3. Slaraffenland - We're On Your Side

Slaraffenland is one of those rare bands that sound like a lot of bands you've heard, but present it so differently it comes off as sounding like something new and better. All the right elements are here - haunting, chant-like vocals, cryptic lyrics, and a "big" sound that is restrained. Then to top it off they add beautiful horns and flutes and clarinets to just about every song. The end result sounds like Radiohead's Amnesiac married with Talk Talk's Laughing Stock with help from Jim O'Rourke. Or something like that. And We're On Your Side is more accessible than Private Cinema. I mean, it's still downer music, but christ, if Private Cinema is being in a haunted house, We're On Your Side is the feeling you get looking back after you've gotten out. I can't really explain this record anymore. All I can tell you is that it's incredible. Songs wash in and out, never really going anywhere yet still interesting enough to keep you coming back, and there are scratches and walls of noise and stops and starts and breaks of silence.... Track three "Too Late To Think" starts off nice and simple with an acoustic progression but by the end, it has blurred and swelled into this amazing horn outro. "Hunting" is one of my favorites and when he sings, "I assure you that i won't track you down..." it just adds another level of eeriness to the album. Start to finish, We're On Your Side is a fantastic album that should not be overlooked this year.

4. Sister Suvi - Now I Am A Champion

Get this now. Sister Suvi are a superband if you will including members of Islands and Tuneyards. And they fucking rock. It's been a while since an album came out that truly blew me away. This is nine songs of pure genius, spanning influences of just about every favorite indie act i love. And these are smart songs, pretentious even. They require repeated listens to fully appreciate this incredible band. "Deadwood" is this dark, brooding jam that sets your nerves on edge. And it goes right into "Desolation," which is one of my favorite songs. "Clap! Clap! One, Two/Clap! Clap! Three, Four/Tell me who the ef you love more!" is one of the more memorable lyrics I've heard in a while. From there on each song gets a little more interesting, a little more intricate. "The Lot" and "Claymation" really rock and showcase some great rounds and vocal harmonies. And then "American" comes in. This is such a fucking great song. It's anti-war, it pokes fun at ourselves, but all with a snobby, fuck you attitude, because in the end, we are Americans and it's better than being something else. "Agua" is a darker song that reminds me of Sonic Youth. And the last three tracks play like a trilogy up until that incredible closer "Golden." Now I Am A Champion is one of the best albums I have heard all year, and from what I can tell, it has gone largely unnoticed. So now you know. Spread the word.

5. Japandroids - Post-Nothing

The first time i heard "Young Hearts Spark Fire" I was immediately taken back to that post high school but pre college year where i had no idea what i was going to do with my life. My friends and I were too young to drink but we would always hang out, (jesus, what did we do?) Anyways, it reminded me of driving around listening to Cap'n Jazz and me yelling Tim Kinsella's nonsense lyrics out as loud as i could. Now Japandroids doesn't really sound like Cap'n Jazz, but the aesthetic and nostalgia is definitely there. There is something refreshing about Post-Nothing in that it's not flashy, it's not arrogant; it just is what it is: one guitar player and one drummer who sing their hearts out. Opener "The Boys are Leaving Town" is simple and straightforward with just three notes starting off, but god does he play the hell out of them. They only sing "The boys are leaving town/Will we find are way back home." But the way they present it will have you yelling with them. "Young Hearts Spark Fire" is my favorite song on the album and one of my favorites all year. With lines like "You can keep tomorrow/I can do without/We're not gonna need it," and "We used to dream/Now we worry about dying," this shit brings out my nineteen year old self. All the songs have a post-punkish vibe but "Crazy/Forever" has this great kind of classic rock sound. It's three minutes of jam before they come down into this deliberate swagger, "We'll stick together forever/Be crazy forever." Album closer, "I Quit Girls" is the "slow song" of the album, building and building until the drums come crashing in. Here he sings, "she wears white/six days a week/she was just/one of those girls/and if you're lucky/on the seventh day/she'll wear nothing." "She was just one of those girls/After her i quit girls." A little bitter? Who hasn't been there? At only eight songs, Post-Nothing falls a little short, but the songs hold up. Japandroids are full of uncertainty, and they wear it on their sleeves. However, it seems they would rather party then be bogged down by it. To quote, "I don't want to worry about dying/I just want to worry about those sunshine girls."

