mr cellophane

20. 13 & God - 13 & God



One of many outstanding collaborations this year. Anticon duo Themselves and the experimental Notwist crafted a great set of songs. Their two distinct styles combine to create either some of the most experimental hip-hop, or some of the hip-hoppest experimental music, or something. It's unique, and very cool.
Listen: "Men Of Station"

19. Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins



This one came out at the beginning of the year, and I almost forgot about it. It ruled my entire summer, though. "Wraith Pinned To The Wrist And Other Games" conjures many vivid memories involving my ex-girlfriend. It's that kind of music. If you watch The OC, you should know how they sound. Bittersweet, tweeish pop music with some incredibly vocal melodies. I mean, they're on Elephant 6. There's a certain sentimentality both thematically and musically. Good stuff.

Listen: "Wraith Pinned To The Wrist (And Other Games)," "Requiem For O.M.M. 2"

18. Jackson and his Computer Band - Smash



Blows any dance music from 2005 out of the water. It's tough to put a label on the style. There's drum programming that wouldn't be out of place on some of Autechre's older work. There's cut-up vocal samples all over the place. And all sorts of weird experimentalism. The important thing is that there's a reckless, ADHD energy in every second of this album. It makes you want to move. That's what dance music is about right? I don't frequent dance floors, but if I did, I'd be very disappointed if they didn't play "Utopia" at least ten times a night. It's so good.
Listen: Full Album Stream

17. Gang Gang Dance - God's Money



God's Money sounds like some recording that the Egyptians made with the aliens when they came down to help build the pyramids. That's the best way I can describe it. Tribal percussion and pan flutes paired with abrasive electronics and freeform song structures. Is it noise? Is it electronica? Is it world music? I don't know. I like it though.
Listen: "Nomad For Love (Cannibal)"

16. The Double - Loose In The Air



The Double's Matador debut has one of the most original and addicting sounds around. Wild but oddly-melodic guitar feedback blankets groovy basslines, old-school synthesizer and some pretty awesome drumming. When I first saw them open for Interpol, I was in awe at how far they'd stretched the pop aesthetic. They go about it in a completely different way but garner better results than the majority of the pop around acts. "Idiocy" should be all over the radio, and "Icy" wouldn't be too far behind it. They demonstrate their versatility with songs like "On Our Way," a slow, atmospheric piece with an astounding amount of restraint leading up to an intense climax. Really, there's something good to say about every track on it.
Listen: "Idiocy"

15. The Boy Least Likely To - The Best Party Ever



I heard these guys before the Pitchfork hype. No, really! On the surface, The Best Party Ever is just another album of fun-but-shallow pop gems performed w/ quirky instruments like banjoes and glockenspiels. Sure, there's a certain playfulness to the music, but it's great because of the album's smart lyrics, an expression of a particular state of mind that I think a lot of people experience. It's about growing up, leaving the carefree bliss of childhood behind, yearning for a return to a point in life when things weren't so complicated. A certain paranoia looms over every boppy bassline. "Be Gentle With Me" opens the album with a great thesis statement set to a syncopated drumbeat and catchy glockenspiel line: "I'm happy because I'm stupid / Scared of spiders scared of flies / If I wasn't so happy / I wouldn't be so scared of dying." Nothing comes anywhere near the obvious highlight, "The Battle Of The Boy Least Likely To," one of the most eloquent expressions of quiet yearning and fear of death ever.
Listen: "Be Gentle With Me," "Hugging My Grudge," "Fur Soft As Fur"

14. Sigur Ros - Takk



Unlike many people, I really liked ( ). The darker, more pessimistic tone was an interesting area for our favorite Icelandians to explore. It's clear, though, in Takk... that whatever was bothering Jonsi and the gang is now far, far away. This is Sigur Ros at their most ethereal and elated. There are less of the exagerrated, Godspeed dynamics that have become so cliché after hundreds of post-rock bands ripped it off. The songs are more compact, but demonstrate greater depth and more polish than earlier work. "Glosoli" will become a classic. A simple switch to double-time two-thirds of the way through the track arouses more emotion than any other moment in a song this year. "Saeglopur" achieves similar results with the group's classic bowed-guitar sound and an indescribably gorgeous melody. Takk became my sleep album, overtaking Kid A.
Listen: "Hoppipolla" (Live)

13. Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness



Caribou (the artist formerly known as Manitoba) makes me feel like a bum. He makes some of the best music around using only Acid Pro with some pretty minimal drum samples. Fuckin' infuriating, really. I could be making music this good, if only I had the talent. Oh well. This is probably the most eclectic release of the year. Every track has a unique flavor and a style of its own, yet there's something there that unifies them all as a cohesive album. There's the hip-hop beats and arpeggios of "Lord Leopard," the chill riffiness of "Bees," the dark, folky "Hello Hammerheads." All very well-written, all very catchy.
Listen: "Yeti"

12. Autechre - Untilted



Autechre seems to be following the reverse path of most popular acts. Instead of becoming more accessible and glossing up the production, his work is getting more grating and difficult than ever. If you were to listen to Incunabula and then Untilted, you would absolutely not see the connection. I've found the duo's most recent offering one of the most rewarding in their entire catalogue. The songs are complex and meaty, and the sounds can be hard on the ears, but if you quit listening for your predefined notions of what music should be and take the sound for what it is, you will find yourself enjoying the music. There are so many moments on Untilted that just feel good. The album's best achievement comes at the end with a 15-minute epic called "Sublimit." Its brilliance has to be heard to be understood.
Listen: Full Album Stream

11. Broadcast - Tender Buttons



I usually hate female vocalists. Except Kim Gordon, although I'm not sure if she counts. I'm not a misogynist in the least. They just tend to get on my nerves. This album just does it for me, though. Beautiful songs with wonderfully minimalistic arrangements. Usually just a simple riff, a drum machine, very cool glitchy synth, and some detached female vocals that can be truly captivating. Many would probably call them "broken" pop songs. I don't think so, though. The production is as minimalistic as the arrangements, and lends a unique flavor to their sound, but the song structures are pretty straightforward and undeniably catchy. Highlights include album-opener "I Found The F," which features hands-down one of the most hypnotizing synth lines ever, and "America's Boy," the closest this album comes to rock'n'roll.
Listen: "America's Boy,""Tears In A Typing Pool"

10. Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain



This is probably the best thing Lightning Bolt has done. I mean, I never gave their older stuff the time it deserved, but it never hooked me. Wonderful Rainbow is one of the greatest album names of all time, though. Hypermagic Mountain takes their trademark combination of complex, free-form drumming and heavy-as-fuck bass guitar and uses it for some much more compelling songs. I can't believe the complexity that is achieved with just a bass guitar. It sounds like a guitar a lot of the time. And I'm equally amazed by how complex the drumming is while still holding the song firmly in place. The album is filled with chill-inducing moments that, at a live show, would make you yell "HOLY SHIT!" You know you've done it before. For instance, the entirety of "Dead Cowboy."
Listen: "Captain Caveman" (Live)

9. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois



Illinois is completely overdone and completely uneconomical. One of its songs is called "The Black Hawk War, Or, How To Demolish An Entire Civilization And Still Feel Good About Yourself In The Morning, Or, We Apologize For The Inconvenience But You're Gonna Have To Leave Now, Or, 'I Have Fought The Big Knives And Will Continue To Fight.'" It's this over-the-top feel is what makes it so great. Sufjan isn't being sarcastic or cynical about his fifty states project. I really think he loves America. Both this and Michigan have demonstrated some of the most heartfelt and genuine songwriting I've ever heard. His soft, melancholy voice is one of the most pleasurable around, and the orchestral arrangements of the cutely named Illinoisemakers form a very nice palette for Sufjan to craft his songs from.
Listen: "Casimir Pulaski Day"

8. The Books - Lost and Safe



The Books' first few albums were chaotic but undeniably catchy. Their sound is based around the juxtaposition of found-sound vocal samples with traditional instruments and percussive clicks and clacks. The combination results in a completely unique sound that arouses emotion through subconscious correlations. The basic formula remains the same, although it feels more mature and less experimental-for-the-sake-of-experimentalism. Samples don't feel at all out of place. Their vocalist even intertwines his singing with the words of the found-sounds, creating a great cohesiveness rarely found in sound-collage projects. A political feel pulses through the album. Lots of chatter about America. Lost and Safe proves that The Books have mastered their sound, and can now concentrate on writing kickass material.
Listen: Here's their site; have fun trying to find some music.

