Album of the Week/Month/maybe Year (10/22/2012)

Bat for Lashes
The Haunted Man
Genre: Baroque Pop

Bat for Lashes' third album, The Haunted Man, is without a doubt, one of the best albums I have ever heard. Building off her amazing Two Suns, Bat for Lashes has made the most raw, emotional collection of story-telling songs that has been released this or any other year. The stripped-down sound and Abbey Road-recorded strings only highlight Natasha Khan's haunting vocals and prove her mastery of pop songwriting. As with all BfL releases, this is a dark, striking record, but it is one that makes you feel. And that is a quality very rare indeed.

Sample Song (my favorite): "Oh Yeah"

The Day(s) of Many New Albums, Part 3, Final (8/30/2012 19:00)

The fact that the Baltimore Grand Prix costs more than it brings in, and that politicians are too dumb to know that negative numbers are bad, means traffic was horrible, and I was able to finish the rest of my albums on the way home from work.

Shall we...?

Purity Ring
Shrines
Genre: Witch...house? Is that a...a thing? Listened: 8/30 while at work.

Don't judge a book by it's cover, and don't assume that a band called "Purity Ring" makes either overt Christian rock, or extremely sarcastic screamo. This might be the best new discovery apart from DIIV.  The songs are dark, but have great beats. Imagine if a three-way between Crystal Castles, Sleigh Bells, and Chromatics produced some weird offspring, that would be Shrines. If dubstep was good, it would be Purity Ring.

TNGHT
TNGHT EP
Genre: Umm..some kind of electronica? Listened: 8/30 on I-495

This album was weird, to say the least. The music wasn't particularly bizarre, it was just that it clearly should have had lyrics and didn't. No, I don't think all music should have singing, I'm not a rube. TNGHT has clearly made what should be hip-hop beats, but there's no one rapping.  The lack of lyrics means that songs crescendo for no reason and then just sort of die off. Then there's the last track, "Easy Easy," which uses a sample so annoying Gilbert Gottfried flashed out of existence, because there can be only one.

Jessie Ware
Devotion
Genre: Pop soul, because "soul pop" would mean some other kind of music. Listened: 8/30 on I-95

This is the direction that Massive Attack should have gone on their way to finding success, rather than 10,000 Windows or whatever that was. Ware's voice is amazing, and the trip-hop-style backing is the best pairing of alto R&B singer and massive bass I've heard in a very long time. Doomed to obscurity no more, hopefully.

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
Mature Themes
Genre: Psychedelia is the best thing I can come up with. Listened: 8/30 from the BP on 295 to Route 40...that's right, I got through a whole album in 1.8 miles. Thanks a lot, Grand Prix.

Pink's Before Today, despite being highly acclaimed, was the worst piece-of-crap album I have ever heard in my entire life...IN MY LIFE. That, fortunately is not the case here. To explain Pink's music is difficult. Imagine the weirdest stuff the Beatles ever wrote. No, weirder. Like "Glass Onion" playing backwards over top of "Revolution 9." Now that you're there, look off into the horizon. Far beyond that, where the curvature of the Earth makes it impossible to see, and sea monsters lie in wait for Spanish galleons, there is a land where INLAND EMPIRE is considered the greatest movie ever, cricket is a way to achieve transcendence, and Chuck Palahniuk doesn't seem like a pretentious douchebag. That is where Ariel Pink goes to get inspiration for his music, which even confuses the hell out of the people there. That said, Mature Themes is maybe the most fun I've ever had listening to an album. I mean, come on, he sings an entire song about schnitzel. How can John Maus ever compete with that?

Swans
The Seer
Genre: Experimental...to say the least. Listened: God, I could not finish this leviathan in one sitting.

Swans' The Seer is, by a wide margin, the most boring album on this list. I was going to say, "the worst," but remember, Dirty Projectors were on here two posts ago. Every song is over five minutes. One is 19, another is 23, and the title track is 32 God-forsaken minutes. It is also the most horrible thing put out since Deerhunter made a psychedelic mixtape. The first six minutes, at least, of the 32:14, is ambient...bagpipes. You read that correctly, ambient bagpipes, with, like, this clicking sound in the background the whole time. That's when I gave up. Somehow, this album is getting critical acclaim. Apparently "professional" music critics don't mind hearing the sound of their own brain melt.

