Dead Mellotron / "Ghost Light Constellation" EP

2009 has been a great year for music already. First, Animal Collective's "Merriweather Post Pavilion" proved to be every bit the masterpiece the hype had suggested. Next, Phantom Band released an album ("Checkmate Savage") which appeared poised to challenge "Merriweather" for album of the year up until December. Now this: relative unknown Dead Mellotron's "Ghost Light Constellation" EP, a muscial achievement so crowning as to topple both of the aforementioned albums, and to set its sights upon being not only one of the year's finest albums, but one of the decade's most impressive releases.

The description for this album might as well have read "a lo-fi reimagining of all of Erik Hukriede's favorite rock genres." Throughout its eight tracks, it tackles alternative, ambient, post-rock, shoegaze, and also manages to successfully incorporate elements of noise and electronica. Album opener "Nothing I Ever Imagined" builds itself up from the skeletal blueprints of shoegaze, leaving room for creativity and genre revision. The guitar is brought further to the forefront, amplified to crash over everything like a tidal wave. The vocals are buried in the mix, functioning more as an additional instrument than a means of conveying words. The percussion shoots through the fog of haze like escaping light beams. Everything is illuminated, and it is brilliant.

The brilliance carries over through each of the remaining tracks. "I Woke Up" is aptly titled, an ambient guitar piece swirling sonically as the sound gets bigger and nearer, like leaving a dream to rejoin reality. "I Hate the Way Things Are" opens with a dance/electronica beat before a menacing guitar enters in and obliterates the conscious, before slowly returning to melody. It's the musical direction Fuck Buttons should have taken post-"Sweet Love for Planet Earth" had they wanted to remain ahead of the curve. "Heart Flutter" operates as a form of break for the listener, all minimal drum machine and keyboard arrangments with little in the way of variation. By itself, it is not an overly impressive track, but it fits perfectly into the context of the album as a whole.

"Dress Rehearsal" signals a return to the rock side of the EP, and is the most straightforward rock track on the album. It is also one of the few times the vocals are both audible and distinguishable, although even here they remain down in the mix. The song ends with a guitar solo which abruptly ceases as "Saltwater (Beach House)" begins. As the sounds of waves crashing across the shore set the exposition, guitar, keyboard, and drums fade in and out while distorted vocals further set the mood. Simply put, it is one the finest ambient rock tracks I've heard in the last five years. The album closes with the two longest songs, "Untitled" and the title track. "Untitled" is an amalgamation of post-rock and ambient, and manages to exemplify both genres simultaneously in only a four-minute run time. "Ghost Light Constellation" ends the disc on a high note, although at this point it's more like a peak sticking up from a very elevated plateau. Reminiscent of Tangerine Dream's electronica masterstroke, "Phaedra," the song rides extended keyboard notes while percussion kicks away to keep the pace. As the percussion gives away, the songs bleeds away slowly, before both it and the album end.

"Ghost Light Constellation" combines a plethora of disparate elements with such fluidity in a way unseen since "Kid A." Cohesive, masterful, and unique, it is a new artist not only making a name for himself, but challenging all of his contemporaries to reach the same zenith he has. It might be awhile before the challenge is accepted. This album is just that incredible.

Rating: 9.7

Chad VanGaalen / "Soft Airplane"

I'd be lying if I told you I was entirely sold on Chad VanGaalen entering the year 2008. Sure, his debut album, "Infiniheart" was a reasonably impressive lo-fi recorded singer-songwriter album and his most recent album (and second overall), "Skelliconnection", earned some nice buzz and a Polaris Prize nomination. However, the change from "Infiniheart" to "Skelliconnection" did not hint that VanGaalen has ready to make the jump to being a premiere artist. His latest offering, "Soft Airplane", finally sees VanGaalen taking advantage of SubPop's technology and releasing an album that captures and solidifies all of his talents.

Opening with the bizarre but nonetheless interesting Devandra Banhart sound-alike "Willow Tree", VanGaalen finally hits his stride with "Bones of Man" and never looks back. "Bones of Man" begins with VanGaalen's voice accompanying a simple guitar line before adding harmonizing vocals, xylophones, and a myriad of odds and ends. Too many chefs may spoil a stew according to the old adage, but VanGaalen knows the perfect portioning. As the song parlays from refrain to one instrumental solo to the next before fading into static, there are no doubts to VanGaalen's talents as a composer, lyricist, or performer. "Cries of the Dead" combines cryptic lyrics ("I can hear the cries of the dead, muffled by the ground, but still loud enough to make it out") and an upbeat pop beat into a song that would be humorously ironic if it weren't so fucking good

His influences are vast and scattered. "Bare Feet on Wet Griptape" sounds like the Talking Heads, both vocally and sonically. "Poisonous Hands" hints at Grandaddy, with its space-age vocals and distant guitar. Hell, "TMNT" (which, yes, does stand for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) is a dance-rock track in the vein of LCD Soundsystem with a (no joke) harmonica solo! In the same way Beck used to do during his creative zenith, VanGaalen takes a disparate elements, slams them together, and creates a coexistence where one would seem unlikely or even near impossible. It's undeniably captivating music. From beginning to end, "Soft Airplane" explores new sonic possibilities, mesmerizes the listener with its beauty and creativity, and never becomes static or redundant.