6. Circulatory System - Signal Morning

I've been a longtime fan of the Elephant 6 collective and i was very excited to hear that Circulatory System, the last hurrah if you will, was putting out a new record this year. And this is like seven and a half years after their self-titled. If you've never heard of CS it's basically everyone from Olivia Tremor Control and then some, Jeff Mangum even appears. Circulatory System's music is complex, sprawling, and sometimes difficult to get into. However, it's also one of the most ambitious albums i've heard all year. There are some serious nods to The Beatles and old psych and prog, but their refreshing take on it is fantastic. Leader Will Cullen Hart wrote most of the songs on the album while battling multiple sclerosis and perhaps it shows in his music, be it the devastating sadness on "Particle Parades" or the jangly pop of "This Morning - We Remembered Everything." From the heavy drone of "Woodpecker Greeting Worker Ant" to "News From the Heavenly Loom," the most beautiful thirty seconds of a song, Signal Morning never ceases to surprise you. The album almost demands repeated listens because there is simply too much going on and too much to absorb first time around. All in all, an incredible work by incredible musicians. As if this wasn't enough, Hart said in a recent interview that a new OTC album is in the works. How exciting is that? Thank god for Elephant 6. Now lets see if Mangum can take the hint and release some NMH.

7. Why? - Eskimo Snow

Not since grandaddy has someone successfully merged the indie/folk/electronic sound into something so perfect. Let me say first off how much cLOUDDEAD fucking ruled. This was my first introduction to why?, doseone, and odd nosdam, and i literally could not believe what i was hearing. Experimental as fuck art hip-hop with devastating instrumentals? Confused? Go get it. There is nothing like them and will probably never be. They only released two proper full lengths, but it very well established each individuals career. The standout imo is why? and we learned that with last year's Alopecia. Fast forward to 2009 and he has released Eskimo Snow what he says to be part two or the other half of Alopecia. Eskimo Snow is a melancholic album. Yoni Wolf kind of half sings, half stumbles through the songs and you can hear the sadness in his voice. Opener "These Hands" is short and to the point as if to say "Well, here it is." And then "January Twenty Something" comes in with this beautiful dan deaconish moment, where he lets you know you're gonna be ok. From there on its some of the best mashup of electronic folk you'll hear. There is the playful "Into the Shadows of My Embrace" where mid-way through the song he just spits this mess of problems concluding, "But you gotta yell somethin' out or you'd never tell nobody." This is followed by "One Rose" which is dark and acoustic and i swear Yoni Wolf sounds like Leonard Cohen. "This Blackest Purse" is so pretty it reminds of Ben Folds and the closer "Eskimo Snow" looks back with no resolution. It sounds like a mid-nineties alt rock ballad via Third Eye Blind. He unsurely sings, "I'm still here/Bearing my watery fruits if fruits at all/And I'm still here/Barely understanding what truth that rarely calls." All in all Eskimo Snow has a certain something that i fell in love with. It's deeply sad, yet hopeful; harsh but thoughtful. And the music certainly evokes some feelings that everyone has felt at one time and that is what am i doing with my life? where am i going? fucking, Why?

8. The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa

Last year Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit released a free digital mixtape. I'm not sure what possessed me to download it. The cover art had a huge fucking lion on it; it was cheesy. Most of the artists they covered i didn't care for, and Esau sings in his native language Chichewa, some dialect in Malawi. On top of that, their sound is hard to describe. It's pop music, but it has what i can best describe as jungle beats? I could give you a list of bullshitty made up genres but i won't. Listen, this was not something that grabbed me at first. I just kept it in my rotation because it was the newest music i had. And a week later it's all i'm listening to. And then a month later, it's still all i'm listening to. It was so, good. I would show everyone i could and would generally come to the same conclusion: it sounds like the fucking lion king. Which is not to say it doesn't, but it's like looking at the tip of the iceberg and not realizing the actual size and depth of it. And it was just a simple collection of covers ranging from MIA to The Beatles. In my opinion some of the tracks were actually better than the originals. So naturally i couldn't wait for their first full length, which they hint at during the closing moments of Jackson's "Will You Be There." I got it on the release date and still can't put it down because it is such a damn good album. In fact the only complaint i can think of is that it has two slightly different but still very much the same versions of Kamphopo and Kada Manja which were on last year's mixtape. But they fit nicely towards the end of the album, like meeting with old friends you haven't seen in a while. It is hard to pick a favorite track because it's that album you listen to start to finish. Perhaps the biggest reason i enjoy it so much is Mwamwaya. You can hear in his voice that he is the luckiest guy in the world to be doing what he's doing. You don't hear that much these days. In the end, this is some of the most uplifting music you will hear all year. It put a smile on my face.
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Here is the link for their 2008 mixtape Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit Are The Very Best http://www.greenowl.com/download_album/16088-esau-mwamwaya-and-radioclit-a . The guys are generous enough to give it to you for free.

