Best of 2009: 30 - 21

Numbers 30-31 of my favorite/the best albums of the year - enjoy!

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30: Deastro - Moondagger

Randolph Chabot, the man behind Deastro, is a sci-fi nerd with a love of synthetic-meets-organic electropop music. His debut, Moondagger, is such an excellent album because he takes all his quirks and uses them to create tunes that are unique, heartfelt, and very, very cool. (More from me)

MySpace


29: Andrew Bird - Noble Beast

Andrew Bird didn't make his best album with Noble Beast, but it may be his most adventurous effort and ultimately, it's a very rewarding experience. It's a sprawling record that has goes in many different directions, and the results are - more often than not - wonderful. (More from me)

MySpace


28: Tiny Vipers - Life on Earth

Songwriter Jesy Fortino's moniker, Tiny Vipers, may seem like a strange title at first glance, yet her meandering, delicate songs somehow fit such a name. Life on Earth is an emotionally powerful folk album that will certainly be a little sparse for some tastes, but for me it's truly captivating. (More from me)

Dreamer (MP3)

MySpace


27: Rock Central Plaza - ...At the Moment of Our Most Needing

Rock Central Plaza frontman Chris Eaton is really more of a storyteller than he is a a vocalist, but his roughly sung lyrics find a place in the often ornate yet gritty arrangements of his bandmates, and the result on their latest record is superb. An excellent and unfortunately overlooked folk album. (More from me)

(Don't You Believe the Words of) Handsome Men (MP3)

MySpace


26: The Thermals - Now We Can See

The fourth Thermals record is perhaps their most melodic and "pop" effort, but despite a little more introspection and less political commentary, they still know how to make a fantastic punk album. Now We Can See is my favorite from the Portland natives. (More from me)

MySpace


25: Dan Auerbach - Keep It Hid

Dan Auerbach made a great album with Patrick Carney as The Black Keys in 2008, then turned around and made another amazing rock record under his own name this year. Of course it kinda sounds like a Black Keys album some of the time, but the breadth of styles here makes this Auerbach's own. (More from me)

MySpace


24: Rubik - Dada Bandits

Finnish indie-rockers Rubik were one of this year's best surprises for me. Their sophomore effort, Dada Bandits, is an experimentally-minded pop album that came - seemingly - out of nowhere, thrilling me upon first listen and just getting better the more time I spent with it. (More from me)

Wasteland (MP3)

MySpace


23: Atlas Sound - Logos

Logos is a great deal more expansive and compelling than its predecessor and just fantastic overall record, making Bradford Cox's Atlas Sound project the most interesting thing he's yet done (an opinion I know not everyone shares). Also, "Walkabout," with Noah Lennox, is one of this year's best tracks. (More from me)

Deerhunter/Atlas Sound homepage


22: Megafaun - Gather, Form and Fly

Megafaun - the group who used to record with Justin Vernon under the title DeYarmond Edison - have let everyone know that they're doing just fine without their former frontman, thank you very much. Gather, Form and Fly is a striking folk record with an intriguingly experimental edge that deserves every ounce of praise it has received. (More from me)

Kaufman's Ballad (MP3)

MySpace


21: Memory Tapes - Seek Magic

Dayve Hawk's Memory Tapes project finally saw a debut album, Seek Magic, released this year, and what a first effort it is - a beautifully crafted electronica album full of twists, turns, and just generally spectacular music. Not only one of the year's best debuts, but one of the year's more notable albums. (More from me)

Band Blog (with free tunes)

MySpace

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Worth Hearing: January 20, 2009

Here's a list of some of the notable and worthwhile albums being released this week and some links to where you can get a listen:


A.C. Newman: Get Guilty - MySpace page - I've only heard a few tracks from this album, but if those were any indication, it's great.

Andrew Bird: Noble Beast - listen to the album at NPR (My Review) - An amazing record from one of indie's most consistent artists.