In fact, the second half of the album might be even better than the disc's exemplary first half. "Molten Light" embraces VanGaalen's lo-fi roots magnificently and the effects combined with the chorus of "she'll find you and she'll kill you!" gives the song an eerie, hypnotic aura. "Old Man + The Sea" drowns VanGaalen's vocals in effects and instruments, only allowing it to approach the forefront as the song changes fronts and sonics during the refrain. "City of Electric Light" somehow manages to sound like Destroyer, Smog, and the Microphones simultaneously, and is every bit as good as those impressive influences. "Rabid Bits of Time" opens "you've been dead for years, but you never knew" before becoming a slow, quiet, melancholic burner of a track. "No one knows where we go when we're dead or when we're dreaming" sings VanGaalen as the song broods with the percussion of tambourines before more and more instruments slowly enter and exit the picture like characters in a play, each delivering one poignant line and exiting the stage. It gives way to a grumble and effects which sound like a train passing over rails. Closer "Frozen Energon" sounds like nothing else on the album, an ambient noise track with blips and static filling the remaining space. The album opens with a hum, and closes in an eruption of noise. In between, it is no less than one of the most original and exciting albums I've heard all year.

Rating: 9.1

TV on the Radio / "Dear Science"

This is how you get popular without selling out. TV on the Radio have followed an ideal timeline for a band to achieve mainstream success without changing their sound to meet Top 40 standards. Arriving fully-formed and loaded with the incredible "Young Liars" EP in 2003, they were hit-and-miss (fortunately the former more than the latter) on their debut full-length "Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes" before fulfilling their early promise with 2006's excellent "Return to Cookie Mountain". Now comes "Dear Science", which takes the astronomical expectations forged by the success of "Cookie Mountain" and strides past them without breaking a sweat. TV on the Radio have crafted a career-defining masterpiece, while sounding as effortless as they ever have on record.

Opener "Halfway Home" swells with the energy of a dormant volcano awaiting eruption. Lead singer Tunde Adebimpe's falsetto floats across waves of muffled feedback and Dave Sitek's programmed drums guide the song on a linear path toward the inevitable eruption at the 4:30 mark. It's an even better opener than the near-perfect "I Was a Lover" from "Cookie Mountain" and establishes both the pop-oriented nature of the record as well as the quality of the tracks. Whereas "Cookie Mountain" was an album of expanding the boundaries of alternative music and creating beauty from the dark chasms of Sitek's production, "Dear Science" sees the band reaching that perfect mixture of pop music's popular sensibilities and the expansion-seeking experimentation of independent music, the way artists like David Bowie used to do. In fact, "Crying" sounds like vintage post-Berlin Bowie, with it's radio-ready beat and smooth yet expressive vocals. Lead single "Dancing Choose" begins with Adebimpe making use of a rap / spoken-verse delivery. Carried more by energy than composition, the song nonetheless succeeds, even if it's not quite the single "Wolf Like Me" was in 2006.

The album's torrid pace slows for yet another stand-out track in "Stork and Owl", before kicking back up to dance music speed with "Golden Age". "There's a golden age, comin' round, comin' round, comin' round!" sings Adebimpe with hope as the strings and drums and synthesizer give the song its intoxicating allure and make it impossible to deny. "Family Tree" is the album's slowest track, and while not as immediate as the tracks preceding it, it nonetheless remains beautiful, both lyrically and sonically. "We're laying in the shadow of your family tree, your haunted heart and me... There's a hundred hearts soar free, pumping blood to the roots of evil to keep it young" sings Adebimpe, his lyrics enigmatic yet poignant, made all the more visceral through the harp and woodwinds which lead the song. If there's any low point on this album, it's "Red Dress". An anti-war song, beginning "a-hey Jackboot! Fuck your war! I'm fat and in love and no bombs are fallin’ on me for sure." The vocals are just as ludicrous as the lyrics read, and the song never really finds its footing.

However, this lack of footing is only a misstep, not a full-out fall. The album reasserts itself with the slowly-building and irresistably poppy "Shout Me Out", which goes from bubblegum to guitar rock without missing a beat. The guitar solo which comprises the song's second half is easily the best guitar work the band has ever shown. "DLZ" is the late highlight of the album, propelled by the darkest mood on the album, recalling the best songs of "Cookie Mountain" and "Young Liars". Adebimpe makes more from a refrain of "la la la's" than should be possible, and the song starts off supremely well and only continues to get better and better as it progresses. Simply put, it's a perfect track.

"Lover's Day" closes the album on a high note, all anthemic rock and no pretense. The band brings out a marching band worth of instruments, holding nothing back. It's an apt summary of the album. TV on the Radio continue to expand their sound, all while making it increasingly user-friendly. I can't imagine that "Dear Science" will fail to add to their fan-base and the fervor which surrounds their album releases. I'd say it would be a hard album to top, but with the level of talent and execution on display, there really is no limit to what this band can do.

