Countdown to 30: My Favorite Album From 2014

 2014

I didn't listen to many new albums in 2014 for a variety of reasons. There were some really good albums released that year, but between working 60+ hour weeks, my grandpa's death, moving and trying to tidy up my mental health, I didn't have much energy left to use on listening to and reviewing a ton of new albums. My year-in-review that year was only about singles. There were quite a few good albums though. Taylor Swift, Lily Allen, Speak, and Ingrid Michaelson all had good releases in my opinion. But my favorites were...

Runner-up number four is Not a Trampoline by Rob Cantor (formerly of Tall Hall). I had the good fortune to review this album ahead of its release, and the opportunity to interview Rob Cantor about the album. Cantor and producer Gregtronic went for a very synthesized '80s sound on the majority of the album. The topics of songs range from the heartfelt ("Ghost," "All I Need is You") to the silly ("Flamingo" and oddly, "In Memoriam," a track in remembrance of the still-living Alan Alda). My favorite song on the album has to be "Let Your Mother Know," tied with a track adapted from a Tally Hall song, "I'm Gonna Win." All of the songs on Not a Trampoline are good. The marketing surrounding the album is also choice, from the unusual album art crafted by Bora Karaca to the viral music videos (the video for "Perfect" has 18 million views and was crafted to appear as though Cantor is doing celebrity impressions whilst singing the song). 

Eric Hutchinson's Pure Fiction is, like much of Hutchinson's work, pretty incredible start to finish. One of the singles, "Tell the World" kicks off the album with a great energy, followed by "A Little More," the power-pop track that acted as another single for the album. After that, the album starts flipping between slow songs and blues-rock jams. "Sun Goes Down" is a fictional account of a man haunted by postcards from his runaway ex. It tells a clear story that is easy to picture from the lyrics. On Pure Fiction, Hutchinson displays his abilities as a writer of story songs, his ability to move smoothly between genres and sounds, and his prowess as a musician in general. 

Miniature Tigers crafted another near-perfect album with Cruel Runnings. There are a lot of '80s synth sounds on this one as well as the Rob Cantor entry, because I guess that's what you did in 2014. Miniature Tigers craft a fantastic synth-laden album, with Brand's lyrics as perfect as they can get. "Used to be the S***" features a fantastic line "Our love was warm like a VHS tape of Aladdin//Now our love's so cold//laser disc of Cruel Intentions." "Swimming Pool Blues" is a perfect pop track. The perfect end-credits song "Oblivious" might be my favorite on the album. Incidentally, not only does "Oblivious" sound like an end-credits song, it also acted as the credits song for the film Sleeping With Other People, for whom Miniature Tigers act as something of a house band. I love most Miniature Tigers albums, but this one is distinctive from their first three for certain. 

We're down to the top two. I had a lot of trouble picking between these two, but my final runner-up is Stockholm by Chrissie Hynde. 

Hynde's songwriting on this album is fantastic. She wrote almost all of the songs with Björn Yttling (of Peter, Björn, and John) who also produced the album. The remaining two songs were penned with Joakim Åhlund (Caesars). They wrote together in Stockholm for two years, inspiring the title of the album. Hynde stated that she was drawn to the music scene in Stockholm, just as she had been to London's punk scene in the '70s. She also said that she attempted to get Yttling and Åhlund to join a band with her, but this was all she could get by way of a compromise. 

Yttling evidently helped in the lyric-writing process by suggesting a title and challenging Hynde to come up with lyrics. He suggested "Dark Sunglasses," and though Hynde thought it cliched, she couldn't argue with the results. I played "Dark Sunglasses" on repeat until those around me were being driven crazy and yet I can still listen to it without it seeming stale to me. I ended up naming it my single of the year for 2014."You or No One" is a romantic tune about finding your person but it's also an earworm. "Down the Wrong Way" is another great song, featuring guitar work from Neil Young. Tennis great John McEnroe contributes guitar to "A Plan Too Far."

Stockholm is highly under-rated in my opinion, as it might be my favorite album Hynde has worked on since Last of the Independents. But another album just barely edged it out of the top spot.

Most people close to me think they understand what kind of music I listen to- power pop, sunshine pop, classic rock, something like that. The truth is, even I'm not sure what exactly I like, and that's how I ended up with my favorite album from 2014 being Tyranny by Julian Casablancas + the Voidz.

Isn't it strange that not one album by The Strokes has made it onto my lists so far, and yet this dark, weird album is my album of the year? For sure! I love The Strokes. For some reason, this Voidz album just hit me the right way at the right time. I may have been in a dark place, I may have been more open to challenging sounds, I'm really not sure what the perfect storm was. Maybe it's that this album is just really good. 

Tyranny doesn't play by any set of rules. There's a throwback quality to it, but it still sounds incredibly modern and new. It's harder than anything else Casablancas has released, yet the guitar can also be bright and cheerful somehow. It's totally unrestrained and there doesn't seem to be any pressure for it to be one thing or another. The freedom of expression and to experiment with sounds on the two Voidz albums definitely contributed to The Strokes' 2020 accomplishment The New Abnormal. 

The first single released from Tyranny was "Human Sadness," which features a sample of Mozart's "Requiem in D Minor." "Human Sadness" is almost 11 minutes long, and is a roller-coaster ride of sounds. The sample is made more haunting through the use of effects. The bassline comes in, followed by Julian Casablancas' vocals which are simultaneously smooth and rough somehow. Through use of effects, his voice sometimes sounds like another synthesizer line. Jarring noises will cut in at seemingly random times, but rather than taking away from the song, they add to it, and enable the instrumentals to break into a more aggressive, jarring tone themselves. "Human Sadness" is actually about Casablancas' relationship with his father, which was a rocky one. 

