sometimes seeming to favour quantity over quality (with his digital releases and EPs included, he clocked 11 albums in the last decade). Given that, Meat shows him in fine form and is his best rocking record since 2003’s Lover/Fighter.

We are Only Riders - The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions

I’ve been a fan of Jeffery Lee Pierce and the Gun Club for about 5 years now. The Gun Club’s raw blend of punk, glam and blues is incredibly exciting when Pierce nailed it, as on their stunning debut, 1981’s Fire of Love. Pierce was a tragic figure, struggling with drug and alcohol addiction and dying of a brain aneurysm in 1996, a mostly forgotten blip on the musical landscape. His work has seen a bit of a resurgence recently, as he has fans in high places and has been cited as an influence to people like Jack White and Mark Lanegan. We are Only Riders is a new tribute album to Pierce, featuring performances by musical luminaries such as Nick Cave, Mark Lanegan, the Raveonettes, Debbie Harry, Woven Hand’s David Eugene Edwards and others. The tribute features never-before-heard compositions by Pierce, built up and interpreted by the artists, based on a rehearsal tape found by Pierce collaborator Cypress Grove. If you’re unfamiliar with the Gun Club, it’s a strong and accessible introduction to Pierce’s songwriting, and if you’re already a fan it’s a great addition to the Pierce catalogue.

New Music News

A lot has happened in the musical world over the last few weeks. In sad news, rocker Jay Reatard died at the age of 29, with causes currently unconfirmed. I was never really into his music, as, fairly or unfairly, I associate him with the shittily named and shitty sounding no-fi movement, which leaves me feeling a bit cold (why NOT get a decent producer? It does a song no favours to purposefully make it sound tinny and like it was recorded in a cardboard box, and is often only used to disguise the fact that the songwriting is, at best, pedestrian), but it’s always tragic when somebody that young dies.

In other sad, but not exactly tragic, news, Franz Nicolay has announced that he’s left the Hold Steady. As readers may have sussed out by now, I absolutely love the everyday storytelling and rock of the Hold Steady, and Franz Nicolay, a member of the band for the last five years, did a lot to shape the band’s sound, with his keyboards moving them even more into anthemic Springsteen territory. He was a great live presence too, dressed smartly with his twirly mustache, jumping around and often swigging from a bottle of wine. He’ll keep himself busy outside of the Hold Steady crew though, as he’s recently released a solo album, is producing the new album for a band called the Debutante Hour and is soon releasing a collection of stories.

In upcoming album news, Joanna Newsom announced that she’s releasing a new album, and it’s out soon. Have One on Me is the first album for the oddball indie cellist since 2006’s Ys. Also, the New Pornographers announced that they’ll release their new album, Together, on 4 May. See you next week!

Eels - A Line in the Dirt

Lostprophets - Dirty Little Heart

Spoon - Nobody Gets Me but You

Hawksley Workman - You Don’t Just Want to Break Me (You Want to Tear Me Apart)

The Gun Club - Ghost on the Highway

Nick Cave & Debbie Harry - Free to Walk

Jay Reatard - Wounded

The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations

Joanna Newsom - Monkey & Bear

The New Pornographers - All the Old Showstoppers

Wintersleep

I suppose it makes some sense that the Canadians are good at producing some quality wintery bands. 2007’s Welcome to the Night Sky was excellent, and these boys have set May 2010 as a tentative release date for their next album.

Matt Mays & El Torpedo – Wicked Come Winter

Another Canadian East Coaster, Matt Mays does lovely, Neil Young-type rockers and this song is a great introduction to a great artist.

Neil Young - Winterlong

Well, we may as well hear from the original too.

The Twilight Sad – Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters

The Scots also know their way around the dreariness of a dark and cold winter.

Woven Hand – Winter Shaker

Dramatic neofolk from Colorado, a state that also sees its fair share of snow.

Fleet Foxes – White Winter Hymnal

The Foxes are apparently working on a new album. While I didn’t gush over their album like some did, I still like their laid back folk harmonising.