Rating: 9.0

Sigur Rós / "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust"

Sigur Rós are still the only band on my humble site to receive a 10.0 review. Their debut, I wrote, was "an album that is comprised of songs in name only. These aren't 'songs', they're epiphanies and moments of self-realization. A reminder of all that is glorious in this world." Given such lofty praise (and I was hardly alone in my adoration of "Ágætis Byrjun"), it was a nearly impossible act to follow. Their next two studio albums, "( )" and "Takk..." were in a similar vein to "Ágætis Byrjun" in that they were composed of beautiful, slowly unveiling miniature symphonies carried by the vocals of lead singer Jónsi Birgisson. While fine albums in their own right, it was an impossible task to make an album similar to "Ágætis Byrjun" that would be of superior quality and artistic merit. The band's latest album, "Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust", which translates to "With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly" in English, sees the band attempting new goals and strategies musically. Instead of attempting to impress the listener, as their previous albums sought to largely successfully, the band is instead simply making music which expresses the variety of emotions which it (and life) provokes.

From the beginning seconds of opening track "Gobbledigook", it is clear that this is a vastly different record than anything else in the Sigur Rós discography. The song stomps along merrily at a speed which is jarring relative to the band's past work. It doesn't build toward anything, content to simply exist as a brief, beautiful pop song. It will surprise those familiar with the band upon first listen, but becomes as vital of a work as nearly anything in their catalogue. The exuberance and joy of "Gobbledigook" carries into "Inní Mér Syngur Vitleysingur". Again, the song is much quicker and less expansive than the band's usual output, but is still an immediate and engrossing listen. "Góðan Daginn", on the other hand, sees the band playing more in the vein of "Takk...". Jónsi Birgisson floats his vocals effortlessly along the keys, guitar, and string of the band as the backing vocals seem to power him along. It's much more attuned to the senses than the beginning of the album, as so many of their finest songs are. While not neccessarily impressive compared to the finest moments of "Ágætis Byrjun", it fits beautifully in the context of the album.

"Við Spilum Endalaust" returns to the ecstasy of the earlier moments. At this point in the album, I'm surprised to find it to be a pop album, which is far from what the band sounded like when they first hit America in 2000 and 2001. That tide changes again with the 9-minute opus of "Festival", which is as much opera as pop. Birgisson may have sounded more otherwordly before, but never has he had a vocal performance like that displayed on the first half of this track. To call it simply beautiful is to do it injustice. In the second half, the percussion and guitars return and the song builds to a crescendo as vocals swirl faintly in the mix like distant seraphs. It's everything a Sigur Rós song is supposed to be, and for the first time on the album the band has crafted a lovely piece which sounds like listener expectations.

"Suð Í Eyrum" is another lovely moment, feeling simplistic despite containing a vast array of disparate elements. This is further evidence of the band's stunning ability to meld many individual sounds into a unified melody. It breezes along placidly, and like a brief but pleasant chill on a summer day, is gone. "Ára Bátur" marks the second time the band tops the 8-minute runtime. It continues as little more than Birgisson singing over minimal arrangements until about the 7-minute mark, when a choir and strings take over, lifting the song to new heights. It's exhilirating the first time, but the long length doesn't reward multiple listens. "Illgresi" is an acoustic piece which never takes off in the way many of the band's numbers do. It's hardly exhausting or boring at only four minutes, but is a bit of a disappointment overall. The slow pace and largely minimalist nature of the album's second half continue with "Fljótavík" and "Straumnes" which never amount to the glorious highs of the band's best work, although the final 45 seconds of the former makes a worthwhile attempt.

However, any disappointment in the second half is cured by the final track, "All Alright". When I heard pre-release that the song would be the band's first in English, I was a bit anxious. After all, part of the wonder of Sigur Rós is their songs (whether in Hopelandic or Icelandic) rely more on touching emotions than evoking them shallowly through words. However, "All Alright" is transcendent. The fragility and quiver of Birgisson's vocals gives the song a haunting aura, and it is a genuinely chilling and touching finale, regardless of language.

"Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" might not be the 10.0 decade-defining classic of "Ágætis Byrjun", but it conveys the intelligence and self-awareness of the band. They've made history already. They're not out to speak the language of angels this time around; they're out to convey the happiness, sorrow, anguish, and hope of the human condition, as represented by the change in cover art from the fetal angel of "Ágætis Byrjun" to the naked, revealed people which grace the cover of this album. It's not perfect, but neither is humanity. Imperfections don't impede art from being breathtaking.

Rating: 8.7

Wolf Parade / "At Mount Zoomer"

On April 9th, as Wolf Parade's sophomore album "At Mount Zoomer" neared completion, label Sub Pop stated the album "might be this generation's 'Marquee Moon'", referencing Television's legendary 1977 debut. After this rush of Wolf Parade's own debut, 2005's "Apologies to the Queen Mary", it almost seemed possible. The string of songs from "Shine a Light" to "I Believe in Anything" is as compelling a series of tracks as anything released this decade. However, because it was an album of mammoth peaks with low plateaus dividing them, it did leave room for improvement. With "At Mount Zoomer", Wolf Parade has found a solution to the inconsistencies, but the none of the songs on the record reach the zenith of the best tracks from "Apologies". Needless to say, it's a good album, but "Marquee Moon" it is not.

"Soldier's Grin" opens the record with energy and plenty of guitar. Like Wolf Parade's previous work, the lyrics are seemingly direct, but abstract enough to leave plenty of room for interpretation. "What you know can only mean one thing," sings Krug in the song's refrain, "rooted to the place you spring from." As the song concludes, early-highlight "Call it a Ritual" marches in, lead by heavy drums and flourishes of guitar. The song appears to be an esoteric anti-war song, possibly about the Iraq, as it begins "into the dessert you will go" before stating "they will swing swing their swords for show while you turn your flower petals so slow." The songs remain solid as the album moves to "Language City" which is more upbeat and poppy than either of the two songs preceding it. The song builds to the kind of crescendo seen on the best "Apologies" tracks as Krug repeats "we are not at home!" before ending with a crash.

