jj sign on to Secretly Canadian records + announce tour, new album.

jj - jj n° 3 (March 2010)

(Indie Pop/Dream Pop/Electronica)

JJ are a mysterious Swedish pop band about which little other is known than the names of its two members, Joakim Benon and Elin Kastlander. No-one would even have known they were a duo if it hadn't been confirmed by the Tough Alliance's Gothenburg based electro label Sincerely Yours earlier this year. With such little information, one can't help reading into the facts we do have, and i'm sure a band of conspiracy theorists somewhere are going to interpret their latest signing, to Secretly Canadian records (home of Yeasayer and The War on Drugs) , as some sort of subtle sign or clue from the so-called Swedes.

With such a mysterious air surrounding jj (always lower-case, for some reason or another, as are their song titles), it logically follows that, as with fellow Swedes The Knife/Fever Ray, the music should also possess a certain uncertain quality, and that to an extent is true of jj. They put a 90s ambient house/dance edge on to dream pop, leading to numerous accusations from Oakenfold and Pete Tong fans around the world of a heavy influence from the Ibiza movement of Balearic dance music which, driven by the pioneering duo, caught well on to the London club scene at the turn of the century. Whether they were influenced by Tong and friends or not, there is a lot of influence from contemporary ambient music on this cannabis leaf fronted collection of 3 minute pop songs.

The genre they involve themselves with most comes in the form of dream pop, which tends to go almost hand in hand with any kind of pop music with an ambient influence. What follows on is an ecletic and accented combination of fellow Gothenburgers such as Pacific!, The Tough Alliance and Air France into a reflective, dancefloor compilation of indie pop music, starting to verge upon ambient dance at times. Some parts of their discography would proudly take up their places on any 90s chillout dance compilation, but other parts, with their reggae influenced pop sensibility, expansive electro-string sound and twee pop vocals couldn't be further away in terms of style. Despite the features of this band which place them at opposite ends of the genre spectrum - the music is all ultimately drawn together by its ever-present sound pallete, which whilst creating some very different songs, creates only one distinctive and inspiring sound.

For a band with no identity and even less regularity, they've been extremely busy in the studio of late, and their first emergence on the popular world music scene came only in March 2009 with their release of jj n° 1 on Sincerely Yours, followed closely by their debut full length, the nine-track LP jj n° 2, on July 1, 2009. It was on December 24, 2009 that they announced the biggest news of their year, that their follow up album, the inspiringly titled jj n° 3, would be coming out in March of this year on the aforementioned Secretly Canadian label. If this wasn't news enough, they also revealed a full tour with British post-punk/rnb band The XX in March/April 2010.

jj n° 3 is out March 2010 on Secretly Canadian records.

jj n° 2 on Amazon MP3

03-22 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon*
03-24 Atlanta, GA - The Earl*
03-25 Carrboro, NC - Cats Cradle*
03-28 Washington, DC - Sixth & I Historic Synagogue*
03-29 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church Sanctuary*
04-05 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center*
04-06 Bloomington, IN - Buskirk-Chumley Theater*

*w/ The XX (currently also on tour with Hot Chip, Friendly Fires and Holly Miranda)

File Next To - The Tough Alliance, Pacific!, Air France

jj - things will never be the same again (MP3)
jj - baby (MP3)

Rural Alberta Advantage - Four Night Rider/Luciana

Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns (July 17, 2009)(Country/Indie Pop/Garage Pop)

The Rural Alberta Advantage are a band I missed this year until quite recently, and without a doubt, if i'd listened through their album earlier than I did, it would have made an appearance on my albums of 2009 list. Hometowns was originally released independently by the band in early 2008 - but following an Emusic artist of the month feature in November 2008, The RAA signed onto Saddle Creek Records, and re-released Hometowns on July 7, 2009.

With all the lo-fi rock nostalgia of Jeff Magnum and Neutral Milk Hotel's On Avery Island, The Rural Alberta Advantage make hyperactive indie pop with wailing boy-girl harmonies, heartfelt acoustic interludes and coarse electric guitars. There's stomping percussion and checkered shirts galore - as well as horns and occasionally keys added into the mix. They are currently touring extensively across the USA, moving on to bigger and better things as their popularity grows. Based in Toronto, Ontario, having grown up in rural Alberta, the band describe themselves below..

