4 Albums From 2010 that Should Have Been in Last Year's List
Yann Tiersen
Dust Lane
http://soundcloud.com/yann-tiersen/sets/yann-tiersen-dust-lane | http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/dust-lane/id395310757
Genre: pop-rock | rock | experimental
This is an album that I listened to in 2010, and liked it, but had some reservations about it. I'd only listened to it once, and didn't really think anything of it, except that it was quite the departure from the other music that I'd hearn Yann Tiersen do (notably, his brilliant music soundtracks). This, however, feels more like a pop-rock album with happy choruses about painful (though sometimes joyous) happenings, and a wide range of samples used throughout--one must listen to it in headphones rather loud to pick up how well recorded, produced and mixed this entire album is. There are occasional drops into his previous soundtrack territory, such as the beginning of Dark Stuff which is his signature accordion sound, with wind samples playing in the background before picking up with jangly guitars and deep, intermittently spoken words and a choir backing, complete with fast mandolin picking, before moving into minimalist, repetitive piano and moving on from there. The song is pretty damn depressing.
The album is centred around mortality and death--during recording, Tiersen apparently lost his mother and a close friend. That is not to say that the entire album is as depressing as Dark Stuff, because much of it (I presume) is about the celebration of the life that those people lived.
The album begins with the song Amy, starting off with quiet birdsong and wind ambience before moving onto some type of fuzzy oscillating, analog synthesizer (I really have no idea) before moving into some warmer pads. The guitar kicks in with percussion and some form of background noise (I can't tell what that is, either), a high-pitched oscillating synth and, after a while, a series of spoken words appear from Tiersen himself. The music builds up to the first climax which is where the rest of the band comes in and multi-layered vocals singing together in a chorus-like fashion with the lyrics: "After the war we moved further to the West / Leaving Amy on a never-ending path / kinda lost, now I hope we're undone / Now we feel the anger crawling in our chest" --on the second tieration, there are lots of overlapping vocals overlapping (I'd have to say there are at least 8) in a real climax, complete with background beautifully implemented glitch-tracks. The song is incredibly complex from start to finish--the mixing and mastering during this section must have taken eons (the album did take two years to record and create, after all). Amy finishes with glockenspiels and some wind instruments in harmony before moving onto the next track.
The three standouts in the album are Amy, Dust Lane and Fuck Me. That is, the first two tracks and the final one. The others are also brilliant, but due to necessity of keeping this short
The buildup at the beginning of Dust Lane (the song) is superbly crafted--starting with beach ambience and dual guitars, moving into piano and glockenspiel, then mandolin and accordion with spoken-word female vocals. As it builds, it moves into heavily modified vocals, distorted guitars, and a large chorus--on the second iteration they are layed over one another, with the choir getting louder the more it continues. Toward the end of the song it finishes with high-pitched female vocals.
Fuck Me is essentially a guitar-based singer-songwriter duet between a male and female, about sexual behaviour at inappropriate times. Again, this song is another buildup with many melodies of many instruments layered over one another, expertly. If you listen carefully, you can pick out some of the individual melodies, such as the two-note, alternative-picking banjo recording and mandolin. The album finishes by being taken over by a slow-moving Low-Pass Filter (with added grunge), and beautifully recorded string section and wind instrument, complete with synth-pad harmonies. The final note on the album is a reprise of the original synth used at the beginning of the first song, Amy. In this case, the album takes a full circle to get back to the beginning.
It's very rare that albums are made for both the types of people that love to intricately listen to their music critically, as well as those that love having raucous chorus to sing along to. Alternatively, it also fits beautifully well as lazy Sunday afternoon background music. Dust Lane really is Music for Many Situations.
Ef
Mourning Golden Morning
Genre: Post-rock | Gorgeous Music | Experimental Rock | Contemporary-Classical (rock)
Again, I honestly don't know how I didn't see the beauty of this album until the second or third listening. It feels like such a shame that I missed out on the appreciate of this album for such a long time.
However, if you don't know of Ef then I suggest you immediately go and start listening to them. They make the kind of music that I don't feel like anybody, after properly listening to their music, could dislike. That's quite a big thing to say about a band. I feel that, even the people that are initially scared of the long tracks (7, 8, 9, 12 minutes long) would enjoy them if they gave their time and effort to actually listening to it.
Ef are one of the greatest underground post-rock bands that I've heard. All of their music is brilliantly recorded, produced, and executed. Apparently they are one of the best live shows that you can see, as well.
The first track, Escapade #1 is entirely an instrumental buildup, moving to the next song, Sons of Ghosts. Escapade is primarily synth pads, cellos, violins, quiet drum rolls on the crash. The transition into the next song is brought about by the piano, playing a single quarter-note repeatedly. Sons of Ghosts moves more into a 4/4 instrumental rock song, with wailing guitars and strong percussion. The track (and the album as a whole), generally, is full of light and shade--blisteringly beautiful walls of noise and gorgeous minimalism. It manages to achieve this, while never getting boring. It's not until at least 5 minutes into the song that vocals actually begin, in a male-female duet. After that, it musically climaxes for a solid 3 or so minutes.