Wild Nothing
Nocturne
Genre: Dream pop. Listened: 8/30 for the three tracks it took me to realize I'd heard this before.

See: Passion Pit's Gossamer on Part 2 of this article. I don't feel like expounding anymore, but let me just say that there's only so much MGMT and Beach House knock-off music one can listen too without falling asleep in a bathtub.

Matthew Dear
Beams
Genre: Electropop. Listened: 8/30 on the last stretch of Route 40 and over and over ever since.

I have been waiting all day to get to listen to this. I finished it as I started writing this segment. Matthew Dear's strange version of club music is the most awesome thing in this whole set of articles.  2010's Black City was one of the best of that year, and surely Beams will be one of this year's. It's jumpy, fun, easy to listen to, and yet so complex, it makes you want to keep listening. Thank God I got to this album before I lost all faith in music.

This has been quite the experience. I learned that DIIV, Purity Ring, and Jessie Ware are great new acts, that Matthew Dear hasn't lost his touch, and that listening to that much "experimental" music in one sitting is probably damaging to your mental health.

I suppose I should just keep up with things instead of binging like this, huh?

The Day(s) of Many New Albums, Part 2 (8/30/2012 13:45)

Continuing on the journey of sonic discovery you pass a place, the kind with a monster or some kind of weird mirror. Look into the mirror and find...

Baroness
Yellow & Green
Genre: Hard rock. Listened: Once when it came out, then switched back to Blue Record.

This was one of the albums I looked forward to the most this year. Unfortunately for me, I think Baroness was replaced by the members of Mastodon while on Valium. The music is good on a technical, theoretical level, but it's not quite Baroness-y enough. Red Album had long, guttural, sludge metal songs. Blue Record shortened the songs, but made them pack a bigger punch. Yellow & Green doubled the lengths of the songs from Red, but was apparently written by the guys from Extreme. I think it's safe to assume Baroness crashed their tour bus because they were listening to "Concainium."

Passion Pit
Gossamer
Genre: Electropop...I guess. Listened: 8/30 at lunch, then realized I already had MGMT on my iPod.

You probably already know Passion Pit, even if you don't know you know them. Their song "Take a Walk" is on some commercial, and you would recognized it as soon as you heard it. The music is really catchy, but it's been done before. High-pitched, repetitive synth lines; nasally, male (I think?) voice; simple rhythm guitar and drums in the background. I can only assume Gossamer was written when the band placed their cat on one of those floor keyboards in a room filled with strobe lights, and the cat's name was "Matt & Kim."

So far, not a good set for lunchtime. Perhaps the good stuff will pick back up on my way home from work, though I doubt it; the next band up is called "Purity Ring."

TO BE CONTINUED...

The Day(s) of Many New Albums, Part 1 (8/30/2012 11:30)

It has been a while since I reviewed a new album, and quite a few have come out. The reason...I...haven't listened to any of them. UNTIL YESTERDAY! And today!  And...probably tomorrow.  There's like 12 or something, give me a break.

Going on from when Fiona Apple released [this album title is really, really, really long], there have been a great many albums released and I shall try to review them here as I listen.

Ty Segall Band
Slaughterhouse
Genre: Punk/Noise Rock. Listened: 8/29

If you like punk, hard rock, or Jesus Lizard-ness, Ty Segall has got an album for you. It's called Slaugterhouse and it's pretty awesome.  It's mixed in a lo-fi style, so imagine OFF! or Iceage's music with Neon Indian's recording style. Great, right? You know it is.

DIIV
Oshin
Genre: Shoegaze, maybe? Whatever Sufjan Stevens would be if he only used computers. Listened 8/29

A Krautrock revival, Oshin is one of the best albums I've heard so far this year. DIIV uses driving base lines and moody synths to set up dark lyrics in the weirdest, but best next step along the path from the Johnny-Jewel-produced italo-disco sound.  There may be no real hero, real human being here, but they certainly made my night better.

Dirty Projectors
Swing Lo Magellan
Genre: The same as Pavement, which isn't a good sign. Listened 8/30 on the way to work.