The Fall – Winter (Hostel Maxi)

Knowing Mark E Smith, this song is probably actually about how much he hates a former band member or something.

Leonard Cohen – Winter Lady

It’s nice to see a resurgence of Leonard love, as the ultimate literate crooner deserves it.

Hayden – Winter Trip

Even when he’s not singing directly about it, Hayden’s music in general would be the perfect soundtrack to a winter’s evening, preferably sat by a fire.

Iron & Wine – Faded from the Winter

Well, Sam Beam’s beard should at least keep him warm in the cold. See you next week!

Wintersleep - Drunk on Aluminium

Matt Mays & El Torpedo - Wicked Come Winter

Neil Young - Winterlong

The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters

Woven Hand - Winter Shaker

Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal

The Fall - Winter (Hostel Maxi)

Leonard Cohen - Winter Lady

Hayden - Winter Trip

Iron & Wine - Faded from the Winter

Spoon – Transference (18 January UK, 19 January Canada/US)

2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga was a big ol’ slice of excellent, and I have high hopes for this release (but I’m an eternal optimist). Britt Daniel and co. will hopefully come through with another dose of rhythmic, spare, white boy dance rock that’s hopefully less laboured than that description.

Eels- End Times (18 January UK, 19 January Canada/US)

Anybody who reads this site regularly knows of my love for Eels (the band, not the fish [although I have nothing against them, either]), so I greatly anticipate this release a mere six months after the last Eels album, Hombre Lobo. Where Hombre Lobo dealt with desire and love, End Times deals with the death of this love. The Eels website describes it in painful detail:

The eighth EELS studio album, END TIMES, is the sound of an artist growing older in uncertain times. An artist who has lost his great love while struggling with his faith in an increasingly hostile world teetering on self-destruction. Largely self-recorded on an old four track tape machine by EELS leader Mark Oliver Everett aka E in his Los Angeles basement, it’s a “divorce album” with a modern twist: the artist equates his personal loss with the world he lives in losing its integrity. When Everett finds comfort “in a dying world,” the END TIMES he speaks of isn’t about “Mayan calendar conspiracy theory bullshit,” he says, but, “the state of the desperate times we live in. The bottom line-ness of it all. The end of common decency. The loss of caring about doing a good job. These are tough times. Who can you trust? Walter Cronkite is just a ghost.”

I can’t say that it sounds like a thousand laughs a minute, but Mark Everett is infinitely talented at making emotional and affecting music and can usually find the light in the darkness, so I’m sure this album will deliver.

Hawksley Workman – Meat (19 January Canada)

Completing a pretty amazing trifecta of releases for 19 January (as long as you’re in Canada), the incredibly prolific Hawksley Workman releases his new album, Meat. From the sounds of things, heavy and funky Hawksley is in action on this release. He actually has a second album coming out in 2010, entitled Milk, prepared to be released digitally in 2010 single-by-single over a 5 month period.

Beach House – Teen Dream (25 January UK, 26 January Canada/US)

Beach House deliver a woozy, narcoleptic, down tempo brand of folk, but from what I’ve heard of their new album, they step up the pace a bit and sound (for them at least) a little bit cheerful. It’s not enough of a change to drive away people who loved their hushed first two albums, but it’s enough of an evolution to keep things fresh.

Massive Attack – Heligoland (8 February UK, 9 February Canada/US)

I know a lot of people were disappointed with 2003’s 100^th Window, but I actually kind of liked its cold, clinical beauty. It’s been 6 long years since that release, so here’s hoping that they still have it. My optimism falters a bit with this album; I give it a 50/50 chance of being worth our time.

