So, here we are, the year has gone by, and I have spend an excessive amount of time and money on music. Thus it is now time to come up with my picks for my Top Ten of the year. Once again, as I note every year, these are my favorites, and not so much which albums i think were the actual best ever of the entire year nothing else is better.
I don't roll that way.
I love music and I'm going to let you know what I loved the most this year.
Hopefully you find something of interest and maybe you will enjoy it too.
here goes:
10) Chelsea Lindley-Scott - Demo 07. Chelsea was one of the greatest things to ever happen to me. so much of my life has changed thanks to her influence and i am forever grateful for her. one of the things i loved was her music and how much she put into making it her own. we have since broken up, but are still good friends and though she lives far away, when i need to hear her voice, i just pop this cassette in. it's a bunch of her own songs, kind of prog acoustic as well as covers of rocky raccoon and wonderwall, a very important song. you probably will never hear this, but maybe some day you will hear her. i guess this isn't really a demo, but i'll call it that for now, just to make me happy. hippy songs for a pretty boy.
9) The Octopus Project - Hello Avalanche. I randomly stumbled across this album, mostly based on the fact that I loved the cover art and had randomly heard my brother talking about them a whiles back. so i grabbed the album. and have fallen in love with the dancey wonderfulness that is this album. especially Truck. definately especially Truck. just another fun filled album to have around, it puts a smile on my face when i need it most.
8) Annuals - Frelen Mas. another band that i stumbled across, pretty much by just picking random things off of daytrotter, but after listening to the songs that i had gotten i was hooked. over and over again the harmonies get stuck in my head and this album keeps getting play. as well, seeing them while i was in vancouver in november was definately a highlight, especially when all the members of manchester orchestra joined the band on stage, creating something i would define as epic, with, a guy playing air guitar on the side of the stage as there was no more room for him. beautiful tunes for beautiful days.
7) Battles - Mirrored. I got this album totally randomly, as you can read further down the page as part of the original creation of this blog, to get random cd's and write about it. that kind of died off once school started rolling, but i'm still a fan of the battles album, and more so of the video for Tonto. super catchy song, and really trippy video. this is probably at the top of alot of peoples lists this year, but it'll do fine at seven for me. definately a gem though.
6) the weakerthans - reunion tour. yes, this album should actually probably be higher up on my list, but here it is placed. still a phenomenal disc that sounds of the same quality of site, but with the same quirkiness and sadness of leaving. i've really enjoyed the album and there are some highlights, but i've still gone back to left and leaving and reconstruction site probably more still since this came out. the continued tales of virtute tho definately stand out, tho, i think i cried a bit the first time i heard that song. music is a powerful thing, and once again emotions have been toyed around with. curse you john k. for making music that moves me. and doesn't fool me with an empty hollow interior buried beneath that sweet candy coated exterior.
5) In Irons - Rome ep. the local edmonton music scene for me over the last little bit has kind of bummed me out. alot of my favorite bands that i loved to see and hear broke up, or moved away, or stopped talking, or kidnapped president's daughters and haven't been heard from since. i've been down, not gonna lie. some artists have stepped it up a notch and i have fallen in love with. but. not as much as In Irons. yes it's friends of mine from other bands that i have loved forever, but, the genius, skill, and emotion that are behind this creation have excited me since the first time i saw them in megan elizabeth's basement. the cd itself is only 2 songs, and really makes me want more and more tunes. but. it will do for now. and it gives me happy thoughts in regards to the local music community that i love so dearly.
4) Miracle Fortress - Five Roses. ever since i saw them this summer and that crazy evening that ended this band, as well as 2 other bands, on the floor at my apartment, i have loved this album more and more. live they put on such a delightful show, and that is carried over onto the disc. majestic tunes, and a brian wilson vibe that you can't deny has kept this disc in constant rotation, and makes me excited for the next time they're through town that's for sure. sweet people + sweet tunes = sweetness of epic beehive drenched proportions.
3) Poisonthewell - Versions. still personally one of my most favorite metal bands around, I had been greatly anticipating this disc, especially once i had heard that they had headed over to europe, deep in the heart of the great metal kingdoms to work on this new outing. and did it ever pay off. still evolving in leaps and bounds over their hardcore startings, and working past the phenomenal you come before you, versions still wows me every time with technical skills, and constant shifting between divine harmonies and unrelenting screams, and a seemingly unending assortment of instruments not normally used by most metal bands. thoroughly enjoyable, can't wait to see it reproduced live. intense.
2) Most Serene Republic - Populations. one of my most anticipated albums of this year, and one i had been waiting for for quite some time, i was overjoyed when it was finally released. and. was it everything i wanted and more? oh yes, yes it was. the songwriting has improved over the enjoyable cinematographer, but especially though, Populations just seems alot more approachable than the last. alot of people were generally either love or hate as far as Most Serene goes, but this album is such finely crafted that really no one can find a fault with it. enjoyable by everyone, even your aunt Ida.
1) No Age - Weirdo Rippers - i hadn't heard of this duo up until a couple months back, when i was working in the cjsr library. i was labelling and shelving cd's, and had put aside a couple that were of interest that i wanted to hear. one of them was this 'No Age' disc. on the back it said Noise-Pop. Noise-Pop, now this i had to hear. i listened to it beginning to end, engrossed in the sweeping sounds of waves, random noisey bits, awesome keys, 60's pop vibe ( a little more brian wilson i think as well, seems to be the way to go), and a disc that i go back to time and time again. i have a hard time describing it to people, and generally just bust out the ipod and let people hear for themselves, but it's definately one of the greatest things i have heard in a long time, and will continue to for even longer i hope. beautiful, beautiful.
so there you have it. my picks for the year. i enjoy them, and maybe you will too.
zxo