What is this crap? I didn't know all your lyrics could be "oooOOooo," but the Dirty Projectors found a way. This band is more overrated than Sonic Youth, and that's saying something. There's like, one, okay song on here ("Unto Caesar") and that's because the women sing something other than "doo doo da doo doo" for once.  What? Did you think every album that came out since June was a good one?

Twin Shadow
Confess
Genre: New wave. Listened: Every day since it came out.

At first I thought Confess was a weak follow-up to 2010's awesome, Forget, but that's because I fell into the same trap as most critics...I expected the same thing twice.  Twin Shadow's new album has a different sound: more produced, more layers, harder to follow lyrical structure; but that doesn't make it bad. If I had never heard the first album, this one would be just as great. It's a little more work, and a little less "fun," but totally worth it.

Frank Ocean
Channel Orange
Genre: Neo soul. Listened: 8/30 while at work.

Very good album. Definitely one of the best to come out of the R&B school for a long time. I'm not quite sure where all the "album of the year" hype is coming from--Channel Orange is just a more-trippy, male version of Janelle Monae--but it is pretty cool to listen to. The guest appearance by Andre 3000 doesn't hurt either.

Nas
Life Is Good
Genre: Rap of some kind. Listened: Honestly, after the second song, I turned it off, 8/30.

This is the conversation my brain had with itself while attempting to listen to Life Is Good:
     Right Side: "Hey, isn't gangster rap dead?"
     Left Side: "No, Nas is still around, apparently."
     Right Side: "..."
     Left Side: "Good point."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Best Albums of 2012...So Far

2012 looks like it will be a great year for music; Queens of the Stone Age are set to release a new album, Trent Reznor's How to Destroy Angels project is rumored to be up to something, and there may even be new Tool for the first time in six years. There's also a slew of independent releases due out that could really blow us away.  However, apart from Fiona Apple, not many big names have released anything yet, but that doesn't mean the music hasn't been great.  Here's the best of what's been released so far this year.


5. Cloud Nothings
Attack on Memory

Cloud Nothings have apparently been around for a while, but no one really listened to them, or even heard of them, until this year. Attack on Nothing is definitely one of the best alt-rock albums I've heard in a while. Combing Weezer with Slint and a dash of Smashing Pumpkins, the music is both dark, melodic, and totally rockin'.

4. Sleigh Bells
Reign of Terror

To those outside the loudness-war/noise-rock arena, you may not notice Sleigh Bells' new direction. As someone who has followed their work closely since they began, I can tell you that for their second album, Derek Miller and Alexis Krauss completely changed their style.  It was all beats and make-it-as-loud-as-possible for their first effort. Reign of Terror focuses more on songwriting, vocals, and a sort of story.  Don't worry though, the noise is still there.

3. Chromatics
Kill for Love

Capitalizing off their sudden popularity following their appearance on the Drive soundtrack, Chromatics have released a brilliant, stark, and haunting follow-up to 2007's Night Drive.  "The Page" may be one of the best songs of the year, and opening with a cover of Neil Young's "Into the Black" was a bold move that paid off extremely well.  This album has everything going for it: the mood, the beats, the intricate guitar work, and Ruth Radelet's mysterious vocals all make this one of the best listens of the year.

2. A Place to Bury Strangers
Onwards to the Wall EP

Yes, I know, Worship came out before July 1 too, and it was a full-length album. While I can say I love the new sound, no one who claims to love hard rock can say they prefer it to Onwards to the Wall.  The five-song EP seemed to come out of nowhere and was probably rushed through production, but it is the best thing APTBS has done since their self-titled debut. Driving bass lines, kick punching drums, and the ever-present squall of Ackerman's feedback-laden guitar, you know, the usual.  Here, the songs are more well-rounded, and the sound is A+.  Onwards puts almost every other album in its rear-view mirror.

1. Beach House
Bloom

If the album cover's not enough to prove it, let me just quote PopMatters by saying that Bloom is called an album "in the most awe-inspiring sense of the term." Or, as MSN Music said, in perhaps the best summation of any album ever, "Bloom is the aural equivalent of the Jesus and Mary Chain frosting a birthday cake." That's good enough for me, and this album is far and away the best of the year; it's probably the best of the decade too.