Animal Collective: Merriweather Post Pavilion - listen to the album at NPR (My Review) - Absolutely fantastic, a must-hear!

Antony and the Johnsons: The Crying Light - listen to the album at Spinner - A strangely beautiful listen.

Bon Iver : Blood Bank EP - listen to the EP on their MySpace page - A nice four-song set for a follow-up to last year's stellar debut.

Review: Andrew Bird - Noble Beast (* * * *)

Although perhaps overshadowed by Animal Collective's release on the same day next week, Andrew Bird's upcoming album, Noble Beast, has built up a sizable amount of hype, especially with the album streaming over at NPR and leaking several days later. Even before that, Bird has been anything but shy about showing off his new material, especially live. When I saw him perform this past summer, half his concert was something of an album preview. I enjoy the idea of songs practiced live, then re-imagined or re-written before finally settling in their final recorded state, and I've been interested to see if that concept worked to Bird's advantage here.

Noble Beast is a lighter, airier record than 2007's Armchair Apocrypha, which was something like Andrew Bird's rock album (relatively speaking, of course). In a recent interview, Bird stated that the recording process for these songs started with the vocals first, and the album certainly reflects that. He still uses his virtuoso violin playing and otherworldly whistle to great effect, but the other instrumental flourishes seem more designed to give his unique tenor voice and abstract musical poetry the spotlight, and as a result, Noble Beast features the strongest vocal performances of his career.

Bird spends much of the album subtly expands his style and experimenting with new genres. "Masterswarm" begins with a delicate violin/vocal introduction before shifting into a smooth, samba rhythm with light percussion that puts the vocals front and center. It's one of several lengthy tracks on Noble Beast (nearly seven minutes) that make up the 54 minute run time, which occasionally seems overlong but is filled with generally strong material and isn't much of an issue. Still, the tendency for some will be to skip through to find the more upbeat and immediate tracks, but a little restraint will be richly rewarded.

Elsewhere, Bird experiments with noisy rock for the latter half of "Nomenclature," and Spanish guitar and a waltz vibe on the beautiful "Effigy." "Not a Robot, But a Ghost" is easily the most radical (and most interesting) departure, with fuzzed-out electronic percussion and spiky guitar lines pushing the violin and whistling to the background. It's certainly different, and welcome as a fresh approach for Bird. Of course, the album has its more direct and familiar moments. The soaring "Fitz & Dizzyspells" and the more relaxed opener and first single, "Oh No," both are excellent, and could be described as Bird's signature sound, while "Anonanimal" showcases his clever, captivating wordplay.

The album doesn't hit it out of the park with every swing ("Natural Disaster" does little for me), but there are enough exceptional songs to warrant high praise and repeated listens. With a little patience and attention to detail, Noble Beast reveals itself as some of Andrew Bird's best material to date.

Note: For the more adventurous listener, Noble Beast comes in a deluxe edition with a bonus instrumental disc, Useless Creatures, full of avant-garde, experimental musical musings.

Andrew Bird previews Noble Beast!

First, Useless Creatures, now the real deal, Noble Beast. Andrew Bird's new album, due out January 20th, is available to stream over at NPR! The guys over at Stereogum didn't love it, but my first impression has been quite positive.

Go check it out and decide for yourself.

Also, remember you can also give the bonus instrumental disc Useless Creatures a listen over at Bird's website.

Andrew Bird previews Useless Creatures

Although I think most of us would prefer a full preview of Noble Beast, Andrew Bird's upcoming album, you can at least listen to the album's instrumental bonus disc (available with the deluxe version), Useless Creatures, in its entirety for the next two or three days here. It's a very avant-garde set of songs with lots of noodling around on the violin like you might expect, though its definitely the most experimental music he's ever made, at least as far as I've heard.

Also, because January 20th still feels like such a long time to wait, make sure you at least hear Noble Beast's first single, "Oh No," on Bird's homepage.