The second single is the one I preferred, "Where No Eagles Fly." The addictive bassline reminds me of the bassline/verse melody from The Long Blondes' "Swallow Tattoo" (and yes, that's a hill I'm willing to die on). "Where No Eagles Fly" shows off the ability of this music to still be catchy, despite the many varied elements and experimentation. 

"Father Electricity" features a Latin/Caribbean hook. The opening track "Take Me in Your Army" contains heavy synths and vocal effects that create a sense of foreboding. More than any other track, "Army" has a sense of nostalgia to it as well. There is a track called "Nintendo Blood," which could have been the title of the whole album and it would have made sense. 

In 2014 I found my lovely cat, Cowboy.

When this album came out, I was very much keeping to myself. I got an email about it because I was a fan of The Strokes, and on the website they were offering a digital download for $3.87. I downloaded it immediately and was very impressed. I wouldn't even say it was a challenging listen, although you can hear different elements every time you hear the tracks. There's something about it that I find compelling. It is creepy. I played it at my Halloween party the following year, surprising my best friend who didn't expect my sunshine pop tastes to be compatible with Tyranny. She and I got to see The Voidz at El Club in Detroit. Not only was the venue awesome, the show was too. 

I love what the band were able to do on this album. The production is fantastic, the band are positively perfect together, and the songs are weird and wonderful. 

Let's check out that leaderboard.

Join me tomorrow for my favorite album from 2015!

Countdown to 30: My Favorite Album From 2012

 2012

I gave my retrospective on the albums of 2012 a lot of thought and I think my choices stand up, so I'm going to go in the same order for this year. I guess don't read that article if you don't want this reveal spoiled for you.

The Ben Folds Five reunited in 2011 after being broken up for three years. In 2012, they released The Sound of the Life of the Mind, their first original album since 1999. The band as a whole was unsigned, so they launched a PledgeMusic crowdfunding campaign to get the money to release the album. That goal was met twice over within the campaign's first week. 

Ben Folds had collaborated with author Nick Hornby on 2010's Lonely Avenue and Hornby returned to write lyrics for the title track, "The Sound of the Life of the Mind." There is a ballad entitled "Sky High" composed by drummer Darren Jessee. All other songs are written by Ben Folds. 

"Erase Me" kicks off the album with chunky, fuzz guitar mixing with aggressive keys. "Draw a Crowd" is an upbeat, comical song. "Hold That Thought" isn't quite a ballad, but "Thank You For Breaking My Heart" definitely is. The latter is absolutely heartbreaking. But at least you'll know that it's in there. "Do It Anyway," the album's lead single, is a terrific mantra over Folds' signature piano style. Folds has stated that the inspiration was a combination of quotes on cards his mother used to give him for birthdays and a concert-goer who yelled "do it anyway!" after folds explained that his upcoming ballad wasn't going to be the kind he could "stand on the piano and, you know, shake my a** to." The video features the Fraggles of Fraggle Rock and some human celebrities of course. These explanations seem a little disjointed, but the songs on the album are not.

Two members of the recently disbanded Tally Hall released albums in 2012. 

Andrew Horowitz was first with sketches by what he officially called edu. At the time, the album was only released on a cassette with handwritten liner notes, but within the last few years, he finally refined and reissued it digitally and on vinyl as Sketches 3D. If there was ever an album that worked perfectly on cassette, this was it. Sketches is what a friend might record for you on their cassette recorder- if they're a very skilled songwriter and musician friend, that is. Horowitz always had the most heartfelt lyrics in Tally Hall, and the warm tunes on this album are a perfect display of that. Every song is cute and sweet and his cover of "Rainbow Connection" is the most genuine one I expect to hear. "Daisy Fingers," "Miss Melody," and "HEY YOU!" are my favorite tracks, but it's hard not to love all of them.

The next member of Tally Hall to release a solo work was Joe Hawley, who also decided to use a pseudonym, but in keeping with the bizarre nature of most things Hawley has a hand in, his pseudonym was ミラクルミュージカル (which translates to Miracle Musical). He released Hawaii: Part II, a simultaneously strange and masterful album. Hawley dances between vaudevillian sounds, sweeping orchestral music, and use of vocoder. A few earlier Tally Hall demos found themselves polished up for this album, most notably "The Mind Electric." Hawley has explained the album by telling a local access show called Band "When our family went to Hawaii in the summer of 1997, I heard this music in my mind and I knew I had to make it at some point." I'm glad he, Ross Federman, and Bora Karaca managed to bring it to life. 

For me, one of the most anticipated albums of 2012 was Some Nights by fun. Their first album was so good that I couldn't wait for what lay in store. 

Leading up to the release of the album, fun. released "We Are Young," the fun. song that finally rocked the world. "We Are Young" featured the great Janelle Monáe in the shoes Rachel Antonoff used to fill, as the occasional female vocalist. The song itself was doing fairly well on the charts, but then it was used on Glee, which was a bump that used to be great for indie bands in terms of commercial success. Sure, it meant that the concerts were now riddled with tweens who knew them for one song, but the band being successful has to be the main goal. Then the song was featured in a Superbowl commercial for the Chevy Sonic (which I remember seeing as it originally aired, through the glass door of a house I was delivering pizza to) and at that point if you hadn't heard the song before, even you knew it. This song went to #1 in the U.S. and the U.K., partly swept up in the trend of indie/alternative artists making it big on mainstream radio (see: Gotye, American Authors, Vance Joy) and partly based on the quality of the song itself. You see, after Aim and Ignite, fun. decided that they wanted something that would actually be commercially successful. They enlisted Jeff Bhasker as the producer. That wasn't an easy task, as Bhasker was the producer for Beyoncé. He worked with Alicia Keys, Jay Z and Kanye West and would go on to work with Bruno Mars, Lana Del Rey, and would work with Mark Ronson on one of the upcoming albums of the year. "We are Young" was the song that sold him on fun. Nate Ruess sang it for him (acapella I think?) and he suddenly became interested in working with the band. 