David Byrne & Fatboy Slim – Here Lies Love (22 February UK, 23 February Canada/US)

I’m not a big Fatboy Slim fan, and my knowledge of David Byrne and the Talking Heads is woefully underdeveloped. Still, this album deserves mention for sheer barmy audacity. It’s apparently a concept album. About Imelda Marcos. And it’s club music. Says Byrne:

“The story I am interested in is about asking what drives a powerful person—what makes them tick? How do they make and then remake themselves? I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be great if—as this piece would be principally composed of clubby dance music—one could experience it in a club setting? Could one bring a ‘story’ and a kind of theater to the disco? Was that possible? If so, wouldn’t that be amazing!”

With vocals by Kill Rock Music favourites like Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine), St. Vincent, Martha Wainwright, Nellie McKay and Steve Earle (alongside other notables like Tori Amos, Cyndi Lauper, Roisin Murphy and others), this one has me intrigued.

The Whigs – In the Dark (1 March UK, 2 March US)

In 2008, The Whigs released Mission Control, probably the best straightforward, amp to eleven slice of guitar rock to come out that year. Their music isn’t flashy, but it is good, grungy fun. With production by Ben Allen (Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective) and them name-checking the Rolling Stones and Johnny Cash, this album might represent a nice extension and growth of their sound.

Frightened Rabbit – The Winter of Mixed Drinks (1 March UK, 9 March Canada/US)

Scotland has had a renaissance in earnest, melancholy indie rock in recent years, with bands like the Twilight Sad, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Frightened Rabbit. FR release their follow-up to 2008’s The Midnight Organ Fight in March. I must say, the great album title bodes well.

Titus Andronicus – The Monitor (9 March 2010 Canada/US

Titus Andronicus make noisy, post-hardcore music, but few do it in such a literate and interesting manner. Last year’s The Airing of Grievances hinted at this, but I think their upcoming release will really display their musical and lyrical talents. It uses the American Civil War as an extended metaphor to explore ideas of ‘regional identity, emotional anesthetization, and the heavy yoke of trying to live decently in indecent times.’ Says the band:

So what does all this sound like? It has long passages of ambient drones, blazing saxophone, pianos homages to “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” complete marching drumlines,Thunder Tube solos, fourteen-minute Billy Bragg knock-offs, backwards liturgical pieces, bombastic country duets, garbage cans hit with tambourines, choirs of angels with bromantic faces, probably too many spoken word interludes lifted from cassette tapes, and, of course, the hissy-fit punk songs, miserable, self-obsessed naval-gazing and off-key warbling we have come to expect from Titus Andronicus. With any luck, people won’t talk about this record in the context of the media-concocted “lo-fi” movement, since we went crazy (and broke) trying to perfect the sound of “hi-fi punk.”

It could be terribly pretentious, but it sounds exciting to me!

Drive-By Truckers – The Big To-Do (16 March Canada/US)

Another one of my favourites (they ALL seem to be releasing albums this year!), the Drive-By Truckers will see if they can continue their winning streak. I was a little concerned with the departure of Jason Isbell after A Blessing & A Curse, but 2007’s Brighter Than Creation’s Dark showed that Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley could continue on boldly even without Isbell’s strong (and still sorely missed) influence and songwriting, and bassist Shonna Tucker proved herself as a serviceable new songwriter in the Truckers’ catalogue. Hood promised this album to be the most rocking since disc 2 of 2002’s Southern Rock Opera, which sounds just fine to me.

The White Stripes – Under Great White Northern Lights

This is the live documentary (and box set) of the White Stripes 2007 tour of every province and territory in Canada. Their dates included not just the requisite arenas/theatres, but also impromptu performances in incongruous places like bowling alleys and on a bus. The documentary should be interesting, and the White Stripes remain one of the most thrilling live acts on the scene today.

Deftones – (Title To Be Announced) (27 April Canada/US)

Deftones are back in the studio after a horrific 2008/2009. Bassist Chi Cheng was seriously injured in an auto accident in late 2008, and remains in hospital with serious brain injuries. They’re now recording with stand-in bassist Sergio Vega. They’ve shelved the material they’d almost completed (an album called Eros), and here’s hoping the band finds its feet again, as they remain the most innovative and exciting band of that dark period in music known as nu-metal. Also, benefits have recently been held to help with Cheng’s mounting medical bills, and donations can be made here.