"The Rural Alberta Advantage play indie-rock songs about hometowns and heartbreak, born out of images from growing up in Central and Northern Alberta. They sing about summers in the Rockies and winters on the farm, ice breakups in the spring time and the oil boom’s charm, the mine workers on compressed, the equally depressed, the city’s slow growth and the country’s wild rose, but mostly the songs just try to embrace the advantage of growing up in Alberta."


Four Night Rider, live from The Bell House 5/4/09, via wingedfeetxc on Youtube.

File Next To - Harlem Shakes, Neutral Milk Hotel, Japandroids

The Rural Alberta Advantage - Four Night Rider (MP3)
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Luciana (MP3)


Hometowns on Amazon

Real Estate - Beach Comber/Snow Days

Real Estate - S/T (November 17, 2009)
(Surf Pop/Psychedelic/Chillwave)

I've been meaning to post something for weeks and weeks about Brooklyn band Real Estate, another pioneering group in the increasingly popular psychedelic surf pop movement which i've been heavily over indulging myself in recently. In the same vein as all my blog favourites such as Surfer Blood, Girls and Best Coast - Real Estate make snippets of 60s pop psychedelia coated in fuzzy reverb and drenched in sunny harmonies. The difference between this band and the others is the total chillout mentality they show across their entire self-titled debut album, leading to a whole load of comparisons to the other chillwave bands of late.

Unlike their synth laden companions such as Toro y Moi, Washed Out and Neon Indian they make chill out surfer pop music with more of a classic rock influence than one from electronica. Again, another feature sets them apart from bands like Surfer Blood and Woods is the fact that they coat their meaningful and heartfelt lyrics in meaningful and heartfelt music. As with most of the albums I've been posting about recently, this is another one for your Sunday morning collection.

Real Estate is bassy and slow-paced with occasional bursts of energy across the ten-track Woodsist Records release. The spaced out vocals of Martin Courtney don't feature heavily - and when they do, its more the notes they hold than the lyrics they deliver. It's not shoegaze, but at times the lyrics make more of a background appearance in relation to the simple melodies than a dominant one.

File Next To - Best Coast, Ganglians, Toro y Moi

Real Estate - Snow Days (MP3)
Real Estate - Beach Comber (MP3)


Real Estate on Amazon

One To Watch In 2010 - Flotilla

Flotilla - One Hundred Words For Water (November 2, 2009)

(Indie Pop/Classical/Chillout)

Canada, as a music scene, is definitely doing something right; the sheer volume of incredible female vocalists coming out of there in recent years (particularly its major cities, Montreal and Quebec) might be quite shocking, but remains warmly welcomed by people such as myself. As you may have guessed, I'm quite a sucker for dreamy chamber pop bands with female vocalists like Stars, The Most Serene Republic and Feist. Another of my favourite female vocal styles originates from across the pond in Bristol, UK where in the 90s, Portishead and Beth Gibbons started out the wave of trip-hop and quivering female voices that aided the popularisation of bands such as Massive Attack. Flotilla, hailing from Montreal themselves, do a good job of combining the two styles into a chillout pop album of light classical indie, with occasional progressive and trip-hop influences.

As a five (and occasionally six) piece, headed by Veronica Charnley, Flotilla create a layered and minimalistic selection of well-placed riffs and sounds - giving the unnervingly intertwined organic sounds of piano, harp and strings an individuality which they themselves produced in recording. Certain songs (notably Charlie, I'm Through) do break convincingly into a full band sound, but at all times the voice remains the focus of the arrangement. There's even an erratic disco piece towards the end of track Clouds. However, never does an instrument break out of the background, and even amongst such an accomplished set of gifted musicians every single one knows well his or her place and boundaries. They manage to provide an ecletic backing to a confident singer - with an experimental edge reminiscent at times of Portishead, occasionally parts of the more experimental side of Radiohead, but more often than not of bands like The Most Serene Republic, Feist and St. Vincent.

Although their album came out in 2009, I count Flotilla as a band to watch in 2010; their first album never really caught on, and for that reason such a stunning follow-up will take its time to be appreciated. They have touring planned for next year in the USA, where if they don't start to take off, something is seriously wrong.

File Next To - Joanna Newsom, Kings of Convenience, St. Vincent

Flotilla - Charlie, I'm Through (MP3)
Flotilla - Meet Me Outside (MP3)

Buy One Hundred Words For Water Direct Via Flotilla.