"Bang Your Drum" is yet another highlight, as Krug sounds as enthused as ever inviting the listener to "follow me, oh follow me" and "take a dive" as the song glides along gently. It builds slightly and gradually as Krug asks "will you burn your bridges down?" Along with Wolf Parade co-leader Dan Boeckner, Krug forms a nice vocal harmony of la la la's before asking "how can you turn away?" as the song comes to a close. "California Dreamer" sound less like the Beach Boys and more like the theme to a 1970's detective drama, with a subdued mysterious drum, guitar, and synthesizer beat before exploding with the first refrain of "and I think I might have heard it on the radio, but the radio waves were like snow." The song maintains this momentum all the way through the song's 6-minute run time, including the album's first guitar solo.

After the good but not great "The Grey Estates", a staccato guitar line opens "Fine Young Cannibals" (not to be mistaken for the douchebags who recorded "She Drives Me Crazy"). As another guitar enters and exits in spurts before taking over for a solo, the Television comparisons seem much more fitting. The penultimate track, "An Animal in Your Care", is a warped romantic ballad. "Time after time, you will forgive me, like an animal in your care," opens Krug before continuing, "you will outlive me and take the bow back you put in my hair." The lyrics are the strongest on the album, as Krug tells his love "when I die... [you can] sing the songs your lover taught you, when you were too young to know that this was what they were for." The song segues into the 10-minute-plus finale "Kissing the Beehive". If "Fine Young Cannibals" was reminiscent of Television, "Kissing the Beehive" is retrospective of the song "Marquee Moon" itself (in fact, the two songs are only one second apart in run time). If Wolf Parade seemed content on this album to hold back from letting loose as they did so often on "Apologies to the Queen Mary", "Kissing the Beehive" sees the band abandoning this tendency to sculpt a beauty of a closer.

"At Mount Zoomer" may not be quite at the level of the group's debut, but that doesn't make it any less impressive of an album. The group has successfully avoided the 'sophomore slump' while crafting an album without a single lesser track. Besides, this just means I can still await the group releasing the near-flawless masterpiece I know they have in them. In the mean time, this album is good enough to last the wait.

Rating: 8.4

Bonnie "Prince" Billy / "Lie Down in the Light"

Take a deep breath. I'm trying to capture my thoughts.

...

Berthold Auerbach wrote that "music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." In the case of the music of Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy), the music sifts through the dust to find gemstones. It's ironic that though Will Oldham's music lends itself to exorbitant critical laudation, the music itself is so grounded in the simple pleasures and pains of human existence and life. His ability to write songs and compositions that so effortlessly yet effectively touch the listener's very soul is beyond remarkable, it's nearly inconceivable. After all, at its core country music seeks to explore and report the wonders of everyday life. However, in its transition toward more and more mainsteam pop which took off with Garth Brooks and continues in the form of Keith Urban and Taylor Swift (among countless others), that tenderness has faded. Leave it to the man who composed the pitch-black classic "I See a Darkness" almost a full decade ago to release an album to resurrect that humanity with an insight and purity unseen in any country albums since the new millennium commenced.

"Lie Down in the Light" is quite simply a masterpiece. I've written before of the high esteem I hold Will Oldham in, but even with the burden of astronomical expectations and a catalogue of such depth and breadth, he still has the ability to captivate and surprise me. The opening number, "Easy Does It", offers up the kind of down-home Appalachian country that made "Viva Last Blues" (recorded under Oldham's Palace Music moniker) a warm and inviting classic. Oldham captures the simple essence of the track in its lyrics as "good earthly music," complete with guitar, banjo, violin, and tambourine. "You Remind Me of Something (The Glory Goes)" offers another uptempo song, and again the results are magnificent. However, the album reaches new heights with the Ashley Webber duet "So Everyone". The song is reminiscent of the duets of country music's golden era of the 1960's and 70's. One could almost imagine the song peformed by George Jones and Tammy Wynette, or Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn. However, the song is hardly the only standout on "Lie Down in the Light." "(Keep Eye On) Other's Gain" makes great use of harmony and builds steadily to a crescendo before fading out quickly to a lull. "You Want that Picture" is another inspired duet with Webber, whose voice is not only incredible, but suits Oldham's so perfectly it brings out the best in him. "Where's the Puzzle?" is more of a rock song than anything else on the album, while still remaining firmly in the country roots of the album's body. "I'm disappearing into the wind," sings Oldham as the guitars seem caught in the breeze with him, darting in and out of conscious throughout the song. In an album replete with captivating moments, it is exhilarating enough to stand above them all. In an album which provides the light at the end of the "I See a Darkness" tunnel listeners crawled through intimately so long ago, it provides the beacon.

"Everything there ever was or will be is all there is," sing Webber and Oldham in consummate unison in "You Want that Picture." On "Lie Down in the Light," everything I could have hoped there could possibly be exists. "I See a Darkness" was and remains a 10.0 album in my mind. If only because happiness fails to grab the heart the same way as melancholy does this album score any lower.