With Bhasker's help, Some Nights hit #3 on the U.S. Billboard hot 200, reaching #1 on the rock, alternative, and vinyl charts. fun. won best new artist at the Grammy's (I don't know how that award works, but I can't understand how they counted as "new") and "We Are Young" walked away with song of the year. They had three hit singles from the album, with the best one, "Carry On," unfortunately not seeing as much success on the charts, presumably because everyone was sick of being overexposed to their work by then. The titular "Some Nights" is tied with "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morrisette as being most likely to be accidentally played on the radio unedited because no one expects an f-bomb from such a huge hit song.

Before I go on too long, I'll just wrap this one up by saying that, while this album was disappointing for me compared to Aim and Ignite, it's still very good. Bhasker is a good commercial producer, but of course his polish was far different from the indie glow Redd Cross's Steven Shane McDonald put on their first album. I absolutely adore, "Carry On." It's on my list of cry-worthy songs (I have probably cried to it myself). My review mostly holds up, other than the fact that I praised Bhasker's production but said the album was "experimental" and held up my hopes for their third album that has not come to be so far.

It's probably clear to you that I'm a big fan of Death Cab for Cutie and Benjamin Gibbard. Gibbard's Former Lives came out in 2012 and brought something a little bit different to the table. Officially, Former Lives is Gibbard's first solo album, although his work as ¡All-Time Quarterback! was definitely at least as much solo work, if not more. Former Lives is a great deal more polished and mature. Several tracks were recorded on Garageband, which makes that fact all the more impressive. Much of the album is light and acoustic, but with a full, rich sound. 

Former Lives features guest vocals from Aimee Mann and Zooey Deschanel, and appearances from other musicians in addition to Gibbard. Deschanel lends her dreamy vocals to "Something's Rattling" and Latin American group Trio Ellas provide accompaniment. Aimee Mann is featured on the duet "Bigger Than Love," her voice blending with Gibbard's perfectly. 

"Lily" shows off Gibbard's voice and his talent for writing metaphorical, romantic lyrics. My favorite piece of poetry though, is "Oh, Woe," a song about trying to pull yourself out of depression. It's upbeat, but the lyrics make it clear that the narrator is struggling. A standout line for me is "you're nothing like the way you looked//in all those famous songs and books" as the narrator has clearly romanticized sadness, but realized it's a great deal more crushing than he had imagined. Second favorite line is "it's been a basement of a year//and all I want's for you to disappear." 2012 was a basement of a year for me.

Finally, my favorite album of 2012 comes from a band whose albums have consistently been in my top albums of the year, but who got pushed just slightly to the front of the fray in 2012, partly thanks to the confusing energy someone with OCPD gets when they are in a new relationship. 

Mia Pharaoh by Miniature Tigers is my favorite album from 2012. Mia Pharaoh shows the band trying on a new sound, but it's in no way a turn-off. Ahead of the album, the single "Boomerang" was made available to fans. It acted as a sonic bridge between the earlier albums and Mia Pharaoh. 

Synthesizers and late '70s/early '80s influence drive the sound for the album. Frontman Charlie Brand also moved past the “Like or Like Like” phrase of his songwriting and on to songs like “Sex on the Regular” and “Female Doctor.” Between poppy, upbeat songs are slower, dreamier tracks like "Cleopatra" and "Ugly Needs." There is an ethereal dreampop quality to the songs that aren't as up-tempo.

In my first apartment, 2012.

"Afternoons With David Hockney" is one of my favorite tracks on the album, and acts as a strange ode to English artist David Hockney, who seems to be source of inspiration for Charlie Brand (who also provides album art for Miniature Tigers albums).

Mia Pharaoh dips and dives through sounds and tempos, flowing smoothly. The lyrics are as strange as they typically are for Miniature Tigers, but the sound is very slightly more polished and commercial. Their contemporaries were moving toward '80s sounds, which they would do eventually on Cruel Runnings. 

I loved blasting this album. We had an early summer in 2012, and I remember riding around in my truck with my windows down, playing this album and lying to myself that life was good. I got to see the guys support this album a few times, including once as openers for fun. It was a good era for the band. I love "Boomerang," ever the most catchy track on the album, but many of the songs are earworms. There was something nostalgic about this album even when it first came out, but at this point, looking back nine years later, it definitely is nostalgic.

Anyway, leaderboard!

Join me tomorrow for my favorite album from 2013!

Countdown to 30: My Favorite Album From 2010

 2010

2010 is going to be another tough year because I was really trying to keep my finger on the pulse and had plenty of time (and an early Amazon Prime account) to facilitate my attempts. So yeah, five runners-up this year, and there could have been way more. If you want some kind of idea of what I was listening to in 2010, luckily I saved a couple of my playlists.

But I digress. Let's dive into the runners-up.