Odawas - Harmless Lover's Discourse

Odawas - The Blue Depths (Feb 17, 2009)

(Dream Pop/Ambient/Folk)

Odawas have three albums to date, ranging back as far as 2003's Aether Eater, and as far forward as February 2009, where The Blue Depths became Jagjaguwar's third full length Odawas release. Its an album of swirling post-folk music, with electronic string arrangements and airy, synthesized euphoria. Filled with Sunday night sounds, this is a concise yet trippy album of awe and childish wonder, revealing more about itself with each listen.

Michael Tapscott mans the microphones and the guitar, and his musical partner Isaac Edwards deals with the experimental backing through everything from synths to keys to setting the structure. The sound on the synthesizers isn't far off from that of M83, but the way it is used is quite different - whilst the latter operate with a determined purpose and grand execution - Odawas appear more concerned with what doesn't feature than what does. The music constantly keeps you wondering what is still to come - and what does come is beautiful. Their execution is grand in an essentially different way.

The feel of these songs is predominantly choral and folky; Odawas most of the time sound more like an early morning Fleet Foxes drug trip than an indie pop band. Their music, particularly on this album, falls quite comfortably within the realms of psychedelia, and at no point does it look back. Occasionally Edwards will add some hazy percussion to the mix - driving forward his songs to step out of their comfort zone to grab your attention. It is only then this album looks for you. Harmless Lover's Discourse (MP3 below) is about as proactive as Blue Depths gets.

Finally, the Virginia born duo recently recorded an acoustic (well, minus the electronics) daytrotter session in October, featuring live versions of new tracks in the studio. Take a listen and download them via the daytrotter website.

File Next To - Fleet Foxes, The Blue Nile, Slowdive

Odawas - Harmless Lover's Discourse (MP3)

The Blue Depths on Amazon

NEW TRACK - Broken Bells - The High Road

Broken Bells - Broken Bells (due March 2010)(Indie Pop/Alternative/Indie Rock)

Broken Bells is the project between James Mercer (the main man behind The Shins) and producer Danger Mouse (famous for his work with Gnarls Barkley, The Black Keys and Beck) . They have announced plans to release a debut album in early 2010 - and to mark this announcement, have given us a taster track from the upcoming debut, by name of The High Road. Supposedly the project is far more than just another production trip by Danger Mouse - the two of them are in it for the long run, and already have plans beyond the first album.

The genre of the music (judging on just the one track) doesn't appear to tie itself down to anything, it's slow-paced indie pop with a relaxed and very slight bluesy edge to it, with some pretty chilled out crunching synth sounds behind. You can quite clearly hear the Shins' influence from Mercer's end, and DM (as the brilliant producer he is) brings it out and plays on it. They've made no pretences by dropping us a killer lead single first - and I judge that to be a good sign, a sign that there's a lot more to come from this exciting future collaboration.

File Next To - The Shins, Danger Mouse, Beck

Broken Bells - The High Road (MP3)

from the forthcoming debut album 'Broken Bells' , due March 2010

One To Watch In 2010 - Wild Nothing.

Wild Nothing - Untitled LP (due April 2010)(Shoegaze/Dream Pop/Lo-fi)

Wild Nothing is the latest form of one-man-band Jack Tatum (also of surf pop band Facepaint), whose February formed shoegaze project signed on to the Captured Tracks label this year. He's just released his sun-soaked debut single Summer Holiday on 7" (which you can order here) and announced plans for an as of yet untitled debut LP next April.

In terms of genre, he slots in nicely next to all the bands i've been featuring recently - he has the airy dream pop vocals of projects like Toro y Moi and Small Black, combined with the pop sensibility of Girls, and the lo-fi pop sound of Best Coast and Dum Dum Girls. Everything about his music has the dreamy laid-back feel of late summer nights and careless evenings with warm, fuzzy guitars, sleek distorted vocals and buzzing synths.

There's a feeling of quiet optimism and content in and amongst every element of the lo-fi recording - and its that which turns Summer Holiday into such a song of the summer. The track is a carefree anthem and epitomises everything both Tatum and his label are about. He's signed on amongst some of the finest Lo-fi artists last year had to boast (Woods, Dum Dum Girls, The Mayfair Set) and is all set to become next years equivalent. The new LP is definitely one to watch in 2010, and Wild Nothing should be all set to sustain musically what his label-mates started. Pick up Summer Holiday, plus his cover of Kate Bush's Cloudbusting below.