Album of the Week (6/20/2012)

Fiona Apple

The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Genre: Alternative Rock

Seven years after her last album, Fiona Apple's songwriting a lyrical imagery are as powerful as ever. The production may be sparse, which only amplifies the emotion of each song, and accentuates Apple's vocal delivery. On this dazzlingly clever record, Fiona Apple is in complete control of the anarchy created when personal demons and awe-inspiring talent collide.

Album of the Week (5/15/2012)

Beach House
Bloom
Genre: Dream pop

Two years ago, Teen Dream was such an amazing album that it made you worry a little bit as to where Beach House could possibly go from there. This, the Baltimore duo's fourth album, is far better than anything they've done, and that's saying something. the songwriting is tighter, the lyrics are more straightforward, and Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally's experience makes all 10 songs even dreamier. This band is, by a wide margin, the best one at making you forget you're in Baltimore.

Album of the Week (4/17/2012)

Bear in Heaven
I Love You, It's Cool
Genre: Neo-Psychedelia

Continuing the journey down Synth-Loop trail through the forests of Heavy Drumming, John Philpot and the rest of Bear in Heaven make a dazzling return to the world of indie pop after three long years of waiting. This new album is less dark, more upbeat, and faster paced than Beast Rest Forth Mouth, but equally as engrossing and well written. The sound texture is more trance-inducing, and the beats are more danceable than ever. Considering I didn't find out about this album until two days ago, this may be the best surprise release of the year.

Movie of the Week (4/13/2012)

The Cabin in the Woods
Director: Drew Goddard

I'm not usually one to recommend a horror movie, but every once in a while, they're just too good to pass up. It helps that the script was co-written by Joss Whedon, creator of Firefly and Dollhouse, but really, it's because of the twist. It's not really a twist per se, because, like Dream House before it, the secret is given up in the trailer, but it is at least a newer, more interesting take on the "lost in a dark forest with hill people" horror movie premise we have all come to despise. It makes fun of itself and genre cliches like Scream did, but ten times better, and it gets the viewer asking all the right questions, like, "why is this so much fun to watch?"

Album of the Week (4/11/2012)

Chromatics
Kill for Love
Genre: Electronica/Italo Disco

There's a reason Chromatics main writer and producer Johnny Jewel was on the short-list of composers considered to score last year's best film, Drive. It's partly because his band's sound was exactly what director Nicolas Winding Refn was looking for, but really it's because the music is just so damn good. It's dark without being depressing, poppy without selling out, minimalist without being Peaches, noisy without being A Place to Bury Strangers. So what if Johnny Jewel didn't get to score Drive? His band and two others he produces still made it onto the soundtrack, and with good reason...this stuff is plain good.

The Best Albums of 2011

Now that we're well into April of 2012, I figured it was finally time to make this list. As always, it takes forever just deciding who to let in and who to leave out. This year was a little easier than others, but I always have those second thoughts when I hear music months after everyone else has and then think, "man, this could have made it on the list." Twin Shadow's Forget from 2010 comes to mind.  This year, I think I got it.

Runners Up


M83
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

Washed Out

Within and Without

And now for the actual list.  I'm in the middle of writing a term paper, so forgive me if my explanations/descriptions are short and repetitive.

The Top Ten

10. Neon Indian

Era Extraña

The master of chill-wave, or glo-fi, or whatever Neon Indian is, Alan Palomo knows what he's doing. Two albums in a row now have taken lo-fi recording techniques, crazy beats, and heartbreaking songwriting and combined them into total coolness.

9. Panda Bear

Tomboy

If there's something Panda Bear, the solo name for the Baltimore-based Animal Collective frontman, can't do with samples, tape decks, and hundreds of overlaps of his own voice, I don't know what it would be, and I don't think I want to know. "Last Night at the Jetty" alone has the power to end world hunger, stop genocide, and spin the planet backwards like Superman in that one movie.

8. Amy LaVere

Stranger Me

There's just something about a smoky voice backing up some of the best Americana/western music out there. Amy LaVere has the talent to give Adele a run for her money, but she decided to go after Sea change-era Beck instead...and she just might beat him.