Standout tracks? The whole goddamn album. It's meticulously produced, designed, recorded, and mixed. There's not a boring moment on this album. Asking for the 'better tracks' in this album is like asking which of my future children is my favourite. I could answer it if I weighed up the pros and cons of each, but I'm not going to tell you, because that's unfair to the rest of the tracks. Be sure to listen from start to finish.
Audiocæneat!
Red Sessions
http://audiocaneat.bandcamp.com/ (€2.99)
Genre: Shoegaze | Post-rock | Experimental Rock | Math Rock
I purchased Red Sessions quite some time ago, but I actually got a personal email from the guitarist thanking me. It was a really nice personal touch. He even replied to me when I sent an email back in return.
However, doing this review I realized that the version I downloaded has a different ordering of tracks than the one off Bandcamp. I'm not sure how this could possibly be, unless it was changed after I'd bought it. In doing this review, I have changed the ordering on my computer to reflect the one on Bandcamp. Now, listening to it in that order makes more sense--mine began with The Truth Unfolded I, which I didn't necessarily like as an introduction to an album. But now with From The Massives to the Masses as the first track, it makes sense. It gives you a full detail about what the album is perhaps going to be about--two guitars, bass, and samples of a person walking in dirt, lighting a cigarette and taking a drag. The character coughs, sorts something out, and is cold (I assume he's camping). My problem with this recording is really negligible, and I think even designed that way; every sound that is made is done directly into the microphone, with very little aspect of a 3D physical space. His footsteps come from the same sound source as his lighter and cigarette. It becomes incredible intimate, until the guitars start wailing, getting heavier, constantly changing their sounds and effects--this level of intricacy would be incredible to see how it could possibly be done live.
After taking a break from writing this, and subsequently watching their live shows (along with many other bands), I can see that each guitar player (as well as the bassist) have rather large collections of effects pedals. And, surprisingly, their live show replicates their albums really closely.
The juggernaut final track - Idylla, clocks in at over 16 minutes, taking the album for a math-rock spin with intricate guitar riffs and occasional changes in tempo. The quiet-loud progression that is much loved and sought-after in post-rock and shoegaze circles takes quite some time to get going, but when it does, it's powerful.
Listen to the whole album if you can. If you can't, or have a short attention span, I would still recommend Idylla because it's just that good. Make sure you listen to it with headphones on, though.
Stafrænn Hákon
Sanitas
Genre: Post-rock | Power-Ambient | Electronica
* this was actually really close to making last year's list. I can't remember why I didn't.
There's just something beautiful about Sanitas that I can't put my finger on, from the beginning to end. It's not an absolutely standout album, but it is well-formed, enchanting, and it takes you to another place through the euphoric walls of noise, the catchy vocals, and the sparse ambience found in between. Even in spite of the knowledge that Hakon lives in Iceland, there is some thread throughout the whole album that reminds me of an icey winter with warm cabins. I think some part must certainly be owed to the European-styled acoustic guitars. But there is something even more odd to Stafrænn Hákon--in the sense that they call themselves Power Ambient, or as it should be known: ambient post-rock with pop vocals and choruses. Because that's what it is. And it's awesome.
In a similar vein to Tierson's Dust Lane, this album feels like an incredibly intricate and complex singer-songwriter album. However, when Dust Lane moves into the analog synthesizers, Sanitas instead fares into the distorted, shoegaze-drenched guitars. And both albums beautifully balance up the vocals in their mix, making it never seem like it's unintentionally fighting with the music.
My only real problem with this album is not in its individual songs--of which they are all suitably fantastic--but the fact that the transitions between the songs are sometimes jarring. This is, I think, the natural problem with being an ambient pop band--your ambient sensitivities wants you to finish your songs with drawn-out sonic drones, but at the same time (on the pop-rock side) you've got the make the beginning of each song catchy enough to hook listeners in. It is, however, a minor problem that only a few people (like myself) will ever bother considering.
The two standout tracks on this album are easily Val Kilmer and Sanitas, but without the previous few tracks and preceding few, they are simply two exceptionally good songs. Val Kilmer is about--I'm assuming from the subtext of the music--the actor from Willow, whereas Sanitas is more solemn, about the affairs of a man who has either done something very bad, or has a bad job ("I'm lost in carrying the dead"). After that, You Have to Let Me Borrow This is shorter, happier, and has more of a indie folk sensitivity.
If you were on a budget for time, I would recommend starting from Bright and listening through to the end. I feel bad for admitting it, but this is also what I did when I didn't want to listen to the entire album in a single sitting.
---------
Well there you go. I will also mention that I have been keeping my list of top for 2011, and that will be coming in the next few days.
Posted on Wednesday, Dec 28, 2011
