Showing posts with label chvrches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chvrches. Show all posts
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buffaBLOG's Best of 2013: Staff Picks - Favorite Albums Part 1



Jon Krol

 David Bowie - The Next Day
Bowie disappeared for nearly a decade before returning with the best album he's released since the 70's. A dynamic, familiar-yet-still-reaching, piece of work that only adds to an already great legacy. Bowie is the representation of all things great and powerful in music. His is art, pop, love, loss, thrill and despair. This album, like Bowie's best, somehow manages to straddle the line between mainstream bubblegum and seedy-city sleaze without compromise. And "Valentine's Day" is one of the best songs he's ever released. Period.


Ryan Wolf

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City
I am going to flip-flop what I said earlier in the year. Though I admire Modern Vampires of the City and Push the Sky Away about the same artistically, and both albums have resonated for me throughout 2013, I have to give a slight edge to Vampire Weekend that I granted to Nick Cave a few months ago only because of this: I listened to Modern Vampires more times. The music remains as devilishly catchy as it is profound.

 In the end, what I dub the greatest album of 2013 barely matters. But the bold existence of Modern Vampires of the City seems meaningful. Not only did the album turn a good band great, it brought spiritual questions to the forefront of the alternative and indie music scene in a playful but ultimately sincere way. Vampire Weekend did not simply name-drop biblical references for poetic cred: they dealt with contemporary religious crisis as if their very souls were on the line. When the market gets hip, the hip get hungry for something more than merely being cool.
Runners-Up: Push the Sky Away, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds; Reflektor, Arcade Fire; Perils from the Sea, Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle; AM, Arctic Monkeys


John Hugar

Janelle Monae - Electric Lady
This was not an easy choice -2013 had a ton of albums that could have taken the top honors in a lesser year, but no album in 2013 could match Monae's Electric Lady in terms of sheer ambition and creativity. Imagine if Prince, Outkast, ELO, and Funkadelic all made an album together, and you'd have a rough idea of what were dealing with. Anthems like "Q.U.E.E.N." and the title track manage to be political while not losing anything in danceability, while "Dance Apocalyptic" might be the most purely fun song since "Hey Ya." Really, though, there isn't a weak track on this album. With 19 tracks and a run-time over an hour, the album never drags or ceases to be interesting. A brilliant record from an artist who is probably just getting warmed up.



Nick Sessanna

 Pity Sex – Feast of Love
Almost all of my favorite albums are “growers…” That being said, Feast of Love is an excellent album that I really wasn’t expecting to grow attached to. Looking back, had I not given this album the chance it truly deserves, I really would have been missing out. Between the blissful shoegaze of lead single “Wind-Up” and the more subdued bass fuzz of “Keep,” this is an album truly appropriate for all moods. Call it “emogaze” if you will; it’s dirty enough to get you excited when you are happy and moody enough to satisfy any level of deep depression. The true strength of this album comes from co-lead singer Britty Drake – you’ll never hear her belting it out gospel-style, but her delivery on gems like “Hollow Body” is one of the saddest and unreasonably beautiful things I have ever heard. Recommended for fans of noisy shoegaze like My Bloody Valentine, straightforward fuzz rock like Smashing Pumpkins, or pretty much anything emotive you’d expect to hear at a basement show.



Ailsa Forlenza

 Unknown Mortal Orchestra - II 
Ever twist in circles while sitting on a swing? So tight that it seems the ropes are about to break, and then when you release, the whirred rush of the world undoes itself and perception ceases for a blissful moment. The release is what this album feels like to me. Guitar riffs that blur and swish a daydream paintbrush across a sonic page, and lyrics that push the boundaries of this album into a psychedelic realm. II lifted my subconscious and implanted a sweet reverie that I can access as soon as I hear "I wish that I could swim and sleep like a shark does/ I'd fall to the bottom and I'd hide til the end of time…"

Cliff Parks

Chvrches - The Bones Of What You Believe 
This debut from the Glasgow electronica is pure perfection from start to finish, a smart sugar rush of exquisitely crafted pop songs built around tasteful synths, undeniable beats, and the stunning vocals of steely Lauren Mayberry. While it wasn't a banner year for woman power and feminism in pop music, Chvrches' Mayberry proved to be a fine and much needed exception. Brilliantly sequenced and executed, this freshmen album came out of nowhere, and ended up owning me this year.