I finally caught my first Belle and Sebastian album as it came out, Write About Love. Write About Love is a fun Belle and Sebastian album. Norah Jones and Carey Mulligan each guest on a song. The band enlisted Tony Hoffer as producer again. He previously produced their album The Life Pursuit as well as working with many power-pop acts throughout the '90s including Beck. He would go on to work on one of the runners-up for 2011. 

Write About Love is louder, poppier, than their previous albums. Frontman Stuart Murdoch harmonizes or duets with female vocalists on nearly half the tracks. Standout tracks include "Come On Sister," "I Want the World to Stop" and the titular "Write About Love."

A supergroup of musicians called Fistful of Mercy released their only album to date, As I Call You Down. Fistful of Mercy are a blues or folk rock band consisting of Joseph Arthur, Ben Harper, and Dhani Harrison, with session musician Jim Keltner providing all drums for the album. The men weave their melodies and harmonies together and mix in heavy acoustic guitar. At only nine tracks, As I Call You Down uses all of its space. "Father's Son" is the strongest blues contribution, "Fistful of Mercy" coming in a close second. Yes, this album contains both a title-of-the-band track and a title track. They stray the most from the formula on "Things Go Round," which almost songs like a thenewno2 song. Everything is wrapped up neatly with the folk song "With Whom You Belong." The songwriting and arrangement on As I Call You Down is stellar. Even though it's been eleven years, I'm still waiting for the follow-up.

The next four albums could all have been album of the year. I know what my absolute favorite is, but the other three are a tie. 

Mark Ronson was a DJ first, then a DJ and producer, and then he started putting out albums of his own, first Here Comes the Fuzz and then a more polished, critically-acclaimed Version in 2007. For 2010, he uprooted the classic Ronson sound of hip-hop beats and brass, and created a supergroup known as Mark Ronson and the Business International. They have only released Record Collection thus far and let's face it, that's probably all we're going to get because every Ronson album is built with a similarly diverse cast. This is just the only one in which the cast got their own credit.

Record Collection is a mesmerizing collection of digital sounds and catchy songs, brought to life by some of the best living rappers such as Q-Tip (for those not in the know, he was in A Tribe Called Quest) and Ghostface Killah (Wu Tang Clan), smooth female vocals from Rose Elinor Dougall, and male vocals from the unmatchable Andrew Wyatt (Miike Snow) and two juggernauts of  '80s music, Boy George and Simon Le Bon. The songs have a jam feel even though they are much too polished to be off-the-cuff. Ronson even tries his own hand at singing on "Record Collection" at the suggestion of none other than Lady Gaga. 

I didn't like Fortress by Miniature Tigers the first time I heard it, and I'm still not sure why. Obviously, it must not have lived up to the expectations I had after 2008's Tell It to the Volcano. A week later, I couldn't shake "Rock and Roll Mountain Troll" out of my head, and then other songs slowly started to trickle in. After I heard "Dark Tower" live, frontman Charlie Brand joking that they had written it for Dark Knight (I think it was a joke, but I'm not positive), I found that song to be required reading also, and ended up going back to listen to the whole album again. It's solid. I was mistaken to write it off, as it's almost more of a sister album to Tell it to the Volcano. I still prefer the first album, but it was my introduction to the band, it will always be special for that reason. 

Lonely Avenue by Ben Folds and Nick Hornby is an absolute treasure. Hornby is one of my favorite authors, and was prior to this album. I already discussed 1998's Mermaid Avenue by Billy Bragg and Wilco, and this is coincidentally a little bit similar. Except in this case, the lyrics the musician had to work with were being written by a living author. Hornby wrote eleven short stories in lyric or poetry form and Folds put music to them. The duo would later collaborate again on The Ben Folds Five album The Sound of the Life of the Mind.

The songs are about all different topics as a result of the process. The track the title comes from, "Doc Pomus" is a true-life story of songwriter Doc Pomus who wrote such songs as "Save the Last Dance For Me" from a wheelchair as he watched his wife dance with other men at their wedding. The song details the process Pomus used as he pulled from virtually any source he found interesting as a fly on the wall. "Levi Johnston's Blues" is a strange one, the lyrics pulled from the social media accounts of the father of Bristol Palin's child just after Sarah Palin was tapped as the VP nominee.

Onward to fictional topics, "Picture Window" is a song about a child dying of cancer, "Claire's Ninth" is about a young girl trying to navigate life after her parents' divorce. "From Above" acted as the lead single for the album, and is about how the notion of soulmates might be flawed because some people might just never meet their soul mates. My favorite story, "Belinda" is about a musician or singer who has to sing a song about his ex every night because it's his biggest hit.

I thought it was very cool also, how they enlisted the help of Youtube stars creatively. Yes, Weezer used memes in their video for "Pork and Beans," A Fine Frenzy featured Dave Days in her video, and there are probably many more examples I'm not thinking of, but Folds and Hornby actually gave their Youtube collaborators creative control. They enlisted Charlie Day (Charlieissocoollike) to make the video for "Saskia Hamilton" and wrote a song with video song artists Pomplamoose called "Things You Think." The latter was an iTunes exclusive, but it's a great song that features a poignant spoken word piece by Hornby himself. 

I don't understand why more people don't talk about Lonely Avenue. I consider it to be a work of art.

There was much speculation (from me at least) as to what Kate Nash could do to follow up the twee Made of Bricks. The answer was the astounding My Best Friend Is You, an album unafraid of the roots of Made of Bricks, but also unafraid to be a riot grrrl album. It was originally to be titled Crayon Full of Colour, but the title was changed due to Scottish artist Paolo Nutini issuing a song called "Pencil Full of Lead."

