Teen Dream

2010 has gotton off to a great start in music.

Beach House - "Teen Dream".

My verdict: A beautiful and colourful adventure; you can literally see and feel the audio turn into swirling, shimmering visuals.

A top song [if you're one of those people] - Silver Soul or Walk In The Park

Have One On Me

Joanna Newsom!
So, so, so golden. Two beautiful hours, striding through mixed time signatures, strings, mythic imagery.
This could be better than Ys; not sure yet, but I am already going to shortlist this for the top 2010 album. Of course, there are tonnes more new albums coming out this year that are going to be great - The National, Yeasayer, She & Him, The Clogs, possibly Sufjan Stevens.

Top albums of 2009

20) It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have always been a nice minimalist-rock listen. It's Blitz! continues this.

Top Song: Zero

19) Unmap by Volcano Choir

Justin Vernon adds some rich textural layers in his Volcano Choir debut.

Top Song: Cool Knowledge

18) Far by Regina Spektor

Spektor and her drum-beat piano style gives us another worthy album.

Top Song: Dance Anthem of the 80s

17) Slumdog Millionaire OST by A.R. Rahman

A.R Rahman tracks are great and perfect for the film. Though it did come out late 2008, it is well-worth recognition for 2009.

Top Song: O...Saya

16) Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix by Phoenix

Phoenix have created a great summer album, putting some optimism instrumentation back into music.

Top Song: 1901

15) Heavy Ghost by DM Stith

Amazing debut by Stith. So hauntingly arranged.

Top Song: Braid of Voices

14) Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective

How could I deny Animal Collective a top album spot.

Top Song: Lion in a Coma.

13) The Resistance by Muse

Muse add in well done orchestration into their latest effort.

Top Song: Undisclosed Desires.

12) Noble Beast by Andrew Bird

Bird's distinct sound and truly professional whistling [!!!] makes this album a complete pleasure to listen to.

Top Song: Souverian

11) Devotion by Beach House

Beach House are a new discovery of mine this year, and Devotion has cemented my musical interest in them.

Top Song: Gila

10) Bitte Orca by The Dirty Projectors

I really enjoy David Longstreth's guitar, and the interesting time signatures used by the band.

Top Song: Remade Horizon

9) Hospice by The Antlers

There's something so emotionally compelling with Hospice. I can't quite point my finger on what it is, but some of the songs are truly and beautifully heartbreaking.

Top Song: Wake

8) Time To Die by The Dodos

The duo [or maybe trio now] base themselves on a bass drum and guitar, although they are somehow able to sound like a 100 people.

Top Song: Two Medicines.

7) BQE by Sufjan Stevens

The BQE is a fantastic piece of art. Abstract, illusory and equivocal. It should be seen as a work of art rather than just an album.


Top Song: N/A - All of the BQE moves in a way where every movement blends and moves into the next movement.



6) Lungs by Florence + The Machine

Probably one of the best musically arranged albums of the year. Florence's voice is captivating and deep; her imagination and ideas paint us her stories.

Top Song: Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

5) See Mystery Lights by YACHT

YACHT were an unexpected discovery this year. Interesting lyrics and arrangements.

Top Song: The Afterlife

4) Two Suns by Bat For Lashes

Like Florence + the Machine, Bat For Lashes offers us an entrance into another world, except this one is darker and more eerie, and it contains an alter ego.

Top Song: Pearl's Dream

3) Dark Was The Night

This Red Hot compilation contains music from [in my opinion] the most prolific artists of today. I'd love to have a few more artists such as Joanna Newsom and St. Vincent, but this is still a fantastic compilation of music.

Top Song: Hey Snow White by the New Pornographers.

2) Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear

Of course Grizzly Bear will be up here somewhere. Veckatimest is fantastic, a smooth flowing album, with such complex arrangements.

Top Song: While You Wait for the Others

1) Actor by St. Vincent

It was difficult to pick a top album, but after long contemplation, I have chosen St. Vincent's Actor as the top album 2009. Actor is a perfectly woven story. With inspiration taken from classical films, Actor moves us through amazing audio colour; the distorted guitar versus the winsome flute. The album pulls you into a different world and it's difficult to find your way back.

Top Song: Generally N/A, but if you're someone who must hear one song to make your decision: Marrow.

In Celebration...

In anticipation and celebration for their arrival, I covered Muse! :]

myspace
last.fm

The Resistance

There's always been something intriguing about Muse.
The day I fell for their music was the day they were, consequently enough, in Singapore to perform [2007].
Could there have been a worse timing?

Anyways, I'm going to start doing a top song from an album kind of thing.
The Resistance, a respectable move into orchestral arrangements without over-doing it or sounding pretentious. The strings don't boast, it still gives way to Muse's progressive rock roots.
The political theme is a bit cliched at times, but it never treads on the senseless. Due to cosmos-esque instrumentality of the pieces, it can be seen as a futuristic 1984, another planet in out of space.

So, recommended song:
Undisclosed Desires

Why:
Staccato strings,
A Keytar [!!]
A Bat for Lashes aura.
Simple yet illusory lyrics.

Others:
Bellamy's "Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 3: Redemption"

Mentions:
They're coming next year - much better timing.

Um.

Far beyond the mountain, there is a mountain valley king.
I don't know what he looks like, but apparently he has a crown, and a top hat that he hides and hangs on the branch of his favourite tree.
So that when you're not looking, he dances with it and sings cheesy show tunes.

Don't Ask Me I Just Here Man

Ever so often, we pick up the phone to call customer service or something similar, and we are attached to a long queue waiting for someone to get to us.
During your long wait you've probably been pressing optional numbers the computer has commanded you to press, or, you've been talking to the robotic voice that gets your requests wrong, or, you've been brainlessly humming to the supermarket music that's been put on. Finally, after your 15 minute wait, you've been connected to a HUMAN, oh the joy! But wait, he or she can't help you with your problem, but he or she loves selling you other stuff.
"Madam, how about you sign up for the $100 a month package, it gives you free 1,000 hours of non-stop talk!"
"No, I don't want that, I just want to know whether this house still has a working phone line."
"Oh of course, the $100 a month package insures a phone line."

Hanging up the phone has not only wasted your time - and possibly been the instigator of you putting on your mechanical suit to go off and locate the phone line - it has also added a few dollars onto your phone bill, in which the company you've called, gets a percentage off that.
Ah yes, this may not seem like much, but the amount of times you may need to make these kinds of phone calls, may be rather substantial.
So folks, use the internet, go to the library and find some dummy guides. Phone friends, relatives, old teachers, old lovers. Write to your grandmother, ask your dog, your cat, your pet hamster for advice on the problem. If it's a faulty product, take it back to the company where you can see their face. (Although companies with non-refundable policies are another complaint on my list).
Don't call the evils of customer service, they only work there, man.

This has been written out of the frustration of Helen's past experiences, as well as the frustrations of many other people including Wally DeBacker.

Thanks For Your Time - Gotye