7. Andrew Bird - Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs



Andrew Bird is weird. This guy said that when he tried to have him sign the booklet from this album, he went crazy with a sharpie and just scribbled all over it. He is also a fucking genius. His arrangments on Eggs are unmatched. He is a multi-instrumentalist, although primarily a violinist. He is also quite the whistler, and he has a pretty solid voice.. It's all put together very well. The standout here is his mastery of language. The theme of the bittersweetness of childhood is pretty compelling, but it's overshadowed by all the great linguistic techniques he pulls out. It feels very literary and calculated. Lots of alliteration, and all that good stuff. The obvious stand-out is "Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head To The Left." Electro beats, nifty fiddle-playin', vocal harmonies, and masterful whistling somehow create a dark, noir feel. "Overprescribed / Under the mister / We had survived to turn on the history channel / And ask our esteemed panel / Why we are alive / And here's how they replied: / You're what happens when two substances collide / And by all accounts, you really should've died." Impressive, right? I mean, The History Channel is pretty indie. Oh yeah, if you miss Pavement, listen to "The Naming of Things."
Listen: Full Album Stream (link on the bottom left)

6. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary



I've been following these guys since their very first EP. I've never done that before. I guess I experienced both sides of it. On one hand, it's very cool to hear the songs evolve, notice the little embellishments that get added as time goes by. On the other, it kind of hurts to hear an album and find many of the tracks inferior to the originals. Apologies was produced my Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock. It has a very unique sound, not unlike Modest Mouse's earlier material; one that I didn't find particularly suited to Wolf Parade's material. Very thin and raw. I have to admit that it has grown on me. I've probably listened to "Grounds For Divorce" more than anything else since I bought the album; it blows away the EP version. Same with "It's A Curse." Kick-ass rock'n'roll with off-kilter lyrics and zany electronic flourishes. I can't make myself like the new version of "Dear Sons And Daughter of Hungry Ghosts," which was the standout out of their EP's. Oh well. It's a fantastic album with some very gifted songwriting.
Listen: "Shine A Light," "You Are A Runner"

5. John Vanderslice - Pixel Revolt



Man, I sure love a well-produced album. Sometimes, it's difficult to be an audiophile and a fan of indie rock. I mean, listening to Slanted and Enchanted on a nice set of 'phones can be downright painful. You can't dislike John Vanderslice's work. It's all so damn catchy and easy on your ears. Perfectly produced using purely analogue methods. It's really impressive. Add in the fact the Vanderlice is a wonderful songwriter, and, well, the guy can't do any wrong. And he hasn't. He's released five near-perfect albums in five years. In Pixel Revolt, he expresses the paranoia and numbness of being an intelligent American in the 21st century. References to terrorists, 9/11, and the Iraq war abound. From "Exodus Damage:" "Dance dance revolution / All we're gonna get / Unless it falls apart." Subversive, with a cool pop-culture reference. Instrumentation is diverse. Broken beats, electronic blips, orchestral instruments, mellotron can all be found on the album. Is it Vanderslice's best? It's possible. Certainly the most thematically consistent, and I haven't gotten tired of it after countless listens.
Listen: "Exodus Damage," "Trance Manual"

4. Why? - Elephant Eyelash



I'm not a lyrics guy. They're usually the last thing I consider when I listen to a new album. I mean, I still don't know half of the words to OK Computer. I found myself singing along to Elephant Eyelash after one or two listens. Yoni Wolf has unparalleled delivery, presumably acquired from his experience with hip-hop. He reconciles these roots with indie rock influences to create one of the most unique albums of the last couple years. I guess another reason why the songs resonated so strongly with me is because they're largely about Wolf's breakup, and I was going through a similar situation. Whatever. There's some vivid, off-beat imagery in these pieces that engrain themselves in your brain. From "Rubber Traits:" "Unfold an origami death mask / And cut my DNA with rubber traits / Pull apart the double helix like a wishbone / Always be working on a suicide note" These songs go places. Pretty choruses, rap interludes, sampled codas. So awesome.
Listen: "Rubber Traits"

3. Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase



Yes, it has guitars. And they sound fucking fantastic. Boards of Canada has always created self-contained, perfectly rounded albums with a consistent sound. The Campfire Headphase is no different. Everything from the album's art to the most minute details of the songs fits into a single vision. The recording has been artificially aged, making it match the old photograph look of the cover. This album should only be listened to through headphones or some very nice speakers. Every song is filled with subtle details that make them fantastic. I've heard countless complaints about there not being enough vocal samples. They're still there, but they've been cut up, distorted, and otherwise destroyed and inserted into the soundscape of the songs. As always, the music enters your subconscious and stimulates memories, epiphanies, and ideas. Right now, I think it's about technology and its effect on culture, but I'm sure some new meaning will reveal itself upon my next listen.
Listen: Full Album Stream

2. Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree



John Darnielle, after creating a pseudo-biographical album with We Shall All Be Healed, finally ditches his fictional characters to face some demons of his own. Over the course of thirteen wonderfully produced (by the sickly talented John Vanderslice) tracks, Darnielle explores the complex relationship between him and his recently deceased, abusive step-father. His childhood was not at all pleasant. Each song illustrates a vignette from his adolescent years, offering a painful look at the frustration and anxiety he felt being stuck in a home with an abuser. The most powerful is "This Year," which likens his home to a jail-cell. Darnielle repeatedly delivers the mantra, "I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me." He has never sounded more sincere, probably because the subject matter hits so close to home. Darnielle is pretty much the best songwriter working today, and I can't wait to see if he continues in this direction.
Listen: "Dance Music" Live, "Love, Love, Love" (Live)

1. Animal Collective - Feels



Feels is Animal Collective's most consistent and cohesive album yet. There's no "Visiting Friends" here, and no "Two Sails on a Sound." Every song is deeply layered, meaningful and exciting. "Grass" comes very close to topping Sung Tongs' "Who Could Win A Rabbit" for the best trippy freak-out song ever. You cannot listen to it without jumping around and mimicing that dying-racoon sound that they manage to make work as a chorus. "Did You See The Words" is equally invigorating. "Purple Bottle" is quite possibly the happiest song I've ever heard, overflowing with that elated, innocent feeling of being in love. "Can I tell you that you are the purple in me? Can I call you just to hear you, would you care?" If I had an indie girlfriend, it would be our fucking song. This isn't a surprise, though. Animal Collective has always made the best frantic psychadelic pop songs. What makes Feels exceptional is its patient slow-burners that actually work. Instead of creating nasty black holes in the middle of the album, they complement the faster tracks, gently introducing some beautiful ideas, both lyrically and musically. "Bees" and "Flesh Canoe" are both gorgeous pieces with meditative, naive lyrics. Despite all these fantastic songs, the centerpiece of the album and the best song of the year is "Banshee Beat." Picking up where "Winter's Love" left off, it begins quietly and slowly crescendoes into a chill-inducing climax that puts just about every post-rock group to shame. Feels is an artistic triumph; one of the most pure expressions of emotion ever created.
Listen: "Grass"

Songs I Liked:
A Silver Mt. Zion - "God Bless Our Dead Marines"
Devendra Banhart - "Heard Somebody Say"
Xiu Xiu - "Muppet Face"
Decemberists - "16 Military Wives"
Stephen Malkmus - "Freeze The Saints"
Spoon - "Sister Jack"
Serena Maneesh - "Drain Cosmetics"
LCD Soundsystem - "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House"

Albums I Liked:
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Dangerdoom - The Mouse And The Mask
Dirty Three - Cinder
Low - The Great Destroyer
Matt Sweeney and Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Superwolf
Mercury Rev - The Secret Migration
Mount Eerie - No Flashlight]
Akron/Family / Angels of Light - Split LP

Albums That I Hated:
Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
Nada Surf - The Weight Is A Gift
Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
Fiery Furnaces - Rehearsing My Choir
Cocorosie - Noah's Ark