Other Releases

MGMT will release the follow-up to their smash Oracular Spectacular sometime early in the new year. Midlake are releasing The Courage of Others at the beginning of February, and Tindersticks are releasing Falling Down a Mountain in mid-February. Other KRM favourites may be releasing albums this year, but details and progress remain sketchy. The Hold Steady have been previewing some new songs in concert, and given their rapid rate of output, a new album could see the light before the end of 2010. Also, in case you missed it, Craig Finn and Tad Kubler’s pre-Hold Steady band, Lifter Puller, recently reissued their entire catalogue on The Orchard, available digitally and with a snazzy book at the Hold Steady Store. The National have also been playing some new songs live, and their website reports that they are mixing their new album. The release date doesn’t appear to be firmed up, but expect it this year. There isn’t much information out there, but The Arcade Fire will hopefully release their third full-length this year too, after a nearly three year gap since 2007’s Neon Bible. Other notable possibilities for 2010 releases include albums from New Pornographers, Battles, LCD Soundsystem, Gorillaz, Fleet Foxes, and even Radiohead are apparently in the studio.

New Music News

For those of you who are insufferable indie rock snobs like me, it can be difficult to keep up with popular culture and music that the kiddies are listening to. Well, now we have a hipster-approved package in which to do so! In only four minutes and 37 seconds, DJ Earwig has managed to condense and mash up the top 25 tracks of 2009, as identified by Billboard. A la Girl Talk, he brings out the best and the most fun parts of the song and makes it sound palatable.

Also, apparently Soundgarden are reforming after a 12-year hiatus. Hopefully it’s more successful than Chris Cornell’s godawful (and so easy to mock) collaboration with Timbaland. In sadder news, Jimmy Sullivan, drummer for hard rock purveyors Avenged Sevenfold, died on 29 December. The autopsy was inconclusive.

Finally, because even miserable bastards need to laugh sometimes, here are links to two videos that amused me, in case you haven’t seen them already. See you next week!

The Muppets - Bohemian Rhapsody

Total Eclipse of the Heart (Literal Version)

Spoon - Got Nuffin

Eels - Little Bird

Hawksley Workman - We Ain’t No Vampire Bats

Beach House - Norway

Massive Attack - Future Proof

The Whigs - Hundred/Million

Frightened Rabbit - Heads Roll Off

Titus Andronicus - Four Score & Seven (Part I)

Titus Andronicus - Four Score & Seven (Part II)

Drive-By Truckers - That Man I Shot

The White Stripes - Black Math (Live)

Deftones - Hole in the Earth

Lifter Puller - Space Humping $19.99

DJ Earworm - United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop)

Soundgarden - Pretty Noose

Avenged Sevenfold - Dear God

10. Editors – In This Light & On This Evening

In my mind, the Editors have always been the best of the new generation of post-punk bands drawing on the Joy Division school of songcraft. Their music was overly portentous at times, but managed to package up the doom and gloom in big choruses and warm melodies. Their latest album was a fairly major departure from their earlier work, as they synthed out and took cues from Depeche Mode and Joy Division successors New Order.

9. Broken Records – Until the Earth Begins to Part

Folk in form but rock in spirit, Broken Records create a musical patois combining gypsy and English folk traditions with the hard push of rock songwriting. It’s earnest music, but nothing sounds better than this when you find yourself in an overly earnest mood.

8. Florence + The Machine – Lungs

Bat for Lashes new record was good (good enough for me to declare it 13^th best album of the year) but it did take itself very seriously. Florence + The Machine brings the fun back to Kate Bush-style theatrical pop folk rock, and Lungs is an accurate title for the vocal virtuosity on display here. It’s thoughtful music you can still dance to.