9. Tortoise - Beacons of Ancestorship

Earlier this year i heard there was going to be a new tortoise album that was going to be released sometime mid-summer. So naturally, i got out their old albums and for like two months straight, all i was listening to was tortoise. i thought to myself, where does a band like tortoise, who easily defies most music categories, go from here? In my mind they have already done it all. Well, after much listening, i will say that tortoise is still full of surprises, and Beacons of Ancestorship is easily their best album. However, it took a while for this one to grow on me (as most of their music does.) It had instant classics like Prepare Your Coffin and Yinxianghechengqi, but the album as a whole was slightly disappointing. Five years before any new material? I did have some high expectations. I mean, i don't know what i was expecting, but it just didn't hit me the same way as their other stuff did. And then one night i was driving home from work (back when it actually took a while) and i threw it in. I don't know what happened, it was the same songs i had heard before, but driving downtown at night, with all the lights and the cars and that epic crescendo on A High Class Slim Came Floatin' In, whatever hang ups i had were done. I sat in my car and finished the record before i went inside. Beacons of Ancestorship is not without flaws, but it is their best work. It's twenty years of experience wrapped into fifty some minutes of music. Also, it is especially exciting to hear them "rock out" as some review put it. Tortoises are known to live longer than any animals on the planet. How appropriate a name for a band who have lasted longer than most artists dream and will probably still be making groundbreaking music for many more years. --

The lala player doesn't have BOA on their site (i knowww, fucking get on it guys) but here is the link to their thrill jockey page where you can listen to for free and buy. http://www.thrilljockey.com/catalog/?id=103952 Support your music scene. Also, here is the music video of Prepare Your Coffin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rMt44c9uTo

10. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion

What to say about this album that hasn't already been said? Do not be surprised to see this on everyone's year end lists. And further, don't be surprised to see it as the actual album of the year. And hell, they might even deserve it. only a few bands have successfully made the transition from indie to mainstream, for instance, death cab and modest mouse. But animal collective? Hard to imagine their songs on a tv spot or, gasp, a teen drama. But to that i say, "who gives a fuck?" as i'm sure the guys in ac would. This album is too good. It's not necessarily a huge departure from their previous albums, but it sounds more focused, bigger. In The Flowers starts out eerily enough and then Lenox sings, "If i could just leave my body for a night..." and these thunderous drums come in and you know you are listening to something special. Then there is My Girls. Fucking My Girls. This is the first song on every mixtape i've made this year. The song is catchy as hell, but if you go deeper, you find it's about a man that just wants to provide for his wife and daughter. Other highlights include Taste where he gets into some existential shit. "Am I really all the things that are outside of me/Will i complete myself without the things i like around?" I don't know but i'm sure thinking about it right now. Finally they close out with Brothersport, which is my favorite song on the album, and one of my favorite songs this year. If you get a chance, listen to it while on 2ci. Maybe that's why i like it so much. Anyways, fucked up or not, these songs are absolutely great. Animal Collective have made the perfect pop album that is sure to spawn tons of imitators. Ten years from now people will probably be looking back on this album going on and on about how good it was and how ac never made a record that sounds like it again and the band will be somewhere fucked up making another great record.

hello friends

so thoughout the next couple of weeks i will be giving you my top ten albums of the year. i will try to provide links for you to listen. what an incredible year for music this has been. if you missed out do not worry. i did all the work for you. I've scoured message boards and every obscure music site i could find. this is what i have been doing in my spare time. not lame. fucking awesome.