"Paris" opens the album with soaring strings and claps followed by Nash's signature keyboard sound and a song in the style Nash was known for at the time, but with more complex backing parts. "You said you'd lend me anything//I Think I'll have your company" is one of the standout lines from the song, sung more slowly and quietly than the rest of the song before being incorporated into the faster portion again. Strings are prevalent again in "Kiss That Grrrl," the first reference to the riot grrrl movement. "Don't You Want to Share the Guilt?" starts like an early Nash song, which makes sense, as an early demo was on a B-side to "Merry Happy" from Made of Bricks. It begins as a more traditional relationship-ending song, before it moves into an honest spoken word section about halfway through. The spoken word section is a beautiful piece of poetry, honest and visceral. 

"I Just Love You More" is very much in a riot grrrl style, but it's more of a love or obsession song than one with political or feminist messaging. "Mansion Song," however, fills the genre perfectly, with vitriolic spoken word and scream-singing later on. "Take Me to a Higher Plane" is a good combination of mild punk stylings with cute lyrics. "I've Got a Secret" bridges the gap as well, mixing heavy guitar in with Nash's teasing, melodic vocals.

First single "Doo-Wah-Doo" is a very throwback sound and a story about a woman comparing herself to another woman her friend seems to fancy. "Early Christmas Present," "Later On" and "Pickpocket" are all very reminiscent of her first album, with the latter featuring the most similar piano parts to Made of Bricks. 

"You Were So Far Away" might be the slowest song on the album, with Nash's voice doubled and guitar at the forefront. "I Hate Seagulls" closes the album, beginning with a list of things the narrator hates, then a list of things she loves. At the "end" of the song, we are left in silence for a few minutes before launching into a "secret track," "My Best Friend is You." 

I thought I was so artsy in 2010.

I was introduced to Kate Nash, as with several other artists, by my friend Zack. He played me "Foundations" and I loved her unabashed, thick accent and her cute songwriting. 

I preordered this album when it was announced and was unexpectedly smitten with it. I love the addition of the punk (riot grrrl) attitude to some songs, but also love her usual cutsie relationship lyrics. My favorite songs included "Kiss That Grrrl" for the relatable jealousy one can feel when compared to the quintessential "normal" or "pretty" girl. It's a little bit antifeminist in a way, but the intentions aren't negative. I love the energy of "Take Me to a Higher Plane," which is a pseudo punk song with indie pop guitars. "Mansion Song" scared me, but in that way you want to feel challenged as a teen.

Amoeba Records San Francisco, 2010.

I also got to catch Kate Nash live at Amoeba Records in 2010. It was undoubtedly the most intimate Kate Nash show I'll probably ever have the fortune to see. Nash was sweet but outspoken, and jumped from keys to guitar. I met her after the show and got my CD signed. Of course, she did the traditional "thanks for coming out to see me," but it really felt sincere. She was grateful for her fanbase, even as unusual as some of us were (there was a girl in the crowd yelling to her in a bad British accent. The same girl came up to me while I was shopping after the show and started talking to me as if I was Nash. That's the most I've ever looked like her but I didn't look like her that much. See photos to the right for context). When I saw her a couple of years later, it was back in Ohio, at the crowded A&R Music Bar. 

My Best Friend is You represented Nash trying on a new sound that she ended up sticking with. The combination of her original sound and later sound is just perfect for me. I love this album, and every time I listen to it again, I remember how much.

Let's do the leaderboard thing, now twenty albums strong!

Join me tomorrow for my favorite album from 2011!

Countdown to 30: My Favorite Album From 2008

 2008

I'm going to give myself a little bit of a break after the last couple of years. I know for sure what my album of the year is, so I'm only going to talk about two runners up.

By 2008, I was slightly ahead of the curve and had both a Myspace and a Facebook. My introduction to Eric Hutchinson has to be the weirdest way I've ever found a band or musician: through a Facebook ad. I don't know why I clicked, I guess I must have just liked the cut of his jib. All I know is that a few seconds later, I was listening to "Rock and Roll" off of Hutchinson's Sounds Like This. I was hooked. He has a great flow to his lyrics, and a voice much stronger than you would expect. If I had to describe his sound from "Rock and Roll" back in 2008, I would probably have said that he was a more rock Jason Mraz. I don't know if that description is still relevant, but I'd say it's still pretty accurate. Thing is, "Rock and Roll" isn't even about the genre, it's about two people who are trying to fit in; finding love for one another after a one-night stand. Much as I love rock music, I think that's a far more interesting topic for a song.

Sounds Like This also features "Back to Where I Was," a song that was featured in an inspirational video mixing together segments from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, videos of people overcoming adversity and the song. Warner Music Group was still very possessive with their music at the time and had the video taken down, even though Hutchinson found a number of fans through that video. 

Hutchinson sings and writes soulfully, even when the subject matter isn't very serious. This is an album I love to sing along to front-to-back.

Miniature Tigers released their debut album, Tell it to the Volcano. I found it in 2010 due to a Last.FM recommendation based on my interest in Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. I actually don't understand what exactly makes this album so good, I just know that I knew from my first listen that I was a fan. I think it's a combination of the catchy melodies, the whimsical instrumentation, strong, firm drums, and playful lyrics reminiscent of youth. Not my youth, but someone's. 

"The Wolf" was featured in Easy A...at some point. It's not on my Blu Ray, but it was in there at some point. It's one of the standout tracks from Volcano, but there are others. "Cannibal Queen," "Like or Like Like," "Giraffe," and for me just the whole album. The whole album is fun and catchy in a weird way. 