File Next To - Toro y Moi, Best Coast, The Mayfair Set

Wild Nothing - Summer Holiday (MP3)
Wild Nothing - Cloudbusting (Kate Bush Cover) (MP3)

Order the Summer Holiday 7"

Introducing.. Warpaint

Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse (December 7, 2009)(Ambient/Folk/Shoegaze)

Warpaint are a band whose name is being increasingly dropped around the internet, and upon my first listen through their EP I decided that it needed to be dropped some more, so here goes. Warpaint are a Los Angeles based psychedelic/shoegaze band formed in 2007, who have under their belts notable press from the late Heath Ledger, Billy Zane, and also from John Frusciante - who produced their debut release Exquisite Corpse for Manimal Vinyl earlier this year. Their drummer/keyboardist Josh Klinghoffer is known for his numberous collaborations with Frusciante, and has played as a session musician for a whole host of bands including Neon Neon, PJ Harvey and Frusciante himself. The resulting album is not quite such a morbid affair as its title suggests, but does deal with some quite negative themes through some dark, ethereal instrumentation.

The music is beautiful and most of the time very downbeat - I call it shoegaze mainly because although the songs never melt down into a total haze - a typical Warpaint track starts off at almost silence, before the ethereality ascends and surrounds. The music verges on ambient, and aside from the drums, the only piercing noises in the whole arrangement are the stunning vocals of Jenny Lee Lindberg, Emily Kokal, and Theresa Wayman. Time rolls along and tracks, which typically stand at about 5 to 6 minutes in length, feel like lo-fi summer folk songs draped in the cold of the autumn and onset of winter. The more you listen to this band the more you are drawn in, and what might seem like nothing particularly engaging, works extremely hard for your appreciation. Like many bands of this year, Warpaint are doing more with less. You can file this one next to Holly Miranda (review) in terms of sound - and keep an eye on both artists in terms of 2010 success. Warpaint are playing dates early next year in the US with Yeasayer (previous posts) and Akron/Family. So if you're lucky enough to live in Texas - paying a visit to one of these shows is a must.

FILE NEXT TO - Holly Miranda, The Antlers, Mercury Rev

Warpaint - Billie Holiday (MP3)

Exquisite Corpse on Amazon

NEW TRACK - Yeasayer drop us another.

(Experimental/Indie Rock/Psychedelic)
There's not a music blog out there which hasn't piled in on the hype for the new Yeasayer album; and i'm in no way exempt. Odd Blood is setting up to be an early 2010 gem. They've dropped another track from there in the form of the more downbeat Madder Red (read about/download the first) and taken yet another step away from the sound which they featured on 2007's All Hour Cymbals. There's wailing pop song vocals, power chords and 80s synths with epic drumming - this is a song nothing like the name suggests.

Yeasayer - Madder Red (MP3)

Odd Blood is due out February 9, 2010 on Secretly Canadian Records

Greatest Albums of 2009. #5. - #1.

Continued from PART THREE.
5. Girls - Album (September 22, 2009)(Surfer Pop/Indie Rock/Beach Punk)

"Girls (original post) are a set of 60s revivalist musicians, partly because it's the music they love, and partly because its all lead singer Christopher Owens was ever exposed to during his childhood and teenage years. He grew up in the American Christian cult Children of God, and despite leaving as a teenager, he was always restricted to old films and movies, and music created exclusively within its member circle. It makes the fact that his band, Girls, have pulled off such a brilliant debut album even better. The album is psychedelic shoegaze pop 40-50 years out of time. Its Buddy Holly and Beach Boys influenced surf music, with bubblegum pop melodies coated in loud reverbial, lo-fi strumming..."

read the original review on my blog / on indieshuffle

Album on Amazon

Girls - Summertime (MP3) (link removed by request)

4. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - S/T (February 3, 2009)

(Shoegaze/Indie Pop/Twee)

Pains of Being Pure at Heart (previous posts) are a shoegaze pop band formed in New York in 2007 . Their eponymous debut album came out on Slumberland records early this year and with it, they burst straight on to the musical radars of most of the blogosphere. They take elements of early 90s shoegaze and elements of twee and noise pop - with the boy/girl vocals of Kip Berman and Peggy Wang dubbed beneath heavy overdriven rock songs. The result is an adrenaline pumping hazy pop album, going along its way with all the naivety and energy of youth and the controlled aggression of Jesus & Mary Chain. Stay Alive is one of the slower tracks, but also one of the most mature - starting out with acoustics and developing into a euphoric outro, the track shows off Pains' versatility around what has always been a genre so tightly defined.

