Onze eindejaarscountdown! De tien favoriete albums van Linda, Ilse, en ondergetekende uitgebracht in 2010. Favoriet, omdat iedereen natuurlijk andere dingen leuk vindt en andere connotaties heeft bij de muziek en thema’s/genres die we daarin kunnen terugvinden. Dus dit zijn niet objectief de beste albums, maar de albums die op ons om de een of andere reden de meeste indruk hebben gemaakt. Enjoy!
The list: 10 - 9
Nr. 8 - Linda
Album: Cerulean
Artist: Baths
Seeing Baths live was one of my favourite music-related moments in 2010. I wasn’t even sure whether I should go through the trouble of travelling through half of London (or what qualifies as half of London in my world) in order to be able to see Will Wiesenfeld – a resident of Los Angeles of course – perform his debut UK show in a basement in a venue that goes by the rather appropriate name of ‘Camp’. But hey, I had already bought a ticket and staying home would’ve just be wasteful, now wouldn’t it?
His music rests somewhere between chillwave and dubsteb, two genres which have been exploited by many over the last couple of years for some quick fame, but Baths manages to find some new ground. That, and he is more cute than any baby panda known to the internetz (I may have spent some of my otherwise precious time on lolcats this year, but I balance it out by fervently reading the Guardian’s Science section). I absolutely love it when an artist seems genuinely surprised people even showed up at their show, let alone dance to their music, instead of using the words “thank you” to signify they’ve reached the end of a song. So far, this list had been limited to Dan Boeckner, Alexei Perry and Gareth Campesinos!, but Will Wiesenfeld is a very welcome attribution. Also, the fuzzy animal impression which he uses to introduce ‘Animals’ is not to be missed.
Random Track: 'Maximalist'
Nr. 8 - Ilse
Album: Stridulum II
Artist: Zola Jesus
I wasn’t planning on including ‘Stridulum II’ as I’m still not sure whether it qualifies as an EP or an album, and I wanted a list only consisting of albums. But then again, 9 songs must be a mini album at the very least, and every single song on here is so great that I couldn’t leave Stridulum II out. Zola Jesus is a project by 21-year-old Nika Roza Danilova, and in particular her unique, shivers-down-your-spine voice. She’s been incredibly productive this year, as she also worked with Former Ghosts and L.A. Vampires besides releasing several records of her own. It took a while for me to fully get into her music, but once you’ve done so, there is no turning back. Nika was trained for opera singing, and that influence is still present in her soulful, almost theatrical voice and in combination with the synth, drum machine and modified vocals, it makes the music very dark, mysterious and incredibly dramatic. Sometimes dramatic and theatrical could be considered negative; but in this case it comes across very much genuine and sincere.
This is also visible through the lyrics, she’s not afraid to write about huge concepts using simple language, as the way she sings it makes it all the more powerful , assuring and comforting, which proves that she is as mature as her authentic voice. I’m afraid Zola Jesus’ modest breakthrough in the alternative mainstream this year is only the beginning of something bigger and greater, and that what we’ve seen so far is just a sneak peek of the things she might be capable of, and with her level of productivity I’m sure it won’t take long until Zola Jesus will manage to amaze us once again.
Random Track: 'Manifest Destiny'
Nr. 8 - Stef
Album: False Priest
Artist: of Montreal
In one of the songs on this album he refers to Woody Allen. Not completely illogical for numerous reasons, but there is also a, not so much a reason, but a similarity; namely that both have already made their Magnum Opus. Which also means that everything they put out now is going to be compared to their other output, and in the case of of Montreal it is especially compared to Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? which he released two albums ago. This is no Hissing Fauna, both in terms of quality as in terms of sound and theme. Whereas Hissing Fauna is extravagant and more of an inward journey, this is more funky and more of a look at modern society and the people in it. The stories are not necessarily about the mind of Kevin Barnes anymore, but they are narratives about what happened to him, as opposed to being about him.
Which doesn’t mean that there is less of Barnes to go around, even though he is sharing vocal duties with the likes of Solange and Janelle Monae. His opinion is clearly stated, and he even hits it home quite clearly in the more experimental closing song ‘You Do Mutilate?’, which is as surprisingly electro as it is a pamphlet rather than a narrative. In the mean time he certainly has created a fair share of good songs. Though not as immediate party time as on previous albums despite the funk, the songs have easy on the ear instrumentals to accompany the lengthy and wordy monologues of Barnes, which are full of his typical one-liners and la-di-da comments. Which, yes, is from the movie Annie Hall by Woody Allen (la-di-da).
Random Track: 'Casualty of You'
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