Moving on to something I can explain better, one of my favorite albums of all time, drumroll please...

Narrow Stairs for me, is when Death Cab For Cutie were on the same page the most. They had solidified their lineup, their label and their fanbase. Narrow Stairs isn't just The Ben Gibbard Show like Plans. The rest of the band are given time to really shine. Chris Walla's production might be stronger than it was on any other Death Cab album. And even though I just said that thing about it not being The Ben Gibbard Show, his songwriting is peak on the album as well. Walla said of the album in a Billboard article "The landscape of the thing is way, way more lunar than the urban meadow sort of thing that has been happening for the last couple of records."

Sure enough, Narrow Stairs begins with "Bixby Canyon Bridge." It starts slow, quiet and sparse, but by the end of the song, it is an organized cacophony. In the final moments, it winds back down for a quiet close that ends on an echoing "you." The space is then left empty for just a moment before launching into "I Will Possess Your Heart," the top single from the album. "I Will Possess Your Heart" clocks in just shy of eight and a half minutes, which means it is full of time for jam space. It is loaded with a strong bassline by Nick Harmer, keys, and ambient sounds from guitars. The lyrics don't begin until halfway through the song. When they do, the story woven is akin to "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, a needy stalker who "knows" they are destined to be with the object of their affection even though that person "reject[s their] advances and desperate pleas." 

"No Sunlight" changes the tempo of the album with an upbeat major key song about the narrator losing his optimism and positivity as he grew up. "Cath..." follows with strong guitar and drums and a sad tale of a woman who settles for a man she doesn't love. It is basically the story found in Wuthering Heights, right down to the character in the book being named Catherine. However, Gibbard has never stated a connection. 

I have discussed "Talking Bird" previously. The thick, fuzzy chords create a dreamy landscape as Gibbard sings of a woman who seems "caged" but is really free to leave at any time. The lyrics seem to be personal as the band marches into "You Can Do Better Than Me." Between Plans and Narrow Stairs, Gibbard lost a great deal of weight, and the lyrics reflect that, "I've been slipping through the years//My old clothes don't fit like they once did//So they hang like ghosts of the people I've been." This convinces me more than anything that this song is personal for him. Walla executes another perfect transition into "Grapevine Fires." Walla stated that he attempted to see what happened if he stepped back and just let the band play is if live, but I still hear many decisions he made on the album. "Grapevine Fires" was about the California wildfires of 2007. Jason McGerr emulates a "Purdie Shuffle" drumbeat for the track.

"Your New Twin-Sized Bed" is the sad tale of someone accepting their romantic isolation ala "Learn To Be Lonely" in The Phantom of the Opera. "Long Division" reintroduces a chugging bassline and features some of the strongest lyrics on the whole album. It also re-introduces the mentions of open doors found in "Talking Bird" and the E.P. that followed Narrow Stairs, The Open Door E.P. 

We slowly roll into the last two tracks, beginning with "Pity and Fear," which has a Middle-Eastern feel to the instrumentals that begins with the drums. "Pity and Fear" ends abruptly, evidently due to a faulty tape machine, but it works very well for the album. "The Ice is Getting Thinner" closes out the album, a track about feeling the inevitable end of a relationship.

Spring/Summer 2008.

I actually think I bought Narrow Stairs right when it came out, although I don't remember if that was on purpose or kismet. I can always go back to this album and find new things, new meanings, new instrumental quirks. Every track means something to me but I'm going to highlight some of what I hope are my more meaningful thoughts.

"No Sunlight" has always been one of my favorite tracks, but I've also always dug the way "Bixby Canyon Bridge" opens up the album. There is a genuine sadness to Narrow Stairs that Gibbard said he never wishes to reexplore. "Long Division" contains clever lyrics that are probably the most similar to The Open Door E.P. (which I highly recommend). I have a tour shirt from this era that has a long division problem with the name of the band over it. Nerd that I am, I thought that was just the cleverest tour shirt. I don't disagree with my 16/17-year-old self. "Grapevine Fires" is one of the first songs I learned to play on keyboards, although I only learned the first page or two that was free online.

I can't even say anything else, because if you aren't convinced to hear the album after all I've said so far, there is surely no hope for you.

Engage leaderboard!

Join me tomorrow for my favorite album of my graduating year, 2009.

Top 14: Singles of 2014

2014 was more about singles than albums. Much as it makes me cringe to think about, it's entirely true. That's not to say there weren't any good albums, but there was nothing that measured up to the top 10 albums of 2013.

So, the year was about singles. In addition to that though, it was about women. Women dominated the charts and the airwaves. We're talking Taylor Swift being the first woman to knock her own #1 single to #2 so she could occupy the two positions simultaneously. We're talking about the sheer variety of female acts topping charts, from the aforementioned Swift to Meghan Trainor, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj, Iggy Azalea, Selena Gomez, Tove Lo, and Jessie J, just to name a few! Chrissie Hynde released her first official solo album, Lily Allen and Ingrid Michaelson each put out new albums, and, once again, Taylor Swift broke tons of records with 1989.

While I'm a little sad that there weren't more standout albums, I wasn't entirely displeased with some of the singles. And also, girl power. Anyway, below are fourteen of my favorite singles of 2014.

14. "Earth is the Loneliest Planet" by Morrissey
It was nice of Morrissey to release this track as a single on my birthday. It's also pretty cool to see that he's still got that Morrissey musical sadness. This might even be the best track he's done since the mid-nineties (in my opinion).