7. Soulsavers – Broken

An inspired collection of covers and originals, the electro-folk duo of Rich Machin and Ian Glover again join forces with overworked growler for hire Mark Lanegan to produce another beautiful, atmospheric album even better than 2007’s It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s the Way You Land. They add a few other vocalists to the mix (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Gibby Haynes, Mike Patton, Richard Hawley, Jason Pierce), but it’s the sombre yet warm soundscapes that stand out, with just a touch more edge to them this time around.

6. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

There’s something loveably goofy and charming about French pop rockers Phoenix. They make precise and meticulous songs that have, on past releases, occasionally sounded a bit hermetically sealed. This album sees them bring a little warmth to proceedings. The two Love Like a Sunsets are especially exhilarating.

5. The XX – The XX

The XX produced a remarkably confident debut very different from a lot of music out there these days. Austere and restrained, the band make as much use out of the space between the notes as they do with the notes themselves. Their seeming 18,000 date tour has contributed to the departure of keyboardist Baria Qureshi (citing exhaustion), but the band is continuing on as a three piece. It will be interesting to see where they take their sound from here.

4. The Raveonettes – In & Out of Control

Dark lyrics and bubblegum pop melodies are a beguiling mixture and one that the Raveonettes have perfected on this album. The songs make you want to sing into a hairbrush like a teenaged girl on her way to a 1960s sock hop, until you realise that you’re bopping your head to lyrics about suicide and rape. That might not sound much like everybody’s cup of tea, but even if you ignore the lyrics, the noise and melodies of the music come together to create an irresistible sweet and savoury combination.

3. The Antlers – Hospice

A bit of a harrowing listen, the Antlers somehow sound more fragile and vulnerable the louder they get. This is far from a loud album though, with Peter Silberman mostly whispering a tale of terminal disease and the dissolution of a relationship. Again, that probably doesn’t strike many people as a fun time, but the music is grand enough to make the effort worthwhile. It’s Arcade Fire with the highs stripped out, but sometimes a person isn’t looking for joyful.

2. Mew – No More Stories are Told Today…

This album is annoyingly titled, but awe inducing in scope and sound. Prog rock doesn’t have to mean wanky soloing and interminably long tunes about space ships. 2003’s Frengers had the songs, 2005’s And the Glass Handed Kites had the vision, but with this year’s album Mew combined these elements into an immersive full-album listen with songs that stand up on their own as well. Unfortunately, this year’s second best album also wins the top spot for worst album art.

1. Doves – Kingdom of Rust

Doves have been consistently good since their debut, but this album brings together all the elements that make them such a strong band. Dance beats, rock guitars and empathetic lyrics are shaped by the band into some songs that inspire, some songs that evoke something a little more sadly complicated and some that manage to do both. Even after countless listens, this album still manages to surprise and excite me every time I hear it.

New Music News

On Christmas Eve, alt-singer songwriter Vic Chesnutt died from a report overdose of prescription drugs. He’d attempted suicide in the past and had a hard life, battling depression, physical pain and high medical bills after an auto accident rendered him a paraplegic about 25 years ago. I’ve been meaning to explore Chesnutt’s music for about a year, as I’ve heard wonderful things about his vivid imagery and stark songwriting talent. What I’ve heard I’ve liked, and want to explore it further. I know his music touched a lot of people very deeply, and news like this is always sad, whether you know or like the artist or not.

Also, as I’ve devoted the past month to a top ten, year-by-year recap of the best of the decade, I don’t want to take a lot more time on the topic. However, here are the ten acts that gave me the most joy over the past ten years (see entries from the last month for more on each band, along with samples):

10. Drive-By Truckers

9. The White Stripes

8. Wilco

7. Spoon

6. The Arcade Fire

5. The Gaslight Anthem

4. The Constantines

3. Eels

2. The Hold Steady

1. The National

See you next week, when we will resume our (somewhat) regularly scheduled programming here at Kill Rock Music!