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Stay Alive (MP3) (link removed by request)

Pains of Being Pure at Heart on Amazon

3. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More (October 5, 2009)

(Bluegrass/Folk/Indie)

I first introduced Mumford & Sons on the blog back in January 2009, tipping them as a potential next big thing. They were probably my most accurate prediction for this year. They went on to release one of my favourite folk albums ever in the form of Sigh No More. It is ultimately a bluegrass album, in the sense that it is folk music, but folk music with particularly traditional roots. In London's growing folk scene, lead singer Marcus Mumford started out as the backing drummer for Laura Marling's travelling band - and by supporting her live show is how Mumford & Sons' popularity and following really took off. Incidentally, I came across them at a small cafe at Glastonbury Festival and the performance was stunning, they had cider splashing everywhere and people dancing on the tables. Again, in Southampton this Autumn, they repeated. The album captures the sense of personality and intimacy that Marcus Mumford projects so well from the live show. I frequently rave about Mumford & Sons on the blog, so for more music and more musings - check out my previous posts.

Mumford & Sons - Awake My Soul (MP3) (link removed by request)

Sigh No More on Amazon

2. Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca (June 9, 2009)

(Experimental/Indie Pop/Psychedelic)

I have to admit I hadn't actually heard of Dirty Projectors until their 'Dark Was The Night' charity collaboration with David Byrne rose to fame. What I thought was just a catchy and different track 'Knotty Pine' led me to discover what would later be one of my favourite albums of the year. Bitte Orca is remarkable in that most of the tracks on it use a notably simple set up - acoustic guitars, bass, drums, perhaps a synthesizer of some sort - but create music which is like nothing you've ever heard before. Parts sound like RnB, and others like Menomena-inspired erratic indie rock. There are electro-acoustic melodies flying off everywhere, and somewhat directionless vocals to match. Once more, all the members have mind-blowingly good voices. Nearly all members of the Dave Longstreth-headed folk collective sing, and, currently made up of 4 females and 2 males, the band create mathematically brilliant harmonies - all the time managing to keep the songs addictive and engaging. This album was remarkably close to becoming my album of the year - it was pipped at the post by what is to come. Pick up track Temecula Sunrise and hear Dave Longstreth conquer music theory with this manic, offbeat fingerpicked track.

Bitte Orca on Amazon

Dirty Projectors - Temecula Sunrise (MP3) (link removed by request)

1. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion (January 9, 2009)

(Experimental/Psychedelic/Electronic)
I think from the second Animal Collective's fourth full-length played through on my itunes at the beginning of this year - i knew that if it didn't place very highly on my end of year list, then it would have been by some distance the best year for music the world had ever seen. Its a fairly unanimous album of the year for most - from a well-established band who, via one album release, have turned their attentions from pleasing their hardcore band of followers to challenging the listening habits of all of us with smaller attention spans. Using a combination of whirlwind synths, heavy stabbing bass beats and barely within time scatty electronic rhythms - graced with the emotionless vocals and psychedelic senseless lyrics, Animal Collective have made one of the most innovative musical steps of this year. My Girls is a runaway track of 2009 for me, and no matter how much Pitchfork stick I might get for this list I am in no way ashamed to let Animal Collective top it. They gave me one of the best gigs of my life at Glastonbury Festival, and a truly forward thinking album. I can't thank this band enough for Merriweather Post Pavilion.

Read my original posts on this band.

Animal Collective - My Girls (MP3) (link removed by request)


Merriweather Post Pavilion on Amazon

Greatest Albums of 2009. #10. - #6.