13. "Where No Eagles Fly" by Julian Casablancas + the Voidz
From Tyranny comes this gem of a track. The rest of the album was impressive as well, particularly the overall production. I love how perfect all of the visuals are for this Julian Casablancas + the Voidz project, from the videos to this exaggerated retro single cover. If you missed it, you should really check it out.

12. "Foil" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic had his first #1 album with Mandatory Fun this year, and it's no surprise that the album did so well (although it is a surprise that none before have). The original songs and parodies are all spot-on, and even this parody of "Royals," which begins like a run-of-the-mill Weird Al food song, but takes a darker and funnier turn.

11. "I Won't Let You Down" by OK Go
The band that's known for their videos makes some awesome music too. That said, the video for this one is a Busby Berkeley musical number on Honda personal mobility units. I love the inventive way they're always coming up with new things for videos and not just recycling the treadmill gimmick over and over. I also love the touches of the 70s, which remind me of "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5.

10. "Air Balloon" by Lily Allen
Lily Allen's Sheezus was a lot more hip-hop influenced than I had expected (the title failed to clue me in), but at the same time, the album had a great deal of variety. Take this worldbeat-infused pop tune for example. It's been compared to "Paper Planes" by M.I.A., and you can hear the similarities, but it's also got its own thing going on in an infectious earworm way.

9. "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor
While I can't help but agree with opponents of this song, that it isn't as much about body positivity as it seems on the surface, "All About That Bass" is still a winner in my book. Originally offered to Beyoncé, this track became a viral hit for young Meghan Trainor (who is 21). The bold use of colors in the marketing of this song and "Lips Are Moving" (also a hit) give her singles a uniform look, along with the fact that "Lips" references the previous single, saying "tell me that you're not just about this bass." Trainor is a singer-songwriter, and has written singles for several other acts, so she should have no trouble writing for herself.

8. "Be Reasonable, Diane" by SPEAK
You don't need a gimmick to sell a song, but I won't deny that it helps. SPEAK released a game to go along with "Be Reasonable, Diane." I'm sure it's not the first time it's been done, but it definitely works. Meanwhile, I'm perplexed by the recent surge in the name "Diane" in songs. I only know one Diane, and she's my aunt, yet Vampire Weekend also released "Diane Young" (a pun, I know) last year.

7. "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift
The biggest album by a female artist since Carole King's Tapestry, 1989 has been shattering records like no one's business. But this one is more than just a record-breaker in my opinion. "Blank Space" is a playful and mature look at both Taylor Swift's heartbreaks and the way the press treats them. She takes the blame herself as in "I Knew You Were Trouble," but also professes the "we all hurt each other" sentiment as in Ingrid Michaelson's "Girls Chase Boys," and the whole thing has that sort of fairytale feel of her earlier songs ("Love Story"). I just wish the producers had gone for a cleaner sound right before "and I'll write your name."

6. "Tell the World" by Eric Hutchinson
Constantly teetering on the edge of the mainstream, Eric Hutchinson released Pure Fiction this year and, while the tracks weren't as strong as some of his previous ones, songs like this one really stood out. The first single off of Pure Fiction was this feel-good tune, empowering in both sound and lyric.

5. "Girls Chase Boys" by Ingrid Michaelson
Ingrid Michaelson's most successful single since "The Way I Am," "Girls Chase Boys" is both a breakup song and a statement that "no matter who or how we love, we are all the same." She tackled gender inequality and the universal nature of heartbreak in the video for this catchy tune. It serves as both a tribute to Robert Palmer and a fun political statement.

4. "All I Need Is You" by Rob Cantor
Rob Cantor may not have broken the internet, but he sure used some fun new techniques to sell the great songs on Not a Trampoline. With his viral video of celebrity impressions set to "Perfect," and this video made up of gifs, he's like the OK Go of internet memes. And the song is pretty great too!

3. "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars
While I'm disappointed that it's not another Mark Ronson and the Business International record, I certainly can't complain about the quality of this #2 hit. Watch out Taylor Swift, this fast-rising funk and soul track might just de-throne you.

2. "Swimming Pool Blues" by Miniature Tigers
Another great summer-soundtrack tune from Miniature Tigers. The rest of Cruel Runnings is sparse competition for "Swimming Pool Blues," which was definitely one of my favorite songs released all year. I even love the cheesy "underwater" sound editing bridge.

1. "Dark Sunglasses" by Chrissie Hynde
If there's one track I played on repeat this year, it was this one from Chrissie Hynde's very first solo album. I know, it's a fine line, "Chrissie Hynde solo album vs. any other album she's worked on," but man, did this single get it right. You can sing along with the backing vocals, and that cowbell...Totally my favorite track this year.

State of the Music Address: April 2014

This is a new feature for odds and ends, and to give you a preview of what's coming up in music and on Nomorebloodfromaclone. So without further adieu...

-There are quite a few new albums coming out soon:

• April 8th, Eric Hutchinson Tell the World
• April 14th, Rob Cantor Not a Trampoline
• April 15th, Ingrid Michaelson Lights Out
• May 5th, Lykke Li I Never Learn
• May 27th, Miniature Tigers Cruel Runnings
• June 9th, Chrissie Hynde Stockholm

-As such, there have been a few single releases, including Rob Cantor's "Ghost":

-...and Miniature Tigers' "Swimming Pool Blues," the video for which is as perfectly done and humorous as anything the band has done.

-It's going to be a great summer for concerts here in Ohio.