Tom Etu

 Tomahawk - Oddfellows
A "supergroup" of musical weirdos, Tomahawk had been silent for years until throwing this rock in the faces of music lovers who like their experimental rock with a side of fucked up. Oddfellows is not the best album of 2013, but it was widely overlooked and light needed to be shed on its grotesquely deformed underbelly. The lyrics take you into the regret of a jailbird and the patience of a sniper, with a few sprinkled references to kinky sex. It almost follows a deranged plotline. Duane Denison can still rock out with his Jesus Lizard out, and Mike Patton can still roar and then croon like a gentleman quicker than you can have a heart attack. The addition of bass player extraordinaire Trevor Dunn to the line-up gives this album a slinky jazz vibe. Sexy and repulsive. 


 For Part 2, click here.
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What We Missed...October


Editor's Note: Over the past few months, our album review coverage has steadily increased, but we still can't cover everything. The 'What We Missed...' posts are our attempt to touch some albums we didn't weren't able to give a proper review to over the past month, but still feel deserve a mention. Enjoy.

Chvrches - The Bones Of What You Believe

This one might've slipped through the cracks, but it's since become quite the critical lightning rod, with some even citing it and Haim's debut as proof that indie rock is dead and buried. Whatever. In any case, this debut from the Glasgow electronica outfit is sheer perfection; a panoply of electronic pop styles seamlessly and tastefully delivered with a needed dose feminist vigor by the magnificent Lauren Mayberry, with nary a beat or note out of place. This album is so strong, even the 2 songs she doesn't sing on are excellent. A wonderful and breathtaking debut. 
~ Cliff Parks


Fuzz - Fuzz

 I just don't get it, Ty Segall has managed to be incredibly prolific while maintaining an equally consistent level of quality. At this point, I have to assume the man is a space alien or robot sent from the future. Fuzz is another one of Ty Segall's bands, pairing Segall with San Francisco based Charlie Moonheart. The record is a blast of epic, heavy jams that moves between sludgy doom and serious riffage with the greatest of ease. Seriously, that might not be the most eloquent way I have ever described an album but Fuzz demands this sort of vocabulary.
~ Mike Torsell

Darkside - Psychic

If you needed someone to score a spaghetti-western set in space in 2013, you’d look to Darkside, the product of producer Nicolas Jaar and guitarist Dave Harrington. Their second album of the year, Psychic, after the refracted Daftside remix project, Random Access Memories Memories, is a study in tension, and having the patience to release that tension slowly. If you need a playbook from Jaar’s already accomplished career at 23, you could look to his Essential Mix from 2012:  a melding of classical, soundtracks, and new electronic/avant-garde music occasionally bubbling up like lava with bits you can move to. Psychic has those moments, the sturdy low-end taking over for the psychedelic and kraut-rock indebted high, only to revert back again. The album itself is a cohesive whole, sonically burbling and rolling into the next moment, each track fitting into the larger machine.
~ Nick Torsell


The Head and The Heart - Lets Be Still

The Head and the Heart’s earnest sophomore album, Lets Be Still, debuted in mid-October to very positive reviews, something that was hoped for by fans who wanted the band to be more than just a flash-in-the-pan folk footnote of Seattle’s music scene. No one is really sure if the band is in the clear yet, but this album is an important milestone in moving beyond that. Though full of the band’s trademark harmonies and nice piano/guitar/violin instrumentals, Lets Be Still is notably different from the first album. Where the first was gritty and jaunty, this album has a polished, studio-produced sound that makes it a perfect coffee shop soundtrack, hence it being carried at Starbucks and the like. “Shake” and “Homecoming Heroes” are the album’s buzzed about songs, but faithful YouTube devotees will be pleased with fan favorites like “Josh McBride” and “Fire/Fear.” 
~ Sarah Machajewski



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Top Ten March Album Releases

We've got some impressive releases leading us into the mists this March. Break out the St. Patrick's Day attire and watch the snow melt away while you spin some of these great new records.
10. Suuns - Images Du Futur
Montreal quartet Suuns (who were just featured in our first installment of the Festival Bands, Man! series) came together in 2006 when frontman Ben Shemie got together with bassisst Joe Yarmush, to record some beats, which eventually worked their way into songs. Grabbing two new members Liam O’Neill and Max Henry, the group expanded and released their debut record Zeroes QC in 2010. On March 5, Suuns will unveil their anticipated sophomore record Images Du Fur via Secretly Canadian. The first single off the new record “Edie’s Dream” further exhibits the group’s ability at carefully-crafted psychedelic tunes. Listen to “Edie’s Dream” below:


9. Julian Lynch - Lines
Madison, WI PhD candidate and musician Julian Lynch will release his follow-up to last year’s Terra with the LP Lines, due out March 26 via Underwater Peoples. The first single off the record “Carios kelleyi I” follows in Lynch's signature strand of textured, chromatic folk, with cheerful acoustic riffs coated with Lynch's warm hum. Listen to “Carios kelleyi I” below:


8. Chvrches - Recover EP
The title track off Chvrches' new EP wastes no time as lead singer Lauren Mayberry's vocals deliver a shot of adrenaline with a instantly catchy verse leading into an even more enthralling chorus. The Scottish trio will release the EP via Goodbye Records on March 25. Listen to "Recover" below:


 7. Marnie Stern - The Chronicles of Marnia
Marnie Stern has been in the news quite a bit in the past few months. First, the New York indie-rocker has aparently started a real contest to win a date with her, and more importantly has shared a few tracks from her forthcoming record The Chronicles of Marnia which is due out March 19. The latest single "Nothing Is Easy" doesn't dissapoint with Stern's catchy whine, and convoluted guitar licks and percussion. Listen to the track here.

6. David Bowie - The Next Day
For the past decade or so, David Bowie has been pretty silent. One minute you're reading a story about how he will never put out another album ever again, then suddenly The Next Day is announced. As confusing as that last sentence is, and as bad as some of Bowie's '00-era records are, it's always exciting when a pop legend decides to come out of an apparent retirement and deliver a new collection of songs. Especially when the legend in question is 66 years old. The Next Day is officially out on March 12 in the US, but it is currently streaming on iTunes. Watch the video for "Where Are We Now?" below:

5. Phosphorescent - Muchacho
Phosphorescent, aka Matt Houck, will release his sixth studio record Muchacho, on March 19 via Dead Oceans. The first cut off the record is called "Song for Zula," a languid, floaty track with spiraling strings complete with an echoed drum loop. The New York via Alabama musician traveled to Mexico early last year after a brief "freak out" in order to find inspiration.  When he came back to New York with a clear head, songs for Muchacho poured out. Listen to "Song for Zula" below:


4. Waxahatchee - Cerulean Salt
Waxahatchee is Birmingham native Katie Crutchfield. Still riding off the energy of her debut full-length American Weekend, Crutchfield will release her follow-up Cerulean Salt tomorrow via Don Giovanni Records. Crutchfield thrives on her unique lo-fi stylings, thought-provoking lyricism, and heart-on-sleeve approach to songwriting that goes unrivaled in today's immense DIY folk scene. Listen to the single “Peace and Quiet” off the record below and stream Cerulean Salt in its entirety over at NPR. 

3. Rhye - Woman
Rhye’s first single “The Fall,” which came out late last year, was a crisp, androgynous track released by an anonymous group that had the attention of the indie blogosphere pretty fast. The sexy, yet minimal, track was intriguing everyone, and finally Toronto-born Mike Milosh came forward as the lead singer behind the duo. As they release their debut record Woman today, Rhye is entering an exciting time; they're only going to get more popular. Watch the entrancing video for “The Fall” below:

2. The Men - New Moon
The Men have decided to stay the prolific course and will release their fourth record in three years with New Moon on March 5. The record is streaming over at Pitchfork right now and upon first listen it immediately sounds a lot more varied and expansive, still exuding a punk influence, but with country and pop underpinnings. The group has maintained all the songwriting perks of last year’s Open Your Heart, with an array of new instrumentals including mandolin, harmonica, piano, and lap guitar. The record is being released by Sacred Bones. Listen to the single “Electric” below:


1. Youth Lagoon - Wondrous Bughouse
Youth Lagoon aka Trevor Powers’ record The Year of Hibernation was arguably the best debut of 2011, as it scaled a mountainous terrain of lo-fi dream-pop, and perfected the art of the build with tracks like “Montana” and “July” starting with calm synth textures and peaking with Powers’ ethereal croon. While the The Year of Hibernation was recorded in a friend’s garage in a few days, his sophomore album was done in a proper studio with the help of producer Ben H. Allen (Animal Collective, Deerhunter). And while there is a definite improvment in production and style, Powers is still blowing our minds, this time via a diversity of layered instrumentals and reeling psychadelic imagery. Each track takes on it’s own varied form, with emphasis on tempo changes and whimsical lyrical imagery. The album is out tomorrow via Fat Possum, but you can stream the album now over at NPR. Also, be sure to check out our detailed Songbook Report on the album here.

Tom Dennis
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