Continued from Part Two

10. Volcano Choir - Unmap (September 22, 2009)
(Experimental/Folk/Ambient)
Justin Vernon's Volcano Choir, contrary to popular belief, actually outdates his vastly more famous Bon Iver project. It dates back to the summer of 2005, when Justin Vernon's DeYarmond Edison toured with Volcano Choir's other members under the moniker of Collections of Colonies of Bees. Unmap sees a return by Vernon to his long-running project and with it a return to the more experimental side of his songwriting. If you thought Bon Iver was an experimental project - Volcano Choir will give you no choice but to rethink. Volcano Choir make ambient post-folk, accompanied by the clinking of glasses, shutting of doors, and echoes of the wind, coated in note perfect five-piece choral harmony. Beautifully cluttered instrumentation drifts over harmonics and intermittent vocal cries; Volcano Choir sound like a choral jam-band - Fleet Foxes combined with the wisdom of ambient folk bands such as Mountains, or even parts of Bon Iver's own work. Unmap is the collection of these stunning recordings - to make quite clearly one of the best experimental releases of the year.

Volcano Choir - Husks And Shells (MP3)

Unmap on Amazon

9. The Antlers - Hospice (August 18, 2009)

(Folk/Indie Pop/Ambient)
Hospice is the second full length studio album from New York's Antlers, originally released in March, but re-pressed by Frenchkiss Records in August after the initial release sold an overwhelming number of copies. Lead singer Peter Silberman wrote the first album In The Attic of The Universe alone in his Brooklyn flat in 2006 - and later recruited Michael Lerner and Darby Cicci to help with EPs Cold War and New York Hospitals. Hospice is a concept album telling the story of a man losing a loved one to cancer. Through the medium of airy indie folk, lo-fi recordings and ambient, shoegazing background noise Silberman delivers his epic story with falsetto vocals and catchy, minor key melodies. Two, even if a little predictable, is The Antlers' masterpiece; Weighing in at nearly six minutes, it is both their catchiest and their most honest - with enough desperation to make it clear song of the year material.

The Antlers - Two (MP3)

Hospice on Amazon

8. Passion Pit - Manners (May 19, 2009)(Indie Pop/Electronica/Dance)

Passion Pit were easily one of the most hyped bands heading into 2009; their Chunk of Change EP (originally a Valentine's Day gift from lead singer Michael Angelakos to his girlfriend) came out in September of 2008 and gained a huge amount of media attention. The subsequent album 'Manners' saw the re-release their runaway lead single Sleepyhead, and it quickly became one of the most overplayed songs of 2009 - but no-one was complaining. Manners is more of the same from Passion Pit, falsetto electronica/dance music with sunny melodies and huge synthesized beats. Passion Pit completely coined their own sound - there's not really many comparisons that can be drawn. Manners is simultaneously both an album of radio-friendly falsetto synthpop songs, and at the same time an album of sleek, futuristic advert music which at no point betrays its own ideals. Moth's Wings is the third track, and about as grand as a synthpop band will probably ever sound.

Passion Pit - Moth's Wings (MP3)

Manners on Amazon

7. Fever Ray - Fever Ray (March 24, 2009)(Electronica/Darkwave/Dance)

I introduced Fever Ray on the blog back in January as one half of Swedish duo The Knife, pointed out the incredible Fuck Buttons remix of If I Had A Heart, and finally, branded Karen Dreijer Anderson's new project a 'disturbing electronic mumble.' I still stick by this description, almost a year on. Fever Ray make smooth beats and scatty synth lines accompanied by Karen's brooding and heavily accented vocals. Even when this album is upbeat it remains as shadow pop with a darkened and terrifying edge. Its not just the tribal, ritual sound of the music which keeps you looking over your shoulder - the lyrics perfectly match the mood. There's a quite clear Knife influence which shines through the songs throughout - but an unnerving rigidity through which a sinister message is uncovered. Album-opener If I Had A Heart was covered by Florence and The Machine at Glastonbury 2009, and the bemused crowd didn't at all know what to make of it - download the mp3 below and see what you think.

Fever Ray - If I Had A Heart (MP3)

Fever Ray on Amazon

6. The XX - The XX (August 19, 2009)

(Post-Punk/RnB/Indie Rock)
The XX formed in 2005 after attending the Elliot School London (famous for schooling Burial, Four Tet and Hot Chip) and took four years to release their debut album, XX, on Young Turks. It was recorded at XL studios London, mostly at night, over the winter of 2008/9. XX is an album of dark, whispering boy-girl vocals muttering RnB influenced melodies over trip-hop and post-punk melodies. Most of the subtly picked guitar work is very simple, and, coated in heavy reverb, the whole album has a very withdrawn and personal feel to it. Stunning chillout vocals are dubbed low in comparison to the heavy bass riffs which leave a definite 'less is more' vibe about the songs. There are a lot of well placed silences on this album - which make this, as well as being a beautifully written pop album, a very sentimental and personal listen.