• The Ohio State Fair is featuring Blue Oyster Cult, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Beach Boys, Heart, Joan Jett, America, and Aretha Franklin.
• The Monkees are touring again, with the three remaining members.
• Cher and Cyndi Lauper have joined forces for a tour.
• Of Montreal are coming to Cincinnati. I wish they'd do a Columbus date at some point!

-Record Store Day 2014 is fast approaching. fun., Of Montreal, and Deerhoof are all releasing stuff, just to name a few, so I'm excited for April 19th.

-And finally, here at Nomorebloodfromaclone, you can look forward to an exclusive interview soon, as well as yet another "I've Got This Covered." If all goes according to plan, you can expect more frequent updates here in general. Stick around!

Top 10: Albums of 2012

People have tried to sum 2012 up musically in many ways. It's been described as a year of self-pity and of fiscal awareness, but it's entirely possible that 2012 did not have single theme. 2012 saw a further blurring of the line between independent and mainstream music, and once again saw a redefinition of what it takes to make a song popular (spoiler alert: Glee helps a lot). 2012 was the year Taylor Swift went pop, the year a young girl with the stage name Kitty Pryde made a career for herself the new-fashioned way, the year a Korean man (PSY) had a big American hit.

Once again, I've compiled a list of my favorite albums of 2012. I don't think this was the best year for music, but it certainly wasn't a bad one.

10. The Haunted Man by Bat For Lashes
Natasha Khan falls just the Kate Bush side of Florence and the Machine's Ceremonials in The Haunted Man, with a tiny dash of The Xx. While there are no big hits like "Daniel" contained within The Haunted Man, it's a pretty cool album that lives up to the quality of her previous works.

Key Tracks:

"Lilies"

"All Your Gold"

"Winter Fields"

9. Roses by The Cranberries

Having reviewed Roses way back in March of last year, I'm incredibly impressed by how much the lyrics and melodies come back to me. It's a much better album even than I remembered. The songs toward the end of the album are a little weaker than those that start it, but it definitely stands up, and I feel as though Roses should have received more attention this year.

Key Tracks:

"Conduct"

"Tomorrow"

"Schizophrenic Playboys"

8. 151a by Kishi Bashi

I was going to rank this album lower, until I gave it another listen, and then I began to wonder if it should be higher. The musicality is ace, and the songs are still catchy. The vocals and instrumentals are everywhere, whilst still seeming meticulously placed. If you haven't listened to it already, I recommend.

Key Tracks:

"Bright Whites"

"Chester's Burst Over The Hamptons"

"I Am The Antichrist To You"

7. Moving Up Living Down by Eric Hutchinson

I reviewed Moving Up Living Down when it came out. It's a little different from Sounds Like This, but not necessarily in a bad way. There's a greater variety of styles, and a new kind of power to the production. The lead single "Watching You Watch Him" is strong and there are plenty of album tracks to back it up. 

Key Tracks:
"Best Days"
"Watching You Watch Him"
"Not There Yet"

6. The Sound of the Life of the Mind by Ben Folds Five

A somewhat morose album, The Sound of the Life of the Mind features more collaboration between Ben Folds and Nick Hornby. The album is beautiful, moving, and very occasionally uplifting. The lead single even featured a video that starred Fraggle Rock's Fraggles.

Key Tracks:

"Erase Me"

"Do It Anyway"

"Hold That Thought"

5. sketches by edu

Andrew Horowitz released his first solo work exclusively on cassette this year. The nine song work was pure beauty. Each track feels hand-crafted and adorable. sketches closes with the only song not written by Horowitz, a cover of "Rainbow Connection" that does the song as much justice as Kermit's original.

Key Tracks:
"miss melody"
"HEY YOU!"
"at the end"

4. Hawaii: Part II by ミラクルミュージカル

Hawaii: Part II was released about a month ago on bandcamp (my review). Something of a concept album, the tracks from Hawaii: Part II still stand well one by one. Joe Hawley's side-project is quite the masterpiece. 

Key Tracks:

"Isle Unto Thyself"

"Murders"

"Dream Sweet in Sea Major"

3. Some Nights by fun.

After listening to Aim and Ignite many times over the past few years, Some Nights came as something of a disappointment. The radio did not agree with me, making "Some Nights" one of the most overplayed songs of 2012. Don't get me wrong, it's still an amazing album, but I was a little underwhelmed. I think radio listeners should also understand that the rest of the album is as good as the two lead singles.

Key Tracks:

"Carry On"

"All Alone"

"Out On The Town"

2. Former Lives by Benjamin Gibbard

While I realize certain albums on my list are odd and off the beaten path, I'm surprised I haven't seen Former Lives on more 2012 best of lists. Ben Gibbard created a great album that certainly stuck with me. There's not a single song on the album that I would skip, and almost every one has a very special place on the album and in my life.

Key Tracks:

"Lily"

"Oh, Woe"

"A Hard One to Know"

1. Mia Pharaoh by Miniature Tigers

Falling only slightly short of the picture perfect Tell It To The Volcano, Mia Pharaoh took an adventurous leap into the 70s- but with synths. Lead single "Boomerang" was a great preview of the album's feel. Miniature Tigers manage to find the space between cute and sexy, between retro and modern, having a sound that no one can emulate, and that is exclusively theirs (their album of covers could have easily made it into my top ten, but technically it's an E.P.). I'm sure I listened to this album more than any other this year, and for good reason. The songs are well-sculpted, catchy, sensual, and strangely cute. If you haven't listened to Mia Pharaoh yet, get on it.

Key Tracks:

"Sex On The Regular"

"Afternoons With David Hockney"

"Boomerang"