With the year coming to a close I just thought I’d give a retrospective of what moved me this year. These aren’t necessarily albums that came out in 2011, but ones that I personally discovered/rediscovered and were somehow relevant or inspirational to me. So here we go, in no particular order:
Album: Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair
Artist: La Dispute
“I think I saw you in my sleep, Lover.”
I’m a little ashamed to admit that I only really got in to this band this past year. They were one of those bands on my “to-do” list for a long time until one day I cracked and bought this, their full-length debut from 2008. The most amazing thing to me about La Dispute is that this is how the music in my head would sound were I competent enough to articulate it (obviously they do a lot better job than I ever could). Jordan Dreyer’s learned anguish is apparent in his every breath, and the band frequently modulates between aggressively energetic, and melodically spacious. Lyrically, it is earnest on a level I don’t think I’ve ever heard before, and it really has the potential to be life changing to the right listener. While there are lyricists that are -in my opinion- better at metaphor or symbolism, or snark (see: Schwarzenbach, Slug, Oburst, Justin Pierre) the outright honesty and self-examination on “Vega and Altair” is beyond anything I think I’ve listened to so far. Dreyer really puts himself out there and exposes his own vulnerability; it’s beautiful. La Dispute also had a new full-length come out this year: Wildlife is perhaps even more tragic than Vega and Altair, but on the whole I think I prefer the latter.
Check Out: The Last Lost Continent, Bury Your Flame
Album: An Anxious Object
Artist: Mouse on the KeysIn the category of “Japanese Instrumental Art Rock”, I actually have two contenders this year, and it was between this and White Noise label-mate Toe’s The Book About My Idle Plot On A Vague Anxiety. Having spent more time with An Anxious Object, I have to give the nod to them. Stylistically, Mouse on the Keys’ background in jazz is a lot more apparent than Toe’s. Their manipulation of unusual metering and unstable chords make the music interesting and at times downright confusing (in the best of ways). The band itself is a three-piece, consisting of a drummer and two keyboard players, but I believe there are guest horns on some songs. I particularly love the sonic quality of this record. I can’t help but believe that the drums on this album were recorded using a very minimalistic approach, 3 or 4 mics I’d wager, and it really lends an organic “groove” feel to the otherwise esoteric soundscape, an interesting fusion of old and new.
Check Out: Completed Nihilism/Spectres de Mouse, Soil.
Reblogging to check these out later.