Editors - In This Light & On This Evening

Broken Records - Nearly Home

Florence + The Machine - Drumming Song

Soulsavers - Some Misunderstanding

Phoenix - Fences

The XX - Shelter

The Raveonettes - Last Dance

The Antlers - Kettering

Mew - Introducing Palace Players

Doves - Kingdom of Rust

Vic Chesnutt - You are Never Alone

20. Rock Plaza Central - …At the Moment of Our Most Needing

Chris Eaton is sort of like that homeless guy you run into on the street corner. He’s ranting on the street apparently nonsensically, until you listen to his words and realise that they are, in fact, quite profound. The song titles themselves are quite evocative and sound like pronouncements on life from a time long past: ‘(Don’t You Belief the Words of) Handsome Men’, ‘Oh Lord, How Many are My Foes?’, ‘Them That are Good and Them That are Bad’, ‘We are Full of Light (That Blinds Us at the Moment of Our Most Needing)’ and ‘The Hot, Blind Earth’. On this album, RPC combine these wordscapes with music that is equally engrossing.

19. The View – Which Bitch?

The first View album, 2007’s Hats Off to the Buskers was very Libertines-alike, solid but kind of unexceptional. They grew by leaps and bounds on its follow-up, transforming themselves into somewhat mad, Pirates of Penzance-type purveyors of Britrock sea shanties, touching ballads and some general rock and roll.

18. Elvis Perkins – Elvis Perkins in Dearland

It’s hard to stand out as a man with a guitar, as half the world seems to fancy themselves a singer-songwriter at any given point of time. Perkins manages to get under your skin by just sounding honest and producing solid, genial and personable work. He sounds like the type of guy you’d invite over for tea, just to shoot the breeze.

17. Bruce Peninsula – A Mountain is a Mouth

Bruce Peninsula are incredibly adept at delivering both the joy and the brimstone of gospel music, without the pesky god contingent. Tent revival folk and rock and roll, I’d join this cult.

16. Dinosaur Jr. - Farm

Dinosaur Jr.’s second act has been strong, and this year’s Farm is just about the best thing the band has done since its late 80s salad days. Tuneful and noisy (but in a grown-up way), this is the type of music Neil Young would make if he took things a level more distorted.

15. …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – The Century of Self

Most critics hold up 2002’s Source Tags & Codes as the band’s high water mark, but I find them even more exciting on their later releases, where they got more experimental and challenging. This has led to some erratic output (like 2006’s So Divided) but The Century of Self is a great distillation of their heavy tunefulness and esoteric meanderings. This is epic music that remains rebellious and stimulating.

14. Bear in Heaven – Beast Rest Forth Mouth

Shoegaze with a Krautrock beat is a pretty accurate description of Bear in Heaven. I knew nothing of this band but their second album has got under my skin with its heavy, narcotized and hypnotic vibe.

13. Bat for Lashes – Two Suns

Natasha Khan takes herself pretty seriously, but it at least results in some fine music. Her second album as Bat for Lashes builds on the strong start of 2007’s Fur and Gold. Her sound has evolved and grown and her musical scope now matches her artistic ambitions.

12. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More

In my earlier review of this album, I pointed out that Marcus Mumford and co. weren’t exactly original in their musical stylings. I stick by that, but I also realise that I’d be completely missing the point to leave it at that. Music should be fun and moving (sometimes ‘being original’ equates with ‘being unlistenable’) and almost everybody makes the noise we call song with a handful of instruments and a bit of tuneful ranting over top. It’s what you do with it that matters, and Mumford and Sons imbue their debut album with so much joy and passion that I keep returning to this album for sheer enjoyment much more regularly than I turn to the next big chin-stroking indie band.

11. The Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns

This album was technically released in 2008, but it didn’t gain any traction until this year, when it was re-released by Saddle Creek. It’s a frantic, nerdy take on alt-country, one as indebted to 1990s indie rock bigwigs like Neutral Milk Hotel as it is to the fairly traditional leanings of their alt-country forbearers like Uncle Tupelo. This is affecting and modern music, and shows there’s more to western Canada than just cowboys (even if the RAA relocated to Toronto).