7. John Maus

We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

All I know about John Maus is that he basically only uses a drum machine and a 70s Casio keyboard to write all his music. I'm not sure if his singing voice is real or modulated. I don't know if he meant half of what his lyrics implied on this album (although even meaning a quarter of it would get you put on some classified list somewhere, I'm sure).  But somehow, songs like "Believer," "...And the Rain," "Quantum Leap," and "Hey Moon" make up for all of it. How can anyone be this minimalist and sarcastic and still make great music? John Maus knows.

6. Atlas Sound

Parallax

I don't think I really have to explain this one. Many of you know of my unsubstantiated love of all musics by Deerhunter and frontman Atlas Sound (real name Bradford Cox), but there is a reason for it. Despite the lulling and ambient river noises, there is some damn catchy folk rock back there. On Parallax, Atlas Sound ups his indie-cred even more than he did on Logos. With "Te Amo" he gives his best Bono impersonation, and very nearly hits it, opens like never before with "The Shakes," and ends strong as always with the complexity of "Lightsworks."  It may take you a few listens, but I promise it's worth it.

5. Feist

Metals

Is Leslie Feist immortal? Are her methods...supernatural?  Just listen to "Graveyard" already.  It might be her best song ever if I could just get "A Commotion" out of my head.

4. Iceage

New Brigade

In this world where people are down-and-out and mad at everything, it's about goddamn time we got some decent punk rock again.  If this doesn't make you want to put down your "save the whales" sign and just go beat the crap out of a politician, I don't know what can save you...you are a hippie.  Hippies do not rock. Iceage rocks.

3. The Joy Formidable

Big Roar

I don't know if there has ever been a more appropriately named album. If you like noise, hard rock, and kicking butt, then this is album for you. Way better female-led rock band than that Grace Potter or whoever those weird Celebration people are.  The Joy Formidable is the best new band out there, and Big Roar is one of the most amazing debuts I've heard in a very, very long time.

2. TV on the Radio

Nine Types of Light

Far and away one of the best bands to ever exist, TVOTR does it again, making prog-rock and experimental blues sound like the most amazing thing you've ever heard.  It's no Dear Science, but it's still better than anything almost anyone else has released in years. And with songs like "Caffeinated Consciousness," and "Repetition," you just can't help but think...is this the best band...ever?

1. St. Vincent

Strange Mercy

St. Vincent is the only musician I know of who keeps making albums better and better. She also is slowly moving out of the indie-folk singer genre and just ripping it in the electro-clash-rock category.  We've finally found a woman that can give Peaches a run for her money without making us feel dirty.  It doesn't hurt that the slower songs are some of the most well-written, beautifully sung anthems out there. Last year, when this release was announced I thought, "wow, whatever it is, it's going to be hard to beat," and St. Vincent proved that ten-fold.  Strange Mercy is, by a wide margin, album of the year...of 2011.

The Top 20 Songs of 2011

This list is hard to make every year, usually because there's only so much space. This year...not so much. I had a hard time finding enough good music to fill it. Fortunately a few last-minute listens and many spins around YouTube got me a couple more that rounded out the whole twenty.

Most of these songs won't be found on Top 100 radio (one of them is), but they are all great songs. So here it is, the end of 2011, and the best songs from it.

20. Gang Gang Dance
"Adult Goth"
(Listen)
Gang Gang Dance clearly has a sort-of hero worship of Bjork. That's not to say "Adult Goth" isn't original, it's just really obvious they listened to Homogenic while they recorded it. A cross between Mannheim Steamroller and The Big Pink with a female vocalist, "Adult Goth" is definitely one of the more interesting songs of the year.






19. PJ Harvey
"The Words That Maketh Murder"
(Listen)
I don't particularly care for PJ Harvey all that much, but when I heard her refrain, "What if I take my problem to the United Nations?" over and over, I couldn't resist. It helps that it's a great song, but the biting sarcasm in the lyrics moved it from "alright" territory into "best of the year" status. It's simple, it's smart, it's "The Words that Maketh Murder."

