Our Mid-Season Favorite Album Countdown - Nr. 09

Number nine in our top ten favourite albums of 2010 so far! Linda, Ilse, and yours truly give you our ten favourite albums at the halfway stage of the musical year in the hope you might discover, rediscover, or agree with our picks. If, in turn, you have some stuff you think we might enjoy, please holler.

Voor nummer tien klik hier

Linda:
09. Sleigh Bells - Treats (Mom + Pop/N.E.E.T.)
This is one of those rare occasions on which, after I’ve seen a band live, I didn’t particularly look forward to the album. However, as the XX did last year, they really managed to surprise me. Sleigh Bells have a story to them. A story of the kind you’d expect to see in a movie featuring Sandra Bullock rather than in actual reality. Derek Miller, who’d played in hardcore band ‘Poison the Well’, was waiting tables in New York when he met Alexis Krauss, a former teen pop star and at the time fourth grade teacher. He asked her whether she’d like to sing in his band, and electro hip hop duo Sleigh Bells was born. Their songs sound quite aggressive and up front, but do keep a sense of pop which allows them to be stuck in your head for days to come. The album might be just a tad bit too monotonous to ensure them a place in my end-of-the-year list, but for now they’re quite enjoyable.
Random track to listen to: ‘Rill Rill’

Ilse:
09. Surfer Blood – Astro Coast (Kanine)
I was doubting whether to include this album, as they play it every bloody single time I find myself in London’s Rough Trade recordshop, which drives me nuts. However, I’ve decided that it’s still worthy of a place on the list, as it is a great debut album. The band name and album title fit perfectly with the music, seeing that this quintet hailing from sunny Florida make poppy guitar rock combined with roaring reverb vocals. Add some sing-a-long lyrics, fuzzy harmonic melodies, and it leaves you craving summer and beaches. ‘Anchorage’ has some riffs that could’ve been Pavement’s and Surfer Blood are probably regular listeners of Weezer, Pixies, Built To Spill and Vampire Weekend.

Each song on its own is catchy as hell, as well as they seem to be doom and gloom songs masked as a feel-good ones. This album makes the surfer lifestyle doesn’t seem so laidback and ‘chill’: it seems to represent surfers being chased by the danger of sharks and having to fight against the current of the ocean (or “swim to reach the end”), the sharks and current being everyone’s daily struggles: confusion about romance and friendship, sexual frustration and concerns about the future.
Random track to listen to: ‘Floating Vibes’

Stef:
09. David Byrne & Fatboy Slim – Here Lies Love (Todomundo/Nonesuch)
Was it really necessary to make a double album, twenty-two behemoth out of this? Probably not, and to sit it through in one go is quite an undertaking. However, how many albums can boast that they have twenty-two tracks on it that are all listenable? That is quite an achievement I find, because there are so many albums of which I like to skip one or two tracks. The flip side of the coin? There are no real, real standouts. As in, everything is enjoyable, but there is no track I’m waiting for to come on when listening to this. However, the music has been pieced together very nicely, and the female vocalists all churn in some good efforts. One better than the other, naturally, but there is definitely no short supply in terms of quality voices on this one. Also, I mean, sure, you can make a ten track album where you just do what you do best (and umpteen other bands with you) and release that, and then you get absolved by Salieri for your mediocrity (watch Amadeus peepz). And then you’ve made a pretty decent album. Congratulations. But I always have a soft spot for people who try, who go out there and do something outlandish. And a double album on the life of Imelda Marcus with female vocalists ranging from Cindy Lauper to Santigold: I mean, that is a proper project. So it does not actually reach the stars, but at least it tried, and I find that usually that makes for something more interesting than if you don’t attempt much of anything at all. Playing music is nice, trying to create something on the other hand…
Random track to listen to: ‘Don’t You Agree’ feat. Roisin Murphy