Rating: 9.5

R.E.M. / "Accelerate"

The first time I heard “Accelerate” in its entirety, I absolutely loved it. Track for track, it is easily the best album they’ve released since the criminally-overlooked masterpiece “New Adventures in Hi-Fi”. While the fan in me listened excitedly to the album, the critic in me reminded me not to get hasty. After all, it’s easy to get over-enthused and write off emotions when an artist you love comes back with a work that reminds you why you loved them to begin with (Brian Wilson’s “Smile” and Joe Strummer’s “Streetcore” come to mind). The fan in me was ready to declare this the album of the year; the critic in me is not ready to concede that yet, but is fully willing to embrace the album.

"Accelerate" errupts out of the gate with rocker "Living Well's the Best Revenge". Peter Buck tears away at a hard guitar riff as Michael Stipe establishes a tone for the album with opening line "it's only when your poison spins into the life you'd hoped to live". Similar to their IRS-era work, on "Accelerate" the band soundtracks often dark lyrics with energetic and memorable hooks and melodies. The first three songs all fall well into this mold, and perform with ease the difficult task of finding balance between emotional power and pop listenability (video). "Hollow Man" starts slower, as Stipe sings over minimal arrangement "I've been lost inside my head" before exploding into a radio-ready pop refrain. The song's sonic transitions are sometimes too quick and thus a little jarring, but overall it's a fine song though some of the song's lyrical power is mitigated by the upbeat rhythms and melody of its refrain.

The first real gem is the fifth track, "Houston". "If the storm doesn't kill me the government will" begins Stipe, before the song builds into an attempt to find the good in the world. Stipe asserts he will "make the best of what today has" before finally conceding in the track's closing lines "belief has not filled me, and so I am put to the test". These closing remarks leave the listener enticed, curious as to what will come next. While meditation on the previous song continues, the album's title track rushes in with the guitar and pace of the earlier songs on "Accelerate". The song is again effective, although it's placement after "Houston" could be seen as somewhat of a sequencing error. It closes with tremors of feedback and the opening acoustic guitars of "Until the Day is Done" shine like rays of light through the clouds.

"Until the Day is Done" marks the high-point of the album. "The battle's been lost, the war is not won" cries Stipe. The line initially appears a literal critique of the Iraq War, but as he continues "the verdict is dire, the country's in ruins" it becomes a metaphor of failure for the administration as a whole. By the end of the song, Stipe questions "where are we left to carry on?" As the situation in Iraq has no end in sight and over 4000 casualties, the economy sits in recession, and society clamors for change, his sendiment echoes that of the public as a whole giving the song a more harrowing and powerful quality. It's emotional power resonates even greater because of its subdued musical approach. "Mr. Richards" follows as another political track, and agains delivers scathing lyrics such as "you're mistaken if you think will just forget". As Stipe continues "you can thump your chest and rattle... but we know what's going on" it's difficult to assert if Mr. Richards represents a political figure or if he is similar to 'Mr. Jones' from Bob Dylan's brilliant "Ballad of a Thin Man" in that he represents anyone who refuses to acknowledge their surroundings. Either way, it's a thought-provoking and well-executed track.

The band returns to rockers with "Sing for the Submarine" and the gloriously loud and distorted "Horse to Water". The latter is as heavy as nearly anything off of "Monster". The album closes with "I'm Gonna DJ". "Death is pretty final" remarks Stipe in the song's opening line, before continuing "I'm gonna DJ at the end of the world". These should hint to you the black humor which makes up a majority of the song. It's a fun, smile-inducing rocker to be sure, but it's not the same quality as many of the other songs on the album and thus isn't necessarily the best closing track.

Still, if I'd been told six months ago that my biggest complaint about R.E.M.'s latest album would be that the closing track is only above-average compared to the nearly across-the-board quality of the ten tracks preceeding it I wouldn't have believed it. R.E.M. are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they have arguably the most impressive catalogue of any band to come out of the college rock era of the 1980's, and they have a worldwide following of millions of fans. They didn't have anything to prove to anyone. Yet they still delivered one hell of an album just to prove they could. Let me be one of the many to offer my thanks.

Rating: 8.6

Bon Iver / "For Emma, Forever Ago"

Peaceful, beautiful, and transfixing, "For Emma, Forever Ago" is the first great album of 2008. The debut album for the alias of Justin Vernon, it's an entirely new breed of folk music, coming across as a pitch-perfect blend of Califone, Iron and Wine, and TV on the Radio. What's even more surprising than the varied influences, is that the one it most resembles is TV on the Radio. Vernon's voice ranges from a soulful baritone to a falsetto similar to that of Tunde Adebimpe, TV on the Radio's lead singer. The other similarities lie in the vocal arrangements and harmonies. The beginning of "The Wolves (Act I and II)" could easily pass for an acoustic version of a track from the "Young Liars" EP.

What's all the more impressive is the way Vernon merges TV on the Radio vocals with a stripped-down (pre-"Woman King")Iron and Wine aesthetic. On "Lump Sum" the vocals rise into a rich, swirling harmony all while done over a minimalistic arrangement. The impressive, spralling vocals placed over basic harmonies allows the vocals to truly take flight and leave the listener in awe. Simply put, by holding back Bon Iver makes their music take on an even more magnificent sound.

