IKRS Countdown: Onze favoriete albums uit 2010 - Nr. 7

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 - 8

Nr. 7 – Linda
Album: Gemini
Artist: Wild Nothing

When I first listened to this over half a year ago, I wasn’t convinced. The whole thing sounded rather bland and not one song managed to catch my attention and as a result, I didn’t even consider the album for my half year list. When the album did appear on Ilse’s list, I decided to give it another chance, and what do you know: I loved it. The haziness and how everything just blends together sounded perfectly wonderful all of a sudden.

In a live setting they were amazing as well, even though their London date was the last one of a lengthy tour taking them through Europe, making it painfully obvious at times that sleep is an absolute necessity and that Jack Tatum’s voice does not benefit from a lack thereof. He did manage to reach those high notes though, eventually. Other than that, the gig was rather amazing – maybe even more so since they were obviously not at their best. With tracks like ‘Confirmation’ and ‘Drifter’ they certainly did manage to convince me to add another album to my vinyl collection (though admittedly, given the state of my vinyl addiction that doesn’t take much these days).
Random Track: 'The Witching Hour'

Nr. 7 – Ilse
Album: The Monitor
Artist: Titus Andronicus

A band taking its name from a Shakespeare play making a concept album about the American Civil War of 1861-1865; I would say the ambition alone makes this album deserve a spot on the list. In context, the Civil War forms more of a metaphor to describe personal events, rather than that this album exposes us to a history lesson. From the references to Glen Rock and New Jersey, we may draw the conclusion that it describes bearded frontman Patrick Stickles’ journey in life and the love-hate relationship he has with the Garden State. Next to regional identity, recurring themes in this journey are emotional anesthetization, alcohol and the importance of friendship. You could say this album actually describes an inner civil war.

Musically, it has, like their debut album ‘The Airing Of Grievances’, a lot of keyboards, shredding guitars, and reverb vocals, resulting into their familiar noisy sound. Stickles doesn’t claim to be part of a ‘lo-fi movement’ though, he rather thinks of the band making ‘hi-fi punk’. The songs on ‘The Monitor’ are incredibly anthem-like, as the band vocalize in synchrony, which gives you the idea it’s sung by a group of drunk friends in a pub. All this happens without turning the album into a collection of low-brow drunken lullabies, as next to the historical and geographical references we get plenty of pop culture references to digest as well. One of them for example, is fellow New Jersey resident Bruce Springsteen; on the song ‘A More Perfect Union’ (which I suspect of being a reference to Billy Bragg) they changed his “Tramps like us, baby, we were born to run” into “Tramps like us, baby, we were born to die”. ‘The Monitor’ features so many layers to enjoy that, despite dropping a few places compared to 6 months ago, I still consider it as interesting now as when it came out in March this year.
Random Track: 'Richard II'

Nr. 7 – Stef
Album: Forget
Artist: Twin Shadow

This probably is the most important reason of doing lists. Because I forgot about this album until someone said, hey, perhaps you should listen to it (or, more forcefully, lets listen to it while we are doing the dishes). Which is also the reason for this list, to perhaps remind you, hey, have you given these albums a fair shake while trying to find your way in the crowded maze of music land leaks and downloads. Twin Shadow surprised me in numerous ways. I love the romantic vibe of the vocals, I hadn’t expected that for some reason. And it is less lo-fi than I had originally anticipated. So good thing I actually listened to it, no?

A good thing regardless, because I love the dreamy, romantic atmosphere of the album. It’s one of those albums you love to put on late at night when you are walking home or are at the verge of falling asleep in the train. One of the most impressive features of this album, and perhaps that is why I am half anticipating it to have legs, i.e., that it will age well, is that it is of constant quality. There is a central atmosphere, and Twin Shadow plays around that with limited yet variable means. Sometimes he sings really high pitched, sometimes he throws in an impressive guitar solo, and so he continues to craft songs that you want to listen to. And, in my opinion, not only is the quality consistently high, I actually think he ends on a high note with the last three songs, which really prevent you from pushing the stop button before the needle reaches the middle. An absolutely lovely debut.
Random Track: 'Slow'