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)

Florence & The Machine w/The XX @ Bournemouth o2 Academy 18/09/09 LIVE REVIEW

Florence Welch and the Machine haven't failed to amaze any of the crowds which i've been amongst this year (at Glastonbury in June the incessant and unforgivable screams led her to proclaim "We haven't got any more songs! Wait until the next album!") and Bournemouth was no different, despite the crowd starting the night off somewhat subdued. When it came down to it, i heard once again, one of the loudest crowds i've ever heard in my life - and it's not even as if the makeup was mainly screaming 15 year olds, it turned out an even spread of male and female, young and old.

There's just something about Welch's innocence and naiveity as well as her flamboyant fashion sense that just cement a soft spot into so many of her adoring fans - this, of course, coupled with an amazing and incredibly mature singing voice, a solid selection of songs and set of ecletic musicians (harpist!) and the fact that she's come from the honest beginnings of discovery singing motown covers in a London nightclub toilet.

This time, she had to follow much hyped support band The XX (live review) - i'm sure you know how much i love this band), who's downbeat mix of post-punk/RnB and trip-hop left the Bournemouth audience a bit bemused and a bit confused. They nevertheless gave a great, unassuming performance to a totally motionless crowd.

Welch and her band however were given a rapturous reception - there was no acoustic set as there was at Reading Festival for her this time, she gave her all to every song and was note and performance perfect in every sense - her trademark festival move of climbing up the set during opener Kiss With A Fist didn't happen this time, most probably down to the fact the former Bournemouth Opera House didn't actually have much for her to climb on to. The set was small and intimate, and as well as having one of the nicest interiors of any venue in the area - it perfectly matched up to Florence's floral stage decoration and flowing black and gold dress.

It is hard to see where she's really going to go from here in terms of a follow up. Under Island Records Welch has written an album not far from perfect, and with her personality, humour ("this song is a new one - it's called drumming song because... there's a lot of drums at the beginning") and fantastic songwriting, she has (at the risk of sounding cliche) taken the UK music scene absolutely by storm. After one album she gained Mercury Prize, BRIT award and MTV Music Award nominations and scooped the Critics choice, all whilst gaining a number 2 position in the UK album chart and 225,000 nationwide sales.

Florence & The Machine - Hospital Beds (live at London Calling) (MP3)

Florence & The Machine - 'Lungs' OUT NOW (amazon)

The XX (Reading Festival 2009) LIVE REVIEW

The XX (who i originally introduced back in June) are a group of four 20 year olds who from humble beginnings have quickly become one of the most hyped bands on the planet. They hail from South West London, and met at the Elliot School - joining 3 members of Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet as famous musical alumni. Their quiet confidence and dark, dreamy pop sound has landed them slots at Reading & Leeds festivals, as well as support slots on Florence & The Machine's fall tour. They've toured with The Big Pink and Micachu and have a tour of their own planned for November.

Their sound is downbeat, with dark and bassy post-punk guitar lines shadowing softly spoken lyrics. With a touch more intensity, The XX's songs could have been written for Aaliyah - Romy Madley Crofts voice is 100% good enough, and they make no secret of a huge pop, soul and RnB influence on their music. The mood and execution, and the band's style is where they depart.

The XX were certainly one of the most, if not the most, downbeat acts at Reading. They delivered their songs with barely a word in between, with very little movement other than looks of reserved satisfaction. The lack of act they gave was quite clearly not due to any kind of nervousness - that's just the kind of people they appear. It would have seemed wrong for The XX to be, say, jumping around the stage like most of the acts at Reading. Particularly in this case, less was more.

No matter how famous the XX get, you can just tell from seeing them live that its not going to affect them, they truly let the music do the talking - throughout the set they only spoke to reveal 'free t-shirts at the front', and that Teardrops 'is a cover'. Furthermore, every delivery was spot on - they recreated their material perfectly, showing no signs of nervousness and no slips. Their stripped to the bones performance was totally appropriate. I can genuinely say that The XX were the only thing i saw at Reading Festival that truly blew me away. They stood out in more ways than i could have imagined.

The eponymous debut is out now (CD - VINYL via Amazon).

The XX - Crystalised (MP3) (taken from the album 'XX')

The XX

The XX have been firmly placed on my ones to watch list since they released debut single 7" 'Crystalised' in April, and since then they have been slowly but surely recording their self-produced debut album (as of yet untitled) in the offices of indie label XL's West London headquarters.

The music is reserved as is their live show, a low key mix of post-punk, indie pop and influences
as far ranging as Rn'B and early 80s gothic experimentalism. An air of fragility is ever-present, even throughout songs with structures closer to pop. The XX let their riffs and melodies speak for themselves, with VCR holding a riff and song structure not out of place on a Kills album, but an execution far from it.

Their 'calm before the storm' atmosphere doesn't stop after their own material either, they've added trip-hop influenced covers of Womack & Womack, as well as Aaliyah to their discography, leaving the originals unrecognisable and unsatisfying. Darker elements of The Velvet Underground are evident, as are portions of fellow post-punk contemporaries Crystal Stilts. A major influence is impossible to place, each listen of each song brings about a new genre comparison, whether this be early 00's garage rock, trip-hop, dance, indie pop, or post-punk. The XX have come up with the latest unique, addictive and quietly optimistic combination.

The XX - Teardrops (Womack & Womack Cover)
The XX - Crystalised
The XX - VCR