18. Fleet Foxes
"Grown Ocean"
(Listen)
Fleet Foxes is one of those bands that, I guess, I just don't get. Don't get me wrong, I hear the beauty of the arrangement, I hear the brilliance of the writing, I just don't enjoy listening to their albums. They're too much work. However, "Grown Ocean" is a song that anyone looking for a decent folk song can get into. Here, the guitars are cleaner and the message is lighter. "Grown Ocean" is a Fleet Foxes song that even I like.

17. Kurt Vile
"Jesus Fever"
(Listen)
This year, Kurt Vile did something nearly impossible...he made an acoustic album that I liked. I normally tend towards hard rock or even metal, but Smoke Ring for My Halo changed my mind about how slow and often boring acoustic music is. The highlight of the album was "Jesus Fever," cleverly written and very catchy, it could easily be the opening credit music for one of those indie-teen-coming-of-age-movies. You know the ones I mean.

16. Peter Murphy
"Seesaw Sway"
(Listen)
Is there anything that can stop Peter Murphy (except vampire-David Bowie, of course)? While his solo album was nothing special, this song was a standout. It's no "Endless Summer of the Damned," but it comes close.

15. Atlas Sound
"Te Amo"
(Listen)
Until a few days ago, I had no idea that Bradford Cox had made a new solo album. I heard this song as "Untitled" in a backstage practice video he shot for Pitchfork at some random festival last year. I thought it sounded amazing then, it is even more amazing now. The echo/pitch-shifting notes that open the song get stuck in my head for days whenever I hear them, and Cox's Bono-imitation vocal delivery a'int half-bad either.

14. Anna Calvi
"Blackout"
(Listen)
To tell the truth, this is the only Anna Calvi song I know, but it's well worth knowing. A dark, alto voice sings of how she loses and chooses her loves during, well, blackouts. The drum pattern makes the song, but the creepy howling that precedes each chorus makes her seem less the drunken skank and more the black widow. Really great stuff.

13. Neon Indian
"Blindside Kiss"
(Listen)
Neon Indian's new album presented slightly darker, much more put-together material, and the best of that set was tough to choose. The slight edge in what could be a three-way-tie went to "Blindside Kiss" because of its similarity to so many awesome Jesus and Mary Chain songs. This track showcases why Alan Palomo will be around for a while.

12. Adele
"Rolling in the Deep"
(You've heard this, but if you really have to, Listen)
Here it is, your obligatory pop hit song. The thing is, it's actually a really good song. Adele's voice is never in doubt, crooning like the divas of old. But, it's really the backing vocals and drum line that make this song, twisting the usual formula just enough to make the song sound unlike any other pop hit you've heard.

11. Little Dragon
"Nightlight"
(Listen)
One of the better dance-able songs to come out this year, Little Dragon took the lyrical structure of a Hercules & Love Affair song and mixed it with a Crystal Castles outtake. This song is moody, repetitive, and completely addicting. God knows how many times I listened to this and I'm still not sick of it. Look for this group to go places.

10. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
"Oraculum"
(Listen)
Within the three-hour opus that is Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack, are a few gems. The song you hear most often in trailers is "An Itch," which is almost as good, or Trent and Karen O's cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," which is so obviously NIN that it almost sounds like they wrote the original. Since I don't include covers as new music, that didn't make the list, but "Oraculum" did. Why? Because it's the best instrumental song that Reznor's been involved with since 1999's "The Mark Has Been Made." The opening drum pattern alone makes you want to see the movie, even if you don't know what it's about. Now that's what I call advertising.

9. Panda Bear
"Last Night at the Jetty"
(Listen)
Panda Bear's Tomboy may be the album I looked forward to most this year. It's strange because of how experimental and progressive his music is; it's too much work for a lot of people, but the intriguing arrangements and Noah Benjamin's lyrical delivery--a seemingly infinite number of vocal layers--make any Panda Bear (or Animal Collective for that matter) song all the more interesting. Benjamin's repetition of "I know, I know, I know..." starting at 1:46 is one of the most beautifully harmonized deliveries I've ever heard, and more than enough to make this normally-average song one of the best of the year.

