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 - 7 - 6
Nr. 5 – Linda
Album: Learning
Artist: Perfume Genius
I might have been a bit overexcited about this album when I put it on number one half a year ago. I still think it’s absolutely great, it’s just there are about four albums that I think are better, two of which were also kind of around when I attempted to make this list last time round. I think this in itself proves the silliness of these lists: you need some perspective, some time to really appreciate some records and some more distance from others (which brings Editors’ second album – An End Has a Start – to mind, which I found mind-blowing at first and have never listened to since).
Nevertheless, Perfume Genius’ debut album is absolutely excellent. I love the combination of the at times almost hesitant, shy and calm poppy sound of the tracks with the dark, scary content that sounds like it ought to belong in a Xiu Xiu song. There are not an awful lot of people who manage to pull that of successfully. It seems very probable that if it hadn’t been for blogs and the internet, someone operating in such a small and specific niche as Mike Hadreas would not even be able to actually be an artist. Something which showed during his first show in London this year. He’d had next to none experience in performing his tracks live and seemed very insecure at times, and still managed to sell out this venue, solely on the reputation he had build online by recording songs in his bedroom. Pretty extraordinary.
Random Track: ‘Learning’
Nr. 5 – Ilse
Album: Teen Dream
Artist: Beach House
Another boy/girl duo I loved this year was Beach House, a band that stuck with me throughout the entire year 2010. I saw them live three times, twice in the first quarter of the year and then once again last month and I have listened to their album countless of times since its release in January. Despite this being their third album, I can’t say I knew much about Beach House before this year, and having listened to their other LPs since, I think the new one is more accessible and easier to get into than its predecessors. The atmosphere on ‘Teen Dream’ is romantic, melancholic, comforting, warm, and has an almost indescribable charm to it. It recalls the nostalgia of young love, the spirit of daydreaming and a certain pure innocence. Yet, innocence doesn’t necessarily mean naïve or weak; in this case it’s extremely powerful and enlightening. The main causer of all this is immediately the duo’s main strength: Victoria LeGrand’s absolutely stunning voice. Once she starts singing, all boundaries of time disappear and she almost sings you in a state of hypnosis.
I’m definitely not the only one who fell in love with this album; ‘Teen Dream’ was praised widely and generously among many critics this year, and you could say it really allowed Beach House to properly break through, something truly well deserved. However, whether it’s a gift or a curse is something only time will tell, as it seems almost impossible to create something that’s better than this. But hey, you never know right?
Random Track: ‘Better Times’
Nr. 5 – Stef
Album: Black City
Artist: Matthew Dear
Matthew Dear came out a couple of years ago with Asa Breed in which he kind of shifted to more song structured songs, as opposed to more minimalist epics. This album follows that path, and it even adds a shimmer of a concept in there; namely Black City. In his songs he seems to paint little vignettes – as abstract these sometimes might be – of living in a sort of dystopic city. Sometimes Matthew turns a bit more inward and shows the psyche of someone in the city, especially later on the album and with the more melancholic ‘Slowdance’. Sometimes it resembles a series of abstract, dreamlike paintings, or the universe of a sci-fi or superhero comic book. Sometimes it is harsh and dark, sometimes it is melancholic and dreamlike.
Whatever it is, Matthew Dear finds the right sonic landscape for it. Everything is carefully crafted using all kinds of sounds and production tricks to find exactly that sonic pallet that he is looking for. His voice is perfectly suited to evoke the right emotion, without being the most skilled vocalist. Not going to win any song contest anytime soon, but this is art, not the ability to hit useless notes. A very well crafted album that through its sounds takes you on a journey in the fictional city Dear has created for us.
Random Track: ‘Monkey’
Album: Learning
Artist: Perfume Genius
I might have been a bit overexcited about this album when I put it on number one half a year ago. I still think it’s absolutely great, it’s just there are about four albums that I think are better, two of which were also kind of around when I attempted to make this list last time round. I think this in itself proves the silliness of these lists: you need some perspective, some time to really appreciate some records and some more distance from others (which brings Editors’ second album – An End Has a Start – to mind, which I found mind-blowing at first and have never listened to since).
Nevertheless, Perfume Genius’ debut album is absolutely excellent. I love the combination of the at times almost hesitant, shy and calm poppy sound of the tracks with the dark, scary content that sounds like it ought to belong in a Xiu Xiu song. There are not an awful lot of people who manage to pull that of successfully. It seems very probable that if it hadn’t been for blogs and the internet, someone operating in such a small and specific niche as Mike Hadreas would not even be able to actually be an artist. Something which showed during his first show in London this year. He’d had next to none experience in performing his tracks live and seemed very insecure at times, and still managed to sell out this venue, solely on the reputation he had build online by recording songs in his bedroom. Pretty extraordinary.
Random Track: ‘Learning’
Nr. 5 – Ilse
Album: Teen Dream
Artist: Beach House
Another boy/girl duo I loved this year was Beach House, a band that stuck with me throughout the entire year 2010. I saw them live three times, twice in the first quarter of the year and then once again last month and I have listened to their album countless of times since its release in January. Despite this being their third album, I can’t say I knew much about Beach House before this year, and having listened to their other LPs since, I think the new one is more accessible and easier to get into than its predecessors. The atmosphere on ‘Teen Dream’ is romantic, melancholic, comforting, warm, and has an almost indescribable charm to it. It recalls the nostalgia of young love, the spirit of daydreaming and a certain pure innocence. Yet, innocence doesn’t necessarily mean naïve or weak; in this case it’s extremely powerful and enlightening. The main causer of all this is immediately the duo’s main strength: Victoria LeGrand’s absolutely stunning voice. Once she starts singing, all boundaries of time disappear and she almost sings you in a state of hypnosis.
I’m definitely not the only one who fell in love with this album; ‘Teen Dream’ was praised widely and generously among many critics this year, and you could say it really allowed Beach House to properly break through, something truly well deserved. However, whether it’s a gift or a curse is something only time will tell, as it seems almost impossible to create something that’s better than this. But hey, you never know right?
Random Track: ‘Better Times’
Nr. 5 – Stef
Album: Black City
Artist: Matthew Dear
Matthew Dear came out a couple of years ago with Asa Breed in which he kind of shifted to more song structured songs, as opposed to more minimalist epics. This album follows that path, and it even adds a shimmer of a concept in there; namely Black City. In his songs he seems to paint little vignettes – as abstract these sometimes might be – of living in a sort of dystopic city. Sometimes Matthew turns a bit more inward and shows the psyche of someone in the city, especially later on the album and with the more melancholic ‘Slowdance’. Sometimes it resembles a series of abstract, dreamlike paintings, or the universe of a sci-fi or superhero comic book. Sometimes it is harsh and dark, sometimes it is melancholic and dreamlike.
Whatever it is, Matthew Dear finds the right sonic landscape for it. Everything is carefully crafted using all kinds of sounds and production tricks to find exactly that sonic pallet that he is looking for. His voice is perfectly suited to evoke the right emotion, without being the most skilled vocalist. Not going to win any song contest anytime soon, but this is art, not the ability to hit useless notes. A very well crafted album that through its sounds takes you on a journey in the fictional city Dear has created for us.
Random Track: ‘Monkey’
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