"For Emma, Forever Ago" will almost certainly be in my top five or ten albums at year's end. Listening to this album front-to-back is the musical equivalent of retreating to the solace of the woods for an hour to reflect on life and take in the beauty of nature. The album is a pastoral gem, taking on the placid nature of a walk through the woods while offering enough sights and sounds to keep the journey interesting and ever-changing. It won't change your life, but it might just make you appreciate the little things in life more.

Rating: 9.0

A Series of Quick Reviews

The Raveonettes / "Lust Lust Lust":
I love the Jesus and Mary Chain enough that "Psychocandy" is one of my 15-20 favorite albums of all time. My love for JAMC, however, pales in comparison to that of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo of the Raveonettes. They love the band enough to make an entire album (and career, for that matter) out of making sound-alikes of the band. It all sounds good enough musically, especially if you'd never heard the source material. Unfortunately, it obviously ultimately lacks creativity. My recommendation is that any perspective listeners of the Raveonettes skip out on this (or any of their other albums) and instead invest their time in "Psychocandy" and "Darklands" instead. (Rating: 4.8)
Download: "Aly, Walk With Me"

Les Savy Fav / "Let's Stay Friends":
Les Savy Fav faces a similar situation to the Raveonettes. They have had to suffer through comparisons to another legendary band throughout their entire career, in this case Fugazi. However, here's the difference between Les Savy Fav and the Raveonettes: Les Savy Fav is much more original in their compositions and especially their songwriting. "Let's Stay Friends" is packed from front to back with catchy pop-punk tracks. In fact, there wasn't a song on this record I didn't enjoy. Les Savy Fav may not be reinventing the wheel, per se, but when the tunes are this solid should anyone really mind? (Rating: 8.6)
Download: "What Would Wolves Do?"

Burial / "Untrue":
Burial is an enigmatic figure. So enigmatic, in fact, that he's an anonymous dubstep artist, known seemingly only through his music. Even his music seems to carry that sense of mystery. He mixes genres and styles effortlessly, applying Indian music, traditional dubstep tunes, ambient instrumentation, and glitchy electronica to form hypnotic and intriguing miniature dance epics. While there are times when it is absolutely captivating, there are other times when it fades out sonically and causes the listener to lose attention, or else adds one additional element that spoils the sound as a whole. It's bizarre, but I feel the album actually would've worked better as a non-dubstep album. The consistent and heavy bass actually subtracts more than it adds, as do the vocals. Remove these two elements and it could've been a masterful instrumental record. As is, it is a good, though not great, dubstep album that is garnering more praise than the music itself truly warrants. (Rating: 7.3)
Download: "Near Dark"

Radiohead / "In Rainbows"

Radiohead have soared to being frequently recognized as the best band on the planet. In fact, they've been there ever since "Kid A" got the recognition it deserved as one of the best and boldest albums released in the past ten years. Unfortunately, thanks to the three-album string of perfection wherein they mastered stadium rock ("The Bends"), alternative rock ("OK Computer"), and electronica ("Kid A"), Radiohead have become superhuman. This is why hype built up the release of "Amnesiac" as Radiohead's return to guitar... which is the opposite of what it turned out to be, and why it was seen as such a disappointment to many critics. Even "Kid A" itself, now seen as arguably the decade's defining album, was not met with universal acclaim upon its release. Radiohead have always challenged their listeners, and it has always paid off.

Now it seems the band is trying to destroy its superhuman image, or at least contain it. The band remained mum on any album details, released no singles/videos, and made note that an album would be coming out via their website less than two weeks before it arrived. Now it has arrived, and 1.2 million fans have already "purchased" it by downloading the album from the band's website and paying (or not) an optional donation. This technique serves multiple purposes. It prevents the band from creating a formidable period of hype, where mental prejudices are formed by listeners before they've even heard the album (prejudices like these are why everyone seemingly loved the Strokes' first album, and everyone seemingly was disappointed by their second). It also prevents leaking of the album, so all 1.2 million downloaders heard the album at (roughly) the same time, as their guitarist Jonny Greenwood pointed out in an interview with Rolling Stone. What it amounts to is this: for the first time since "The Bends" in 1995, we can listen to Radiohead without grandiose expectations in the way.

And what of the music? After all, the point of this review is not a history lecture, but a critique of the music on "In Rainbows". To put it simply, "In Rainbows" is the best Radiohead album since "Kid A". It addresses the major issues which made "Amnesiac" average and prevented "Hail to the Thief" from attaining greatness. "Amnesiac" was plagued by over-experimentation and songs that seemingly served no purpose on the album ("Hunting Bears" anyone?). "Hail to the Thief" meanwhile, was poorly sequenced to the point that when songs did connect, it seemed more by chance than choice. "Rainbows" experiments with new sounds in the "Idioteque" vein while managing to tie them together with songs that were originally created during the "OK Computer" sessions, all without sacrificing continuity and flow.

