Editor's note: If you missed any of this week's selections, you can check them out here.
James Wild
Album: Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience
Seven years after Timberlake released his masterpiece, FutureSex/Love Sounds, he has polished his already sterling composing ability. With the release of The 20/20 Experience earlier this year, he met the expectations of his fans and earned respect from the haters. Though highly publicized, the album lives up to the hype, proving to be a composition of songs that help to define Timberlake's catalog. The song "Mirrors," though extremely popular, is one of the most beautiful and meaningful songs I have ever heard.
Song: Little Jinder - "Whatever 4ever"
Sweden's dreamy Little Jinder is the definition of a break-out artist. Her song "Whatever 4ever" is a beautifully written dream-pop summer anthem! Surprisingly, the beautiful lyrics match her high toned and whimsical voice, often delving deeper at choice opportunities to display her vocal range. This style stems from a long tradition of Swedish pop stars. Accompanying this song is a hilarious music video, and that's why it holds up as best song, so far.
Adam Putzer
Album: Steve Gunn - Time Off
While upon first listen I wasn’t completely blown away,
eventually Time Off wormed its way into my subconscious thanks to Steve
Gunn’s low key voice, and the amazing interplay between Gunn and his bandmates. Time Off is the best band album of the year, one
where you can see musicians create synergy between them, through familiarity
and talent alike. This allows the songs,
which are all on the long side, to weave hypnotically through your brain until
they’re lodged there for good. Time
Off is definitely a massive achievement, and, for all its solemn beauty, is
the best musician’s record we’ve gotten all year.
Song: Vampire Weekend - "Unbelievers"
On which Vampire Weekend begins to tackle Big Issues, with
its images of atheistic dissenters being “tied to the tracks of the train,” but
still manages to enliven the themes with music so robust and joyful that it
makes the postulating go down a bit easier.
Probably the band’s greatest accomplishment yet, “Unbelievers” is that
rare pop song, an earworm that is not only memorable for its melody, but also
for its forward thinking topics. In that
regard, it harkens back to some of the singer songwriter styling’s of the 1970s. But James Taylor never had a backing this
full of life and exuberance.
Michael Santillo
Album: Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
Although this album has had the benefit of being fresh in my mind, I do believe that this pick will hold up over time. Modern Vampires of the City is a tight record filled with indie-pop songs that initially mislead the listener before revealing their structural complexity amidst continuous idiosyncratic vocal hooks.
Song: Foxygen - "San Francisco"
This psychedelic dream-pop song is a stellar summer jam, best served on a slow sunny drive to the beach. The chorus is forever repeating in my head, cemented there by the casual call of the lead vocal followed by the sugary, child-like female response.
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