New Music News

December is a quiet month for exciting new releases, but there was some pretty great news on the UK singles charts this week. For the last four years, Simon Cowell’s cynical, factory-produced and generally terrible music (even by pop standards) has inexplicably topped the singles charts in the UK in the all-important lead up to Christmas. This year, an ingenious Facebook campaign was started to try to unseat the hideous Cowell juggernaut with something a bit more real. The song chosen was Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’ and its famous refrain of ‘Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me!’ To be completely honest, I liked the idea but thought it stood, well, a snowball’s chance in hell of actually winning the Christmas singles chart. I was proven happily wrong this week, as the good, good people of Britain managed to vault RATM to the top of the chart, beating [Insert interchangeable name here]’s X Factor entry, ‘[Insert interchangeable song title/song here]’. Even better, Rage donated some of the proceeds to a homeless charity. However, this should be seen as a social, rather than musical, victory. As others have pointed out more eloquently, RATM is not on the top of the charts because all of a sudden people decided that a 17 year old song was what they really wanted to listen to. No, they bought it as a big middle finger up to the X Factor juggernaut. That’s fine too, but like I said, it’s a statement, rather than a display of musical love. In fact, as much as I’m loathe to admit it, a greater majority of the people who bought that X Factor song probably did so for musical reasons than those who bought Rage (even bland corporate balladry is technically music). In addition, I’m sure Cowell isn’t losing a lot of sleep, as the campaign no doubt drove sales of HIS song up too. This is just some food for thought on the issue, but it’s still a pretty cool outcome. Sure, it may not be the big victory for music over corporate interests in the recording industry that some people long for, but I’ll take what I can get.

Rock Plaza Central - (Don’t You Believe the Words of) Handsome Men

The View - Give Back the Sun

Elvis Perkins - Lonelyville

Bruce Peninsula - Steamroller

Dinosaur Jr. - I Want You to Know

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Bells of Creation

Bear in Heaven - Ultimate Satisfaction

Bat for Lashes - Glass

Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More

The Rural Alberta Advantage - Don’t Haunt This Place

Fidel Castro resigns, leaving Mick Jagger as the longest running and leatheriest megalomaniac around. Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft to concentrate on philanthropy, proving that it’s the company rather than the man that may be evil. Iceland goes bankrupt. Sigur Ros cry. Some other guy is elected president of the USA. 2008 was also the International Year of the Potato and the International Year of Sanitation, apparently. Was there honestly nothing better we could celebrate? Also, after a couple of bum years in music, 2008 gave us many great albums.

10. Coldplay – Viva la Vida, or Death and All His Friends

One of the things a lot of indie rock snobs are loathe to admit is that a lot of the buzz bands and the truly innovative musical performers are, in fact, completely unlistenable. It’s so easy to vilify the popular and the mainstream, but maybe people need to get off their high horse sometimes and just wave a bloody lighter around and sing inane lyrics at the top of their lungs. The simple fact of the matter is that Coldplay write some fine songs, made up of great melodies and insipidly inspirational words. As somebody who pays little attention to (most) lyrics, I am fine with this arrangement. Viva la Vida was billed as their ‘edgy’ record, which is a lie. It’s a bit more adventurous than previous efforts, but they maintained their strong grip on hooks and beauty, and just dressed it up in a snazzier package. Hey, if it ain’t broke…

9. Elliott Brood – Mountain Meadows

I think they describe their music as ‘cowpunk’, and I’m not sure whether that’s cool or annoying. It is, I must admit, fairly apt, as they blend bluegrass instruments with the attack of punk music. Their debut album, Ambassador, was a little darker and rougher, but Mountain Meadows took it widescreen and introduced a bit of euphoria to their approach. This feeling of joy was surprising, given the album was a reference to the Mountain Meadows massacre, where a bunch of Arkansas emigrants were massacred by a local Mormon militia in Utah in 1857. Damn catchy massacre, I say.