The album kicks off with "15 Step". Propelled by a hard drum line and a hint of guitar, Thom Yorke floats lyrics like "did the cat get your tongue?" over the top of the driving music. Indeed I was left speechless, especially by the brief falsetto bridge. It leads well into "Bodysnatchers", which is similar to an inverted "15 Step" in that it's led by a hard guitar line and a hint of drum. Yorke barks his lyrics this time out, and they are hardly discernable at times, but the snarl in his voice is effective at conveying the dreadful mood of the song. It's the best guitar-based Radiohead track since "Paranoid Android". That should be all you need to know about it. The band is able to then transition in the beautifully-orchestrated "Nude", a song akin to "How to Disappear Completely" from "Kid A". Yorke's echoing falsetto carries the tune as it breezes over keys, violin, and drum. "Weird Fishes / Arpeggi" follows, and is one of the album's more interesting tracks. Led by keyboards, and featuring the first horns on the album. It's another great track, featuring wonderful use of build-up. The building is done with such subtlety that you don't notice it happening until it's already all the way up. The song closes with an amazing breakdown and we move on to "All I Need".

The love song, long seen as abandoned by the band, makes a return here. "You are all I need" softly coos Yorke, as the band becomes bigger and more powerful than on any other part of this album. As Yorke begins to wail and the sound crashes through wall after wall, you realize two things: 1) This is a really, really great album and 2) It just hit its climax. The simple, short violin-based "Faust Arp" follows. It's a good way to settle down after the conclusion of "All I Need", but little more. With "Reckoner", the band returns to form. Yorke's falsetto is magnificent and the track is good, though not a stunner like some earlier on the album.

"House of Cards" is a very enjoyable song, featuring the opening line "I don't want to be your friend; I just want to be your lover." Another love song? Another great one, complete with orchestra, celestial guitar, and excellent atmospherics. It closes with a whirl of sound and arrives at "Jigsaw Falling into Place", an immensely enjoyable song. Yorke speaks the vocals, but the swirling and hypnotizing background harmonies more than allow for that. With great use of horns and guitar, Radiohead crafts the last thing I thought this album would produce: a perfect pop song, complete with a breakdown catch-phrase: "and the beat goes 'round!" Album finale "Videotape" begins with just a piano accompanying Yorke as he sings of "when [he's] at the Pearly Gates..." as he continues to craft an introspective about religion, love, and time. It's the ideal close.

Having waited two days and two dozen listens, I can finally write that this is the Radiohead album I'd been hoping for. It has only one lesser track, and even that only lasts two minutes. It manages to do what every Radiohead fan had wished for, but never thought they would see: they combined elements of all three of their previous masterpieces (albums #2-4) and arrived with their fourth. Ladies and gentlemen, the best band in the world is back again.

Rating: 9.3

Josh Ritter / "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter"

You know, James Blunt's new CD comes out today. You can hear him "sing" cliches in an unconvincing whimper. You can hear him try and pass off "you can hear the sound of my breaking heart" and "I really want you to really want me" as genuine, heart-felt lyrics on a song pathetically titled "I Really Want You." Then again, instead of going back to "Back to Bedlam", you could try on a little Josh Ritter. His fifth full-length, "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter", is what all the shitty pop singer/songwriters wish they could be.

After all, what is it that makes a pop album great? First off, it has to be listenable. Pop music, at its core, is based on memorable melodies and a tight structure. "Conquests" is certainly listenable and certainly tightly-structured. Only two of the songs go beyond the four-minute mark, none of them top five, and whether it's the Spoon-esque guitar/piano stomp of "Mind's Eye" or the heavy drums and county-folk sound of "The Next to the Last Romantic", these are hooks and songs that stay with you.

The next ingredient to a great pop album is variety. While some artists are content to make the same song 13 times over to fulfil their duties as an artist, the best albums of the genre aren't afraid to switch up styles, sounds, and influences. Ritter brings us sing-along folk ("To the Dogs or Whoever") to radio-ready pop ("Right Moves") to delicate acoustic ("The Temptation of Adam" - one of the year's best songs) to power pop that would make even Carl Newman step back and stand in awe ("Real Long Distance"). Ritter is not afraid to tackle a plethora of styles, and he handles each with the ease of a true pop virtuoso.

The final key ingredient to a great pop album is replay value. How often will you return to this album before you tire of it? In the case of "Conquests", I have been listening to it for two weeks now, and while that in itself is a short time, I can't envision myself tiring of this album for quite some time. The lyrics are good enough to deserve and reward exploration, the music is varied enough to not become repetitious and tedious, and Ritter has an outstanding and appealing voice to make this not only an album to stick to, but also an album for everyone. If this isn't a great pop album, it's damn close.

Rating: 8.9

Dizzee Rascal / "Maths and English"

Let's get straight to the point: "Maths and English" is Dizzee Rascal's worst album. The good news is that it still might turn out to be the best hip-hop album of the year. That statement speaks not only of the hip-hop drought thus far in 2007, but also of the strength of Rascal's catalogue. So what is it that makes this inferior to "Boy in Da Corner" and "Showtime"? It lacks both the consistency of "Da Corner" and the energy and hunger of "Showtime." How is it still the best hip-hop album released so far this year? First of all, it's Dizzee Rascal, and I still don't believe that this guy can make a bad album. When the songs work, nobody can match him in either production or delivery, and despite the scattershot nature of the songs on "Maths" there are still a great deal of future classics.