8. Feist
"A Commotion"
(Listen)
Before Adele, before Amy LaVere, even before Amy Winehouse, there was Feist. The mold of the independent, crooning, heart-broken, rebellious diva was cast when Feist started singing "Mushaboom" all those years ago. Metals may only be her third album, but what other semi-folk singer do you know who's brave enough to put her own career on hold to tour with Peaches? Here, Feist shows what made her famous: big sound, beautiful singing, and a snap-you-awake chorus. As Carly Simon once said, nobody does it better. Hey, speaking of Amy LaVere...

7. Amy LaVere
"Stranger Me"
(Listen)
What Amy LaVere has done by making Stranger Me, and its titular single, is create perhaps one of the most beautiful and breathtaking break-up albums ever, even rivaling Beck's Sea Change.  Americana isn't a genre most people identify with, but they should. "Stranger Me" has something everyone can love, a little country, a little emo, a little folk-rock, a little blues, a little rock-and-roll. Beware, however, as this may be the saddest of this year's best songs, but uplifting as well. I've never done a listening double-take like I did when I heard "Stranger Me" the first time.

6. John Maus
"Believer"
(Listen)
"Jackie Chan choppin' all across the world," is definitely one of the more...interesting (read: confusing) lines I've heard in a song this year. I can understand why a lot of people don't get John Maus. He's eccentric, he only seems to use one extremely high-pitched setting on his synthesizer, and his vocals are so distorted he sounds like he's calling to demand ransom, more likely to be confused with Al Jourgensen than Michael Buble. But that's part of what makes "Believer" so awesome. Why do they call him the believer? No one knows for sure, but this song is so catchy even the most doubting will believe that crazy can indeed be cool.

5. Iceage
"White Rune"
(Listen)
By far the heaviest and fastest song on the list, "White Rune" proves that a punk-revival band from Denmark really can make Joy Division proud. Combining the structure and lyrics of Brit-punk with the sheer volume of shoegaze, Iceage have revitalized small-club, mosh-pit rock. I really can't say enough about this band. Their album is a step back into a time when Iggy Pop and Joe Strummer were fighting with their audiences...you know, the golden years of punk...and "White Rune" makes you want to jump in and start punching. Rock on, brothers!

4. St. Vincent
"Cruel"
(Listen)
I said earlier that there was only one song on this list that was played on radio. That's unfortunate, because if there's one song that really should be played on radio, it's "Cruel." While the dark, sardonic lyrics of St. Vincent's most recent single are juxtaposed by the playful guitar lilts and upbeat melody, it's actually the video for this song that really makes it just that much better. A woman kidnapped by a family to be forced into the "mom" position, is then killed while showcasing the most ennui that is humanly possible. It's a perfect song to reflect the times we live in, and it's just damned good songwriting.

3. M83
"Midnight City"
(Listen)
While I liked M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, I can easily say that I can't handle two discs worth of electro-pop at a time. That said, I love "Midnight City." It very much reminds me of last years #1 best song, Robyn's "Dancing On My Own." The high-pitched hook and distorted lyrics could put it in the Drive soundtrack without any problems, especially with the chorus about "waiting in the car." This is another one that just begs to be played over and over again. It's beat isn't particularly original, but M83 certainly has a way of making sound like it is. Club-friendly, long-city-drive-friendly...dancing-on-your-own-friendly.

2. The Joy Formidable
"Whirring"
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There's nothing I like more than a good noise-rock band. And when they actually write radio-friendly, bouncing songs like "Whirring," all the better. This song has something for every rock-radio listener: the fast, upbeat song at the opening; the length of the average Pink Floyd song; and the crashing, destructive, totally awesome ending. The drummer has to be given credit here for being able to keep up with the pace, and the noise, the glorious noise. The Joy Formidable will make your ears bleed, and you will love them for it.

1. TV on the Radio
"Caffeinated Consciousness"
(Listen)
What can be said about TV on the Radio that hasn't already been said? They're brilliant, and their music is innovative, mesmerizing, and just plain cool. Their newest album, Nine Types of Light was hit-or-miss with critics, but songs like "Caffeinated Consciousness" highlight just how truly great this band is. It starts with a groovy bass, then get ready to rock as Tunde Adebimpe begins yelling his message out over a skipping horn and guitar section that is unlike any other they've done in the past. With "Caffeinated Consciousness," TV on the Radio has truly outdone even themselves, and blown all the competition away.