8. White Denim – Workout Holiday

Soulful vocals, crunchy guitars and rhythms that turn on a dime come together to form an oddly likeable and quite different take on music. From the surprising cultural hotbed of Austin, TX, White Denim first came to notice at the South by Southwest festival there. This year’s Fits was equally great.

7. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular

The MGMT album was one of those come-from-nowhere hits of the year, and its poppy dance rock deserved the attention it got. ‘Kids’ was used to soundtrack every ‘youth at risk’ program for the next six months. Pedantic side note #2 – This album was released digitally in 2007, but not physically released until 2008.

6. Sons & Daughters – This Gift

On this release, the Scottish duo expanded their hard-edged folk rock sounds to include some scuzzy pop rock. There’s something really sexy about a woman singing in a harsh Scottish burr.

5. The Kills – Midnight Boom

Like Sons & Daughters, The Kills also moved towards a poppier (but still rocky) sound, but this band came from a gutter blues direction. Lead singer Alison Mosshart was busy with Jack White and the Dead Weather this year. That was alright, but I want her to get back to the Kills and produce more music like this. This album provided the lyric of the year too: ‘I’m bored of cheap and cheerful. I want expensive sadness.’

4. British Sea Power – Do You Like Rock Music?

This album made me want to sail into the sunset, looking for a new world and adventure and – even better – made me feel like this was a normal thing to aspire to. Covering topics as diverse as historical floods (Canvey Island) and immigration (Waving Flags), the album felt like a real journey, in the best possible sense. Anthemic and real, British Sea Power make you feel alive. Lapse into hyperbole and cliché now over.

3. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago

This is an album that creeps up on you unexpectedly, barely registering before it becomes your favourite comfort. I’m usually a bit moronic when it comes to embracing new bands, and so it was with Bon Iver. I heard it and found it boring, but the switch came when I saw them live, opening for Iron & Wine. Live, it was almost Sigur Ros-like, as Justin Vernon and his mates created a hypnotic drone to back up Vernon’s lyrics of loss. The CD sounds more simple but is surprisingly layered, with new things revealed after every listen. I don’t know where Bon Iver will go next. This year’s EP, Blood Bank, was half great (like the title track) and half too experimental (Woods), but I hope he’s able to make another album with the lonely power of For Emma.

2. Cloud Cult – Feel Good Ghosts (Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes)

The most moving and glorious music often comes from tragedy and rebirth, and that proves true with Cloud Cult. Lead Cultist Craig Minowa (and his wife/band member Connie) lost a son at the age of two, and this greatly affected the music they produced. While some artists might (understandably) turn such a dark situation into equally dark music, Minowa and company crafted a beautiful and amazingly uplifting tribute to their son and life in general. It was not a rose-coloured portrait and acknowledged the darkness, but it left room for healing and moving on, but not forgetting. The best – and most heartbreaking – example of this is ‘When Water Comes to Life’, which turns an autopsy into a metaphor for rebirth and symbiosis with the world. Apparently, the Minowas have a new baby in their life, so I wish them all the best.

1. The Gaslight Anthem – The ‘59 Sound

They wear their Springsteen influences on their sleeves, and they’re fine with it (and so too, it should be noted, is the Boss, who performed with them at Glastonbury). The thing that vaults this band above other Springsteen-alikes is the sheer verve and energy they bring to their sound. This is a band that loves to make music, and loves to make music with a heart. The songs are permeated with nostalgia for simpler times and a recognition that we can’t go back to those, and all the happiness and sadness associated with having and losing something that special.

Coldplay - Violet Hill

Elliott Brood - Fingers & Tongues

White Denim - Let’s Talk About It

MGMT - Kids

Sons & Daughters - Gilt Complex

The Kills - Tape Song

British Sea Power - Canvey Island

Bon Iver - The Wolves (Act I & II)

Cloud Cult - When Water Comes to Life

The Gaslight Anthem - Miles Davis & The Cool