The album opens with the lackluster "World Oustide". The beat is straightforward and relatively simple, and Dizzee doesn't exactly strain himself on the verses. It's an uncharacteristically ambient track. Just when you're about to be discouraged, however, Rascal delivers and outstanding four-track tour-de-force. "Pussy'ole" rides a sample from the 80's song "It Takes Two" and Dizzee rhymes as the beat incorporates more and more layers, until it explodes into the album's best track (and first single) "Sirens". Behind a beat heavy on cymbal and (obviously) sirens, Dizzee spits as good a verse as almost anything in his catalogue. Next up is "Where Da G's" featuring Houston rap duo UGK. Rascal lays down some very good rhymes in a slower drawl than usual. The decision to slow down works brilliantly as it plays extremely well off the drawl of UGK's outstanding guest verses. "Paranoid" comes in and the lyrics of paranoia perfectly suit the acid beat.

Unfortunately the next three songs ("Suk My Dick", "Flex", and "Da Feelin'") are nothing special, especially by Dizzee's standards. He returns to form with "Bubbles" which goes with a relatively minimalistic beat and lets him carry the song with his verses. He doesn't disappoint, sounding off rhymes like "Best to believe I keep it tight, / Best to believe I'm movin' right, / Keep my business on the low, you best to believe I'm outta sight." Follow-up "Excuse Me Please" is an effective political rap, as Rascal questions the logic of the world: "Sometimes I think the whole world's gone crazy. / The shit I see, it don't cease to amaze me."

The album closes with another four-track attack. "Hardback (Industry)" has a orchestral tint to the beat which gives it the sound of a noir film combined with a hip-hop banger. Rascal promises "if you take [his] advice, you'll be ballin'." He comes with such confidence, you can't help but believe it. "Temptation" has a frantic beat and Dizzee's fastest rapping combined with an effective hook from, of all people, Arctic Monkey's lead singer Alex Turner. "Wanna Be" features the oddest guest spot of all, Lily Allen (!). It's similar to "Wot U On" from "Boy in Da Corner" in that it deals with kids thinking their gangsters when they really aren't, but instead of a hip-hop hook, the one Allen provides is straight bubblegum pop. It's also hilarious! "What you know about being a hardman? / You mum buys your bling" taunts Allen. He closes the album with one of its finest tracks, "U Can't Tell Me Nuffin'". Dizzee hits hard and effective with both the beat (which sounds as though it were incorporated from a horror film) and the verses.

So, yeah, it's not up to the bar set by his decade-best "Boy in Da Corner" or hard-hitting "Showtime", but so what? By the time the disc ends, you're not thinking back about what the disc wasn't. You're starting it over and listening to it again and again, and wondering how the best hip-hop artist in the world remains a relative unknown in the U.S.

Rating: 8.7

...

On an unrelated side-note, I was right about M.I.A.

Pale Young Gentlemen / "Pale Young Gentlemen"

Thank God for debut albums. The feeling of hearing a new band, a new voice, for the first time can be one of the most exhilirating in music. It's the sound of a group making its first presentation to the public (for the sake of argument, I'm not including EP's. I've only bought one in my life and that's probably as many, if not more than most people). The first possibility is failure, and Lord only knows when your next chance will be... if it even comes at all. It's a difficult situation, but one many bands ultimately face before being reduced to returning to the garage circuit. The second is an inconsistent album, one which shows the highs of outstanding potential, but is mired by poor surrounding tracks and/or too much experimentalism. The third is the rare treat, the debut that seems to get it almost all right. The CD you listen to constantly when you get it; the one you spread to as many friends as you can via word-of-mouth. That gem that makes you simultaneously never tire of it, yet long for it's successor. Friends, "Pale Young Gentlemen" is that album.

It's clear from the first song, "Fraulein," that these guys are special. The song screams theatrics, but not in the annoying over-the-top vein of The Veils or (God forbid) My Chemical Romance. Over rolling piano with a hint of cello, Mike Reisenauer lets everything go in a highly-dramatized accent clearly not from his native Madison, Wisconsin. He doesn't sing songs, so much as tell stories. These stories flow over with warmth, personality, and above all else, fun! The prime example is "Saturday Night." While Mike's brother Matt beats away on the drums and the cello fades in and out, Mike shouts out "Oh Saturday night! Take me in your arms!" It's not so much as a plea, as it is a fantasy and desire for the weekend to come. The background vocals chime in perfectly "Saturday night!" in between his phrases and if only for that three-and-a-half minutes, this band is all you need.
They follow the song with one of the slower, more melancholy ballads: "My Light, Maria." The twin vocal attack (cellist Elizabeth Weamer provides the haunting accompanying vocals) registers poignant before Reisenauer and company reignite the party with "Clap Your Hands." The second half of the album, shows no fall-off in quality, and actually passes even smoother than the first. "A Shadow on the Wall," might be the best track on the entire disc. In just over two minutes, the speaker begins talking of being in a cave with the shadows of his parents on the walls and is able to get outside, enjoy a laugh, and escape their presence over him... with the help of a woman, of course. The soft, minimalist "As a War," the thumping "An Appeal to St. Peter," and the elegant, light-hearted "Single Days" close the album on a very high note.

What lies ahead for Pale Young Gentlemen is anyone's guess. Given this is a self-released album with little media attention, PYG may have to wait for their commercial and critical breakthrough. For now, they may rest satisfied that five unknowns from the Midwest managed to craft the most beautiful album of the year, and what would be the debut of the year in almost any other year. A score is perhaps redundant, seeing as I've praised this album ad infinitum in this review without a single glaring flaw. However, for the sake of consistency...

Rating: 9.1