The XX - Crystalised (MP3)

XX on Amazon

Click here for (#5 - #1)

Greatest Albums of 2009. #15. - #11.

Continued from Part One.

15. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (May 26, 2009)

(Indie Pop/Electro/Pop)

Phoenix's fourth full-length, 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' for them, is as much a development as it is a revolutionary step forward in terms of sound and success. Starting out in 1999 as Air's backing band, a three year break has seen Phoenix go away, polish, and to an extent reinvent their Daft Punk, Air, Tahiti 80 influenced electropop sound. The result is tighter and sleeker than ever before - there's a lot of solid pop hooks and light synths to keep any listener happy. 1901 was available from February 23 as an advance free download from the album, and Lisztomania followed July 7. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is the Frenchmen's strongest release to date - and the ambitious album title reference, in my book, is 100% justified.

Phoenix - 1901 (MP3)

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix on Amazon

14. Moderat - Moderat (April 28, 2009)

(Electronica/IDM/Dance)

Moderat is the self-titled debut album from the longstanding collaboration between Modeselektor and Apparat - a project which, though highly anticipated amongst many, in true Burial-esque fashion, took 7 years to yield any physical results. Taking elements of dark ambient music as well as shades of underground dance - Moderat is a German techno masterpiece. You can quite clearly hear both artists influence in and amongst these recordings, and Modeselektor's long-time work with Thom Yorke shines through particularly strongly. Dark synth-dub resonates throughout a range of often-upbeat, but equally often downbeat snippets of anger and frustration in the form of Moderat - one of this years most innovative dance collaborations.

Moderat - Rusty Nails (MP3)

Moderat on Amazon

13. Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport (October 14, 2009)

(Experimental/Electronica/Glitch)

Fuck Buttons are a blog-favourite London based electronica duo who made their way into the public eye with a debut album - Street Horrrsing, but more notably their heavy remix of Fever Ray's single If I Had A Heart. Their music is typically adrenaline pumping electronica scattered across tribal rhythms and topped off with some background screaming, which is dubbed low enough to put only the ignorant off without a prior listen. Cascading hypnotic structures are interwoven amongst quivering expanses of ambient psychedelia - and the Tarot Sport LP is Fuck Buttons' latest showcase. Download Surf Solar for the ultimate taster, Fuck Buttons are truly at their best on this ten minute epic.

Fuck Buttons - Surf Solar (MP3)

Tarot Sport on Amazon


12. Devendra Banhart - What Will We Be (October 27, 2009)

(Freak Folk/New Weird America/Psychedelic)

Devendra Banhart, in my eyes, is a truly prolific musician; he's done almost one full length a year since the first back in 2002 as well as collaborating with a whole host of contemporary musicians - Andy Cabic of Vetiver, Jana Hunter and the band Megapuss amongst others. This week he even announced his latest side project with Strokes (and former Megapuss) drummer Fab Moretti. The new album is his latest show of musical versatility - lush acoustic melodies and laid back sunny accompaniments joined by his friendly, warming and highly distinctive voice. Ever present are psychedelic lyrics and an air of maturity in his execution, despite the childish eccentricity he often comes across with. What Will We Be is the latest solid installment from the leader of the US freak folk scene.

Devendra Banhart - Baby (MP3)

What Will We Be, on Amazon

11. Harlem Shakes - Technicolor Health (March 24, 2009)

(Indie Pop/Rock/Alternative)

Harlem Shakes (2006-9), headed by Todd Goldstein (now of Arms), were a New York band who, despite only managing to release one album, surrounded it in a whirlwind of hype which they more than lived up to. Technicolor Health is an upbeat guitar pop album in the same vein as Born Ruffians, White Rabbits and Fanfarlo - with high pitched harmonies and easy melodies coated in matured layers of synth, keys and driving percussion. Although they may come across as one of the simpler, less innovative acts on my list, I feel the need to stress that Technicolor Health is an incredibly well constructed album - that's the reason its on here. Constantly adding new layers of instrumentation at perfect times is a skill difficult to learn; this band stick to a formula but keep their tracks easily accessible to all.

Harlem Shakes - Strictly Game (MP3)

Technicolor Health on Amazon

CONTINUED IN PART THREE. (#10. - #6.)

Greatest Albums of 2009. #20. - #16.

20. Wavves - Wavvves (March 17, 2009)
Noise Punk/Lo-fi/Experimental

Nathan Williams aka Wavves managed to completely epitomise a then-emerging genre, noise punk, with his March 17 album release (via Fat Possum) earlier this year. The critically acclaimed Pitchfork favourite and just about everybody elses' marmite album of 2009, Wavvves - contains 16 tracks of some of the most chaotic lo-fi punk you'll ever hear - its haze of rattling drum machines and piercing guitar overdrive (somehow?) make even No Age seem tame. Accompanied by almost without fail totally unstructured lyric lines - Nathan's utterances of surfing/girls/cars/beach related half-sentences leave you stunned and sold short in one of the most innovative and challenging listens of 2009. So Bored is one of the tamer tracks from the album - there's actually lyrics and a fairly even drum beat concealed somewhere underneath the fuzz.

Wavves - So Bored (MP3)

Wavvves on Amazon

19. Olafur Arnalds - Found Songs (April 13, 2009) Classical/Post-rock/Instrumental

Ólafur Arnalds' latest release Found Songs (April 13, 2009) couldn't have wished for more of a contrasting placement in this list. Sitting calmly and comfortably next to Wavves' angsty beach punk track collection is a classically influenced masterpiece of beautifully constructed piano lines, selective musicianship and airy background strings. What is perhaps most remarkable about this almost entirely instumental album is that each individual track from it was composed, mixed and released inside a day. Despite the seemedly effortless rush - this stunning album convincingly retains every air of a wisdom far beyond Ólafur's 23 years of age. This Icelandic multi-instrumentalist has done string arrangements for 65daysofstatic and toured with Sigur Ros - and just to re-emphasise, recorded a classical album inside seven days.

Ólafur Arnalds - Raein (MP3)

Found Songs on Amazon

18. Florence & The Machine - Lungs (July 6, 2009) Indie Rock/Pop/Folk

There's no doubt anyone's mind that Florence Welch was (quite justifiably) one of the most hyped artists going into 2009. After a year or so of recording folky singles and demos and touring the UK, 2009 saw the release of Lungs on Island records. Welch showcases one of the most stunning yet unusual voices around, and that alone, for me, would have been enough to warrant her success. In the end however, combined with so many superbly written and perfectly executed pop songs, her success was guaranteed. There's no other word to describe her music than euphoric - in all three crowds I've seen this woman perform to this year she's whipped up a unparalleled frenzy amongst the masses. The album is the perfect representation of everything Florence is about - darkened themes disguised within uplifting indie rock of the highest quality - consistent throughout and coupled with one of 2009's great covers - a rendition of The Source and Candi Station's You've Got The Love.

Florence & The Machine - Dog Days Are Over (MP3)

Lungs on Amazon

17. The Big Pink - A Brief History Of Love (September 14, 2009) Shoegaze/Electronica/Dance

The Big Pink's Brief History of Love is an album of darkened and semi-ambient electronica, with hard mechanical drum beats and aching walls of sound. Synth heavy, driving riffs and emotionless vocals drape the kind of MBV shoegaze that epitomises the New York and Manchester music scenes of the early 90s. Made up of two members, Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell, the first of which owns and runs the London-based Merok label, The Big Pink's debut album is perfectly produced and polished, containing two of this year's finest electronic anthems in the form of Velvet and Dominos.

The Big Pink - Velvet (MP3)

A Brief History of Love on Amazon


16. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz (March 31, 2009) Garage Rock/Alternative/Electronica

It's Blitz was the third full length release from New York garage rock band Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who wrote the majority of the album in studio in late 2008. Its a definitive expansion from their previous two - but boldly introduces far more personal themes, as well as a far more airy, electronic sound than previous efforts. It's Blitz for Yeah Yeah Yeahs was an outward growth for them as a band, expanding in to new areas but never losing sight of the raw energy and chaotic spontanaeity we came to love them for. Heading the garage rock explosion of the 00s is a hard act to follow, and Karen O and band couldn't have gone about it better. YYY's continue to be one of the most innovative indie rock bands out there, releasing yet more strong singles this year in the form of Zero and Heads Will Roll.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Dull Life (MP3)

It's Blitz! on Amazon

READ PART TWO (#15 - #11)